[This Chapter Is Sponsored by Shin! Everyone, please thank him in the comment!]
At the edge of the forest.
A group of Rock ninjas were bound by vines, unable to move.
Among them, the Five-Tails Jinchuriki Han and Deidara were also trapped, even Deidara kept shouting about eventually taking both his art and Akihara Kagura down together.
Fortunately.
People from Rock Village arrived quickly.
The Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, along with a squad of Anbu, personally delivered Hatake Kakashi. He then saw his disgraceful disciple who was making noise.
"Shut up, Deidara!"
The Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, scolded loudly, looking up to teach a lesson: "If your skills are inferior, don't spout nonsense here!"
"..."
Deidara's momentum halted, his face turning even uglier, mumbling carelessly and cursing Ōnoki: "Got it, you old fart!"
"This kid!"
The Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, cursed under his breath.
"Alright, let's exchange hostages now."
Akihara Kagura's wood clone looked towards his superior, asking loudly, "Captain Kakashi, are you injured?"
"...No."
Hatake Kakashi's expression was odd, looking over with a puzzled gaze.
If it weren't for this kid kindly coming to rescue him, he wouldn't have been injured, nor would he have been captured by the people of Rock Village.
"Have they interrogated you?"
Akihara Kagura's wood clone looked at Hatake Kakashi, continuing, "Did they try to extract any intelligence from you?"
"kid!"
The Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, angrily said: "Don't underestimate the honor of Rock Village! What we promise will be as solid as the rocks of Rock Village!"
"The rocks of Rock Village crumble at the slightest touch..."
Akihara Kagura's wood clone's words made Ōnoki's forehead twitch!
"Let's proceed with the hostage exchange now."
Akihara Kagura's wood clone slowly raised his finger, and the vines at the feet of the Rock ninjas slowly untangled, allowing them to walk over to the other side.
The Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, didn't make much of a fuss, letting Hatake Kakashi walk back. He was more concerned about the safety of the Rock ninjas.
"Train hard in the future."
The Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, looked at Deidara walking towards him somewhat disheartened, coldly scolding and educating, "Don't always show off your clay..."
"Annoying!"
Deidara appeared somewhat impatient and cast a glance at Ōnoki, slowly standing by Ōnoki's side with a sullen face, seemingly unwilling to speak.
"Have you not learned your lesson yet?"
The Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, was very dissatisfied with Deidara's attitude. The Old man was about to continue lecturing: "You're not practicing diligently, not even catching up with others in your Earth Release skills!"
After saying this, Ōnoki did not want to pay attention to his disciple's complaints any further, his gaze then fell on Hatake Kakashi and Akihara Kagura among others.
"kid."
Ōnoki's expression became serious, and he spoke in a deep voice: "Now that the hostage exchange is over, let's talk about your infiltration into the Land of Earth!"
Ōnoki slowly twisted his shoulders: "Even though the old man is still sick, but having been attacked right at our doorstep, it's time to stretch the old bones a bit…"
"Is this the reputation of Rock Village?"
Akihara Kagura's wooden clone sighed deeply, seemingly quite helpless: "I never intended to have any conflict with Rock Village. I even expressed my goodwill to the greatest extent, fearing it would spark a war between our two villages…"
Akihara Kagura's wooden clone glanced at her superior, continuing: "At least, the value of the two sides in this hostage exchange is completely unequal. Do you think our Captain Kakashi is worth a Five-Tails Jinchuriki, a genius young ninja from Rock Village, and a group of Rock Anbu?"
Silence.
Hatake Kakashi by the side twitched his forehead.
Silence.
The Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, felt he might indeed be at a disadvantage because, looking at the value of this hostage exchange, Konoha indeed suffered a great loss.
What should be said...
To justify taking action?
Fortunately.
Deidara, standing behind Ōnoki, stepped forward.
"You guys…"
Deidara, standing by Ōnoki's side, spoke out irritably: "We were researching ninjutsu, wasn't it you guys who suddenly attacked us?"
"Correct."
Ōnoki slowly nodded, looking at his disciple with satisfaction, finding Deidara's sharp tongue unexpectedly useful.
Although Deidara's words were not that harsh, he spoke the truth. The other side had accumulated too many grievances against Rock Village, and their own grievances were too few.
This battle was absolutely unavoidable!
Even for the future of Rock Village, for the sake of the new generation yet to grow, they could not let that Konoha kid escape back!
The Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, regained the initiative, looking at Akihara Kagura's wooden clone, and continued to reprimand in a stern voice: "We cannot ignore the fact that you infiltrated the Land of Earth and Rock Village, even attacking Rock ninjas proactively…"
"We are not…"
Hatake Kakashi frowned and took the initiative to seek peace.
"Captain Kakashi, more words are futile."
Akihara Kagura's wooden clone interrupted Hatake Kakashi's words, looking at the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, and actively invited to battle, saying, "If you must take action today, then we don't need to look for any reasons anymore. After all, we should all know that these reasons are just a fig leaf for Rock Village to start the fight..."
"This sharp-tongued kid!"
The Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, hearing the somewhat unpleasant words from the other side, quickly gathered his palms together, actively inviting to battle, saying, "You're right, the outcome of all disputes in the ninja world ultimately has to be decided by strength..."
