"Magnet Release, huh…"
Takemi's eyes were shining at this moment. The instant he touched the Magnet Release, he seemed to have understood something.
Most importantly, he seemed to remember that the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, relied on Magnet Release to pan for gold in the Land of Wind to support the village?
Although the actual situation might ultimately be different, this didn't seem impossible. At least, it was worth a try, right?
"You seem to have forgotten…"
Looking at the rapidly approaching arms, Takemi suddenly tilted his head.
The next instant, he suddenly vanished from his spot, reappearing before the broken Buddha statue at the very back of the temple.
"I've already used Flying Thunder God once!"
"Oh no…"
Sasori immediately turned around. He saw Takemi charging towards him like a ghost, and he could only control the iron sand to defend again.
Whoosh—
However, as the iron sand finished condensing, the white fang short sword had already flown before him, bouncing upwards with a 'ding'.
And in that very instant, Takemi quietly appeared!
"Although the defense is indeed strong, my current state is also extraordinary…"
Since he wasn't sure if he could break through the defense, why not just transmit the power directly into his interior?
"Sage Art: Big Ball Rasengan!"
A massive Rasengan condensed in his hand. The next moment, he heavily pressed his right hand onto Sasori's body, which was protected by the iron sand.
Boom—
The immense energy impact caused the iron sand on Sasori's body to subtly spread, but it ultimately held firm.
However, the iron sand also began to deform, because Hiruko, which was covered beneath the iron sand, had been shattered.
The already crumbling temple instantly developed countless cracks, and then, under the roar of the power, the temple let out mournful groans.
"Oh no, it's going to collapse!"
"Quick, let's go!"
Whether it was Jiraiya, Kakashi, or Itachi and Kisame, they all realized the situation was wrong and immediately flashed out.
Under the lingering glow of the setting sun, the temple finally could no longer withstand it and completely collapsed.
A massive tremor, accompanied by swirling dust, swept outwards.
And amidst this dust, Deidara was completely disheveled but exceptionally excited.
"Yes! Yes! This is it, this is it! An instant, an explosion—this is art that perfectly aligns with my philosophy!"
— — —
Iwagakure, Tsuchikage's office.
Ōnoki was looking at the documents in his hand, feeling a bit depressed.
"Why can't Deidara be a little more honest?"
Deidara's talent and ability were not an issue, but his personality was incredibly troublesome.
He had been forced to send him out of the village to reflect, but instead of reflecting, he had run wild like an untamed horse, completely letting himself go.
The documents in Ōnoki's hand recorded all the messy things he had done recently.
"If you love explosions so much, why don't you go blow up some mines? Maybe you could be more helpful!"
Ōnoki threw the documents in his hand away, he couldn't bear to look anymore.
"Lord Tsuchikage..."
Just as Ōnoki was at his most depressed, a simple and honest voice sounded.
The tall and muscular Kitsuchi suddenly ran in, which startled him.
Onoki said, "What is it? Has Kurotsuchi arrived? Tell her I'm not here, I'm busy!"
Kurotsuchi was Ōnoki's granddaughter, and he treasured her immensely.
However, Kurotsuchi and Deidara were good friends, having grown up and trained together since childhood.
After he sent Deidara out of the village, Kurotsuchi was very unhappy and often came to bother him.
"It's not Kurotsuchi, Lord Tsuchikage." Kitsuchi shook his head.
"Kurotsuchi is training, but this is indeed related to Deidara. It's a message from the Anbu."
"Deidara caused trouble again?" Ōnoki tightly clenched his fists.
"That hateful brat, if only he were as steady as you!"
Ōnoki personally taught three disciples: Kitsuchi, Deidara, and Kurotsuchi.
Kurotsuchi was like a lubricant, she had good relationships with both Kitsuchi and Deidara.
But Deidara and Kitsuchi were two extremes.
One was honest and steady, the other was incredibly erratic. These two were somewhat at odds.
After all, Kitsuchi didn't like Deidara constantly blowing things up, while Deidara felt Kitsuchi didn't appreciate his art.
