The Hidden Sand Village was a bit lively in the evening.
At this time, it was just after a busy day's work, and all the ninjas and villagers were leisurely waiting for dinnertime, everyone in good spirits.
Until a huge shadow fell over them, everyone in The Hidden Sand Village involuntarily stopped their conversations and looked up at the sky toward the looming figure.
"What... is that?"
A Hidden Sand Ninja stared blankly at the ancient giant dragon in the sky.
In the world of the Hidden Sand Ninja, the largest creature they had ever seen was the One-tailed Shukaku; they had never seen such a gargantuan creature as the ancient giant dragon.
"What kind of monster is that?"
"Does the Land of Wind have such a monster?"
"Why does it look even bigger than a Tailed Beast?"
"Quick, report to the Kazekage!"
The faces of the Hidden Sand Ninjas gradually changed, and after a brief commotion, they hurriedly ran toward the Kazekage's office.
The sentries set up inside The Hidden Sand Village also saw the ancient giant dragon. They were obviously more rational and immediately reported to their superiors.
In the Kazekage's office in The Hidden Sand Village.
Gaara, the Fifth Kazekage, was still working overtime dealing with governmental affairs. Although The Hidden Sand Village's jurisdiction was small, there were plenty of trivial issues.
Suddenly, a shadow fell by the window, and the room was suddenly dark for a few seconds, causing Gaara to put down his pen in astonishment and gradually walk toward the window.
"What's going on?"
Gaara looked up toward the outside.
In Gaara's sight, a gigantic creature was hovering over The Hidden Sand Village. A moment later, it suddenly spewed a massive fireball toward the Kazekage's office!
Boom!
In a panic, Gaara hastily manipulated his Sand Defense, but the rough sand wall was instantly blown apart by the massive fireball!
The next moment.
The entire Kazekage's office turned into ruins!
Gaara's body was propelled by the explosion's shock wave, with several wounds now bleeding on him...
"Enemy attack!"
Finally, the first Hidden Sand Ninja shouted out.
The shouts echoed throughout The Hidden Sand Village.
Within a few seconds, alarms had already spread across the village, civilians hurried to shelters, and ninjas returned to their battle positions.
"Roar!"
The ancient giant dragon in the sky once again opened its monstrous mouth and let out a roar, followed by another massive fireball plummeting to the ground!
Boom!
A dozen or so ninjas gathered together were instantly blasted away by the fireball!
For the ancient giant dragon flying above, suppressing the ground ninjas was too easy; it could dispatch a group of enemies with just a casual attack!
The ancient giant dragon roared again, and more massive fireballs fell within The Hidden Sand Village, turning the once serene village into a field of smoke and fire in an instant!
Because Uehara Naraku and his group drove the ancient giant dragon from a great height and with such speed, The Hidden Sand Village had no time to detect it and was caught off-guard by the attack.
Faced with such a mammoth creature capable of flight, the average ninja was practically useless.
"Roar!"
A Hidden Sand Jonin who barely leaped to a height tried to launch an attack, only to be struck dead by a roar from the ancient giant dragon!
Maki, the Jonin of The Hidden Sand Village, surveyed all of this and hurriedly issued orders: "Quick, organize the long-range units for a counterattack, everyone attack that monster in the sky, Anbu Ninjas hurry to the Kazekage's office to assist the Kazekage!"
In fact, Gaara wasn't in much trouble.
After being affected by the explosion of the first fireball, he only had wounds on his arm and chest. Upon regaining consciousness, Gaara hastily manipulated the sand to sweep upwards!
As the Kazekage, he needed to protect the village when a crisis arose.
"Giant Sand Hand!"
A mass of yellow sand, under Gaara's control, densely formed a Giant Sand Hand, aiming to grab the ancient giant dragon in the sky!
Yet the ancient giant dragon merely glanced at the attacking giant hand, nonchalantly flicking its tail, shattering the Giant Sand Hand completely.
