"Granny Chiyo, please stop fooling around!"
As Granny Chiyo leaped down from above, Baki and Tsunade both felt a headache coming on. In their eyes, this long-retired veteran of Sunagakure had long since lost any ability to fight.
"Follow me."
Ignoring Temari and Baki's doubts about Granny Chiyo, Sasuke turned and sped off with Naruto and the others. Meanwhile, Granny Chiyo followed close behind.
"Sasuke, you may be a cold little brat, but your judgment is surprisingly sound."
As Granny Chiyo praised Sasuke's discernment, she gained a clearer understanding of the gap between Sunagakure and Konoha.
"Found them. According to the scent trail, the enemy and Gaara should be in here."
After a long trek, Sasuke and the others arrived before an enormous cliff face. A huge boulder blocked the entrance, hiding everything inside from view, but Kakashi's Shinobi dog had pinpointed the enemy's location.
"Gaara!"
The moment Naruto heard Kakashi say Gaara was inside, he summoned his Shadow Clone. An immense amount of chakra gathered in his hand, and he instantly formed a Rasengan several times larger than the ordinary version.
"Big Ball Rasengan!"
The enormous Rasengan slammed into the boulder—or rather, into the barrier surrounding it.
Despite the tremendous power of Naruto's Big Ball Rasengan, his attack failed to budge the enemy's barrier in the slightest.
"Aaaaaah!"
Inside the cave behind the barrier, the enemy was extracting the tailed beast from Gaara's body. His screams echoed through the cave, but those extracting it paid no heed to his suffering until they sensed Naruto's attack on the cave's barrier.
"Our pursuers caught up this quickly?"
A man with the Rinnegan in both eyes was the first to turn his gaze toward the outside of the cliff face.
An enormous stone statue stood in the center of the dark cave.