Chapter 71 (Patreon)

“Which one of you is Nerona Mihawk?”

Deidara sat casually atop Gaara’s lifeless body as he looked over the seven shinobi standing before him.

His gaze first settled on Naruto Uzumaki’s crimson, slit-like pupils before shifting toward the silver-haired boy with a sword at his waist.

A faint grin spread across his face.

“So it’s you, huh? The silver-haired brat.”

The instant those words left his mouth, Mihawk vanished from Deidara’s sight.

There had been no hand seals and no trace of the Body Flicker Technique.

He had simply appeared directly in front of him.

“Wha—?”

A brilliant silver-white sword light flashed through the darkness of the cave, sweeping across Deidara’s waist in a single clean arc.

“So fast…”

Deidara’s eyes widened as he let out the same startled exclamation Itachi and Kisame had once made.

His body was severed in two.

However, instead of blood, the bisected figure collapsed into a mass of white clay.

Deidara reappeared near the entrance of the cave with Gaara’s body tucked beneath one arm. His expression had become noticeably more serious as he stared at Mihawk.

“Sasori-danna, be careful! That brat’s fast, and his swordsmanship is dangerous. His killing intent isn’t normal either, hm.”

“You don’t need to warn me,” Sasori replied coldly. “Worry about yourself first, brat.”

Deidara raised a hand and crooked his finger toward Naruto with a provocative smile.

“Hey, Nine-Tails. You want this guy’s body back?”

His grin widened.

“Then come and get it.”

With those words, Deidara rushed out of the cave.

He casually tossed a small clay bird into the air and formed a hand seal with his index and middle fingers.

With a burst of white smoke, the tiny model expanded into a massive white bird.

Deidara leapt onto its back, and the clay bird immediately carried him into the distance.

The moment Naruto saw him escaping with Gaara’s body, the chakra of the Nine-Tails surged violently around him.

“You bastard! Give Gaara back!”

“Naruto!”

Kakashi followed after him with a worried expression.

The warning Jiraiya had given him after returning from Naruto’s training immediately echoed through his mind.

He had to stay close.

In Naruto’s current emotional state, he could lose control of the Nine-Tails’ chakra at any moment.

Seeing both her teacher and teammate rush out of the cave, Sakura hesitated, momentarily unsure of what she should do.

Mihawk spoke before she could make a decision.

“Hinata, Shino, Sakura—you three go after them and provide support.”

His hand rested against the hilt of the sword at his waist.

“Leave this one to me.”

“And me,” Chiyo added.

Her gaze had remained fixed on Sasori from the moment they entered the cave.

“I’ll stay. I want to see what has become of my grandson.”

“All right.”

Mihawk’s words immediately dispelled Sakura’s hesitation.

With Hinata Hyūga and Shino Aburame beside her, she rushed out of the cave after Kakashi and Naruto.

Soon, only Mihawk, Chiyo, and Sasori remained within the dimly lit cavern.

Mihawk placed his right hand firmly around the hilt of his sword.

He glanced at Chiyo before deliberately asking, “Lady Chiyo, you said that man is your grandson, correct?”

“Yes,” Chiyo replied with a small nod.

“Before we left Konoha, the Fifth Hokage informed us about an organization composed entirely of S-rank rogue shinobi.”

Mihawk slowly drew his sword and pointed its blade toward Sasori.

“He is a missing-nin, a member of that organization, and one of the people responsible for murdering the Fifth Kazekage of Sunagakure, an allied village of Konoha.”

His eyes narrowed.

“In that case, you won’t blame me if I kill him here, will you?”

Chiyo understood that Mihawk was deliberately warning her before the battle began.

Her expression remained unreadable.

“Do as you wish. But Sasori is not nearly as weak as you seem to think.”

“Kill me?”

Sasori’s cold voice came from within Hiruko.

His bloodshot eyes stared at Mihawk and Chiyo with undisguised killing intent.

“How interesting.”

A chilling edge entered his voice.

“My collection is still missing two exceptional puppets. The bodies of the two of you would make fine additions to my eternal art.”

Before he could finish speaking, Mihawk disappeared.

This was not the Body Flicker Technique.

The sharp sound of displaced air echoed through the cavern as Mihawk vanished without leaving even the slightest trace of chakra behind.

A shadow suddenly fell across Hiruko.

At the same moment, brilliant silver-white sword light erupted through the darkness like daylight tearing apart a black curtain.

“So fast—!”

Sasori reacted immediately.

The segmented iron tail extending from Hiruko’s back shot forward and collided with Mihawk’s descending blade.

His response perfectly demonstrated the countless battles Sasori had experienced throughout his life.

Had this been Mihawk from three years ago, that sudden counterattack might have disrupted the rhythm of his sword.

Now, however, it changed nothing.

The moment the blade collided with the iron tail, the sound of metal being cleanly severed rang through the cave.

Clang!

The long scorpion-like tail spun through the air before crashing onto the ground.

The instant the tail was cut away, Hiruko’s mouth opened wide.

A dense storm of poisoned senbon erupted from within, spreading across the cave like a rain of arrows and enveloping Mihawk from every direction.

However, Mihawk had already foreseen Sasori’s movements.

The moment Hiruko’s mouth began to open, Mihawk used soru and disappeared once again.

He reappeared beside Chiyo, several meters away from Sasori.

Mihawk raised his sword high above his head.

A layer of black Armament Haki flowed across the blade, transforming it into a pitch-black sword.

He swung downward with tremendous force.

Boom!

A massive Ranged Slash, five or six meters high, tore through the ground as it surged forward.

It was not merely a blade of compressed air.

The terrifying force contained within it distorted the surrounding currents and crushed the incoming storm of poisoned senbon before continuing toward Sasori without losing momentum.

Sasori’s expression darkened as he watched the enormous slash rushing toward him.

“What a troublesome brat.”

Kisame’s earlier warning surfaced in his mind.

So this was the mysterious S-rank slash he had spoken of.

And Mihawk could unleash something of this scale with nothing more than an ordinary swing of his sword.

Puppeteers were among the most dangerous shinobi in existence.

Their puppets contained countless hidden mechanisms, traps, and weapons, while nearly every attack was coated in deadly poison.

The strength of a skilled puppeteer could not be judged by chakra reserves alone.

For them, defeating an opponent who appeared stronger was hardly unusual.

Many shinobi who faced a puppeteer never even realized how they had been killed.

However, puppetry also possessed a clear weakness.

Puppeteers were generally unsuited for close combat.

Against a powerful taijutsu specialist or an exceptional kenjutsu user, they did not possess the overwhelming advantage they held against ordinary shinobi.

Instead, the situation was reversed.

The puppeteer had to constantly prevent the enemy from closing the distance while simultaneously protecting both their true body and their puppets.

For someone like Sasori, Nerona Mihawk was a natural enemy.

That was precisely why both Pain and Deidara had gone out of their way to warn the Red Sand Sasori about him.