Escape From Konoha

A desert area about ten kilometers away from the northern dunes.

A team of more than 30 sand ninjas were advancing rapidly on the desert.

The leader was an adult man under thirty years old. His head was wrapped with a hanging white cloth strip to prevent sand. His right eye was covered by excessively long hair, and he had a goatee on his chin.

He was full of energy, his eyes were as sharp as an eagle's, and they were as sharp as a knife, pointing directly at people's hearts.

He was at the front of the team, and from time to time he took out a map and quickly scanned it, referring to the surrounding terrain.

"Captain Yura, is this operation a bit too fussy? We are actually asked to start heading to the northern sand dunes to respond at this time."

A Suna ninja who chased him couldn't help but complain to Yura, the captain's jounin who had a goatee.

You know, the days of being stationed at the border are boring and hard work.

Especially the days of confrontation with the Kingdom of Ghosts are even more difficult.

No one wants to add another heavy burden to themselves at this time.

"what do you mean?"

Yura asked without turning his head.

He walked forward with his head down, not saying much.

This also fits the image in the minds of subordinates.

As a young jounin who was deeply trusted by the fourth Kazekage Rasa, Jounin Yura was probably second only to direct confidants like Maki in the mind of that Kazekage Rasa.

If it weren't for this level of trust, Luo Sha would not have let him handle the important task of guarding the border.

"I mean Gaara, the Maki jounin is making a bit of a fuss about this."

Said the Sand Ninja behind him.

"Maybe. But it's okay to be careful. The importance of jinchuriki to the village is self-evident... It's okay if things don't happen, but once they happen, we can't escape the blame. As ninjas, we must take all unexpected factors into account. Consider it."

Yura had a serious face.

"As expected of Captain Yura, he is always so cautious and careful. No wonder Lord Kazekage wants you to supervise military affairs at the border."

The sand ninjas that followed showed expressions of admiration.

"Well, because if you don't be careful, things will become very troublesome. As far as my personal work is concerned..."

Yura said this meaningfully.

"Okay, let's speed up. It's just a simple response, it shouldn't take long."

Yura's speed suddenly increased and he rushed to the front.

"yes!"

The Sand Ninja behind him also ran quickly, chasing Yura's back.

Suddenly, Yura, who was running at the front, seemed to have touched some mechanism. He was knocked down by the rope that suddenly appeared under his feet. His body rolled out, and there was a clicking sound of some kind of device being activated.

"Be careful, there is an ambush!"

Yura's expression suddenly changed as he rolled out, and he shouted loudly to the Suna Ninja chasing after him.

Seeing this scene, those sand ninjas also realized that the battle was coming, and their nerves became tense.

I saw a large number of kunai flying out of the originally quiet sand layer without warning, and there were conspicuous detonating talismans hanging on the handles of the kunai.

"Quickly leave!"

The Sand Ninja who noticed this scene couldn't help but look panicked.

If it was just a kunai, it wouldn't be difficult to defend it.

But if the kunai is equipped with a detonating talisman, it will also be a very fatal attack for ninjas.

In this case, you must not fight hard.

Without hesitation, they flew around, keeping a long distance apart to avoid letting the detonating talisman affect them.

However, the moment they fell from mid-air to the sand, the sky-high flashes and flames, as well as the deafening explosions, erupted from the sand into the sky without any warning, swallowing up their bodies in the blink of an eye.

This seems to be the beginning of a chain.

The mines that had been buried under the sand started to activate simultaneously.

As a result, this entire desert has become an extremely dangerous explosive minefield.

The flames, flashes, and explosions lasted for half a minute before slowly disappearing.

"Damn it...ahhhhh!"

Then came the screams.

A sand ninja was covered in blood. Looking at his left leg that had been blown off, even though he clenched his teeth, a scream still leaked from the gap between his lips.

If this continues, he will either die of pain or bleed to death before the rescue team can wait.

