WEEKLY POWER GOALS 💎🔥 30→2ch | 60→5ch | 100→8ch | 200→15ch | 400→25ch⏰ Resets Monday!
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Azure Moon Island. Sasuke soaked in a natural hot spring, washing away the fatigue of his recent fierce battle. Orochimaru, clad in a loose white yukata, sat on a rock beside the spring, admiring the deep blue moon hanging overhead.
Sasuke scooped water over his shoulder. "That message you promised to relay to Granny Chiyo for Sasori… are you actually going to deliver it?"
"Of course," Orochimaru said. "Kabuto is already handling it. Given his past as a spy in Sunagakure, such matters are well within his capabilities…"
"I see. About my opponent for the second match—"
Whoosh!
A black vortex swirled, and Kabuto returned.
Orochimaru glanced over. "Finished?"
Kabuto's expression was grim. "My apologies, Lord Orochimaru. The matter regarding Granny Chiyo may have to be postponed!"
Orochimaru's eyes narrowed. "What happened?"
"I just received a report from our northern scouts," Kabuto said, his voice tense. "Akatsuki's Deidara, and another masked member whose identity is unknown, have been spotted near the northern outpost!"
Deidara and a masked member? Has Obito moved to Akatsuki's forefront ahead of schedule? Orochimaru thought. Sasori's death at Sasuke-kun's hands is altering their course…
Splash!
Sasuke stopped washing. "The northern outpost… I remember. Juugo is there."
Kabuto adjusted his glasses. "Not just Juugo. Karin and Suigetsu are also there currently. After all, the Cursed Seal research remains a vital project for Lord Orochimaru at this stage. It naturally requires heavy security…"
Orochimaru's voice grew low. "There's a time lag between sighting and intelligence transmission. I fear the northern outpost is already…"
Splash! Sasuke rose from the spring. He didn't bother drying off, throwing on his clothes with swift, urgent motions.
Orochimaru watched him. "Going?"
Sasuke fastened his Kusanagi sword at his hip. "They're people from my past. I can't just let them die."
Kabuto added, "Fortunately, the northern outpost also has a mark for Futodama…"
Orochimaru leaped down from the rock, landing beside Kabuto. "Let's go."
…
When the three emerged from the vortex of Futodama, the fortress known as the northern outpost had been reduced to rubble. The earth bore the terrifying scars of massive explosions, the very landscape reshaped.
Orochimaru surveyed the devastation. "This level of destruction… Deidara's C3."
Kabuto clenched his fist. "Damn it. We're still a step too late…"
"Karin possesses unparalleled sensory abilities," Sasuke said, his gaze scanning the ruins. "There's no way she wouldn't have detected powerful enemies approaching. If she knew she was outmatched, running is her style."
"Then let's use the sensory abilities of the Second Hokage, housed within the Shinigami's stomach, to confirm it."
Orochimaru immediately formed a hand seal with two fingers. Whoosh! The ceremonial robe of his Shinigami Unsealing Mode replaced the yukata he hadn't had time to change.
His perception expanded, covering a range comparable to Naruto's future Sage Mode. Every chakra signature within that vast area was laid bare.
"Karin is alive. Nine o'clock direction, twenty kilometers out, in the forest. She's deliberately suppressing her chakra. Deidara and Obito are circling above the treetops, seemingly searching for her."
Sasuke's expression shifted. "And Juugo? Suigetsu?"
Orochimaru lowered his hand, shaking his head with regret. "I cannot sense any signs of their chakra presence…"
"…" Sasuke understood what that meant.
His hand tightened into a fist. His heart bled.
"No time to waste. We save Karin."
…
High above the forest, riding his C2 dragon, Deidara scanned the treetops through the miniature telescope in his left eye, searching for that flash of red hair. Tobi had grown quite familiar with Deidara along the way. He was prancing about, showering him with praise.
"Senior's explosive art is truly magnificent~! With a Bang~! the whole outpost went sky-high~!"
Deidara soaked it in. "Hmph, of course. No one in Akatsuki is better at destroying strongholds than me! By the way, you took care of the other two who ran away, right?"
Tobi pointed a thumb at his chest. "Hehe… don't let my looks fool you, Senior~! I'm quite capable~!"
Deidara adopted a senior's tone. "You've still got a long way to go for that level, un!"
Tobi thumped his chest. "I will definitely follow closely in Senior's footsteps and strive to become a new member of Akatsuki soon~!"
