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Deidara, soaring on his clay bird above Sunagakure, watched in stunned silence as a vast forest suddenly materialized, engulfing the entire village.
After a long moment, Deidara couldn’t help but curse.
“WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED?! Where did this forest come from?”
Just moments ago, there was nothing. In the blink of an eye, a huge forest had sprung up. What was going on?
Deidara didn’t even consider Ninjutsu.
Everyone knew Wood Release had vanished from the Shinobi world. Besides, this was an entire Hidden Village being enveloped by trees—
Deidara felt that even his Ultimate Art—C0—wouldn’t be enough to completely destroy this forest…
The Suna ninja were the most shocked.
Watching their village instantly pierced and overrun by countless erupting trees, they dropped their kunai in disbelief.
——
“SHIN UZUMAKI! WHAT DO YOU WANT?!” Chiyo, though managing to restrain herself from attacking Shin Uzumaki, still spoke with a harsh tone.
Although Chiyo hadn’t been involved in village affairs for a long time, she was still well aware of Suna’s financial situation.
The village would likely need to be rebuilt. The economic losses… it was no exaggeration to say Sunagakure couldn’t afford it.
Not every village was Konoha.
Konoha had been destroyed several times but had the wealth to rebuild. Sunagakure lacked that capability—their economic situation wouldn’t allow it.
This was why all the other villages coveted Konoha—it was too wealthy. The other villages looked on with envy.
“Chiyo, I suggest you watch your tone… Believe it or not, I could erase Sunagakure with a single hand seal, DON’T TEST ME—” Shin looked coolly at the clamoring Chiyo.
Chiyo’s expression changed, and she finally reined in her anger. Ebizō was also terrified.
No doubt, Shin Uzumaki was capable of it!
Thinking back to the Second Shinobi World War, how many had died at Shin Uzumaki’s hands???
“PLEASE, FORGIVE US! WE APOLOGIZE! WE WERE WRONG!” Ebizō, in his apology, also pulled Chiyo back. For the sake of the village, they had to endure this humiliation for now.
“I’m sorry.” Chiyo’s apology was stiff, her heart filled with frustration to the point of near suffocation.
They had simply asked him a few questions—and he’d destroyed their village, now threatening to kill them all.
Where was the justice in that??
There was no place for justice—after all, might makes right. If she dared to reason with Shin Uzumaki, he’d probably kill her…
Shin Uzumaki doesn’t play by the rules.
Of course, if they possessed strength superior to Shin’s, they wouldn’t be reasoning with him either—they would have already taken him down.
“Actually, if you hadn’t disturbed me, none of this would have happened. So, Sunagakure’s losses are entirely your fault—”
Shin glanced at the apologizing Chiyo and Ebizō, then turned away to continue drinking, casually shifting the blame onto them.
“Sister, let’s go. Let’s first see who is attacking Sunagakure.” Ebizō, seeing Chiyo’s barely suppressed rage, forcefully pulled her away. He couldn’t let his sister anger Shin Uzumaki.
Chiyo glanced at Ebizō. ‘The attacker was right here!’
Ebizō understood Chiyo’s meaning and shook his head at her.
“Sister, I was referring to the people who attacked the village before.”
Chiyo nodded.
Though she had said she wouldn’t interfere in village affairs anymore, Sunagakure was facing a major disaster. She couldn’t stand by and watch Suna suffer.
BOOM BOOM BOOM!
Just as Chiyo and Ebizō were about to investigate, a series of thunderous explosions echoed.
Deidara had resumed his Artistic journey.
The flames from the explosions landed on the trees. Normal trees might have been ignited—however, Shin’s Wood Release created trees with such vigorous life force that the flames couldn’t ignite them.
The main reason was the fire’s insufficient intensity. If it were Madara Uchiha using Fire Release, perhaps he could have done it.
——
“Still holding on? Looks like I need to get serious. If I can’t even take down a little brat, what will they think of me?” Deidara looked at Gaara, who was blocking his clay bombs.
Gaara panted heavily, his chakra excessively depleted. He was about to collapse.
Actually, if not for Shin, Gaara wouldn’t be in such a sorry state. Shin’s Wood Release had hindered Gaara’s sand, forcing him into a passive, defensive position.
“<C4 — Karura!>” This was a Ninjutsu Deidara had created to defeat Itachi Uchiha.
Now, Gaara would be the first to experience it.
A giant doll fell from the sky.
This was a doll formed from explosive clay, filled with microscopic clay spiders invisible to the naked eye.
Once the doll exploded, these clay spiders would scatter into the air—Anyone who inhaled would inadvertently suck the spiders into their body, where they would then detonate internally.
This technique was incredibly dangerous. Even if one dodged the doll’s main explosion, they could still be killed by the invisible clay spiders.
After unleashing the technique, Deidara couldn’t help but lean against his clay bird, quickly taking out a few Soldier Pills and swallowing them.
BOOOOOOOOOOOM!
A deafening roar that could be heard throughout Sunagakure. The forest was blasted, leaving a massive crater. Gaara lay on the ground, his condition unknown.
“Don’t tell me he’s dead.” Deidara peered down at Gaara.
Their mission is to capture him alive! If a Jinchūriki died, the Tailed Beast would die as well. So, the Jinchūriki absolutely could not be killed.
Deidara felt a bit apprehensive. If Gaara died by his hand, Pain would definitely not let him off.
Though Deidara was quite arrogant, he still felt some fear towards the Akatsuki leader, Pain.
Pop Pop Pop!
A series of small explosions erupted on Gaara’s skin—the detonation of the invisible clay spiders.
The power of these explosions wasn’t great, but the key was their ability to enter the body. Internal explosions were far too dangerous.
“No! I have to make sure he doesn’t die!” Deidara panicked slightly. He immediately controlled his clay bird to fly down, preparing to check Gaara’s condition.
Just as Deidara’s hand reached out, Gaara, who appeared to be bleeding from all seven orifices and covered in blood like a blood-man, suddenly opened his eyes.
Before Deidara could react, Gaara’s sand lashed out—ripping off Deidara’s left arm.
“DIE!” Deidara punched Gaara in the head, knocking him unconscious.
“I knew you’d get injured.” Sasori emerged unhurriedly from the shadows, looking coolly at Deidara.
Deidara held his severed arm, stopping the bleeding to avoid bleeding to death.
“Don’t worry. If you die, I’ll turn you into a puppet, letting you live forever—” Sasori said to Deidara.
“Tch! That day will never come,” Deidara wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said disdainfully.
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