One-Tail Capture Operation

Sunagakure's dawn was torn apart by explosions.

The first blast struck the water tower in the west of the village. The three-hundred-meter concrete structure collapsed amid blinding white light, sending a column of water soaring into the sky and turning into a rainbow in the morning sun. The second, third... seven deafening explosions in succession crippled seven critical defensive nodes across Sunagakure within ten minutes.

The alarm bells rang without pause. Sand ninja jolted awake and rushed to their posts, but the command system had already descended into chaos—all messenger hawks had been reduced to bloody mist in the first wave of explosions.

And the artist responsible for all this chaos was currently standing atop a massive white clay bird, his blond hair whipping wildly in the desert gale, the miniature scope over his left eye glinting coldly.

"Art is an explosion—!"

Deidara spread his arms and laughed at the chaotic Sand Village below. His fingers kneaded the clay in his palms with dexterity, creating white spiders, centipedes, and birds that flapped their wings and dove downward.

But Sunagakure was, after all, one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages.

The chaos lasted only three minutes. Before the first wave of clay bombs could hit the ground, the hourglass atop the Kazekage Building in the center of the village suddenly flipped over—not to mark time, but as a signal. Yellow sand rose from every corner of the village without wind, forming hundreds of streams that precisely wrapped around each clay creature.

"Sand Binding Coffin!"

A deep voice came from the Kazekage Building. Gaara stood atop the roof, arms held out levelly as the mouth of the gourd behind him opened wide. An endless stream of sand surged like it had a life of its own. There was no expression on his face, only the absolute calm that belonged to a Kage.

The clay spiders struggled within the sand, then were crushed and ground apart—but they did not explode. Deidara clicked his tongue. "Using sand to isolate the chakra response? Interesting."

He formed a seal with one hand, and the clay wrapped in sand suddenly broke down on its own, dispersing into the most basic chakra particles.

"But art comes in more than one form, hmm."

The bird beat its wings and climbed higher. Deidara grabbed a large handful of white material from the clay pouch at his waist, pressed his hands together, and poured chakra into it frantically. This time, he was not molding small creatures, but a giant dragon—a clay dragon with a wingspan exceeding twenty meters, its surface covered in scale-like patterns.

"C2: Giant Dragon!"

The giant dragon threw back its head in a silent roar—the pose alone was enough to shake the heart—and condensed a massive ball of chakra light in its mouth. It was not a Tailed Beast Bomb, but its power was already close.

Gaara's pupils contracted slightly. He could sense the terrifying energy compressed inside that sphere. If it struck the ground, it would destroy at least a quarter of the village.

"Shukaku..."

He called softly to the One-Tail within him. He was not asking for power, but informing it—he could not hold back in this battle.

The desert responded to his will. The entire ground of Sunagakure began to tremble. It was not an earthquake, but a deeper pulse—the pulse of a sea of sand awakening. Endless sand surged from beneath the earth, gathering and taking shape behind Gaara until it finally formed a colossal tanuki-like monster made entirely of pure sand.

Complete Form: Sand Shukaku!

Though it lacked a true Tailed Beast chakra cloak, bolstered by the One-Tail and Gaara's own Magnet Release bloodline, the power of this sand shell had already come infinitely close to that of a real Tailed Beast.

"Now that's more like it!" Deidara's eyes lit up with the fanaticism of an artist beholding perfect material. "Only by fighting a true work of art can I create even greater art, hmm!"

The giant dragon dove, firing the sphere of light from its mouth.

Shukaku roared, meeting it with a giant claw of sand.

The collision of light and sand exploded in midair, and the shockwave overturned every building within three hundred meters. The Sand ninja desperately maintained their defensive barrier, but the aftershock still sent dozens of them coughing blood and collapsing.

The first exchange ended in a draw.

But Deidara smiled. This was exactly what he had been waiting for—Gaara had focused all his attention on maintaining Shukaku's form, so his absolute control over the sand around his real body was bound to weaken.

And there had never been any shortage of "sand" in Sunagakure.

"C4: Garuda."

He softly spoke the name of his killing move. His right hand quietly relaxed, and countless tiny clay spores, nearly invisible to the naked eye, scattered with the wind. They mixed into the sand and dust filling the sky, silently seeping into Shukaku's sand body and into Gaara's absolute defense.

Gaara sensed that something was wrong. The feedback from the sand felt off—some grains contained faint chakra reactions. But it was too late.

Deidara pressed his hands together. "Detonate."

There was no earth-shattering explosion, only a soft pop, like a bubble bursting.

Then Shukaku's sand body began to collapse. It was not shattered by outside force, but disintegrated from within, breaking down at the most fundamental level of individual grains. Every grain of sand infiltrated by clay spores became a miniature bomb, destroying itself at the molecular level.

A chain reaction.

Within ten seconds, the hundred-meter-tall Sand Shukaku crumbled away, reverting to ordinary sand that poured down like rain.

