Attack on the Sunagakure Border Outpost

"Captain! A massive flying object is approaching from the direction of Amegakure!" A Sunagakure ninja reported to the captain.

The jonin took the binoculars and glanced at the white behemoth. "Prepare for battle!"

"Yes!" The border outpost, staffed by over a dozen people, immediately sprang into action. Numerous ninja took positions atop and below the watchtower, ready to face the enemy.

They released a messenger Flying Eagle toward Sunagakure, hoping to send the intelligence back.

In the blink of an eye, the giant dragon had arrived before them. It opened its enormous jaws and spewed out all manner of strange clay birds.

The next moment, the tiny outpost was violently overturned, explosions filling every corner of the area.

Hyuga Kei opened his Tenseigan and precisely locked onto the survivors who had luckily remained alive on the ground.

"Water Release: Water Arrow." Several water arrows condensed before Hyuga Kei and shot precisely at every survivor, piercing through walls and killing them.

Hyuga Kei said, "Let's go. On to the next outpost."

Deidara excitedly introduced his work to the two of them. "Well? My art—an utterly beautiful C2· Dragon explosion, with absolute air superiority. Before the enemy even sees us, they've already turned to dust."

"It really is impressive. A truly genius idea."

"Hahahaha! Naturally."

Afterward, Hyuga Kei's group of three removed several more border outposts in the same manner. Following Deidara's bombardment and Hyuga Kei's precise guided sniping, there were often not even any survivors left.

That was until they encountered someone they did not want to see. Just as Deidara was happily bombing away, Gold Dust appeared beneath the giant dragon at some unknown moment.

The Gold Dust dispersed evenly through the air, then suddenly formed into a giant golden hand the moment the three drew near, grabbing hold of the dragon's undercarriage.

Almost in the next instant, countless arrows bearing Explosive Tags shot toward the clay dragon.

Hyuga Kei formed hand seals and unleashed Wind Release again, sending the countless arrows crashing down to the ground.

Deidara shouted, "Bastard, let me show you the power of my ultimate art—C2· Dragon!"

The clay dragon unleashed the last of its shells, which accurately struck the many Sunagakure ninja.

A massive Gold Dust dome immediately rose from the ground, shielding the Sunagakure ninja beneath it.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Explosions rang out without end, but they could only continuously wear down the Gold Dust's defenses. They could not harm the Sunagakure ninja inside.

"Kei, prepare to switch mounts." Deidara discarded the entire section of clay caught by the Gold Dust, leaving behind a clay clone on it.

The three quickly leaped onto Hyuga Kei's puppet Flying Eagle and flew high into the sky, while the clay clone guided the enormous clay dragon into the Sunagakure forces.

"Die!" the clay clone shouted.

Hyuga Kei looked down at the scene below.

He saw a small mushroom cloud rise from the ground, followed by an ear-splitting explosion, and finally a powerful gale sweeping across the earth and sky.

Even the three of them, high in the air, felt wave after wave of ringing in their ears. They covered their ears, hoping to regain their hearing quickly.

"You bastard, couldn't you have warned us?!" Hyuga Kei shouted. It was not because he wanted to shout, but because he feared Deidara would not hear him otherwise.

"Hahahaha! This is art!" Deidara had clearly not heard what Hyuga Kei said and simply assumed he was praising him.

Hyuga Kei was speechless. Forget it. Let's go down and finish them off.

He guided the puppet Flying Eagle downward. As Hyuga Kei gradually descended, he clearly saw the scene below: Gold Dust covered the ground, along with countless ninja corpses that no longer even resembled people.

And this was with the Fourth Kazekage's Gold Dust protecting them. Without it, even the corpses probably would not have remained.

Deidara's Explosion Release was truly a rare weapon of war.

The group stood on the scorching ground, with Gold Dust nearly melted by the high-temperature explosion clinging to their feet.

"Did any of you see Rasa?" Sasori scanned the surroundings. He was extremely interested in turning the Fourth Kazekage into one of his puppets.

Perhaps together with the Third Kazekage puppet's Magnet Release, he could devise some new tricks.

Hyuga Kei opened his Tenseigan and scanned the area, only to spot a tunnel beneath the ground.

"Rasa dug a tunnel before the explosion and hid inside. He should have already escaped toward Sunagakure by now."

Sasori shook his head regretfully. He had thought he could add another Kazekage to his collection. "What a pity."

"What's there to pity? Watch me make another C2· Dragon. I'll go kill that Rasa and bring him back for you." Deidara had barely finished speaking excitedly when his legs gave out and he nearly fell. Hyuga Kei, standing beside him, caught him with quick reflexes.

The current Deidara still lacked experience. Neither his chakra efficiency nor reserves could compare to what they would be years later.

Being able to maintain the C2· Dragon in battle for so long was already quite impressive.

"No need. The mission is complete. We're leaving." Sasori declined Deidara's offer.

The three boarded the puppet Flying Eagle once more and flew toward the Land of Rain.

When they returned to the Akatsuki Organization's base, they found Pain and the others already waiting there.

Hyuga Kei's group had been delayed by the Fourth Kazekage, so they had arrived much later.

The moment Deidara saw them, he eagerly went over to recount how he had used C2 to blast the Fourth Kazekage into fleeing in panic.

Deidara had not stopped talking about it the entire journey. He kept retelling the story so relentlessly that even passing dogs would have had to listen to a few lines.

"You completed this mission well." Pain took out three suitcases of money and handed them to the three. "This is the reward for the mission."

"Thank you, Leader." They accepted the cases of money, while Sasori handed his case to Deidara, saying that he had not contributed to this mission.

Deidara accepted it without ceremony. Being a ninja was an expensive profession, and even his special clay had to be made at his own expense.

Kakuzu bent down and looked at the grains of Gold Dust that had fallen along their trail of footprints.

"Why is there so much Gold Dust on your shoes?"

"Hey, hey, hey, Kakuzu, weren't you listening to me?" Deidara retold the story of how he had blasted the Fourth Kazekage into fleeing in panic.

But Kakuzu was clearly not focused on how Deidara had driven back the enemy with his beautiful art. Instead, he was focused on the fact that the Fourth Kazekage could produce Gold Dust, and that vast quantities of it had been left behind at the site of their battle.

"Where was the place you fought?" Kakuzu took out a map.

Hyuga Kei pointed out the location for him.

"Thank you. Sasori, if I bring back the Fourth Kazekage's corpse, can you turn him into a puppet and mass-produce Gold Dust?"

Sasori understood that Kakuzu was asking him to gather puppet materials. "Of course. Gold Dust converted from chakra will not remain forever, but we can use a puppet to mine gold deposits, which would also be very easy. You should know that much of Sunagakure's income was created by the Kazekage."

Kakuzu had already put Rasa on his kill list. "I understand."

"Leader, since everything is done, I'll be leaving first." Hyuga Kei spoke as he prepared to leave. He still needed to go home and rest. The vacation he had finally given himself had been interrupted.

"Mm."

"Hey, hey, hey, Kei, don't go yet! We still haven't seen the art you developed!" Deidara stopped him.

"Next time. There'll be a chance."