Edge of the forest.
A group of Hidden Rock Ninjas were bound by vines, unable to move.
Among them were the Five-tailed Jinchuriki Han and Deidara, and this Deidara kept clamoring about perishing together with Akihara Kagura with his art sooner or later.
Thankfully.
The people from the Hidden Rock Village arrived quickly.
The Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, brought a squad of the Anbu and personally escorted Kakashi Hatake over, and he saw his embarrassing disciple who was still ranting.
"Shut up, Deidara!"
The Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, sternly reprimanded, looking up to lecture, "If your skills are inferior, don't spout off here!"
"..."
Deidara's momentum stalled, his face turned uglier, and he grumbled carelessly at the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki: "I got it, old geezer!"
"This brat!"
The Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, muttered angrily.
"Alright, let's exchange hostages now."
Akihara Kagura's Wood Clone looked towards his supervisor, loudly asking, "Captain Kakashi, you're not hurt, are you?"
"…No."
Kakashi Hatake's expression was peculiar, his gaze puzzled as he looked over.
If it weren't for this kid coming to rescue him, not only would he not have been injured, he wouldn't even have been captured by the Hidden Rock Village.
"Did they interrogate you?"
Akihara Kagura's Wood Clone looked at Kakashi Hatake, continuing, "Did they attempt to extract any information from you?"
"Kid!"
The Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, spoke angrily, "Don't underestimate the honor of the Hidden Rock Village! We keep our promises as steadfast as the stones of the Hidden Rock Village!"
"The rocks of the Hidden Rock Village shatter upon a single smash…"
Akihara Kagura's Wood Clone's words made Onoki's forehead throb!
"Forget it, let's exchange the hostages first."
Akihara Kagura's Wood Clone slowly raised his fingers, the vines at the Hidden Rock Ninjas' feet gradually loosened, allowing them to walk to the other side on their own.
The Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, didn't seem to make a fuss and allowed Kakashi Hatake to return; the Tsuchikage was more concerned about the safety of his Hidden Rock Ninjas.
"Train hard from now on."
The Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, coldly reprimanded Deidara, who came over looking somewhat dejected, "Don't always flaunt your clay…"
"So annoying!"
Deidara, slightly impatient, gave Onoki a glare and slowly stood by Onoki's side, looking disgruntled, seemingly unwilling to speak.
"Haven't you learned a lesson yet?"
The Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, was very dissatisfied with Deidara's attitude, and the elder immediately wanted to lecture again, "You won't catch up with others in Earth Release expertise if you don't train hard!"
After Onoki finished speaking, he had no intention of dealing with his bickering disciple anymore and turned his attention to Kakashi Hatake and Akihara Kagura.
"Kid."
Onoki's expression turned serious, speaking in a low tone: "Now that the hostage exchange is over, let's discuss your infiltration into the Land of Earth!"
The Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, slowly turned his shoulder: "Even though this old man is ailed, if someone comes knocking at our doorstep, we must stretch our muscles a bit…"
"Is this the credibility of the Hidden Rock Village?"
Akihara Kagura's Wood Clone sighed faintly, seemingly quite helpless: "I never intended to have any conflict with the Hidden Rock Village, I even expressed my goodwill as much as possible to avoid provoking a war between the two villages…"
Akihara Kagura's Wood Clone glanced at his supervisor, continuing, "At least in this hostage exchange, the value on both sides is completely unequal, do you think our Captain Kakashi is worth a Five-Tails Jinchuriki, a genius youth from the Hidden Rock Village, and a group of Hidden Rock Anbu?"
"..."
Standing beside, Kakashi Hatake's forehead twitched.
"..."
Onoki felt a bit guilty because, purely in terms of this hostage exchange's value, Konoha indeed suffered a loss.
How should I put this…
To make it seem reasonable to take action?
Luckily.
Deidara, behind the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, stepped forward.
"You, guy…"
Deidara stood beside Onoki, speaking impatiently: "Weren't we studying ninjutsu, and you suddenly appeared to ambush us?"
"Indeed."
The Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, slowly nodded, satisfied with a glance at his disciple, unexpectedly feeling Deidara's skill in speech was somewhat useful.
Even if Deidara didn't curse so harshly, he stated the facts; the other party's offenses against the Hidden Rock Village were numerous, while too few were pinned on them.
This battle was unavoidable!
For the future of the Hidden Rock Village, for the next generation who have yet to grow, they couldn't allow that Konoha kid to escape!
The Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, seized back the initiative, looking at Akihara Kagura's Wood Clone, sternly continuing: "We can't ignore your infiltration into the Land of Earth and the Hidden Rock Village, and even actively attacking our Hidden Rock Ninjas…"
"We didn't…"
Kakashi Hatake frowned, trying to step forward to mediate.
"Captain Kakashi, speaking more is useless."
Akihara Kagura's Wood Clone interrupted Kakashi Hatake, looking at the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, proactively challenging: "If you must act today, then there's no need for reasons anymore; we all know those reasons are just a cover for the Hidden Rock Village to provoke a fight…"
"This sharp-tongued little brat!"
The Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, heard the unpleasant words from the other side and swiftly clasped his hands together, actively inviting a battle, "You're right, the outcome of all conflicts in the Ninja World ultimately boils down to strength..."
