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As Guy and his team arrived, Pain asked White Zetsu, "Where are they currently?"
"Jiryoku and Might Guy have reached the outside entrance, and Kakashi and his team will also arrive any moment," replied White Zetsu.
Pain nodded and dismissed the summoning, sending the Gedo Statue back. The silhouettes of all the Akatsuki members also disappeared.
Then Pain turned to Deidara and Sasori and said, "Focus every ounce of your strength and use all your tricks to defend yourselves because this may be your only chance to survive. Meanwhile, I will send our new recruit, Tobi, to assist you in retreating."
Both Sasori and Deidara felt unhappy about being underestimated by Pain, but they didn't voice their concerns further. They knew their leader had already fought with Jiryoku, so if he was advising them to retreat, there must be some truth to it.
Afterward, Pain's silhouette also disappeared.
"Sasori, my man, it seems we have to retreat as soon as possible, or we'll be drawn into a fierce battle," said Deidara.
"You're right, but a confrontation with them is inevitable. After all, this place is covered by a strong defensive barrier. The only way out is through the entrance we used to get in," replied Sasori.
Just as they were about to head for the entrance to escape, a powerful force pushed them both backward deep into the cave.
"What the...?" exclaimed Deidara in shock.
"It seems someone destroyed the entrance and the barriers surrounding this place," said Sasori while regaining his balance.
"No, Sasori, my man, look carefully. Not only the entrance, but the whole cliff is destroyed," said Deidara.
Sasori also saw this and was shocked. He asked, "Did a tailed beast use a tailed beast bomb or something?"
As the entire cliff had been destroyed, the stones fell into the river, creating a wide area of debris in the water.
"Every time I see Jiryoku produce such attacks with his sword, I'm always shocked," said Shikamaru.
Jiryoku began walking in the direction of Deidara and Sasori. As he walked, he started releasing his 'Conqueror's Haki,' focusing it solely on both Sasori and Deidara. If they didn't have strong willpower, they would have already been forced to kneel on the ground.
"What kind of aura is this? It's very different from Killing Intent," said Deidara.
"I don't know either. It's the first time I've felt something like this. It seems the leader is right; he is a formidable opponent," said Sasori.
"So, are we going to give up the fight?" asked Deidara.
"How is that even possible? I'm someone who won't go down this easily without showcasing my eternal art," replied Sasori.
Sasori tore the cloth that was serving as a mask from the puppet's face, and the puppet opened its mouth, releasing a large number of needles in Jiryoku's direction. Sasori used 'Prepared Puppet: Eight Waves of Needles technique'.
Jiryoku could have easily stopped this attack with his gravity ability, but he chose not to do so, wanting to test his reflexes and swordsmanship.
Jiryoku unsheathed his sword and stood in one place, using basic swordsmanship to deflect all the needles, without any fancy sword moves.
The continuous clashing of metal against each other, going "ding, ding, ding, ding, ding," lasted for a full minute, and finally, the needles stored in Sasori's puppet's mouth were exhausted.
Jiryoku continued walking in the direction of Sasori and Deidara.
"Just with his pure basic physical strength and instinct, he deflected all my attacks. Is he even blind?" exclaimed Sasori in shock.
"Deidara, leave immediately through the air while I hold him off," Sasori instructed.
"Are you going to sacrifice yourself, Sasori, my man?" asked Deidara.
"You are the last person for whom I would sacrifice myself. It's just that you are good at escaping through the air, and I have a perfect way to escape through the ground very easily. Besides, didn't the leader just say that this man can control gravity? That means he can easily follow you in the air, and maybe his speed is even higher than yours. So, leave now, and not to mention, there are so many people here. I even doubt that you can fly away from here," Sasori explained.
"Hmph, let me show you how I can easily fly away from this place," said Deidara.
Jiryoku couldn't help but overhear their conversation, but he allowed them to do as they wished. After all, this was his first fight in many years, and he was simply enjoying it.
Deidara created a C1 bird and used it's body to carry Gaara's body, intending to attract the attention and anger of some of the people present so that he could relieve some of the pressure on Sasori's side. It played out as he had expected.
Naruto, in anger, shouted, "Give Gaara back!" as he looked at Deidara. He ran in the direction in which Deidara feld and followed closely behind Deidara's C1 bird.
Kakashi also trailed behind Naruto, after all he can't risk Naruto going berserk. Seeing this, Shikamaru said to his team, "Let's go too. We came with Kakashi-sensei, so we should follow him and Naruto."
Ino and Choji nodded and followed Shikamaru in the direction that Deidara had fled.
Sasori believed that Jiryoku would try to stop Deidara from escaping, so he said, "Now let's see if you can dodge all these poison-infused needles. If even one needle grazes you, you'll be dead."
Jiryoku remained silent and continued walking toward Sasori.
Sasori launched shrapnel of senbon from the puppet in Jiryoku's direction. A rain of poisonous needles came from every direction, but Jiryoku easily deflected them all with his sword, and each needle fell to the ground.
"What!? Even needles from every direction can't harm him," Sasori exclaimed.
(A/N: If you like the story please vote power stones.)