Above an endless desert, the scorching sun mercilessly baked the earth.
This was the vast territory of the Land of Wind, where the sand sea below was occasionally stirred by wind-blown sand waves, showing almost no signs of life, only desolation and vastness.
Deidara excitedly rode on the back of a giant white bird he had just sculpted from explosive clay.
He eagerly overlooked the magnificent desert landscape he had never seen before.
But more than his curiosity about the unfamiliar terrain, what made his heart pound and nearly burst with anticipation was the impending sight of the Ninjutsu he had longed for, the ultimate form of explosion art!
Menma used the Flying Thunder God Technique to instantly teleport himself and Deidara from the border of the Land of Earth to this uninhabited area of the Land of Wind.
The spatial coordinates here were secretly left by a Shadow Clone he had dispatched long ago to search for Sasori of the Red Sand.
Although that search for Sasori ultimately yielded no results, these pre-arranged coordinates now proved useful.
At this moment, Menma hovered in the air beside Deidara, with the Wind Release Chakra of the [Wind Storm Flow] tightly swirling around him like a torrent, forming a powerful updraft and lifting force, allowing him to maintain a stable position in the air at an optimal height, sufficient to safely cast and observe that destructive art.
"Watch closely, Deidara.
This is… the Great Spiraling Ring you've been waiting for."
Menma spoke, slowly raising his hand, and the next moment, an indescribably vast and heart-stopping amount of Chakra began to furiously gather in his palm!
Deidara instantly held his breath, all his attention completely drawn to it, trembling with excitement.
He stared intently at Menma's palm, unwilling to even blink, afraid of missing any subtle change.
This was the art he had dreamed of!
Ever since the Iwagakure reconnaissance Ninja brought back those shocking photographs—photos showing an unbelievably massive and perfectly hemispherical destruction mark on the wasteland outside Konoha Village, its scale even comparable to Konoha Village itself.
From that moment on, this unknown Ninjutsu, representing ultimate destruction and momentary beauty, became the true ultimate art in his heart, surpassing everything else!
And now, he was about to witness its birth with his own eyes!
Why did Menma specifically move the test site to this desolate desert in the Land of Wind?… The reason was simple.
Last time, when he used it outside Konoha Village, circumstances forced his hand, and he didn't have time to choose a location.
But now, with preparation, Naruto felt that he should try to protect the environment and avoid destructive tests in ecologically rich areas.
This desolate sand sea was undoubtedly the best natural testing ground.
Anticipating that this meeting with Deidara would likely require the use of "ultimate art" for deterrence and recruitment, the Menma clone Naruto sent this time was different—he did not disperse Chakra to create multiple clones, but instead allocated nearly all of his main body's massive total Chakra to this single mission-executing clone, ensuring it possessed enough immense energy to sustain high-intensity combat and even cast forbidden Ninjutsu.
Ever since acquiring the [Spiral Wheel Ring] through the system lottery, Naruto had been sending Shadow Clones to remote areas outside the Land of Fire, constantly experimenting and exploring, relying on the feeling he had from using the experience card, trying to replicate this terrifying and unparalleled ultimate Ninjutsu.
He gradually came to understand that the [Great Spiraling Ring] was essentially just a power-enhanced version of the [Spiral Wheel Ring].
But this Ninjutsu had a fundamental difference from the regular Rasengan—its ability to devour Chakra was like a bottomless black hole!
This "black hole" had no capacity limit; no matter how much Chakra was poured into it, it could compress and contain it at an incredibly fast and illogical rate.
At this moment, this clone of Menma, carrying a huge amount of Chakra from his main body, unreservedly poured more than four-fifths of his terrifying Chakra into the continuously rotating and collapsing energy core in his palm!
Finally, quantitative change led to qualitative change!
The highly compressed Chakra core was no longer a simple aggregation of energy; the gloom emanating from its center became so profound that it began to swallow the surrounding light, and on the outer edge of that extreme darkness, a white energy ring suddenly formed, like a dangerous halo placed upon this embodiment of destruction.
The [Great Spiraling Ring]—once again descended upon the world, right here!
Feeling the annihilating, terrifying pressure emanating from the palm at close range, Deidara's pupils contracted with extreme excitement.
He even uncontrollably imagined in his mind what a world-shattering, perfectly breathtaking ultimate art scene it would be once this dark star erupted!
The thought of that destructively brilliant scene made his face flush with an unnatural crimson from extreme ecstasy.
This time, Menma did not utter any philosophical remarks, unlike when he intimidated Kakuzu previously.
Because he was utterly convinced that for an existence like Deidara, any words would be pale in the face of this ultimate "art."
Once Deidara witnessed this spectacular explosion with his own eyes, joining the [Cinder] organization would become his only and inevitable choice.
Menma released his supporting hand.
That dark star dust, condensed with terrifying energy, broke free from his control and began to slowly, irresistibly fall towards the desolate sand sea below…
Its trajectory seemed slow, but that was because its destructive mass distorted the surrounding perception.
It silently cut through the air, carrying a suffocating solemnity, falling towards its destined end point.
The next moment—
"BOOM— — — — — — — —!!!!"
An indescribable roar erupted violently!
A destructive torrent of energy instantly swallowed the vast desert below!
Extremely dazzling white light, like a supernova explosion, instantly covered Deidara's entire vision, dyeing everything between heaven and earth a pure pale white!
The shockwave generated by the explosion spread wildly in all directions in visible rings; wherever it passed, sand dunes were instantly flattened and vaporized!
The clouds in the high sky were violently torn apart and dispersed by this brute force, revealing the clear blue sky behind them!
The fierce airflow struck Deidara's face like a solid iron wall, bringing a stinging sensation that made him almost unable to open his eyes, his skin aching from the wind.
But he gritted his teeth, stubbornly and greedily widening his blue-green eyes, unwilling to avert his gaze even an inch, forcefully staring at the center of that destruction!
Bliss.
This was the only thought that filled his mind at that moment.
A supreme sense of happiness and satisfaction, surpassing all sensory stimuli, swept through his entire body.
The ultimate art… the dream he had pursued his whole life, was now blooming right before him, in its most violent, most perfect, and most fleeting form!
He was truly so lucky!
He almost wanted to shout.
Thank you, Old Man!
Thank you for driving me out of the Village!
Hot tears, completely uncontrolled, slid from the corners of his eyes, instantly dispersed by the violent airflow.
But these were not tears of sadness or fear, but tears shed by an ardent devotee of extreme art, from the deepest part of his soul, a blissful emotion and observation, upon finally witnessing the arrival of "art."
"Thank… you… very much…"
[Ding!]
[Congratulations, Host: Bond with original character "Deidara" has reached Level 2!]
[Points gained: 300 points!]