"Huh? He's still alive!"
"Not a single one of them died, okay?" Scorpion revealed mercilessly.
"Don't deny my art. Kakashi's Lightning Release was effective against my Clay Bomb, but things are different now."
Deidara reached into his ninja tool pouch again. "I won't let him have a chance to touch it."
With air superiority secured, Deidara regained his confidence; the limitations imposed on him inside the cave had restricted his power.
Soon, he sculpted a small doll and tossed it down.
C3 No. 18, infused with the highest level of Explosion Release Chakra, was large enough to destroy a small village.
What is that?
Kakashi has exceptionally good eyesight; he spotted Deidara throwing down a small doll from a great distance.
The small doll suddenly grew larger and landed vertically above everyone's heads, causing a terrifying explosion. A huge orange fireball covered an area of hundreds of meters around it.
Rumble...
"You're kidding, right!"
Sakura looked up at the sky, and a scorching wave of air rushed towards her. She was stunned and subconsciously looked at Kakashi.
Kakashi frowned as well. Despite his repeated attempts to stop them, the opponents still managed to gain air superiority and establish an overwhelming advantage over them.
"These Akatsuki members are really something." Chiyo remained calm as ever.
She's quite old and not afraid of death at all; she never intended to go back alive after coming out this time.
At the critical moment, thick wooden vines rose from all directions, weaving and layering to form a hemispherical protective layer.
" Wood Release ·Tree Boundary Wall"
Wood Release's defensive capabilities are even stronger than Earth Release's. As long as Chakra is continuously inputted, it can be continuously replenished, allowing it to successfully withstand the explosion.
"Captain Yamato, you're here too."
"Well, the Fifth Hokage was worried, so he sent me to help you," Yamato said casually.
In fact, Yamato had been secretly following Naruto with the Anbu, and he and Kakashi protected Naruto together.
"Senior, the enemy is flying in the air. We lack long-range strike capabilities, and I'm afraid we'll have to let them escape."
There's nothing we can do about that.
Kakashi, however, was thinking to himself, 'I wonder how Guy is doing?'
Whoosh whoosh whoosh...
Suddenly, a cluster of dense sparks flew out from not far away. Everyone looked in the direction of the source and saw a peacock spreading its wings and flying.
" Morning Peacock "
This isn't a real spark, but rather an air cannon created by the friction of a high-speed punch striking the air, possessing astonishing long-range attack power.
Bang!
The Clay Bird in the sky could not avoid this saturation attack and were hit and fell down on the spot.
"Watch out, a formidable opponent is coming," Scorpion warned.
"Another Konoha ninja, hmm."
Deidara also sensed trouble; the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki's team was proving to be more difficult than anticipated.
"Do it!"
When Kakashi saw that Might Guy had also arrived, he immediately decided to launch a final attack on the two Akatsuki members.
" Wood Release: Thorn Killing Technique."
Yamato launched the first attack on the two who had landed, raising wooden pillars around Deidara and Sasori's landing point to prevent their escape, while vines twisted and bound them.
" Lightning Blade!"
Taking advantage of his opponent being bound by Wood Release, Kakashi charged forward, his hands crackling with blue lightning.
Thud...
Sasori's body shattered into several small modules before Kakashi's Lightning Blade arrived, scattering and breaking free from the Wood Release's restraints.
Kakashi's attack missed, and then he saw Sasori rapidly reforming himself beside him, prompting him to exclaim, "What on earth is this thing?"
On the other side, Deidara faced the raging ' Konoha Strong Whirlwind ', but fortunately he used the Clay Substitution Technique to dodge it, avoiding being blown in the head.
" Iron Sand World Method "
Without hesitation, Sasori launched the Third Human Puppet's strongest attack. Fine Iron Sand, condensed by Magnet Release, rapidly coalesced into a dense, root-like iron net that scattered and exploded in all directions.
Earth Release: Multiple Earth-Style Walls
Kakashi quickly raised several Earth-Style Wall around the group to provide protection and buy them time.
Water Release: Water Severing Wave
Yamato Hand Seals, and a high-pressure water jet shot from his mouth, sweeping across the iron mesh and severing it.
"It's no use. This is the Third Kazekage's Magnet Release ability. You need to destroy his body and remove the source of the magnetism, otherwise he will keep attacking," Chiyo warned.
Upon hearing this, Might Guy opened the Eight Gates Released Formation again without hesitation. "There's no other way, Gate of Wonder - Open."
A surge of violent Chakra erupted from his body, and he began to compress air blasts with his hands together. The terrifying power was still chilling even from a great distance.
"Old man, it's that guy again."
Deidara created small bird bombs in an attempt to disrupt Might Guy's rhythm, but found that the birds couldn't even fly over and were overturned by the airflow.
He turned to create a large flying bird, intending to take off and escape the attack range, but was stopped by Scorpion: "It's no use. As long as this guy is here, we can't fly."
"What should we do then?"
"Hmph, such a powerful move must have taken a lot of stamina. Just get through this."
" Daytime Tiger "
The air blast transformed into a white tiger's head the instant it was released, lunging at the Third Kazekage Human Puppet.
roar...
The dense iron netting that had been built around the perimeter crumbled like paper, and not a single grain of Iron Sand could be found.
Bang!
The Third Kazekage's Human Puppet was shattered by a single blow from the tiger's mouth and vanished completely.
Scorpion had no time to feel sorry for himself. He quickly hid in the Hiruko, his tail plunging into the ground. He turned around and used the Kimen on his back to take the hit head-on.
