That very night, Takumi packed his gear and departed with Kurenai.
The Land of Earth and the Land of Fire didn't share a direct border, separated by the Lands of Rain, Grass, and Waterfalls. To avoid unnecessary complications, Kurenai chose the route through the Land of Waterfalls.
Meanwhile, high above the Land of Earth, a large clay bird glided silently through the clouds. A man with blond bangs covering one eye, clad in the Akatsuki's cloud-patterned cloak, used the scope on his eye piece to observe the ground below.
"What's that old fool up to now? Planning to invade the Land of Waterfalls?"
"Damn it! I was supposed to test my new bombs today, and I get stuck with reconnaissance duty."
"That Konan... I'll blow her to smithereens one day, hmph!"
Deidara grumbled incessantly. The Shinobi World was small, and any significant movement in any country quickly became intelligence.
The Land of Earth and Land of Rain were neighbors, so any major action prompted an immediate response from Pain. Thus, Deidara, former Shinobi of Iwagakure, was sent to investigate.
After over a week of travel, Takumi and Kurenai finally reached the Land of Earth's border.
In the forest, they suppressed their presence, hiding in the bushes. On the far side of a large river marking the border, roughly ten defensive structures stood.
They appeared to be barracks, likely constructed using Earth Release. A group of Iwagakure's Shinobi were busily building bridges across the river.
There were over twenty bridges in total, each thirty to forty meters long and over ten meters wide… perfectly capable of serving as troop passageways.
"Why are they building bridges?" Kurenai pondered, "Preparing for war? Or just for supply transport?" Determining the Land of Earth's motive was part of their objective.
"Hey, Takumi, what's your take?" Kurenai nudged his arm and whispered.
"My take? Hmm... They look quite good." Takumi said, his gaze fixed ahead.
"What looks good?"
"Her legs! Don't you see my fut… cough, that black-haired girl has very long legs?"
Kurenai gave him a strange look, squinted, and focused ahead. Sure enough, a black-haired girl, around fifteen or sixteen, was floating in the air, apparently directing the work.
"Floating technique... She must be Sandaime Tsuchikage's granddaughter." Realizing what Takumi was staring at, Kurenai pinched his butt, "You brat! We're on a mission! What are you gawking at!"
But Takumi was unbothered. He felt fortunate. He'd taken this mission on a whim, hoping against hope. He never expected to actually encounter Kurotsuchi, his wife from a simulated life!
'Should I share the memories now, or wait until we meet properly...?' He wondered.
He then decided to wait. Otherwise, it would seem bizarre… knowing someone he'd never met, claiming her as his wife.
"Hey! Pick up the pace! We're falling behind schedule!" Kurotsuchi floated above, barking orders like a ruthless foreman.
"Hey, listen." Takumi nudged Kurenai's shoulder, whispering, "Our mission is to find out what these people are doing, right? So if we kill them all, does the mission count as complete?"
Hearing this, Yuhi Kurenai looked horrified, "You idiot! Don't talk nonsense! How could you kill so many people?"
"Well, that's true..." With his current abilities, wiping out half of them wasn't an issue.
Two Great Blaze techniques would turn everyone to ash. The problem was, he didn't want to risk hurting Kurotsuchi. Killing people close to her would render any beautiful memories useless.
"Then how about we just destroy the bridges and buildings?" Takumi suggested again.
"We could, but it's impractical. Too many eyes, and I didn't bring that many explosive tags..."
"No need for tags. I can do it."
"Huh?" Kurenai stared at him, astonished.
"Are you planning to charge over there?" She asked, growing nervous.
"No. I can wreck all their structures right from here."
Kurenai felt she was hearing a fairy tale. She thought he was spouting nonsense.
From their bush to the structures was at least seventy or eighty meters.
'Was he going to fly? How else could he possibly blow things up from this distance?'
Without explanation, Takumi silently activated his demolition ability. A strand of Chakra, thin as a finger, drifted from his body, meandering until it reached a completed bridge.
The Chakra then spread and stretched, forming a web-like structure coating the bridge.
"Ready? Don't blink," Takumi said with a cryptic smile. He then mimicked Killer Queen's trigger gesture, pressing his thumb down.
Whoosh!
A cloud of dust flashed from the bridge, followed by a deep rumble... as the entire structure began to collapse!
"What's happening?!" The Iwagakure's Shinobi were dumbfounded.
After all, the bridge was fine a moment ago!
"Get back! The bridge is falling!"
"Mom! What's going on?!"
The Shinobi scattered, shouting. Kurotsuchi, floating above, was also stunned, but after a second of chaos, she took command, "Everyone, away from the riverbank! Retreat to the buildings!"
But before her words faded, loud noises echoed as a two-story structure nearby crumbled into rubble.
One building, two... like dominoes, the stone bridges and buildings collapsed one after another. In moments, the site was a field of ruins.
"This!?" Kurenai was utterly flabbergasted, "How... how did you do that?! How is this possible?!"
Takumi merely smiled mysteriously. His demolition ability was utterly bewildering, even by Shinobi standards. Destroying a large bridge normally required dozens of explosive tags or hundreds of pounds of explosives.
But Takumi needed none of that. He simply released his Chakra-based explosives, distributing them perfectly into every structural seam, and detonated them. With a sufficiently fine distribution network, even minimal explosive force could shatter the target.
"This! What in the world happened...?" In the sky, Kurotsuchi stared at the utter ruin of the construction project, completely stunned.
Building these bridges was a direct order from Sandaime Tsuchikage, meant for the future annexation of the Land of Grass!
And now, halfway done, everything was destroyed! The river was thirty to forty meters wide with a raging current… impossible to cross now!
Just then, Iwagakure's Shinobi on the ground pointed skyward and shouted, "Look! Someone's up there!"
"That white bird... It's Deidara!"
"Damn it! He did this!"
Instantly, curses were hurled at the Iwagakure's traitor. Takumi was also shocked. He hadn't even revealed himself, and someone showed up to take the blame!
In the sky, Deidara looked down, confused, 'Weren't they secretly building bridges here? Where were the bridges? Where the hell were they?!'
Before he could search properly, Kurotsuchi flew at him, "Deidara! You bastard! Why did you ruin our work!?"
"????" Deidara was baffled.
"We were nearly finished! You blew them all up! What's your goal!?"
"What the…" Deidara nearly swore, 'What the hell was this? I was just flying along, and suddenly gets blamed? I just got here! What bridge blowing?'
"Hey! Kurotsuchi! Don't falsely accuse me! I just arrived! It wasn't me!" Deidara yelled. But Kurotsuchi wasn't listening. She drew a kunai and charged furiously.
Swish! Swish!
Shuriken flew at Deidara, but he dodged them. Deidara had a short fuse, and being falsely accused enraged him further.
"You bitch! I was sparing you for that old man's sake, but since you're seeking death, don't blame me!" He reached into his pouch, preparing bombs.
"Ah, no." In the bushes, seeing his former wife being bullied, Takumi stood up. He pointed a single finger towards the sky, aiming at Deidara's large bird.
Boom!!!
A sudden explosion vaporized the clay bird beneath Deidara!
He plummeted earthward like a stone!
Deidara: "????"
Kurotsuchi: "????"
The two of them, plus several dozen Iwagakure's shinobi, stared in stunned, unified silence.
"Who was that?!"
"Who set off the firecracker?!"
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FOR EVERY 50 POWER STONES, I'LL UPLOAD ONE CHAPTER