"Sakyū, are you fucking done yet?"
More and more bloody gashes covered Ōiwa's body, and he felt his movements growing slower and slower.
He couldn't help roaring at Sakyū behind him.
"Ready!"
"Three Treasures Suction Crush!"
Sakyū stacked three puppets together and unleashed Granny Chiyo's signature move!
"Chiyo's technique... what's his relationship to Chiyo?"
Didaze frowned.
Didaze aimed his Wind Blade at the hurricane rushing toward him. Unexpectedly, the Wind Blade wasn't completely sucked in and crushed!
"So it's just a defective version!"
Didaze's Wind Blade wasn't particularly powerful. At any rate, if it had been Chiyo, she definitely would have absorbed every last bit.
In Sakyū's hands, however, the technique was pathetically weak.
"It's about time to end this."
Didaze had already tested the approximate limits of Sakyū's Three Treasures Suction Crush.
"Condensed Wind Blade!"
This was something Didaze had developed himself, adding a large amount of chakra to the original Wind Blade.
Though the Wind Blade itself remained the same size, a huge amount of wind-nature chakra was condensed inside!
As long as this Wind Blade hit, an enormous storm would sweep across the land!
This was also thanks to Didaze's expertise with Clay Bombs. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to create this kind of Condensed Wind Blade.
Didaze charged it for about a second, then swung the Condensed Wind Blade straight ahead!
"Still don't get it? Your attacks are meaningless!"
Sakyū sneered.
Although his Three Treasures Suction Crush couldn't absorb the entire Wind Blade, once it absorbed most of its power, the remaining Wind Blade couldn't hurt him.
And as long as he escaped safely this time, he would continue practicing Three Treasures Suction Crush.
As long as he could fully master the Three Treasures Suction Crush he had stolen, he would never have to fear Sunagakure's pursuers again!
Just as Sakyū was imagining that wonderful moment, the Wind Blade reached the center of Three Treasures Suction Crush.
"Hmph... realized it's useless and given up?"
Sakyū snorted as he watched Didaze lower his hand.
"Three Treasures Suction Crush!"
Sakyū activated Three Treasures Suction Crush again, increasing its suction once more!
"Time to end this!"
Didaze smiled as he watched the Wind Blade reach the three puppets.
"What nonsense are you spouting!"
Sakyū dismissed his words.
But the next second, the Wind Blade burst!
An enormous hurricane engulfed the three puppets!
Almost instantly, the puppets were completely pulverized!
"This... how is this possible!"
Sakyū watched helplessly as his three puppets became a heap of parts on the ground, clutching his head with his eyes bulging!
Meanwhile, Ōiwa had already run.
He figured this pursuer from Sunagakure would surely prioritize Sakyū and probably wouldn't chase him, a missing-nin from Iwagakure.
With that thought in mind, Ōiwa fled even faster.
"Trying to run?"
Didaze boosted his speed with Wind Release. With its enhancement, he reached Ōiwa's side almost instantly!
"Aren't you a pursuer from Sunagakure? What good would capturing me do you!"
"Besides, if I fight to the death, that won't be good for you either!"
Ōiwa gritted his teeth, trying to reason with Didaze.
He really didn't want to die. He hadn't lived long enough yet!
"Take a guess."
Didaze replied casually and reached straight out to grab Ōiwa!
"Earth Release: Earth Flow River!"
Ōiwa immediately channeled his remaining chakra, unleashing Earth Release: Earth Flow River at Didaze in an attempt to wash him away!
But just as Ōiwa formed the final hand seal, Umu appeared behind him and knocked him unconscious with a blow from her hand.
"Oh? Your timing was pretty good!"
Looking at the unconscious Ōiwa, Didaze smiled and spoke to Umu.
"Of course! I was watching you the whole time!"
Umu smiled, seemingly very pleased by Didaze's praise.
"What should we do with this one..."
Looking at Sakyū lying on the ground, Didaze rubbed his chin in thought.
"Lord Didaze, why not have him come to Iwagakure and hand over the Puppet Technique? If he hands it over, we won't turn him over to Sunagakure."
Umu offered an idea.
"That's a good one!"
Didaze considered it seriously and found Umu's idea very reasonable!
Although having Sakyū teach Sunagakure's Puppet Technique would leave them far inferior to Sunagakure, they didn't need to measure themselves against Sunagakure, did they?
The other villages didn't even have the Puppet Technique. Those were the ones they should measure themselves against!
Besides, Iwagakure and Sunagakure weren't on particularly good terms. If a stretch of territory belonging to neither side hadn't separated them, they would definitely have gone to war frequently.
If they could make things unpleasant for the other side, what reason was there not to?
"All right, let's go."
"Clay Giant Bird!"
Didaze molded a Giant Bird from clay, then placed the unconscious Ōiwa and Sakyū on it.
"You... you're Iwagakure's Bomb Maniac, Didaze!"
Sakyū was horrified. He finally recognized him!
He now regretted acting together with Ōiwa more than anything.
If he had been alone, he might have been chased around, but he definitely wouldn't have been captured!
Sunagakure didn't have the resources to send powerful shinobi all over the world to catch him.
This time, Ōiwa had really screwed him over!
"What Bomb Maniac? Call me that again and you can look forward to being tortured in Iwagakure!"
Hearing that damned nickname, Didaze's face immediately darkened.
If he found out who had come up with that name, he would beat them to death himself!
"Yes, yes, of course..."
Sakyū repeatedly agreed, not daring to contradict Didaze at all.
"Lord Didaze, who should we meet up with first?"
Umu walked over and asked Didaze with a smile.
"Let's find Red Boar and Clown first."
After some thought, Didaze decided to find those two first.
Those two were relatively weaker, so Didaze planned to pick them up first.
"Are you going to knock yourself out, or should I help?"
Without turning his head, Didaze spoke to Sakyū behind him.
"I'll knock myself out... I'll do it myself..."
Sakyū smiled ingratiatingly, then punched himself in the head.
Sakyū swayed and collapsed, falling beside Ōiwa.
Didaze nodded in satisfaction.
Then Didaze steered the Clay Giant Bird in the direction Red Boar and the others had left.
Meanwhile, elsewhere.
"Two million ryō. Better than nothing."
As Red Boar and Clown traveled, they suddenly heard a voice, and their hair stood on end!
They sensed extreme danger!
"Takigakure's S-rank missing-nin, Kakuzu!"
The instant Clown turned and saw this person, cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
"Hand over your forehead protectors and masks, and I'll spare your lives."
Kakuzu addressed the two of them.
The black market offered bounties on every village's Anbu, but because there were so many of them, the prices were generally low.
Even though some Anbu were very strong, the prices never rose because there were always weak ones.
And black-market Anbu bounties didn't require heads, but forehead protectors and masks. As long as you had those two things, you could claim an Anbu bounty.
Because no one knew what the Anbu actually looked like underneath, someone could simply kill a few civilians and claim they were Anbu without any problem.
The mask was the main thing. Masks were made of special materials that could prevent sensory detection and so on, and they weren't cheap to make, generally costing several hundred thousand.
However, their protection against sensory detection only worked within certain limits. Up close, the wearer could still be detected.
But it was worth noting that only the Five Great Nations' Anbu were on the bounty list. Small nations' Anbu didn't qualify.
Because small nations basically didn't have Anbu.
And the highest-priced Anbu were Konoha's, at three million each, while the lowest were Sunagakure's, at five hundred thousand each.