Yagoromo's choice to pursue in the direction from Sunagakure toward Amegakure was, at most, only a guess based on probability. Whether it was right or wrong, even he himself was not certain.
To put it simply, he was just taking a shot in the dark. If he guessed right, that would be best. If he guessed wrong, there would be no real loss.
Yagoromo could not precisely determine exactly when the enemy had broken away from the battle and left Sunagakure, but what he could be certain of was that more than half a day had already passed since that point.
Half a day was enough time for an enemy of Sasori's level to vanish without a trace. Even if his directional judgment was correct, he still might not be able to catch Sasori. And once his pursuit direction turned out to be wrong, that would mean Yagoromo would "miss" these two people on this trip.
At this time, what Yagoromo knew was that one member of the Akatsuki duo that invaded Sunagakure yesterday was Sasori of the Red Sand. As for who the other person was, he was likewise lacking information.
Thanks to Yagoromo's deliberate training, combined with her own innate talent, Mirai's Mind's Eye of the Kagura could now be regarded as max level. In any case, when it came to sensory ability, she was much stronger than Yagoromo.
But even so, her ability still had limits. It was not as though she could simply find anyone she wanted with ease.
In terms of movement speed, considering that the Akatsuki duo had recently fought a bitter battle against Sunagakure—or rather, had been beaten up by a mob of Sunagakure shinobi—their current condition naturally could not compare with Yagoromo's squad, who were full of energy. Therefore, their movement speed definitely could not be too fast.
Although Sasori should already have completed his full puppet-body modification by this point, meaning that even if he lost an arm or leg in the previous battle, he could replace it at any time, that was not the key issue.
The key issue was chakra consumption. Using puppet techniques also consumed chakra, and with Sasori's body modified to such an abnormal degree, his chakra consumption would only be even greater.
As for his companion, as long as the other party was still flesh and blood, then his injuries should be even more severe than Sasori's.
"Yagoromo, why don't we pursue them by air? That would be more efficient, wouldn't it?"
Squad Six was moving rapidly, and Mirai, keeping close beside Yagoromo, asked him this.
"Movement speed does not equal operational efficiency. If we fly, our overall movement speed can indeed become even faster, but in that case, the traces left behind by the enemy's movement will be much harder to discover," Yagoromo explained. "Still, this operation was too rushed in the end. After all, it was an unexpected situation. Whether or not we can find them will depend on fate."
From this way of speaking, it could be seen that Yagoromo did not actually hold much hope of catching up to the Akatsuki duo.
And this was a judgment he made without even knowing that one of the two could also fly.
For Sasori and Deidara, who were in danger without knowing it, they should probably hope that the so-called fate Yagoromo mentioned did not exist. But…
"I found them!"
Not long after Yagoromo finished speaking, Mirai suddenly spoke up.
"You found traces of the two of them?" Yagoromo asked. But things should not go this smoothly, right?
"No. I found their chakra reactions. A few hours ago, the two of them should have passed through this place and briefly stopped here, which is why a faint chakra reaction still remains even now."
At this point, Yagoromo's squad was already a sufficient distance away from Sunagakure, and Yagoromo felt that Mirai's guess should not be too far from the truth.
Perhaps after reaching this place, the Akatsuki duo had finally shaken off Sunagakure's pursuit completely and stopped briefly to treat their injuries.
No matter what, this proved that Yagoromo's earlier directional guess and instruction had been correct.
"Continue the pursuit!" Yagoromo said.
However, now he could step back a little and hand the job of leading the team to the sensor-nin, Uzumaki Mirai.
...
Neither Deidara nor Sasori possessed long-range reconnaissance ability, so they had no idea that a Konoha squad was pursuing them. But that did not matter. Within the Akatsuki, there was someone specifically responsible for this sort of work.
Or rather, there was a whole pile of such people.
The two of them were indeed not lightly injured, and Sasori's chakra consumption was also quite serious.
As the two supported each other while moving forward, White Zetsu's figure suddenly emerged from the ground not far ahead of them.
"Zetsu, your comings and goings are still so unpredictable that no one can make sense of them. Mm~"
Deidara's words sounded like praise, but in truth, the expression on his face looked as though he had nearly stepped on ****.
However, White Zetsu had no time to waste talking nonsense with them.
"Looks like the mission really did fail. The leader already knows that the recovery of the One-Tail's jinchūriki failed. You had better prepare yourselves to accept punishment… But now is not the time to discuss that. Right now, you must change direction and increase your speed."
"Increase speed?"
Given the current half-crippled state of these two, even if they wanted to go fast, they probably could not.
"Yes, increase speed. Your luck really is terrible. You have already been targeted by an extremely troublesome person. Although I don't know what reason he has for pursuing you—perhaps he accepted a commission from Sunagakure, or perhaps he is simply acting on a whim—no matter what, in your incomplete states, you are absolutely no match for him. So if you want to shake off pursuit, you must move as quickly as possible," White Zetsu said.
