A Grand Gift for Konoha

At the border of the Land of Stone!

"That old man Ōnoki actually made us the vanguard. Damn him!"

A young blond man cursed under his breath.

Beside him was a strangely built man who moved while crawling along the ground.

The two were the artistic duo: Sasori of the Red Sands, a rogue ninja from Sunagakure, and Deidara, the rebellious youth of Iwagakure.

Sasori ignored Deidara's complaints. With his experience, how could he fail to see that Deidara was only saying it on purpose?

Clearly, the guy still cared rather deeply about Iwagakure.

But since Deidara had not said so outright, Sasori naturally had no interest in exposing him.

"Konoha..."

Sasori murmured inwardly. Not long ago, he had also received news that Sunagakure had been captured by Konoha. Perhaps because his body had been transformed into a puppet, or perhaps because he had already completely severed his ties with Sunagakure—

When he heard that Sunagakure had fallen, he felt nothing unusual. No anger, no hatred... on the contrary, he even felt a trace of relief.

Within Hiruko, Sasori gave a slight shake of his head, his eyes complicated. Though he bore no hatred toward Konoha, he felt that he still ought to do something.

After all, his parents had died at the hands of Konoha ninja, and now the village where he had grown up had also been captured by Konoha.

"Perhaps Konoha was the cause of my miserable life!"

Buzz!

Just as Sasori was thinking that, the space ahead of him suddenly began to tremble violently. A spatial vortex appeared, followed by two familiar figures entering his sight.

They were Obito and Kisame.

At this point, aside from Zetsu, Konan, and Nagato, every surviving member of Akatsuki had gathered here.

Obito did not hesitate after arriving. His gaze