Inside the cave, three people—two standing, one lying down.
The one lying down had a massive gourd beside him. Without a doubt, it was the grown-up Gaara!
But then, Shinju suddenly noticed something shocking—there was no chakra fluctuation coming from Gaara's body at all!
Dead?!
"Yo! Glad to see you all!"
Up ahead, Deidara made a welcoming gesture, speaking with inexplicable excitement.
As he talked, his gaze was locked firmly on Shinju, who stood at the front.
Kakuzu had told him this kid also dabbled in the art of explosions.
Finding someone who shared his "artistic" vision? That was amazing!
Deidara spoke politely, "You might not like this, but please leave that red-haired boy and the guy with the beard to me!"
"Do as you like," Sasori replied hoarsely.
Then his gaze swept over the Konoha shinobi, stopping on Chiyo at the very back.
"Didn't expect you to show up, too."
Sasori stiffly greeted her.
His face was hidden behind his mask, so no one could see his expression.
Chiyo's eyes trembled, her body slightly shaking. Her voice carried a hint of disappointment as she said,
"Sasori… you've committed far too many sins."
"Heh, all for the sake of art. A few more deaths are hardly worth mentioning," Sasori replied coldly.
Right after he spoke, the extendable chain-blade device on his back suddenly shot forward!
"Swish!"
At the same time, Deidara took explosive clay from his ninja pouch and molded a small bird.
"Hah!"
The tiny clay bird rapidly expanded.
The enlarged bird had a huge gaping mouth, which clamped down on Gaara's corpse, wrapping him completely in its wide jaws.
Deidara jumped onto the bird's back as it took off.
"You want your Kazekage back, right? Then let's see if you can catch me!"
Whoosh!
The clay bird's wings flapped hard, kicking up clouds of dust!
A moment later—
Fwoooosh—
It shot out of the cave like a white missile!
Shinju and the others quickly darted aside, avoiding the bird's collision.
Right after, Sasori's chain-blade reached them!
"Be careful!" Chiyo shouted, "Sasori's Hiruko chain-blades are laced with deadly poison!"
Nearby, Shinju swiftly pulled out the bone whip once used by Kimimaro and lashed it forward!
"Swish!"
The bone whip tangled tightly around the chain-blades, and Shinju yanked hard with tremendous force!
Sasori's body was instantly pulled forward!
At the same time, Naruto leapt out from beside Shinju, Rasengan in hand, charging straight at Sasori midair!
Fwoooosh!!
With one direct hit, "Sasori's" body exploded into pieces, scattering into wooden components!
A bundle wrapped in black cloth detached from the center of the puppet's body!
Naruto curled his lip in disdain. "So you were hiding your real body inside a puppet, huh?!"
"As expected, puppet masters are cowardly and wicked… all doomed to fall before my Rasengan!"
Off to the side, Chiyo—who also used puppet techniques—felt personally attacked.
"You brat, do you even think before you speak?!"
☄ฺ(◣д◢)☄ฺ
Elsewhere, Kankuro, lying on a hospital bed, suddenly sneezed.
Half-conscious and still recovering, he muttered groggily,
"Who's badmouthing me? @_@"
...
Inside the cave in the Land of Rivers.
Shinju stared at the black-cloth bundle that had leapt out from Hiruko's body.
He could feel chakra flowing within it—that must be Sasori's real body!
But strangely, all of Sasori's chakra was concentrated in his chest area?
The black-clothed figure spoke.
"Not bad at all, Konoha ninja."
Then, slowly, he removed the hood covering his entire face, revealing a refined, handsome face beneath the hat!
Shinju's group: ∑(✘Д✘๑)
This Sasori… was unexpectedly handsome…
Outside the cave, Deidara felt a bit ignored and scowled as he tossed down several clay spiders.
"Hey! Aren't you guys gonna chase the Kazekage?! Why aren't you coming after me?!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The clay spiders exploded, but Kakashi blocked the blasts with Earth Release!
Chiyo stepped forward with dignity. "Go on ahead! I'll deal with Sasori myself!"
"Compared to you, I know this grandson of mine far better!"
"Got it," Kakashi nodded.
His gaze turned skyward, fixing on Deidara.
That guy was flying on a giant bird, dropping bombs from above… basically a damn bomber plane.
This was gonna be tricky.
Shinju pulled away from the battle with Sasori.
"I'll chase the guy on the bird!"
Kakashi nodded. "Alright, but one thing—don't hurt the Kazekage."
Shinju replied flatly, "The guy's already dead. There's no 'hurting' him anymore."
Everyone: ヾ(Ő∀Ő)ﾉ, (⊙o⊙),Σ(っ °Д °;)っ
He's… dead?
The group recalled Gaara's pale, lifeless face and didn't doubt Shinju's words.
Kakashi went silent for a moment.
"Then… try to bring the Kazekage's body back intact…"
Shinju nodded. "I'm going."
Naruto quickly followed, shouting, "I'm coming too!"
"Yeah, yeah, fine! Go, all of you! We've got enough people anyway!" Kakashi sighed helplessly.
Then, Shinju walked to the cave entrance.
"Sai, the scroll."
Sai handed it over. "Here."
Taking Sai's scroll, Shinju bent his knees.
And leapt!
Swish!
With incredible force, Shinju shot into the sky like a human cannonball!
Deidara noticed and grinned, ＜(￣︶￣)↗
He quickly tossed several clay birds into the air.
Boom! Boom! Boom!!
The clay birds intercepted Shinju mid-ascent, exploding fiercely!
Deidara squinted into the smoke, curious.
"No way… don't tell me that brat's already taken out?"
A moment later, his sharp eyes caught a glint inside the dust cloud.
An ice shield.
At the moment of the explosion, Shinju had encased himself entirely in a protective barrier, absorbing the blast perfectly.
Right after, Shinju formed hand seals.
He unfurled the scroll Sai had just given him.
Unlike Sai's usual Super Beast Imitating Drawing with its simple sketches, this scroll contained an incredibly detailed illustration!
Shinju shouted loudly:
"Ninja Art!"
"Steel Imitation Drawing!"
"Grand Fighter Jet Technique!!"
Shrrraaakkk—
A sleek, steel-bodied fighter jet materialized from the scroll!
Deidara: --003d͟͟͞͞(꒪ᗜ꒪ ‧̣̥̇)
"What the hell kind of monster is that?!"
Shinju jumped into the cockpit of the jet without hesitation.
This blueprint was something he had drawn while traveling the nations with Jiraiya, meticulously designing every component.
After returning to the village, he'd asked Sai to reproduce perfect copies using fine chakra ink techniques.
And today was the first time he was actually using one!
The moment he sat in the cockpit, Shinju felt amazing.
Nothing beats high-tech firepower!
Facing the stunned Deidara, Shinju smirked.
"Ready to witness the power of science?"
Then he pressed the missile launch button on the control stick—
Whooosh—
From the side of the jet, a missile shot out!
Deidara: (๑ʘ̅ д ʘ̅๑)!!!
He didn't know what kind of creature this red-haired kid had summoned, but instinct screamed at him—run!
However, as he tried to maneuver his clay bird away, Deidara's eyes widened in shock.
The missile… was actually tracking him?!