Kabuto Yakushi's hideout had been razed to the ground by the explosion!
Dozens of kilometers away.
The reincarnated Kimimaro poured blood from a bottle he carried with him. This was a contingency Kabuto Yakushi had prepared in case something went wrong!
He formed the Summoning Seal and pressed his palm against the ground.
Poof!
Amid a huge cloud of smoke, the corpse of a summoned snake far larger than Manda lay sprawled on the ground.
Rustle, rustle, rustle...
The snake's mouth opened, and Kabuto Yakushi and Sasuke walked out!
Sasuke stared at the giant snake's corpse in astonishment. "Is that... Manda? Didn't he already die?"
Kabuto Yakushi's face darkened. "This is 'Second Manda,' whom I painstakingly cultivated from Manda's cells. Both his size and strength surpassed the original Manda's, and now he's been wasted just like that. Damn Deidara, blowing himself up without so much as a word! I'll strip him of his consciousness later and turn him into a completely obedient pawn..."
Sasuke frowned. "What about Naruto?"
Kabuto Yakushi adjusted his glasses. "He has the Flying Thunder God Technique. He can come and go as he pleases. Even if that explosion had been ten times stronger, it couldn't have done anything to him..."
At that, Sasuke's brow relaxed.
Kabuto Yakushi's thoughts raced. Not just the Seven Ninja Swordsmen's blades, but even Kinkaku and Ginkaku's Six Paths Tools were taken by Naruto? Fine. The nine-tails chakra inside Kinkaku and Ginkaku can't regenerate, so they can't unleash those tools' full power anyway. Losing them is no great matter. Using them to deepen the conflict between Naruto and Kumogakure isn't a bad idea...
*Wait... how did the Impure World Reincarnation link between Sasori and me disappear while I wasn't paying attention? Did he just lose to Naruto? Did the blow to his