Naruto: Passerby and Returnee

Chapter 390 Catching Cicadas

Cutting off one of the enemy's hands did give Gaara a slight sense of relief.

Deidara's bombs were somewhere in between; they couldn't penetrate his absolute defenses, but they could cause immense harm. He could certainly defend against the bombs, but the little gadgets that guy threw out kept coming, making it very troublesome to be distracted and block them all.

Now that the opponent has lost a hand, their speed in forming small bombs should be much slower. As long as he continues his efforts and slows down the opponent's bomb-forming speed through continuous attacks, victory is only a matter of time.

After all, he was a Jinchūriki, and his chakra and stamina were naturally greater than those of a normal ninja.

The yellow sand continued to swirl in the sky. This time, Gaara no longer even controlled the ordinary sand used for auxiliary attacks, focusing solely on snapping off another of his opponent's hands. Deidara must have sensed the danger; his giant bird dodged while constantly increasing the distance between itself and Gaara, attempting to slow down the sand's attack. However, he seemed to have forgotten that a Jinchuriki's chakra could be squandered. Shukaku, unusually quiet, did not disturb his concentration at this crucial moment.

However, it seems premature to comment on the bomb's power. Deidara was clearly dodging left and right, but the reason he didn't throw the bomb for so long wasn't because he didn't have time to throw it, but because he was holding back a big one.

"Hmph, come and experience my art! Hmm!" Deidara tossed something that looked like a roly-poly toy. With the help of chakra, the thing grew several times larger as soon as he let go, and it fell straight towards Sunagakure like a giant grenade!

Gaara could guess the power of the grenade just by looking at its shape. It was his own fault for underestimating it, which allowed the guy to gradually enter the village during the ensuing struggle! No, there was no time to think about that now. He quickly gathered almost all the sand he could control and accelerated the filling of the space beneath the bomb.

We must be careful!

As he expected, the Jinchuriki of the Kazekage would never allow a bomb to fall into the village. Although it was somewhat despicable, the one who specifically requested the person was that seemingly unapproachable leader, and it was a rare internal Akatsuki mission, which he didn't want to mess up.

Next, the jinchūriki, whose attention was completely drawn to the explosion, would certainly not see the "bird" that flew into the blind spot; all they needed to do was try again...

"drink!"

The sand sphere, which had almost turned into a black dot in the distance, was blasted into a cloud of smoke and dust. Everyone who could still see the battle above was staring at it with extreme tension. On the other hand, Deidara, who had fought the Kazekage before, was already confident of victory.

He knew very well that the sand used for absolute defense was extremely fast and would definitely be able to block this attack, but... what about next time?

Therefore, clay bombs are a tricky ability; if you get distracted, you could easily be ambushed.

Gaara gasped for breath in the darkness. Even he couldn't withstand the rapid depletion of chakra. He had blocked those two waves of bombs, and even he needed some time to recover. The opponent actually had such a trump card! In terms of power, that bomb could level the Sand Village! However, such an attack also meant enormous consumption. He didn't believe Deidara could use such a thing continuously.

After calming himself down a bit, Gaara began to think about his next counterattack, but the unusual sound from the sand sphere caught his attention. He looked up and could barely make out a few thin streams of sand in the dim light. Then, a small white dot emerged from his sand, clearly the little thing that had just bombed him countless times.

In a flash, he immediately thought of the hand he had crippled, and... the reality that he was about to die. The sand armor clinging to his body wouldn't withstand this explosion. If he relaxed his chakra output and switched to defense, he might still survive, but...

The massive sandstorm was as dangerous as a bomb, and he... could not give up now.

"Drink!" Deidara formed hand seals again. His plan had succeeded; the One-Tailed Jinchuriki was now in his grasp. He really wanted to see that guy's surprised expression. The One-Tailed would never have imagined that one day it would be defeated inside its own shell.

Sure enough, the sand spheres were deformed by the aftershocks of the explosion, and soon they lost their shape, crumbling and falling to the ground. The Jinchūriki gradually materialized. Although he hadn't fallen directly down yet, he couldn't lift his head, and cracks appeared on his skin. He really did have defenses; thankfully, he had prepared a lethal dose. The orders were to capture him alive, but the opponent was a Jinchūriki, and defeating him would require going all out. He couldn't really guarantee anything.

Deidara smiled confidently, just about to go and retrieve it, when he was startled by Gaara's suddenly raised hand.

Don't ask, the only answer is that my severed arm still hurts! We absolutely cannot underestimate this guy!

But Gaara did not attack him; instead, he slowly and laboriously moved the large expanse of sand floating in the sky.

So... he gave up defending himself to protect the village? Letting go would have been much easier. No wonder he's the "Kazekage." Remember his teacher, that old potato-headed man who said he wanted him to inherit the Tsuchikage position? But he's an art-loving, freedom-seeking guy; he really can't understand this kind of... protection.

Although he didn't understand it, he respected it and said he would just wait a little longer and wasn't in a hurry.

Deidara, the victor, was naturally in no hurry, but those on the ground, seeing what was happening in the sky, became extremely anxious. However, aerial combat was a weakness for ninjas, and all they could do was keep firing arrows into the sky, hoping that those arrows would stop Deidara from getting close to the Kazekage.

The attack at the gate showed no signs of stopping. Scorpion, having become somewhat engrossed in the fight, summoned his strongest defensive puppet when the puppet horde proved ineffective. The scattered wind blades couldn't halt its advance, and as Scorpion drew closer, countless poisoned weapons rained down, nearly breaching the defensive line!

At this critical moment, the explosion inside the city attracted everyone's attention. The huge noise shook the defensive fortress three times. People stood up in a panic, only to see a fire dragon rushing from the narrow road in the center and directly encircling Scorpion's puppet.

Even with its entire body coated in fireproof material, the intense heat would still deform the puppet's texture. Scorpion had no choice but to abandon the salamander and quickly escape the inferno.

He hadn't expected Sunagakure to have such an excellent Fire Release ninja. If he could, he'd really like to fight him. But the fact that they'd even pulled out C3 meant the battle was almost over. That Deidara kid, he'd really kept him waiting long enough!