Even Guren, who prided herself on her Crystal Release defense being the best in the world, didn't choose to take it head-on. Instead, she used Earth Release to dig a pit and quickly burrowed into it.
Shiranui Genma also led the remaining Konoha Ninja to hide in the underground tunnel.
Ichibi and Four-Tails had completely unleashed their full power. At this point, they didn't care about anything else, spewing Tailed Beast Balls at each other.
A piece of art that Deidara had been talking about for days was freshly created.
Two ultra-dense Chakra spheres collided in mid-air, stalemated for two seconds, then with a thunderous 'bang', the sky and earth shattered!
A white pillar of air, like a javelin, shot straight into the sky, then a shockwave swept out in all directions from the center of the exploding Tailed Beast Ball.
Everyone's shouts of alarm were completely drowned out by the explosion. Countless Ninja who couldn't dodge in time were sent flying by the shockwave, and many buildings were forcibly toppled like toys.
After the shockwave came thick, rolling smoke. The explosion was too violent, and scorching waves carried smoke and dust, spreading in all directions. The Yang Release Chakra in the Tailed Beast Ball had burning properties, and the crimson flames instantly turned the Hidden Sand Village into a sea of fire.
"Wow! This is also true art! Although it's still a bit inferior to my art, it's already very beautiful! Sasori, did you see it?" Deidara excitedly stood on the back of his Clay Giant Bird, gesticulating wildly.
Sasori pushed him several times before waking him from his reverie.
"I'm reminding you, Pain told us to keep an eye on the Jinchuriki. Now that kid from the Hidden Sand Village is about to die."
Gaara was indeed on the verge of death.
To protect the villagers, at the last moment of the Tailed Beast Ball explosion, he seized control of his body, abandoned his own defense, and created countless sand shields to protect the Sand Ninja and villagers, but he himself bore most of the impact from the Tailed Beast Ball explosion.
Even a Jinchuriki in Tailed Beast form, without defense, taking such a direct hit, would find it difficult to bear.
Large chunks of sand were falling off Shukaku's body, which could normally be replenished, but now his injuries were too severe, and his body was constantly shrinking. Facing Four-Tails' storm-like onslaught, he was struggling, clearly on the verge of collapse.
With Four-Tails' current violent state of mind, if Gaara were defeated, he would be crushed to death alive.
Deidara, observing from the side, was particularly conflicted. What would happen if Gaara was killed?
Whether Gaara died or not was actually irrelevant, but if Ichibi was reborn, then the Akatsuki Organization would have to wait several more years.
Sasori joining the Akatsuki Organization was merely a diversion in his long life, at least he considered it that way.
He had no loyalty to this organization. He no longer considered himself human, and aside from human puppets, nothing else held any attraction for him; he truly didn't care about anything else.
Such a retreat was unbearable for Deidara. He wanted to be the center of attention, to display his art in front of everyone, not hide like a turtle in some place for years.
"Fine, I'll go save that kid!" After saying this, Deidara felt strange, but still rolled up his sleeves and started molding bombs on the spot.
When Shukaku was pierced by Four-Tails' heavy punch, and Gaara completely fainted, fully withdrawing from his Tailed Beast transformation, Deidara made his move.
He used the mouth on his palm to consume the explosive clay, then added Chakra and spat it back out.
Facing the enraged Four-Tails, his judgment was still extremely precise; he immediately used his signature technique.
C4. Garuda!
A clay doll resembling himself slowly descended in front of Four-Tails.
The raging gorilla tore the broken thing apart without a second thought, and then a large number of invisible clay spiders drilled into Four-Tails' body with the air. Immediately following Deidara's roar, countless Clay Bombs exploded inside Four-Tails' body.
Dense Clay Bombs completely enveloped Four-Tails. Taking advantage of the red-furred gorilla's constant retreat, Deidara's Clay Giant Bird swiftly attacked, grabbing the unconscious Gaara with its two claws, flapping its wings, and flying far away.
While severely injuring Ichibi Shukaku, Four-Tails himself was also injured. Coupled with the internal big explosion Deidara played on him at the end, the violence in Four-Tails' heart quickly receded, and the Jinchuriki Roshi regained control of his body.
Seeing the Hidden Sand Village in ruins, this wandering monk was stunned, "Holy crap, what am I doing?"
Realizing something was wrong, he didn't have time to think. At this moment, it was impossible to just wait to be captured and then await the Sand Ninja to accuse him. No words needed, just run!
He also ran away.
The Akatsuki Organization appeared and rescued Gaara; many people witnessed this event.
There were already a bunch of radicals who disliked Gaara for various reasons. Now that the Village was in ruins, they immediately sent letters, demanding that the Third Tsuchikage explain the destruction of the Hidden Sand Village by the Four-Tails Jinchuriki.
The Third Tsuchikage had the will of stone ingrained in his bones. The old man wasn't even afraid of Konoha, so how could he be afraid of Sunagakure, the lowest-ranked Village? You can think whatever you want, I will not respond! If you have the guts, come and fight me!
The Hidden Sand Village truly didn't dare to argue with Iwagakure. In their opinion, Konoha Ninja could fight, but they were reasonable, often appearing somewhat weak. Iwagakure Ninja could also fight, but they were unreasonable! There was no way to talk to them!
Unable to find external causes, the Hidden Sand Village could only look for internal ones.
Gaara, rescued by the Akatsuki Organization, became the scapegoat.
With Gaara unable to attend or offer an explanation, several elders and clan heads of the Hidden Sand Village united, announced the formation of an Elder Council, and entrusted the council with temporarily managing all affairs of the Village.
Their first task was to define the nature of the events that had occurred in the Hidden Sand Village these past few days, or rather, to shift the blame.
To whom would they shift the blame?
As for the Third Tsuchikage, whoever dared to come, he would dare to crush them!
What about Konoha? Actually, Konoha's actions weren't flawless either. Although Ebizo was still underground as a living fossil, if they wanted to find evidence, they could eventually find some. But it's still the same old saying: Ninja are not detectives, and often the truth isn't important.
The Hidden Sand Village, it must be said, was a Ninja Village that was incompetent in external conflicts but skilled in internal strife.
The power that originally belonged to the Kazekage was quickly divided. To shirk responsibility, the Elder Council even dumped all the blame on Gaara.
The Elder Council determined that Gaara had colluded with hostile forces outside the Village, causing irreparable damage to the Hidden Sand Village. The Elder Council revoked his Kazekage position and even declared Gaara a Rogue Ninja!
After Gaara recovered from his injuries with the Akatsuki Organization, he received the news that he had become a Rogue Ninja.
His mood was extremely complex for a time.
Nagato was quite interested in this red-haired younger brother. He saw Gaara's potential and the confusion in his heart.
After secretly observing for two days, he manipulated Pain to explain Yahiko's ideals when creating the Akatsuki Organization to Gaara.
------------------------
I've posted 70+ chapters in advance on Patreon.
Webnovel updates will still be daily, as usual.
It might not seem tempting right now but who knows what the future holds?
[email protected]/SolyuraMT
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"