"Sometimes, it can also be settled with schemes."
The wood clone of Akihara Kagura revealed a mysterious smile.
Just as the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, was somewhat curious, he suddenly saw an evil hand reaching out beside him, directly grabbing his neck and lifting the body of the short old man up!
"Deidara!"
The Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, was furious beyond words!
No one expected that the disciple who had just returned to the Third Tsuchikage's side would suddenly attack him at this moment!
"No, you're not Deidara!"
Onoki's mind immediately shifted gears. If someone said his disciple would attack him, it might be possible, but Deidara would do it openly with clay bombs, and would never sneak up on him in such a despicable way!
"Tsuchikage-sama has truly aged."
This Deidara's appearance slowly changed, revealing the true face of Akihara Kagura: "You can't even tell the real from the fake of your disciple..."
Compared to other Transformation Jutsu, the Transformation and Clone Jutsu of Wood Release Ninja are the hardest to see through.
Even the Third Tsuchikage couldn't tell from a distance that the Akihara Kagura speaking all along was just a wood clone!
Even Kakashi Hatake hadn't expected that Akihara Kagura would be bold enough to deceive everyone with a wood clone, and impersonate Deidara to ambush the Third Tsuchikage!
Even...
This guy was just stirring up conflict.
"Release the Tsuchikage-sama!"
"You bastard, you actually dare to hold Tsuchikage-sama hostage!"
"Everyone, you'd better not move."
Akihara Kagura glanced at the Hidden Rock Ninjas, faces full of shock and anger, and continued, "Otherwise, I can't guarantee the safety of the Tsuchikage's life."
Akihara Kagura held the Third Tsuchikage by the neck while a vine slowly wrapped around him, using the Wood Release Ninjutsu to gradually absorb the Third Tsuchikage's chakra, ensuring he could no longer resist.
"What a despicable brat..."
Onoki was tied up, yet the stubborn old man's mouth refused to stop, "Actually disguised as Deidara to sneak up on me..."
Onoki glared at Akihara Kagura, then asked about his disciple's safety, "What did you do to that brat Deidara?"
"That little guy was just too noisy."
Akihara Kagura couldn't help but scratch his ear when mentioning Deidara, "But, I've kept our agreed hostage exchange deal. I've locked him up first, and your people can rescue him after we leave."
"As for Tsuchikage-sama..."
Akihara Kagura grabbed the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, lifting him effortlessly like a small child, "Tsuchikage-sama will have to bear with coming with us."
"Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!"
Thick vines sprouted from the forest, attacking a group of recently freed Hidden Rock Ninjas and a squad of Hidden Rock Anbu, wrapping them up directly!
"Let's go!"
Akihara Kagura used Flying Thunder God Instant Body, bringing the Third Tsuchikage to Kakashi Hatake's side, where he saw his supervisor with a pale face, as if experiencing a great shock.
"You..."
Kakashi Hatake pressed his forehead, feeling his heart beating a bit fast, "Stop springing such surprises all of a sudden!"
"I don't want to either."
Akihara Kagura glanced at Kakashi Hatake, eyes resigned, "I've already asked the Five-tailed Jinchuriki. There's no information about Uchiha Obito..."
Akihara Kagura looked helplessly at Kakashi Hatake and then glanced at the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, beside him, "We can't just come here for nothing, right? After traveling so far to the Land of Earth, we have to take some local specialties back, don't we?"
"Local specialties..."
Kakashi Hatake found this phrasing odd, but seriously speaking, it wasn't wrong; the Third Tsuchikage was indeed the most valuable local specialty of the Land of Earth...
"You little brat..."
The Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, was so angry his forehead throbbed.
This Tsuchikage felt that in his long life, he'd never been so humiliated. A village leader getting kidnapped, even being considered a local specialty!
"Just kill me already!"
The Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, roared in madness!
This old man was nearly driven insane by Akihara Kagura!
If he was taken back to Konoha like this, he'd be mocked to death by Sarutobi Hiruzen, that old rival!
"We could also bring the corpse back."
Akihara Kagura frowned, seriously contemplating the feasibility of this: "The Dark Department and Root should both have methods to extract information from the dead, and there's no worry of Tsuchikage-sama resisting on the way back..."
"..."
The Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, became even more anxious!
As the longest-serving leader of The Hidden Rock Village, Onoki himself didn't know how many village secrets he held. If Konoha extracted this information, who knows what future damage it might cause The Hidden Rock Village!
"Hey, hey, hey, don't act recklessly..."
Kakashi Hatake quickly stopped the eager Akihara Kagura, "The Third Tsuchikage-sama is not an ordinary ninja; we don't have the authority to handle him. This matter should be left to the Hokage to decide!"
Any sensible person would know!
For Konoha, a living Tsuchikage is more valuable than a dead one!
"Actually, I think we should hand him over to Danzo-sama..."
Akihara Kagura frowned, speaking to Kakashi Hatake, "Captain Kakashi, you should know, this is the critical moment of my competition with Uchiha Itachi for the future leadership of Root. This achievement could change Danzo-sama's attitude towards me..."