Kakashi let out a long breath when he saw Fujimoto Tōma standing there, alive and unscathed. A smile crept onto his face. He'd known it. Someone like Tōma didn't just die quietly.
"Tōma!" Ino's eyes lit up as she called out to him.
"Give me a moment," Tōma replied calmly, smiling back at her. "I'll deal with him first."
He gently handed the unconscious Naruto to Kakashi, then looked up at the fleeing figure in the sky.
After escaping the barrier, Tōma had hesitated briefly. Should he rush back in to secure Gaara, or retreat and reassess? That indecision vanished the moment he sensed two Flying Thunder God marks nearby, followed immediately by the violent surge of the Nine-Tails' chakra.
Naruto came first. Always.
And ironically, Deidara's attempt to provoke them had been what led Tōma straight here.
Tōma raised his head, eyes locking onto Deidara as the Akatsuki member desperately tried to escape. The corner of Tōma's mouth lifted.
Now you want to run?
The light along the blade of the Ink Shadow Sword extended again, but this time it crackled with sharp, piercing lightning. The air filled with the sound of countless birds crying out at once.
This strike was different.
"Chidori Blade."
Without hesitation, Tōma swung.
High above, Deidara urged his clay bird faster, sweat beading on his forehead as the massive lightning-forged sword shadow chased him relentlessly.
Why couldn't he shake it?
He'd accelerated again and again, changed direction repeatedly, yet the distance kept shrinking. It was as if that blade could extend forever, no matter where he fled.
Panic finally set in.
Only now did Deidara truly understand why the four-member ambush had failed. This wasn't just a difference in strength. It was a difference in level. An enemy they were never meant to defeat.
In the lightning, Deidara thought he saw a colossal thunder hawk diving through the sky, and he was its prey.
Clenching his teeth, he began spitting out explosive clay birds in a frantic attempt to slow it down. One after another, they rushed toward the lightning blade.
They didn't even get close.
The surrounding electricity detonated them instantly. Clay was still earth, and earth was helpless against lightning. Cut off from Deidara's chakra, the failed explosives dropped uselessly from the sky.
Watching them fall, Deidara felt it sink in.
There was no escape.
Absolute suppression. Attribute disadvantage. Overwhelming power.
This strike couldn't be dodged.
Strangely, he wasn't afraid.
He felt… regret. His ultimate art hadn't yet been unleashed.
And yet, staring at the dazzling lightning blade, Deidara found a twisted sense of appreciation. The violent beauty of every crackling arc, the destructive elegance within that sword.
Maybe dying to this wasn't so bad.
Then he laughed.
How could he, an artist, face such art without responding?
Deidara tore open his cloak mid-flight, exposing his bare torso. On his left chest, a grotesque mouth opened wide.
Laughing wildly, he stuffed every last bit of explosive clay he had into it, heedless of whether it could even chew fast enough. When that still wasn't enough, he ripped apart the clay bird beneath his feet and fed it to the mouth as well.
With no support left, his body began to fall.
At the same time, the lightning hawk struck.
Deidara didn't scream. Every ounce of his chakra went into shielding the explosives inside him from premature detonation. His body was already ruined. That didn't matter anymore.
Then, on his charred face, a smile appeared.
"Behold… my final art."
"C0."
He screamed it to the sky.
"Art… is an explosion!"
The world erupted.
The blast swallowed everything, vaporizing trees and earth alike. The ground shook violently, forcing everyone below to reinforce their footing with chakra just to stay standing.
For a moment, all they could see was light and destruction.
So this was Deidara's art.
Even the greatest explosion, however, eventually faded.
When the dust settled, a massive crater stretched across the land. Everyone stared in silence, instinctively swallowing. Anyone caught inside that blast would have been erased without a trace.
Which led to a terrifying thought.
If this was the result of being forced into self-destruction… just how strong was the man who had driven Deidara to it?
Kakashi looked at Tōma, at a loss for words. That strike had clearly been based on Chidori, but the scale, the reach, the control… even if he held that sword himself, he couldn't replicate it.
And it hadn't been long since they'd last fought.
Tōma's grown again, Kakashi realized grimly. To a level he could no longer fully understand.
Ino's eyes sparkled as she stared at him. She'd never doubted his strength, but seeing it firsthand filled her with pride that made her chest ache.
That's my boyfriend, she thought smugly. Amazing, right?
If Kakashi and Karin weren't there, she might have thrown herself at him already.
Karin, on the other hand, stood frozen, mouth opening and closing uselessly.
This is… Tōma?
This is the guy Sasuke talks about?
With strength like that, who were they to think about rescuing him? If Tōma couldn't handle an enemy, the rest of them wouldn't even slow them down.
Tōma sheathed his sword and shook his numb hand, glancing at the enormous crater.
"All artists are crazy," he muttered.
His lightning blade had been completely destroyed in the explosion, but he felt no frustration. Deidara had burned his entire life away for that attack. If it hadn't broken through, that would've been absurd.
Turning back to Ino, Tōma asked, "How did you get here so fast? Is the Mōryō situation resolved?"
He'd been puzzled by their timing. His travel speed wasn't something normal shinobi could match. For them to arrive so quickly meant they'd followed almost immediately.
Ino explained everything, including their encounter with Orochimaru.
Tōma listened quietly, then nodded in understanding.
"So that's how it fits together," he said softly.
He'd briefly suspected Danzō might've contacted Akatsuki directly, but that never quite made sense. Orochimaru, however, was the perfect intermediary. Old collaborators. Familiar methods. Snakes in the same nest.
Danzō had set the trap. Akatsuki had sprung it.
They just hadn't expected him to break through right before stepping into it.
Seeing the worry on Ino's face, Tōma reached out and gently pinched her cheek. "Don't worry. I'll take care of it. You've seen my strength. Those rats can't hurt me."
She brushed his hand away, flustered with others watching, but his calm confidence eased her heart. Remembering everything he'd done before, she smiled and nodded.
"…Okay."