The sudden appearance of Hoshigaki Kisame and Nagato had indeed caught Yuri and the others completely off guard.
That their opponents had managed to catch up to them in a single night was something Yuri and his companions had never anticipated.
Their retreat had not been a simple flight — Yuri had set up several misdirection traps along the way, so he had never imagined their pursuers could find them this quickly.
"I remember there's a kid from the Hyuuga clan in Kirigakure. I forgot about him."
Otsuka Kazuki suddenly remembered something, his expression darkening slightly.
No wonder!
Yuri froze for a moment, unable to suppress a silent curse in his heart.
Of course!
Deep down, both Yuri and Otsuka Kazuki had still clung to a sliver of hope — that the Sunagakure pursuit squad would not prioritize chasing them.
After all, compared to them, Gaara was clearly the more important target.
"It's come to this. Prepare for battle!"
Yuri reminded them with a grim expression, his body instantly tensing up.
At that moment.
Hoshigaki Kisame, charging at the forefront, wore an expression of barely concealed excitement on his face.
However.
The person who excited Hoshigaki Kisame was neither Yuri nor Otsuka Kazuki — it was Kakuzu, who stood off to one side with a face utterly devoid of expression.
Back during their time in Akatsuki, Hoshigaki Kisame had always wanted to have a proper fight with Kakuzu, but every match ended unsatisfactorily.
Because every time things got heated, Pain would appear and stop them.
Add to that Kakuzu's temperament — his desire to fight other members of the same organization had always been relatively low — so the two had never truly crossed blades in earnest.
But this time, the opportunity had finally come.
How could Hoshigaki Kisame not be thrilled!
As Hoshigaki Kisame was rapidly advancing, suddenly, a patch of sand ahead dipped slightly.
An explosive tag glowing with a crimson light appeared in Hoshigaki Kisame's field of vision.
BOOM!!
A violent explosion erupted instantly, and a powerful shockwave sent surrounding sand grains flying like bullets in every direction, instantly engulfing Hoshigaki Kisame.
"It worked!"
Otsuka Kazuki's eyes lit up, a trace of excitement in his voice.
Out of caution, during their rest period, Otsuka Kazuki had deliberately planted several explosive tags around their perimeter.
In a desert environment like this, once these tags detonated, the resulting shockwave would kick up enormous quantities of sand, creating a devastating double-layered effect.
What had started as a casual precaution by Otsuka Kazuki had turned into an unexpected windfall — he never imagined their opponent would be reckless enough to charge straight in.
"Nice work, Kazuki!"
Yuri also wore an expression of excitement as he praised Otsuka Kazuki.
A piercing sound tore through the air amidst the dust.
Before the two of them could celebrate for long, Hoshigaki Kisame cleaved through the massive cloud of debris with a single sword strike, bursting forth from the haze.
His speed had not decreased in the slightest.
It turned out that the instant the explosive tag had detonated, Hoshigaki Kisame had already positioned his great sword, Samehada, across his chest, absorbing the blast and the flying sand.
"Damn it!"
Yuri's expression shifted as his hands rapidly began forming seals. With a loud shout, he slammed his palms against the ground.
Earth Release — Earth Stone Flow!
With a rumbling roar.
Sand began surging around Yuri as the epicenter, transforming into a massive tidal wave that rushed toward the incoming Hoshigaki Kisame.
"What a pain!" Hoshigaki Kisame clicked his tongue at the sight.
If they had been on solid ground, Hoshigaki Kisame would have long since overwhelmed them with ninjutsu. Unfortunately, in the desert, his Water Release techniques — his greatest specialty — would cost several times more chakra than normal.
Against these two small-fry opponents, Hoshigaki Kisame could not even be bothered to use ninjutsu.
A thought flashed through Hoshigaki Kisame's mind. His forward-charging body paused for a split second before his right foot pushed off hard, sending him swiftly sideways to the left.
Dodge the incoming sand tidal wave while simultaneously forming hand seals of his own.
Earth Release — Underground Submarine Voyage!
Though he was not proficient with Earth Release, that did not mean he was incapable of using it.
Using the sand sea created by the tidal wave to obscure the enemy's line of sight.
Hoshigaki Kisame dove directly into the sand and vanished, traversing underground at twice the speed he could move on the surface.
"He disappeared!" Otsuka Kazuki stared in disbelief as Hoshigaki Kisame's figure vanished amid the churning sand.
"He didn't disappear — it's underground! Move!"
Yuri's expression changed first, then he shouted the warning at the top of his lungs.
Almost at the same moment his voice rang out, Hoshigaki Kisame erupted from directly beneath the ground.
Yuri and Otsuka Kazuki both scrambled away from their original positions, diving to either side while simultaneously preparing to counterattack.
What baffled the two of them, however, was that after bursting from underground, Hoshigaki Kisame showed no intention of engaging them at all — he sailed right past both of them and charged toward Kakuzu, who stood further back.
Meanwhile, as Hoshigaki Kisame had already plunged into the enemy ranks, Nagato — who had been slightly slower to emerge — came to a halt when he was still less than a hundred meters away.
"So that's it. No wonder something felt off from the very beginning, and they were short one person."
Nagato's cold gaze swept across the opposing side — specifically toward Kakuzu and Sasuke among the four figures — as he murmured softly to himself.
In the brief moment that followed, Elder Chiyo arrived with the rest of the pursuers.
Seeing Nagato standing motionless, and Hoshigaki Kisame already charging into the enemy formation.
"What's wrong? Is there a problem?"
Elder Chiyo leaped to Nagato's side, studying his expression with a look of confusion.
"We've been deceived. They deliberately split into two teams. Gaara must be with the other group, and these people here are nothing but bait — thrown out to stall for time."
Nagato spoke with a sharp edge to his voice. After all, no one would be pleased about being played for a fool.
"What! But that guy with the special ability and Uchiha Sasuke are both right here..."
Elder Chiyo's already dour expression darkened further. Though she had already guessed as much, a note of desperate hope still lingered in her voice.
"Remember the white figure who tricked everyone in your village — the one who disguised himself as Tobi, the one who could use Space-Time Ninjutsu."
"The white humanoid creature you killed — its true name is White Zetsu. It has the ability to absorb someone's chakra and transform into a perfect replica of that person."
"Even a sensory-type ninja standing right in front of these clones would be unable to distinguish them from the original."
Nagato's gaze flickered slightly as he spoke in a flat, even tone.
Sharing this intelligence with Elder Chiyo now could hardly be considered a leak — the corpse of the White Zetsu clone had likely already been recovered by Sunagakure's people.
Figuring this out would not be difficult for the Sand Village.
Though Nagato did not spell it out explicitly, Elder Chiyo naturally understood that the Kakuzu and Sasuke before them were almost certainly White Zetsu clones as well.
If that was the case.
Elder Chiyo's heart sank.
Their conversation had not been muffled or hidden, so the Konoha and Sunagakure shinobi behind them also grasped the gravity of the situation.
They had already wasted an entire night chasing Yuri and the others.
At this point, trying to pursue Uchiha Obito and the rest would almost certainly be too late.
More importantly, the Land of Wind was enormous. With no idea of Uchiha Obito's whereabouts, searching for them would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Finding them would be nearly impossible.
For a moment, every person present fell into stunned silence.
[
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