Akatsuki's revenge: Deidara bombs the Northern Hideout...

On Blue Moon Island, Sasuke soaked in a natural hot spring, washing away the fatigue of his fierce battle. Orochimaru sat on a rock beside the spring in a loose white yukata, admiring the blue moonlight overhead.

Splashing water over his shoulders, Sasuke asked, "Are you really going to keep your promise to deliver Sasori's message to Granny Chiyo?"

Orochimaru said, "Of course. Kabuto has already gone to take care of it. He once worked as a spy for Sunagakure, so this sort of thing is child's play for him..."

Sasuke said, "I see. About my opponent for the Second Match..."

Whoosh!

As he spoke, a black vortex swirled into existence, and Kabuto returned.

Orochimaru turned his eyes toward him. "Finished?"

Kabuto looked grave. "Sorry, Lord Orochimaru. The matter with Granny Chiyo may have to wait!"

Orochimaru's gaze sharpened. "What happened?"

Kabuto said grimly, "I just received a report from our northern informant. Deidara of Akatsuki and another unidentified, masked Akatsuki member have appeared near the Northern Hideout!"

Orochimaru thought, A masked Akatsuki member? Has Obito stepped out into the open ahead of schedule? It seems Sasori's death at Sasuke-kun's hands has changed Akatsuki's course...

Splash!

Sasuke stopped washing. "The Northern Hideout—I remember Jugo was there!"

Kabuto Yakushi adjusted his glasses. "Not just Jugo. Karin and Suigetsu are there right now too. After all, at this stage, the Cursed Seal is still an important research project for Lord Orochimaru. Naturally, it's heavily guarded..."

Orochimaru said in a low voice, "There's a delay between a sighting and the report reaching us. I'm afraid the Northern Hideout may already be..."

Splash! Sasuke climbed out of the spring and hurriedly dressed without even drying himself!

Orochimaru asked, "Are you going?"

Once dressed, with the Kusanagi Sword at his side, Sasuke said, "They're all people I knew. Whatever way you look at it, I can't leave them to die!"

Kabuto Yakushi said, "Fortunately, the Northern Hideout also has a Blade Reversal mark..."

Orochimaru jumped off the rock and landed beside Kabuto. "Let's go..."

When the three emerged from the Blade Reversal vortex, the Northern Hideout, renowned as a fortress, had already been reduced to rubble. Terrifying traces of explosions scarred the earth, and even the terrain had changed.

Orochimaru said, "With this much power, was it Deidara's C3?"

Kabuto Yakushi said, "Damn it, we're still too late..."

Sasuke said, "Karin has unrivaled sensory abilities. There's no reason she wouldn't notice powerful enemies approaching. If she knew she couldn't win, she would run!"

"Then let's confirm it with the sensory abilities of the Second Hokage inside the Shinigami's belly!"

Orochimaru immediately raised two fingers. Whoosh! The haori of his Shinigami Unbound Mode replaced the yukata he had been too rushed to change out of!

His perception spread across a range comparable to Naruto's future Sage Mode, leaving no Chakra signature within it anywhere to hide!

"Karin is still alive. She's in the woods twenty kilometers away, at nine o'clock. She's deliberately concealed her Chakra. Deidara and Obito are circling above the Forest, apparently searching for her..."

Sasuke's expression shifted. "What about Jugo and Suigetsu?"

Orochimaru lowered his hand seal and shook his head regretfully. "I can't sense any trace of their Chakra..."

"..." Sasuke knew all too well what that meant.

He clenched his fists, his heart bleeding.

"There's no time to lose. Let's save Karin!"

Above the forest, Deidara rode his C2 Dragon, searching for a glimpse of red hair through the Miniature Telescope over his left eye. Tobi, who had already grown familiar with Deidara along the way, gesticulated wildly as he showered him with flattery. "Your explosive art is absolutely amazing, senpai! One bang, and you blew the whole hideout sky-high!"

Deidara thoroughly enjoyed the praise. "Hmph, naturally. No one in Akatsuki is better at destroying strongholds than I am! Speaking of which, you took care of the other two who ran away, right?"

Tobi pointed his thumb at himself. "Hehe... I may not look it, senpai, but I'm pretty capable too!"

Deidara put on the airs of a senior. "You've still got a long way to go if that's all you can do, hmm!"

Tobi thumped his chest. "I'll follow closely in your footsteps, senpai, and work hard to become Akatsuki's newest member soon!"

