"What a troublesome woman."
Feeling a bit annoyed, Deidara tossed the unconscious Kurenai Yūhi onto the back of his giant bird. The lingering nausea from her genjutsu reminded him of Uchiha Itachi.
He had assumed it would be easy to bully a few Konoha ninjas. Unexpectedly, this kunoichi actually had some skill—she used genjutsu to hold both him and his partner back for a short time, allowing the three kids to escape.
Irritated, he crushed the insects that tried to flee. "I just want to blow something up."
"She really is a jōnin famed for genjutsu from the Konohagakure."
Sasori, on the other hand, seemed rather satisfied. Stronger "raw material" always made for better human puppets. It didn't surprise him that genjutsu had delayed them.
No matter how powerful a puppet master is, once he runs out of puppets, he becomes an ordinary person—especially someone like Sasori, who had transformed even his own body into a piece of "eternal art." After losing most of his collection in his battle with Link, and sacrificing a few backup bodies in his fight against Orochimaru, his combat power had dropped significantly.
Fortunately, his current partner was Deidara, who—strangely enough—valued camaraderie. If not, Sasori would likely have stayed hidden until he recovered enough strength to reappear.
He was fixated on hunting down Orochimaru because he had found some extremely valuable information in Kabuto Yakushi's mind: cursed seals, "original bodies," and experiments involving natural energy…
Sasori wasn't some illiterate. As a top-tier puppet master, he immediately understood the significance of such research. Just thinking about it was enough to realize that Orochimaru's experiments could determine whether he might truly transform himself into an everlasting work of art.
Currently neither fully human nor purely puppet, Sasori felt incomplete and flawed.
Even though he had no real "heart," he was still subject to emotions and could act irrationally.
Faced with a technology that might let him permanently discard the tedious necessity of a "human core," all his usual caution vanished.
Given that Orochimaru, weakened by his experiments to produce new bodies, had also lost power, Sasori used the excuse of reclaiming the Akatsuki ring to persuade Deidara to help him hunt Orochimaru, hoping to seize these "original bodies" and the related research data.
"Sasori-san, I've found those three brats."
Deidara grinned, and the giant bird beneath them flapped its wings and flew off in pursuit.
If I can become a complete puppet...then I'll never feel that way again, right…
Sasori, hidden within his puppet shell, silently pondered this.
…
Meanwhile…
Is the village's backup still not here, or is there simply no nearby team that can arrive quickly...?
Aburame Shino sensed that the insects he had left with Kurenai-sensei were being destroyed. He knew that his teacher had done her best—and had somehow managed to buy them this much time.
"Sensei's been captured." He stopped in place and said, "Hinata, Kiba… if we keep running together, none of us will escape."
"I'll stay behind," Inuzuka Kiba said, rubbing Akamaru's head. "You two run. Akamaru and I will transform into one of you to lure them away."
"I'll stay, too," Shino replied calmly. "They clearly want us alive. One person has to go for help. Hinata, that job's yours—you have the Byakugan."
As far as "asking for help" goes, it was really that these two young men were prepared to use their lives to buy their teammate a chance to escape—just as Kurenai-sensei had sacrificed herself. It was now their turn.
Aburame Shino and Inuzuka Kiba exchanged a look. Neither saw a trace of fear in the other's eyes.
Not bad, Shino, you jerk…
Kiba grinned.
"But…" Hinata wanted to protest softly.
"There's no time." Kiba formed a seal and transformed into her likeness. Next to him, Akamaru, now red-furred, imitated another teammate's appearance. "We're counting on you, Hinata."
"If this bug dies, it means we've been captured…" Shino placed a small insect on her shoulder. "Go now."
Urged on by her friends, Hyūga Hinata sprinted toward the village.
Kiba—still in Hinata's form—smirked. "Never expected we might die together, huh, Shino?"
Shino said nothing, taking off in a different direction.
"You're still acting cool at a time like this?" Kiba muttered. Then, glancing at Akamaru, who was copying their teammate's form, he added, "We can't lag too far behind either."
"Woof!" Akamaru barked, ready for battle—even though they faced a terrifying enemy.
As long as they were together, there was nothing to fear.
…
"Ugh…"
Still running, Hinata allowed her tears to flow. Before she'd gotten very far, she realized her teammates' true intentions.
Even their jōnin instructor could only hold out for so long—how much time could the two of them possibly buy?
Could the village's backup really arrive so quickly?
Fighting back her sorrow, she forced herself to run faster. Her Byakugan remained active, constantly scanning for any possibility—no matter how slim—that help was nearby.
Then, about ten minutes later, the insect on her shoulder suddenly fell and died.
Hinata clenched her fists, stopping in her tracks. Fresh tears streamed down her face.
"Boom!" A roar echoed from above, and she looked up to see a rapidly descending flying creature. Before she could react, it crashed through the treetops and landed.
"Genin Hyūga Hinata." A ninja wearing a green flak jacket jumped down from the creature's back. Immediately, she saw three more faces she recognized—
Sunagakure ninjas?
Hinata quickly recognized another familiar figure—Link, the special jōnin from Konoha who had once visited the Hyūga Clan.
"Where's Jōnin Yūhi Kurenai and your two teammates?" he asked, voice steady.
He's so young… Hinata wiped her tears. "Sensei stayed behind to cover us, and she was captured. The enemies wore black cloaks with red clouds…"
Confronted with the repeated sacrifices of her friends, Hinata overcame her usual shyness and soft demeanor, rapidly sharing all the information on the enemy.
"I see." Link nodded. He leapt back onto the earth dragon, preparing to give chase. If their foes were Sasori and Deidara, there was nothing to negotiate.
Sasori had been greatly weakened after losing his original body and his Hundred Puppet Performance. Meanwhile, Deidara was a long-range ninjutsu fighter whom Link felt he could handle.
"P-please take me with you." Hinata jumped onto the dragon's back as well, her voice trembling. "I...want to fight too."
A Byakugan could be useful…
Link considered it briefly and did not refuse. At once, he urged the earth dragon to resume flight.
"Keep a close watch for the enemy. Report as soon as you spot anything," he instructed.
~~~
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