Just as Sasori and Deidara were silently speeding along on their clay bird.
Below, in the barren desert, a figure suddenly flickered into existence. The newcomer landed atop a giant boulder, then their hands began to rapidly form a series of seals. After a few moments, the seals were complete.
"Wind Style: Vacuum Serial Waves!"
The figure exhaled several large blasts of air. These blasts transformed in mid-air into sharp, scythe-like wind blades, resembling Kamaitachi, and swiftly swept towards the giant bird flying in the sky.
Not good!
This sudden turn of events happened far too quickly. By the time Deidara and Sasori sensed the invisible wind blades, the Kamaitachi, hurtling towards them, it was already too late to maneuver the giant clay bird out of the way.
Shhlick! Shhlick! Shhlick!
With a series of sharp cutting sounds, the white giant clay bird was directly sliced into several pieces. On the bird's back, Sasori and Deidara agilely dodged the wind blades, but without the support of the giant bird, their bodies began to plummet rapidly towards the ground.
Watching the two of them fall from the sky, the figure standing on the giant boulder made no further move to attack. They simply watched silently.
Struggling to maintain their balance in mid-air, Sasori and Deidara both managed to land steadily on the ground. However, this outcome did not bring them the slightest bit of relief or satisfaction. They looked up at the figure standing on the giant boulder, and both their faces were etched with grim expressions, their eyes blazing with anger.
They had been underestimated! To not continue attacking when they held such a clear advantage… this person clearly didn't take them seriously at all!
But even with the intense anger burning in their hearts, neither Sasori nor Deidara dared to act rashly. Because the person standing on the giant boulder was none other than the renowned secret technique user and "Second Sage" of Konoha Village, Tatsuya Akimichi!
According to the intelligence Akatsuki possessed, both Sasori and Deidara were well aware of the formidable strength of the man before them.
Tatsuya stood on the giant boulder, his arms crossed over his chest, looking at the wary Sasori and Deidara. His voice was calm, almost indifferent. "Gentlemen, let's stop here. Your mission ends now."
Hearing Tatsuya's words, Deidara could no longer suppress the anger in his heart. He roared at Tatsuya, "Hey! Tatsuya Akimichi, even you can't make us back down, un! Are you saying your Konoha Village also wants to make an enemy of our Akatsuki?" Although Deidara's tone was harsh, the underlying meaning of his words also betrayed a lack of confidence.
"Make an enemy of Konoha? Just you two?" A faint, almost mocking smile appeared on Tatsuya's lips. As he spoke, he flipped his wrists, and over a dozen kunai appeared in his hands. With a swift flick, he hurled the kunai in several directions, then his figure vanished from the spot in a blur.
Not good! Seeing Tatsuya disappear in a flash, both Sasori and Deidara's expressions changed, and they immediately retreated.
"Too slow!" As Deidara retreated, he heard a voice whisper beside his ear, and then a powerful gust of wind slammed down towards his head. Without time to think, Deidara quickly dodged to the side.
Splat!
A fist smashed down where Deidara's head had been, instantly crushing what seemed to be his skull into pieces. No blood spurted out; Deidara's body quickly dissolved into white clay, which stuck to Tatsuya's hand.
"Hmph!" Tatsuya snorted softly. Chakra surged through his body, and a gust of wind blew past, instantly clearing the clay adhering to his arm.
Boom! Boom!
At Tatsuya's feet, the soft clay that had been Deidara suddenly exploded violently. Not far away, Deidara's true form slowly materialized from another location. It turned out that when Deidara had landed on the ground earlier, he had secretly used a clay clone to replace his real body, hiding himself.
"Haha! Tatsuya Akimichi, so this is all you've got, un!" Watching the dust and smoke billow from the explosion, a smug grin appeared on Deidara's lips. However, his smugness lasted only for a few seconds before it froze on his face.
From the site of the explosion ahead, as the dust settled, there was no sign of Tatsuya whatsoever.
BANG!
Then, from behind him, a violent impact sound echoed. Deidara immediately whirled around and saw Sasori's Hiruko puppet being brutally shattered by a single punch from Tatsuya. As Hiruko was smashed apart, Sasori, with his youthful appearance and red hair, shot out from within the wreckage, retreating to a safe distance.
"The Flying Thunder God Technique!" Having retreated to a safe distance and stabilized himself, Sasori glanced at the Hiruko puppet, which had been reduced to countless fragments by Tatsuya's single punch. His expression was extremely grave as he uttered the words, each syllable heavy with realization.
In those few short seconds, the situation had changed so rapidly that he hadn't even had time to react. His opponent, Tatsuya Akimichi, had first flickered from Deidara's side to his own, then, just as Hiruko's poisoned tail stingers were about to strike him, Tatsuya had flickered again, appearing directly above the Hiruko puppet. Such speed and instantaneous movement were simply impossible for the standard Body Flicker Technique to achieve.
Recalling the kunai Tatsuya had thrown earlier, Sasori instantly recognized the ninjutsu his opponent was using. Only the Flying Thunder God Technique, the legendary jutsu that had earned the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, the moniker "Yellow Flash," could achieve such a feat.
Moreover, the sheer force of Tatsuya's punch had completely exceeded Sasori's imagination. His Hiruko puppet, meticulously crafted from a vast collection of high-quality materials and designed for defense, had been so utterly fragile before him. A single punch, without the use of any apparent ninjutsu, possessed such devastating power. Such a brutally powerful fighter was the bane of all puppet masters.
Even as these thoughts raced through Sasori's mind, his actions were by no means slow. He took out a scroll and, from it, summoned his most prized puppet: the Third Kazekage!
Seeing Sasori summon the Third Kazekage puppet, Tatsuya showed no surprise at all. A sarcastic smirk touched his lips. His figure flashed again!
When he reappeared, Tatsuya was already in front of Sasori. Another punch shot out.
CRASH!
With a violent impact, the wall of black iron sand that Sasori had hastily gathered in front of him was smashed to pieces. Countless particles of black iron sand scattered in all directions. Tatsuya's figure flickered once more. Sasori's expression changed drastically, and he quickly manipulated the Third Kazekage puppet to condense a thick wall of iron sand, completely encasing himself within it. At the same time, countless sharp black spikes protruded from the surface of this iron sand wall. This black iron sand was all laced with deadly poison; if his opponent attacked recklessly as before, they would definitely be poisoned.
However, after waiting for several seconds, the anticipated attack did not come. Peeking through a small gap in the iron sand wall, Sasori glanced towards Deidara.
WHAM!
Deidara's body was sent flying like a sandbag, struck by a powerful punch from Tatsuya. As Deidara soared through the air, he coughed up a mouthful of blood. At this moment, Deidara's eyes were wide with profound shock and undeniable fear. Just now, if his opponent had wished it, he could have already been killed. The speed was simply too overwhelming!
Facing Tatsuya, who moved like a ghost and possessed explosive attacking power, neither Sasori nor Deidara, with their relatively limited mobility, could effectively contend with him. It was a completely one-sided, passive beating.
Landing heavily and awkwardly on the ground, Deidara and Sasori regrouped, their expressions grim. Sasori manipulated the Third Kazekage puppet to condense a pair of giant iron sand wings. Then, both he and Deidara leaped onto the back of the Third Kazekage puppet. The puppet, now equipped for flight, gently lifted off the ground, hovering at a low altitude.
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