Nice to see someone die at last (wow, manga/anime sure brings out the sadistic side of the fans huh!) although the whole thing felt a bit pretentious since it was so obvious. Then again, Kishi has us in stitches because there's always the annoying risk that the dying character will be saved by a miracle. His dying speech was cool and in-character, and it made me feel like it was a shame that we didn't get to know Asuma better during his stay in the series.

And yes, Kishi does hate the Sarutobi clan.

I guess this means that team Shikamaru or/and Kurenai will have Hidan's head! (well, that wouldn't kill him but you get the point)