Sunagakure.
Using the gaps in Sunagakure's aerial defenses, Deidara rode atop his giant clay bird and slipped into the village with ease.
With the help of his mechanical right eye, he eliminated several of Sunagakure's air sentry posts. A smug smile spread across his face.
"This village does have some artistic value," he muttered to himself, "but their air defenses are far too weak."
Suddenly, a swirl of sand materialized out of nowhere in front of Deidara's clay bird.
Standing atop the floating sand was Gaara, arms crossed.
"Yo… looks like not everyone in Sunagakure is useless after all," Deidara said with a mocking grin.
Then he noticed the gourd on Gaara's back and his smile widened.
"Controlling sand, carrying a gourd on your back… heh, looks like I've found the guy I'm looking for."
"But before we start… I've got one question for you. How did you even notice me?"
Gaara didn't seem interested in humoring him. His cold reply was curt:
"There are no birds like that in the desert."
Deidara blinked, then chuckled in sudden realization.
Without hesitation, he secretly tossed a tiny clay bird toward Gaara…
The little bird shot forward at high speed and exploded just as it neared Gaara's body!
BOOM!!
But when the smoke and fire cleared—
Gaara stood completely unharmed.
A swirling wall of sand floated in front of him, forming an automatic shield.
Deidara's expression hardened.
"So the rumors were true… your sand really does move on its own to protect you. This must be the so-called 'Absolute Defense,' huh?"
"Fine then. Let's see if my explosive art can shatter your 'Absolute Defense!'"
Gaara said nothing. With a flick of his fingers, he manipulated his sand to form an enormous hand.
The massive hand swung down in an instant.
Deidara smirked in disdain.
"That kind of sand won't be able to catch me."
But his expression suddenly shifted. He glanced at the ground below and froze.
There, embedded in the desert, was a massive chakra cannon charging up energy!
Deidara: !!!∑(°Д°ノ)ノ
Before he could react, the chakra cannon reached full power.
FWOOSH!!!
A scorching beam of energy blasted out of the barrel!
In a flash, the beam struck the left wing of Deidara's clay bird!
BOOM! The wing exploded on impact, sending the massive bird lurching sideways in a violent spin!
Thrown off balance, Deidara lost control and plummeted rapidly toward the ground!
Gaara didn't waste a second. He drove his sand forward, attempting to swallow Deidara mid-fall!
But at the last moment, Deidara hurled a clay spider.
"Hah!"
BOOM!
The spider detonated, blasting away Gaara's sand just enough to buy time.
Quickly pulling out another clay bird, Deidara formed hand seals, expanding its size, and scrambled onto its back.
He barely managed to escape, retreating in a panic.
Gaara's sand surged after him relentlessly, refusing to give him room to breathe.
Deidara couldn't believe it. How could a supposedly ordinary village like Sunagakure… have a chakra cannon?!
...
On the ground below.
Several Sunagakure shinobi responsible for operating the chakra cannon were grinning triumphantly.
"This chakra cannon's amazing! We've gotta thank Konoha for sharing this tech with us!"
"I heard the core system inside the cannon was developed by Shinju himself. Kid's a real prodigy."
"Our Kazekage-sama's the same. Sixteen years old and already a Kage—he's got an unlimited future ahead of him."
"Alright, enough chatter!"
"That blond freak on the bird looks like he just pulled out something dangerous!"
...
Konoha.
After a friendly sparring session with the Konoha rookies, Shinju and Naruto headed to the Hokage's office to report in.
Inside, Tsunade studied the two boys, her satisfied smile growing the longer she looked at them.
"I hear you can use the Uchiha clan's Susanoo?" Tsunade asked.
Shinju nodded. "Yeah, but I've only got one Sharingan. I can't use the full-body form."
Tsunade's jaw practically hit the floor.
(⊙o⊙)
If he can't use the full-body Susanoo… doesn't that mean he can still use every other form beneath it?!
"Looks like giving you Shisui's eye was the right decision after all," Tsunade said approvingly.
Shinju hesitated for a moment, then asked, "By the way… has there been any news from Sasuke over the years?"
It had been so long. He couldn't help wondering how his friend was doing.
Tsunade's expression immediately darkened.
"None. Ever since you two left, not a single letter has come back from Sasuke."
"That kid probably has his own burdens… things he can't talk about," she added softly, as if to comfort them.
But Shinju and Naruto both knew the truth.
After all this time, if there was still no word from Sasuke, there were only two possibilities:Either he was dead… or he'd fully betrayed the village.
"No matter what, I'm bringing him back," Naruto said through clenched teeth.
"Speaking of which," Tsunade continued, "since you're both fully capable shinobi now, you no longer need the old one-teacher-three-students squad structure. You can officially join regular shinobi teams for missions."
"Konoha's standard formation is three squad members plus one captain."
"So, I've arranged your new team assignments."
Naruto's eyes lit up. "Who're our other two teammates?!"
CREAK~
The door to the office opened.
Kakashi and Sai stepped inside.
"I figured you'd work better with familiar faces," Tsunade explained. "So you four will be one team. Kakashi's a jōnin, so he'll serve as your captain."
Naruto blinked, realizing something.
"Wait… that still makes me a genin, doesn't it…?"
"Alright, you're dismissed for now," Tsunade said with a wave. "You'll be notified when a mission comes up."
Shinju and the other three left the Hokage's office together.
On the way out, Shinju pulled a book from his pack and handed it to Kakashi.
"This is the newest unpublished volume of Make-Out Paradise. Naruto and I had to beg Jiraiya-sensei to get you this one."
Kakashi's single visible eye widened, sparkling with excitement:
(´◊ω◊｀)
"I knew I raised you two right…"
Without another word, Kakashi cracked the book open.
From the very first page, he was hooked. His fingers turned the pages endlessly, his body locked in place.
As he read, he muttered under his breath with reverence.
"This… this is genius… pure genius…"
"Only Jiraiya-sama could write like this. Only he could come up with a plot like this…"
And so, Kakashi stood there reading all afternoon, completely frozen in place.
If Shizune hadn't called him, he probably would've stayed there until he finished the entire book.
...
Elsewhere.
Shinju and Naruto returned home.
After three years away, the furniture was coated in a thick layer of dust.
They did some quick cleaning, then resumed their daily training routine.
But Shinju, sitting cross-legged, couldn't calm his mind.
There was a question that had haunted him for three years.
Back then… the crow that saved him from Danzō—who sent it?
Knowing the power of Shisui's eye, Shinju understood one thing: only Kotoamatsukami could counter Kotoamatsukami.
Which meant that crow… carried the other Shisui eye.
Using that clue, Shinju had mentally gone through everyone in Konoha during these three years.
But no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't figure out who had sent the crow.
"Could it be… that person isn't even in Konoha?" Shinju muttered to himself.
His thoughts wandered to Uchiha Itachi, that sickly man in the black cloak.
There was always something unfathomable about him.
And besides… he was also a genjutsu master.
----------------
Pls Drop some Power Stones
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