Starting with Naruto, I'll become stronger through my own efforts.

Chapter 315 Chiyo Wants to Reclaim Her Grandson

The Fourth Raikage said, "The Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, is 79 years old and looks very old."

"Onoki is currently preoccupied with finding a disciple and training him to become the Fourth Tsuchikage, so there is no doubt about Deidara's status as a rogue ninja."

When Tsuchida and the others put themselves in Onoki's shoes, they immediately understood that the Raikage was right.

The Tsuchikage had no reason to send out his successor at an age when he was likely to die at any moment.

After all, the 79-year-old Tsuchikage has limited deterrent power, while Deidara is all alone. If either of them were to die, Iwagakure would face internal strife over the succession of the Tsuchikage.

The Fourth Raikage continued, "Aside from wanting a disciple, Onoki's current only thought is to maintain the status quo. At most, he'll sabotage us from the shadows, but he'll never attack us openly."

"After all, our strength is superior to that of Iwagakure. Even though we have suffered heavy losses, I am absolutely confident that we can win the war against Iwagakure."

Killer Bee asked, "Big brother, if the Third Tsuchikage isn't behind Amegakure, then who is?"

"It can't just be the Akatsuki organization, can it?"

The Fourth Raikage smiled wryly and said, "I don't know about that. The ninja world is so big, who knows what kind of monster might be hiding somewhere."

Darui asked, "Lord Raikage, what should we do next?"

The Fourth Raikage closed his eyes and ordered, "Rescue everyone first, then send people to gather intelligence."

"The attack on us by Amegakure is unlikely to be an isolated incident. Send people to check on other ninja villages that possess tailed beasts and jinchūriki to confirm the status of all the tailed beasts."

"All Cloud Village ninjas assemble, and all non-combat ninjas and Cloud Village villagers disperse to various parts of the Land of Lightning, settling them as dispersedly as possible."

The Fourth Raikage stood up, opened his eyes, and said firmly, "If all the tailed beasts in all the ninja villages are in danger, then we should prepare to participate in the war."

The Cloud Village ninja stood up and responded in unison, "Yes!"

Just as Kumogakure was being attacked by Nagato, Deidara and Sasori of the Red Sand also joined forces and were surrounded by Konoha ninja and Sunagakure ninja.

Sasori complained expressionlessly, "It's all your fault. If you hadn't insisted on doing that low-altitude bombing and been shot down by Jiraiya, we would have been far away by now."

Deidara knew he had gone too far this time, but the chuunibyou (middle school syndrome) boy never apologized. He stubbornly insisted like a sulking child, "It's not my fault. I didn't know Jiraiya was this strong."

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Sasori ignored him and looked at the Konoha ninjas and Chiyo who were surrounding them, saying, "Because of your recklessness, we are now surrounded by so many powerful ninjas, and we might really die."

Deidara said nonchalantly, "No way, as long as we seize the opportunity and give me three seconds to take off, we can shake them all off."

"Deidara!" Sasori suddenly interrupted him.

Deidara noticed the unusual tone in Sasori's voice, raised his eyes, and asked curiously, "Uncle Sasori, what's wrong?"

Scorpion said calmly, "I'll hold the enemy back. You try to take off first, and then leave this place."

"Uncle Scorpion, did I hear that right? According to the most logical tactics, I should take off, return at high speed, skim over the battlefield, and pick you up, right?"

Deidara was completely puzzled by Sasori's words.

Sasori of the Red Sand said, "Jiraiya of Konoha and Chiyo of Sunagakure are both top-tier Kage-level ninjas. They won't give you a chance to bypass the battlefield. If you come back, it's tantamount to suicide."

"Huh?" Deidara was even more confused; "But if I leave, won't you be dead?"

Sasori of the Red Sand said nonchalantly, "It's alright. I'll tell them the location of the cave so they can find the body of the One-Tailed Jinchuriki. The Konoha ninja are just here to complete a mission; they won't hunt me down."

"As for Chiyo from Sunagakure, it would be even better if she came after me. I happen to have some grudges to settle with her."

"Okay, then let's do it the way Uncle Scorpion suggested. I'll be waiting for you at Shelter Number 17!"

Deidara, who had no mouth, smiled and approved of Sasori's tactics, then took out a large amount of clay and began to chew it.

Jiraiya and the other Konoha ninjas frowned. They had just been bombarded from above by this kid, leaving them nowhere to hide, and they had suffered greatly.

Jiraiya even recalled the feeling of frustration that Konoha Village was ambushed by the Sky Village at the end of the Second Shinobi World War, and the entire village looked up at the sky and sighed.

