Naruto: From Extra to Savior

Temari leaned on her giant folding fan and defiantly said, "We're not helpless wimps who can't fight. We won't slow you down..."

Gaara, his dark-rimmed eyes filled with resolve, spoke steadily, "Since this is about me, I have no intention of standing aside..."

Mizuki glanced at Hiashi Hyuga, who had already rushed forward to engage Red Sand of the Desert in battle, then turned to the two Suna ninja and said, "Do as you wish, but be careful. Maintain formation and don't advance recklessly. The enemy is temporarily beyond your capability level. Just follow behind and act when the opportunity presents itself."

It goes without saying that even Mizuki himself was barely up to the task, let alone Temari and Gaara. If it weren't for various minor techniques boosting his strength, Mizuki wouldn't stand a chance.

Alright, fine, leave Red Sand of the Desert to Hiashi for now. Deidara was a tough match for Kurenai Yuhi and Mizuki. With tools that protected him from genjutsu, Kurenai and Mizuki had almost no way to land a real hit on Deidara. In contrast, ninja like Gaara and Temari who possessed large-area offensive-defensive combined techniques were more suited to handling Deidara.

[Sickle Weasel Technique]. During the preliminary matches of the Chunin Exams a month prior, this technique had left Tenten completely helpless, forcing her into retreat. This clearly demonstrated its immense power. Even in the original storyline, using Summoning Technique - Cutting Dance to directly knock down Tayuya. While there was also the element of type advantage, plus the fact that Tayuya had already fought Shikamaru Nara beforehand, the tremendous destructive power had been evident. As long as Temari had enough chakra, she could use her giant fan to amplify her Wind Release techniques, making it nearly impossible for Deidara's small Explosive Clays to overwhelm her through numbers alone. Moreover, Temari was a meticulous person. Though she couldn't compare with Shikamaru Nara, she was still considered an intelligent ninja skilled at carefully planning tactics. She rarely made tactical errors.

As for Gaara, he should be the most suitable match against ninja types like Deidara. Even in the original storyline, where Gaara became Kazekage three years later and still lost to Deidara, this absolutely didn't prove Gaara couldn't beat Deidara. Perhaps Deidara did have unfavorable circumstances fighting away from home, but one must understand, their entire battlefield took place in the sky. Even within the enemy's main base, most sand attacks couldn't reach Deidara flying high above. Thus Gaara lost almost all of his home-field advantages and might even find himself restricted. As the Kazekage, leader of Sunagakure, protecting the villagers in critical moments was Gaara's duty. For Deidara, this became exactly exploitable. As long as Deidara targeted attacks at the village below, Gaara would have no choice but to take every strike head-on. Even with Gaara's massive chakra reserves as a jinchuriki, he couldn't keep defending forever. For someone as ruthless as Deidara, who thought nothing of destroying entire villages, how much consideration would he give to the villagers' lives beneath him—lives equivalent to human shields?

As expected, really. Gaara held back, worried about causing collateral damage and unable to move freely, eventually exposed an opening under Deidara's relentless attacks—and ended up crushed.

This time around, the Deidara Mizuki faced had already surpassed what an average ninja could handle, though he hadn't yet reached the absurd level from three years later.

With Gaara's sand assistance, things actually looked better for the battle. Earth Attribute techniques stood out among [defensive ninjutsu] for their density and solidity. Especially in Gaara's case—his sand shield contained vast amounts of chakra and could be manipulated freely—it was practically the ultimate countermeasure against explosive techniques. You'd think the flashier the explosion, the stronger it is—but actually, the opposite is true. Most of an external shockwave's force gets wasted. That's exactly why modern warfare leans so hard on building bomb shelters and bunkers—they work way too well. Conversely, the real devastation comes from [internal explosions]. When explosives penetrate a target before detonating, almost all their force hits home—even if you don't see much flash. Wasn't that exactly what happened during the fight between Deidara and Gaara? Deidara struggled endlessly against Gaara's heavily defended form, completely helpless until finally resorting to a clever strategy—blasting him from within to secure victory. This time, with plenty of help available to Gaara, he might actually play a significant role.