And Gaara's absolute defense—the armor of sand that had wrapped around him for years—also cracked. Through the gaps, the young Kazekage's pale face and the thin trail of blood at the corner of his mouth could be seen.

"Got you." Deidara grinned as his bird dove at high speed. His target was not Gaara himself, but the scattered sand mixed with his special clay.

"Desert Layer Funeral!"

Gaara gritted his teeth and forcibly mobilized every last bit of chakra he had left. The ground split into deep chasms, and countless hands of sand reached out from below to grab Deidara.

But Deidara had long since studied this move inside and out.

"The same move won't work on an artist twice, hmm."

The bird made an uncanny turn in midair, evading every sand hand at an angle that defied the laws of physics. At the same time, Deidara flung out three clay birds—not at Gaara, but in three different directions, where they crashed into the remaining defensive barrier nodes around Sunagakure.

The third explosion.

The barrier shattered. It was not broken through brute force, but by precisely destroying the core of its energy circulation. Sunagakure's final line of defense was declared destroyed.

And Deidara had already reached Gaara.

"Art is—the beauty of an instant!"

His right hand pressed against Gaara's chest. It was not an attack, but an injection—special clay with powerful anesthetic and sealing effects entered Gaara's body.

Gaara tried to resist, but the chakra within him suddenly stagnated. It was not sealed, but forcibly "solidified" by some power. The clay spores mixed into his defensive sand now served their second purpose: temporarily blocking the flow of chakra.

Three seconds. He lost control for only three seconds.

But that was enough.

Deidara pressed his left hand against Gaara's forehead, and a complex sealing formula was completed in an instant. It was not an ordinary seal, but a preparatory technique specifically designed to extract a Tailed Beast from a Jinchuriki.

The light in Gaara's eyes rapidly faded, and his body went limp. Before he completely lost consciousness, the last things he saw were Deidara's wildly laughing face and, beyond the distant horizon, a larger clay bird flying toward them at high speed.

It was the extraction team.

"Mission complete, hmm." Deidara slung Gaara over his shoulder, leaped onto the incoming bird, and spoke into the communicator at his waist. "Sasori, is the retreat route cleared?"

Sasori's cold, mechanical voice, altered by puppet modifications, came through the communicator. "The guards at the three eastern gates have been eliminated. But Kankuro did not pursue—he chose to hold his position. Sunagakure's response differs from expectations."

"Who cares? We have the target." Deidara did not seem concerned. "Zetsu, 'Sake,' what's the situation at the rendezvous point?"

Behind a sand dune thirty li away, two figures lurked beneath the sand.

No, one figure was lurking. The other... seemed more like it had grown out of the sand.

Zetsu's pitcher-plant form opened and closed slightly above the sand. White Zetsu's half of the face smiled brightly. "Sunagakure has begun dispatching pursuit forces. The one leading them is Chiyo, who had retired from the front lines."

He paused, and Black Zetsu's half of the face continued in a gloomy voice. "And Chiyo is already so old. By all rights, she should not have come out personally. Also, Gaara's brother Kankuro did not join the pursuit."

Neji, disguised as "Sake," listened in silence, but a storm raged within his heart.

In the original story, this capture should have happened half a year later. Now, because of the Akatsuki intelligence he had provided, because the overall timeline had been pushed forward, everything had gone off the rails.

What concerned him even more was Zetsu's last statement: "Kankuro did not pursue."

In the original story, Kankuro had pursued Sasori to save Gaara, only to be poisoned and nearly die. Now, he had chosen to hold Sunagakure—an intelligent decision, but also irrefutable proof that the story had diverged.

"What are you worried about, 'Sake'?" Zetsu suddenly turned, both pairs of eyes fixing on Neji.

Neji's heart tightened, but he maintained Sake's cold expression. "Based on the situation, Kankuro is not the sort of person who would remain calm. And according to intelligence, Sunagakure and Konoha have signed an offensive and defensive alliance. I'm curious who Konoha will send." He then added a baffling remark. "Konoha's ninja are not easy to deal with."

"No need to worry~" White Zetsu said with a grin. "Deidara and Sasori already succeeded. By the time Konoha's people arrive, we'll be a hundred li away. And besides..."

Black Zetsu added ominously, "Besides, this pursuit was part of the plan from the beginning. If Konoha sends people, let them witness the One-Tail being extracted firsthand. Let them feel despair and helplessness. That way... the next act will be even more exciting."

Neji clenched the hand hidden inside his sleeve. He understood Zetsu's implication: Akatsuki did not merely intend to capture the Tailed Beasts. They also intended to use the process to crush the morale of the great shinobi villages and pave the way for more aggressive actions later.

And he had now become an actor in this script.

In the distant sky, Deidara's bird was speeding toward them with the unconscious Gaara. Behind it, several plumes of smoke rose in the direction of Sunagakure—the Sand ninja pursuit force. They were late, but they had finally organized themselves.

"Prepare to receive them." Zetsu sank into the sand, leaving only his voice behind. "'Sake,' you will watch the eastern side. If Konoha's people come from that direction... you know what to do."

