At the same time.
Hoshigaki Kisame, who had charged into the enemy ranks, was already face-to-face with Kakuzu.
A fierce grin plastered across his face, Hoshigaki Kisame raised his great sword, Samehada, and swung it straight at the head of the Kakuzu — who was in reality a White Zetsu clone.
"My, my, going for the kill right out of the gate. Does Kisame have some kind of grudge against Kakuzu?"
The White Zetsu posing as Kakuzu quipped in a complaining tone while rapidly retreating.
Though the clone narrowly dodged Hoshigaki Kisame's frenzied assault, its movements were visibly ragged, and momentum threw it briefly off balance.
Catching this, Hoshigaki Kisame's eyes flashed with surprise — but his sword arm never slowed for an instant.
With one hand, Hoshigaki Kisame lifted Samehada and drove it forward in a brutal thrust.
Samehada — Spirit-Eating Slash!
The spikes along the great sword Samehada burst through their bandages, grinding viciously against the White Zetsu's body in a flurry of rending strikes. A single blow launched the clone flying.
"Tch. So it was just White Zetsu after all."
Seeing the Kakuzu he had struck go sailing through the air — and spotting the white body beneath the torn disguise — Hoshigaki Kisame curled his lip, his expression one of intense displeasure.
Hefting Samehada onto his shoulder with a dull thud, Hoshigaki Kisame turned and began walking back toward the direction where Nagato and the others stood.
As Hoshigaki Kisame passed between Yuri and Otsuka Kazuki, both men snapped into defensive stances.
His brutal onslaught from moments ago had left their bodies coiled and tense.
But once again, Hoshigaki Kisame simply strolled right through the middle of them, as though they were not even there.
Just like when he had first charged in, he showed absolutely no intention of attacking them.
Or more precisely — he had completely ignored them.
"Damn it!"
Otsuka Kazuki clenched his fists, fury written across his face.
Being completely disregarded like this was, in some ways, more infuriating than being defeated in an instant.
"One of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, wielder of the great sword Samehada — Hoshigaki Kisame. You should count yourself lucky he has no interest in fighting you, Kazuki."
"In all of Sunagakure, the number of shinobi who could go one-on-one against any of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist and survive can be counted on one hand. And the two of us are definitely not among them."
Yuri glanced at the seething Otsuka Kazuki, letting out a quiet breath as he spoke with surprising self-awareness.
Under the circumstances.
Yuri had, paradoxically, found a strange calm.
From the way the White Zetsu that Hoshigaki Kisame had struck reverted to its true form, Yuri had already deduced that he and Otsuka Kazuki were nothing but bait.
A fatal trap.
What was the point of being angry now?
"Kazuki... I'm sorry. We might not make it out of this today."
Yuri gazed into the distance at Elder Chiyo and the Sunagakure forces, a hint of apology in his voice as he addressed Otsuka Kazuki.
"My Lord Yuri, I already considered this possibility when we defected." Otsuka Kazuki shook his head slowly.
"My, my, what an touching exchange between you two..."
The White Zetsu clone that had been impersonating Sasuke flickered, its form dissolving back into the pale, featureless shape of White Zetsu as it spoke in a mocking tone.
With their objective achieved, there was no longer any need to maintain the disguise.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Two sharp sounds of splitting air rang out almost simultaneously the moment White Zetsu began to speak.
Yuri and Otsuka Kazuki appeared at White Zetsu's flanks in near-perfect unison, driving their kunai deep into its body.
"Too much talking. We'll deal with you first before we die."
Yuri's voice was low, his tone ice-cold.
On the other side.
Hoshigaki Kisame returned to Nagato's side wearing a thoroughly irritated expression, shooting the latter a disgruntled look.
Nagato had clearly realized the truth much earlier — yet he had not said a word, leaving Hoshigaki Kisame to waste his excitement on a clone.
Nagato paid Hoshigaki Kisame's displeasure no mind. His brows were slightly furrowed — deep in thought.
The remaining Sunagakure shinobi around them all wore grim expressions.
The two rogue ninja from their village — Yuri and Otsuka Kazuki — were no longer their immediate concern. Both of them were going nowhere.