After the storm subsided, only Hiruko's Kimen and scorpion tail remained; the rest of her body had vanished.
Scorpion, hiding behind the Kimen, exclaimed, "Such powerful strength... this move looks familiar."
Deidara popped his head out of the ground beside him, shaking off the dirt on his head. "That guy seems to be exhausted."
"That's true, I'm better at a war of attrition."
Scorpion took out the scroll containing the Red Secret Technique and unsealed the numerous Human Puppet inside.
Puff puff puff...
In the blink of an eye, the sky was filled with Human Puppet. Sasori opened the flap on his right chest and released Chakra Threads to connect with these puppets.
"Are puppeteers this strong?" Sakura exclaimed in shock.
"Scorpion is hailed as a genius puppeteer of Sunagakure; I never imagined he'd reached this level."
Chiyo sighed, took out a scroll from her body, and released the Chikamatsu Collection of Ten Puppets to fight against Sasori's puppets.
" Multiple Shadow Clone Technique "
Naruto immediately followed up with his Multiple Shadow Clone, each wielding Rasengan and charging forward. Dealing with this number of enemies was his specialty.
Boom boom boom...
The battle between the two sides was comparable to a small-scale campaign, and was extremely fierce.
"Huff... huff... age catches up with you." Might Guy stood there, too exhausted to move. He wouldn't have been in this state when he used this move in his early twenties.
Yamato asked doubtfully, "Senior, shouldn't we go up and help?"
"Need not."
Another objective of this mission is to train Naruto's combat experience, something Jiraiya emphasized.
"By the way... did that guy named Deidara just pop up from underground again?"
"Yes, what's wrong?"
"Run!" Kakashi had learned his lesson once, so he grabbed Sakura and ran to the side.
Yamato mounted Might Guy and followed closely behind.
" Art is an Explosion, drink!"
boom!!!
The earth churned, and rocks flew everywhere, like a volcanic eruption. To ensure the best effect, Deidara mixed the clay with the highest concentration of Chakra.
Sakura Haruno was struck by several pebbles in succession. Her fair skin and delicate flesh could not withstand such torment, and she let out a scream, "Ah..."
" Sakura!"
Upon hearing this, Naruto was immediately enraged. First, his best friend Gaara was injured, and then his sweetheart was hurt.
Within the Sealing Jutsu, Nine-Tails seized the opportunity to urge, "Kid, do you need my Chakra? Take it."
At this moment, Naruto only wanted power and didn't care about anything else. He actively absorbed the Nine-Tails 'Chakra and entered Partial Tailed Beast Transformation mode.
"Six... six tails?!"
Kakashi was the first to panic. When Jiraiya gave him the talisman, he clearly stated that the sealing power contained within could only suppress the state of four tails at most.
"Senior, it's alright. The Lord Hokage arranged for me to follow along to prevent any unforeseen circumstances," Yamato reminded him.
Kakashi felt slightly relieved after hearing Yamato's words. "I was afraid Naruto would completely lose control, and even the two of us working together wouldn't be able to seal him."
"I don't think so."
Yamato followed Kakashi's gaze and saw Naruto tilting his head back, gathering Chakra.
Glug... Glug...
Blue Yang Release Chakra and purplish-black Yin Release Chakra condense together, mixed and compressed in a Yin-Yang ratio of 2:8.
"To be able to fuse such a high density of Chakra, could this be..."
"It's Tailed Beast Bomb!"
Meanwhile, Sasori, who was fighting Chiyo, naturally noticed Naruto's movements and quickly shouted, " Deidara, stop him!"
Deidara sculpted a python out of clay and threw it at Naruto, intending to interrupt the jutsu's progress.
puff...
Suddenly, several vines shot up from the ground, wrapped around the python's body, and exploded on the spot.
"Don't even think about succeeding." Yamato and stopped Deidara.
Even the usually cheerful Deidara couldn't quite manage a laugh now, "We're doomed, old man... you're going to die!"
Capturing Jinchūriki is an extremely dangerous mission; one wrong move and someone could die.
Ding ding ding...!!
Sasori was wildly waving his hands, manipulating the puppets and Chiyo's Chikamatsu Collection of Ten Puppets to slash at them. Seeing this, he quickly stopped and retreated with Deidara.
After this battle, dozens of Human Puppet remained, which were stacked into a human wall to block their way.
The puppets stretched out their hands and gathered Chakra in front of them to form a shield. Dozens of small shields were pieced together to form a thick, honeycomb-shaped Chakra shield.
It looks very reassuring.
"You always have a way with things, haha..."
"Let fate decide," Scorpion replied truthfully.
"Uh..." Deidara knew Sasori had run out of tricks when he saw this situation.
He was being watched by a Wood Release and a Lightning Release. Lightning counters Earth Release, and Wood also counters Earth Release. If he dared to use Earth Release to run underground again, he would definitely be in trouble.
Flying into the sky? That would make you a sitting duck in front of Tailed Beast Bomb Ball.
There was truly no way out, neither to heaven nor to hell.
call out!!
The Tailed Beast Bomb, carrying a destructive aura, hurtled towards the two. The Human Puppet ' combined Chakra shield shattered like glass before the Tailed Beast Bomb.
In an instant, spare parts flew everywhere, and the scorpion's hard work was reduced to ashes.
"Tch! It's a pity that the Third's puppet was destroyed by that bastard, otherwise, if he had condensed Iron Sand into a protective shield, maybe he could have..." Sasori thought with some resentment.