Being a rogue ninja is worse than being Hokage.

Having lost the control of the chakra threads, the once menacing puppets instantly reverted to ordinary wooden puppets, falling to the ground in front of everyone.

Sasuke easily deflected the puppet's attack.

But no one let their guard down!

The puppets were just a feint!

As the puppet fell, a strangely shaped white bird swooped down from the sky and appeared between the Sound Four and Naruto and Sasuke's team.

After the attack that had been carried out in the forest, the enemy's next attack came from the sky!

"Hey! Didn't you check the sky?!"

Hozuki Suigetsu looked at Karin beside him and asked.

Throughout the history of the ninja world, there are only a handful of ninjas with the ability to fly—the only ninja known for his flying ability was wiped out by Konoha decades ago.

Because there are so few ninjas with the ability to fly—so few that a ninja might never encounter one in their entire life—Hozuki Suigetsu thought that Karin had subconsciously forgotten that ninjas also had means of aerial attack and had only conducted planar sensory probing!

"Of course I scouted! But I didn't detect any enemy!"

Karin's words were not an excuse, but they also meant that the enemy's flight altitude exceeded the perception of Karin's Kagura Mind's Eye.

It's truly high in the sky!

Under such circumstances, Karin and Hozuki Suigetsu still have the leisure to bicker.

I don't have time to care about the two of them.

Naruto formed the hand seals for the Shadow Clone Technique, causing his shadow clones to appear beside everyone.

Sasuke's Sharingan could also clearly see the enormous amount of chakra contained within the body of this small white bird!

"drink!"

The little white bird instantly expanded into a huge sphere—everyone could guess what would happen if the sphere burst!

explosion!

Moreover, it was an explosion with terrifying power and range!

Chapter 45 Air Combat

boom--!!!

After the explosion, the dust that rose up from the forest looked like a gray, semi-circular cloud of fog from the sky.

High in the sky, far above the ground, the white dots that appear to float in the air when viewed from the ground are located right at the center of the fog.

If you get a closer look, you'll discover that the white dot is actually a huge white bird, large enough to carry a person in flight.

The giant white bird looks exactly like the small bird that caused the explosion earlier.

On the back of this giant white bird are two figures wearing straw hats and black cloaks embroidered with red auspicious clouds.

A figure lay prone on the bird's back, its face hidden by a black mask.

Another figure stood upright on the bird's back, removing his straw hat to reveal a face that appeared to be that of a boy around eighteen or nineteen years old.

The boy had a medium-length yellow ponytail and long, side-swept bangs that covered half of his face.

The ninja headband with the mountain rock pattern on his forehead had a stroke drawn, indicating that he was a rogue ninja from Iwagakure.

"Well, Brother Scorpion! Witnessing my explosion, do you feel that my art has surpassed the artistry of your puppets?"

The boy with the ponytail readily admitted that he was the culprit who caused the explosion, but he valued the artistry of the explosion more than the damage it caused.

The other person, whom the ponytail boy called Scorpion, disagreed with his words: "Art is eternal and unchanging. Deidara, you have destroyed everything that originally existed. I really don't see any 'art' in this behavior."

"Really, Brother Scorpion, I only tolerated your disparaging remarks about my art because we are both rare artists. I know very well that what artists value most is their own art!"

Despite being displeased by Sasori's denial of his art, Deidara still felt a sense of mutual respect with Sasori.

After all, Scorpion's words and actions are exactly what an artist should do!

"Art is fleeting! Art is an explosion!"

"I don't want to waste my precious time arguing with you about the definition of art."

Sasori snorted at Deidara's artistic philosophy, unwilling to engage in a lengthy discussion with him.

Unlike Deidara, who pursued the beauty of the "moment" through explosions.

Sasori is a ninja who pursues eternal beauty.

He used puppetry to ensure his eternal existence in the ninja world.

Scorpio believes that as an eternal being, they should engage in meaningful activities to enrich the endless passage of time.

Instead of wasting time debating with Deidara, whose pursuit of art was at odds with his own.

Sasori's gaze fell on the thick dust that still lingered from the explosion, and he said with displeasure, "According to the information Zetsu gave us, one of those guys was the Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki. You should know that we should try to capture Jinchuriki alive, right?"

If the Jinchuriki dies, the Tailed Beast sealed within the Jinchuriki will also die, and it will take a very long time for the Tailed Beast to revive.

The Akatsuki organization's tailed beast collection plan will be forced to stop for several years, which is a maximum waste of time!

It's not surprising that Sasori, who dislikes wasting time, would be dissatisfied with Deidara's behavior.

"I've calculated the explosive yield; it won't kill the Jinchuriki!"

Deidara was brimming with confidence in his explosive "art".

He was certain that his art of explosion would never go wrong.

"Then let's retrieve the Jinchuriki after the dust settles." Although Sasori complained, he was well aware of Deidara's strength; Deidara was indeed the most authoritative explosion expert.