After several passes with no sign of Karin, Deidara grew increasingly irritable. "Damn it, where did that red-haired woman run off to? Get out here and experience my art already!"

Hidden among the shifting shadows of the trees, Karin pressed her back against a trunk and watched the giant bird hovering overhead through gaps in the leaves, fear and anxiety churning inside her. Damn it... that relentless bomb freak! Is he still not going to give up? Where did Orochimaru find this walking disaster?

"Forget it... I'm done searching."

Deidara plunged both hands into the Ninja Tool Pouches at his waist. Smack, smack! The mouths in his palms chewed the clay.

"I'll use C3 again and flatten that woman along with this forest. Hmm, that's what I'll do!"

Before long, the strikingly postmodern clay doll took shape in his hands once more!

Deidara turned his hand over and let the doll fall, then formed a two-finger hand seal. With a poof, the doll grew enormous!

C3 No. 18!

Another one of those bombs he used to destroy the hideout!!!

At the sight, Karin's mind reeled.

Clutching her head, Karin screamed inwardly in helpless despair. Why... I don't want to die in a place like this! Someone save me!

"Karin." Just then, a calm voice came from above.

"Huh?"

Karin looked up. A boy in white stood on a treetop with his hands behind his back.

Whoosh!

A gust of wind swept past, and that vaguely familiar figure instantly sent Karin's thoughts flying back!

The figure above her gradually overlapped with the one who had saved her from a wild beast in the Forest of Death during Konoha's Chunin Ninja Exams half a year ago!

"Y-you're...!!!"

"Don't be afraid. I'm here to save you..."

Sasuke reached out and drew the Kusanagi Sword.

Karin cried, "That's a bomb!! You'll die too! Run!!!"

"Don't worry. I won't die..."

Crackle...!

Lightning coiled around the Kusanagi Sword as he hurled it toward the falling clay doll!

Lightning Release: Heavenly Blade!

Deidara's Explosion Release clay became inert when struck by Lightning Release. Aside from his self-destruction, every trick he had was child's play to Sasuke now!

So... Deidara wasn't even worthy of being Sasuke's practice partner anymore!

"Art is an Explosion... detonate!!!"

The instant Deidara shouted "detonate," the lightning-clad Kusanagi Sword pierced No. 18 with pinpoint accuracy, silencing the explosion and splitting the doll in two!

"What...!?"

Through the gap in No. 18... Deidara saw the boy standing in the tree!!

"That brat knows my explosive art's greatest weakness! Who is he?!!!!"

Tobi said, "Uchiha Sasuke."

Deidara was so shocked that he failed to notice Tobi's suddenly serious tone.

Deidara exclaimed, "So that's Sasuke Uchiha, the one who killed old man Sasori!!! No wonder—those eyes, the Sharingan! He looks down on my art just like Itachi does. Damn him!! I'll kill him right here!!!"

Snap!

Once again, Deidara thrust both hands into his Ninja Tool Pouches!!!

Karin cried, "Watch out! He's going to attack again!!!"

"Enough..."

Bzz! Sasuke's eyes shifted straight into the Mangekyo!

Boom!

The Crow Tengu Susanoo manifested at once!

A massive arrow burning with black flames settled onto the bowstring!

Deidara stared in horror. "What... is that!?"

Susanoo: Kagutsuchi!

Boom! Trailing a wave of heat, the black-flame arrow tore through the air!

Deidara cried, "Oh no...!!!"

Behind his mask, Obito's eyes darkened. "He really has surprised me. If I hadn't seen it myself, who would believe he could have grown this much in so little time..."

Shhk!

The black-flame arrow pierced the dragon beneath them, detonating it instantly!!

BOOOOM...!!

After the explosion... neither Deidara nor Tobi could be seen in the sky.

"Ugh..."

Sasuke's Mangekyo faded. He covered his eyes as his vision blurred!

Has the visual power I used against Sasori still not recovered...?

"Are you all right?" Karin's concerned voice came from behind him.

"I'm fine..."

Sasuke discreetly brushed Karin's hand off his shoulder.

Orochimaru and Kabuto landed before him.

Kabuto asked, "Did you finish them off?"

Shhk! Sasuke slid the Kusanagi Sword back into its sheath and spoke in a low voice.

"With Obito there, I doubt they'd die that easily. Let's take Karin to Blue Moon Island. We can settle this score later..."