In the thick dust, a figure walked slowly.

It was Yura who was unharmed.

His face was calm, and even when he saw his loyal subordinates in such miserable condition, his face did not waver at all.

"Captain Yura, save...save me..."

Lying on the sand, missing his left leg and covered in blood, the Suna ninja had tears of pain in his eyes and stretched out his trembling palms towards Yura who was approaching.

Standing still in front of him, Yura stretched out her hand to him.

Before the Suna Ninja could show his happy smile of being reborn after a disaster, Yura's palm crossed his outstretched hand for help and reached towards his neck.

"Captain Yura..."

The sand ninja's voice trembled.

Only then did I realize something was wrong.

Why was the opponent still unharmed in such a violent explosion?

Why is the look in his eyes as cold as ice at this moment?

This thought came to his mind.

Before he could think for too long, Yura's hand grasped his neck.

The Sand Ninja's arms and remaining right leg began to struggle and twist, and finally calmed down.

The eyeballs turned upward and turned white, covered with ferocious bloodshot eyes.

Maintaining this terrifying death state, his body was motionless.

"Next, it's time to meet Master Xie..."

Yura turned his head and looked towards the sand dunes to the north.

◎

"This guy... I remember that there was information about this person in the intelligence sent by Iwagakure's Tsuchikage..."

Temari looked at Deidara, who had already fought with Gaara, and immediately recognized Deidara's identity.

Because during the confrontation with the Demon Country two years ago, people from this organization kidnapped Gaara once, and Deidara was one of the members of the organization that kidnapped Gaara that time.

Because he found out that the opponent was once a member of Iwagakure's demolition force, and that Sunagakure had signed an alliance with Iwagakure, when Sunagakure later asked for information from Iwagakure, Iwagakure did not make things difficult, but was very generous. Passed some information about Deidara into Sunagakure's hands. He probably also hopes that Sunagakure can deal with the ninjas in his village on his behalf.

What's more, Deidara's organization also made Onoki extremely angry. The two tailed beasts that were lost in succession were closely related to Deidara's organization. Therefore, even for his former disciple, Ohnoki, as a Tsuchikage, no longer shields him.

"Don't be careless. This guy's explosive ability is very strong. If he is touched, he will basically be finished."

Kankuro used chakra to control it, put away the shield on the back of the Sansho Fish puppet, and fixed his gaze on Deidara who appeared in mid-air to attack them.

As Sunagakure's jounin, he had naturally read the information sent by Iwagakure.

He knew Deidara's various abilities and the power of that clay explosive.

A head-on confrontation with flesh and blood is simply not advisable.

In addition, the opponent has extremely strong air control capabilities and is an ultra-long-range offensive ninja. When an ordinary ninja encounters the opponent, it is estimated that he can only passively withstand explosive attacks and be defeated miserably while retreating.

"Leave it to me. I will coordinate Gaara-sama's attack from the sky."

About four or five meters to the left of Kankuro, a Suna ninja quickly operated the folded flying ninja tool behind his back, unfolded the wings, prepared to take off, and cooperated with Gaara's long-range ability to jointly attack Deidara, who had air superiority capabilities. .

Otherwise, it would be difficult for Gaara alone to pose a direct threat to Deidara.

This kind of ninja with air superiority, even if every village has flying ninja tools, it will still not be easy to deal with them.

However, he had just unfolded the wings of the flying ninja tool behind him, and when he was about to take off, a thin steel wire like rain was wrapped around his neck from behind.

"Well……"

Painful moans came from his throat intermittently.

With the sound of his windpipe being cut off, the sand ninja with aerial combat capabilities tilted his head to the right and fell to the sand.

Kankuro was immediately shocked when he saw this.

The body turned quickly and swept backward.

A figure wearing the same black and red clouds as Deidara appeared.

He has short red hair and looks even younger than him, about fifteen or sixteen years old. His face looks incredibly childish.

But those cold eyes that were emotionless and machine-like made Kankuro shudder.

