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Mui's gaze darted rapidly between the various groups engaged in battle, his mind reeling. To some extent, the level of combat unfolding before him surpassed anything he had ever imagined. He could barely keep up with the pace. A single thought consumed him—what was the point of him being here? Most of these combatants were leaders of the great ninja villages, and the few who weren't possessed strength rivaling that of Kage-level shinobi. He, by contrast, had merely been the lord of the Ghost Lantern Castle in the Grass Country. Compared to these figures, he had no real power to resist. He had joined the Akatsuki only to obtain the power of a tailed beast, open the "Box of Ultimate Bliss," and resurrect his son. But the scene before him was a far cry from that goal. How he envied Deidara, who didn't have to contend with these monsters. A deep sense of helplessness washed over Mui. He was not afraid to die, but to see his son again, he had to survive.
"Hey, the seniors are all going head-to-head with the great villages' best. We can't just stand around doing nothing." A sudden voice came from beside him. Startled, Mui turned to see a young man with fiery red hair—Hoka, a rogue ninja from Takigakure. The reason for his joining the Akatsuki was rather peculiar. He was an inveterate gambler who had once racked up a debt of nearly ten million ryō. The debtors, unable to tolerate it any longer, hired an underground shinobi organization to eliminate him. But Hoka killed them instead and declared he would slaughter all his creditors. Those creditors then turned to the Akatsuki, who dispatched Kisame and Sasori to subdue him. Hoka's first words after being defeated were, "I want to join you." And so, he became an Akatsuki member—and promptly killed the creditors who had hired the organization in the first place. As for his personal strength, Kisame had described it as "passable." Mui had no real measure of his abilities. When asked why they allowed him to join, Kisame's response was blunt: "Someone has to handle the dirty work. If not him, then you."
"What can we do?" Mui asked, confused.
"See that kid? The Nine-Tails jinchūriki, one of our targets. If we capture him, we'll have done a great deed." Hoka lowered his voice.
Mui followed Hoka's gaze and spotted Iruka, clutching Naruto tightly. "Kill that shinobi and take the kid. Should be easy enough, right?" Hoka grinned.
Mui nodded seriously, and together they moved, their target set on Iruka.
Iruka was scanning their surroundings anxiously while Naruto clung tightly to his clothes. Young as he was, he could sense the grave danger they were in. He felt powerless to do anything in this chaotic battle. "Sensei, are we going to be okay?" Naruto looked up at Iruka.
"We'll be fine…" Iruka's voice wavered even as he said it. Though his combat strength was limited, his observational skills were keen. He could see that even the Kage themselves were struggling to gain the upper hand against their assailants—a testament to the intruders' formidable strength. As Iruka's focus wavered for an instant, Naruto yanked on his clothes and shouted, "Iruka-sensei, look out!"
Iruka snapped back to attention just in time to see an enemy charging straight at them, kunai aimed at both himself and Naruto. He instinctively rolled, trying to dodge the attack, but then a fireball came hurtling from behind the advancing shinobi.
'Damn it!'
Cold sweat beaded on Iruka's forehead as he pulled Naruto tightly into his arms. The Third and Fourth Hokage had entrusted Naruto to him. Even if it cost him his life, he would protect the boy.
Suddenly, a wall of earth rose from the ground, shielding them both. A deafening blast erupted, sending clouds of dust and debris raining down upon them. Iruka whipped his head around to see two kunoichi intercepting their attackers head-on.
"Picking on a child? That's not very honorable." Kurotsuchi glared at Mui.
Beside her stood Isamu, who had briefly engaged Hoka before pulling back. "You didn't really think we'd just let you snatch the Nine-Tails jinchūriki right under our noses, did you?" Isamu's cold stare bore into Hoka.
"So, to get the Nine-Tails, we need to deal with these two women first." Hoka glanced at Mui.
"Yes." Mui nodded. "They're probably not Kage-level. Confident?"
"No need to ask me. I'll bet our fight will be the first one finished." Hoka grinned.
Mui was momentarily speechless. Betting in the middle of battle? This man was truly one of a kind.
"Just don't hold me back," Hoka added.
"Maybe save that line for yourself." Mui took a deep breath, pushing aside all distractions. If he couldn't even defeat the kunoichi before him, he knew the Akatsuki would have no place for him. This fight had to be won.
With that resolve, Mui immediately launched his attack on Kurotsuchi.
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"Ugh..." Deidara circled overhead, bored out of his mind. He was certain his strength wasn't among the lowest in the Akatsuki, yet here he was, forced to fly around while even Mui and Hoka got to fight on the ground. Watching shinobi pass below him from above was almost unbearable. Pain's orders weren't for him to participate in capturing the Six-Tails or Nine-Tails. His task was to use his explosive clay to prevent Konoha reinforcements from reaching the battlefield. In other words, he had to eliminate ordinary shinobi and, if necessary, stall even the Hokage long enough for the main objectives to be secured. In a way, this mission was still quite dangerous.
Because some of the Uchiha clan members had defected, the Konoha shinobi guarding the Five Kage Summit had split their forces. Some had gone ahead to confront the rogue Uchiha, preventing them from breaking through to the Kage. The rest had been eliminated by Deidara's clay. From high above, launching indiscriminate attacks on the shinobi below was almost too easy. The Uchiha, lacking any means of flight, found it nearly impossible to strike back. This was the value of aerial superiority.
After killing thirty or forty Uchiha shinobi, Deidara grew restless. He wanted to fly closer to the main battlefield to observe the unfolding chaos. He had barely advanced fifty or sixty meters when a thunderous roar echoed behind him. He turned, his eyes widening at the sight of a colossal "red giant" looming into view.