Since Deidara despised aerial combat, he decided to lower his altitude. Sai stayed close behind him.
Deidara suddenly glanced back at Sai with a sly grin, making Sai immediately alert.
Deidara jumped off his clay bird, rolled onto the ground, and the clay bird began to glow before erupting in an explosion. Sai raised both arms to shield his face but was eventually thrown down by the blast, his arms and torso scorched as he slammed hard into the ground.
Face-down on the ground, Sai dragged himself forward, blood from a wound on his head soaking through his forehead protector.
******
##Naruto Uzumaki vs. Sasori##
Naruto looked over his shoulder as Sasori emerged from the wreckage of the puppet Shimon Hiruko.
To his surprise, Naruto heard a surprisingly youthful voice—even though the man appeared to be in his thirties.
The message Sai had relayed to Naruto were actually Tamako's exact words about the blade.
This was the Village Headman's sacred weapon. The ritual for selecting a new Village Headman required finding someone capable of imposing their will upon the blade, and manifesting it into any form they desired.
Throughout its existence, the Millennium Blade had taken many forms—thus, the guard was Naruto's own creation, a manifestation of his personal will.
He realized chakra could flow freely through the blade, like a living extension of himself.
With a swift motion, Sasori broke free from the wreckage of Shimon Hiruko, revealing his true form.
He was a red-haired youth with a lazy expression, wearing the signature Akatsuki hooded cloak.
Smoke swirled around Sasori:
"It's time I got serious."
As the smoke cleared, a black-cloaked puppet with dark hair appeared.
"This is my favorite puppet—the Third Kazekage."
Raising an eyebrow, Naruto asked,
"You created a puppet modeled after the Third Kazekage? Why?"
Sasori smiled:
"No. This *is* the Third Kazekage. I defeated him in battle and turned his body into this puppet."
"Then let's begin!"
Naruto charged toward the puppet.
At the twitch of Sasori's fingers, the Kazekage puppet's mouth opened, releasing iron sand that coalesced into a solid metallic wall between them.
Naruto slammed into the iron barrier with a terrible crash and rebounded backward.
Regaining focus, Naruto formed a cross-shaped hand seal and summoned over a dozen Shadow Clones. They rushed toward Sasori while Naruto himself crouched far behind, watching carefully.
They leapt over the metal barrier and attacked.
[Iron Sand Drizzle!]
The iron wall exploded into powder, then shot rapidly toward Naruto.
Dodging the tracking iron particles, Naruto dashed toward Sasori and his Kazekage puppet, gathering a Rasengan in his right palm as he prepared to strike.
[Thousand Hands Beast Form!]
Compartments along the Kazekage puppet's left arm slid open, revealing multiple summoning seals. A collection of puppet arms extended toward Naruto.
Once separated, these arms released poison gas—taking Naruto by surprise.
Emerging from the smoke, Naruto continued using taijutsu to destroy all the puppet limbs.
His vision swam. Naruto steadied himself and resumed his fighting stance.
Sasori spoke,
"Can you feel the paralyzing effects of my poison?"
Naruto frowned,
"Poison? Nine-Tails, help me purge this toxin." The Nine-Tails used its chakra to cleanse his system, and Naruto winced in pain.
Quickly recovering, Naruto performed a flurry of hand seals:
[Lightning Release: Lightning Shuriken!]
The shuriken began discharging electricity, forcing Sasori and his puppets to evade.
One struck the Kazekage puppet, and Sasori himself was also badly shocked by the current.
The Kazekage puppet emitted a smell of burnt hair and flesh. Sasori narrowed his eyes. The puppets were losing strength and would soon be rendered useless.
Naruto grinned:
"I can't imagine how you even managed to take over this village."
Sasori replied:
"The village's strength comes from its sealing techniques. Genjutsu seals are used to trap intruders. After breaking those seals, I found out they weren't as powerful as legends claimed."
Naruto didn't buy this explanation:
"You were just one person fighting an entire village. That seems beyond your capabilities."
Sasori simply smiled:
"You think you'll never defeat me? Go ahead and try."
[Iron Sand World Method!]
******
##Sai VS Deidara##
Sai finally pushed himself up from the ground, still dizzy from the explosion. He wondered why Deidara hadn't returned to finish him off.
He drew his battered tanto and began slowly combing the ruins for any sign of Deidara. He remembered Deidara had also fallen from the sky.
Limping, Sai warily scanned the area.
BOOM~~~
Sai was stunned by an explosion.
He had stepped on a landmine—one of the booby traps Deidara had been setting up.
His leg was severely burned.
Just walking was now a struggle for Sai. His best option was to hold on and wait for Naruto's backup.
He wrapped his torso, arms, and wounded leg with bandages before settling down temporarily.
He unrolled a scroll and painted several ink mice to track Deidara, planning to set up an ambush once he had regained enough strength to fight again.
Just then, he spotted dozens of insect-like clay figures scuttling toward him.
Grabbing a handful of shuriken, he hurled them. The pile of insects exploded, but it also exposed his position.
Soon, he looked up to see clay birds circling above him. They dove down in suicide bombing runs.
Just as the explosion was about to occur, a huge shadow covered him, protecting him from harm.
"That was too close, Sai."
Sai turned around and saw Tamako standing beside him with a smile:
"What are you doing here, Miss Tamako?"
Tamako frowned:
"What if both of you got killed? What would I do then? I'd rather fight alongside you."
Sai flinched slightly, beginning to feel pain from his wounds:
"You're not a ninja, Tamako. You can't help in a fight like this."
"Are you sure? Then tell me—what do you think just saved you?"
Tamako continued:
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