Boom boom boom...
Deidara maneuvered up and down, swiftly knocking down the first few 'Impure World Reincarnation bodies' that rushed towards him using taijutsu in the relatively narrow underground palace.
Swish...
Amidst the whistling sound of rushing air, Sasori, hidden inside Hiruko, swept his mechanical tail across the area, instantly clearing a large section in front of him!
All 'Impure World Reincarnation bodies' struck by his mechanical tail were either instantly severed at the waist or swept away, their bodies shattered.
At this point, Deidara retreated to Sasori's side, watching the destroyed 'Impure World Reincarnation bodies' instantly recover their original state, and said angrily: "Sasori-brother, these must be the spirits summoned by Orochimaru using 'Impure World Reincarnation'!"
Sasori nodded: "Mhm, consistent with the intelligence description. These 'Impure World Reincarnation bodies' summoned using 'Impure World Reincarnation' can recover infinitely!"
Deidara said: "Orochimaru has already escaped. There's no need for us to waste time here with these disgusting things!"
Just when the 'Impure World Reincarnation bodies' were attacking Sasori and Deidara, Orochimaru had silently left the underground palace.
Sasori had already confirmed that this underground palace was a trap carefully set by Orochimaru. The goal was to exhaust their chakra through these 'Impure World Reincarnation bodies' that could recover endlessly. Therefore, every minute spent here would reduce their chances of winning!
Consequently, Sasori took out a scroll marked with the character '三' (Three), and while unrolling it, he said to Deidara: "Destroy this place!"
Deidara understood, and with a wicked smile, he plunged his hands into his hip tool pouch. Soon, he clapped his hands together, kneading a lump of explosive clay into the shape of a centipede, and tossed it out with a lift of his hand.
Almost simultaneously, Sasori summoned the Third Kazekage human puppet, which was sealed in the scroll, activated 'Magnet Release', and created a giant hemisphere using black iron sand, covering both him and Deidara completely.
...
On the surface.
Seeing Orochimaru emerge from the underground palace, Yakushi Kabuto, who was waiting outside, rushed up: "Orochimaru-Leader, no other Akatsuki members have been detected nearby for the time being."
Orochimaru was thoughtful: "What exactly is the Akatsuki organization up to!"
If the Akatsuki organization really only sent Sasori and Deidara to deal with him, it meant either the Akatsuki Leader was an idiot, or that Nagato and Obito's group and 'A' and 'B's group were not affiliated at all.
The former was obviously untenable, so the only explanation now was the latter.
Seeing this, Yakushi Kabuto offered his guess: "I tried to trick information out of Sasori and Deidara before. They don't seem to know about the previous transaction."
Orochimaru curled his lips: "That is interesting!"
Rumble...
Just then, a deafening roar sounded behind Orochimaru. Closely followed by a violent tremor underfoot, a surging shockwave, and billowing smoke and dust carried by the shockwave.
Orochimaru and Yakushi Kabuto's expressions tightened. They hurriedly leaped backward, flying back over ten meters to avoid the shockwave and dust.
After the smoke and dust dispersed somewhat, Orochimaru, who had leaped onto a large tree, realized that the underground palace he had set up as a trap had completely collapsed, turning into a large crater.
In the center of the large crater was an inverted, black iron shell composed of black iron sand.
At this point, the iron sand gradually dispersed, revealing Sasori and Deidara covered inside.
By Sasori's side was the Third Kazekage human puppet, floating in mid-air and controlling the iron sand. Meanwhile, Deidara covered his ears, complaining about the terrible sound insulation of the iron sand shield.
Watching his meticulously prepared trap turn into ruins so quickly, Orochimaru's expression was somewhat unsightly.
Yakushi Kabuto smiled helplessly: "It seems ordinary traps have little effect against this group from Akatsuki!"
The previous underground laboratory was destroyed by Akatsuki's 'B'. This time, in order to set a trap, Orochimaru deliberately chose a deeper, structurally stronger underground palace. The result was that it still wasn't much use, quickly turning into an open-air pit again.
Swish swish swish...
Accompanied by the rustling sound of flying seals, the 'Impure World Reincarnation bodies', which had almost been blasted into fragments by the explosive clay, began to recover.
Deidara spat: "Tch, these damned spirits are so troublesome!"
Sasori was prepared long ago and casually unrolled another scroll marked with the character '四' (Four), summoning the Fourth Kazekage human puppet.
The Fourth Kazekage human puppet waved both hands. Countless golden sands began to surge from the ground, then quickly wrapped around the recovering 'Impure World Reincarnation bodies', cocooning them one by one. Finally, a red sealing tag appeared on the front of the sand cocoons, completing the seal.
After dozens of 'Impure World Reincarnation bodies' were sealed simultaneously by the Fourth Kazekage human puppet, Deidara looked at Orochimaru and Yakushi Kabuto on the distant tree and said: "Sasori-brother, your informant seems to have played a trick on us!"
Sasori glared fiercely at Yakushi Kabuto, then said to Orochimaru: "Whatever scheme you have, it ends here. This time, you cannot escape the inevitable!"
He naturally realized that Yakushi Kabuto had defected to Orochimaru, and this intelligence transmission was actually a trap. However, in his eyes, such small tricks by Orochimaru could not change the outcome and would only hasten his own downfall!
Orochimaru on the tree glanced at the Third Kazekage and Fourth Kazekage human puppets beside Sasori, and laughed: "You truly have a twisted hobby, turning two consecutive Kazekage into puppets! If this news reached the Hidden Sand, it would probably make them die of anger!"
Sasori sneered: "You, who toys with the souls of Hokage, are not qualified to criticize me!"
Orochimaru said: "It seems ordinary merchandise cannot deal with you. Since you have brought out two Kazekage, I must also show some sincerity!"
Saying this, Orochimaru began to perform hand seals.
In an instant, three coffins, respectively inscribed with the characters '初' (First), '二' (Second), and '四' (Fourth), surged up from the ground beneath his feet.
...
Far away.
Sitting on a clay bird, Juzo Biwa gazed into the distance: "The direction of the explosion just now seems to be the meeting point Sasori sent?"
Itachi said: "They might have already engaged in battle!"
Juzo Biwa said: "As long as we find the target, let's go, let's hurry over and try to finish the mission early!"
Land of Hot Water.
Menma, who was interrogating a black market member, suddenly froze, then fiercely looked toward the west.
After landing, he changed into the attire of a wandering ninja, wrapped himself up tightly, and inquired everywhere about Orochimaru's whereabouts.
However, relying on his strength alone, finding Orochimaru was extremely difficult, so there had been no progress.
But just now, he suddenly sensed a powerful surge of Nine-Tails chakra in the west, and his eyes lit up: "That way... is the Land of Rice Fields?"