The battle between the Akatsuki trio and the Four-Tails' jinchūriki, Roshi, began quickly.
Roshi, the Four-Tails' jinchūriki, possessed the Kekkei Genkai Lava Release and had formidable strength. But under the combined assault of the three Akatsuki members, he was defeated in just a few minutes.
After subduing Roshi, the Akatsuki members began their return journey to prepare for the tailed beast extraction ritual.
On the way, Kisame, carrying Roshi's unconscious body, said,
"Honestly, a jinchūriki's individual combat power isn't that impressive. If it weren't for Shinju constantly interfering, we would've collected all the tailed beasts much faster."
"Yeah," Sasori said with a sigh. "If it weren't for that guy, our plan would've already succeeded by now."
Among the three, Sasori was undoubtedly the luckiest—he'd encountered Shinju several times and somehow was still alive. （--0027▿--0027）
Sasori continued, "Do you think he'll come after us here?"
"I've heard Shinju's been making it his mission to stop our organization from collecting the tailed beasts."
Zetsu suddenly emerged from the ground. "Haven't you heard the latest intel?"
"After flattening the entire Mountain Range, Shinju went to Iwagakure to discuss reparations. He even used Crystal Release to create a whole mountain of crystal. His chakra got severely drained, and he's been bedridden for days."
"Apparently, his strength has taken a huge hit—he's nowhere near as powerful as before."
"He's probably still in the Land of Earth right now. No way he has time to come all the way to the Land of Birds. ( ˝ᗢ̈˝ )"
"I've heard that too," Kisame replied, "but it still sounds a bit suspicious."
Sasori nodded. "Same here. A prodigy who shook the entire ninja world… it's hard to believe he'd just fade away like that."
Konan crossed her arms.
"Fade away? Are you two dense? The intel just said his power dropped a lot—it didn't say he died. ┐(´-｀)┌"
Sasori argued, "With all the enemies he's made in the ninja world, losing that much strength is basically the same as dying. ┐(´-｀)┌"
Zetsu sighed at their pointless debate.
"Alright, enough chatter. The hideout's just up ahead. Let's hurry and start the extraction ritual."
...
Meanwhile...
After arriving in the Land of Birds, Shinju and Sasuke's team searched everywhere but didn't find any trace of the Four-Tails' jinchūriki.
"Could that old guy have already gone back to the Land of Earth?" Sasuke asked.
Shinju frowned. "Not sure. Let's check with the bounty station's information dealer."
When they reached the bounty station, Shinju was surprised to learn that Kisame and the others from Akatsuki had also come to the Land of Birds.
"Akatsuki's here? That means Roshi was most likely already captured by them."
After analyzing the situation, Shinju looked to Sasuke.
"You made an alliance with Akatsuki before, right? Did they ever tell you where they take the tailed beasts after capturing them?"
Sasuke answered honestly, "There's a hideout on the border between the Land of Birds and the Land of Earth. The masked man told me that if I succeeded in capturing the Five-Tails, I should bring it there for extraction…"
Shinju nodded. "Then we shouldn't waste time. Let's move out."
...
When they reached the hideout Sasuke had mentioned, Shinju glanced around and gave Sasuke a look of approval.
"If it weren't for you, this place would've been a pain to find."
"But… I don't sense any tailed beast chakra here."
"Oh well, since we're already here, we might as well check it out. ╮(╯_╰)╭"
With that, Shinju motioned for the others to step back a little and raised his arm...
...
At the same time, inside the hideout—
The Akatsuki members were in the middle of the tailed beast extraction.
Suddenly, Zetsu burst up from the ground, panic on his face.
"Bad news! Shinju's here!ヽ( ຶ▮ ຶ)ﾉ!!!"
Konan's eyes widened. "Impossible! This hideout's location is extremely secret—how could he have found it?!"
Zetsu replied, "I saw Sasuke with him. ㅍ_ㅍ"
Kisame sighed helplessly.
"Figures… Itachi-san's little brother can't be trusted after all."
Sasori's voice trembled slightly. "W-Where is he now? ∑(✘Д✘๑)"
He'd escaped from Shinju's hands multiple times—but luck never lasted forever...
Just as he finished speaking, a massive crash echoed from the cave entrance!
"Boom!!" The boulder sealing the entrance shattered into pieces!
Blinding light from the outside flooded in, clashing violently with the darkness inside the cave.
And in that boundary between light and shadow—Shinju appeared!
Seeing the Akatsuki trio inside, as well as Roshi mid-extraction, Shinju felt relieved that he had decided to "check it out anyway."
It turned out that the cave was lined with special sealing jutsu that blocked chakra detection.
"No wonder I couldn't sense the tailed beast's chakra earlier," Shinju muttered.
"Alright, everyone—pause whatever you're doing. That tailed beast is mine! (๑╹ヮ╹๑)ﾉ"
On the opposite side, as soon as Shinju stepped in, the extraction ritual stopped immediately.
Zetsu, ever the survivor, dove underground to escape.
Inside the cave, only Kisame, Sasori, and Konan remained. They exchanged quick glances.
Konan stepped forward first. "I'll avenge Nagato!"
Kisame hefted Samehada onto his shoulder.
"I've heard your power's dropped a lot. Let's see how much you've got left."
Behind Shinju, Sasuke's team also prepared for battle.
Sasuke drew his sword. "Let me see for myself the true power of 'Akatsuki'!"
Suigetsu grinned. "Kisame-senpai, we never finished our last fight. This time, I'm going all in."
Jūgo's body began transforming with Cursed Seal markings as he rasped,
"Sasuke's the only one besides Kimimaro who can suppress my violent urges. If he wants to defeat you, then I'll do the same! (ꐦ ಠ皿ಠ)"
While everyone around him was brimming with fighting spirit, Karin quietly stepped behind Shinju.
"No matter how strong you guys are, Shinju will definitely defeat you! (◔◡◔)"
"Alright, trash talk time's over," Shinju said lightly. "Let's get started."
He raised his hand and clapped his palm together.
"Clap!"
"Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique!"
"Whummm—"
A white light flared between Shinju's palms, expanding rapidly into a transparent white cube!
Inside the cube, Kisame, Sasori, and Konan froze in shock!!
--003d͟͟͞͞(꒪ᗜ꒪ ‧̣̥̇),(≖╻≖;),ヽ( ຶ▮ ຶ)ﾉ!!!
They were about to die!
Konan's eyes widened. "He learned the Tsuchikage's Dust Release too?!"
Sasori's head drooped in despair.
"We're doomed… Dust Release disintegrates everything down to the molecular level—there won't even be a hair left. Not even Edo Tensei can bring us back… (*꒦ິ⌓꒦ີ)"
Once called Sasori of the Red Sand, he had turned the desert of the Land of Wind crimson with his puppets during the Great Ninja War, earning his infamous title.
But now, after decades of dominance in the shinobi world, he was feeling death closer than ever before.
Even with his body reduced to a core puppet form, he knew it wouldn't save him from an attack that obliterated matter itself.
Yet just as the three of them were about to be engulfed by the Dust Release, a swirling vortex of space appeared inside the barrier.
In the next instant—the masked man appeared!
----------------
Pls Drop some Power Stones
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