Naruto: From Extra to Savior

Facing Ko Hyuga's sudden charge, Deidara, already in complete disarray, had no time to react before being struck by the Gentle Fist. He was burned badly all over, his face was bruised and swollen, and his jaw was dislocated—he could barely speak. His once showy and arrogant braid now hung in a messy tangle, a pitiful sight.

Struck repeatedly again by Ko Hyuga's Gentle Fist techniques, Deidara's chakra circulation immediately faltered, losing its former fluency.

[Eight Trigrams—Sixty-Four Palms.] In such a short time, he'd used up way more chakra than in a normal battle, and even Ko Hyuga was starting to feel the strain. Coordinating with Mizuki to break through the Explosive Clay encirclement had been an above-average performance, yet now he could only grit his teeth and keep pushing forward.

As Ko Hyuga delivered his final palm strike to Deidara's chest, the latter flew backward helplessly and collapsed onto the ground, crying out in pain.

Watching this unfold nearby, Mizuki stood there stunned.

"So easily defeated? No way?"

Originally, Mizuki had believed the Leaf held a significant advantage. He'd risked everything hoping to tip the scales, yet never expected he'd overestimated Deidara's strength at this point so much.

"A three-year gap between sixteen and nineteen makes that big of a difference? Tactical knowledge and experience don't match his strength at all. Just moments ago, things seemed fine—he was actually fighting well—but once panic set in, his weakness showed."

Just how much can change in three years? Uchiha Sasuke transformed from someone Mizuki could bully into someone capable of turning against Orochimaru. Naruto Uzumaki evolved from stamina-impaired nobody to an excellent ninja. Gaara matured from a lonely, isolated child into Kazekage. And unexpectedly, even a nearly-adult warrior like Deidara could have such blunders. Admittedly, his raw power wasn't bad, but overall strength clearly failed to live up to his reputation. At this level, forget about infiltrating Sunagakure alone to kidnap Kazekage—his appallingly weak combat experience made even Mizuki cringe. Though it was Mizuki who initially stunned Deidara that led to this situation, if Deidara had been truly flawless, would he have ended up like this?

"Karma's a bitch. If we really kill Deidara, then so be it—it's not like the changes Mizuki has caused are unique anymore."

Earlier, Hiashi Hyuga, gaining support from Gaara, experienced greatly reduced pressure from the overwhelming wave of hidden traps coming his way. Gaara's Sand Shield truly lived up to its reputation as the ultimate defense against wide-area attacks. Without breaking the defense, any attack that couldn't penetrate simply failed to make an impact—trying to overwhelm quantity over quality just didn't work against Gaara.

Witnessing this situation, even the notoriously impatient Red Sand of the Desert started losing his temper. Deidara's piercing scream earlier had already pissed him off. Now, after a long silence where he hadn't heard Deidara's signature explosive attacks, these unpleasant cries reached his ears instead.

"What exactly is Deidara messing around with?"

"From Red Sand of the Desert's perspective, among the five people facing Deidara, only Kurenai Yuhi seemed halfway decent. But what could a mere genjutsu specialist possibly accomplish against Deidara? The only real threat, aside from that, was Gaara, the jinchuriki of the One-Tail Shukaku. What use was someone who couldn't even control the tailed beast inside him when faced with powerhouses like Red Sand of the Desert and Deidara? And someone who couldn't even achieve [Half-Tailed Transformation] wasn't even worth noting. Let Deidara take to the skies and bombard them with explosive clay — even if it took time to wear them down, victory would still be guaranteed. It was completely unexpected that things would reach this point with Deidara looking like he was getting seriously beaten.

As a genius puppet master who dedicated his life to the pursuit of eternal beauty, Sasori's greatest regret was that no one had yet become his puppet. For this reason, he abandoned both his human body and spirit without hesitation, retaining only the reincarnation core that provided Chakra. With only his core desires left, Red Sand of the Desert didn't care much about Deidara or anyone else — not even Akatsuki itself. Most members of Akatsuki were similar in this regard — if anyone could truly be said to have followed Nagato's dream of saving the world, it would only be the founders Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato himself. Maybe also Obito and Madara Uchiha. As for others like Red Sand of the Desert himself, aside from being convinced by Nagato's absolute strength, they simply didn't care much about this world — whether it perished or was saved made little difference, as long as they could do what they wanted. Even his previous partnership with Orochimaru, and later teaming up with Itachi Uchiha before finding his current partner Deidara, were merely means to an end.

