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Elsewhere.
"What's happening?!"
Konan was the first to notice something was wrong. The small black dot high in the distance... was it descending?
Sasori was startled, following Konan's gaze. He, too, saw the distant speck, steadily falling.
"What is that idiot Deidara doing suddenly coming down? Wait... That's not right. The rate of descent... it doesn't look like controlled flight. It can't be..."
Sasori's eyes widened. Had Deidara been struck down? That velocity looked precisely like freefall. If that was the case, Deidara must have been hit.
But... but...
Sasori stared fixedly at the utterly ruined sword held by the distant golden figure.
But...
"How is that even possible?!"
Given the length of that sword, there was no way it could reach Deidara. Even if the blade were ten times longer, it still shouldn't be possible.
And yet...
Sasori looked again at the steadily falling black dot and took a deep breath.
This is big trouble.
Sasori was not one to deny reality. He understood clearly that if Kagaya could strike Deidara at such an altitude, then given their current distance from him, both he and Konan were likely within range as well.
"I'll go save Deidara."
Konan was equally shocked, but she remained relatively calm, knowing rescuing Deidara was now the priority.
Sasori swallowed hard, his expression turning serious.
"Right! Go. Once I finish off this one, I'll join you to deal with Kagaya."
Sasori knew he could no longer afford to play around with Zabuza. He needed to employ some real strength to crush him quickly!
Wings composed of countless paper sheets unfolded from Konan's back, and she soared towards the direction of Deidara's fall.
Sasori drew out a scroll marked with the character for "Three," unfurled it, placed his hand upon it, and summoned the Third Kazekage.
At Itachi's location, Kisame's mouth twitched involuntarily.
"My, my. How on earth did Kagaya-san manage to slash Deidara from such a height? Truly terrifying. This is the second time Kagaya-san has truly unsettled me. Is that the power of the Mangekyō? Or a unique technique of his? Regardless, it seems I must be even more cautious around Kagaya-san."
Itachi glanced at Kisame. "You wish to face him?"
Kisame chuckled. "How should I put it? I do want to fight him, but at the same time, I don't. Simply put, Kagaya-san is so strong that I'm eager to test myself against him. But he also feels too strong; facing him seems like a sure way to get killed. Hence the reluctance. Quite a contradiction, isn't it? Heh."
Itachi offered a faint smile. "It is indeed contradictory. But it suits your temperament."
Kisame grinned, showing his sharp teeth. "To be honest, I'd also very much like to face you, Itachi-san. But... I've never been able to see through you. It always feels like..."
He trailed off. Itachi, seeing Kisame stop, couldn't help but ask,
"Feels like what?"
Kisame's shark-like eyes fixed on Itachi. "It always feels like... you possess powers I'm unaware of, Itachi-san."
After a brief pause, Kisame turned his gaze back to the distant golden figure. "Itachi-san, I suspect that golden warrior-god belongs to the power of the Mangekyō."
Itachi's pupils contracted almost imperceptibly. Kisame might appear like a simple, battle-hungry brute, but Itachi knew better. Kisame perceived things with remarkable clarity. Often, he simply chose not to voice his observations.
After all, what was Kisame's former profession? He was an Anbu ninja tasked with monitoring his own comrades, preventing information leaks, and executing them when necessary. A ninja performing such duties—who would believe he was merely thick-headed?
Of course, Itachi was no less sharp than Kisame. Thus, he simply smiled.
"Who knows?"
The statement neither confirmed nor denied, conveying one clear message: Think what you will, but I will not tell you.
Kisame shrugged, losing interest, and fell silent, turning to quietly observe the distant battle.
On Kagaya's side, the Susano'o had raised its sword and then remained motionless.
Inside the Susano'o, Kagaya was biting Karin's arm, striving to recover as quickly as possible.
He refrained from attempting to move the Susano'o while healing. It wasn't that he couldn't, but primarily because such recklessness would inflict even greater damage on his already strained body. In his current state, pushing like that would undoubtedly cause him to collapse very soon.
Therefore, Kagaya needed to wait until his body recovered to a more stable condition before attempting to move the Susano'o.
After a short while, Kagaya saw a small white dot intercept and catch Deidara. Likely Konan. He made no move to stop it—he couldn't even if he wanted to. He simply watched coldly, all the while continuing to bite Karin's arm, healing his injuries as much as possible.
Several minutes later, Kagaya had finally recovered enough. He immediately intensified his ocular power output. The exposed skeletal section on the left side of the Susano'o's face was swiftly covered by numerous energy lines, reforming the muscular layer.
Without a moment's hesitation, the Susano'o's sword-wielding arm swung powerfully towards Konan's location!
At Konan's position, she was in the process of lowering Deidara's body to the ground when an immense force suddenly struck. Giving her no chance to react, it cleanly sliced her in two!
This time, Kagaya's aim had been true.
However, Konan, cleaved in half, did not die. Instead, her form dissolved into countless paper sheets, which then seamlessly reformed into her whole self.
Dance of the Shikigami!
This technique allowed Konan to become immune to purely physical attacks. Therefore, she sustained no injury from Kagaya's sudden slash.
In the distance, Kagaya's expression changed. "He's not dead?"
His strike should have been accurate this time. He should have hit Konan squarely. So why did he still sense her chakra presence, unharmed?
"It seems I missed. Once more."
Having forgotten the nature of Konan's abilities, Kagaya concluded he had simply missed.
The Susano'o raised its sword and struck down again!
Yet once more, Konan remained unharmed.
Kagaya frowned. Something was off. Konan's chakra signature didn't even show signs of weakening. What was going on?
Without exaggeration, Konan's Dance of the Shikigami was essentially a perfect counter to Kagaya's spiritual weapon.
And Kagaya had, unfortunately, forgotten the specifics of Konan's technique.
Fortunately, Kagaya wasn't a fool. After two consecutive strikes with no effect, he sensed something was wrong. How could anyone be hit twice like that and show no reaction whatsoever?
Unless... unless the attacks were being nullified!
The Susano'o raised its sword and struck a third time. Still, Konan was unharmed.
Kagaya, having struck three times, was now hunched over, coughing up blood continuously, a pitiful sight. But these three attacks confirmed one thing for him: Konan possessed a method to completely nullify his attacks!
With this realization, Kagaya shifted his gaze towards Sasori's location. He covered his mouth with a blood-stained hand.
His dim, fading Mangekyō Sharingan fixed on the distant Sasori. The Susano'o also turned, facing Sasori's direction, and raised its sword once more.
If he couldn't kill Konan, he would eliminate Sasori first. Kagaya's time was severely limited; he couldn't afford to waste a single second.
Cough! Cough! Ugh!
The mere thought triggered another round of bloody coughs.