After a round of dispute and resolution.
Everyone clearly felt that the atmosphere had eased a lot.
At least, Granny Chiyo had chosen not to look at Uehara Naraku with a hostile gaze anymore, even showing a hint of respect and admiration.
This young Rain Village Ninja had the resentment of a small country's ninja but could recognize the value of peace. It was said his strength was formidable.
No wonder Maki once said that the Fourth Kazekage wanted to subdue him. Unfortunately, the Fourth Kazekage lacked the strength, and not only did he fail to capture Uehara Naraku, but he also died at his hands.
"Then let's proceed to the Land of Birds to search now!"
Hatake Kakashi began dividing the search areas for everyone present according to the terrain of the Land of Birds, while also considering battle strength: "We will now form two teams. One team will consist of me, Naruto, Sai, Sakura, Lord Chiyo, and Temari; the other team will be composed of Guy, Lee, Neji, Tenten, and Uehara Naraku."
Based on Hatake Kakashi's understanding of everyone, his distribution of strength was quite reasonable, ensuring that each team would have a certain counterforce should they encounter Akatsuki members.
After planning all the action routes for the two teams, Hatake Kakashi said solemnly, "We will search along this route for one day and regroup here;
if Team One encounters the enemy, they should immediately draw closer to Team Two's search route, the same goes for Team Two;
if by the evening Team One does not show up, Team Two should immediately follow the previous action route to provide support."
"Understood."
Everyone nodded in unison.
The plan devised by Hatake Kakashi had no flaws.
After forming teams, Uehara Naraku followed Might Guy's squad to the south of the Land of Grass to begin searching for Akatsuki members.
As for whether they could actually find them...
Of course, that was nonsense, how could they possibly find them!
According to the plan by Uehara Naraku and Konan, Deidara, Sasori of the Red Sand, and Nagato, the ones responsible for the Kazekage retrieval battle, had yet to make a move.
Uehara Naraku would find an opportunity to report Hatake Kakashi's squad's action route to Nagato.
After all, they were up against Might Guy here. By Uehara Naraku's estimation, if Might Guy unleashed the Eighth Gate, he could definitely kick Nagato to death.
What Almighty Push, Chibaku Tensei...
Those jutsu faced with Night Guy had no use at all.
Might Guy and Rock Lee's Third Class, during the search, were extremely diligent, yet they actually mainly relied on Hyuga Neji's Byakugan.
As for Uehara Naraku, he occasionally flew into the air, pretending to scout, only to come back to get a chilled juice from Tenten.
After all, Tenten's voice was pleasant, she was extremely cute, and her personality wasn't too lovey-dovey, she seemed to get along with everyone.
Honestly, this kind of life was a bit leisurely.
In the evening.
The Third Class and the Seventh Class concluded their search and regrouped in a small town. Everyone wasn't in a good mood because they had achieved nothing this time.
Uehara Naraku spoke to comfort them, saying they would definitely yield results the next day, since the entire Land of Birds wasn't large.
If the Akatsuki truly had a base in the Land of Birds, they would definitely notice that two strong ninja teams were active in the Land of Birds and would be stirred, thus forcing Akatsuki to reveal themselves.
As it turns out, Uehara Naraku was right.
The next day, as Might Guy's team continued searching along the established route, Hatake Kakashi's team finally discovered the trace of Akatsuki member Deidara.
Granny Chiyo immediately recognized Deidara, who had previously invaded The Hidden Sand Village, and gravely said, "That's the guy who captured the Fifth Kazekage!"
"Understood!"
After Hatake Kakashi nodded, he solemnly distributed tasks: "Sai, you are in charge of tracking, and we will follow closely your trail. Temari, you go find Guy's squad and have them move toward our location!"
"Understood!"
"Yes, Captain!"
Sai waved his hand and drew a bird on a scroll, solemnly forming hand seals: "Super Beast Imitating Drawing: Birds!"
The next moment, Sai mounted the flying bird and rushed toward Deidara's direction!
The Seventh Class and Granny Chiyo pursued Deidara's position, leaping in all directions under Sai and Deidara's flying birds.
A chase scene was set to unfold.
Standing atop his Clay Giant Bird, Deidara watched his own bird with slight regret: "If only there were enough time, I could have sculpted a dragon as big as that summoning beast Uehara has!"
Even though the Konoha and Hidden Sand ninja were chasing him closely, Deidara showed no signs of panic, as they would soon reach their rendezvous point, where he would have two reinforcements.
Soon, Deidara's speed suddenly decreased.
In the sky, Sai, riding on the drawn bird, also slowed his pace and fired a signal flare to Hatake Kakashi, indicating that he had caught up with the enemy.
