"Afei, go out and find Sanbi, and if you find Sanbi, contact us through the ring, hmm!" Deidara wanted to exchange art with Lixing, so he delegated the task of finding Sanbi to Afei.
Even though Afei wanted to stay, he still listened to Deidara's words and reluctantly went to search for Sanbi.
...
Several days later, in the lake where Sanbi was located, ninjas from Konoha and Kirigakure were cooperating to seal Sanbi.
The sealing team from Konoha consisted of four female ninjas: Shizune, Sakura, Ino, and Hinata, who used the Four Violet Flames Formation.
The group from Kirigakure was led by Ao, with a bunch of miscellaneous sealing ninjas under him, who used the Water Sealing Barrier. This barrier had a wider range than Konoha's Four Violet Flames Formation and was used to cover the sealing technique of the Four Violet Flames Formation.
The ninjas guarding everyone and preventing outsiders from disrupting the seal were Naruto, Yamato, and Sai. Since Danzo's death, the Root had been dismantled, and all its ninjas had become direct subordinates of the Hokage.
The outer exploration team consisted of Kakashi, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shino Aburame, who were skilled in tracking.
This lineup was indeed very powerful, indicating that Tsunade had made up her mind not to let the Akatsuki obtain the tailed beasts.
However, besides the Akatsuki, there was another group, ninjas belonging to Orochimaru: Kimimaro, who possessed the Kekkei Genkai Crystal Release, and his right-hand man, Kabuto, along with Yukimaru, who could control Sanbi, and a bunch of miscellaneous subordinates.
...
"Crystal Release: Crystal Shuriken!"
Guren condensed crimson crystals in the air, forming shuriken-like projectiles that were fired towards Kakashi and the others.
Guren's Crystal Release could turn surrounding matter into crystals, which she could then freely manipulate. It could be used for defense, transportation, and its destructive power was not to be underestimated.
"Chidori!"
After several days of combat, Kakashi had come to understand Guren's Crystal Release. Other ninjutsu were ineffective; only lightning release could counter Crystal Release.
Seeing that the ninjas from Konoha and Kirigakure were about to complete the sealing, Kabuto had no choice but to instigate Yukimaru to control Sanbi and forcibly break the barrier.
Sanbi seemed to be affected by some irresistible force, gradually becoming violent. It leaped out of the lake, instantly disrupting the formation of Konoha's four female ninjas, and the first layer of the seal was broken.
At this point, Sanbi had lost its mind, concentrating several water cannons in its mouth and firing them around. The powerful impact sent everyone flying. The once calm lake surface seemed to have turned into a vast ocean, and the second layer of the seal was also successfully broken.
Afei, who was nearby the lake, sensed the commotion. At the same time, it began to rain in the sky, but it wasn't actually rain. It was the water splashed from Sanbi's attack that fell from the sky, making it look like it was raining.
"There's movement over there? Oh, I've found a suspicious lake. Konoha and Kirigakure ninjas? Sanbi! Target acquired! Deidara-senpai! Huh? Deidara-senpai isn't here!"
"Who is it?" Ao, who was nearby, saw Afei with his Byakugan and led a group of ninjas to surround Afei.
"Surrounded? Deidara-senpai! Lixing-senpai! Karin-senpai! Help me!" Afei shouted as he ran, but the kunai and shuriken thrown by the Kirigakure ninjas passed straight through Afei's body. Kamui's intangibility was truly a useful ability.
After Ao and the Kirigakure ninjas pursued for a while, Deidara appeared in the sky on a giant bird, with the three of Lixing on its back.
"You look quite disheveled, Afei, stand down!"
Deidara, from high in the sky, urged Afei to quickly retreat. His hands moved swiftly, throwing nearly a hundred clay spiders. The Kirigakure ninjas below, not noticing the sky, were all stuck to the clay spiders.
"Hmph!"
A series of explosions sounded below, but this time the explosions were completely different from before. The color of each clay spider explosion was vibrant and varied.
"Wow! Deidara, you've really learned my art! These little fireworks, the chakra you injected isn't just earth release! You've even learned to detonate them in advance, so you can detonate them before encountering lightning release ninjutsu, right?"
