A special thank you to my patrons:
—Cain, kevin Williams, Jose Sierra, Salim, Acedia, kurtis newman, Nithin Samuel, Soumya Ranjan Pathy, Bob.
You can read 30 chapters ahead of everyone on p@treon.
P@TREON - [email protected]/lessaservantofcosmos
(just replace the "@" with "a")
ps: Please support me on P@treon. I can really use your help!
-------------------------------------------------------------
After the strike, Kagaya frowned. He hadn't activated his Sharingan initially, but the moment he opened it and charged forward, he had seen it. The Deidara before him wasn't real.
Through the lens of the Sharingan, this Deidara's body was a dense, uniform mass of chakra, completely unlike the intricate chakra network of a living person.
"This is—"
Without a moment's hesitation, not daring to pause for even an instant, Kagaya immediately retreated.
His instinct proved right. The next second.
"Katsu!"
With a sharp cry, the headless "Deidara" suddenly swelled, then erupted in a massive explosion.
That "Deidara" had been a clay mannequin bomb, not the real one!
Kagaya had backed away far, his speed extreme. The blast hadn't touched him.
On the other side, Zabuza had used the wide blade of his Kubikiribōchō to shield himself from the explosion's force. He was uninjured, though his breathing was slightly ragged.
The detonation produced a huge cloud of dust and smoke. As it cleared, a massive crater appeared where Kagaya and the others had just been standing—a chilling sight.
Deidara reappeared, gesticulating wildly.
"See that?! That's my art! Hahahahaha!"
Kagaya stared at the new Deidara. This one wasn't the real body either!
"It seems you're not completely ignorant, after all."
Deidara clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Of course I know you're fast! Did you think I was an idiot?"
Kagaya gave a faint smile but said nothing. It was clear they had come prepared. They likely knew his abilities. Having dared to come after him, they must have devised countermeasures.
If there was anything about Kagaya his opponents might not know, it was his Mangekyō techniques. However, his right eye was one thing. His left eye was in terrible condition; even maintaining the three-tomoe state caused excruciating pain. Activating the Mangekyō would be agonizing, let alone using its special abilities further.
Unless absolutely necessary, Kagaya would not use his left eye's Mangekyō power. He was human; he hate pain. Why seek discomfort if it wasn't needed?
As for his right eye, he could consider saving it for a surprise attack to eliminate one of them.
"Since you know I'm fast, how do you plan to hit me?"
Having settled on his own approach, Kagaya wanted to see if he could deduce his opponents' tactics.
Deidara sneered. "You think I'd tell you? Just sit tight and wait to die!"
Kagaya's brow furrowed. While Deidara claimed he wouldn't reveal anything, the statement itself indicated one thing: Deidara was confident he could kill Kagaya. Despite being highly wary of Kagaya's speed, he still possessed that confidence. It seemed Deidara had a particular trick up his sleeve.
Kagaya looked to Karin. "Karin, sense the area. See if anyone else is hiding nearby."
He wanted Karin to try and locate Deidara's true body.
Karin closed her eyes, concentrating for a moment, then opened them and shook her head.
"No one."
Kagaya's frown deepened. Even Karin couldn't detect him? How far away was Deidara hiding?
Kagaya's mind raced. Think carefully. What abilities did Deidara have that could kill him? The little spider bombs were out—those things could never hit Kagaya. What else?... Hmm... Kagaya couldn't really remember. Deidara's swarms of spider bombs left the strongest impression; he had little recollection of other techniques. If he had to name one, he remembered the move Deidara used to kill himself in the original story.
That was probably Deidara's most powerful technique. If Deidara truly used that, Kagaya really might die here.
But that seemed highly unlikely. Deidara wasn't suicidal; he wanted to live to pursue his art. In the original story, he only resorted to that move against Sasuke when he was cornered and had exhausted all other options.
So, besides the suicide move and the spiders, what else did Deidara have? Kagaya strained his memory. It had been too long. Twelve years had passed since his transmigration. Without any contact with his previous world's media, his memory of many characters' techniques in the Naruto world had grown fuzzy. He could only recall the most iconic moves.
The clay Deidara in the distance, seeing Kagaya remain still, also made no move to attack, simply standing there quietly.
Kagaya narrowed his eyes. Deidara's inactivity meant he was preparing something. Otherwise, there was no reason for him to stall.
Hmm... A technique that requires Deidara to spend time preparing... To kill me, it would need to either be faster than me, or prevent my escape... Hmm...
Deidara's speed couldn't possibly surpass his own. Although Kagaya couldn't recall Deidara's moves clearly, he knew that in the Naruto world, few were famous for speed, and Deidara was definitely not one of them.
Therefore, for Deidara to kill him, he would need to create a technique with an enormous range and devastating power.
A technique like that...
It came to him! He couldn't remember the name, but Kagaya recalled that Deidara had a move where he dropped a giant puppet from the sky. Its range and power were immense, enough to destroy an entire village. He had used it when capturing Gaara in the original story.
If that was the case, no wonder Karin couldn't sense Deidara. It wasn't that he was hiding far away—he wasn't on the ground at all!
"Karin! Sense above us! See if anyone is up there!"
Kagaya urgently called out to Karin. He needed to confirm his suspicion.
Karin nodded, closed her eyes, and focused. The next moment, her eyes snapped open, and she pointed at the clay Deidara.
"Kagaya! Yes! There's someone! Their chakra is identical to this one's!"
Kagaya wasn't surprised. He immediately turned to Karin and Haku.
"Karin! Haku! Get out of the battle zone! Run! Now!"
Deidara's large-scale, high-power technique was a perfect counter to Kagaya. His defensive capabilities were genuinely low. Forget Deidara's clay bombs; even a single explosive tag hitting him squarely could leave him half-dead. Therefore, there was no way Kagaya could withstand Deidara's attack. His only option was to flee with Karin and Haku. If his guess was correct, Deidara was about to unleash that technique. They had to escape the blast radius immediately!
As for Zabuza, he was already locked in combat with Sasori, who was leading the fight farther and farther away. It seemed Sasori also knew Deidara was planning something big and was intentionally drawing Zabuza out of range.
Just as Kagaya, Karin, and Haku prepared to flee, a loud shout echoed from above.
"Kagaya! Behold my masterpiece, infused with my highest-level chakra—C3, Number 18! Witness my art, find satisfaction in it, and then die!"
A colossal puppet-like figure suddenly plummeted from the sky.
Kagaya stared at the falling behemoth, cold sweat pouring from his body.
What? He's already prepared it?
His recollection had come too late. Deidara had finished his preparations by the time Kagaya remembered this move! He had assumed Deidara would need more time to execute it. He never expected that the moment they tried to run, Deidara's super-bomb would arrive!
In this situation, if Kagaya moved at his absolute top speed, he might be able to escape the blast radius. After all, his full speed was terrifying.
But Karin and Haku? There was absolutely no way they could get out in time.
What to do? What could he do?
Kagaya was still scrambling for a solution, but the Deidara above offered no reprieve. He raised his hand.
"Katsu!"
"BOOM!!!"