"Looks like we're not getting out of this one, Sasori-no-danna… hmm."
Deidara scanned their surroundings. Just like last ti—trapped up in the sky—he and Sasori were now sealed inside a crimson, box-shaped barrier, surrounded by four hooded figures in black cloaks maintaining the formation.
"…Ah. The Four Red Yang Formation again."
Sasori spoke lightly. There was sothing in his voice—almost like relief.
"I hate to admit it, but that snake has gotten ahead of us again. When it cos to intelligence-gathering… he really is far better than Black Zetsu."
"Then let show you my ultimate art!" Deidara tilted his head back, eyes blazing. "Against the Second Tsuchikage-sama, your puppets won't matter, Sasori-no-danna… hmm."
He looked up.
At so point, a fifth hooded figure had appeared above them, hovering in the air. In that person's hand glowed a perfectly shaped, half-transparent cube.
"…Too bad these immortal corpses can't appreciate art, hmm!"
"Then hurry and prepare," Sasori replied. "I can't wait either… but I still need to buy you ti."
As Sasori finished speaking, Hiruko shot out a long tail with a whoosh, stabbing toward the sky. At the sa ti, Sasori drew out a scroll with one hand.
Poomf!
The Third Kazekage Puppet launched forward. Dense clouds of Iron Sand spread above and below them, drifting outward—then, the instant it reached the barrier's edges, it transford into countless razor-sharp senbon.
But the hooded figure Sasori had attacked was already gone.
Beside him, Deidara had stripped off his shirt. The mouth embedded in his chest was greedily gulping down the white clay in his hands.
With a curl of Sasori's fingers, the senbon suspended around them shot in two directions at once.
Almost simultaneously, a huge cubic barrier ford overhead. Every senbon fired upward struck the cube and disintegrated on contact. Then a pillar of light—over a ter wide—dropped from above, swallowing Sasori and Deidara in its path.
The mont the beam appeared, a massive square sheet of blackness snapped into place above them like a shield.
At the sa ti, Sasori yanked hard with his other hand, forcing Deidara's clay owl to veer sideways.
But the instant the owl left its position, Sasori's expression changed.
His tail whipped—
and Deidara stumbled as he was slapped away.
BOOM!
Deidara's pupils shrank.
His clay owl, in the next instant, was reduced to only half a body as it fell away.
And Hiruko—hit dead-on by Mū's technique—was left as nothing but a severed tail.
Poomf!
Deidara tossed out a white bird that detonated midair and landed on its back. His upper body was already turning transparent. Dense black cracks spread over his skin like a porcelain doll about to shatter.
Whoosh!
A figure leapt out from behind the Third Kazekage Puppet in midair and landed beside Deidara with a soft tap.
"HAHA! Sasori-no-danna! Are you ready?! Hmm!"
Deidara threw his head back and laughed, voice trembling with excitent.
The red-haired boy beside him answered without emotion.
"Yeah. I've waited far too long for this mont."
"Try to look happier, Sasori-no-danna!" Deidara urged, almost giddy. "Even if we die, we should die with passion for art, hmm!"
"…Honestly, I still can't understand your art that disappears in an instant," Sasori said. "But my eternal beauty ends here as well."
As Sasori finished speaking, Deidara's entire upper body beca completely transparent. At the center of his chest, a black, fist-sized round face appeared—two tiny white eyes like peas, and a cracked mouth shaped like a smile.
At a glance, it looked like a grinning mask.
"HAHA! Sasori-no-danna—any second now, you'll feel my art in a single instant of sublimation! Hmm!"
Deidara's expression was feverish, ecstatic.
Klik.
The black smiling face on his chest opened its mouth.
"Art… is an explosion! KATSU!"
A blinding flash—
then a deafening roar.
BOOOOM!
Lake Renkai exploded into towering waves. The square Four Red Yang Formation bulged outward under the impact—yet after only a few breaths, it snapped back into its original shape.
"That level of self-destruction… without even burning chakra… is already close to a fully charged Tailed Beast Ball from Kurama."
Outside the barrier, one of the hooded figures spoke—in Naruto's voice.
When the lake finally cald, the crimson barrier vanished. The four hooded figures each stepped into a coffin and disappeared.
Much later, a Venus flytrap poked out from a tree on the shore.
"Damn it! Orochimaru got another tailed beast!"
White Zetsu's voice trembled with panic.
"How are we supposed to report this to Pain? Out of the nine, Orochimaru's already taken five. The Two-Tails and Eight-Tails are still in Kumogakure's hands. The Nine-Tails is hiding on Mount Myōboku. And we still haven't found the Six-Tails' jinchūriki."
"We have to bring Madara back—now," Black Zetsu said grimly. "If this keeps going—"
He didn't finish.
His face changed sharply.
The ground beneath the tree rose—
then a gigantic hand of stone clenched shut, crushing the entire tree into its fist.
A hooded figure appeared atop the rocky knuckles.
Flash—
The hooded figure and the stone fist reappeared inside a tal cage. Outside the cage was—again—a crimson barrier.
The figure casually pulled back the hood.
Orochimaru's face showed a flicker of surprise.
"Hm? The chakra signature changed?"
He stomped.
The stone fist shattered into pieces, and a half-faced White Zetsu stood there in a daze. When it realized Orochimaru was above it, terror flooded its expression.
"How did Black Zetsu get away?" Orochimaru asked with a gentle smile.
"Uh… his Spore Technique is faster than mine," White Zetsu swallowed. "He abandoned part of his body and fused it with ."
"So he really is a relic from the Sage of Six Paths' era," Orochimaru murmured. "Still… for a plant, you wear far too many expressions."
His smile didn't change.
He casually tossed out a glowing sphere.
A scream—
and White Zetsu vanished without a trace.
Then, with a poof, Orochimaru transford into Naruto again.
Land of Rain.
Pain's astral projection stood atop one of the Demonic Statue's fingers. From the ground below, Zetsu—his yin-yang face splitting into two halves—slowly rose up.
"Why did you send an ergency signal?" Pain asked coldly.
"The Three-Tails was taken by Orochimaru," Black Zetsu said. "And he laid a trap there. Deidara and Sasori are dead."
Pain's gaze sharpened, killing intent bleeding into his voice. "Was Madara there?"
"He and my clone infiltrated Kumogakure. I believe he'll confirm the Two-Tails and Eight-Tails' location soon," Black Zetsu answered heavily.
Then White Zetsu chid in, "Orochimaru understands our abilities. Right now, we need to recruit new mbers—preferably sensor-types, and soone like Deidara with strong aerial combat power."
"That suggestion has rit," Pain said evenly.
His eyes narrowed—locking onto Black Zetsu.
"But your assignnt is to locate the Six-Tails' jinchūriki."
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