Fortunately, Tenten threw out a large number of kunai, which "accidentally" hit a critical point on the clay giant bird, pulling Deidara's flight altitude down.

Jiraiya summoned Gamabunta and used Water Release: Giant Water Gun to knock Deidara down.

If Sasori hadn't arrived in time to rescue Deidara from Chiyo's clutches, that blond kid would definitely have been killed by the ruthless old woman.

Even if Chiyo didn't kill Deidara on the spot to save face for Onoki, she would secretly poison him, completely destroying Iwagakure's hope.

Seeing Deidara create another giant clay bird, all the ninjas couldn't sit still any longer and picked up their weapons, ready to kill the two Kage-level ninjas.

Although Kage-level ninjas are very strong, the rescue team also has Kage-level ninjas, and none of the other ninjas are weak either. Even the weakest one, Rock Lee, can now open the Sixth Gate, which is enough to threaten the life of a Kage-level ninja.

Sasori of the Red Sand pulled out a huge scroll from his cloak and unfurled it, releasing a dense array of puppets, numbering in the hundreds.

【Red Secret Technique: Manipulation of a Hundred Machines】

The puppets were all dressed in red robes, but they were all different sizes and held different weapons. Some of them were even weapons that were part of their bodies.

Hundreds of puppets lined up in neat rows, baring their fangs and brandishing their weapons, ready for battle.

The Konoha ninjas were taken aback by the sheer number of puppets and immediately switched from attack to defense. They were Konoha ninjas; there was no need for them to risk their lives for Sunagakure.

The situation instantly changed from besieging the Akatsuki to being besieged by the Akatsuki.

Chiyo from Sunagakure was the one who was most terrified.

As a top-tier puppeteer, Chiyo was renowned for her secret technique of simultaneously manipulating ten puppets, but she never imagined that she could control more puppets than the number of fingers at the same time.

As a result, his grandson not only broke through the limitation of fingers, but also increased the number by dozens of times.

The puppets controlled by a puppeteer are usually considered to be slightly weaker in combat than the puppeteer himself.

Sasori of the Red Sand definitely possesses Kage-level strength, which means that this adds hundreds of Kage-level combatants to the team in one fell swoop?

This is a qualitative change caused by quantitative change, and it is even a force capable of destroying Konoha Village.

Fortunately, Chiyo didn't lose her head. She quickly remembered just how extravagant the materials needed for a puppet that could rival a Kage-level ninja were, which is why she didn't tell Sasori to go home immediately.

But she had already started planning this in her mind. As long as Sasori could surrender and go home, he would be the only candidate to become the Sixth Kazekage.

Being able to control hundreds of puppets, even if these puppets are made of ordinary materials and their combat strength is equivalent to that of a Chunin, is still a force capable of destroying a country.

Chiyo had to suppress her laughter as she thought about her grandson becoming the Kazekage, and that the puppeteers would finally have a Kazekage too.

At this point, the Fifth Kazekage was no longer important to the old woman.

Sasori pointed in a direction with the stinger on his back and shouted, "The Fifth Kazekage you need to save is over there. Go into the cave and you'll find him about 300 meters away."

"If you don't stop me, I won't stop you either."

Jiraiya ordered, "Ino-Shika-Cho squad, Aburame Torune, you go rescue the Fifth Kazekage. Everyone else, retreat and be on guard!"

When Jiraiya mentioned "rescue," his tone was quite strange. He guessed from the Akatsuki's complete retreat that the Fifth Kazekage, Gaara, was beyond saving.

If the Fifth Kazekage were still alive, the Akatsuki should have taken him with them, as he would have been of immense value, both in terms of his personal worth and as a hostage.

Seeing that he had intimidated the rescue team, Sasori turned around and said impatiently, "Deidara, stick to the plan. You evacuate here first."

Deidara asked one last time to confirm, "Uncle Sasori, you really do have a way to leave, right?"

"Shut up, stick to the plan!"

Sasori of the Red Sand gave an irritating command, and the puppet Hiruko raised its long tail and stabbed it at Deidara's feet. The little golden-haired boy screamed in fright, flipped over and jumped onto the clay bird and took off.

Everyone glanced at Deidara, but no one intervened, letting him clumsily maneuver the giant bird into flight.

A few minutes later, Deidara disappeared into the sky, while the Ino-Shika-Cho trio and Aburame Torune returned with Gaara's body.

Chiyo suddenly shouted, "Surrender, Sasori, return to the village, and spend your life atoning for killing the Kazekage for you."

Jiraiya and Kakashi Hatake, these seasoned veterans, understood Chiyo's meaning, but since it was a matter for Sunagakure, they both felt it was inappropriate to interfere.