Whoosh!
A cloud of sand fell to the ground, raising a large dust cloud!
"Roar!"
The ancient giant dragon opened its mouth again, spewing out another massive fireball!
The fireball descended like a meteor!
Gaara hurriedly moved a large amount of sand to block above The Hidden Sand Village, shielding the villagers below from the fireball's attack.
The yellow sand was blown into the air by the explosion's shock wave!
Fortunately, the explosion's destructive power from the fireball was halted by the airborne sand shield constructed of sand.
Gaara let out a reluctant sigh of relief, manipulating the group of yellow sand to fly in the air, intercepting the fireballs spewed by the ancient giant dragon.
Even if some distant fireballs couldn't be intercepted, the core of The Hidden Sand Village, being so close, would not face further attacks.
That would be enough.
Now it was time to counterattack!
"Sand Cushion!"
Gaara slightly relaxed, stepping onto a sand cushion and flying into the air. Facing an enemy capable of flight, he could only try his best to eliminate the threat to The Hidden Sand Village single-handedly!
Truth be told, he wasn't very confident.
But such creatures did have certain weaknesses.
Because of their massive size, they became living targets.
If they continued to tangle, even if he couldn't kill the ancient giant dragon, Gaara was confident that he could drive it away.
However, upon flying into the air, Gaara finally saw the true enemies, standing on the ancient giant dragon, were four people wearing Cloud Black Robes with red clouds!
Deidara, the Hidden Rock Traitor, Sasori of the Red Sand, the Hidden Sand Traitor.
As well as two unknown enemies wearing hoods.
"Akatsuki!"
Gaara's expression suddenly changed.
As the Fifth Kazekage of The Hidden Sand Village, Gaara had already received some information about the Akatsuki from the Konoha allies, each enemy possessing extraordinary abilities.
Just a single Akatsuki squad can keep the Hidden Sand Village struggling to cope, and now the Akatsuki has sent two squads to attack the village!
They even have such a gigantic monster!
This ancient dragon could easily be considered an ultimate weapon capable of destroying an entire nation. Who would've thought the Akatsuki would bring such a creature to assault the Hidden Sand Village!
Ever since the event in the Land of Grass, the Akatsuki has been lying low.
Unexpectedly, the Akatsuki has been building up power, and perhaps this dragon is something they've found over the years.
Gaara's face turned incredibly grim. Facing four Akatsuki members and a terrifying dragon monster, his chances of victory were almost pitiably low.
A person in a hood slowly stepped forward atop the ancient dragon, looking at Gaara with a light chuckle and said, "Tsk, who would have thought the target would deliver himself right to us..."
"Remarkable indeed!"
Sasori of the Red Sand looked at Gaara flying toward them and spoke in a muffled voice, "A Kazekage daring to appear alone before us..."
There were four people in total, and two of them had individually killed a Kazekage.
Uehara Naraku and Sasori of the Red Sand were both seasoned in killing Kazekages!
Especially since Sasori of the Red Sand held the human puppets of the Third and Fourth Kazekage, he could fully unleash near-peak strength in this desert environment.
Honestly, Gaara was a bit unwise.
If all four members attacked simultaneously, the Hidden Sand Village would need to elect a Sixth Kazekage by now...
However, each of them was more arrogant than the other.
Especially Deidara, whose arrogance bordered on conceit.
"Leave it to me then!"
Deidara played with a Clay Flying Bird in his hand, grinning as he said, "Just in time to let him experience my art!"
Earlier, Deidara was feeling a bit grumpy.
After all, maneuvering the aerial giant beast and dropping bomb after bomb was his favorite pastime, but now the ancient dragon had stolen the spotlight.
How could that be?
Wouldn't that turn into an effortless victory?
Deidara couldn't accept that!
Just in time, the Fifth Kazekage, Gaara, flew into the air by himself, practically offering himself as a punching bag for Deidara to vent his frustration.