["Two people? That's seriously not enough. If only we had future Temari and Gaara here, we wouldn't have to sweat this…"]

Ignoring Mizuki's grumbling thoughts, Ko Hyuga suddenly launched an attack straight at Deidara.

"Let me take the lead instead," Mizuki volunteered as the vanguard. Deidara's Explosive Clay worked by infusing it with chakra, controlling when the clay exploded. That's exactly why Sasuke Uchiha's [Chidori Current] was effective against Deidara—it disrupted the chakra embedded in the Explosive Clay, rendering it useless. By that logic then, [Gentle Fist]—a [taijutsu] style focused on disrupting chakra flow—should also give [Deidara] trouble. However, theory is one thing; actual practice is another matter entirely. [Chidori Current] was a [Lightning Attribute] jutsu capable of both close and mid-range combat, convenient to control and extremely fast—perfectly suited for dealing with Deidara. [Gentle Fist], though, was completely different. Forget about mastering the perfect attack rhythm and making zero mistakes, hitting every time—what if Deidara detonated his Explosive Clay remotely before any contact occurred? What good would Gentle Fist do then? Would they have to rely on [Rotation Technique] every time as their last line of defense? At that rate, no amount of chakra reserves would hold up. Thus, it was better to let Mizuki—who had broader capabilities—take frontline tanking duties.

["Why is it always me when things go sideways? We've got no tank, no bulldozer—just me again. Can't keep pulling this off forever. Those life-saving pills aren't magic, and I ain't immortal either…"]

After nearly dying in the Land of Waves incident, it took almost two months to recover fully. Who knew how things would turn out this time? Hopefully, not as bad as last time.

Certainly, Gaara was actually more suitable as a tank than Mizuki, but Gaara's mobility was too poor. Three years ago, even Gaara had been outmaneuvered by Deidara thanks to his speed—and now, Gaara wasn't even as strong as he'd been then. Placing him upfront would make him nothing more than a living target doomed to be worn down.

"I can't count on anyone else… Gotta do this myself..."

Mizuki took out two Fuma Shuriken, one in each hand, and said, "I'll lead the charge this time. Hyūga Ko, you follow behind me. Close-range Explosive Clay will be your responsibility, no problem, right?"

"Of course…" Hyūga Ko nodded.

"As for Gaara, you handle large-scale Explosive Clay. Sand is much more effective than blades..."

Gaara gave a silent nod, eyes expressionless.

"Temari, if we're overwhelmed, just go all-out, don't worry about distinguishing friend from foe."

"That's okay?" Temari asked doubtfully.

"I'm here." Surprisingly, Gaara spoke up this time. A wind blade was easier to block than an explosion.

"This must be why Gaara became the Kazekage while Temari remained only his sister. Even if her brainpower was equal, she still lacked a bit when it came to quick thinking and decisiveness..."

After assigning everyone's roles, Mizuki turned toward Kurenai Yuhi. "Is everything arranged properly?"

"Fine." Kurenai nodded.

Normally, without Hiashi Hyuga present, Yuhi Kurenai—the highest-ranked ninja among them—should have taken command. However, coordinating among people who had never worked together before wasn't easy. With completely different fighting styles and no prior coordination, teamwork was unrealistic. They could only organize themselves into an ad-hoc squad.

Seeing that Kurenai didn't object, Mizuki breathed a sigh of relief. Fully aware of their disadvantage, he feared most that Kurenai might overestimate her Genjutsu and become careless, leading to disaster. After all, opposite them, Deidara looked so young, not at all like someone they needed to carefully counter with five versus one. Better let Mizuki take the initiative first, establish an advantageous position, and then see. If Deidara seized the initiative first, things would get dangerous.

"If that's settled, you act according to circumstances. We'll move ahead first..."

Then Mizuki turned to those beside him and called out with a grin, "Get ready~" He waved both Fuma Shurikens in his hands.

"Why does a technique guy like me always end up doing grunt work? So unfair! Next mission, I'm getting a real tank—how else am I supposed to show off my full power?"

Aiming directly at Deidara, Mizuki shouted loudly: "Advance!"

