"Sasori of the Red Sand," Deidara grumbled from his perch on the clay bird, "We've been searching for three days and still haven't found the mining village. Is your information unreliable?"
At this moment, the art duo had no idea they were being targeted.
Deidara circled the area a few times, but as he found nothing, he descended, his frustration evident. "This is getting ridiculous," he added.
Sasori's voice, heavy and hoarse, responded, "The information came from Zetsu, so it should be accurate. There's been word of the Black Hoe Family in the Land of Rivers. They're dealing in various minerals on the black market."
He paused for a moment, a calculated glint in his eyes. "That family must be sitting on a massive mineral source. If we find them, we won't have to deal with Kakuzu's temper anymore. We won't need to perform these pointless missions."
Deidara sighed, his shoulders slumping. "Alright, alright. I'll stick around for a few more days."
With that, the two soared back into the sky, preparing to change their search area.
As they flew, a strange shadow suddenly passed over them, blocking out the sun. They looked up to see a figure with a dazzling golden aura behind them, their face obscured by the light.
"Flying Ninja?!" Deidara's voice rang out, filled with disbelief. "Could it be that the old man sent someone to drag me back?"
The most famous flying technique was the Light-Weight Rock Technique from the Hidden Stone Village. Sasori, however, wasn't fooled. His eyes sharpened with recognition.
"Don't be so hasty, Deidara," he urged, "He's not from Iwa. Land quickly."
Sasori opened his mouth in a wide, rectangular shape, launching a barrage of ultra-high-density poison needles toward the figure. The poison needles shot out at breakneck speed, covering the figure in a matter of moments.
But the unexpected happened. The barrage of needles collided with an invisible force—an air wall—and bounced back toward them. The rain of needles fell harmlessly to the ground.
Deidara, surprised by the sudden defense, immediately guided his clay bird to descend. With a flick of his wrist, he summoned several small clay birds, their wings flapping rapidly as they flew into the air.
"Explode!" Deidara commanded, forming an unsealed hand seal.
Boom! The sky erupted with a series of explosions, the flames blooming like fireworks in the daytime sky. The spectacle was impressive, though the sunlight dimmed the beauty of the fireballs.
A gust of wind blew away the smoke, and at last, Deidara and Sasori saw the figure clearly. It was a man, standing at around 1.8 meters tall, dressed in a black jumpsuit with a pure white mask, his features obscured. The mask had no eye holes, giving him a mysterious and unsettling aura.
It was Izanami, who had used a Transformation Technique to conceal his true identity.
Looking down at Deidara and Sasori, Izanami spoke casually, his voice cold yet amused: "Let's start with a greeting."
He raised his right hand, palm facing the sky, a wisp of Chakra flame flickering into existence. But as soon as it appeared, it dissipated.
"Forget it," Izanami muttered to himself, "This technique isn't complete yet. It would be embarrassing to use it as a greeting."
He paused for a moment, then formed a new hand seal. Blue Chakra flames erupted from his body, surging upwards with an invisible force. His white hair billowed in the air, caught in the rising flow of energy.
For over half a minute, Izanami maintained the hand seal, and the Chakra flames never faltered.
"What is he doing?" Deidara muttered, puzzled, watching the sky with narrowed eyes.
Sasori, equally cautious, observed the stranger's actions, his expression growing more serious. "He's casting a spell. Be careful. Ninjas who can fly are never ordinary."
He began to reach for a scroll, preparing to summon his puppet army. But his hand froze mid-motion as he noticed Deidara staring at the figure in awe.
Deidara's mouth hung open in stunned fascination. "So... so cool..." he whispered.
From the sky, Izanami waved down at them, his voice carrying through the air as he called out: "If you can survive, let's be friends."
With that, he flew away, his figure quickly disappearing into the distance.
Now it was noon, and the sun hung high in the sky like a massive fireball. To Deidara and Sasori, the sun seemed to drop lower, moving directly toward them.
"W-What is that?" Deidara stammered, his eyes wide in disbelief.
The scene unfolded before Team 8 and their convoy, who had taken a detour to climb a high slope. Everyone stopped in their tracks, staring at the sky above the art duo in stunned silence. A few of the more timid civilians collapsed in fear.
"Mete... Meteor?!" one of the miners gasped, pointing at the sky.
"No!" Kurenai Yuhi quickly corrected. "That's... a meteorite!"
Indeed, the enormous fireball plummeting through the atmosphere was a high-speed meteorite, burning as it entered the lower atmosphere, creating a brilliant flame trail as it fell.
Kurenai's mind raced. "Is it a coincidence? It has to be... a coincidence, right?"
Yet, she couldn't shake the uneasy feeling creeping over her.
Behind her, Hinata's eyes gleamed with excitement as she watched the descending meteorite. The gleam in her gaze was almost... adoring.
Deidara was still standing there, transfixed. His voice was filled with awe as he gazed at the incoming meteorite. "This... this is art!"
"Idiot!" Sasori snapped, but it was too late.
The meteorite was falling fast, its fiery tail growing larger by the second.
Sasori of the Red Sand cursed under his breath, fury flashing in his eyes. Without hesitation, a massive iron tail erupted from his back, wrapping around Deidara to secure him. In one swift motion, he leapt down the slope, pulling Deidara along as he reached for a scroll tucked in his robes.
With a loud bang, the scroll unraveled, releasing a dense white mist. As it dissipated, a terrifying figure emerged—a Human Puppet, its body a grotesque mix of human skin and mechanical components. This was no ordinary puppet—it was the Third Kazekage, the former leader of the Hidden Sand.
Sasori's chakra threads linked to the puppet, causing the Third Kazekage's arms to extend. In a blink, a torrent of black iron sand poured from his sleeves, quickly gathering to form a massive triangular pyramid, hovering ominously in the air below them.
Sasori and Deidara landed on the pyramid, and with a swift motion, Sasori manipulated the sand to launch the structure toward a distant mountain. Using the chakra threads, he pulled the Third Kazekage, guiding the pyramid around the mountain's face and preparing to circle around to the back side.
But the meteorite's descent was relentless, its speed overwhelming. There was no time to reach the other side.
Quickly adapting, Sasori changed his approach. He directed the Third Kazekage to angle the pyramid downward, launching it into the mountain's base with a powerful blast, carving out a man-made cave.
Sasori wasted no time. He sealed the entrance with a barrier of iron sand, then wrapped the entire area in layers of the same black metal, creating an impenetrable sphere.
Boom—
The world seemed to stop for a moment.
The meteorite crashed into the earth with a deafening roar, its impact amplified by the surrounding mountains. The explosion was cataclysmic, sending shockwaves through the valley and shattering the very air. The destructive force tore through the layers of iron sand, stripping Sasori and Deidara of their hearing, and obliterating the wildlife in the surrounding area. The mountain at the impact point was decimated, its very foundation reduced to rubble.
The shockwave reverberated across the landscape, sweeping through the mountains and causing entire cliffs to crumble. Even at a distance of twenty kilometers, Team 8 and the convoy on the slope could hear the explosion's thunderous roar and see the mushroom cloud rising from the horizon. The ground beneath their feet trembled with such force that even standing on the incline, the tremors were unmistakable.
The sheer magnitude of the blast was undeniable. The sky, now clouded with smoke, seemed to bow under the immense power of the meteorite's impact.
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