"Mission failed."
Chunks fell from the sky—wood, metal, all kinds of parts hit the ground—followed by a gloomy voice.
Sasori's body was almost completely shattered, and his movements were a bit stiff. His broken shell gave off a strange rotting smell, but his voice sounded unaffected. "Let's retreat."
His tone was flat, as if he didn't care that his outer shell had been crushed.
Kakuzu stood beside him, his clothes nearly torn to shreds. He glanced up at the smoky sky, while the ground was covered in dust and rubble. Huge dark shadows twisted within the dust, like monsters hiding in a fog.
Kakuzu knew exactly what that monster was. "The Nine-Tails is here. With just the three of us, it's going to be tough to handle it. I agree—we should pull back."
Even though the Akatsuki didn't have solid intel on the Nine-Tails' current power, from what Tobi said, it was at least on the same level as Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke—maybe even stronger.
They hadn't fought Sasuke, but they had just seen Naruto in action. Even from that distance, his power had affected their battle—it was clear they weren't in the same league. And if the Nine-Tails was even stronger, then they really stood no chance.
Among the three of them, Deidara was in the worst shape. His hair was singed yellow, like it had been scorched by fire.
Faced with both Kakuzu and Sasori wanting to retreat, he was clearly not happy. "That guy messed us up like this, and we're just gonna run away? Hey, don't you think you two are being a little too soft?"
It wasn't really a protest—it was more like Deidara was just straight up yelling at them.
Kakuzu gave him a cold glance and spoke without emotion, "If you want revenge, go by yourself. I'm heading back."
He wasn't the kind of guy to throw away his life. He hadn't made enough money yet. No way was he dying now.
"Tch!" Deidara shot him a nasty glare, then turned to Sasori. "What about you? You leaving too, huh?"
Sasori didn't answer him directly. He just replied coldly, "I don't think you can beat the Nine-Tails."
Deidara's face turned even darker. "What's that supposed to mean, huh?"
"Just being honest," Sasori replied casually. Then, without another word, he turned and jumped off the flying dragon. His movement made it obvious—he was leaving.
Seeing that, Kakuzu let out a faint "hmph," gave Deidara a long look, then followed Sasori off the dragon's back.
Clearly, neither of them had any intention of staying to help Deidara get revenge.
Deidara stared at their backs, then looked at the massive shadow in the smoke behind him. His expression kept changing, but in the end, he gritted his teeth in frustration and controlled the dragon to follow the other two.
Hidden in the smoke, Kurama looked in the direction the three left and smirked. "You three are a lot easier to deal with alive than dead."
Shukaku stood beside him and looked confused. "What do you mean?"
Kurama gave him a glance. "Those three guys who attacked you are still alive. They just ran off."
Shukaku's face changed, anger rising. "You stupid fox! Why didn't you stop them?! You just let them walk away after all that?!"
He had just been completely beat down—and now he finally found his big brother again—of course he wanted a chance to hit back.
"There'll be chances later." Kurama looked toward the direction they had gone. "The jutsu those three use are annoying. Kakuzu's still okay. But if Deidara and Sasori die and get brought back with Edo Tensei, and they have enough clay and materials, they'll be a real pain to deal with. But if they stay alive, a lot of those jutsu won't be usable."
Especially Deidara—if that guy gets revived and has all the clay he wants, he's basically a walking, endless suicide bomber. Sure, he could be beaten, but it'd be a huge hassle.
It's better to let them live. At least that way, they can only use their tricks once.
After saying that, Kurama ignored Shukaku's complaints and looked at him. "So, you gonna stay like this and come back to Konohagakure with me? Or do you want to return to your Jinchuriki's body and let Naruto take you both back?"
Shukaku's cursing stopped for a second as he instinctively looked down at his own body.
Gaara was sleeping inside him. If this had been the old days, he would've taken control right away without thinking. But to be honest, after this whole situation, his thoughts had changed a bit.
Say what you want about Gaara, but back when they fought together to protect the Sand Village, he really did treat Shukaku like someone he could trust. And now, without hesitation, he had handed over full control of his body.
Tailed Beasts are the type who treat you how you treat them. Shukaku might be twisted inside, but he wasn't the kind to take advantage of Gaara's weakness and steal his body—at least not after they'd fought side by side.
Thinking that, Shukaku clicked his tongue, crossed his arms, and said:
"Gaara needs treatment. My chakra can only hold back the poison—it can't cure him. After you use the Six Paths Yang power to keep him alive, have your Jinchuriki take him back to the Hidden Leaf."
Shukaku was too slow and his body was too big, so he had to return to the mental world and let Naruto carry Gaara back instead.
"You tsundere idiot," Kurama sneered, full of sarcasm.
"You're the tsundere!" Shukaku's whole face turned red, yelling back at Kurama, "Your whole family's tsundere!"
Kurama casually dug in his ear, acting all smug. "We tailed beasts stick together. If I say my whole family is tsundere, what about it? Got a problem?"
Shukaku: "..."
Old Man Six Paths, this is all your fault!
Watching Shukaku so angry he couldn't speak, Kurama grinned and said, "Alright, enough bickering. Hurry back. Don't you want to save your Jinchuriki or not?"
Shukaku was fuming—really fuming.
But there was nothing he could do. He couldn't beat Kurama in a fight, and he couldn't win an argument either. What *could* he do? He was just hopeless at this point. All he had left was yelling curses at the old man who started all this.
Watching Shukaku grumble nonstop while quickly slipping back into Gaara's inner world, Kurama couldn't help but smile.
"You say no with your mouth, but your body tells the truth\~"
Tailed Beasts... they really are a bunch of stubborn softies\~
Wait a second, I'm a Tailed Beast too…
Kurama fell into a moment of inner conflict.
Anyway, things were pretty simple after that.
Before Naruto arrived, Kurama had already used Six Paths Yang power to keep the injured ninja alive. He couldn't heal them, but as long as they were alive, there was still hope once they got back to the Hidden Leaf.
Kankuro had also found Temari. Maybe because the Akatsuki trio was in a hurry at the time, they didn't finish her off. She was badly hurt, but since she was still alive, that was enough for now.
By the time Naruto showed up, it was all over. Shukaku had been rescued, Gaara was still breathing, and both Kankuro and Temari had survived. The biggest loss was on the Leaf's border force—out of nearly thirty ninja from two squads, fewer than ten made it out alive.
Kurama returned to Naruto, and with Naruto leading the way, the wounded group started heading back to the village.
With Naruto and Kurama around, the Akatsuki or Orochimaru would have to be insane to send anyone after them again.
"It's really quiet…" Naruto looked out at the lonely landscape and sighed as the sun began to set. "Anyway, the path home is clear."
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