It felt like what I was facing was not a human being, but a machine without human emotions.

"You, you are..."

Kankuro's eyes widened, a drop of cold sweat broke out on his forehead, and his body subconsciously took a step back.

And based on instinct, the chakra threads on his fingers began to operate, and the Sanshouyu puppet, which was prone on all fours, rushed in front of him, unfolded the shield on its back, and stood between himself and the red-haired boy.

As if doing so would bring a slight sense of security to oneself.

The red-haired boy who appeared was none other than Scorpion.

He didn't pay attention to the Suna ninja who was strangled to death with a wire. Instead, he focused on Kankuro, the young puppet master, and lingered on him for a moment. Finally, his eyes settled on the Sanshouyu puppet, revealing quite a bit of it. A faint smile of nostalgia.

"It's such a nostalgic familiar face. I didn't expect that after so many years, someone would still use such a puppet from the old era."

Kankuro pursed his lips and said nothing, but his slightly trembling fingers betrayed his apparent calmness.

His eyes were fixed on Xie's body, not daring to take a step away from Xie's body.

Facing such a legendary puppet master, even if the other party did not take out any puppets to operate, the oppressive feeling made Kankuro feel that his heart was being held tightly and might stop beating at any time.

This immersive feeling of being unable to control life and death made Kankuro extremely irritable.

But I had to force myself to calm down.

Because once you lose your cool, you are really not far from death.

"call--"

Kankuro took a deep breath, and the tense nerves in his body relaxed slightly, allowing his body to be in the best fighting condition.

"Calm down?"

"Of course, you'd better not underestimate me too much. To be honest, I've wanted to fight a legendary puppet master like you for a long time. It's completely fate that you and I meet here, Scorpion of Red Sand! "

After speaking, Kankuro took off the other scroll from his back without hesitation and spread it out on the sand in an instant.

boom!

A puff of white smoke rose from each of the two unfolded scrolls.

Two brand new puppets stand on both sides of Sanshouyu.

Located on the left side of Sanshouyu is a deformed puppet with three eyes, four arms, and two legs.

Located on the right side of Sanshouyu is an ant-shaped puppet, which resembles an ant's head with red tentacles and six arms. The torso is slightly enlarged, as if it exists for prey.

The two puppets are Crow and Black Ant respectively.

Like Sanshoyu, they are both puppets from the same series.

It integrates attack, capture and defense.

It is the highest artistic masterpiece among the Sunagakure puppet army.

A red scorpion is branded on the bodies of the three puppets as a conspicuous logo.

"Are you going to use the puppet I made to deal with me? I advise you to run away quickly. It's rare to meet such an interesting junior like you."

Scorpio makes a speech similar to advice.

In today's world where ninjas dominate the mainstream, puppet mastering is a side profession among ninjas, and its complete inheritance is basically only preserved in Sunagakure Village.

But even in Sand Hidden Village, the puppet master industry actually shows signs of being lonely.

As far as Xie knew, the puppet army in Sand Hidden Village was no longer as prosperous as in the past. There are only a few puppet masters who can serve as successors.

"This is hard to forgive! After all, I have always wanted to challenge you, the puppet master known as a genius!"

After Kankuro said that, the two puppets, the crow and the black ant, rushed out like lightning, and with floating movements that humans could never do, they attacked Scorpion's body from the left and right sides respectively.

However, the scorpion just turned its body slightly to one side, and then lowered its head slightly.

The crows and black ants' attacks narrowly missed the scorpion's body with just a hair's breadth.

"It's not over yet!"

Kankuro's fingers flexibly pulled chakra, and the movements of the crow and black ant suddenly changed in mid-air, and they turned around to launch a second round of charge.

And the crow opened its mouth, and a small white ball with the word "poison" engraved on it flew out.

boom!

The white ball exploded, and the lavender mist quickly spread, covering the scorpion and the surrounding sand.

