"Hah, saved!" Deidara let out a breath of relief as he soared back into the air. The rest could be left to Sasori, but he could still seize opportunities to lob a few clay bombs and rack up some extra shock value.
"Idiot! Don't let your guard down on the battlefield!" Sasori's voice suddenly rang out, grim yet tinged with urgency. It seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere, like the hazy call of a mother waking you up in the morning.
"What's going on?!" Deidara felt a sudden force slam into his waist, sending him flying—or so it seemed. Yet, his body hadn't moved an inch. Where was this sensation coming from? And wasn't he already in the air? Who could possibly reach him here?
Before he could piece it together, the scene in front of him changed. He realized he was never airborne—his clay bird was perched on the ground, Karin sitting atop it, while he was sent hurtling backward.
"Lightning Cutter!"
A streak of blue lightning flashed from behind Deidara as a masked, white-haired ANBU darted past him. The Lightning Cutter struck his right arm, leaving a deep gash that gushed blood.
Bang!
Deidara crashed to the ground in a disheveled heap. Only then did he realize he'd fallen victim to a Sharingan-induced genjutsu. The sequence of events that had seemed so convoluted had actually taken place in an instant. Had it not been for Sasori using Hiruko to shove him away at the last second, Deidara would have met his end.
So painful! So close! So terrifying!
These were the only thoughts racing through Deidara's mind. Aside from the injury on his right arm caused by the Lightning Cutter, his left side was bruised and scraped. This was the first time Deidara had been injured since transmigrating, and never before had he been so near death. Ninja battles were no playground scuffles, they were life-and-death struggles!
Didn't manage to kill him in one strike? What a shame.
Kakashi silently lamented as he backed away from Deidara and Sasori. After the brief exchange, he realized Sasori's strength exceeded his expectations. Puppeteers excel at fighting human opponents, with their poisonous gases, venoms, and countless traps. A single scratch could spell doom.
Since the ambush failed and the enemy was now on guard, pressing the attack would be unwise. The best course of action was to locate and defeat the puppeteer's true body. However, Kakashi never imagined that Sasori's real body was hidden inside Hiruko.
"What are you doing?"
As Deidara approached, Karin instinctively raised her slender arm. She assumed he intended to bite her for healing—just like the others had done in the past.
Understanding her intent from her gaze, Deidara gently lowered her arm.
"I already told you—we're the good guys! What an untrusting little girl."
Karin looked up, her red eyes behind thick glasses wide with surprise. For some reason, she felt the urge to cry, but not out of sadness.
"Mm!" She nodded with a soft, childish sound.
"Sasori! Watch out! That's Hatake Kakashi you're dealing with!" This time, Deidara truly managed to ascend into the air, shouting a warning to Sasori below.
"I know. The famed Sharingan Kakashi." Sasori replied, though he didn't seem particularly concerned. After all, wasn't he a genius too? The Scorpion of the Red Sand was the most brilliant puppeteer in history!
"Captain, what's the plan?" asked the purple-haired ANBU, most likely Uzuki Yugao—one of Konoha's noted kunoichi.
"We'll hold off this puppet here. Let Tenzo and Raizen locate and eliminate the puppeteer's real body. Be careful of the blond one in the air. He may be injured, but he's still capable of fighting," Kakashi instructed.
"Captain, even with the Sharingan, you can't see his chakra threads?" Yugao asked, startled. The Sharingan should have been able to track the threads, making it easy to find the puppeteer's true body.
"It's possible he's using a technique to conceal them," Kakashi admitted, though it was a rare blow to morale.
"Are you done talking?" Sasori cut in impatiently. "If you're done, I'm coming for you!" He detested waiting, and a few exchanged words felt like an eternity.
"Let's go!" Kakashi ordered, taking the lead.
Clack! Clack! Clack!
Hiruko's mouth opened unnaturally wide, spitting out a barrage of poison-tipped senbon. The rain of needles covered a wide area, yet Kakashi dodged them all with ease, steadily closing the distance.
"Impossible! Is it the Sharingan?" Sasori muttered. The sheer density of his senbon attacks should have made them unavoidable, yet Kakashi evaded them all, inching closer to Hiruko.
Boom!
One of Hiruko's arms extended, splitting into multiple segments mid-air and slamming down like an avalanche. Kakashi, having already seen this attack, quickly formed hand seals.
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"
With blinding speed, Kakashi summoned a wall of earth adorned with dog-head carvings. It shielded him from both physical attacks and any potential poisonous gas.
Crash!
The wall shattered under Hiruko's attack. Sasori prepared to press the advantage, but the other ANBU weren't about to stand idle.
"Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique!" shouted an ANBU, as he spewed a linear stream of flames toward Hiruko. Fire Release was especially effective against the mostly wooden puppets.
"Leaf-Style Kenjutsu: Dance of the Crescent Moon!" Yugao launched her own attack, her real body and two shadow clones slashing at Hiruko from multiple directions with precision and force.
Feeling the mounting pressure, Sasori had Hiruko's other arm shift into a shield, blocking the fire, while his tail moved swiftly to fend off Yugao's relentless strikes.
"Raikiri!"
The familiar sound echoed. Watching from above, Deidara finally understood the speed of Kakashi's Lightning Cutter. Only now did he grasp just how close he'd come to death earlier. It wasn't a move anyone could evade without enhanced dynamic vision from the Sharingan.
Slice!
Kakashi darted past Hiruko, slashing a deep gash from its shoulder to its back.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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