Thinking this, Sasori brought up the work assignment with Deidara, saying, "This time, the results will be on your shoulders. After that, I'll take care of the One-Tailed Beast of Sunagakure."

The Akatsuki organization originally assigned the art duo the task of capturing the One-Tailed Beast, but the recent deaths of the immortal duo Kakuzu and Hidan, as well as the news of Orochimaru's death, led the Akatsuki organization to temporarily change their plans.

Naruto and Sasuke of the Uchiha clan, aided by the Nine-Tails who killed the immortal duo and Orochimaru, made no attempt to conceal their intentions toward the Akatsuki organization.

Especially after Zetsu reviewed the battlefield where the immortal duo died and discovered that Hidan's head was missing, he concluded that Hidan had been captured...

Using the Sharingan, it would be incredibly easy to extract information about the Akatsuki organization from Hidan.

After some discussion, the leader of the Akatsuki organization decided to prioritize dealing with Naruto and Sasuke, who were actively fighting against the Akatsuki organization.

Based on the information Hidan had about the Akatsuki organization, the art duo who were closest to Naruto and Sasuke were chosen to carry out this mission.

"Brother Scorpion, I have no objection to you wanting to capture one tail by yourself, it's just a little regrettable... I was really looking forward to this mission."

Deidara's gaze followed, the wind in the sky blowing his bangs, revealing the specially made miniature telescope that Deidara wore on his left eye.

"I heard that Uchiha Sasuke is Uchiha Itachi's younger brother, so I was actually a little hopeful..."

Since Uchiha Sasuke is Uchiha Itachi's younger brother, he shouldn't be too bad—after all, Uchiha Itachi is the only guy who made Deidara question his art.

Deidara knew that without defeating the nightmare known as Uchiha Itachi, he would never be able to elevate his art for the rest of his life.

Deidara had intended to use Sasuke Uchiha to gauge whether he was fully prepared to challenge Itachi Uchiha again and deal with the Sharingan's genjutsu.

But Sasuke Uchiha perished in the art created by Deidara.

"...Perhaps this is what people mean by the uniqueness of genius. Even among blood brothers, there are geniuses and mediocre ones."

Deidara sighed slightly.

He loathed Itachi Uchiha's Sharingan, which seemed to disregard his own art, yet he couldn't deny Itachi's genius.

"Judging from your tone, you seem to know Itachi quite well?"

As Deidara was lost in thought, a cold, questioning voice, accompanied by thunderous roars like the cries of a thousand birds, echoed in his ears.

"What!?"

Deidara and Sasori were both startled when they saw the black-haired boy in flowing white robes appear before them.

This is high in the air!

Sasuke wasn't flying into the sky; he was actually lifted up by the "ground"!

The "ground" that allowed Sasuke to "stand" high in the sky was an earth-style ninjutsu made of a large amount of chakra, an earth pillar of astonishing height that could even touch the sky!

The earth pillar formed so quickly that Deidara and Sasori couldn't react in time.

In the blink of an eye, it came from nothing and stands in this world!

One can only imagine the terrifying amount of chakra that the caster injected at the moment of performing this Earth Release ninjutsu!

Sasuke stood on the earthen pillar, gathering chakra in his feet to stabilize his body. His red three-tomoe Sharingan observed Deidara and Sasori's most subtle movements and expressions!

Seizing the opportunity, Sasuke swung the Kusanagi sword in his hand, and the chirping dagger attached to the Kusanagi sword changed shape in an instant!

The Thousand Birds transformed into a long spear of lightning!

Chidori Stream - Chidori Sharp Spear!

As Sasuke slashed, the Thousand Bird Spear sliced ​​the giant white bird carrying Deidara and Sasori in two from bottom to top!

"hateful!"

Having lost his footing high in the air, Deidara reached for his ninja tool pouch at his waist, his tongue sticking out of his palm as he licked the white clay inside.

The next moment, Deidara spat out the clay from the mouth in his palm.

Deidara immediately flung away the vomited clay, and with his other hand, he formed a ninja hand seal!

The white clay, originally only half the size of a palm, transformed into a white bird identical to the giant white bird that Sasuke had severed with the Chidori Spear.

Deidara stood on the bird's back again, suspending himself high in the air once more.

Meanwhile, Sasori, whose loose black sleeves embroidered with red auspicious clouds extended segment after segment of puppet arms, grabbed the earth pillar that had brought Sasuke into the sky.

"I take back what I just said. You do have some strength after all!"

Deidara looked at Sasuke in front of him. The white clay giant bird at his feet opened its beak and spat out several miniature white birds.

These little birds launched a "suicide" attack, flying towards Sasuke!

To make it even harder for Sasuke, who was only standing on the earth pillars high in the air, to escape, Sasori's puppet arms, which could extend when injected with chakra, wrapped around the earth pillars like snakes and attacked Sasuke!

Despite being surrounded by Deidara and Sasori, Sasuke remained calm.

His expression remained calm and composed.