Boil Release: Skilled Mist Technique!
An acidic mist, almost indistinguishable from the mist produced by the Hidden Mist Technique, spewed from Terumī Mei's red lips, instantly enveloping the area.
The paper shuriken melted not long after entering the acidic mist. The Rain Cutter technique was far more domineering!
Having dealt with the attack, Terumī Mei continued her pursuit. However, Konan's body disintegrated into a stream of paper, flowing with the wind in pursuit...
She quickly caught up with Terumī Mei and reformed in front of her.
"Damn intruder, die!"
Terumī Mei drew a kunai from her sleeve and charged forward...
It wasn't that Terumī Mei didn't want to use ninjutsu, but the distance between them was too close. Using ninjutsu would be easily interrupted, and she might even end up at a disadvantage.
Konan was naturally unafraid. She formed a paper kunai from several sheets of paper and met her charge.
The two women immediately began to fight. Their movements were graceful and nimble, as if they were dancing, but each of their attacks was aimed to kill!
After a minute, Konan lost the will to continue fighting. She changed her tactics on the fly, using her arms to block Terumī Mei's whip kick and using the force to retreat.
Terumī Mei naturally wouldn't let Konan leave, but the ability to fly was a huge advantage in the ninja world. After dodging a few more attacks, Konan was out of her attack range.
As unwilling as she was, Terumī Mei could do nothing. She immediately turned back, preparing to capture Konan's accomplice and exchange him for Utakata.
However, things did not go smoothly. Just as Terumī Mei returned, Nagato, having received a message from Konan, immediately used the Summoning Technique to summon the Animal Path of Pain to his side.
Terumī Mei's heart was filled with rage. She immediately sent out a large number of ninja to search for them, while also ordering the border forces stationed on the various islands to search and intercept them by boat.
Of course, in the end, it was useless. Against an absolute power difference, the encirclement was like a thin sheet of paper, easily torn apart, adding to the casualties for no reason.
Kirigakure did not dare to announce that their Jinchūriki had been captured. They could only send people to investigate secretly.
It was simply too humiliating. To have an enemy charge into their main base and capture their Jinchūriki—if the news got out, they would lose all face.
...
At this point, the Akatsuki had already captured five Tailed Beasts.
Because the operations had gone rather smoothly, to avoid any unexpected complications, Nagato would gather everyone to extract the Tailed Beast's power and seal it into the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path after each Jinchūriki was captured.
Nagato's strength was naturally not comparable to that of Madara Uchiha with one Rinnegan and after his revival. He could not seal multiple Tailed Beasts at once.
The five Tailed Beasts caused a delay. After the art duo arrived in the Land of Wind, they hadn't even had a chance to make a move, spending most of their time on the Tailed Beast extraction.
By the time the art duo had free time to act, four months had already passed.
Deidara was responsible for dealing with Gaara, while Sasori provided cover, preventing others from interfering.
Without Naruto's help, Gaara's strength was a bit weaker than it was at the same point in the original story. As the acting Kazekage, he had to protect the village and was naturally no match for the unrestrained Deidara.
Sasori fought against his own grandmother, Chiyo, with the help of other Suna ninja, of course.
This battle left Chiyo completely disheartened.
To barge into Sunagakure, injure Suna ninja in plain sight—it was impossible for him to be accepted back by the village. The title of rogue ninja was firmly sealed.
As expected, the Jinchūriki of the One-Tail and acting Fifth Kazekage of Sunagakure was captured by Deidara and Sasori, who had broken into the village.
...
When the small fry suffer a loss, they naturally seek out the big boss. While Sunagakure sent out a large number of people to track them, they also quickly sent a request for help to Konoha.
Given that Sunagakure had been relatively obedient for the past two years, Kageyama Kogetsu did not play any games this time and directly dispatched Team Kakashi, Team Guy, Team Kurenai, and Team Asuma.
In addition, to ensure there were no mistakes, Kageyama Kogetsu later sent a four-man team.
This four-man team consisted of Fū Yamanaka, Torune Aburame, Sai, and Toneri.