"Sometimes by schemes, too."
Akihara Kagura's wooden clone revealed a mysterious smile.
Just as the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, became curious, he suddenly saw a sinister hand reaching out next to him, directly grabbing his neck and lifting the small old man's body!
"Deidara!"
The Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, was furious!
Nobody expected that the disciple who had just returned to the Third Tsuchikage's side would suddenly attack the Tsuchikage at this moment!
"No, you're not Deidara!"
Onoki's mind quickly turned, thinking that it was possible for his disciple to attack him, but Deidara would have openly used clay bombs, definitely not resorting to such a despicable way to ambush an old man like him!
"The Tsuchikage has really aged."
This Deidara's appearance slowly changed, revealing Akihara Kagura's true face: "To the point of not even being able to distinguish your own disciple from an imposter..."
Compared to other transformation techniques, the Wood Release ninja's transformation and clone techniques are the hardest to see through.
Even the Third Tsuchikage, from a distance, had not realized that the Akihara Kagura who had been speaking was just a wooden clone!
Even Hatake Kakashi did not expect Akihara Kagura to be so bold as to deceive everyone with a wooden clone, impersonating Deidara to ambush the Third Tsuchikage!
Even...
This person had just been deliberately provoking a fight.
"Release Lord Tsuchikage!"
"How dare you take Lord Tsuchikage hostage!"
"Everyone, it's best not to act rashly."
Akihara Kagura turned his head to glance at the Rock Village ninjas, their faces filled with shock and anger, and continued, "Otherwise, I can't guarantee the Tsuchikage's safety."
Akihara Kagura, holding the Third Tsuchikage's neck with one hand, a vine slowly wrapped around the Third Tsuchikage, using Wood Release ninjutsu to slowly drain the Tsuchikage's chakra, ensuring that the Third Tsuchikage could no longer resist.
"What a despicable kid…"
Onoki was tied up, and the old man's mouth still refused to spare anyone: "To think you disguised yourself as Deidara to get close and attack me…"
Onoki stared intently at Akihara Kagura, then asked about the safety of his disciple: "What did you do to that kid, Deidara?"
"That little guy was just too noisy."
When Akihara Kagura spoke of Deidara, he couldn't help but fiddle with his ear: "However, I adhered to our agreed-upon exchange of hostages deal, and locked him up first. Your people can rescue him after we leave."
"As for Lord Tsuchikage…"
Akihara Kagura grabbed the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, as if he were picking up a child with ease: "I'm afraid Lord Tsuchikage will have to take a trip with us."
"Wood Release: Advent of a World of Flowering Trees!"
Thick vines burst out of the forest, attacking a group of newly released Rock ninjas and a team of Rock Anbu, entangling them directly!
"Let's go!"
Akihara Kagura, along with the Third Tsuchikage, appeared instantaneously next to Hatake Kakashi using the Flying Thunder God Technique, only to see his pale-faced superior, as if he had been greatly shocked.
"You kid…"
Hatake Kakashi adjusted his forehead protector, feeling his heart beating a bit fast: "Don't always make such a big fuss suddenly!"
"I didn't want this either."
Akihara Kagura glanced at Hatake Kakashi, his eyes filled with a bit of helplessness: "I've already asked the Five-Tails Jinchuriki, and there's no information about Uchiha Obito…"
Akihara Kagura, somewhat speechlessly, looked at Hatake Kakashi, then glanced at Onoki: "We can't just come here for nothing, right? Traveling all the way to the Land of Earth, we have to bring back some local products, right?"
"Local products…"
Hatake Kakashi found this argument a bit strange, but upon serious consideration, it wasn't wrong—the Third Tsuchikage indeed was the most valuable local product of the Land of Earth…
"You kid…"
The Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, was so angry that his forehead twitched.
This Tsuchikage felt that in all his years, he had never been so infuriated. To be kidnapped and even considered a specialty product!
"Just kill me!"
The Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, roared in fury!
This old man was almost driven mad by Akihara Kagura!
If he were to be taken back to Konoha like this, he would be laughed to death by his old rival, Sarutobi Hiruzen!
"It seems we could also bring back a body."
Akihara Kagura furrowed his brows, seriously contemplating the feasibility of the matter: "Anyway, the Anbu and the Root should both have means of extracting information from the deceased. There's no need to worry about Lord Tsuchikage resisting on the way back…"
"…"
The Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, became even more agitated!
As the longest-serving Kage of Rock Village, Ōnoki himself didn't know how much confidential information of the village he had mastered. If Konoha were to find out this information, who knows how much damage it would bring to Rock Village in the future!
"Hey, hey, hey, don't be rash…"
Hatake Kakashi quickly stopped Akihara Kagura, who was eager to act: "The Third Tsuchikage is not an ordinary ninja. We do not have the authority to deal with him. This matter should be left to Lord Hokage to make a judgment!"
Anyone with common sense knows!
For Konoha, a living Tsuchikage is more valuable than a dead one!
"Actually, I think we should hand him over to Lord Danzō…"
Akihara Kagura frowned, looking at Hatake Kakashi and spoke: "Captain Kakashi, you should know, this is a crucial moment for me competing with Uchiha Itachi for the future leadership of the Root. This merit could make Lord Danzō change his attitude towards me…"