The Puppeteer Who Lives Up to His Name

"Prepare to land!"

Atop the giant bird, Deidara suddenly turned to say this to Sasori beside him. Hiruko, being nothing more than a puppet, gave no response; only a faint blue energy surfaced around its body.

The next moment!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

A gale howled past Deidara's ears. Under his control, the giant bird descended toward the ground at incredible speed, heading straight for Shisui below.

Just as the giant bird was about to hit the ground, Deidara flung his hand to the side and leaped away. In an instant, his body began plummeting rapidly downward.

Sasori likewise jumped off the giant bird's back.

The giant bird was incredibly fast, and in the blink of an eye, it was only a few dozen meters away from Shisui.

"Drink!"

Before he had even landed, Deidara formed hand seals in midair and let out a loud shout.

The next moment!

Boom!

A deafening explosion erupted across the field, and the shockwave generated by the blast spread outward like a tide.

Even Deidara was caught in it. Already airborne, he was blown backward by the shockwave.

Bang!

He ultimately crashed heavily onto the ground.

"Ha ha, that should've hit him!"

Though the fall hurt a little, Deidara did not care. He climbed to his feet with an excited look, his smiling gaze fixed ahead.

That was where the giant bird had exploded. The once-flat ground now held a massive crater, while the surrounding earth had been scorched black.

But none of that was what Deidara wanted. His gaze swept the area ahead, searching for the figure that had kept provoking him.

"You failed!"

At that moment, a figure darted out from behind Deidara. It was Hiruko.

Perhaps because its body was made from all manner of hard materials, Hiruko looked no different from