In a stretch of cratered sand, fragments of a fan and the wreckage of puppets lay scattered everywhere. Temari and Kankuro lay on the ground, their fates unknown.
Sasori, who had been watching from the sidelines, saw that the battle was over and took a few slow steps forward. "Why didn't you kill them?"
Deidara said in surprise, "Hey, Sasori, these two are ninja from your village. You really want to kill them?"
Deidara held Sasori in considerable respect. Though he had claimed it was hard to judge how much force to use, he had actually held back. Otherwise, once he unleashed his C4 Karura, nanometer-level bombs invisible to the naked eye would disperse into the air. Unless his opponents possessed absolute defense or special eye power, this move could kill them without them even knowing how they had died.
Sasori glanced at the two lying motionless on the ground and said as he walked, "Then let's go. Hardly anyone comes here anyway. With the sun beating down on them, they won't live much longer."
"What about the oasis? Aren't we going to take a look?" Deidara asked.
Sasori replied, "We've already wasted too much time. Let's seal the One-Tail first. There'll be another chance."
"All right." Though Deidara felt somewhat disappointed, he agreed, and the two disappeared into the sandy terrain together.
After the Chunin Ninja Exams ended, most of the candidates had already returned to their respective villages. Unexpectedly, Tenten's team was still traveling through the desert.
Rock Lee said excitedly, "Tenten, that was fantastic! I never thought you'd be able to find where Shira was carrying out his mission. It's been over two years since we last met, and he's become even stronger. That fight really got my blood pumping!"
Tenten knew Rock Lee's personality all too