Neji nodded and vanished behind the sand dune in a Body Flicker.

He knew what to do—but not what Zetsu wanted him to do.

Standing atop the dune, he quietly activated his Byakugan beneath the disguise lens. Three seconds—no longer. His vision pierced through the sand and dust. Konoha's people could not possibly receive the intelligence and arrive so quickly.

Deidara's bird drew closer and closer. Zetsu emerged from the sand and spread open his pitcher plant—not in an attack stance, but as some kind of signal. Seeing it, the bird began to slow and descend.

And at that exact moment, Neji's Byakugan caught an anomaly from another direction.

It was Sunagakure—but not the main force. Three figures were traveling beneath the sand at incredible speed.

"There's an ambush underground," he said quietly to Zetsu. "Three o'clock, three hundred meters, fifteen meters deep. Three people. Their chakra signatures... Sunagakure Elite Jonin."

Zetsu's pitcher plant turned in that direction. After two seconds of silence, Black Zetsu spoke. "Magnet Release: Sand Iron World Method... The Third Kazekage's human puppet? Sasori, your own villagers have set you up."

Sasori's mechanical voice remained cold through the communicator. "I expected it. That Kankuro brat... has grown up. But it does not matter."

Before his words had faded, three columns of sand shot into the sky. From within them, three differently shaped puppets burst through the sand—not ordinary puppets, but modified versions of Crow, Black Ant, and Ibuse, Kankuro's three secret puppet masterpieces. Their surfaces were covered in a special anti-poison coating.

And they were not controlled by Kankuro himself. They were remotely controlled by three elite Sand Village puppet masters through chakra threads.

"Avenge Lord Kazekage!" One of the puppets let out a mechanical roar. Its chest opened, unleashing countless poisoned needles toward Deidara's descending bird like a torrential rain.

Deidara clicked his tongue and formed a seal with one hand. A mass of clay exploded from the bird's side wing, and the shockwave knocked away most of the poisoned needles. But the impact also threw the bird off balance, sending it spiraling downward.

"Troublesome." Carrying Gaara over his shoulder, Deidara jumped straight from the bird. In midair, he threw out several clay spiders, which stuck to the falling bird.

"Detonate!"

The bird exploded a second time in midair. A massive fireball swallowed the pursuing poisoned needles and temporarily obscured everyone's vision.

And using the blast's shockwave to adjust his direction, Deidara glided toward the rendezvous point where Zetsu and Neji waited.

"Catch!" He threw Gaara toward Zetsu from midair.

Zetsu's pitcher plant opened, vine-like structures extending out to catch the unconscious Gaara securely. At the same time, White Zetsu's half of the mouth began chanting an ancient sealing formula—not a complete seal, but one meant to temporarily suppress the One-Tail's activity and make transportation easier.

And Neji was now faced with a choice.

The three Sand Village puppet masters had broken through the explosion's smoke and dust. Their puppets' blades, poison mist, and sealing tags all locked onto Zetsu, who was in the midst of casting the technique. If Zetsu was interrupted, Gaara might awaken during transport, and the One-Tail might even go berserk.

As Akatsuki's "Sake," he should protect his companions and ensure the mission was completed.

But helping meant revealing more of his strength. Even if he used only the disguised ability of Petrifying Touch, it could still leave a flaw.

In that split second, Neji made his decision.

He stepped forward and pressed both hands to the ground—not Wood Release, not Gentle Fist, but an improved Earth Release combining water and earth attributes, one he had practiced countless times over the past three months while disguising himself as Sake.

"Earth Release: Rock Coffin!"

The ground split open as three cages of stone burst from below, precisely enclosing the three puppets. It was not an attack, but a trap. The stone surfaces rapidly petrified, their hardness instantly tripling—this was the disguised effect of Petrifying Touch.

Three seconds. The cages held the puppets for only three seconds before the poison mist within corroded them apart.

But three seconds were enough.

Zetsu completed the suppression formula. The pitcher plant closed, swallowing Gaara into its inner space. Deidara landed safely as well—somewhat disheveled, but unharmed.

"Retreat." Zetsu sank into the sand, his voice coming from underground. "Sunagakure's pursuit force will be here soon. The mission is complete. There is no need to keep fighting."

Deidara grinned, throwing out several final clay birds as cover before following Zetsu beneath the sand.

Neji gave Konoha's direction one last look—he seemed to catch a glimpse of Kakashi's silver hair flickering through the sandstorm—then turned and vanished into the gradually settling gale.

Mission complete.

The One-Tail had been captured successfully.

But Neji felt no joy whatsoever, only increasingly heavy doubts.

Kankuro's rational response, the timeline shifting forward—would these changes continue to snowball like a butterfly effect until they completely overturned the "original story" he knew?

And how was he, the greatest variable of all, supposed to find the path to the Ten-Tails, to freedom, amid a plot that was spiraling ever further out of control?

Only the traces of battle remained on the sand dune, along with the anxious cries of Konoha's reinforcements drawing ever closer in the distance.

The storm had only just begun.