Just as the dragon was about to crash into Akira, Deidara suddenly raised two fingers and triggered the detonation chakra.
In that instant, a blinding flash erupted from inside the clay dragon, brighter than the sun.
This was the very move he had once used to nearly blow Sunagakure off the map. If Gaara hadn't defended it with everything he had, the village would already be gone from history.
Chiyo's heart clenched. "Damn it! Too late! Is this lunatic trying to bury all of us here?!"
At that life-and-death instant, Kakashi didn't look at the dragon at all. Instead, his eyes locked onto Akira, who had remained calm from beginning to end.
Akira... in a dead-end situation like this, what trump card are you still hiding?
The blond demolition maniac had finally pressed the trigger, and the grotesque dragon bomb released a blast of devastating heat and light.
The energy was so overwhelming that in an ordinary great shinobi village, it could have leveled everything in sight in monts.
And Deidara himself had already slipped away, using a clay substitute as a feint to flash several hundred ters into the air, well outside the danger zone.
Just as the rolling heat and annihilating shockwave were about to swallow everyone present, blinding lightning suddenly exploded around Akira.
The savage current did not scatter wildly. Instead, it instantly wove itself into shape, forming an enormous shell of lightning that locked itself around Kakashi, Chiyo, Naruto, and Sakura.
BOOOOM—!
The deafening roar felt strong enough to shatter eardrums.
Within hundreds of ters, the shockwave rcilessly tore apart every tree, rock, and patch of earth that had existed a mont earlier.
Only after a long while did the smoke and dust blotting out the sky begin to thin.
Protected at the center, the others finally dared to slowly open their eyes.
Kakashi and Chiyo's pupils both tightened in shock as they stared at the crackling lightning barrier that still humd around them.
"This... this is Lightning Net? The jutsu Jiraiya-sama ntioned back then?"
Kakashi's one exposed eye widened. Even for him, this form of Lightning Style was sothing he had never seen before.
What made his scalp prickle the most was that Akira had not made a single hand seal.
It had been instant.
No delay at all. He had simply brought a defense of that scale and intensity into existence.
The wrinkles across Chiyo's face were full of disbelief. "This boy's mastery of Lightning Style is absurd."
"I've lived long enough to see more lightning users than I can count, but he is without question the strongest among them."
"Even that hot-blooded brute of a Raikage from Kumogakure probably couldn't do sothing like this."
"At the very center of an explosion like that, he still opened a barrier wide enough to shield all four of us, and none of us took so much as a scratch."
"I can't even imagine what level his Lightning Style has reached."
Beside them, Sakura was already staring with her mouth open wide enough to fit an egg.
She had always known Akira was strong, but she had never seen him display Lightning Style this overbearing. It completely rewrote what she thought she understood.
Was this really sothing Lightning Style could form?
Why did it feel tougher than Earth Style?
Naruto's eyes looked ready to fall out of his head too.
He had seen just how horrifying that explosion was. It felt like it should have blasted even their bones to dust, and yet Akira had blocked it head-on with what looked like a casual Lightning Style jutsu.
Naruto had seen Akira do terrifying things before, but this level of defense was just ridiculous.
When the smoke finally cleared, everyone looked around, and their hearts gave a violent jolt.
The ground that had once been flat was gone.
In its place was a giant crater hundreds of ters wide.
And the few of them stood there completely unhard, right at the very center of it.
That alone was proof of how monstrous the power of Deidara's C2 Dragon Bomb really was.
That clay-crazed maniac truly was dangerous. A casual C2 from him carried destructive power comparable to a small Tailed Beast Bomb.
With strength like that, it was no wonder the old fox Onoki had placed such high hopes on him.
Even without learning Dust Release, Deidara's explosive secret arts alone were enough to justify him one day sitting in the Tsuchikage's seat.
But the more terrifying thought was this:
Faced with an explosion that could destroy the earth itself, Akira had blocked it.
And he had done it almost lazily, without even making a seal, his expression calm as though he were just enjoying the scenery.
At the edge of the crater ran a rushing river. Its bank had collapsed, and now the water ca pouring down into the pit in great torrents.
Once the danger had passed, Akira casually dismissed the giant Lightning Net.
The countless arcs of electricity still hanging in the air slowly faded, though the lingering crackle sent a chill down everyone's spine.
Even Chiyo, who had lived through multiple great wars and seen more death than most could imagine, felt cold run down her back.
No wonder this boy can suppress a rampaging Tailed Beast. With Lightning Style on this level, if he can shrug off an explosion like this, then even a true Tailed Beast Bomb might not be beyond him...
Quietly, Chiyo began reassessing just how many hidden cards this young man might still have.
Kakashi looked at Akira's back, his eyes full of quiet pride.
"Akira... you've already surpassed the Fourth Hokage."
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