Between the mountains, an ancient temple stood quietly. The smell of sandalwood hung in the air, mingling with the low murmur of monks chanting sutras.
Chiriku stood beneath the eaves of the main hall corridor.
He wore the special monk's robes of the Guardian Twelve Ninja, iron plates hanging at his waist, his expression solemn as he stared at the distant sky.
All day, Chiriku had been uneasy, with a constant feeling that something bad was about to happen. And as it turned out, he was right. Misfortune arrived very soon.
A sharp bird cry split the temple's tranquility.
Chiriku looked up and saw a small white clay bird dropping out of the clouds at high speed.
"Not good! We're under attack!"
He shouted, chakra surging through his body in an instant.
By the time the words left his mouth, the clay bird had already landed on the roof of the main hall.
From the sky came Deidara's voice. "Heh!"
With a deafening boom, fire burst into the sky. The most magnificent main hall of the Fire Temple was blown to pieces.
Splinters of wood, roof tiles, and the screams of monks mixed together. This place was no longer peaceful.
"Art is an explosion, hm!"
Deidara rode a giant clay bird, circling above the Fire Temple, a sickly excitement on his face.
On the ground, Sasori of the Red Sand controlled his human puppet, Hiruko, stepping out of the explosion's smoke. The steel scorpion tail on Hiruko's back caught the light as it swept aside the weapons of several charging guardian monks.
"Finish this quickly, Deidara," Sasori's hoarse, emotionless voice sounded from within the puppet. "I have no interest in a place like this."
"Yeah yeah, danna, you're always in such a rush, hm." Deidara curled his lip, both hands plunging into the pouches at his waist as he began kneading fresh clay.
"First we find that monk worth thirty million ryo, then we turn this place into the most gorgeous work of art!"
Chiriku burst out from the rubble. Looking at the ruined main hall and his fallen comrades, his eyes burned with fury.
"Who are you people?!"
"The ones who came to take your life." Sasori's answer was concise.
Hiruko's scorpion tail shot out, stabbing straight for Chiriku's throat.
Chiriku didn't dodge. He pressed his hands together and shouted:
"Raigo: Senju Satsu (Welcome Approach: Thousand-Hand Kill)!"
A gigantic phantom of a Thousand-Armed Kannon appeared behind him, countless golden fists raining down on Hiruko.
The battle instantly entered its most intense phase.
The guardian monks were strong, but in front of two of Akatsuki's top members, they still weren't enough.
Sasori's puppet techniques were ever-changing, poisoned senbon and hidden mechanisms impossible to guard against. Deidara's aerial bombardment was an attack that could hardly be defended against at all.
In less than ten minutes, the Fire Temple's resistance was completely broken. Under the combined assault of Sasori and Deidara, Chiriku was covered in wounds, his chakra nearly exhausted. In the end, Hiruko's tail pierced through his shoulder, pinning him to the ground.
"It's over," Sasori said coldly.
Deidara descended from the air and walked up to the dying Chiriku, a small clay spider pinched between his fingers.
"Farewell, big monk. Your death will become part of my art, hm!"
He was just about to place the spider on Chiriku's body, blow up the entire temple, and complete the mission.
At that very moment, two figures appeared in front of them without the slightest warning.
One tall, one wild.
Both of them wore something very familiar to them: black cloaks patterned with red clouds.
Deidara's hand stopped.
He looked at Kakuzu and Hidan standing before him, froze for a moment, then showed a frenzied smile only an artist could have.
"Oh? Kakuzu-ossan and Hidan, hm! You guys here to snatch this bounty too? Perfect, I'll let you witness my new art!"
Sasori was more cautious than Deidara.
His gaze swept over Kakuzu and Hidan, then finally settled on a tree not far behind them.
In the shade beneath it, a silver-haired ninja wearing a Leaf forehead protector and a mask over half his face leaned lazily against the trunk, watching them.
Kakashi.
The puppet eyes inside Hiruko flashed with wariness.
"Something's off, Deidara. Their state is strange. Be careful. Don't capsize in a gutter here."
Kakuzu and Hidan's eyes never went to Chiriku lying on the ground, nor to the surrounding ruins.
Their gaze was locked firmly on Deidara and Sasori. That wasn't the look one gave to comrades. It was the look of hunters staring at prey.
"Hey, hey, what's with you two, hm?" Deidara also felt that something was wrong.
Hidan hefted his massive, bloodstained triple-bladed scythe onto his shoulder and, in a tone even more fanatical than before, shouted at Deidara:
"Deidara, you hypocritical artist! Your explosions aren't offerings to the Evil God at all! Today, on behalf of my Lord Shinju-sama, I'm going to completely purify you, heretic!"
Both Deidara and Sasori were stunned.
Lord Shinju?
The hell was that? Did this guy Hidan switch to a different god?
Could you even change the god you believed in just like that? Wouldn't his previous god have something to say about that?
They had absolutely no idea what Hidan was talking about. All of them were completely baffled by his crazy declaration.
In that brief instant of distraction, Kakuzu moved.
No nonsense, no hesitation. He went straight in.
The back of his black cloak split open, and four masks floated out. Two of the masks opened their mouths, and violent wind- and lightning-natured chakra surged forth at once.
"Futon: Atsugai (Wind Style: Pressure Damage)!"
"Raiton: Gian (Lightning Style: False Darkness)!"
Two jutsu with completely different natures, yet matching each other perfectly, shot out from two vicious angles, left and right, instantly sealing off every path Deidara could use to dodge.
"Bastard!"
Shocked and furious, Deidara hadn't expected Kakuzu to actually come at him with killing intent. In his haste, all he could do was hurl the clay spider at the ground while kicking back with all his strength.
Boom!!
The blast wave from the explosion collided with the wind and lightning jutsu, producing an enormous roar.
The battle erupted in full.
In the distant forest, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura held their breath as they watched.
"Th-That's… insane…" Naruto whispered, staring at the battlefield in the distance where the fighting looked like it could destroy the world.
Sasuke's Sharingan spun rapidly, struggling to capture every detail of the clash. He noticed that Kakuzu and Hidan's coordination was even more seamless—and more lethal—than the intel had suggested.
Hidan had completely abandoned defense, throwing himself at Sasori's puppeted Hiruko like a mad beast, using his immortal body to create the best openings for Kakuzu.
Kakuzu, on the other hand, was like an emotionless machine. Jutsu of all five elements flowed from him effortlessly, bombarding Deidara without pause, pinning him under relentless fire.
"Sensei…" Sakura looked nervously at Kakashi. "When are we going to move in?"
Kakashi's gaze stayed fixed on the center of the battlefield as he answered calmly, "Wait a little longer. Let them wear each other down… just a bit more."
(End of Chapter)
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