The tracking methods of the great ninja villages were no joke, and Konoha's were particularly varied.
The group discovered the tracks of Deidara and Sasori in the central part of the Land of Rivers.
Deidara could fly, it was true, but he couldn't fly forever. Once the chakra in his clay birds was depleted, he couldn't fly anymore.
The art duo had also just fought a major battle and needed time to recover their depleted chakra.
Although they were discovered, given the art duo's temperament, they would naturally not retreat so easily. They had to test the waters.
This test almost got them killed at the hands of the four teams. Compared to the original story, the lineup this time was much stronger.
The two were beaten and fled in a sorry state.
It was worth mentioning that Deidara might have truly had a clash with the Sharingan, as he still couldn't escape the fate of having his arm twisted off by Kamui.
After being pursued for a while, the two had no choice but to use the Magic Lantern Body Technique to request help from the organization.
After learning the news, Nagato made some preparations and sent a large number of people to support them.
The support members this time included Jūzō Biwa, the rogue ninja who was sneak-attacked from behind by Kakuzu, and the Shape-Shifting Technique clones of the Akatsuki's core members.
Except for Nagato, Obito, and Black and White Zetsu, the Shape-Shifting Technique clones of all the other core members went.
The art duo changed their escape route according to Nagato's instructions, preparing to deliver Gaara to the Deva Path of Pain.
In Nagato's view, nothing was more important than extracting the Tailed Beasts' chakra at the moment.
The key to capturing the Tailed Beasts was the element of surprise. If a Jinchūriki was truly rescued, it would be very troublesome to capture them again later.
The great ninja villages had only been caught off guard. If they were to face them head-on, they were not to be trifled with.
Two real people plus eight Shape-Shifting Technique clones faced off against the four teams.
The four-man team from Root, following Kageyama Kogetsu's will, did not reveal themselves but hid in the shadows, each person responsible for watching one team, ready to provide support at any moment.
Sixteen people fought against ten. They each chose an opponent and started fighting. The weaker ones provided support or acted as backup.
After a fierce battle, the entire mountain forest was mostly destroyed, with traces of the battle everywhere.
In the end, the four Konoha teams were victorious. Only Jūzō Biwa managed to escape, heavily injured.
Originally, Jūzō Biwa would not have been able to escape from Might Guy. At the critical moment, Fū Yamanaka jumped out, revealed his identity as an undercover agent, and relayed the Hokage's orders.
Might Guy pulled back some of his power in time, otherwise he would have really killed Jūzō Biwa with one punch.
The moment they met, the non-face-blind Jūzō Biwa recognized Might Guy. That outfit was simply too unique, and he cursed his bad luck inwardly.
He couldn't help it. The scene of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist being beaten into the "Three Lucky Treasures" back then had left a shadow on Jūzō Biwa that he could never erase.
After defeating the enemy, the four teams spent some time finding Gaara, but unfortunately, they were too late.
By the time Temari, Kankurō, Baki, and the others received the news and arrived, the scene was very sorrowful.
After their emotions had calmed down a bit, Temari and the others expressed their gratitude and then returned to Sunagakure with Gaara's body.
Konoha was naturally not to be blamed for this matter. The battle scars all over the mountain and the injuries on many of the people showed that Konoha had clearly done its best.
In the end, it was because Sunagakure was not strong enough. To have someone barge into their village and act so recklessly.
Before Gaara's body even entered the village, it was intercepted by Chiyo, who had prepared for the worst.
The disheartened Chiyo, for the sake of Sunagakure, used a forbidden jutsu to bring Gaara back to life.
Sunagakure needed the young to support it, not an old bag of bones with not much time left.
As the Kazekage, to be captured by an enemy who had broken into the village was already humiliating enough.
They could still find excuses to save face, such as being distracted by protecting the villagers and not being able to fight at full strength.
But if two consecutive Kazekage died at the hands of outsiders, would the Kazekage still have any prestige?
...
The successive victories made Nagato's heart surge. He felt that his dream was within reach. Therefore, after receiving news of the Eight-Tails, he did not hesitate at all and chose to act immediately...
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