Naruto watched the scene with sweat pouring down his forehead.
"We need to get out of here fast," he said, pointing toward the bridge linking the two towers.
The two dashed from one tower to the other while the statue behind them started crawling forward.
******
##Kiri##
Tayuya sat perched on the edge of a cliff, idly playing her flute while gazing down at the village below.
Shikamaru lay sprawled on the ground, staring blankly at the sky.
After finishing a tune, Tayuya looked up at Shikamaru.
"How much longer do we have to stay here? I'm so bored I want to go back already."
Shikamaru remained silent, still watching the clouds.
A vein throbbed on Tayuya's forehead.
"Are you even listening, you lazy bastard? I'm talking to you!"
Shikamaru sighed.
"I heard you. But I don't have any answers, or anything that'll make you feel better."
Tayuya cupped her face in her hands.
"At least with that idiot around, things wouldn't be this dull."
******
##Uzushio Village##
Naruto and Sai emerged from the top floor of the third tower. Naruto let out a sigh.
"What the heck is going on? That whole top floor was full of traps!"
Sai touched the wound on his side and winced.
"Maybe it's some kind of training facility for Uzushio ninjas."
After escaping the deadly statue, Naruto and Sai entered what appeared to be an administrative building.
The fallen enemies and the skeletal remains of Uzushio ninjas spoke of a fierce battle that had taken place there.
Of course, the corridor leading to the main office was rigged with traps again, trapping them inside the long corridor under a sealing formation that slowly roasted them alive.
Luckily, Naruto found the sealing formation on the wall and managed to disable it.
Before leaving, Naruto memorized the sealing formula, hoping it might come in handy elsewhere.
When they reached the main office, everything had already been stripped clean.
The vault was empty, even the desks had been stripped bare.
They moved on to the next tower, and while crossing through the buildings they encountered all sorts of traps: sealing formations that spewed flames, collapsing floors hiding spike pits, mechanisms triggering shuriken and darts, and pools of water electrified with current.
Naruto looked up at the sky and shouted:
"I thought I knew all about traps! How could anyone even stand a chance against these guys?"
As Sai was treating his wounds, he suggested:
"Shouldn't we take a break before entering the final tower, Naruto-senpai? Who knows what's waiting for us in there."
Just then, a massive explosion shook the tower, scattering several shadow clones.
As Naruto and Sai looked up, they saw a man riding a giant bird flying against the backdrop of the sunset.
He wore an Iwagakure forehead protector slashed through the middle, and the most noticeable thing about him was the black hooded cloak adorned with red clouds.
Naruto had only seen that cloak once before… on two others. Oh.
Naruto stared intensely at the flying figure.
"Sai, how good are our chances of getting out of here?"
Sai took out his summoning scroll.
"Not great, as long as he stays in the air. Do you know who this guy is, Naruto-senpai?"
Naruto shook his head.
"...Not really."
"But his clothes are the same as the ones Itachi wore when he attacked me."
Sai figured it out.
"So he's chasing the Nine-Tails."
"Bingo, dude." Naruto drew his blade. "What do we do? He's too far away for me to hit. I've got some long-range moves, but I'm not sure they'll hit." Naruto looked around. "We need space—the top of the tower looks good, but we can't use chakra up there..."
[Super Beast Imitating Drawing!]
Sai painted a pair of birds on his scroll and jumped onto one:
"Hop on, Naruto."
Naruto grinned and leapt onto an ink bird, and they soared into the sky.
"Dude, you can fly? Wait—why didn't we use this earlier?"
Sai guided the ink bird through the air:
"This requires chakra. Walking saves more chakra."
Naruto nodded and turned to Sai:
"Will this thing protect me?"
"It can take one or two hits, dude."
Suddenly, a voice echoed.
The man hurled tiny clay birds at them.
Sai maneuvered the ink birds to dodge and shot down the clay birds from a distance.
But Naruto wasn't used to flying, and soon he was surrounded by the tiny clay birds.
The man smirked and made a hand sign.
Naruto's eyes widened, and Sai quickly flew closer.
Naruto seized the chance, jumping from his bird to Sai's just as the clay birds exploded, destroying his ink bird.
Naruto shot him a glare:
"Who the hell are you?"
"Does it really matter? Either way, I'll still get you." The man grinned.
Naruto pulled out an explosive tag and readied his shuriken.
The man kept laughing:
"I am the master of art—Deidara! Your friend's so-called art doesn't compare to mine—real art is *explosions!*"
Deidara created more clay birds and fired them toward them.
Sai steered the ink bird to dodge the attack.
"What should we do?" Sai said, panting. "I'm not good at aerial combat—it drains my energy fast."
Naruto furrowed his brow, thinking.
"If he wanted to kill us, he'd have done it by now."
He hurled the shuriken at Deidara, who dodged effortlessly.
Naruto's mind raced—if things kept going like this, they wouldn't stand a chance—not against an enemy like this.
"Dude, got any good ideas?"
Sai squinted at the enemy.
"Think you can hold your own for a moment?"
Naruto nodded firmly.
Sai took out his scroll and created a flock of bats carrying the explosive shuriken Naruto had prepared, sending them to attack Deidara.
Deidara countered with his own explosives.
Naruto noticed Sai was already drenched in sweat. Keeping the birds airborne was tiring him out.
Deidara closed in, and Naruto shouted:
"Sai, turn this thing around!"
Sai obeyed, panting hard. Naruto reached into his pouch and carefully pulled out a black talisman. He activated it—the word 'Explosion' on the talisman flared red.
Sai injected chakra into the bird, propelling them toward Deidara.
Suddenly, their clay bird dissolved into ink, and the two began falling from the sky.
Naruto grabbed Sai and manipulated wind chakra to steer their fall toward the towering cylindrical structure.
Naruto placed Sai on his back as [Wind God Fist] erupted beneath them to cushion the impact.
Sai rolled off Naruto's back, spitting out blood.
Naruto looked up at Deidara.
Deidara grinned.
"That was a pretty slick survival move, yeah."
Suddenly, he heard the hissing of an explosion — the black explosive tag Naruto had stuck beneath the bird's wing!
Naruto grinned.
"Boom."
Just before the bird was swallowed by flames, Deidara jumped off.
"That's true art!"
Deidara survived and now rode atop a massive clay dragon.
"You're a tough one to pin down, huh!"
Naruto looked at the fallen Sai and gritted his teeth.
Naruto jumped off the rooftop, grabbed Sai, and both plunged into the raging confluence of rivers, swiftly dragged away by the whirlpools.
Watching everything unfold, a large drop of sweat rolled down Deidara's forehead:
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