'Well, I suppose he is somewhat of an interesting partner. Though we have our differences, at least he appreciates the art of eternal beauty. Should I go check on him?'

Although Deidara's death wouldn't significantly affect matters — Red Sand of the Desert alone still had great confidence in completing Nagato's assigned mission — for the sake of this one tolerable kid, Red Sand of the Desert decided to help Deidara out. Having him around would certainly save quite a bit of trouble.

Decided, Red Sand of the Desert unleashed the terrifying might of Hiruko. He ignored the attacks from Gaara and Hiashi Hyuga alike, effortlessly deflecting each assault with his steel-spiked, Poison-laced tail.

'Huh? Why would Red Sand come help Deidara?' Mizuki, the first to notice the shift in battle conditions, was instantly confused by Red Sand's actions. 'It's not at all like what we'd expect from an Akatsuki member.'

Every official member of Akatsuki was a powerful, proud rogue ninja. Except for a few exceptions, nearly all were rogue ninjas. Expecting camaraderie from such conceited individuals was nothing short of absurd. Perhaps Konan and Nagato shared some personal connection, and perhaps Hoshigaki Kisame and Uchiha Itachi maintained relative harmony due to similar experiences, but most other two-man teams were lucky to avoid internal conflicts at all."

Even worse, there were plenty of ill-intentioned people among them.

Changing direction, Red Sand of the Desert charged forward like a bulldozer or heavy tank—completely unstoppable. Soon enough, he reached the battered Deidara's side. His metal tail swung wildly like a massive curtain, blocking every incoming attack from outside its range.

"What, are you trying to laugh me to death, Deidara? There's a limit to how much joking you can do..." The shocking sight of Deidara's pitiful condition was almost unbelievable. Except for Mizuki, others probably didn't realize that Deidara had been overwhelmed before even fully demonstrating his strength. That's exactly why Red Sand of the Desert found it so unbelievable that Deidara could now be in such a helpless state without any ability to fight back.

As a Puppet Master, he naturally had deep knowledge of human anatomy. After just a quick check, Red Sand of the Desert understood Deidara wasn't in any life-threatening condition. Although his burns looked serious externally, they were just flesh wounds after all. With a quick snap, he realigned Deidara's broken jaw—painful, but it wouldn't stop him from talking. As for the blast shock injuries, they weren't urgent—they could be dealt with later. The real problem might be the damage caused by Gentle Fist techniques, which temporarily blocked Deidara's chakra flow and greatly weakened his combat effectiveness—injuries difficult to recover from naturally.

"Aniki Sasori, thanks," Deidara said, rubbing his sore jaw and face painfully while grimacing. "Man, I really got screwed this time—I never expected to get caught off guard like that." Before he could mutter even a few threatening words, his opponent had already gone all out to kill him—it must either be an enemy with deep hatred or someone who clearly understood the necessity of doing so immediately...

"Looks like our intel's been leaked. Just a small flaw, not particularly significant, yet we've been targeted relentlessly, nearly getting us killed. So damn frustrating..."

Deidara wasn't some dumbass. Once stabilized, he quickly figured out Mizuki's tactics, intentions, and the underlying issues within them.

"Huh? Something like that happened?" Though he asked like this, Deidara himself didn't care too much. "It's just your guess anyway. Even if intel did leak, let the leader deal with it. In the end, I'll handle things myself. Your next mission will be your responsibility."

"Alright then, Aniki Sasori. Don't worry, I won't be so careless next time."

Seeing Deidara and Sasori regrouping, Mizuki was really pissed off about Kurenai Yuhi missing such a golden chance.

"If you're gonna kill someone, just finish the job. She nailed the genjutsu perfectly—why not finish him off right there? Instead, she thought about capturing him alive. Then Sasori came and saved him back. If this drags on too long and Deidara recovers even a bit of his strength, you'll have plenty to regret."

