Within the Land of Fire
Above the mountains in the southern Land of Fire, a giant clay bird pierced the clouds. Deidara lay lazily on its back, his golden ponytail fluttering wildly in the wind. He tugged at the collar of his casual clothes, muttering in dissatisfaction:
"Brother Scorpion, how long have you been looking?" He casually tossed a lump of clay, caught it, and said, "My art is practically rusting! I haven't even encountered a decent opponent, it's so boring!"
Hiruko's shell gleamed coldly in the sunlight. Sasori's voice, hidden within the Puppet, carried obvious impatience. "Shut up, brat. Art requires patience."
(Kabuto Yakushi's information shouldn't be wrong...)
The scorpion's Puppet shell emitted a faint grinding sound.
How could he not be anxious? Ever since receiving that secret letter, the image of turning Kimimaro into Puppet had been constantly flashing through his mind—that body modified by Orochimaru, possessing near-perfect fighting instincts and immortality. If he could add it to his collection... just imagining it made his core heat up.
"There's a village about five miles to the southwest," Scorpion suddenly said. "Let's go take a look."
Deidara pursed his lips, but still steered the giant clay bird down. As the altitude decreased, a village surrounded by mountains gradually came into view. However, unsettlingly, several Crows circled above the village, but not a single wisp of smoke rose from its chimneys.
"Something's not right, hmm." Deidara narrowed his eyes. "It's too quiet."
As the giant bird landed at the village entrance, a strong stench of blood filled the air. Deidara jumped off its back, his boots making a sticky sound as they sank into the muddy ground. He frowned at the blackened bloodstains that stretched deep into the village.
The scorpion's Puppet crawled forward on all fours, like a giant insect. He keenly noticed that the walls and floor were covered with sharp scratches, as if they had been swept across by some kind of sharp weapon.
"These marks..." The scorpion extended its Puppet's metal forelimbs and touched a deep trench in the stone wall, "Not caused by an ordinary weapon."
Deidara crouched down and picked up a white fragment from the bloodstains. His pupils contracted slightly—it was a piece of bone, its edges sharp as a knife, still stained with fresh blood.
"Brother Scorpion!" he held up the bone fragment. "Look at this, hmm!"
Scorpion swiftly approached, a red glint flashing in his mechanical eyes. He took the bone fragment and examined it closely, his voice trembling slightly with excitement. "The Shikotsumyaku... it can't be wrong. This was left behind by Kimimaro."
Just then, a faint groan came from the nearby ruins. Deidara and Sasori exchanged a glance and quickly moved towards the source of the sound. Behind a half-collapsed earthen wall, they found an old man on the verge of death.
Upon seeing the two, extreme fear surfaced in the old man's cloudy eyes. "No... don't kill me..." he pleaded weakly, a shocking penetrating wound on his chest. Strangely, the edges of the wound were unusually smooth, without any lacerations caused by ordinary weapons.
The scorpion's Puppet leaned down, its voice deliberately softened. "Who did this?"
"White... White Bone Demon..." the old man gasped for breath. "Last night... suddenly appeared... everyone... bones... from their bodies..."
Deidara frowned. "What nonsense is he talking about, huh?"
Scorpion, however, understood something and continued to ask, "Which direction did he go?"
The old man raised his hand tremblingly, pointing to the mountains in the northwest. "A cave... he said... he wanted to find... Shinnō..." Before he could finish speaking, the old man's hand fell limply to his side, and the light in his eyes went out completely.
"Shinnō?" Deidara repeated doubtfully, "Who is that, huh?"
Sasori slowly stood up, the Puppet's outer shell making a cracking sound. "Shinnō... I remember that guy was a wandering doctor. What does Orochimaru want with him?" He turned to Deidara, "Prepare for takeoff; we're very close to our prey."
A giant clay bird pierced through the clouds. Deidara lay listlessly on its back, toying with a lump of pale yellow clay between his fingertips.
"Brother Scorpion, we've searched this wretched mountain three times already!" he complained in a drawn-out tone, kneading the clay in his hands into various shapes, "Not even a ghost in sight!"
The shell of Hiruko gleamed with a cold luster in the morning light.
Sasori silently manipulated the Chakra Threads, a hint of annoyance flashing in the Puppet's eyes. This was indeed illogical—based on the traces of killing left by Kimimaro, he should be in this area.
"Lower the altitude," Scorpion suddenly commanded, "Go to the last village that was massacred."
Deidara pursed his lips, but still steered the giant bird to swoop down.
The air currents lifted his golden bangs, revealing dried sweat on his forehead. Several days of continuous searching were taking their toll, even on this art fanatic who was passionate about explosions.
The village was eerily quiet. Several corpses had begun to decompose, but the bone spears protruding from their bodies remained a chilling white, menacing sight, like an eerie white forest.
Sasori's Puppet finger lightly touched a bone spike, Chakra Threads spread out like a spider web. Suddenly, his body stiffened— the Chakra remaining in these bones... was rapidly dissipating.
"We've been tricked." Scorpion's voice was chillingly sinister. "These bones were bait left behind on purpose."
Deidara jumped up abruptly. "What? Huh!" He kicked a pebble at his feet in exasperation. "That bone bastard ran away long ago? Huh!"
Hiruko's tail slammed into the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Sasori's rage was almost tangible—not only Kimimaro not in the mountains, but he had also deliberately created a diversion to delay them. What was even more infuriating was that the Chakra trails remaining in those bone spikes clearly pointed in the exact opposite direction!
(Kabuto Yakushi... you'd better not try anything funny about this...)
"Let's go," Scorpion said coldly, "To the east."
"Wait a minute!" Deidara suddenly grinned slyly. "Since we're already here..." He quickly formed hand seals. "Hah!"
A violent explosion instantly engulfed the entire village. In the Kakkō, the stark white bone spikes turned to dust. Deidara, standing on the clay bird's back, laughed, "That's art! Hmm!"
Scorpion ignored his partner's antics.
His thoughts drifted far away—what clues had Kimimaro obtained that warranted such elaborate misleading of the pursuers? And what role did the vanished Shinnō play in this affair?
The clay giant birds took off again, flying in the wrong direction. Behind them, the thick smoke from the explosion rose slowly, like a giant mockery.