Arrival

On a mountain peak, Itachi and Kisame sat atop a massive rock. Kisame looked at Itachi and said, "Itachi, it seems you've been defeated too."

"If my power and Chakra hadn't been restricted, I wouldn't have been defeated so easily by that brat Uzumaki Hane." Kisame said with a murderous intent in his eyes, unwilling to accept defeat.

Uchiha Itachi remained expressionless and said, "This is enough to buy time." His deep eyes gazed into the distance, and no one knew what he was thinking. After a long while, Uchiha Itachi slowly closed his eyes.

The Demonic Statue of the Outer Path —the sealing of everyone was almost complete. Uchiha Itachi and Kisame opened their eyes.

Pain said, "They're back. It seems the spell has been lifted, but it's bought us enough time."

Upon hearing Pain's words, Sasori of the Red Sand immediately retorted, "It's not that simple. Those are all my subordinates." Clearly, Sasori of the Red Sand was unhappy about Pain sacrificing his men.

Pain didn't care. For his ideals, he was willing to sacrifice even his own teacher, let alone a few of Sasori of the Red Sand's subordinates. Pain said, "Then you should thank me, because my Shapeshifting Technique allowed them to temporarily become members of Akatsuki."

Sasori of the Red Sand fell silent again, and the space fell silent once more.

After an unknown amount of time, they finally managed to separate Shukaku from Gaara's body.

Everyone, including the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, slowly disappeared, leaving only Sasori of the Red Sand, Deidara, and the already dead Gaara.

Deidara said, "Kisame said that Uzumaki Hane is also coming this time. We should prepare some gifts for him."

Sasori of the Red Sand said, "Be careful. This time it's not just Uzumaki Hane, there are other ninjas too. Don't let it be like last time, where you were caught off guard and defeated by the priestess of the Land of Demons." After saying that, Sasori of the Red Sand thought of Chiyo also coming, and some thoughts flickered in his mind.

Deidara said, "Hmph, this time I'll definitely show Uzumaki Hane Yu the art of explosion, hmm."

Meanwhile, Uzumaki Hane and the others finally arrived. Seeing that the cave entrance was blocked by a huge rock, Neji activated his Byakugan to observe the situation inside. However, unlike in the original story, only Deidara and the other two remained. Neji explained the situation to them.

Might Guy said, "Leave this to me." Might Guy shouted and rushed to the front of the rock, punching it hard, but the force was absorbed by something, and the rock Fudō.

Uzumaki Hane said, "This is Five-Seal Barrier, formed by five talismans inscribed with forbidden words, pasted in five different places around it. Only by simultaneously removing all five talismans can this barrier be broken."

Chiyo and Kakashi both said in unison, "I feel the same way."

Uzumaki Hane said, "Neji, the other rune positions are yours."

Neji said, "No problem." Then he activated his Byakugan and told him the locations of the other four talismans.

Uzumaki Hane then looked at Might Guy and said, "Teacher Kaido, you should have a radio with you, right? Using a radio from this location is perfectly fine."

"Yu, how did you know I had a radio?" Might Guy, taking out the radio.

Uzumaki Hane said, "Then Neji take command."

Might Guy said, "We'll take care of the four surrounding areas." Everyone agreed, took their radios, adjusted them, and then Might Guy and his team moved out in all directions.

Sakura said, "I'll take care of the talismans here."

Under Neji's command, the seal was broken.

Immediately afterward, Sakura shouted and smashed the boulder at the cave entrance with a punch, Uzumaki Hane and the others immediately entered the cave.

However, on the other side, Might Guy and his companions, just like in the original story, fell into the enemy's trap. Suddenly, an identical person appeared beside them. Might Guy three companions stared at the person in surprise and became fully on guard.

Inside the cave, Naruto, seeing Gaara lying on the ground, shouted angrily, "You bunch of bastards, I'm going to beat you all to a pulp!"

However, Sasori of the Red Sand and Deidara's gazes were not on Naruto; they were both staring at Uzumaki Hane with murderous intent.

Uzumaki Hane smiled and said, "You two, it's been a long time." As the saying goes, enemies meeting are bound to be furious, and the two of them exuded a terrifying killing intent.

Uzumaki Hane glanced at Deidara, then turned his gaze to Sasori of the Red Sand, and said, "I didn't expect that I didn't kill you that day. When I first heard the news, I couldn't believe it. How exactly did you escape back then?"

Sasori of the Red Sand did not answer Uzumaki Hane's question, but said coldly, "I have never liked waiting for others, but I have waited so long to kill you. Today, I will let your blood wash away my shame."

Uzumaki Hane said, "Unfortunately, today, your opponent is not me." With that, Uzumaki Hane stepped aside, revealing Chiyo behind him.

Chiyo looked at Sasori of the Red Sand and said, "It's been a long time, Sasori. I've missed you terribly, my grandson."

Sasori of the Red Sand looked at Chiyo and said, "Old woman, it has indeed been a long time."

Naruto's anger was now uncontrollable. If Uzumaki Hane hadn't held Naruto back, Naruto would have already charged forward and started a fierce battle.

Deidara stared intently at Uzumaki Hane, knowing he couldn't fight her here. After all, he would have to go all out against Uzumaki Hane alone, and the other ninjas nearby were also very strong. With that in mind, Deidara rode his giant bird, carrying Gaara, and quickly left.

Uzumaki Hane knew that Deidara was deliberately trying to lure her away, but confident in her own strength, Uzumaki Hane chased after him without hesitation.

Seeing that Deidara had taken Gaara away, Naruto quickly gave chase.

Chiyo said, "This is a feud between our grandfather and grandson. Kakashi, go and bring back the Kazekage."

Upon hearing this, Kakashi said, "Then I'll leave this to you." With that, he flashed and chased after them. Sakura, however, didn't move, saying, "Let me help you, Granny Chiyo."

Sasori of the Red Sand said, "Chiyo, you've grown old." His tail ripped against his trench coat, revealing a puppet inside—exactly the same as the Hiruko of the Sasori of the Red Sand had used before, Hiruko. Tensions rose between them, and the atmosphere grew heavy.

Sasori of the Red Sand not only rebuilt Hiruko, but also made general modifications to it, increasing its power by at least double.

Sakura stared at Hiruko in astonishment, wondering what was going on. Chiyo, noticing Sakura's confusion, explained, "As everyone knows, our weakness as puppeteers is our bodies, so he hid himself inside that puppet."

Sakura said, "What?"

Chiyo said, "Once you break that puppet, you can find its true form. The rest is up to you, Sakura. If it's Princess Tsunade's Chakra Enhanced Strength, you should be able to break that puppet." As she spoke, Chiyo recalled the image of Sakura smashing the boulder with a single punch.