Regarding Kurenai's handling of the situation, a big part of the blame was on Mizuki for not explaining things clearly. But then again, what difference would explanation make? Could he really go around telling everyone that Deidara had the power to single-handedly turn the tide of battle? Who'd believe that? Moreover, as a Chunin himself, Mizuki only took charge of tactical planning precisely because Kurenai wasn't skilled at direct confrontation—Mizuki needed to serve as the sharp spearhead for breakthroughs in the first place. How could anyone reasonably ask a Chunin like him to command a Jonin like Kurenai?

The current situation was clear — four or five against two, and soon possibly six against two. The key was whether they could drive away Red Sand of the Desert before Deidara recovered some battle power.

"My body isn't fully healed yet, but I can manage to move," thought Water. "I can't join the fight just yet. I won't get many chances to crack that puppet's shell. Sasori won't give me a second chance like Deidara did."

At a moment when his strength was needed most, being unable to perform at full capacity was extremely frustrating. Thinking for a moment, Mizuki took out an Omnipotence Pill, injected half of it into himself, and silently waited for the potion to take effect.

"You've used life-saving pills too?" Hiashi Hyuga, who had just arrived, saw Mizuki's action. "You're seriously injured? Doesn't Medical Ninjutsu work anymore?"

"It's not that serious, Lord Hiashi," Mizuki replied. "I just need to temporarily restore my battle power. That Puppet Master is too difficult to handle. Leave the countermeasure for breaking defenses to me..."

"Do you have a plan? Is it reliable?"

"Not certain, but there's a good chance of success," Mizuki answered.

"If that's the case, we can give it a try."

Ninja battles don't wait for perfect timing — if you hold off until everything's perfect, you'll never act at all. In a stalemate situation, even a 50% chance is worth trying.

"What do you need us to do?" Hiashi asked. He had just suffered greatly from Hiruko and felt that eliminating it was worth paying a price.

"I need close combat support. Ideally, control those powerful tails first. With their interference, I can't break through the puppet's armor," Mizuki requested without hesitation. If he couldn't even achieve this, what was the point of him going forward? Charging in headfirst would just be suicide — better to flee while he still could.

"I see," after hearing Mizuki's request, Hiashi involuntarily turned his gaze toward Gaara.

"Should we place our hopes on Suna?" Hiashi couldn't help but say with some headache. Though peace talks were underway, nothing had been finalized yet.

"Now isn't the time to discuss that. Ultimately, we're also fighting to protect Suna's Jinchuriki. If they won't even lift a finger, how can we be expected to risk our necks for them?" If Gaara got captured, Konoha would face big problems. Losing a strategic weapon of another village under Konoha's protection would be hard to explain clearly. Who would believe it wasn't Konoha who took Suna's Jinchuriki? Hadn't the Third Great War started precisely because Suna suspected Konoha of taking the Third Kazekage?

But all things considered, as long as they could keep fighting, they would continue. If things really went beyond control, Mizuki wasn't willing to die protecting Gaara. At this point, Mizuki felt he had done all he could without any regrets. It wasn't that he wasn't trying hard enough — the enemy was simply too strong.

"Then fine."

He still agreed. "The three of us — Gaara, you, and I — will launch a direct assault on the Puppet Master. The others should prepare for that blond boy and back us up from a distance. We have to pull this off in one go."

Just before Gaara came to help, they had been dodging a storm of poisonous needles, using the Rotation technique multiple times. At that moment, Hiashi wasn't sure if he'd make it another second — but somehow he barely made it through alive. Now Ko had no intention of going through that helpless feeling of being constantly on the defensive again.

"Get ready — we need to act fast," Mizuki turned to Gaara. "Still hanging in there?"

The battle could still be long ahead; it was far from time to relax yet.

"I'm fine..." Gaara answered. "I still have plenty of chakra left."

Hearing Gaara's words, Hiashi and Mizuki both felt relieved.

『Figures. Jinchuriki really are monsters when it comes to chakra reserves. I've never once seen one run low on chakra. Just incredible powerhouses...』

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