"Wait!"
Seeing that Chiba was about to make a move, Deidara had no time to think any further. After a brief internal struggle, he made up his mind. "If you can really show me even greater art, then of course I can work for you."
"But if you keep me waiting and never let me see the art you spoke of, then at worst, I'll self-destruct."
"Also, you may already know this, but I currently belong to an organization called Akatsuki."
"The organization's leader is named Pain. He possesses a pair of Rinnegan on the same level as your Tenseigan."
"And unlike you, whose body has not fully matured yet, he is incredibly powerful."
"He was already interested in your Tenseigan. Once he learns that I've betrayed him, he may very well come looking for you himself, yeah."
"That's fine. I'll deal with him." Chiba withdrew the Chakra Orb from his left hand, then said, "Keep wearing the ring Akatsuki gave you for now."
"If Pain contacts you through the Magic Lantern Body Technique, tell him that my next targets are the Four-Tails and Five-Tails in the Land of Earth."
"If he wants to make a move against me, he can find me in the Land of Earth."
Unlike Akatsuki, which needed to collect the Tailed Beasts in order from the One-Tail to the Nine-Tails, Chiba only needed to extract their Chakra and did not care about the order.
Geographically speaking, the Land of Earth was also the closest to the Land of Wind.
The only trouble was that the Jinchuriki of the "Four-Tails, Son Goku," Roshi, had long traveled outside the Land of Earth because his personality clashed with that of the Third Tsuchikage, "Ōnoki of Both Scales."
There was not much description of Han, the Jinchuriki of the "Five-Tails, Kokuo," in the original work. He might currently be in the Land of Earth, or he might not.
Therefore, Chiba still needed to find a way to gather both Roshi and Han in Iwagakure of the Land of Earth.
Taking a step back, even if he failed to obtain the Four-Tails and Five-Tails in the Land of Earth, he could head to the equally nearby Takigakure in the Land of Hot Water and seek out Fu, the Jinchuriki of the "Seven-Tails, Chomei."
Chiba also vaguely remembered that Takigakure seemed to possess something called Hero's Water, which could increase Chakra.
Though that stuff was useless to him now.
As for Pain?
Now that Chiba had a New Tailed Beast power bank and could maintain Tenseigan Chakra Mode for extended periods, did he still need to avoid Pain's edge?
Besides, Chiba and Pain—or rather, Nagato—might not be unable to cooperate.
"Your next targets are the two Tailed Beasts in Iwagakure of the Land of Earth?"
After hearing Chiba's words, Deidara's expression inevitably changed.
After all, he was a rogue ninja from Iwagakure and also the disciple of the current Tsuchikage, Ōnoki.
"What, can't bear to see Iwagakure become the battlefield between Pain and me, or do you want to go with me?"
Seeing the change in Deidara's expression, Chiba asked with a soft laugh.
At that, Deidara immediately raised his head. "Hah, what does Iwagakure have to do with me, a rogue ninja?"
"Still, I wouldn't mind following you to see how that old man Ōnoki gets defeated, yeah."
"I didn't expect you to be a bit of a tsundere." After teasing him, Chiba reminded him, "You can come with me, but you'll have to protect yourself."
"It would be a pity to lose someone willing to follow in the footsteps of my art, but if your life is too short, there's nothing I can do."
"Stop looking down on me." Deidara immediately snapped. "I don't need your protection."
"And... calling me something like a tsundere is disgusting. Don't use words like that to describe me again, yeah."
"Oh, right!" Perhaps to change the subject, Deidara quickly added, "Brother Sasori, who's fighting the Kazekage outside, is also an Akatsuki member, just like me."
"He probably won't be a match for you either."
"What do you plan to do with him?"
Chiba answered without hesitation, "Simple. Of course I'll turn him into my trophy as well."
"But Brother Sasori pursues puppets—eternal art. I'm afraid he won't submit to you so easily." Deidara asked again, concern in his voice. "If that happens, will you really kill him?"
"Don't worry. He'll submit." Chiba answered meaningfully. "And compared to you, winning him over will be even easier—effortless, even."
"???" Deidara looked utterly baffled and shocked, clearly not believing Chiba's words.
"If you don't believe me, then come and see for yourself." Chiba did not explain any further and instead flew outside Sunagakure.
"Wait for me." Since it concerned Brother Sasori, who had always taken good care of him, Deidara did not hesitate. Riding his Clay Bird, he chased after Chiba.
Outside Sunagakure!
"Hmph!"
"Your puppetry skills have indeed improved greatly over the years. You can actually control a hundred Human Puppets at once."
"You even transformed yourself into a Human Puppet."
"You can absolutely be called the most talented puppeteer in Sunagakure's history."
"But you should not have become a rogue ninja of Sunagakure, much less returned at a time like this and set your sights on Hyuga Chiba."
Rasa, standing atop the Gold Dust Flying Carpet, snorted coldly and spoke in an icy tone.
Across from him, in order to keep up with Rasa's mobility, Sasori had the Third Kazekage Puppet form a pair of Iron Sand wings upon itself and behind Sasori's back.
Unlike his previous ugly appearance, Sasori had now become a handsome young man with short red hair.
More precisely, this was his true body.
The one from before had merely been a Human Puppet he used to hide himself.
Just as Rasa had said, Sasori had also transformed his own body into a Human Puppet. That was why, despite already being over thirty years old, he still looked like a teenager.
Not only that!
At that moment, a small opening had appeared over Sasori's heart, marked with the red character for "Sasori," and countless Chakra threads extended from it.
Every single Chakra thread was connected to a Human Puppet.
At full strength, Sasori could control over a hundred Human Puppets at once.
An ordinary puppeteer like Kankuro, meanwhile, had basically reached his limit if he could control two or three puppets simultaneously.
Within Sunagakure, Elder Chiyo—whose talent was second only to Sasori's and who was also his grandmother—could only control ten puppets at once.
Unfortunately, a puppeteer like Sasori was at far too much of a disadvantage in a direct battle against Rasa, who possessed Magnet Release: Gold Sand.
If Sasori had not possessed the Third Kazekage Puppet, which wielded Magnet Release: Iron Sand, he might have already been defeated.
But the Third Kazekage as a puppet could not surpass Rasa as a living person.
More than half of Sasori's hundred Human Puppets had already been destroyed.
If the fight continued, his defeat was only a matter of time.
And with the Sound Four, Kimimaro, Orochimaru, and the terrifyingly powerful Hyuga Chiba in Sunagakure as well—
Rasa simply could not imagine how his side could lose.
Before you continue