Subduing Deidara, Next Target

"Wait!"

Seeing that Hyuga Chiba was about to make a move, Deidara could no longer afford to overthink. After a brief internal struggle, he gritted his teeth and declared, "If you can truly show me an art more magnificent than my own, I can naturally work for you."

"But if you keep me waiting and fail to show me the art you speak of, I'd rather blow myself up."

"Also, you might already know this, but I currently belong to an organization called the Akatsuki."

"The leader of the organization is named Pain, and he possesses a pair of Rinnegan that are on the same level as your Tenseigan."

"Furthermore, unlike you, whose body has yet to fully mature, his strength is terrifying."

"He was already interested in your Tenseigan; once he finds out I've betrayed you, he will likely come looking for you himself, yeah."

"It doesn't matter. I will deal with him." Hyuga Chiba retracted the Chakra Orb from his left hand and said, "Keep wearing the ring the Akatsuki gave you."

"If Pain contacts you using the Magic Lantern Body Technique, you can 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 come find me in the Land of Earth."

Unlike the Akatsuki, who needed to extract the Tailed Beasts in order from the One-Tail to the Nine-Tails, Hyuga Chiba only needed to siphon their chakra; the order was irrelevant to him.

Geographically, the Land of Earth was the closest to the Land of Wind.

The only trouble was that the Jinchuriki of the "Four-Tails Son Goku," Roshi, had been traveling outside the Land of Earth for a long time due to his personality clash with the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki of Both Scales.

As for the Jinchuriki of the "Five-Tails Kokuo," Han, there wasn't much description of him in the original story, and he might or might not be in the Land of Earth at the moment.

Therefore, Hyuga Chiba still needed to find a way to lure both Roshi and Han to Iwagakure in the Land of Earth.

Taking a step back, even if he couldn't secure the Four-Tails and Five-Tails in the Land of Earth, he could always head to the nearby "Land of Hot Water" and the "Takigakure" to seek out Fu, the Jinchuriki of the "Seven-Tails Chomei."

Hyuga Chiba also vaguely remembered that Takigakure seemed to possess something called "Hero's Water," which could enhance one's chakra.

Though, for someone like him at his current level, that stuff was essentially useless.

As for Pain?

Having already acquired a New Tailed Beast power bank and being able to maintain the "Tenseigan Chakra Mode" for extended periods, did Hyuga Chiba really need to avoid his edge?

Moreover, it wasn't impossible for Hyuga Chiba and Pain—or rather, Nagato—to cooperate.

"Your next target is the two Tailed Beasts in Iwagakure of the Land of Earth?"

Hearing Hyuga Chiba's words, Deidara's expression shifted slightly.

After all, he was a rogue ninja from Iwagakure and a former disciple of the current Tsuchikage, Ōnoki.

"What, can't bear to see Iwagakure become a battlefield for me and Pain, or do you want to come with me?"

Seeing the change in Deidara's expression, Hyuga Chiba asked with a light chuckle.

At this, Deidara immediately raised his head and retorted, "Hah, what does Iwagakure have to do with a rogue ninja like me?"

"But it's not like I can't go with you to see how that old man Ōnoki gets defeated, yeah."

"I didn't expect you to be such a tsundere." Seeing this, Hyuga Chiba teased him before adding a reminder: "You can come with me, but you'll have to protect yourself."

"While it would be a pity to lose someone willing to follow the path of my art, if your life is too short, then there's nothing I can do."

"Don't look down on me!" Deidara shouted in anger. "I don't need your protection."

"And—that 'tsundere' nonsense, it's disgusting. Don't ever use words like that to describe me again, yeah."

"Right!" Whether to change the subject or otherwise, Deidara quickly added, "Brother Sasori, who is fighting the Kazekage outside, is also a member of the Akatsuki like me."

"He likely won't be a match for you either."

"How do you plan to deal with him?"

Hyuga Chiba spoke without hesitation: "It's simple. Naturally, I'll turn him into my trophy as well."

"But Brother Sasori pursues puppets, the art of eternity. I'm afraid he won't submit to you so easily." Deidara asked again with a worried tone, "In that case, will you really kill him?"

"Rest assured, he will submit." Hyuga Chiba replied with a meaningful look. "And compared to you, it will be even easier for me to subdue him—one might even say it will be effortless."

"???" Deidara was left stunned and bewildered, clearly not believing Hyuga Chiba's words.

"Since you don't believe me, just follow along and see for yourself." Hyuga Chiba didn't offer further explanation and flew toward the outskirts of Sunagakure.

"Wait for me." Concerned for Brother Sasori, who had always looked after him, Deidara didn't hesitate to mount his Clay Bird and chase after Hyuga Chiba.

Outside Sunagakure!

"Hmph!"

"Your puppetry has indeed improved quite a bit over these years, to be able to control one hundred Human Puppets simultaneously."

"You've even gone so far as to turn yourself into a Human Puppet."

"You could truly be called the most gifted puppeteer in the history of Sunagakure."

"But you shouldn't have become a rogue ninja of Sunagakure, and you certainly shouldn't have returned at a time like this, setting your sights on Hyuga Chiba."

Rasa, standing on his Gold Dust Flying Carpet, let out a cold snort, his tone icy and detached.

Opposite him, in order to keep up with his mobility, Sasori had the Third Kazekage puppet manifest a pair of Iron Sand wings on its back, as well as on his own.

Unlike his previous hideous appearance, Sasori had now transformed into a young man with short red hair and delicate features.

To be precise, this was his true form.

The one from before was merely a Human Puppet he used to conceal himself.

Just as Rasa had said earlier, Sasori had also modified his own body into a Human Puppet, which was why he appeared like a youth despite being over thirty years old.

Not only that!

At this moment, a small hole opened in the heart area of Sasori's chest, which bore the red character "Sasori," and a vast number of Chakra threads extended from it.

Every single Chakra thread was connected to a Human Puppet.

In his complete state, Sasori was capable of controlling hundreds of Human Puppets simultaneously.

For a conventional puppeteer like Kankuro, controlling two or three puppets at once was essentially his limit.

Even Elder Chiyo, who possessed talent second only to Sasori within Sunagakure and was also his grandmother, could only control ten puppets at the same time.

It was just a pity that a puppeteer like Sasori was at a severe disadvantage when fighting head-on against Rasa, who possessed "Magnet Release: Gold Sand."

In fact, had Sasori not possessed the Third Kazekage puppet with its "Magnet Release: Iron Sand" ability, he might have already been defeated.

However, the Third Kazekage as a puppet could not surpass Rasa as a living human.

Most of Sasori's hundred Human Puppets had already been destroyed.

If the battle continued, his defeat was only a matter of time.

Added to this were the Sound Four, Kimimaro, Orochimaru, and the terrifyingly powerful Hyuga Chiba from Sunagakure.

Rasa could not conceive of any way his side could possibly lose.