After several fruitless passes, Deidara's patience wore thin. "Damn it! Where did that red-haired woman go?! Come out and witness my art already!"
Hidden within the dappled shadows of the trees, Karin pressed her back tightly against the trunk. Through a gap in the leaves, she watched the giant bird hovering ominously in the sky, her heart a frantic drum of fear and anxiety. That damn persistent bomber! He still won't give up?! What kind of disaster did Orochimaru attract this time!
"…Forget it. I'm done looking."
Deidara plunged his hands into the pouches at his waist. Squelch~! Squelch~! The mouths on his palms chewed noisily on the clay.
"One more C3. Blow that woman and this whole forest to smithereens. Un, that's the plan!"
Soon, the bizarre, postmodern clay doll took shape in his hands again. He inverted his palm, letting the doll drop. With a two-finger seal and a puff, it expanded massively.
—C3 • No. 18!
Not that fortress-destroying bomb again!!!
Karin's mind went white with terror.
She clutched her head, a silent scream of despair and helplessness echoing inside. Why… I don't want to die in a place like this! Someone… save me!
"Karin."
A calm voice came from above her.
"Huh?"
She looked up. On a branch overhead stood a youth in white, his back to the moon.
Whoosh.
A gust of wind stirred the leaves. That somehow-familiar silhouette instantly pulled Karin's thoughts back through time.
The figure above her now gradually overlapped with the one from half a year ago, in the Forest of Death during the Konoha Chunin Exams—the one who had saved her from the jaws of a monster.
"You… you are…!!!"
"Don't be afraid. I'm here to save you."
Sasuke reached over his shoulder and drew the Kusanagi sword.
Karin screamed, "That's a bomb!! Even you'll die! Run!!!"
"Don't worry. I won't die."
Crackle…!
Lightning coiled around the Kusanagi blade. He hurled it straight at the falling clay doll.
—Lightning Style: Sky-Slicing Long Sword!
Deidara's Explosion Release clay fizzled out upon contact with Lightning Release. Aside from that final 'self-destruction,' all his methods were child's play to the current Sasuke.
So… the current Deidara wasn't even worthy of being Sasuke's practice dummy.
"Art is an explosion… Katsu!!!"
The moment Deidara's "Katsu!" rang out, the lightning-wrapped Kusanagi pierced No. 18 with pinpoint accuracy. It silenced the explosion mid-detonation and cleanly bisected the clay doll.
"What…!?"
Through the split halves of No. 18… Deidara saw the youth standing on the tree.
"That brat… he knows the greatest weakness of my Explosive Art! Who is he!!!"
"Uchiha Sasuke."
Tobi's voice was suddenly serious, a change so stark Deidara, in his shock, didn't even register it.
Deidara's eyes widened. "That's Uchiha Sasuke?! The one who took out old man Sasori!!! No wonder… those eyes. The Sharingan. That look in his eyes… just like Itachi's. Looking down on my art! Damn it!! I'll finish him right here!!!"
Click!
Once more, his hands dove into the clay pouches!!!
Karin yelled, "Watch out! He's attacking again!!"
"Enough…"
Zzt! Sasuke's eyes shifted directly into the Mangekyo pattern.
BOOM!
The Yatagarasu Susano'o manifested instantly!
A massive arrow, wreathed in black flames, was nocked onto its bowstring.
Deidara gaped in horror. "What… is that!?"
—Susano'o: Kagutsuchi!
WHOOSH! The black flame arrow tore through the air, a wave of searing heat in its wake.
Deidara's blood ran cold. "Shit…!!!"
Behind his mask, Obito's gaze was dark with appraisal. Truly astonishing. If I hadn't seen it myself, who would believe he could grow to this extent in such a short time…
Schlick!
The black flame arrow pierced the dragon beneath them, detonating it directly!!
KABOOOOOM…!!
When the explosion cleared… Deidara and Tobi were gone from the sky.
"Ungh…"
Sasuke's Mangekyo faded. He brought a hand to his eyes, his vision swimming and unfocused.
The ocular power consumed in the fight with Sasori… hasn't recovered yet…
"Are you okay?" Karin's concerned voice came from behind him.
"I'm fine…"
Sasuke subtly shifted his shoulder, dislodging her hand which had reached out to steady him.
Orochimaru and Kabuto landed before them.
Kabuto asked, "Did you get them?"
Shing. Sasuke sheathed the Kusanagi, his voice low.
"With Obito there, it's unlikely they died so easily. Take Karin to Azure Moon Island. We'll settle this score… slowly, in due time."
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