Whizzing!

The kunai penetrated the air, and the crow puppet with offensive capabilities began to activate the mechanism in the body.

As if to show off his skills, Crow's attacks are connected one after another, perfectly matched, without any sluggishness. Coupled with the smooth operation, even from Scorpion's point of view, it is enough to be called 'excellent'.

but--

Scorpio lowered his eyebrows slightly.

The black ants that were good at catching disappeared, and the sand beneath their feet began to float.

The ant-like head of the black ant rushed out quickly, and at some point a black hole opened in the torso, facing the scorpion's body.

Faced with the unexpected attack by the black ants, Scorpion continued to dodge to the side with a small amplitude, easily avoiding the black ants' attack.

The kunai fired didn't even hit the scorpion.

The gentle breeze blew by, tossing Xie's red hair comfortably, making it spotless.

"Let the crows use exaggerated offensive skills to attract attention in the open, and then let the black ants wait for the opportunity to sneak attack from below... It's a very good technique. It doesn't seem to be following the script."

"But it's a pity that I still can't touch you."

Kankuro pulled back the crow and black ant puppets, stood on both sides of the Sansho Fish puppet, and faced Scorpion from afar.

"Have you given up?"

Scorpion asked.

"It's a beautiful thought. With me here, don't even think about attacking Gaara!"

Kankuro said firmly.

"Really? Then, let's play here. I don't like waiting for others, and I don't like others waiting for me. Don't worry, the battle will be over soon."

Xie smiled slightly, raised the index finger of his right hand quietly, and a scroll fell directly into Xie's hand.

The scroll spreads downwards, and the concerning "three" character on the scroll can already be seen.

"do not move."

A sudden voice came from behind.

A kunai was placed under Scorpion's neck, wrapped with sharp wind-attribute chakra, stopping his next move.

It's Markey.

His face was filled with coldness at this time, revealing a fierce murderous intention.

Scorpion's eyes rolled back, and the smile on his face faded slightly.

"Wind escape instantaneously?"

"Don't move. I know that you are the grandson of Elder Chiyo and was Sunagakure's puppet genius, but the weakness of the puppet master will not change. At this distance, I can kill you at any time."

Markey said this, but his expression did not relax.

If Xie made any unusual move, he would execute Xie immediately even if he tried to offend the retired elder Qiandai.

Kankuro, on the opposite side, breathed a sigh of relief.

Then he smiled at Scorpion and said: "I'm sorry, the reason why the crow made an exaggerated offensive was not just to create a space for the black ants to ambush. Moreover, I didn't say I would deal with you alone."

Rather, as a puppet master, if you still deal with Scorpion alone when you know who the other party is, it seems like there is something wrong with your brain.

That's just sending yourself to death.

"Yeah?"

"Then, let me, Kankuro, end the era of genius puppet masters!"

Kankuro suppressed his excitement, raised his finger, and the black ant flew away from the ground. Its torso opened wide, revealing a large dark hole. Six arms stretched out like vines and hugged the scorpion's body.

…

boom!

A violent explosion resounded in the air.

Along with the fire and explosion, countless grains of sand poured from the sky like heavy rain.

Ignoring the rain of sand falling wildly around him, Gaara just maintained a calm attitude, grasping the void with his hands, and controlled the sand gathered by him remotely, forming huge waves on the desert, and continued to attack from the front with overwhelming attacks. Pressing towards Deidara.

"Although the speed is not very fast, the defense is not a joke. My bombs cannot be broken from the front. Hmm."

Driving the huge white flying dragon under his feet, Deidara looked at the sky-covering sand and dust rushing in front of him. It would be a lie to say that he didn't feel troublesome.

The more he fought with Gaara, the clearer Deidara became that this one-tailed jinchūriki was by no means a ninja who only relied on the power of tailed beasts to become stronger.

But he himself is a powerful ninja.

In fact, he has never used the power of one tail until now, he has only used his own chakra.