What truly mattered to everyone present was the question of Gaara's whereabouts. They had already wasted far too much time.
Suddenly.
Nagato, who had been staring at the ground in contemplation, lifted his head.
"I have a rough idea of where they've gone."
Nagato's gaze flickered as a realization took hold, and he spoke in a measured tone.
Though Akatsuki had already fractured apart, the preparations made for the tailed beast extraction operation — Uchiha Obito was likely still using them.
If Nagato remembered correctly, near the border of the Land of Wind, there was a cave he had prepared specifically for extracting tailed beasts — designed for the day they captured the One-Tail jinchuuriki.
Only Nagato and Uchiha Obito — who had collaborated with them while posing as Uchiha Madara — had known about this location.
Unfortunately, Akatsuki had never reached the third phase of their tailed beast extraction plan before Uchiha Madara's sudden resurrection and the chain of events that followed had reduced the entire organization to nothing.
The thought crossed Nagato's mind in a flash.
Shaking it off, Nagato did not hesitate for a second. He spun around and sprinted toward the location from his memory.
Seeing Nagato abruptly turn and leave, the others froze for a moment before reacting simultaneously.
Hoshigaki Kisame and Hyuuga Neji did not hesitate — they immediately followed Nagato.
As for Elder Chiyo, though she had no idea what Nagato had discovered, his sudden reaction was clearly a promising lead. He must have figured something out to respond so decisively.
"Baki — Temari, Kankuro, the three of you follow the Kirigakure shinobi. Members of Konoha, I'll need your help as well."
"I'll handle these two traitors first, then catch up with the rest of you."
Elder Chiyo wasted no time, instantly issuing the most strategic deployment.
Baki nodded briskly, beckoning Kankuro and Temari before turning to follow.
Meanwhile, Kakashi of Konoha, along with Yamashiro Aoba and a still-dazed Naruto, also fell into step at Kakashi's signal.
In the blink of an eye, roughly half the people present had departed.
Only Elder Chiyo, a sensory-type ninja, and a handful of Sunagakure shinobi remained behind.
"Yuri!"
"Otsuka Kazuki!"
"Are you prepared to pay the price? The price of betraying your village!"
Elder Chiyo redirected her gaze, turning to face Yuri and Otsuka Kazuki — who seemed to have been waiting for this moment. Her voice was glacial.
Meanwhile.
Though Yuri and Otsuka Kazuki were serving as bait to draw the pursuit force's attention.
Uchiha Obito and his group had not relaxed in the slightest, pushing forward at full speed.
Aside from two brief rest stops, Uchiha Obito and his companions spent an entire night plus the following morning on the move, finally reaching the border region of the Land of Wind.
The closer they drew to the Land of Wind's border, the sparser the desert became, gradually giving way to patches of green vegetation.
The shift in scenery lifted the spirits of the group, who had grown restless after so long surrounded by sand.
Before a valley situated near the junction of the Land of Wind and the Land of Rivers.
"We're finally here. This should be the right place."
Uchiha Obito stretched, standing atop a boulder at the valley's edge as he surveyed the surroundings with a light chuckle.
Kakuzu stood to the side, rolling his stiff neck. He glanced at Uchiha Obito, a hint of confusion on his face.
"Have we been rushing too much? Did something go wrong?" Kakuzu asked in a flat tone.
"The Kirigakure shinobi showing up was within expectations for this operation. But Konoha also appearing in Sunagakure — that was not part of the plan."
Uchiha Obito shrugged, then spread his hands open. A cold glint flickered through his eyes as he continued in a resigned tone.
"Since something unexpected has occurred, we need to make our preparations ahead of schedule."
He paused for a beat, then added with a light laugh.
"All right, let's head in."
With that, under the mildly bewildered gazes of Kakuzu and Sasuke, Uchiha Obito leaped from the top of the valley.
Sasuke blinked in surprise at the sight, but he did not hesitate — he followed Uchiha Obito over the edge.
The valley's height would have been daunting for an ordinary person, but for shinobi of their caliber, it was nothing. Moments later, all three had landed at the valley floor.
[
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