After Sailing with the Pirate King, I Returned to Konoha - 185

Chapter 185: One-Tail Storm (Part 1)

The Land of Wind, Hidden Sand Village.

High above the desert fortress, a white clay bird with abstract, angular features carved slow circles through the blazing sky. On its back, two figures in black robes with crimson clouds surveyed the village sprawled below.

"Sasori-danna, this is your hometown too, isn't it?" Deidara's blonde hair fell across one eye as a mocking smile played at his lips.

"Boring," came the cold reply.

Sasori's true body remained hidden within the hunched puppet Hiruko, connected through a chakra core that made the construct an extension of himself. Through its eyes, he watched the world with detached interest.

"So where's your spy, danna?"

Deidara knew his partner had planted someone inside Hidden Sand—a convenient way to track the village's movements.

Without answering, Sasori focused inward, sensing the chakra signature of the person controlled by his Brain Manipulation Sand jutsu. He pointed toward a dirt slope beyond the village walls, and they descended.

The controlled ninja was Yūra, a Hidden Sand jōnin. In his normal state, he appeared completely ordinary, but when Sasori activated the manipulation, the man's will bent completely to obedience. From Yūra's perspective, he had always been "Sasori-sama's" loyal subordinate—he'd simply sealed that memory away by choice.

Sasori had used this same jutsu on someone named Kabuto, positioning him as a mole under Orochimaru. He remained unaware that Kabuto—now inheritor of Orochimaru's legacy—had long since broken free.

"Is that so?"

From the jōnin's lips, the artistic duo extracted the intelligence they needed.

After a brief exchange of glances, Deidara grinned. "Then let me handle this side, yeah!"

"Fine. Make it loud."

Sasori vanished beneath the sand as Hiruko burrowed underground, while Deidara's clay bird soared higher. Ahead loomed the Shukaku Shrine, prison of the One-Tail jinchūriki.

"Time to say hello."

His hands dove into his pouches as the mouths on his palms chewed clay.

"C3—No. 18!"

A massive clay doll plummeted from the sky, targeting the shrine's roof.

"Ha!"

The detonation sent a fireball blooming outward, flames spreading across the structure in a wave of destructive heat.

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

Multiple voices rang out in unison. Though individually a simple C-rank jutsu, when performed together the technique's power multiplied. Whirlwinds struck the flames head-on, forming an air barrier that choked the explosion's spread. The heat remained intense, but the building beneath survived intact.

"Wind Release: Blade of Wind!"

At the shrine's entrance, Temari swung her massive fan, unleashing her newly mastered technique. Countless wind blades sliced upward toward Deidara.

The explosion's thunderous roar drew immediate attention. Ninja flooded toward the shrine from every direction, converging like a disturbed anthill.

Rather than concern, Deidara's face split into a satisfied grin. "This time, I really have to thank Sasori-danna."

His hands plunged back into his pouches, the mouths on his palms devouring explosive clay in a frenzy. If Naruto were present, the two might have found unexpected common ground.

"C1!"

The giant bird scattered countless clay spiders as it flew, the constructs raining down on the gathered ninja below. Deidara had no intention of landing—he maintained his aerial advantage, harassing the Sand forces with infuriating ease.

"Destroy them all! Those things explode!" Baki's voice cut through the chaos as he moved among the crowd. Like Temari, he'd been stationed at Shukaku Shrine and witnessed the entire assault.

Individual chunin or even jōnin fell like wheat before someone of Deidara's caliber, but once ninja numbers reached critical mass, the tide could turn. A great village's foundation wasn't something one man could topple alone.

Yet with the Fourth Kazekage dead and no Sand ninja capable of flight, they remained locked in defensive positions. Every attack aimed at Deidara was neutralized by preemptive mid-air detonations.

"So this is Akatsuki," Baki muttered, moving to Temari's side. Both stared upward, their expressions heavy with the weight of the situation.

Fortunately, Konoha bore no grudges and had warned them in advance—Akatsuki targeted jinchūriki. Initially, Hidden Sand remained skeptical. But intelligence from Jiraiya, one of the legendary Sannin, combined with warnings from Naruto Uzumaki, the famed Nine-Tails jinchūriki, had dissolved their doubts.

The former carried reputation, the latter raw power.

After Naruto's group returned to Konoha, Jiraiya had relayed all Akatsuki intelligence to the village. Naruto had tacitly approved—if the other villages could delay Akatsuki, it would make tracking them easier.

The information had been shared with the other great villages, but only Hidden Sand responded with such urgency.

The intelligence's true source was Orochimaru's memories. Though he'd defected before the plan matured, the objectives had been established early. Orochimaru hadn't cared about the deeper purpose—he'd only wanted to claim Pain's or Itachi's power for himself.

"According to the intel, Akatsuki members work in pairs," Baki said quietly. "The other one must already be in the village."

The Shukaku Shrine's prison cell now stood empty. This was a trap, bait for the enemy.

Inside Hidden Sand Village, Granny Chiyo sat alone before an unremarkable building, appearing as nothing more than an elderly woman at rest.

The soft clicking of mechanisms reached her ears.

That sound was intimately familiar.

She sighed, rising from her chair as Hiruko approached. This old woman had longed to see her grandson again, but never imagined it would be like this.

"The jinchūriki is in the house behind you, correct?"

Sasori's deliberately disguised voice emerged from within Hiruko. Without waiting for an answer, he struck.

"Needle Barrage!"

Countless poison-coated needles erupted forward, blanketing the area.

Chiyo remained motionless, calm in the face of death.

Three puppets dropped from above, forming a barrier. The poisoned needles embedded into their grotesque bodies with dull thuds.

"Granny, don't zone out! This is combat!" Kankurō landed beside her, and with him came a wave of Hidden Sand puppet masters.

They were the second line of defense.