"Kamui..."
Hatake Kakashi finally saw an opportunity, and as Deidara's speed decreased suddenly, he prepared to use his Kamui Sharingan to absorb Deidara's body!
However, a blinding light interrupted his action!
A laser cannon shot out from deep within the forest, hitting directly at their feet, forcing everyone to involuntarily fly backwards!
At the same time.
A black magnetic wave and a golden sand wave came sweeping from both sides, attempting to bury the team pursuing Deidara directly in the magnetic gold!
"It's an ambush!"
Kakashi Hatake's expression changed, and he instantly used Kamui to shift, absorbing a large amount of magnetic gold, and created a break-through point.
Kakashi Hatake, Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, and Granny Chiyo hurriedly jumped out from the gap, avoiding the encirclement of the magnetic gold.
Granny Chiyo's face was extremely grim as she slowly took out her puppet scroll, saying in a low voice, "One of them is Sasori..."
"The identity of the other is unknown."
Kakashi Hatake adjusted his ninja headband and said in a low voice, "But I've seen him act once in the Land of Grass, although it was just once, his strength is not to be underestimated because he could be... Obito's partner!"
This isn't Kakashi overthinking.
After all, Nagato usually appeared with a hood, always acting together with another hooded person.
During the few times they've met, Kakashi Hatake always found that those two hooded ninjas rarely made moves, like high-level Akatsuki members, overseeing other members' battles.
The hooded person's identity is certainly not ordinary.
Their strength is also definitely stronger than regular members.
No surprise.
"Asura Path!"
Nagato slowly walked out of the forest, a mysterious arm growing from his back, which transformed into strings of missiles, launching towards the Konoha team!
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall!"
Kakashi Hatake swiftly clasped his hands together!
A tall wall engraved with a dog's head appeared in front of the missiles, blocking all missile attacks instantly, making the entire wall tattered and worn.
However, Nagato's attacks didn't stop; the mechanical arm continued to transform, once again becoming a laser cannon, directly piercing through the defense of the Earth Flow Wall!
Kakashi Hatake was directly hit by the laser cannon!
"Teacher Kakashi!"
Just when everyone was panicking, the form of Kakashi dispersed into a cloud of smoke—it was merely an ordinary shadow clone!
The next moment, Kakashi Hatake's figure suddenly emerged from beneath Nagato's feet, and the white-haired ninja swung a kunai toward Nagato's neck!
"Interesting..."
Nagato, hidden under the hood, curled his lips, swiftly blocking Kakashi's kunai with his palm and punching Kakashi's arm!
In just a few seconds, Nagato broke Kakashi's defense with taijutsu, grasping towards Kakashi's throat with one hand!
Though Nagato had only healed for a few years, that didn't mean his taijutsu was lacking; after all, Jiraiya personally acknowledged him as a genius!
No, perhaps he was an all-round genius!
Kakashi Hatake ducked to evade Nagato's grasp; just as he was about to attack again, Nagato kicked him in the stomach, ready to send Kakashi flying out!
"This flaw is too poor."
The next second, Nagato abruptly retracted his foot, lightly chuckling, "A lightning clone, is it? The real you, where are you? Never mind..."
"Of course, behind!"
Kakashi Hatake sprung out from the ground again, electricity flashing in his hand as he aimed to pierce Nagato's chest: "Lighting Release: Lightning Blade!"
Nagato's face showed no panic; he simply gave a fierce shake, a vast repulsive force directly sending Kakashi flying out, whether it was the lightning clone or the real body, Nagato knocked them away with one move!
Nagato extended his hand towards the flying Kakashi, an attractive force emanating from his palm, pulling Kakashi Hatake uncontrollably towards him!
"What is going on?"
Sweat beaded on Kakashi Hatake's forehead!
One moment, he was inexplicably struck with great force, his body feeling like it was falling apart; the next moment, he was pulled back for no apparent reason!
His body was completely beyond his control!
Kakashi Hatake's heart was pounding fiercely, but all he could do was watch helplessly as his throat was captured by the enemy!
Sai, seeing this scene, relying on his aerial advantage, dived straight towards Nagato and Kakashi, intending to save Kakashi directly.
However, a series of black magnetic thousand needles shot through the giant bird beneath Sai, forcing him to flip and land to evade the barrage of needles!
Sasori of the Red Sand gradually walked out, standing beside Nagato: "Though it's not the first time I've seen you in action, every time I witness you fight, it's awe-inspiring. No wonder the leader values you highly..."
Nagato, clutching Kakashi's throat, threw him to the ground, and slowly sighed: "It's just been a long time since I've experienced such an entertaining battle."