The Land of Wind.
Here, the sky is still filled with yellow sand.
Two figures, wearing straw hats and draped in cloud-patterned black robes, walked through the yellow sand until they finally reached their destination.
The Hidden Sand Village.
One of the Five Great Countries' Hidden Villages.
The place where the One-Tailed Shukaku resides.
The Akatsuki Organization's plan to collect the Tailed Beasts must be carried out strictly in the order of the number of Tailed Beasts, and now the weakest of the Five Great Countries' Hidden Villages, the Hidden Sand Village, is the first to be targeted.
"Lord Scorpion."
Deidara directly pulled a clay bird from his pocket and tossed it into the air, where it instantly enlarged!
"Leave this to me this time!"
Standing on top of the clay bird, Deidara struck a pose for Red Sand Sasori: "Lord Scorpion, how's my artistic pose?"
"Don't make me wait too long."
Red Sand Sasori responded coldly.
"Of course!"
"Back then, Akihara Kagura took down the Hidden Sand Village on his own, I can do it too!"
Deidara turned back and gave Red Sand Sasori a confident smile, then soared towards the direction of the Hidden Sand Village on the clay bird, searching for the One-Tailed Jinchuriki!
"Such an innocent kid..."
Red Sand Sasori looked up at the clay bird flying in the sky and couldn't help but sigh. This blonde kid was always badmouthing Akihara Kagura in his ear yet didn't know he had always been Akihara Kagura's Asura Path...
No matter how strong Deidara was...
There was always a massive gap between his strength and Akihara Kagura's.
Hopefully, this blonde kid would wake up soon. It's not just about a childhood grudge and he shouldn't think his years of training could challenge Akihara Kagura. Otherwise, if he really seeks death in the future, he would have to beg Akihara Kagura for forgiveness...
While Red Sand Sasori was deep in thought, suddenly the entire Hidden Sand Village was in chaos, as if the Hidden Sand Ninja discovered the intruding Deidara. Endorsed by Konoha to succeed the position, Fifth Kazekage Gaara soared into the air on a platform of sand to confront them!
As a One-Tailed Jinchuriki, Gaara was not so easy to deal with, skillfully commanding the Sand Manipulation Jutsu, with the yellow sand in the sky chasing Deidara all over to evade...
"This..."
Red Sand Sasori was a bit speechless as he watched, sighing with emotion. It seemed Deidara, this stubborn-brained guy, really didn't know the situation: "And he still wants to challenge Akihara Kagura?"
Even though Deidara was locked in a stalemate with Gaara, their battlefield was the Hidden Sand Village, forcing Gaara to hold back in order to protect the villagers, which even gave Deidara the chance to plot an ambush...
Above the Hidden Sand Village.
A mass of sand swept towards Deidara, grabbing his arm firmly and tearing it off!
Deidara, unconcerned about his arm falling off, used the opportunity to let the severed arm release numerous clay spiders hidden in the sand...
The next moment!
Deidara unleashed a swarm of clay birds again!
These clay birds flew directly at Gaara, forcing him to gather the sand into a sphere to envelop himself!
But...
This had played right into Deidara's hands!
As Gaara hid within the sand sphere, thinking he'd avoided the clay birds' assault, numerous small spiders emerged from the clay birds!
Boom!
A series of explosions resounded within the sand sphere!
Severely injured, Gaara could no longer maintain the sand sphere and plummeted from the sky. Deidara swiftly maneuvered the clay giant bird over, wrapping up Gaara's body!
"One-Tailed Shukaku, capture complete!"
Deidara's lips curled into a satisfied smile.
"..."
Red Sand Sasori couldn't comprehend it.
This blonde kid went through so much trouble, even losing an arm just to capture the Kazekage from the Hidden Sand Village. What could he possibly be proud of?
However.
The Hidden Sand Village was not giving up.
One group dispatched a hawk to seek aid from their ally Konoha, while another group pursued Deidara and Red Sand Sasori. Among them, Kankuro the Puppet Master was the fastest!
Yet...
This time, Kankuro encountered the greatest Puppet Master in the Ninja World!
A cannon barrel emerged from Red Sand Sasori's Hiruko, releasing dozens of fiery rockets, bombarding Kankuro and his puppets, blowing them away!
"Let's go."
Red Sand Sasori finished the battle with elegance.
"Lord Scorpion's artistic style, huh..."
Deidara watched Red Sand Sasori effortlessly resolve the battle, grinning as he manipulated the clay giant bird underfoot to fly into the distance.
"Hmph..."
Red Sand Sasori glanced at the clay giant bird in the air.
From Hiruko, four steel pipes extended, quickly spreading and reorganizing, forming four rotor wings on Hiruko's body. It took Hiruko into the air, swiftly catching up with Deidara's clay giant bird.
"What on earth was that..."
Lying in the desert, Kankuro looked bewildered at his puppet's scattered parts on the ground, unable to comprehend what sort of enemy he had faced.
Devoid of any power to resist...
He was effortlessly knocked to the ground by the enemy.
A team of Hidden Sand Ninja quickly found Kankuro and rushed him back for healing. Having lost the enemy's trail, they could only await a response from Konoha.
Konoha Village.
Inside the Hokage Tower.
Returning from the Akatsuki Organization ahead of time, Akihara Kagura made a report to Tsunade about the information Root had gathered—two Akatsuki members were active in the Land of Wind; simultaneously, she deliberately ordered a call for the four Hokage to return for a collective meeting.