The Next Step / Climbing Silver.Episode 76 The Next Step: Kakashi reveals that the Rasengan is an incomplete jutsu as he is not able to combine his own elemental chakra affinity into it, just as its creator, the Fourth Hokage could not do. He then presumes that Naruto might be the first one to be able to do so. Naruto's training increases his stress to the point that the Nine-Tails almost manifests before Yamato manages to suppress it entirely. Meanwhile, Asuma sends word to the other teams about the Akatsuki’s location and proceeds on. Kakuzu eventually reaches the checkpoint and exchanges Chiriku's corpse, explaining to a concerned collector that there is a reason why he and Hidan are partners.
Episode 77 Climbing Silver: Asuma’s team reaches the bounty station and ambushes Hidan. Izumo and Kotetsu attack, but are unable to kill him despite stabbing vital organs due to Hidan's immortality. Asuma says that if they retreat, Konoha will be endangered. Shikamaru realizes that Asuma is considering sacrificing himself to help defeat the enemy. Asuma begins fighting Hidan, while Shikamaru distracts him by forcing him to dodge his Shadow Sewing Jutsu. Hidan cuts Asuma on the cheek with his scythe, drinking the blood while drawing a circle of blood on the ground. Asuma then uses a Fire Style Jutsu on Hidan as he steps into the circle, his skin pigment changing while he is engulfed in the flames.