Lixing looked down at the scene below. The numerous small fireworks bore a striking resemblance to Lixing's fireworks. However, Lixing's were pure chakra, while Deidara's were clay bombs infused with multiple types of chakra.
"Black robes with red clouds? You are the Akatsuki?" Ao, with his Byakugan, saw Deidara in advance and thus avoided Deidara's explosion.
When he looked up, he saw that several people were wearing the same clothes. He then remembered what the Mizukage had said a while ago about the Akatsuki. Knowing that he was no match for them, Ao immediately used a secret technique to contact Mei Terumi, requesting her to send more ninjas for reinforcement.
"Lixing, don't think you're the only one. My art can be continuously optimized to become true ultimate art! Hmm!" Deidara liked Lixing's surprised expression. Towards someone who understood his art, Deidara vaguely felt a sense of rivalry.
"Senpai! Senpai! Stop chatting and let me up too!" Afei was still being chased and attacked by the remaining people, and he anxiously shouted.
"Deidara, you take Karin and Yugito to capture Sanbi first. I'll deal with these people!" After saying that, Lixing leaped down, taking out a sword in mid-air.
"Thunderclap Flash, Hundred Consecutive Strikes!"
A blue lightning bolt streaked through the forest. All the Kirigakure ninjas present perished, their heads severed by Lixing. Only Ao, a high-ranking Kirigakure ninja, remained.
"So powerful! So powerful! Lixing-senpai is invincible!"
Afei excitedly ran behind Lixing and cheered. This move had truly amazed everyone. Tobi, hidden beneath his mask, even showed a slight smile. Finally, he had glimpsed a corner of Lixing's true strength.
"Such a fast sword! Such brilliant art! This is also a momentary beauty! Lixing! You are my opponent! Hmm!" Deidara had not flown far when he turned back and saw Lixing killing people, like lightning flashing across the night sky.
Yugito also witnessed Lixing's strength for the first time. This speed was undoubtedly faster than Fourth Raikage Ai, and even faster than the Yellow Flash.
"Karin, is this Lixing's true strength?"
"Tch, this is nothing. Star-kun's strength is far beyond this. Star-kun is invincible."
Karin naturally boasted wildly about her man. Although she was telling the truth, Yugito still found it hard to believe the words of this obsessed woman.
"Byakugan user from Kirigakure, Ao! Are you ready to become a dead soul beneath my blade?" Lixing held his Nichirin Blade horizontally across his chest, exhaling a wisp of turbid air as he breathed.
"Water Release: Azure Dragon Palm!"
Ao dared not be careless and attacked first, seeking to gain the initiative. He moved at his fastest speed towards Lixing, delivering a palm strike coordinated with his Byakugan.
Behind this palm strike, the shape of an azure dragon appeared, scaring Afei into retreating repeatedly. Lixing could only tell Afei to go first and rejoin Deidara.
"Afei, you go first, I'll be right there!"
Afei obediently ran off, leaving only Ao and Lixing to duel. It was a duel in name, but in reality, it was Lixing overwhelming Ao.
Lixing swung his sword swiftly. In the blink of an eye, he severed all of Ao's meridians. Ao was now crippled, useless except for his Byakugan, unless a ninja with exceptional medical ninjutsu could save him.
Lixing reached into Ao's right eye with his finger and, with extreme force, broke the seal of Kirigakure. With a strong pull, Lixing held a Byakugan in his hand. This thing belonged to Konoha, the property of Tsunade, and thus, it was also Lixing's property.
As Lixing, who had just dug out the Byakugan, was about to finish Ao with a sword strike, a violent explosion occurred in the lake. This time, the impact was far more intense than before. Lixing thought it was Deidara's bomb, but he suddenly remembered that Ino was involved in this mission. To prevent Deidara from harming Ino, Lixing immediately flew towards the lake. Before leaving, he casually struck Ao with his sword. As for whether Ao died, Lixing couldn't be bothered to check.
(My memory of this part of the anime is not very clear, and I feel it wasn't very good, so I just wrote whatever came to mind. The original manga doesn't have this part.)