BOOM!
The first explosion ripped through the Hidden Cloud Village's highest watchtower. Flames erupted into the sky.
Hundreds of meters above, Deidara stood on the back of his giant clay bird. His golden hair whipped wildly in the wind, and a wide, manic grin stretched across his face.
"Art is an explosion!"
He thrust his hands into the pouches at his waist. Countless tiny white clay spiders slipped through his fingers and rained down onto the streets of the Hidden Cloud Village.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A series of explosions lit up the village in rapid succession.
Smoke and rubble filled the air as buildings crumbled. Alarms blared across the Hidden Cloud, the shrill sound mingling with the panicked screams of villagers.
The surviving Cloud ninja, stunned by the sudden assault, quickly regrouped for a counterattack. Lightning-style users formed seals, sending bolts of lightning crackling skyward, aiming to strike Deidara down.
"Too slow!" Deidara laughed, guiding his clay bird into a sharp ascent, effortlessly dodging the attacks.
Just as the Cloud ninja were readying a second wave
Click. Click. Click.
A strange mechanical sound echoed ominously.
Moments later, shadows surged from the periphery of the battlefield.
"Performance of a Hundred Puppets."
A cold voice rang out from the southern ruins.
A red-haired youth with an emotionless expression stood atop a broken wall. Behind him, hundreds of crimson puppets simultaneously raised their heads.
With a flick of his fingers, chakra threads surged forward, issuing their deadly commands.
The sea of puppets surged forth blades gleaming, poison needles glinting, hidden mechanisms snapping into place. They swarmed the Cloud ninja like a crimson tide.
"That's the S-rank rogue from the Hidden Sand! Sasori of the Red Sand!" a panicked Cloud chūnin shouted.
"Don't panic! Use Lightning Style to shatter their joints!" the squad captain barked, forming hand seals.
With a clear command, the surrounding ninja redirected their attacks to prioritize the puppets.
Several taijutsu specialists surged forward, lightning cloaking their limbs as they attempted to close the distance and strike at Sasori's real body.
But it was futile.
The Third Kazekage puppet floated up behind Sasori. A flood of jet-black iron sand poured from its core, instantly transforming into countless razor-sharp needles.
Magnet Style: Iron Sand Drizzle!
Shhhhhh!
The iron storm rained down like a dark tempest, shredding through the Cloud ninja's formation. Agonized screams rang out one after another.
"Damn it! You monster!" A jonin roared, slashing apart a puppet in front of him. Gritting his teeth, he charged again, determined to drag Sasori down with him.
But before he could reach, a puppet impaled him from behind.
His strength left him. The blade fell from his hand with a sharp clang as his body slumped forward.
"Tch. So Sasori's more famous than me now?" Deidara muttered from above, watching the carnage below with irritation. "Hmph. His art's nothing special."
Suddenly, dozens of poisoned senbon needles shot toward Deidara from below.
"Hmph!" Deidara scoffed, skillfully flipping his bird to the side and climbing higher into the sky. He retaliated by hurling a fresh wave of spider bombs downward.
The iron sand detonated them midair before they could reach their targets.
Sasori looked up and barked, "Deidara, get lost. You're not needed here. Don't get in my way!"
Without another word, he resumed his advance alongside the Third Kazekage puppet and his army of human puppets, pushing deeper into the southern sector of the village.
…
Northern Hidden Cloud Village
The scorched streets were littered with corpses.
Not far ahead, Hidan was locked in a brutal clash with a team of Cloud ninja led by an elite jonin. Their mission was to cover the evacuation of civilians.
Though his triple-bladed scythe dripped with blood, Hidan's cultist robes had been scorched and torn in several places by Lightning Style techniques.
He parried the jonin's sword, twisted aside to dodge a lightning strike, and shouted, "Kakuzu, you bastard! Still counting your money?!"
Kakuzu didn't even look up. One hand held a stack of bounty posters, the other calmly worked an abacus as he counted the bodies at his feet.
Two hundred thousand… Three hundred thousand… That one? Only worth a measly ten.
Next, he evaluated the squad still fighting Hidan.
Peasants. No high-value targets. Kakuzu sighed with mild disappointment and muttered, "Even mosquito meat is still meat."
With his accounting finished, Kakuzu stepped forward. From his back, five grotesque masks emerged, twisting and rising like living things.
"Hidan, you're wasting time," he said coldly and formed hand seals.
Water Style: Water Curtain Prison!
A torrent of muddy water spewed from the first mask's mouth, turning the battlefield into a knee-deep swamp. Hidan and the Cloud ninja were instantly bogged down.
"The hell, Kakuzu?!"
Before Hidan could finish shouting, the second mask crackled with light.
Lightning Style: False Darkness!
A bolt of searing lightning surged through the water, arcing like a deadly net. The squad captain reacted instantly, shouting, "Take cover!" He even grabbed a distracted Hidan by the collar and used him as a human shield.
The rest of the squad scattered.
But there was no escape. The violent discharge lit up the field as Hidan's curses and the Cloud ninja's screams merged into a chaotic wail.
Kakuzu showed no emotion and kept forming seals.
Wind Style: Pressure Damage.
Fire Style: Searing Migrant.
A roaring vortex of wind and flame erupted from the third and fourth masks, combining into a flaming tornado that ripped through the battlefield.
Boiling steam and the stench of scorched flesh filled the air. Those Cloud ninja who had taken shelter were vaporized before they could even scream.
Cough, cough… damn it, that hurts! Hidan crawled out of the smoldering wreckage, his ash-covered skin blackened and cracked. He tore off his scorched cloak and shouted, "That robe was brand new!"
Kakuzu swept his eyes across the battlefield, scanning the charred bodies. He suddenly formed more hand seals.
Earth Style: Earth Spear!
Dozens of stone spears shot from the ground.
One impaled a Cloud jonin who had leapt up behind Hidan, blade poised to strike. The man was skewered in midair, blood pouring down the stone spike.
"Damn you…" he groaned, eyes fading.
"Eight million," Kakuzu murmured with satisfaction as the black threads of Earth Grudge Fear slithered toward the dying body like venomous snakes.
Then he turned to Hidan and said flatly, "Hurry up. There aren't many valuable targets left here."
Hidan clicked his tongue. "I don't even care about money."
Suddenly
A storm of spider bombs rained from the sky.
Both Kakuzu and Hidan reacted instantly, leaping away just as the explosives struck.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The entire street was reduced to rubble.
From high above, a familiar voice echoed gleefully.
"Ha ha ha! No need to thank me! Just thought I'd drop in to help!"
…
At the main gate of the Hidden Cloud Village
A massive explosion tore through the front wall, sending clouds of dust into the sky. From the ruins emerged six figures, walking side by side.
The Deva Path raised one hand. A pitch-black chakra rod pierced the last surviving gate guard through the chest and pinned him to the wall.
The man coughed blood, still alive, but Deva Path waved his hand, sending both him and the wall flying into a nearby building.
The Human Path silently appeared behind a heavily injured Cloud ninja, placing a pale hand on the crown of his head.
Mind Probe.
The ninja's pupils rolled back, and his memories were forcefully extracted. A moment later, his body collapsed like a discarded husk.
The Eight-Tails isn't in the village.
Then we'll draw him out through destruction.
Someone here is bound to know his location.
The Animal Path formed seals.
With a burst of white smoke, a legion of massive summoning beasts appeared.
Three-headed hellhounds, giant centipedes, and the monstrous crow-like Yatagarasu charged straight into the heart of the Hidden Cloud.
The Akatsuki had launched a full-scale invasion.
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