"Ugh…"
Akamaru collapsed to the ground, reverting to his original form and losing consciousness.
"The Hyūga brat got away, huh?" Deidara looked visibly displeased.
Those three Konoha kids had used the Transformation Jutsu to fool him, which ended up being quite annoying—he'd wasted a lot of time chasing them. The Aburame kid's insects, in particular, had devoured his recon spiders, delaying him for half an hour before he tracked down the real culprits.
Sensory types are truly a pain.
"Sasori-san, let's—" Deidara was about to suggest giving up on chasing Orochimaru for now, when he heard a loud whooshing sound approaching fast.
Adjusting the scope over his eye, he caught sight of the incoming figure and scowled. "It's Link from Konoha."
He might be just a "kid," but even Deidara acknowledged him as an opponent on roughly equal footing—otherwise, Deidara wouldn't have chosen to flee last time. More importantly, Link had the One-Tail Jinchūriki on his side, which could be troublesome in a fight.
"Sasori-san, let's retreat." Deidara calmly offered his judgment. Without his original body or most of his puppets, Sasori couldn't provide much support in battle. And with Link's apparent mastery of high-speed flight, Deidara wasn't sure they could kill him or take him away.
Besides, there was no point in engaging here. Though Deidara sometimes acted crazy, he was extremely rational in combat. Facing Link was too big a risk; even if they won, finishing Link off or capturing him would be difficult. And if Orochimaru happened to be lurking nearby, that annoying snake might swoop in to reap the benefits afterward.
"No." Sasori stared intently at the rapidly approaching earthen dragon. He had just located Orochimaru's whereabouts; if they fled now, who knew if that snake would vanish for years again? This might be his one and only opportunity. Even if he couldn't get Orochimaru's "original body" and experimental data, he had to obtain Link's Five-Element Seal.
He refused to let his plan fail, not when it concerned the transformation of his art into its final form—
He absolutely would not let this chance slip away!
"Sasori-san…" Deidara noticed something was off. His partner—usually so composed—was acting uncharacteristically fanatical, reminiscent of Deidara's own mania for "art."
"Roar!"
A strong gust of wind blew as the earthen dragon braked sharply. Standing at its head, Link crossed his arms over his chest, short hair ruffling in the wind. His face was expressionless. "We meet again, Sasori of the Red Sand."
His gaze swept across the scene below, noticing Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino, and the unconscious Kurenai Yūhi lying on the back of Deidara's clay bird.
Not bad. He'd arrived in time—he hadn't wasted all that chakra on creating the earthen dragon. But having a hostage in the enemy's hands complicated things a bit.
Still, that was fine.
One by one, Link's shadows jumped from the dragon and spread out on the ground, slithering in two-dimensional form through the forest's dense undergrowth.
"Hmm… so you didn't even bother remembering my name?" Deidara grumbled as the mouths on his palms chewed clay. He seemed annoyed.
"I hate to interrupt," came a voice as a strange figure wrapped in a pitcher plant emerged from the ground. The man's black-and-white face both wore the same grin. "But haven't you two played around enough?"
Deidara, who had once bombed the capital of the Land of Rivers with impunity, and Sasori, who had been dragging Deidara everywhere in pursuit of Orochimaru—both had long worn out the Akatsuki leader's patience.
Akatsuki's exposure was one thing; the organization had always planned to make a public move eventually, leveraging the great nations' conflicts. But this fruitless, dogged hunt for Orochimaru—combined with the insistence on fighting Link, despite knowing the odds—was too reckless. Though Akatsuki didn't strictly bind its members, it wasn't a free-for-all, either.
And so, Zetsu had been ordered to hurry them along.
"Tch!" Deidara clicked his tongue in annoyance. He'd wanted to retreat anyway, but hearing it as an order frustrated him. Nevertheless, he obediently formed a new C2 Clay Dragon.
"Sasori-san, shall we finish off these Konoha prisoners?" he asked.
But before anyone could move, Link's shadows attacked in unison, using the "distraction" of an apparent assault to snatch Kurenai from the back of the clay bird. Immediately, Deidara's bird exploded violently.
"BOOM!"
The shadows shielded Team 8's three ninja and one dog from the blast, over fifty of them destroyed in an instant by the shockwave.
Landing on a distant tree branch, Sasori pulled off the Akatsuki cloak with a yank, revealing his puppet-filled body. He removed the ring from his hand and tossed it to Zetsu's black-and-white figure.
"You can go now."
Zetsu seemed slightly taken aback but, upon catching the ring, sank back into the earth without another word of persuasion.
Deidara, having just landed, was momentarily stunned. So Sasori was willing to go this far—even if it meant forsaking the organization—to pursue his concept of "art." Deidara's face showed a hint of admiration, but he coolly hopped onto the C2 Dragon, ready to flee.
They're turning on each other? Strange… Link eyed the three figures. When Sasori threw away his ring, Link felt more certain the plot had taken an unexpected turn.
After this, I really need to summon the Hermit Purple or find out what Orochimaru is up to. He strongly suspected Orochimaru was the cause of this major deviation from known events.
"Don't get yourself killed, Sasori-san," Deidara called back earnestly. Forming a seal, his clay dragon spat out a smaller flying clay bomb that shot toward the earthen dragon. Deidara let out a shout:
"Hah!"
"BOOM!"
Smoke and dust erupted, gradually revealing a completely undamaged Rashōmon gate.
"Screee—crunch."
The first to emerge from behind the gate was Uchiha Fugaku, followed by the ever-expressionless workhorse Baki.
During the explosion, Deidara had already taken to the skies on his clay dragon.
Link glanced at the retreating Deidara but made no move to pursue him. Though he felt confident against Deidara one-on-one, the power of Deidara's C0 self-destruct was undeniable—and he couldn't guarantee the safety of his allies in that scenario.
His main objective here was to rescue his comrades. Bringing down the Akatsuki members could wait for another day.
Besides, with Zetsu having shown up, it was possible Tobi (Obito) was lurking somewhere. Truly forcing Deidara to stay could get complicated.
It was better to focus on Sasori. Now they had the Byakugan and Sharingan on their side, and Sasori's core-swapping trick must have weaknesses.
"Looks like you're all alone now," Link said from atop the dragon, looking down. He had no intention of fighting personally. Though half of his shadows had been lost, the remaining half could still continue the battle.
Ganging up on a puppet master who'd lost most of his puppets—no need for Link to rush in as he'd done last time. He had created so many "minions" so he wouldn't have to.
His three subordinates secured different angles, while Uchiha Fugaku's three-tomoe Sharingan spun into focus. Baki also prepared for combat.
"Bang!"
Sasori tore off the shredded remains of his cloak, revealing the hidden mechanisms in his puppet body. Both hands opened scrolls—these were the few human puppets he still had for combat. Thin puppet strings extended from the hollow in his chest.
I have to get closer if I want that seal…
~~~
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