Pursuit

After Might Guy, Rock Lee, Neji, and Tenten removed the talisman, a person who looked exactly like them appeared behind them. The four stared at each other in astonishment, and then the two sides began to fight. Soon, the four realized that the opponent was using the exact same moves as them, and so the two sides were locked in a stalemate.

Deidara rode the giant bird, wrapping Gaara in its tail, and flew through the sky, with Uzumaki Hane following behind, leaping among the branches. Deidara did not speed up, but instead slowly lured Uzumaki Hane towards a certain place.

There was likely a trap ahead. Although Uzumaki Hane wasn't afraid of Deidara, he wouldn't underestimate him either, and naturally wouldn't fall into his trap. With a leap, his right hand transformed into molten lava, blasting towards the sky. A Rock Fist instantly struck the giant bird, followed by a deafening boom as the bird exploded. Deidara hadn't expected Uzumaki Hane's strength to increase so much and couldn't dodge in time, stumbling out of the dust and plummeting downwards. Deidara quickly conjured a clay giant bird with his right hand, catching himself and Gaara, and continued flying forward.

Deidara stood atop the giant bird, gazing intently at Uzumaki Hane, and said, "It seems your strength has increased considerably. I underestimated you, Uzumaki Hane."

Before Uzumaki Hane could respond, Naruto's voice came from behind. "Damn it, put Gaara down! I'm going to beat you to a pulp today!" Soon, Naruto rushed to Uzumaki Hane's side, quickly Hand Seals, "Shadow Clone Technique!" Four Shadow Clone appeared around him.

Five Naruto roared and leaped into the sky. Deidara had already calculated the height when he hovered the giant bird in the air, making it difficult for anyone to touch it. However, the Naruto, one after another, managed to throw one of Naruto onto Deidara's head. Naruto glared angrily at Deidara and kicked Deidara.

Deidara was caught off guard, but reacted quickly, conjuring a small bird in his right hand. In the blink of an eye, the bird flew in front of Naruto, and then Deidara shouted, "Hah!" With a bang, the small bird exploded.

In the smoke and dust, Naruto's four clones had already turned into smoke and disappeared. Naruto's main body fell from the sky. Before Uzumaki Hane could make a move, a figure flashed and caught Naruto, landing him steadily on a tree trunk. It was Kakashi who had arrived.

Naruto stood on the tree trunk, covered in dust and dirt. He had avoided the center of the explosion and was therefore unharmed.

Naruto said, "Kakashi-sensei, I'm fine."

Uzumaki Hane shouted, "Since you've stopped, don't move!" He unleashed a Rock Fist with his right hand, instantly reaching the giant bird's body.

Deidara was prepared. He steered his giant bird in a circle, dodging the Uzumaki Hane's Rock Fist, and then soared into the sky, continuing to fly forward.

Naruto quickly took out a scroll, pulled it open, and out came a giant Shuriken. Naruto picked up the Shuriken and threw it at Deidara in the sky.

Deidara seemed to notice Naruto's movement, a smirk playing on his lips. He steered the giant bird beneath his feet to the side, dodging the Shuriken.

Then, Deidara controlled the giant bird to hover in the air and said, "Can you all come out and chase me? Let me make it clear first, Brother Sasori is much stronger than me, although our artistic ideas are completely opposite, hmm." After saying that, he made a handful of white Clay Spider with both hands and threw them downwards.

Deidara formed a hand seal, and "Hmm," white Clay Spider expanded, covering the tree trunk and blocking the way for Uzumaki Hane and the other two. They crawled densely towards the three of them.

Uzumaki Hane said, "Kakashi-sensei, this is Deidara. I'll leave these to you."

Kakashi's eyes no longer held their usual laziness. His opponent had single-handedly infiltrated the Sand Ninja, captured the Kazekage, and escaped unscathed; he couldn't afford to underestimate him.

Thinking it over, Kakashi said, "Looks like I'll have to go all out." He pulled down his eyepatch, revealing his Three-Tomoe Sharingan, then gathered lightning Chakra in his hands, which crackled with lightning as he shot out countless lightning needles forward.

This was something Kakashi had specially developed to capture Deidara in the Land of Demons. Under the control of Kakashi's Sharingan, the densely packed lightning rods accurately struck all the white spiders.

Deidara, somewhat exasperated, said, "Damn it, how dare you ruin my great art!" He then steered the giant bird and flew away quickly.

Seeing Deidara leave quickly, Naruto immediately shouted, "Damn it, leave Gaara behind!" He quickly followed after him, Uzumaki Hane followed immediately after as well.

Kakashi frowned, somewhat worried about Sakura and the others. As he walked forward, he spoke into the radio, "Gay, how are things on your end?"

Upon hearing Kakashi's voice, Might Guy kicked away the Might Guy in front of him and said, "Kakashi, we've fallen into their trap, but we'll get through it soon."

Kakashi said, "Then hurry up and finish this, I need your support for Sakura."

Might Guy said, "No problem, Kakashi, youth is all about passion, ah!" Might Guy was completely fired up, leaping up and kicking the fake Might Guy, sending him staggering backward. After landing, he quickly charged at the fake Might Guy, and for a moment, he completely overwhelmed the fake Might Guy.

Meanwhile, Deidara, riding his giant bird, looked back at the three pursuers, including Uzumaki Hane. Deidara murmured, "An artist who doesn't seek stimulation will become dull. Uzumaki Hane, I hope you can give me enough stimulation so I can create even more artistic works, hmm." At this moment Deidara's face was full of excitement.

Deidara flew ahead, with Uzumaki Hane and the other two in hot pursuit. During this time, Deidara kept releasing Explosive Clay, but Kakashi used Lightning Release to subdue them all, which greatly annoyed Deidara.

Just as Kakashi subdued the attacking birds, Deidara suddenly swooped down, grabbed Gaara, and leaped off the giant bird. He then conjured another giant bird with his right hand, carrying Gaara into the air.

The giant bird charged at Uzumaki Hane and the other two, and exploded violently in front of them. Instantly, Kakkō soared into the sky, and smoke and dust billowed everywhere.

Deidara looked down at the area shrouded in smoke and dust, and said, "I deliberately used a much more powerful clay, at least twice as powerful as before. Even if they don't die, they'll be seriously injured."

No sooner had he finished speaking than Uzumaki Hane burst out of the dust, completely unharmed. Next came Naruto and Kakashi, though both of them were covered in soot.