"Lord Tsuchikage, according to the Anbu report..."
To Ōnoki's surprise, Kitsuchi was unusually serious at this moment.
"The Anbu following Deidara have suddenly lost contact."
"All lost contact?"
Ōnoki instantly stood up, almost straining his back. He asked, "What's going on? Deidara might be crazy, but he wouldn't do something like this. Is someone trying to attack him?"
Kitsuchi said, "I don't know. I came immediately after receiving the intelligence."
Onoki asked, "What about other arrangements?"
"I..."
"Alright, I understand."
Ōnoki looked at Kitsuchi's honest and hesitant expression, and he couldn't help but shake his head.
"You're too cautious. In situations like this, you should be more decisive. This is the Land of Earth, and that's Deidara."
"Send a message immediately, tell the surrounding personnel to move, and also have the nearby Anbu hurry over to figure out what happened."
"Yes."
Kitsuchi rubbed his head and nodded, but soon he was a bit confused.
Because he saw Ōnoki suddenly push open the window and then jump onto the windowsill.
"Lord Tsuchikage, are you going personally?"
"Otherwise?"
Ōnoki snorted lightly, his body gradually floated up, and then he flew out of the window.
"Keep an eye on things. I want to see who dares to lay a hand on my disciple!"
— — —
"Everyone's here?"
On the border, Pain saw Kakuzu, Hidan, and Konan, who had already arrived, and he spoke coldly.
"Since that's the case, let's go."
"Huh, something feels off..."
Hidan glanced at the people around him and asked confusedly, but his words were cut off by Kakuzu before he could finish.
"Shut up! Can you talk less and focus on what we need to do?"
"Tch, nagging."
Hidan glared at Kakuzu, but he was too lazy to argue with him. After all, he couldn't be killed in a fight, so arguing with him was meaningless.
Although he would rather pray more for the blessing of Jashin, he had just joined this Akatsuki, so he still had to contribute a little.
Pain didn't waste any more words. After seeing Hidan and Kakuzu quiet down, he rushed out directly.
Konan also flew after him, and Kakuzu and Hidan exchanged glances before following suit.
"Tch, so we're going to the Land of Earth. I wonder if there will be any suitable sacrifices." Hidan rambled.
Kakuzu ignored him, muttering to himself, "What a hassle. The last losses haven't even been recovered, and now we're in trouble again."
Finding suitable hearts wasn't easy, especially matching the hearts he needed, which was even more difficult. He just hoped there wouldn't be too much chaos.
"That damned brat, he's so annoying..."
Thinking of this, Kakuzu couldn't help but curse inwardly.
On the other side of the border, Nagato, sitting weakly in a sealed vehicle, muttered softly, "They've set off over there. Just maintain your distance."
Constantly providing Chakra to the Gedo statue was a huge burden for him, but he didn't regret his decision.
"Nagato, this time there might be trouble. You need to be careful." Just then, Konan's voice came from outside the vehicle.
Nagato's main body was so weak that he naturally needed care, so Konan followed the main group with a paper Shadow Clone, while her main body naturally stayed by Nagato's side.
"Especially Jiraiya-sensei, I'm worried..."
"I know, I'll try to avoid it." Nagato nodded.
Now was not the time for battle, neither for him personally nor for the Akatsuki.
"However, Jiraiya-sensei is pursuing us quite aggressively. Fortunately, he doesn't know about the Land of Rain yet. We should keep a low profile from now on."
Jiraiya's sudden appearance was indeed annoying, and killing Jiraiya was not an easy task either.
Nagato was confident in his strength, but defeating someone and killing someone were two different things.
Even without considering emotional factors, every Ninja had their own escape techniques. He could defeat Orochimaru, but he wasn't so confident in actually killing him.
The best way was to gang up, perhaps that was the only way to eliminate a powerful Ninja.
Both Amegakure and Iwagakure had started moving, and in this dilapidated temple near the border, three pairs of people were already fighting fiercely.