A sharp, cutting screech of lightning tore across the battlefield—but the sound was different from Kakashi's usual technique. Sharper, more condensed, more violent.
Lightning gathered in his hand, not forming a piercing blade, but taking shape as a hunting hound.
In the past, Kakashi would basically have used Raikiri, the technique said to be able to cut through lightning itself. But now, its form had clearly changed.
The hound was made of pure lightning, its mane bristling, fangs bared, radiating destructive power.
"Raiton: Raijū Tsuiga (Lightning Style: Lightning Beast Tracking Fang)!"
Kakashi spoke in a low voice, and the lightning hound leapt from his hand, transforming into a streak of silver-white light as it shot toward the sky.
Up above, Deidara had just recovered from the shock of seeing his C3 blocked when he saw the lightning hound hurtling toward him at an unbelievable speed.
"Damn it! What kind of jutsu is this, hm?!"
He tried to force his clay bird to evade, but he quickly realized the beast made of lightning was automatically tracking his chakra.
No matter how he maneuvered, he couldn't shake it off. Even he had to admit—it was troublesome.
Lightning countered earth. This jutsu practically existed just to deal with him.
"Fine then, I'll turn this into art too!"
The hidden mouth on Deidara's chest opened wide as he prepared to use his last remaining chakra to trigger self-destruction.
This was his final, and most perfect, art.
But to his surprise, the lightning beast was faster than his trigger.
Zzzt!
The lightning hound pounced squarely onto him, but there was no explosion. Instead, it split into countless thin currents that instantly poured into his body.
Deidara felt a violent numbness rush over him. The flow of chakra inside him was completely scrambled by that raging lightning chakra. Lightning really was too strong against earth.
The mouths on the palms of his hands—his pride and the source of his explosive clay—were also pierced by the current and lost all function. His attempt to mold chakra was cut off mid-process.
His body went limp, and he toppled from the clay bird.
At the same time, the battle on the ground shifted as well.
Sasori of the Red Sand saw Deidara get taken down, and he knew things had gone bad. He stopped thinking about dragging the fight out, decisively abandoning the heavily damaged Hiruko. His true body slipped free from within the puppet.
If this kept up, both of them would be left here for good. Unless he had absolutely no choice, there was one technique he really didn't want to use—but for Sasori, that moment had already arrived.
He was preparing to unleash his strongest technique—
Aka Higi: Hyakki no Sōen (Red Secret Technique: Performance of a Hundred Puppets).
Give him one second and he'd summon over a hundred puppets, tearing everyone here into pieces.
But he didn't get that one second. A second was enough time for a lot of things to happen.
The instant his real body touched down, the ground under his feet suddenly turned soft.
Four ninja hounds formed from earth-style chakra burst up from underground, clamping down on his limbs and biting down hard.
Doton: Tsuiga no Jutsu (Earth Style: Tracking Fang Technique).
It was a trap Kakashi had set long ago. The timing was calculated—the "golden half-second" when Sasori's mind was at its most fatigued and his chakra at its lowest.
Those tenths of a second during which Sasori's movement was restricted were fatal.
A figure appeared behind him, a kunai wreathed in lightning pressing precisely against the cylindrical core on his left chest where the character "蝎" was written.
That was his true body, his only weak point. Sasori was ruthless—he'd turned his entire body into a puppet, leaving only his heart as his original flesh. Anyone else probably wouldn't have had the nerve.
"Don't move."
Kakashi's icy voice sounded by his ear.
"Your core is valuable. I'd rather not break it."
Sasori's body went rigid. He could feel the lightning chakra concentrated in the kunai. If he so much as twitched, it would instantly destroy his core and kill him for good.
From the moment Kakashi made his move to the moment both targets were subdued, only about five seconds had passed.
Smooth as flowing water. A single, uninterrupted sequence.
This battle had put on full display the terrifying combat efficiency a top-level jonin could unleash when armed with complete intel and perfect timing.
Kakuzu and Hidan received the "cease attack" order and immediately halted.
They took up positions like two guardian statues, standing to Kakashi's left and right, blocking every possible angle from which Sasori might counterattack.
Deidara, falling from the sky, was caught mid-air by tendrils of Jiongu (Earth Grudge Fear) stretching from Kakuzu's body, wrapped up tight like a bundle.
His entire body was numb. He couldn't even speak, and could only glare at Kakashi with furious eyes. But glaring wouldn't change anything. If glares worked, Deidara could probably stare for days without blinking.
Sasori finally gave up resisting.
He looked at the masked man before him and asked, "How did you know where my true body was? And the weakness of my core?"
It was a question even his closest partner, Deidara, didn't know the answer to.
"Art needs passion." Kakashi didn't answer him directly. "But war only needs calculations."
"Your performance was impressive. But now, the show is over."
With that, Kakashi took two special, oversized sealing scrolls from his pouch. Shinju had given them to him before the operation—scrolls made specifically for sealing live targets.
It seemed Shinju had already predicted what would happen later. Handing him the scrolls in advance had been for this very moment.
And in Shinju's plans, losing had never been an option.
Kakashi unfurled one scroll and pressed it against Sasori's body, forming a rapid sequence of hand seals.
"Seal!"
The characters and markings on the scroll lit up. Sasori's body turned into a streak of white light and was sucked into the scroll.
After that, Kakuzu used the same method to seal up the bound Deidara.
With that, Akatsuki's "art duo" had been completely subdued and captured alive.
In the distant forest, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura fell silent as they watched the clean, decisive conclusion.
They had seen S-rank missing-nin unleash power that could practically destroy the world—
And they had also seen how their teacher, at the most critical moment, used the smallest possible cost to bring the battle to an end.
This real-combat lesson had driven deep into their hearts the importance of intel, strategy, and timing.
Kakashi carefully stored away the two sealing scrolls, then walked over to the badly wounded Chiriku.
He crouched down, checked Chiriku's injuries, then took out a soldier pill and held it out to him.
"Chiriku, can you still hold on?"
Chiriku nodded with difficulty. "More or less…"
Looking at the temple, ruined almost beyond recognition, he felt a swirl of emotions. He had never imagined the temple would be destroyed on his watch.
"You're… ninjas from the Leaf, right? Your strength is impressive. I honestly thought I could hold them off for a while, but I didn't expect them to be that strong. Your support… came at just the right time. If you'd been any later, I'm afraid I wouldn't have made it. It's just… a pity about the temple."
"There's no need to thank us," Kakashi said as he stood up. "As long as the people are alive, that's what matters. Buildings can be rebuilt. Medical and engineering teams will be here soon. Don't worry."
"Shinju-sama, the mission is complete. The 'art duo' can be brought back anytime."
Through the comms device, Kakashi calmly sent his report.
(End of Chapter)
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