As the explosive clay was swallowed by Deidara, his body gradually began to turn translucent.
Immediately after, pitch-black patterns spread densely across his entire body, converging at his chest into a small black sphere.
Once the preparations were complete, a wild grin spread across Deidara's face.
"Though it's a pity I couldn't showcase my ultimate art before everyone, there's no other choice now."
"Uchiha Yuzuru, are you ready to witness true art?"
Hearing this, Yuzuru replied expressionlessly, "Deidara, I said I would help you improve your art. You shouldn't be my enemy."
Deidara snorted coldly. "It's too late to say anything now. Survive my ultimate art first, then we'll talk."
As he spoke, the black sphere formed on his chest began to emit a blinding light, and cracks spread across his body in an instant.
"Art is an explosion…"
"Katsu!!!"
A massive explosion, shaped like a giant starfish, erupted instantly within the Kamui Space, completely engulfing Yuzuru.
Under the force of the explosion, the entire Kamui Space trembled violently, and dense cracks spread across the solid ground.
The shockwave surged outward first, then the raging winds reversed and rushed back inward.
Only after a long while did the explosion finally subside.
Yuzuru stood in place with his arms crossed, expressionless, his black hair fluttering in the air.
The enormous Susanoo surrounding him remained smooth and intact, showing no signs of damage.
Deidara's explosion did appear incredibly powerful, but its most fatal flaw was its overly large range, making it difficult to concentrate its force at a single point, greatly reducing its lethality.
In the original story, Manda had taken Deidara's self-destruction head-on. Though it died, its body remained intact.
Not to mention someone protected by Susanoo.
"What a reckless guy. But it doesn't matter if he's dead."
Yuzuru held a small lock of yellow hair in his hand—taken from Deidara during the genjutsu.
Even in a transcendent world like this, for most people, the power they could extract from their bodies had limits.
If he wanted to hunt across the universe in the future, things like firearms would still be indispensable.
After all, if you could snipe from a distance, who would bother with close combat?
And besides…
Yuzuru himself quite liked that kind of thing.
"Reanimate Deidara with Impure World Reincarnation and have him research explosives, firearms, and missiles… he'd probably be very interested."
He stored the hair away and directly activated Kamui, disappearing from the spot.
————
————
Konoha Village.
Kurotsuchi paced anxiously back and forth.
Just moments ago, Uchiha Yuzuru had suddenly appeared. After a brief exchange, Deidara had frozen in place.
Then the two of them vanished into the sky together.
That scene made a bad feeling rise uncontrollably in her heart.
That was Uchiha Yuzuru!
Once targeted by him, and without escaping immediately…
Could Deidara still be alive?
Just as Kurotsuchi was at a loss, a sudden commotion broke out in the crowd.
Under the watch of several Anbu squads, a few shinobi wearing Iwagakure headbands hurried toward the Hokage Building.
Kurotsuchi nearly cried out.
Akatsuchi!
Only then did she realize just how big a disaster she had caused.
Deidara was a shinobi of Iwagakure—and the current Tsuchikage's disciple.
For someone like him to come out and attack Konoha was no different from openly declaring war.
Even though Deidara hadn't caused much damage, the scale of the disturbance alone meant Konoha wouldn't ignore it.
This incident could very well become the fuse that ignites war between Konoha and Iwagakure!
At the thought of this possibility, Kurotsuchi felt like crying.
She had already witnessed the abilities of Konoha's shinobi—their seamless teamwork was something she had never seen before. At the very least, Iwagakure's shinobi couldn't match it.
And on top of that, Yuzuru didn't just command Konoha—he also led Sunagakure and Kumogakure.
If he mobilized the forces of all three great villages against Iwagakure, the result would be utter devastation.
For a moment, Kurotsuchi even wanted to die.
She had only wanted to investigate information about her father—how had it turned into such a catastrophe?
What was she supposed to do now?
————
————
Hokage Building.
Hokage's Office.
Fugaku sipped hot tea, his square face dark and grim.
Looking at Akatsuchi standing before him, clearly at a loss, he slammed his teacup heavily onto the desk.
Bang!
The dull sound made Akatsuchi jump.
Though he had grown up by Ōnoki's side, his personality was not suited for negotiations.
But Iwagakure simply had no one else available, so he could only force himself to come.
"Hokage-sama, I came here today to explain something."
"This operation by Deidara was his own decision. Our village had no knowledge of it."
"We have already declared Deidara an S-rank missing-nin. Please understand, Hokage-sama."
Fugaku let out a cold snort. "Understand? What exactly do you expect me to understand?"
"No matter what you say, Deidara is the Tsuchikage's disciple. Without your approval, would he attack Konoha for no reason?"
"If we hadn't responded quickly, Konoha might have already been destroyed!"
His tone was filled with killing intent.
If Karura hadn't used her Magnet Release bloodline to block Deidara's C3 bomb, that level of power could have wiped out years of Konoha's development.
Akatsuchi had already cursed Deidara countless times in his heart, but all he could do on the surface was smile apologetically.
"Hokage-sama, we are truly sorry for Deidara's actions, but he defected on his own. We had no idea he would attack Konoha."
Fugaku slammed the desk and stood up, furious. "You think you can wash your hands of this so easily?"
"So what, if we send shinobi to attack Iwagakure and then label them missing-nin afterward, we don't have to take responsibility either?"
Seeing Fugaku's anger, Akatsuchi hurriedly said, "How about this… we are willing to offer compensation. What do you think?"
"Compensation?" Fugaku sneered. "Do you think Konoha lacks your compensation?"
Before Akatsuchi could continue, Fugaku waved his hand. "That's enough. I must give the villagers an explanation."
"Go back and tell Ōnoki to wait."
"Soon, our forces will arrive!"