It would not be good for me to continue fighting for a long time. Deidara judged this instantly.

Although his chakra belongs to the larger category, Gaara's chakra amount is even more unfathomable than his.

Therefore, if there is a protracted war and exhaustion to the end, he will definitely be the loser.

However, if you want to defeat Gaara, you must open a gap in his defense that has no blind spots.

If a gap cannot be opened in Gaara's absolute defense, the battle will definitely become a protracted battle.

This seems to have become an autistic endless loop.

This was what Deidara was troubled about.

At this moment, a sharp breath approached.

Deidara was surprised.

He didn't have time to observe, so he quickly drove the white dragon under his feet to move upwards, distanced himself from the sharp aura.

It was a vacuum blade shining with white light.

Gliding past on the white dragon's wings.

If he had taken a step too late, one of the white dragon's wings would have been cut off, causing him to lose his balance and fall to the sand.

"It was so dangerous, I almost got hit."

Deidara squinted his right eye and used the miniature monocular on his left eye to observe the movement on the sand.

In the scene observed by the micro telescope, Temari unfolded the three-star fan in her hand. The vacuum blade flying into the sky was released by Temari using the wind escape with the help of the three-star fan.

"The vacuum blade created by Feng Dun actually flew such a long distance. Is that woman also a long-range attack ninja? It's really troublesome. Hmm."

Deidara made a decisive decision and formed a seal with one hand. The white dragon under his feet immediately spit out two white eagles.

"Get rid of this woman first, and then deal with the Jinchuuriki."

Two white falcons made of clay pulled out two white lightning bolts in the sky and rushed towards the earth.

With a panic on her face, Temari used her three-star fan to quickly fan towards the sky, rolling a large number of vacuum blades, and at the same time, she stepped back sharply.

"Art is explosion! Drink!"

In the air more than ten meters away from Temari, a fierce fire suddenly broke out.

The ferocious shock wave generated by the concentrated explosion rippled instantly.

boom!

The shock wave caused by the explosion did not reach Temari.

A wall of sand blocked the top of Temari, and a large hole was dented in the back, but it could withstand the terrifying impact of Deidara's clay explosives.

Temari was lucky to survive the disaster. If Gaara hadn't defended her, the consequences would have been disastrous.

"This guy's abilities are too dangerous."

Temari gritted her teeth and stared at Deidara in the sky.

After facing each other head-on, he gained a better understanding of Deidara's danger.

Even if the opponent's clay explosives are blocked in the air, if the explosives are allowed to get close to the body, the shock wave generated by the explosion can shatter the bones in the human body, which will also cause terrifying lethality.

"Um?"

Seeing Gaara blocking Temari's attack without hesitation, Deidara became thoughtful.

Immediately, an unexpected smile appeared on his face.

"This guy doesn't seem to be a cold-blooded and ruthless guy as described in the information provided by Bai Zetsu. What a strange Jinchuuriki."

Generally speaking, the relationship between jinchūriki and the ninjas in the village is extremely bad.

Even the four-tailed and five-tailed jinchūriki of Iwagakure Village are like this.

They were just poor guys being watched by Iwagakure's top brass.

When they are needed, release them to deal with the enemy.

When they are not needed, carry out thorough supervision so that they lose the power to choose their lives.

He was forced to endure the cold and violent policy imposed by the village.

While protecting the village, he was also hated and feared by the people in the village.

The jinchuriki is a twisted existence created by the Ninja Village based on this twisted background.

Because of this, the ninjas of the Ninja Village will ignore the death of the Jinchuuriki.

The Jinchuuriki will also ignore the death of their companions and cannot feel sadness.

But Gaara's actions at this time made him feel that the other person was slightly different from ordinary jinchūriki.

Is it because of the family affection that still cannot be let go?

still……

Although he didn't know what was going on, Deidara felt that this was an opportunity.