Deidara and Sasori glanced at each other, then said with almost no hesitation, "We understand."
Quite unexpectedly, these two people, both of whom liked to act tough, did not argue much. From White Zetsu's attitude, they could understand that this so-called troublesome person pursuing them seemed to truly be an enemy with strength they could not handle.
"The other side has an excellent sensor-nin with them, but that also happens to create a favorable situation. You hurry up and move. I'll do my best to buy you some time."
As this White Zetsu said this, another White Zetsu individual also drilled up from the ground…
Yagoromo's squad knew absolutely nothing about the new developments on this side. After roughly another two hours passed, Mirai discovered a new situation.
She spoke in a tone filled with surprise.
"Yagoromo, I found them!"
"There are two individuals. Their chakra signatures match completely, and the intensity also matches the condition of people who have just gone through battle. Right now, they are moving in the direction of Amegakure at a somewhat fast pace."
"Then now it's time for us to fly over directly."
There was no obvious change in Yagoromo's expression, but his hands had already begun forming seals rapidly.
With the cry of a bird, Yagoromo used the Summoning Technique to summon Yatagarasu. The four of them jumped directly onto the bird's back, then sped toward the target.
Under Mirai's guidance, Yatagarasu soon caught up to the targets. From the sky, the four of them could already look down and see the two figures moving below.
"Move!"
Yagoromo's instruction came at the right moment. Then Haku and Kimimaro leapt down from Yatagarasu one after another.
This was a precision delivery. Paratroopers were born specifically to suddenly blast open the enemy's rear.
Secret Technique: A Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death!
Haku was the first to attack with his Ice Release secret technique. A large number of ice senbon rained down from a wide angle toward the two enemies below.
After noticing the attack, the two quickly dodged to either side. At this moment, Kimimaro, whose temperament was even colder, appeared beside one of them before the target could land, as though he had already calculated everything in advance.
He swung the heavy weapon behind him and opened with a big move.
Hiramekarei: Release!
A hammer of azure chakra converged and struck the target directly in the soft abdomen. Then the person flew out like a baseball hit by a bat swung with all one's strength.
Boom!
That body smashed through two large trees along the path, then, with a loud crash, was slapped against a rock wall. The person's head tilted, and he seemed to wither on the spot.
But in the sky, Yagoromo frowned.
Even if these two Akatsuki deadbeats were severely injured, they should not be so fragile, right?
The only possibility was that he seemed to have been fooled.
...
...
...
...
...
Chapter 323, Part 2: Tsukuyomi, Part 1
A White Zetsu individual once again appeared before Sasori and Deidara, who had changed direction and were now heading toward the Land of Rivers.
"I have good news and bad news for you. The good news is that the enemy was successfully lured away by me. The bad news is… my two clones were wiped out by the enemy squad in an instant, and that was before their absolute main force even made a move."
Even without taking Yagoromo's combat strength into account, in their current state, Sasori and Deidara would still have a hard time if they ran into Mirai and the other two.
"I believe the other side won't be fooled that easily. And if my disguise fails, the same strategy may not work on them a second time. So there is a very high chance that you will be caught again, and then… thoroughly killed."
The tone White Zetsu used when saying this sounded, no matter how one listened, like there was a hint of teasing and schadenfreude in it.
"Damn it. If only we were in perfect condition…" Deidara had already begun calculating whether he should release his ultimate technique here.
The Akatsuki were indeed very strong, but their biggest problem was the lack of medical-nin. Perhaps under normal circumstances, they felt that forming a party full of damage dealers to raid a tailed beast would not be an issue. But in the current situation with Yagoromo present, things were very different. The drawback of not having a medical-nin had now been completely exposed.
Objectively speaking, aside from Nagato and a certain person hiding in the dark, when Yagoromo faced the other members of the Akatsuki, he held an overwhelming advantage in strength. The chances of Akatsuki members escaping from his hands were extremely slim. Even if they could run, they would have to suffer heavy injuries. As for escaping unscathed…
The Railgun would not allow such a thing to happen.
However, White Zetsu's attitude aroused Sasori's suspicion. He had been thinking about this problem since just now.
"Who exactly is the enemy pursuing us? Since we can basically rule out the Kazekage personally taking action, I do not believe Sunagakure still has a shinobi strong enough to force us to flee in such a sorry state."
Although Sasori felt that White Zetsu would not make up such a fact just to mess with them, he really could not think of a suitable candidate in Sunagakure who was that strong, despite once being a Sunagakure shinobi himself.
"It isn't a Sunagakure shinobi. The pursuers are a four-person squad from Konoha. You may not have seen the leading shinobi, but you have definitely heard his name. He should count as the most intimidating shinobi alive right now…"
"White Yaksha!"
