Diving underwater with Deidara, Sasori stared at the group of sea turtles before him, feeling somewhat conflicted. After searching high and low, he had finally found "it," only to realize there was a whole group of them. Suddenly, it didn't feel so special anymore; the thrill of achieving his goal was gone.
That being said, Sasori's self-modification into a human puppet did have its perks. For instance, he could now move freely underwater without needing to breathe, hopping around as effortlessly as on land.
Deidara, on the other hand, had to encase himself in a clay shell filled with air to operate underwater.
"Let's begin," Sasori commanded.
Hiruko's right arm extended, reaching for one of the rare turtles. Its shell was about the size of a small round table, just right for Hiruko's scale.
"Roar!"
Unexpectedly, instead of panicking and fleeing when their companion was captured, the other turtles turned aggressive. Their eyes reddened as they quickly paddled their short, stubby limbs, charging at Hiruko with a speed uncharacteristic of turtles.
"Damn! These turtles are vicious!" Deidara exclaimed, maneuvering his clay shell to dodge. The turtles weren't limited to physical attacks; they could spit water projectiles, which could easily puncture his clay shell and cause it to leak air.
"Useless!" Sasori sneered as Hiruko sprouted numerous wooden arms, grabbing at the horde of red-eyed turtles. Sasori hadn't expected this move to deal significant damage; he was prepared for a tough fight.
Instead...
Staring at the pile of dead turtles and shattered shells before him, Sasori fell silent.
Weren't these turtles supposed to have shells capable of withstanding Tailed Beast Balls to some extent? Could it be that his casual attack already had the destructive power of a Tailed Beast Ball?
The two resurfaced, and Sasori pulled out the intelligence report's sketch of the rare turtle, carefully comparing it.
"It matches! The turtles in the report look just like these," Sasori said, falling into deep thought alongside Deidara as they reviewed the information.
"Forget it. Let's go," Sasori said, turning away. His voice was colder than usual, reflecting his frustration.
"Alright, where to now?" Deidara asked.
"To Kumogakure. I'm going to kill that idiot!" Sasori snapped.
Clearly, Sasori was furious.
"Lord Seiryū, Lady Yūmei, wait for me!" Water Man finally caught up, panting heavily. It seemed he had exhausted himself trying to keep up.
Oh, right. They had almost forgotten about him. If Sasori and Deidara had moved any faster, Water Man might have lost track of them entirely.
"I found the rare turtle you're looking for in the west! Hurry and follow me!" Water Man exclaimed, his voice a mix of excitement and urgency.
"No need. The intel was wrong. These turtles' defenses are useless," Deidara dismissed with a wave of his hand.
"That can't be! The one I found is incredibly strong. I couldn't break through its defenses at all, and it's incredibly powerful. I couldn't restrain it with water to bring it here. If you don't hurry, it might get away!" Water Man shouted anxiously.
"Is it like this one?" Sasori held up a turtle shell.
"Yes, but the one I found is black," Water Man replied.
Deidara and Sasori exchanged glances. So this was the real target. The sketch in the report had been drawn in pencil, without color, nearly leading them to give up.
"Let's go!"
"This way, my lords. It's not far to the west," Water Man said, leading the way. Though he had merged with the seawater, the abnormal currents made it easy to track his position.
"It's diving into the deep sea! Hurry, my lords, or we'll lose it if it escapes into the depths!" Water Man exclaimed, his tone growing more urgent as the black turtle descended further into the ocean.
While shinobi didn't have a precise concept of water pressure, they knew from experience that the deeper you went, the more crushing the water felt. Beyond a certain depth, even Kage-level shinobi or puppets couldn't reach.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
As Hiruko's arm extended deeper, the joints began to creak under the pressure. Just as it was about to grab the black turtle, the creature cunningly spat a water projectile at Hiruko's arm, severing it and thwarting the attempt.
"The power of its water projectiles is far greater than its kin, but it's still useless," Sasori said calmly. Puppet battles often resembled those of tool-using shinobi: if one mechanism failed, they had plenty more to deploy.
Sure enough, from Hiruko's severed arm sprouted a dozen more, all reaching for the black turtle.
Meanwhile, Water Man wasn't idle either.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"
A dragon-shaped head formed from seawater appeared at the turtle's side, biting down on it and attempting to push it upward.
However, the turtle's paddle-like limbs gave a powerful stroke, freeing it from the Water Dragon Bullet's grasp. But this brief delay allowed Hiruko's arms to grab hold of the turtle, each arm securing a different part, and rapidly pulling it upward.
"Got it!"
"Water Release: Water Stream Whip!" As the turtle was pulled into the range of his water manipulation, Water Man's combat effectiveness surged. Numerous water whips appeared, wrapping around the turtle layer by layer.
"Hey! Don't say things like that! It's a jinx!" Deidara shouted, too late to stop it. The turtle spun like a top, its high-speed rotation shredding the water whips and Hiruko's arms before diving deeper again.
"Catch it quickly!" Sasori urged Water Man, his tone tinged with frustration.
"I can't, Lady Yūmei! It keeps spinning, and my jutsu can't get close," Water Man replied.
Neither the new Water Stream Whips nor the Water Dragon Bullet could approach the turtle without being torn apart by its rapid rotation.
Sasori was also troubled. He was in the same predicament as Water Man—none of his mechanisms could approach the spinning turtle. Moreover, other elemental puppets couldn't be used underwater. Even Lightning Release techniques were ineffective here; this wasn't a small puddle but the vast ocean. The turtle was too far away, and only an S-rank Lightning Release forbidden technique might reach it.
"Sasori, let my art handle this," Deidara said, his right hand spitting out a massive clay sea serpent, comparable in size to a standard C2 dragon.
"Water Man, guide my clay sea serpent beneath the turtle. I'll use the explosion's shockwave to push it up."
"Understood, Lord Seiryū!"
"Water Prison Technique!"
A large spherical water prison enveloped Deidara's giant clay sea serpent, protecting it as Water Man escorted it downward at high speed.