Chakra exploded under Mizuki's feet, sending him rocketing toward Deidara like a bolt from a crossbow. Behind him, the taijutsu-excellent Hyūga Ko followed steadily, barely keeping pace, while Gaara struggled hard to keep up. Though falling far behind physically, his sand kept moving alongside. As for Temari, she didn't even need to keep up—as long as her Ninjutsu hit at the right moment.

Opposite them, Deidara took this moment to prepare plenty of Explosive Clay. Seeing the group charging forward, he unhesitatingly hurled the Explosive Clay toward them. A dense swarm of Miniature Flying Bombs flew straight at Mizuki's team.

"Watch out—there's more to this than it seems~" Mizuki, leading the charge at the front, immediately spotted the Twin-Winged Bird and Grasshopper hidden beneath the Miniature Flying Bomb. It was clearly a trap set by Deidara to eliminate Mizuki and Ko Hyuga in one fell swoop.

"So he's going with the faster Twin-Winged Bird and the more nimble Grasshopper? Not bad for a counter, but without intel on us, your little toys won't cut it! Think you can take us down with such childish tricks? Let me show you what happens when you underestimate your enemy..."

"Temari!" Mizuki shouted.

"Got it~" Temari responded knowingly as she began channeling chakra. "[Wind Release – Great Sickle-Weasel Technique!]"

With a sweep of her giant fan, massive gusts of wind laced with countless wind blades surged forward, engulfing the battlefield. Explosive Clay scattered throughout the area detonated upon contact with the slicing winds, creating a thick smoke screen that obscured both sides' vision.

"Gaara, use sand to clear our path—keep moving forward, don't slow down~" Mizuki quickly issued his command.

A successful charge meant hitting fast and hard—hesitation was death. Against Deidara, failing to establish an early advantage and letting the fight drag into a war of attrition would bring too many unknown variables. Let's face it—aside from himself, nobody here really knew what they were up against when it came to Sasori and Deidara. Their team was a mismatched group, not built like a standard combat squad. Not even Konoha had assigned a dedicated offensive specialist for frontal assaults, forcing Mizuki to step up. Among the four Leaf ninja, none specialized in offensive ninjutsu. Originally, this was just supposed to be a routine mission according to Konoha's plans—they hadn't expected to end up in a situation requiring so many ninjutsu users and taijutsu specialists for direct confrontation. In the end, they had to rely on two Suna Genin for support.

Though Gaara wasn't entirely sure about Mizuki's plan, he followed the strategy. He formed hand seals and gathered a large amount of chakra. A wave of sand erupted upward and swept through the smoky area ahead of Mizuki. Right after, Mizuki charged into the smoke with Ko Hyuga right behind him.

"Accelerate—push through fast," Mizuki urged urgently. "Don't worry about anything else—just focus on blocking any stragglers coming from behind or the flanks."

Inside the dense smoke, where visibility was nearly gone, no one noticed a faintly glowing, mirror-like barrier forming just in front of Mizuki—a translucent shield radiating a pale blue glow.

[Chakra Shield] — first time using this in real combat. If Sakura could use it to protect her whole body from Dosu's sound wave attacks, then focusing only on the critical front areas should allow me to withstand some of the explosions from the Miniature Flying Bombs and Grasshoppers. With better chakra control and larger reserves than Sakura, I should manage adequately.

Still, a Chakra Shield drained serious energy—especially one focused and reinforced like this.

At the very front, holding up the Chakra Shield, Mizuki gradually felt the pressure mount as several Twin-Winged Birds and Miniature Flying Bombs exploded ahead, slowing his advance just slightly.

Suddenly, a grasshopper on the right broke through the defense and exploded before even reaching me.

[Damn it. He must've sensed the danger and is trying to slow me down like this? Such terrifying combat experience and instinct for someone so young.]

Mizuki now fully realized—Deidara was on another level compared to Suigetsu Hozuki. Not just stronger, but far more gifted in battle.

"Still holding up?" Mizuki asked Ko Hyuga.

Panting heavily, Ko Hyuga replied, "I'm fine. You, though… looks like you took a hit."

The earlier surge had forced Ko Hyuga to go all out with Gentle Fist, taking down multiple Explosive Clay bombs. But something went wrong—Mizuki on the front line ended up caught in the explosion.

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