"However, if you accidentally blow up the Jinchuriki, there's nothing you can do about it. I hope the leader won't blame it. Hmm."

Deidara murmured these words while driving the white dragon to dodge Gaara's sand.

You can't be merciful when dealing with Gaara.

Intuition told Deidara that if he restricted himself because he could not kill the Jinchuuriki, he would probably be killed by Gaara.

Driven by this thought, Deidara reached for his ninja bag.

When his palm stretched out, a white doll made entirely of clay was held by Deidara's palm.

“So, it’s time for the grand opening of my art!”

After saying that, Deidara threw the white doll in his hand towards the sand, aiming at Temari and the other Sand Ninja on the sand.

boom!

The white doll that fell rapidly suddenly enlarged several times, enough to compare with the main body of the white dragon.

And as the weight increases, the speed at which the white doll falls also increases.

"That is--"

Temari and the others were startled and turned pale.

If this huge creature was also an explosive, it is hard to imagine how large and powerful the explosion would be.

Just when they were about to retreat, the enlarged white doll suddenly erupted with a terrifying tremor from within.

Circles of ripples began to ripple in the sky, expanding in all directions.

The white doll opened its arms around its body, like an eagle spreading its wings, stretching its two arms to the limit like the wings of a bird, embracing the vast and endless desert.

Before it exploded, the terrifying wind pressure came from above. The sand ninja who wanted to escape had their legs fixed directly, and they could only watch the white doll falling above their heads.

despair.

die.

“Art… is an explosion!”

Boom——

Like a white meteorite blooming over the desert, it releases a strong white aurora, illuminating the sky and the earth.

The deafening roar continued, and the white halo distorted the air and light and shadow in the void, encroaching on the territory of the sky.

The sand layer that covers the sky and the sun is hundreds of meters wide, facing the sky, and holds the sky.

The white explosion aperture was successfully stopped.

"Ha ha!"

Deidara laughed heartily when he saw this scene.

"He actually blocked my C3 No. 18 head-on. This guy is really capable. However, the game of loving each other between siblings ends here!"

In the miniature telescope in Deidara's left eye, Gaara, who was blocking C3 No. 18, was already panting, and the dark circles around his eyes seemed to be getting worse.

Blocking this round of explosions will also consume a lot of money.

A small hawk quickly broke through the air, and while the other Suna ninja were still in shock, it rushed in front of Gaara from a blind spot.

That's a prepared explosive bomb.

It just comes in handy at this time.

However, the clay bomb got close to Gaara's body so easily that Deidara suddenly noticed something was wrong.

I always feel like I've overlooked something.

A flash of inspiration flashed in his mind.

Wait, where is his special sand? Deidara suddenly thought of this question.

If he remembered correctly, the information provided by Bai Zetsu showed that Gaara controlled a part of the specially made sand. Compared with the sand controlled by nature, the speed of that part of the sand was incredibly fast, and it would subconsciously protect me. Gaara.

It’s called ‘Absolute Defense’!

Where is his 'absolute defense'? Deidara thought about this problem.

Before he thought about it for too long, Deidara's fingers felt cold and he looked at his left arm.

A ball of sand seemed to have life wrapped around his left arm at some point, and was quickly eating away at his body through his left arm.

Compared with the naturally manipulated sand, this part of the sand is mixed with the pungent smell of blood and has a sense of life.

Oops, is this specially made sand used to display 'absolute defense'? Is it always waiting for a sneak attack? Deidara screamed secretly.

The other party, like himself, was planning a sneak attack.

but--

This is just an injury for an injury.

Just when Deidara thought so, there was no explosion from Gaara's place.

Realizing something was wrong, Deidara glanced at Gaara's position and his eyes widened.

I saw Gaara holding a micro device similar to a generator in his hand, emitting a fine current visible to the naked eye into the surrounding air.

And the small clay hawk he released to sneak attack Gaara landed at Gaara's feet at some point, unable to flap its wings and losing its explosive ability.