Kakuzu may not be dead yet - spoiler mentions him as being passed out. Also, the way he lost is not portrayed in a way directly suggesting he is dead. He may still have his last heart, in working condition.

Hey, I thought Rocky IV was really good.... but I agree what with you're saying about Kakuzu and Hidan, they've pretty much shown us all their abilities. It's disappointing they weren't developed a little bit more, but I guess there wasn't much of a chance to fit their stories in without a bunch of really long flashbacks and Akatsuki members aren't really the type to reminisce about the past, especially during a battle. Can't say that I'm absolutely sure that they're done for. I thought Deidara was a done deal and a few chapters later he was good as new. But a lot of people thought Sasori was coming back and but it seems he's dead for good.

342 should be very interesting plotwise, seeing as how this the end of a battle, there will most likely be an appearance of Zetsu and a meeting with Akatsuki. We'll get to hear Akatsuki's reaction to the defeats of Hidan and Kakuzu not to mention how they plan to claim the jinchuuriki Hidan and Kakuzu were after. I think Akatsuki will be changing their game plan after this. How exactly, I'm not sure but it seems like it's too risky for them just to send teams wandering into Fire Country.

Considering that it seems Naruto is exhausted to a point where he can't fight, similar to his condition after beating Gaara, I think the battle is over. Any further fighting would require Kakuzu being defeated by someone else, which would completely ruin the point of the whole battle. Also, Kakuzu's eyes were wide open. That's usually a sign someone is dead and not merely passed out. But like I said earlier, I'm still not %100 sure.

We'll see the result next week, but, the way the fight has ended might easily lead to acquiring at least one Akatsuki alive for interrogation purposes (Hidan is an exception for what he did to Asuma, and his empty skull wouldn't have helped anybody anyway, on the other hand, Kakuzu might become useful in many ways).

There is also the concern of making Naruto a killer with no doubt (the last time, there was still the possibility of killing an already dead man).

-Sazelyt, are you implying that at this point in time Naruto had little qualms about killing a living person? Although this is most likely the first time he's ever actually suceeded in killing someone (which was his intention anyway)...My point comes in the form of a question: is this the ever spoken change that has occured in Naruto? If so then the old Naruto that we knew for so long is indeed "dead".

If it weren't for being buried under tons of rock I could see Hidan being held prisoner being nothing but a head and all. But Kakuzu is really far too dangerous to be held captive. Having tendrils that can extend from any part of his body would make him hard to contain and if had the chance to steal more hearts he could be back to full strength in no time.

You're talking about the Akatsuki clones? Whether they were killed from Itachi and Kisame releasing the jutsu or from they damage they suffered isn't clear. There's no doubt however, that Naruto was using lethal force to attack. I think there's not really much concern as long as Naruto's slaying "monsters" like Kakuzu instead of killing more human-like characters. After all other good characters such as Neji and Chouji have both killed opponents.

Naruto is still the person he is before, meaning he is still acting on his instincts, while also being well aware that the path he chose will eventually lead him to killing a person.

However, the second part I have pointed out mainly targets how we or the fans perceive Naruto. Does Kishi currently consider Naruto as being ready to take the turn towards that nonreturnable path or will he try to delay this moment as much as he can since delaying is still possible?

At that time, Kyuubi's chakra was in the picture, helping him gathering extra chakra and healing him. Right now, it is different, he is either not using it or not using it a lot.

There is also the case of going to extreme with the jutsu, doing something he hasn't done before, or forcing something in the way he hasn't forced before.

I believe this new technique is double edge sword. With that destructive power and the area explosion...Naruto himself gets caught by it.

so in the pics did naruto use KM chakra to create the real fuuton rasengen, while he was drained out from the kagebushin molding the fuuton in his second attempt?

did he required clones for the real one?

i think if KM3T can thrown black orb full of chakra, then i see no reason why the fuuton rasengan cant be thrown, maybe naruto has to learn how to throw it in his next training regime. so he in future he wont have to rely on close range attack to make a critical hit.

You know what would be funny in 342? If Kakashi walked over to Kakuzu's body and saw something on his back, and was like "This is..." And it shows a Hiraishin tag.:heh: That could explain Naruto's exhaustion, but it is really just wishful thinking. About the Razenshuriken, hopefully the full version could be thrown.

but the fuuton is only half complete and manages to kill kakazu? :(:(

Even if they go back to that, who really cares. KAKUZU IS DEAD. It wouldnt be relavent to the plot anymore.

The attack by itself must be pretty badass for half a chapter to be used just to show its effect but one thing worries me though :
the way Naruto connected with Kakuzu seems stupid as hell, another "Kabuto effect". I hope the spoiler just didn't really cover how Naruto did it.

Here is a new spoiler picture that seems to illustrate the technique's initiation.
Unfortunately, giving that image almost equals to giving nothing at all.