Deidara paid no attention to the Rock Ninja's displeasure behind him, staring fixedly at his brand-new work of art.
This attack had worked wonderfully. Although the white light had affected his allies without distinguishing friend from foe, Sasori's body had been blasted to ash...
A puppeteer without puppets really was pathetic!
Fragments gathered out of thin air. Just as Sasori's body was about to regain its original form, Kankuro's Crow swooped in and trapped the regenerating Sasori tight.
"Hey, bastard! Don't interfere with my fight..." Deidara immediately began to complain.
"Deidara, this is war!" the Rock Ninja's voice came from behind him again.
This time, Deidara didn't ignore him. Though still displeased, he stopped picking a fight and turned to vent his frustrations on the White Zetsu.
With Deidara serving as a walking bomb factory, the White Zetsu were eliminated much faster. Soon, the brief encounter was over...
"The Surprise Attack Division has engaged the enemy. Their opponents are indeed the dead. The battle is currently proceeding smoothly..." the intelligence ninja reported again.
At that moment, however, no one really cared about this information of little value.
Because... headquarters was under attack. The enemy was Nagato, brought back through Impure World Reincarnation...
The reanimated Nagato hadn't chosen to launch a surprise attack. Instead, he had walked straight over from a distance, because Uchiha Obito hadn't dared transport him here.
"The leader of the Akatsuki..." At the sight of Nagato, Mei Terumi immediately prepared for battle.
"Mizukage, don't attack yet. Fighting here would cause too much damage. Shunichi, I'll leave the enemy to you. Any problem with that?" Tsunade immediately stopped Mei Terumi, then turned to Uchiha Shunichi.
"Of course not..." Uchiha Shunichi said casually. The next second, he appeared right beside Nagato and rescued a ninja on patrol.
Nagato