Sasori of the Red Sand stood beside Deidara, looking at his confident face and couldn't help but say, "Deidara, are you sure you can do it? Even though Kazekages are trash, this one seems a bit different..."
"Let him be!"
Uehara Naraku chuckled, waving his hand nonchalantly, "As long as Deidara doesn't die, I can just bring him back!"
"You bastard!"
Deidara cursed over his shoulder, knowing in his heart the meaning behind Uehara Naraku's words. Having Uehara Naraku, a medical ninja, meant he could fight without holding back.
A Clay Giant Bird appeared beneath Deidara's feet, taking him toward Gaara, and the two instantly engaged in an epic aerial duel!
The only difference was...
Deidara had teammates behind him, allowing him to fight without reservation, while Gaara had to figure out a way to deal with the ancient dragon soaring in the sky.
After all, the Hidden Sand Village's ninjas could not provide any support to Gaara; instead, they became his burden.
How the hell is Gaara supposed to fight like this?
Of course, he'd have to fight with his life on the line!
"Crossbow troop!"
Maki stood near a group of crossbow troops, commanding a group of ninjas to operate the Hidden Sand Village's outdated defense weapons, speaking with a hoarse voice, "Aim and shoot down all the enemies in the air!"
Honestly, Maki was a bit desperate.
That ancient dragon looked like something their ordinary crossbows couldn't take down, and even if they made a wound, it would probably feel like a pinprick to the dragon.
But his disciple Gaara was still fighting!
Should they just give up?
They had to do something!
"Hidden Sand Ninjas, look at the despair on your faces!"
Uehara Naraku stood atop the ancient dragon, shouting coldly, "Since you've lost the will to fight, do you still wish to resist Akatsuki's arrival?"
"Don't mind him! Attack immediately!"
Maki urged all the crossbowmen to aim at the ancient dragon. In Maki's view, this dragon was far more troublesome than Deidara's Clay Bird!
Arrows flew rapidly toward the ancient dragon!
However, their attacks couldn't even penetrate the dragon's body, blocked by its natural scale armor.
One after another, the giant crossbow bolts fell to the ground, causing the Hidden Sand ninjas' hearts to sink bit by bit.
Maki quickly adjusted his strategy, loudly ordering, "Switch targets, attack that white bird first, assist Lord Kazekage!"
"Roar!"
Uehara Naraku couldn't be bothered, controlling the ancient dragon to spit Fireballs at the Hidden Sand's crossbow troops, destroying the units that could threaten Deidara!
The ancient dragon cleared out all the crossbow troops, landing on an open space, roaring ferociously at the Hidden Sand Village!
"Roar!"
The deafening sound waves swept through the entire Hidden Sand Village!
Numerous Hidden Sand ninjas who attempted to rush the ancient dragon were all blown away!
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
"Wind Release: Scythe Weasel!"
Even occasionally, some sand ninjas relied on their positioning to rush over, unleashing a bunch of Ninjutsu on the ancient dragon's body, which still had no sign of affecting it.
The ancient dragon slowly opened its mouth, spewing a gigantic Fireball that left a deep trench on the ground of the Hidden Sand Village, like a scar etched on the village of this great nation!
"So easy."
Uehara Naraku sat atop the ancient dragon, watching the Summoning Beast wreak havoc in the Hidden Sand Village and observing his Dark Harvest stacking wildly.
All of this will become his capital for confronting Six Paths-level ninjas in the future.
"Next up is Deidara and that Kazekage kid."
Sasori of the Red Sand looked up, gazing at the fierce battle in the sky between Gaara and Deidara, speaking slowly, "Let's hope that Deidara guy doesn't play for too long..."
"We still have plenty of time."
Uehara Naraku glanced at the sand ninjas charging again, being swept away by the ancient dragon's wings, and softly said, "It doesn't seem like the Hidden Sand Village has anything to threaten us, so let Senior Deidara enjoy himself!"