As Deidara plumted at high speed, he frowned while watching Sasuke also falling rapidly. In this life, he had no particular grudge with Itachi, but Sasuke's faintly mocking smile still stabbed painfully at Deidara's pride.
"Don't look down on , you brat."
While still in midair, Deidara ford a hand seal with one hand. At once, the clay bird he had temporarily abandoned earlier flapped its wings and flew back toward him.
Seeing the clay bird, Sasuke's expression changed.
He had actually forgotten about that one.
At this point, even if he wanted to use Chidori Sharp Spear again, there was no ti.
Damn it—was this guy really going to escape again?
Just as Sasuke was preparing to gamble everything, an extrely exaggerated shout suddenly rang out from below:
"Ah—da~~~!"
Sasuke turned toward the sound and saw an enormous fireball rushing toward the clay bird flying to Deidara at a speed so fast that even his three-tomoe Sharingan could barely track its trajectory.
To both Deidara's and Sasuke's astonishnt, the clay bird was not detonated on the spot. Instead, it was blasted far away by the terrifying impact before finally exploding in midair with a trendous roar.
So… so strong!
Sasuke was no longer the hot-blooded, chūnibyō kid he once was. His perception was sharp now, and he imdiately realized that the fireball was not a conventional ninjutsu.
It was a fireball created by sheer punching speed—so fast that friction with the air ignited it!
That was also why the clay bird did not explode imdiately; it was blown away by the shockwave before it even had ti to detonate.
Instinctively, Sasuke looked down to see who had unleashed such a terrifying attack. He saw Guy below, cloaked in a green chakra aura, giving him a thumbs-up and flashing a wide, toothy grin.
"Great job! Just as expected of my lifelong rival Kakashi's prized disciple! Inspired by you, my youth couldn't help but burn at full power!"
Still falling, Sasuke couldn't help twitching at the corner of his mouth. Clearly an incredibly powerful fighter—but why did he look so utterly unintelligent?
Sasuke was then caught perfectly by Lee, who had opened the Fifth Gate, suffering no injury at all. Deidara, however, was not so lucky.
With the clay bird gone, he had no ti to create another flying construct. He could only plunge straight down from the sky. Fortunately, the forest below cushioned his fall sowhat. Though he was slashed and battered all over, he at least didn't die on impact.
Enduring the pain, Deidara dared not linger. He forced himself to try and stand, but after several attempts, he failed. Falling from dozens of ters in the air, surviving at all as a re human was already remarkable.
Hearing footsteps drawing closer, Deidara knew he was out of ti.
Sasori… looks like I won't get another chance to debate art with you. In that case, let show you my ultimate art at the very end of my life.
Staring blankly at the dappled light filtering through the forest canopy, Deidara's eyes shifted from calm to madness.
He tore off his clothes, revealing the fourth mouth sewn shut on his chest with threads.
With difficulty, he bit down on the threads using the teeth of his hands. With a sharp tug, the stitches were ripped apart—but he no longer cared about the pain.
Deidara plunged both hands into the pouches at his waist and pulled out all the clay inside.
Without even a mont's hesitation, he stuffed the two large lumps of clay straight into the mouth on his chest.
As the clay was consud, Deidara's body gradually began to turn transparent, while his veins and muscles took on an eerie black coloration.
Looking at his increasingly translucent arms, Deidara strained to gaze through the forest toward the azure sky above, murmuring softly:
"The highest realm of art is to completely rge oneself into art—to let one's own death beco the final swan song in the history of art.
To carve ticulously within extre coldness of emotion, to brew slowly, and then to erupt in a single instant with unprecedented brilliance—this is my art."
This would be an explosion unlike any before—unprecedented and unparalleled. This land would bear scars never seen in history… scars whose very existence would sing eternal praise of my magnificence!
After finishing his murmured words, Deidara slowly closed his eyes. Taking a deep breath, he began forming hand seals with great difficulty.
Hearing the footsteps drawing ever closer, Deidara, lying on the ground, revealed a fanatical smile.
Struggling to prop himself up, he looked at the dumbfounded Sasuke, Neji, and the others, and with the last of his strength shouted:
"Feel it—my art… is an explosion!!!"
After declaring these final words, the black veins that had spread across his body rapidly converged toward his chest, forming a black sphere with a twisted, mocking grin.
"Stop him!"
Neji roared hoarsely, his face contorted, but at this point, who could possibly stop it?
Beside him, Sasuke was equally shocked. He turned and shouted toward Naruto, who was still running over:
"Naruto, run!"
But it was already too late. The black sphere had begun to emit a visible white glow.
Just as everyone present thought everything was over, a blinding blue light tore through the air at a speed beyond human perception and struck directly onto the cracking black sphere.
...
Neji and Sasuke lay on the ground for a long ti before slowly opening their eyes.
Are we dead? Is this heaven? But why does everything look exactly the sa as before?
They exchanged a glance, then turned their heads at the sa ti—only to see Deidara's transparent body lying there, eyes wide open and staring at the sky.
Could it be…?
Swallowing nervously, they looked into the distance and saw a figure carrying a ninja blade so exquisite it hardly looked like a weapon of slaughter, gazing at them with a half-smile.
"Well? Was it exciting enough?"
If it wasn't Hoshiyomi, who else could it be?
Seeing Gekko Hoshiyomi standing there, smiling and shouldering the blade Mikazuki Munechika, the two of them couldn't help but exclaim:
"Lord Hoshiyomi!"
Hoshiyomi graciously sheathed his sword and extended both hands toward them.
"All right, danger's over. Get up."
At that mont, Naruto and the others appeared from who-knows-where, looking confused.
"Seriously, what were you two yelling for? You scared us half to death."
Sasuke and Neji grabbed Hoshiyomi's hands, stood up, exchanged a look—and without a word, rushed over and beat Naruto up.
They couldn't hit Lord Hoshiyomi, but surely Naruto was fair ga.
Naruto, bruised and swollen, climbed up from the ground and looked at Hoshiyomi in confusion.
"Uncle Hoshiyomi… why are they hitting ?"
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