Before White Zetsu could finish, Sasori himself said the name.
Sasori had naturally heard the name White Yaksha, but for a moment, he had not connected it with the brat he had chased and slashed across eight streets back then. Although the other party blowing up Hiruko and forcing him out of his shell had left an extremely deep impression.
The reversal in strength between himself and a brat was a blind spot in the thinking of certain powerful people. After all, across the entire shinobi world, the name White Yaksha was far more famous than Sasori of the Red Sand. The former represented one of the strongest active shinobi of the present era, while the latter, due to years of hiding, had gradually faded out of the most prominent ranks.
In terms of the most convincing factor—strength—there was now no real comparison between Sasori and Yagoromo.
Just compare their invasions of great shinobi villages and the similar missions they carried out. Several years ago, the half-crippled White Yaksha had been able to infiltrate Kumogakure alone, successfully kill the Eight-Tails, and leave without adding even a single wound to his body. Now look at these two brothers. Their situation was rather different. They entered perfectly intact, then came out half-crippled… Of course, this was also related to the trap Yagoromo had planted, but that was exactly how the gap was displayed.
In short, if he were in a full-health state, Sasori would still have thoughts of facing the White Yaksha once and seeing whether the other party truly possessed such strength or merely had an empty reputation.
But in his current half-crippled state, Sasori had no such thoughts. This had nothing to do with whether or not he feared death. The question was, when one could avoid dying, why rush to throw one's life away?
In this urgent situation, White Zetsu was actually still joking.
"Just kidding. Although the White Yaksha really is chasing you, relax. The organization has already sent someone to receive you two. After that, the powerful enemy will be handed over to him."
Still, what White Zetsu had said earlier was not wrong. The battle on Yagoromo's side had indeed ended in an instant.
White Zetsu could absorb another person's chakra to perform a complete mimicry transformation. This kind of transformation could basically be considered flawless, especially when used at long range against sensor-nin like Mirai, who identified targets by chakra… So being fooled could not be called her fault.
The "Deidara" Kimimaro killed might still have left some uncertainty as to whether he was a disguised impostor, but the flaws on the remaining "Sasori of the Red Sand" were so obvious they could not have been any more obvious. Even if White Zetsu could use chakra to perfectly imitate his external appearance, he could do nothing about Sasori's puppet-modified body.
After her two teammates leapt down from the sky, Mirai also acted decisively. Her attack method carried a certain similarity to Yagoromo's… For example, when descending from the sky, both of them liked to take something and smash it down onto the enemy's head.
So for this, she likewise used the Summoning Technique.
The correct name of this technique was Summoning: Food Cart Destroyer Technique, Shikkotsu Forest Version 2.0. At the cost of a portion of chakra, Mirai summoned a summoned beast at the level of Ginkudaki: Wan-chan!
Then the "Sasori of the Red Sand," who had dodged Haku's senbon attack, was slapped into the ground by one paw.
Only after these three young shinobi finished their work did Yagoromo finally "arrive late" and land on the ground.
"Something's not right, Yagoromo. The enemies weren't anywhere near as strong as you said."
Judging from the situation at the scene and the exchange just now, even Mirai, a complete rookie, had noticed the problem. After all, according to Yagoromo, shinobi wearing this sort of eye-catching chūnibyō uniform should all possess fairly formidable strength. No matter what, they should not have been instantly killed by three newcomers like them, right?
The White Zetsu who had just been killed still maintained the appearances of Sasori and Deidara. Yagoromo did not answer Mirai's question. He walked directly to the "Sasori" pinned beneath the split dog's paw.
Then Yagoromo drew the long blade from his back and directly cut off one of the other party's arms.
But in the cross-section of the wound, there were neither precise mechanical devices nor blood flowing out. In other words, this thing was neither a puppet nor a human…
At this point, Yagoromo had already confirmed that his side had completely been fooled.
"We were tricked. These two are probably nothing more than two White Zetsu individuals."
As Yagoromo's words fell, the two enemies' corpses also began to change accordingly. Very soon, they returned to White Zetsu's original appearance.
At this moment, the gap in experience began to show. Mirai looked at Yagoromo with a dazed and innocent expression. Under the premise that they had chased for half a day only to pursue two knockoffs, she no longer knew what to do next.
"It's fine. We'll go back to our previous starting point and begin scouting again… Since the enemy used this sort of trick to mislead us, that in fact proves our earlier pursuit direction was completely correct," Yagoromo said.
To him, making a small mistake truly did not matter. At worst, they would just fly back the same way they had flown here.
In any case, as far as Yagoromo was concerned, it was not as though you could deceive me and I would truly smile and let it pass.
Yagoromo's decision could not be called slow, and there was no need to say anything about their mobility. The time wasted would likely be caught up to very quickly. Slightly before this, however, the Akatsuki had already decided to send a new team of shinobi to receive Sasori and Deidara.
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