Ninja Ice House

Obito and Zetsu wouldn't engage in a meaningless battle. They held the initiative in their fight with Ringo Ameyuri and could leave at any time. However, they didn't retreat immediately because they still harbored the intention of recruiting Sasuke and acquiring Itachi's Mangekyou Sharingan.

On the other hand, Sora, who was playing a teasing game with his own son, easily glanced at his opponent, who was wandering around like a headless fly in the earth-遁 (earth-遁 is a type of magic/esoteric magic) labyrinth, and then looked towards the place in the distance where the battle was gradually coming to an end.

"Itachi Uchiha's chakra has disappeared, but... it seems he shouldn't 'exit' so easily. It's not the 'grand finale' yet, how can the main 'characters' slack off?"

Looking at his biological son, Kong, Jiang Tu couldn't help but shake his head regretfully.

If one's aptitude is too poor, even if one becomes a powerful "pseudo-Jinchūriki" and even possesses the legendary power of the Mangekyou Sharingan, their upper limit is still limited.

"Sure enough, it's so difficult for a 'supporting actor' to fight for 'scenes.' Even with the young master's tacit approval, if I 'add scenes' for you, it's still just a minor 'role.' In comparison, those two brothers are much more important, and..."

Although her own son was just a substitute "fake" with limited potential, he could not replace the real protagonist no matter how hard he tried. Just like that figure with golden hair and a Nine-Tails chakra robe wrapped in bright yellow flames mixed with blood red, even when his own power was almost exhausted, he could still obtain even more powerful power from the Nine-Tails and continue to fight.

Deidara, who also realized that it was almost time, glanced at the subtle observations around him and reached into his ninja tool pouch.

"Explosive clay... Not much left. We've really been 'playing' for quite a while now! It's about time for a spectacular explosion to mark the end."

The purpose of fighting is to create a stalemate, to ensure that what needs to happen happens smoothly.

Many of those involved did not believe that there was any mastermind behind it all, but some did realize that their task was just part of a larger plan.

What Deidara wanted to do was actually quite simple: use Gaara as a "vortex" to confine the relevant people within it, and incidentally, "fly a kite" to attract the attention of the Sand Village and Konoha Village reinforcements.

However, upon seeing that golden-haired man with sharp vertical pupils in his eyes, and four flowing energy tails dancing behind his chakra robes, Deidara's eyes also began to reveal a lot of caution.

"Again?"

Not only is the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki a formidable threat, but the others are no pushovers either. Kakashi Hatake's Mangekyou Sharingan technique, Kamui, is a typical offensive space-time ninjutsu, and its destructive power is even greater than that currently used by Obito Uchiha.

If it weren't for its relatively low chakra reserves and somewhat slow activation speed, the power of this thing would be virtually limitless.

Then there's that eccentric Mizuki. To be honest, there's a familiar feeling about him, but I can't quite put my finger on it. Especially since he leads his subordinates as the "Root" representative, and seems poised to replace Shimura Danzo as a force in Konoha, he always seems a bit mysterious.

Orochimaru's cursed seal is not surprising. Many ninjas who received the seal survived from the early, unfinished versions. However, those who survived to this day and still have considerable strength, or even those who can initially control it, are extremely rare.

"I always felt that guy was just a troublemaker."

He seemed to be working his hardest, but he always "dropped the ball" at crucial moments, appearing unlucky or out of timing. While this seemed like a coincidence, it happened so many times that others couldn't tell. However, Deidara, his direct enemy, did notice.

"A remnant of Orochimaru, or a puppet of Shimura Danzo?"

The situation within Konoha Village remains somewhat mysterious, especially regarding the legendary "Darkness of the Ninja World." Unless he himself comes forward, it's unlikely anyone knows what's going on on his end.

Regardless, Mizuki's two "power surges" demonstrated the power of a tiger descending the mountain. Although they did not have a crucial effect, they still caused Deidara and the puppet-like Gaara a great deal of trouble.

Of course, the biggest threat was Naruto Uzumaki. The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki's sustained combat ability made even Deidara, who had the advantage of timing and location, feel troubled. His chakra seemed to be inexhaustible, as if the Nine-Tails' chakra was never-ending.

Even though he seemed to have no strength left, suddenly more chakra surged from his body, and his fighting power was even stronger than before.

It seems that with each battle, experience is rapidly gained, and strength increases at a visible rate.

Deidara considered himself one of the top geniuses in the ninja world. He wasn't without defeats, losing to even more monstrous individuals, but those were battles on a different level, and it's normal to have wins and losses.

However, that Nine-Tails Jinchuriki was truly extraordinary, with an extremely exaggerated growth rate, seemingly able to cover in just a few hours what other geniuses take several years to achieve.

This incredible speed of improvement happened right under my nose; witnessing it firsthand was truly astonishing.

"The Jinchūriki, as a fighting weapon, is truly unreasonable!"

The previous "fake Jinchuriki" had a lot of presence, but his combat intelligence was really average. He was easily tricked and made to run around like a headless fly, achieving nothing. In the end, he was led away and teased by others. This seems to be the behavior that children of this age should have.

"Well?"

Just as they were pondering how to clean up the mess and make a graceful exit, the puppet with the tin staff, Furuto, and Sasori of the Red Sand sent a signal from afar.

"That's enough, time to go!"

As for Gaara, the former Jinchuriki of the One-Tailed Beast, who was still entangled with the Konoha ninja and the Sand ninja, he maintained the upper hand with ease because the opponent was hesitant to attack, using his incredibly powerful wide-range sand manipulation ninjutsu to repel wave after wave of strong attacks.

It has to be said that Gaara's talent is truly top-notch. He is one of the very few darlings of his generation in the ninja world. In the entire Sunagakure village, there may only be one such monstrous genius in a generation. Even without the One-Tailed Shukaku in his body, he is still a top-tier powerhouse, a prodigy on the same level as Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and Neji Hyuga.

Given Shukaku's personality, the fact that he could be barely restrained and persisted for so many years shows how formidable he truly is.

Judging from the current mission of the Sand Village and Konoha ninja, it is definitely to retrieve Gaara, rather than to hunt down Deidara, a rogue ninja from Iwagakure who is elusive and behaves strangely.

Dangerous S-rank rogue ninja groups like "Akatsuki" and "The Eight Heroes" cannot be dealt with by a single or two collective actions of the ninja villages; it requires the combined efforts of the five major ninja villages to eradicate them.