"Sasori, we've been searching for three days already. Still no sign of that mining village. You sure this intel isn't bogus?"
The "Art Duo" had no idea they were being watched.
Deidara swooped in after a few loops through the sky, still empty-handed, and landed with an annoyed tone.
"The intel came from Zetsu. It shouldn't be wrong," Sasori replied in his usual gravelly voice.
"There's supposedly a Black Hoe clan that popped up recently in the Land of Rivers, selling all kinds of minerals on the black market. They must have access to a huge mine. If we find them, we won't have to take orders from Kakuzu anymore—or keep running pointless missions."
[T/N: not sure if it's a clan that was in the original story, so I translated it to English directly]
"Alright, alright." Deidara sighed, giving in. "I'll help you search a few more days."
With that, he picked Sasori up, and the two soared off again on Deidara's clay bird, heading for a new area.
But while flying, a small shadow suddenly cast over them, blocking the sunlight.
They looked up.
Floating above was a figure radiating golden light from his back—so bright, they couldn't even make out his face.
"A flying ninja?!" Deidara exclaimed. "Did the old man send someone to drag me back?!"
Flight techniques were rare. The most well-known one was "Earth Style: Light-Weight Boulder" Jutsu from Iwagakure.
Sasori narrowed his eyes and warned. "He's not an Iwa shinobi. Deidara, land. Now."
Even as he spoke, his mouth opened wide into a rectangular shape and launched a barrage of high-density poison needles toward the glowing figure above—hundreds of them, like a bullet storm.
The needles shot upward with terrifying speed.
But the next second, all of them halted as if they'd slammed into an invisible wall. Then—reflected.
The poisonous rain reversed course and poured down on them.
Deidara hurriedly dove, tossing out several paper-sized white birds that flapped toward the sky.
"Explode!" he yelled with a quick hand sign.
BOOM!
A series of explosions lit up the sky like fireworks.
Too bad it was daytime, or it might've looked beautiful.
As the smoke scattered in the breeze and the sun peeked back through, the two finally got a clear look at the floating figure.
He stood about 1.8 meters tall, cloaked in a black full-body robe, face completely hidden behind a smooth white mask with no eyeholes—matching the color of his long white hair, flowing in the wind.
It was Kenjiro, transformed with a transformation jutsu.
Hovering high above, he looked down at them and murmured. "Let's start with a little welcome gift."
He raised his right hand, palm facing the sky.
A blue flame of chakra flickered into existence above his hand—then vanished.
"...Nah, this jutsu's not ready yet. Wouldn't make much of a statement."
"Let's try something new. With my current chakra reserves… this should work."
Kenjiro formed a hand seal.
Suddenly, a wave of chakra flared around him, glowing blue and wild. Wind pressure surged upward, whipping his white hair like a storm.
He held the hand seal for over half a minute. The chakra flames didn't flicker for even a second.
"What's he doing?" Deidara asked from a sloped hill where they'd landed.
"Preparing a jutsu, probably." Sasori said, reaching for a scroll. "Be careful. Flying shinobi are never to be underestimated."
But before he could summon his puppets, Sasori froze.
Beside him, Deidara stared at the sky, mouth hanging open in shock.
Up above, Kenjiro gave them a friendly wave and said cheerfully. "If you survive this, maybe we can be friends."
And then… he flew off.
It was noon.
The sun blazed high overhead, like a massive fireball in the sky.
And—maybe it was just an illusion—but it seemed like that fireball was falling.
Falling toward them.
"W-What is that?!"
Elsewhere, Team 8 and the merchant convoy were climbing a hill on a detour when they all stopped in unison.
Their gazes turned toward the sky where the Art Duo had been.
Eyes wide. Mouths open.
The civilians among them collapsed in fear.
"A… a shooting star?!"
"No—that's… a meteor!!"
Indeed.
The fireball wasn't the sun. It was a meteor, crashing through the atmosphere at high speed, burning up and glowing from the friction.
Watching it descend, Kurenai muttered, "It's just a coincidence… Right? It has to be coincidence…"
After all, who could summon meteors?
But she didn't notice Hinata behind her, eyes filled with awe and admiration as she stared at the falling star.
"Deidara, RUN!!"
Back to the Art Duo—Sasori was yelling now.
"So cool…" Deidara mumbled in a daze, still rooted in place, gazing up like he was watching the most beautiful masterpiece ever created.
"Now this is art…"
"IDIOT!"
Sasori snapped, extending a massive iron tail from his back. It wrapped around Deidara and yanked him off the slope in a single leap.
At the same time, he unsealed a hidden scroll.
With a puff of smoke, a human puppet emerged—dressed in black robes, with preserved human skin, but bones and organs replaced with puppet parts.
The puppet of the Third Kazekage.
Sasori connected chakra threads to it.
The Kazekage raised both arms, and black iron sand surged from his sleeves, forming a giant three-sided spear in midair.
Sasori landed on the pyramid with Deidara, using Magnet Release to fire it toward a distant mountain.
He then pulled the Kazekage behind with threads, gliding along the mountainside, trying to loop behind another ridge for cover.
But the meteor was falling too fast.
No time.
Sasori made a split-second decision—redirected the iron pyramid to crash into the mountain, carving out a manmade cave.
He leapt in with Deidara and the Kazekage, immediately sealing the entrance with a thick wall of iron sand.
Then he layered more and more iron sand around them—forming a huge black sphere.
BOOM————
The moment the black sphere finished forming, a deafening explosion tore through the mountain range.
The meteor had struck.
The echo bounced through the valleys, amplifying the noise, and blasted straight through the iron walls—ripping away all sound from Sasori, Deidara, and every creature in the area.
The heatwave alone incinerated everything nearby, vaporizing plant life and pulverizing the mountain at ground zero. Shockwaves ripped outward, smashing surrounding cliffs and sending rubble flying.
Even Team 8 and the convoy, located over ten kilometers away, felt the blast.
They heard the explosion.
They saw the towering mushroom cloud rising in the distance.
And even with several mountains between them, the ground beneath their feet trembled slightly.
Which meant—
The entire mountain they stood on had shaken.
That's how powerful the meteor strike was.
🍥-🍥-🍥-🍥-🍥-🍥-🍥-🍥
➜ Push the Story up with your Power Stones
➜ Every 250 PS = Bonus Chapter!
➜ Add to collection