"They got here much faster than I expected."
The first thing Sasuke and the others saw was, naturally, the eerie, enormous stone statue. The projections standing on it looked at Sasuke and Naruto in the sunlight and could not help remarking on their arrival.
"Is that Sasuke Uchiha? That explains it. Unfortunately, you're still a step too late."
When Naruto, standing beside Sasuke, heard the projection in the cave speak of Sasuke that way, he felt no jealousy. Instead, he felt a touch of nostalgia.
During the Chunin Ninja Exams, Sasuke had been the center of everyone's attention, a formidable opponent everyone wanted to defeat.
Three years had passed, and Sasuke had made a name for himself throughout the Shinobi World. Even the Akatsuki knew of his strength. The thought filled Naruto with excitement, because Sasuke himself had acknowledged him as a rival!
"You bastards, give Gaara back!"
Just as Sasuke and the others burst into the cave, the Akatsuki finished extracting the One-Tail from Gaara's body.
Gaara lay silently on the ground, stripped of the One-Tail. The moment Naruto saw him, he roared in fury.
"That's him, that's him! That blond kid is the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki! Deidara, Sasori, why don't you grab him while you're at it?"
Obito, playing the role of Tobi, naturally recognized Naruto. Seeing that Naruto had delivered himself right to their doorstep, he took the opportunity to make the request of Sasori and Deidara.
"No problem, hmm. You all go on ahead. Leave this to Sasori and me!"
While Deidara spoke, the eerie stone statue had already begun sinking into the ground on its own. At the same time, the projections on its fingers vanished one by one, until Deidara and Sasori were the only two Akatsuki members left in the cave to face Sasuke's