Kisame was the first to open his eyes, his deep voice cutting through the silence.
"Hyuga Gakuya, your little brother's getting bolder. He ambushed me and took out my clone."
Pain narrowed his eyes, suspicion flashing across his face.
"Why was your brother even here in the first place?"
Gakuya knew his plan had reached its conclusion. He simply shrugged, feigning helplessness as he sighed.
"What can I say? Teenagers. He wanted to venture out on his own and wouldn't listen to me. Besides, he doesn't even know I'm part of the Akatsuki."
"Hahaha! Just like Itachi—you've got a mischievous little brother too," Deidara laughed. "Hmm, want me to teach him a lesson for you? Back in Iwagakure, my kid brother used to follow my every word."
Gakuya chuckled softly and waved him off.
"Save it. You should be worrying about yourself. They'll be here any minute."
"Tch. Just trash. I'll swat them down with one hand," Deidara scoffed dismissively.
...
The events unfolded much like the original timeline—the new Team 7 and Team 3 successfully regrouped outside the cavern.
Inside, the Akatsuki had already extracted Shukaku from Gaara. Only Sasori and Deidara remained to handle the cleanup.
Sasori had his clay bird snatch up Gaara's lifeless body and fly off into the distance. Naruto, determined to rescue Gaara, immediately gave chase, with Kakashi and Sai following closely behind.
"Super Beast Imitating Drawing—Bird Between the Clouds!"
With a flick of his scroll, Sai summoned a large ink bird out of thin air. He leapt onto its back and called out to the others.
"Kakashi-senpai! Naruto!"
Understanding his intent, both jumped onto the bird as well, and the trio took off after Deidara, kicking off a fierce aerial battle.
Back in the cave, Chiyo and Sakura faced off against Sasori.
Chiyo unleashed her masterful puppet technique, commanding the legendary Ten Puppets of Chikamatsu. Sakura, empowered by her monstrous strength and antidotes, fought alongside her, evenly matching Sasori blow for blow.
Sasori's arsenal seemed endless. He first brought out the Fourth Kazekage puppet, then shed his outer shell to reveal Hiruko. From his back, four scrolls unfurled. With them, he summoned the Red Secret Technique: Performance of a Hundred Puppets.
The battle between puppet masters was brutal and intense, the outcome hanging by a thread.
Watching from the shadows, Hyuga Gakuya silently observed. This, he knew, was the pinnacle of puppet-based combat—a duel never to be replicated. After this, no one would inherit this magnificent art. Kankuro, even years later in the Boruto era, would still be using the toys Sasori left behind in his youth.
Ultimately, the fight ended as it always had—Sasori deliberately exposed a weakness and was defeated by the very puppets he crafted in the image of his parents. A long sword pierced his core, releasing a stream of violet blood from his regeneration nucleus.
In the end, he couldn't resist the symbolic embrace of the two puppets that represented his father and mother. It awakened a deep yearning buried in his heart—the longing for his family.
In his final moment of consciousness, Sasori felt as if he were once again a child, safely wrapped in his parents' arms.
Chiyo and Sakura collapsed, completely spent.
"..."
A sigh broke the silence. Footsteps echoed faintly from the distance.
A figure slowly emerged—a man draped in the Akatsuki's red cloud cloak, strikingly handsome with deep, endless black eyes like an abyss.
"Another Akatsuki… is he Sasori's backup?" Chiyo and Sakura forced themselves upright despite their exhaustion, preparing for battle.
Chiyo scanned the ground, gathering the few puppets that were still usable and hastily reassembled them.
"That's Hyuga Gakuya!" Sakura's eyes widened in recognition.
Strangely, the years had left no trace on his face. He looked just like he did during the Chunin Exams.
"The one who single-handedly stopped ten thousand from Kumogakure…" Chiyo's brow broke out in cold sweat. She knew little about this man, but his power was indisputable.
Two years ago, during the founding war of the Shinobi Federation, Gakuya alone had repelled the entire Kumo force. One casual strike from him had altered the very terrain.
To think someone like him was also in the Akatsuki… what exactly was their goal?
Gakuya walked past the two women without even acknowledging their presence.
Chiyo and Sakura's backs were soaked in sweat.
He approached the remnants of Sasori's battle—the parent puppets, the core, and the shattered Third Kazekage puppet—and stored them all into a scroll. Most importantly, he collected Sasori's true puppet body—the one that bore the scrolls on its back.
Sasori had only used two of the four scrolls. Gakuya was curious to see what the final trump cards had been.
"Sasori-senpai died for the sake of love," Gakuya said, his back to them. "So I won't kill you. Consider it fulfilling his last wish. Leave."
Chiyo and Sakura exchanged glances, baffled by his mercy.
"What, still not leaving?" Gakuya turned, his gaze icy.
Chiyo gritted her teeth and grabbed Sakura's hand, leading her away. They had to report this immediately.
Gakuya watched them go, a hint of melancholy flashing in his eyes.
"Sasori, you're still too soft... But I'm not like you. Anyone who stands in the way of my plan—must disappear."
With that, he vanished into the shadows.
Outside, Team 3 had also defeated their clones and were heading toward Naruto's position to regroup.
...
Elsewhere, Deidara gritted his teeth, cornered and frustrated.
How the hell did it come to this? These Konoha brats were relentless, always one step behind him.
"Don't tell me… I'll have to use his puppet? Gah, using someone else's art—it's unbearable!"
"You want the Jinchuriki's corpse so badly? Then take it back!"
Deidara used his last remaining arm to pull a sealing scroll from his tool pouch and tossed it into the air.
"Release!"
A thick cloud of smoke billowed out. From within it, four clay birds burst forth, each carrying a Deidara—three of them clay clones. The one holding Gaara's body glowed red, diving straight at the Konoha trio.
"He's going to self-destruct!" Sai shouted, steering the ink bird to evade.
But Naruto saw only Gaara.
He leapt forward, grabbing Gaara's lifeless body from the clay bird, trying to pull him free before it detonated. He couldn't let Gaara be blown to pieces.
But it was too late. Naruto desperately clawed at the clay, but it was heating rapidly, seconds from exploding.
Seeing this, Kakashi shot forward, his short sword crackling with lightning as he slashed at the clay bird's talons. In the final instant, he freed Naruto and Gaara, sending them hurtling downwards.
The explosion was interrupted by the jolt of electricity, and the clay bird plummeted to the ground.
Before they could crash, Sai swooped in with the ink bird and caught them mid-fall.
"Gaara! Gaara, wake up!" Naruto shook him desperately—but there was no breath, no heartbeat. Nothing.
In that moment, Naruto saw himself in Gaara—two Jinchuriki, fighting for their village's acceptance, both dreaming of becoming Kage.
Now one lay dead before him.
"DAMN IT!!" Naruto's eyes began to shift—pupils narrowing into slits.
"I swear I'll make them pay!"
But vengeance wouldn't come so easily.
The four clay birds had already split off in different directions. They could only pick one to chase—and each one met them with nothing but explosions and deception.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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