## Naruto Uzumaki vs. Sasori ##
Naruto dove after Sasori, slamming onto him as they hit the ground and immediately throwing punches at his face. Each punch landed with a sickening crack.
When Sasori attempted to incinerate Naruto with the flamethrower hidden in his palm, Naruto quickly rolled away.
Taking advantage of the opening, Sasori charged at Naruto with incredible speed, impaling Naruto's abdomen with a concealed internal weapon.
A long, spike-like cable impaled Naruto. His eyes widened in shock from the pain.
Unrelenting in his assault, Sasori began imagining what a tailed beast puppet might become, eager to find out the answer.
Gritting his teeth against the pain, blood poured from Naruto's mouth and wound. Gripping the cable with both hands, he spun violently, swinging Sasori around before slamming him into a pillar with tremendous force. The pillar exploded on impact.
Sasori's body splintered apart, crumpled on the ground. He tried to eject a temporary puppet from the scroll on his back to transfer his consciousness.
But Naruto had completely destroyed his limbs, leaving even his torso and head split open from the impact.
As long as one key part of his body remained intact, he could still survive.
But Naruto yanked the cable hard, dragging Sasori violently back toward him.
Seeing Naruto's right hand gripping the bloodied cable protruding from his chest, and his left hand holding a glowing red Rasengan, fear crept over Sasori.
Naruto stared at Sasori's body. Something caught his eye—there was a device implanted on the left side of Sasori's chest.
"You never should've come here! Rasengan!"
The Rasengan utterly destroyed Sasori's body. The small cylinder burst, splattering blood across Naruto—this was the first time he had ever seen Sasori bleed.
Naruto collapsed onto the ground, wiping blood off his face. He exhaled heavily, then yanked the long cable from his body and flung it aside. Around them, the buildings began to collapse.
******
## Sai and Tamako vs. Deidara ##
Deidara watched as Sasori crashed mid-air into the building below, the sound that came from inside sending shockwaves outward. It was clear Sasori hadn't won this fight.
Smirking, Deidara listened to the sounds of battle fading away until only the sound of a whirl remained.
Suddenly, growling roars snapped Deidara back to reality—he found himself surrounded by ink lions. Sai limped forward, kunai in hand.
Without warning, Deidara snatched up a small statue, shoved it into his mouth, chewed it, and swallowed. Sai was caught off guard.
Grinning widely, Deidara's body started inflating rapidly:
"I'll transform your little scribbles into art—true art is an explosion!"
Sai turned to flee, but his legs couldn't carry him fast enough.
"Mr. Sai!" Tamako sprinted toward the swelling Deidara, shouting,
[Temporal Split Sealing Technique!] She slapped a sealing tag onto Deidara's forehead, then rushed back to Sai, crouched down, and hoisted him onto her shoulder, beginning to run away.
"Hurry, we've got to go now!"
Blinking, Sai watched as Tamako carried him away from the expanding Deidara, but something felt wrong.
Deidara was inflating much more slowly than before.
Confused, Sai asked,
"What did you do?"
Tamako glanced back while running and answered,
"The seal I used has slowed the detonation."
"I'm not sure if this will work. I'm not used to using someone else's ink for sealing."
Sai glanced back and saw Deidara nearing his limit.
Sai retrieved his ink from Tamako and started drawing on the scroll.
[Super Beast Imitating Drawing!]
Soon, an ink bird was summoned, carrying them away from the scene.
The seal on Deidara's head came loose, restoring his usual speed.
"Art is an explosion!"
He detonated himself, destroying a large part of the riverbank.
Tamako looked down at the aftermath of the explosion.
"That was one hell of a farewell, Sai."
"He's not gone."
Tamako gave him a skeptical look.
"He exploded himself. No one survives that."
Sai shook his head.
"This isn't the first time he faked an explosion. He might've swapped positions before we closed in. He realized Sasori was already dead, and even if he beat us, there was no way he could take down Master Naruto. Leaving was his only option."
Tamako nodded, her eyes wide.
"Lord Uzumaki! Is he alive?!"
Sai steered the bird toward Naruto's location.
******
Deidara limped out of the village, using trees to support himself.
"It seems like I'll have to let you go this time, drawing freak."
******
Sai brought the bird to a stop halfway between the tower where Naruto and Sasori had fought, letting Tamako off.
Tamako ran into the collapsed building, lifting large chunks of debris.
"Lord Uzumaki! Are you alive?! Please answer me if you're still breathing!"
"Ow..."
Naruto pushed aside a large fragment pinning him down. Tamako quickly ran over to check his injuries.
"Tell me you killed that guy, Sai."
Sai guided the bird closer.
"Sorry, Senior. He escaped, but you took down your opponent."
"Sasori," Naruto said. "I defeated Red Sand no Sasori."
Tamako stared at Naruto in disbelief. Sasori had destroyed her village, yet Naruto had beaten him.
Naruto shakily stood up, walked over to Tamako, patted her shoulder, then continued toward Sai.
"You look like you got pummeled, Sai."
Sai smiled.
"You don't look so hot yourself, Senior."
Naruto chuckled.
"Yeah, but I can still walk."
Suddenly, Tamako hugged him tightly.
"Lord Uzumaki! You're okay!"
Naruto grinned awkwardly.
"Sai, I can't return like this. There'd be too many questions. Can you drop me off somewhere safe to rest? I know a place."
******
##Later that night##
Knock knock knock
"I'll get the door, Dad."
The door opened, revealing a black-haired woman who looked caught off guard at the visitor.
"Naruto-kun, is that really you?"
Naruto flashed his signature grin, leaning on Tamako with bandages wrapped around his body.
"Hey, Tsunami! Great to see you again." He scratched his neck. "Think I could crash here for a bit?"
Tsunami smiled warmly.
"Of course, Naruto-kun. Welcome. You've done so much for our country."
Tsuna continued with a grin:
"Mr. Kakashi is here too."
Naruto blinked.
"Huh? You mean Kakashi's here as well?"
"...He's here right now, with two other kids. He said you might show up sometime in the next day or two."
A familiar masked figure came into Naruto's view, smiling with his eyes narrowed shut.
"Oh hey, Naruto! What a coincidence, huh?"
Kakashi's quiet chuckle made Naruto feel slightly uneasy.
"That guy's back? Where is he?"
Naruto blanched at the sound of that voice. Kakashi stepped beside him.
"Oh right, Tayuya's been pretty restless since you left Kiri," Kakashi added with a slight smirk. "Good luck."
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