Ouch!
Deidara was flung onto the street by the force of the explosion, landing on his right shoulder and rolling twice before coming to a stop.
But the danger was far from over. A male ninja with completely white eyes appeared behind him. Raising his hand, he spoke in a calm and composed tone.
"Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"
Damn it!
Deidara instantly knew he was in trouble. If he were struck by the Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist and had his chakra points sealed, he would be completely at their mercy.
In that brief moment, all he could manage was to hastily chew some clay with his left hand, producing a swarm of Clay Spiders. It wasn't a calculated move but a desperate reaction in the face of life-threatening danger.
"How pathetic, Deidara!"
Fortunately, countless poisoned senbon shot out from Hiruko's mouth, intercepting the attack just in time.
The senbon were nearly invisible in the dark night, but for a skilled ninja, the sound and movement of the air alone were enough to track the trajectory of hidden weapons. And in this case, the opponent wielded the Byakugan, making the situation even more precarious.
Deidara broke out in a cold sweat. To be honest, this constant feeling of being ambushed was incredibly frustrating. Thankfully, the Akatsuki always operated in pairs—a decision that now seemed more than justified.
Hiruko emerged from another room, and the battlefield temporarily reached a strange stalemate. After the initial exchange yielded no results, both sides began observing each other, trying to gather intelligence to formulate better strategies.
"So, they're Konoha ninja," Sasori said, his tone laced with killing intent.
His parents had been killed by Konoha's White Fang, so it was no surprise that he harbored deep resentment toward the village.
The three Konoha ninja stood together, also sizing up Deidara and Sasori.
"So that thing lying on the ground is a puppet. No wonder it seemed so strange," Sarutobi Tendo remarked.
After witnessing Hiruko spit out senbon earlier, he immediately realized the truth. As someone familiar with puppet users, he knew their tactics well. After all, the Sand Village and Konoha had been long-standing rivals. Even though they were technically at peace now, small-scale skirmishes continued in the shadows.
Hyuga Kanade, however, felt uneasy. The puppet before her seemed off. Unlike typical puppets, there were no visible chakra threads controlling it. Instead, there was a concentrated chakra source in its heart, which was highly unusual.
"Kanade, can you locate the puppet master's body?" Sarutobi Tendo asked.
Kanade shook her head, her expression heavy. "I can't find it."
"I see," Tendo replied, feeling the situation grow more complicated.
In fact, Kakashi had reported information about Deidara and Sasori to the Third Hokage after their last encounter. However, with Itachi acting as an undercover agent and relaying intelligence about the Akatsuki, the Third Hokage had classified these details as S-rank, making them inaccessible to Tendo and his team.
"Then I'll use a powerful ninjutsu as cover. You and Seito should focus on taking down the blond one first. Fighting a puppet master in close combat puts you at too much of a disadvantage," Tendo instructed.
Deidara watched them whispering among themselves. Though he couldn't hear what they were saying, their gestures and glances made it clear they intended to target him first.
He couldn't help but feel that teaming up with Sasori was a disadvantage. Every time, the enemy would prioritize him as their target.
After all, Sasori presented himself as a puppet, and most would assume that defeating the puppet master hidden behind the scenes was the key to victory. Little did they know that the puppet master was actually inside Hiruko's body.
"Too slow!"
Sasori grew impatient. Hiruko's right arm transformed into countless wooden limbs, reaching toward Kanade.
"Rotation!"
Unfazed, Kanade swiftly activated her defense. Spinning rapidly like a top, she expelled chakra from her tenketsu, forming a thick protective barrier—a technique hailed as absolute defense.
Crash!
Countless wooden arms shattered against the barrier. Sarutobi Tendo seized the moment to form hand seals once more.
"Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!"
A wave of searing flames erupted from his mouth, surging toward Hiruko in an attempt to force Sasori to retract his attack.
"Hmph! This is getting interesting," Deidara muttered as his hands began chewing clay.
Fighting in a city full of civilians was indeed a challenge for him. It meant he couldn't use large-scale clay bombs and had to carefully control the power of his explosions, effectively tying his hands.
"Where do you think you're going?" Shimura Seito drew his longsword, unleashing a sword beam that sliced Deidara's Clay Bird in half.
"Tch!" Deidara clicked his tongue in annoyance. Trying to take flight in the middle of a battle was proving to be a daunting task. After all, the enemy wasn't foolish enough to give him the chance.
Seeing Seito charging toward him, Deidara knew he couldn't let the enemy close the distance. Losing his aerial advantage was bad enough; if he lost his long-range advantage as well, the situation would become dire.
"C1: Special Type—Serpent Swarm!"
"Sarutobi Tendo's Shock Value +500."
"Hyuga Kanade's Shock Value +..."
This move was modeled after Orochimaru's Myriad Snake Net Formation. A swarm of white clay serpents emerged from Deidara's hands, writhing and slithering toward the enemy.
To be honest, it really did resemble Orochimaru's technique.
"You! What's your connection to Orochimaru?!" Shimura Seito exclaimed, startled. The resemblance to Orochimaru's style was uncanny.
"I had a little skirmish with him not long ago, so I decided to mimic one of his techniques," Deidara replied with a smirk.
"Don't let those things get close! His ability likely involves detonating them!"
As the team leader, Sarutobi Tendo had the strongest analytical skills on the battlefield. Combining this observation with Deidara's earlier escape from the Fire Release, he quickly deduced Deidara's abilities.
"So what if you know?" Deidara sneered. "Just like Orochimaru's Myriad Snake Net, what can you do about it?"
Sarutobi Tendo's expression darkened, though he didn't believe this blond brat was as formidable as Orochimaru.
"Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet!"
Compressed air bullets shot from Tendo's mouth, each one shattering clusters of clay serpents into pieces.
"You're not taking off!"
"Earth Release: Earth Drop Cover!"
A massive, disc-shaped rock descended from above, aiming to crush Deidara. It seemed Tendo had anticipated Deidara's attempt to take flight and used another Earth Release technique to restrict his movements.
Deidara was stunned. This was the first time he had encountered a ninja so proficient in multiple release techniques.
"As expected of a Sarutobi Clan ninja. Your body interests me," Sasori muttered, his words laced with sinister intent. Clearly, Tendo's performance had piqued his interest.
The Sarutobi Clan had always been unique among ninja clans. They possessed neither kekkei genkai nor secret techniques, yet they excelled in mastering all five elemental releases. Every Sarutobi ninja was a skilled ninjutsu user.
The most notable example was the Third Hokage, the pinnacle of the Sarutobi Clan. Capable of using all five elemental releases with exceptional proficiency, he could seamlessly combine them to counter any opponent, earning him a fearsome reputation on the battlefield.
"This isn't the time for idle chatter," Hyuga Kanade's voice suddenly rang out in front of Deidara. He hadn't even noticed when she had gotten so close.
"Eight Trigrams..."
"Ha!"
A clay beetle latched onto Kanade's neck. The imminent explosion forced her to abandon her Gentle Fist technique and swat the beetle away.
"When did this happen?!" Kanade exclaimed, her face filled with shock. She had been using her Byakugan the entire time.
"Branch family Byakugan has a blind spot in the back of the neck, doesn't it? That's why you can't truly observe in all directions," Deidara revealed with a smirk.
~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~
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