The battlefield of the Land of Stone.
Kakuzu looked around doubtfully.
"Why does it feel like someone's watching us?", Kakuzu asked Sasori.
"Mm…", Sasori responded with a sound, "I feel the same way."
The two of them stopped walking.
"Gone," Kakuzu snorted coldly, "Looks like Iwagakure still has some interesting people."
In the ninja world there were all sorts of strange jutsu, especially detection- or sensing-type techniques.
They could observe people from far away.
Though rare, such people did exist.
But neither of them thought Deidara, several hundred meters above their heads, was observing them through a micro-telescope.
"Change the route?", Sasori asked.
If someone had already seen their route forward, to not change it would be playing with their own lives.
"Mm, let's split up and each fight on our own," Kakuzu pondered for a moment before suggesting.
They were both ninja with extremely strong survival ability. This time, Iwagakure didn't have any experts who could block them.
Splitting up not only ensured their own safety, but also made retreat easier.
"Alright, I'll head south," Naturally, Sasori wouldn't continue along the same path either, since they had already been scouted.
The two of them quickly split up, each changing to a different route.
Even though afterward, on their new routes, they didn't feel the gaze of surveillance again, caution ensured safety. Changing routes was still necessary.
Not long after, Sasori arrived at a stretch of continuous stone walls.
This stone wall had been made with Earth Release, cheap to construct, and its purpose was naturally to slow down Sunagakure's attacks.
It also helped detect from which direction Sunagakure's forces would attack.
Just as Sasori was preparing to make a hole in the wall to pass through—
BOOM!
The ground beneath his feet suddenly exploded, directly blasting Sasori into the air.
A figure charged straight at him.
BANG!
Midair, Hiruko's left arm directly launched a mechanism.
That cylindrical device flew out and began to spin, releasing wave after wave of poison needles that rained down like a storm, covering the entire area ahead.
That figure was instantly pierced all over, turning into a hedgehog.
Landing on the ground, Sasori snorted coldly, "So it's just a brat."
"No, wrong!"
The Deidara who had been pierced into a hedgehog neither collapsed poisoned nor stopped, but instead continued advancing toward Sasori with needles sticking from his body.
From Sasori's back stretched out a Sasori's tail made of iron, swinging with a whoosh of wind as it lashed forward.
"Hah!"
A young boy's voice came from a distance.
The figure split in half by Sasori suddenly swelled up.
BOOM!
At close range, the clone exploded, directly blowing open Hiruko's hard shell.
A figure immediately slipped out from inside.
Sunlight spilled down, revealing a delicate, youthful face.
But Sasori himself hadn't even gotten a look when his Hiruko had already been scrapped, which left him somewhat angry.
He was a puppeteer. Of course he didn't want to expose himself so easily.
On the other side, Deidara, relying on his familiarity with Sasori, had just tricked Hiruko. His face was also showing an excited flush.
"Sasori-bro, isn't this gift of mine quite the surprise?", Of course, Deidara was still far from Sasori, so this was only muttered to himself.
Behind him appeared a large number of Iwagakure shinobi, "Deidara, this is the Sasori you mentioned? Doesn't seem that great."
Deidara rolled his eyes at them, "Don't underestimate him, yeah!"
There were more than ten Iwagakure behind him, naturally confident, "Then let us try how strong this Sasori really is?"
Iwagakure had fortifications, so of course they wouldn't foolishly rush into close combat.
The shinobi behind Deidara all began forming seals.
Earth Release: Rock Iron Cannon Technique!
Each of them spat out a small stone from their mouths, which grew continuously in midair, turning into solid cannonballs that rained down on Sasori.
Sasori's movements were agile; with a few shifts he dodged them.
Then he rushed toward the Iwagakure.
Just as he neared the stone wall, several orange spiders popped out from it.
In Sasori's surprised gaze, they exploded in midair with a roar.
The Fire Cloud robe Sasori wore was instantly blown into tatters.
If his body hadn't been a puppet, he really might have been caught by Deidara's trick.
"Hmph!"
Sasori tore off the shredded clothes and threw them down, extending both hands as tubes protruded from his arms, spraying out massive flames forward.
Flame Prison Technique!
Huge waves of fire spewed toward the Iwagakure group.
Deidara didn't move from his spot, because the other Iwagakure would defend against it.
The Iwagakure coordinated.
Those firing the Rock Iron Cannon shot back at Sasori, while several others formed seals.
Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall!
The ground shook as a wall of earth rose up.
But the wall soon turned red from the flames.
After finishing his fire spray, Sasori flicked his wrist and a glow shone from the scroll on his back.
Corrosive Water Torrent!
The tubes in his hands switched from fire to water, blasting jets of water toward the earth wall.
The first layer of the Earth Flow Wall quickly crumbled under the direct assault of heat and cold.
But behind it were still two more layers.
The Iwagakure began to feel the pressure. Though there were more than ten of them, with both the terrain and intelligence advantage, the battle was still locked in stalemate.
If their opponent broke through their defense line, they really wouldn't be able to win.
"Deidara, how did you know the opponent would breathe fire and water?", One Iwagakure, raising another earth wall in a hurry, quickly asked.
Deidara was busy preparing clay in his mouth.
At that moment, spitting out a piece, he said, "I already said we aren't his match, prepare to retreat!"
The Iwagakure was just about to say something when the battlefield suddenly changed.
They hid inside the fortress, continuously bombarding Sasori from a distance. With Deidara's spider bombs added in, Sasori couldn't get close.
And their fortifications kept strengthening, even with Sasori's fire and water scrolls, he couldn't break through.
Sasori, somewhat irritated, drew out a scroll from his back, marked with the number "Three."
After a moment's thought, he put it back.
"Hmph! Let me show you what real group combat is."
He pulled out a second scroll, threw it into the sky, and opened the left side of his chest.
From the scroll burst forth a continuous stream of red figures, while chakra threads flew from his chest to connect with them.
"I've had enough, just these Iwagakure and this brat keeping me held up so long?"
"Now… all of you die!"
Red Secret Technique: Performance of a Hundred Puppets!
Over a hundred red puppets floated in the air, surging toward them.
"Crap, Sasori-bro's really angry now!"
Deidara also grew tense, "Retreat according to plan!"
The other Iwagakure were stunned. Was this the legendary technique said to be able to destroy a whole country?
Only now did they realize Sasori hadn't even been serious until now.
The hundred puppets of the Performance surged past the earth wall, flying toward them.
Their group of just over ten couldn't possibly stop over a hundred. Besides, Deidara had already discussed the plan with them beforehand.
Everyone immediately used whatever they could to escape: those who could earth-meld went underground, those who couldn't ran for their lives.
At this moment, Deidara had already slipped underground, leaving behind in the fortress a huge humanoid bomb.
The humanoid bomb's body swelled with energy. When the hundred puppets approached—
BOOM!
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