As soon as he finished speaking, Sen Senju lightly stamped his foot.
Countless hairline cracks instantly split the ground.
"Wood Release: Small Sea of Trees!"
He drawled the words without even raising his hands.
A dense mass of pale green saplings sprouted from underground.
The saplings grew in the wind, instantly becoming agile Wood Snakes.
The white Clay Spiders had barely made it halfway.
The Wood Snakes swallowed every last one, a spider per bite.
Roots sprouted from the wood and pierced straight into the clay.
The explosive chakra stored inside the clay was sucked dry in an instant.
"Plop, plop."
The spiders all turned into lumps of soft mud and fell to the ground.
Watching from midair, Deidara grew furious.
" bastard! My artistic spiders didn't even get a chance to explode, hm!"
"Your wood can actually absorb my chakra, hm?!"
Sen Senju grinned and clapped his hands.
"I told you, those dough toys of yours are just child's play to me."
Just then, the enormous Demonic Statue of the Outer Path let out a low roar.
The blue torrent pouring from the statue's mouth was still tugging at Gaara.
The last traces of Shukaku's chakra were being violently stripped away.
Blue light illuminated the dark cave.
Sasori, hidden inside Hiruko, snorted.
"Deidara! Stop wasting time on useless tricks!"
"The One-Tail's chakra is almost completely extracted!"
"Don't let them interrupt the ritual! Get to work!"
"If the ritual fails and the statue's chakra rebounds, we'll all pay dearly!"
Deidara stamped his feet on the bird's back.
"I know, Sasori! You're such a nag, hm!"
Naruto stared at Gaara's deathly pale face in midair.
His eyes were so red they looked ready to bleed.
"Give Gaara... back to me!"
He shattered the ground beneath his feet and charged forward like