The two men's choices were completely at odds with the Fifth Hokage's consistent domineering style, and even more so with Konoha's overbearing behavior of controlling everything and interfering in all internal affairs over the past three years.

The Ino-Shika-Cho team doesn't rank high in the clan. Aburame Torune comes from the Root clan, and since the two leaders don't speak, they don't say anything either.

The team leader of Class 3, Matt Kai, and team member Xiao Li are both battle fanatics who don't care about anything outside of battle.

Only Captain Tenten and teammate Neji Hyuga sensed something was wrong, but after exchanging a glance, they chose to give up.

They both trusted the Fifth Hokage. Since the Hokage had made such arrangements for the rescue team, he certainly wouldn't overlook the personality issues of the two people in charge.

In other words, he did it on purpose.

Tian Tian's eyes were crinkled with laughter, and she thought to herself: "The show is about to start."

Hyuga Neji tugged at his headband and tightened his ponytail, thinking: What did the Hokage foresee? Does he need my help?

Unlike the historical Hyuga Neji, he not only wore a headband around his neck, but also tied his hair into a neat ponytail, with the aim of showing off his smooth forehead as much as possible.

This is the uniform style of all Hyuga branch families, showing off their foreheads as much as possible, as evidence that they were saved by the Hokage.

Now that the Hyuga clan's "Caged Bird Seal" has been broken, and the new protective seal has not yet been fully developed, all the branch families' eyes can be stolen.

But as long as the Fifth Hokage is alive, no one in the ninja world dares to lay a hand on the Hyuga clan, because that would invite utter destruction.

Influenced by Xia Zuo, the Hyuga branch family ninjas all changed, from being timid and submissive to becoming extremely combative and aggressive.

Neji Hyuga is the branch family ninja who has undergone the most changes and is the most aggressive Hyuga ninja. That's why he disregards Jiraiya and Kakashi Hatake's identities and believes that their actions are wrong.

But to everyone's surprise, Sasori of the Red Sand suddenly flew into a rage upon hearing Chiyo's words.

"Damn bastard! You're trying to control my life again! I'm not your puppet!"

Hundreds of puppets, controlled by Scorpion, launched relentless attacks on Chiyo.

Chiyo seemed to have anticipated this, and instantly released ten uniquely shaped puppets, which were the best puppets of Sunagakure—the Chikamatsu Ten.

A battle has begun between two top puppeteers.

Surprisingly, the scorpion, which had more puppets, did not gain the upper hand.

The hundreds of red-cloaked puppets had a huge advantage in size, but the Chikamatsu Ten were also enough to protect Chiyo completely.

After all, the space around a person is only so big, and six puppets are enough to block all directions. Of the remaining puppets, two are responsible for defending against the air, and the other two serve as substitutes.

The Chikamatsu Ten were of very high quality, able to fully utilize Chiyo's puppetry skills. Through precise teamwork, the Chikamatsu Ten displayed the combat power of elite Jonin.

Sasori's puppet coordination is equally precise. When both sides are operating the puppets without problems, the difference in quality between the puppets becomes the decisive factor.

Faced with the siege of hundreds of Sasori's puppets, Chiyo, controlling the Chikamatsu Ten, easily destroyed Sasori's puppets, quickly creating a mess of trash.

Chiyo spoke up: "Scorpion, surrender."

"Although I am very old, I will definitely be able to hold out until I destroy all your puppets."

"Once you return to Sunagakure, you'll get better puppets, and then you'll be able to fully utilize your puppetry skills."

"Shut up, you damned old woman!"

Sasori of the Red Sand roared, "My puppet is better than the one made by Zaemon!"

As he spoke, he removed the Akatsuki-style cloak from his body, revealing Hiruko's true form.

This thing is a modified puppet commonly known as the Scorpion, with strangely shaped blades on both hands and a huge, eerie human face on its back.

From the gaping mouth of the human face, a steel-made spiked tail protrudes like a tongue, extending and retracting freely, manipulated at will, much like the most deadly tail of a scorpion.

The steel tail is structured in segments connected in series, with purple venom flowing from the gaps.

The venom dripped from the tip of its tail onto the ground, sizzling and corroding the surface, creating pits and sending up chilling wisps of gray smoke.

Hiruko's shape is so ferocious and extremely ugly that it completely fails to meet the standard of "appearance equals fighting power".

But in Chiyo's eyes, the transformation of this puppet was so amazing that it undoubtedly surpassed the Chikamatsu Ten.

His desire to bring Sasori back to Sunagakure grew even stronger.

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