"Ugh—"
Deidara chewed for a moment longer, infusing his own chakra and Kurama's chakra into the clay, then spat it out.
A gigantic clay clone, nearly ten meters tall and identical to the explosive artist, landed on the ground with a loud thud.
"Hahaha! I've got large-scale art too, hmm!" Deidara laughed, clearly pleased with his creation.
Hashirama, standing atop the wooden dragon's head, looked down in disgust. "Ugh. Another technique spit out like vomit."
He glanced at the three-headed white snake that had approached and stopped in front of him. Though the First Hokage's voice wasn't loud, his position on the dragon's head kept him close enough for Deidara to hear every word.
The comment made the younger ninja's fist clench in anger. "Damn it! My art isn't anything like Orochimaru's disgusting methods! You'll see—soon you'll witness that fleeting, transcendent brilliance that surpasses ordinary art!"
While controlling the giant clay bird to ascend, Deidara formed hand seals and shouted down toward the puppet troupe on the distant White Snake's side. "Sasori! Pull your puppets back! This is ultimate art that can't be controlled!"
Sasori frowned at the giant clay clone radiating a dangerous aura. With a wave of his hand, he controlled the puppets to abandon the wounded White Snake and fly backward.
"That brat actually used his trump card? Doesn't he know Orochimaru is my prey? I'll teach him a lesson after this—he needs to learn obedience to his seniors!"
Seeing the puppets retreat, Deidara clenched his fists to his chest and roared, "Drink!"
Instantly, the gigantic clay clone began to rapidly expand and distort, like a balloon being inflated.
"Here it comes," Hashirama muttered, his disgust giving way to vigilance. He immediately controlled the wooden dragon, using its front half to coil around the expanding clone. The dragon's tail slammed into the earth with a deafening bang, then emerged from beneath the three-headed white snake, tightly binding it and pulling it toward the gigantic clay clone.
Hashirama was making damn sure The Snake couldn't escape while they fought.
"Damn First Hokage!"
Sensing the wooden dragon's pull, Orochimaru emerged once more from the mouth of his menacing snake, a white ring engraved with the character for "emptiness" clutched in his hand.
He had indeed planned to use Deidara's explosion as cover for his escape. But now, trapped right in front of the blast, his tricks wouldn't work. He had no choice but to pull out the ring, hoping to use it to create an opening at the critical moment.
Up ahead, Deidara's giant clay clone didn't stop expanding despite the wooden dragon's entanglement. In fact, flesh-like material squeezed out from the gaps in the coils until it reached its limit and burst open with a wet pop, like a balloon stretched too far.
The shattered body mysteriously melted into the air.
"This is—!" Hashirama's eyes widened.
Though nothing was visible in the sky after the explosion, he sensed a dangerous, golden-blue chakra rapidly expanding outward. In the blink of an eye, it enveloped him and the wooden dragon.
Orochimaru, similarly caught in the blast, felt nothing but shock and rage. He instantly sensed the microscopic clay bombs permeating his blood vessels.
"Damn it! This explosive artist actually possesses such terrifying ninjutsu! No—the ring can't be kept any longer!"
The thought had barely formed when the nano-level clay bombs inside his body detonated.
Because of their tiny size, the explosions were silent. Instead of fire and noise, they simply annihilated blood vessels, flesh, internal organs, and bones.
His body collapsed like a sandcastle in a hurricane, crumbling piece by piece into dust that dissipated into the air.
Hashirama suffered the same fate. Even the outer skin of the wooden dragon beneath his feet crumbled away. His face—usually so calm—twisted with intense killing intent.
"This silent, annihilating explosion... if used on a battlefield, it would be no less devastating than a Tailed Beast Ball. Perhaps even more dangerous." His voice was cold. "This young man wielding Explosion Release is too powerful and far too dangerous for the ninja world. I must kill him here."
In Hashirama's view, Deidara's technique matched a Tailed Beast Bomb's battlefield effectiveness. In fact, because it was more unpredictable and harder to defend against, it was even more practical.
Tailed Beast Balls were primarily deterrents. If one side unleashed them, the other could retaliate with their own, leading to mutual destruction and barren wastelands.
But Deidara's ability? It could wipe out entire squads silently. No warning. No visible attack.
Deidara, oblivious to the kill order forming in Hashirama's mind, stood atop his giant clay bird, laughing wildly.
"Hmm! Hmm! Hmm! Beautiful—absolutely beautiful! This is my masterpiece! The range, the propagation speed, the destructive power... it's perfect! This is ultimate art—unparalleled explosion, hahaha!"
After incorporating about half of Kurama's chakra Menma had given him, his nanobombs had at least doubled in concentration and range. They could cover half the Sound Village, and their power was even greater.
Before, small debris would remain after detonation. Now, it was indistinguishable from smoke and dust—blown everywhere by the wind, barely visible to the naked eye.
Having witnessed Kurama's chakra's benefits firsthand, Deidara was now completely devoted to Menma. If Menma ordered him to turn against Sasori right now, Deidara wouldn't hesitate for a second.
Thinking of Menma reminded him of the ring Menma wanted. His gaze immediately locked onto Orochimaru. Once the dust settled, he'd retrieve that ring from the ashes.
But Orochimaru's body, mostly dissipated, sensed Deidara's stare. Without hesitation, he tossed the ring toward Hashirama.
"First Hokage! That ring is why Akatsuki is hunting me! It's a clue to uncovering more about Akatsuki! Since they want to kill me and take it back, I'd rather die than leave it to that evil organization!"
After throwing the ring and shouting those words, Orochimaru's remaining half collapsed at an accelerated pace. The white snake from his Eight Branches Technique vanished into smoke with a bang.
All that remained was a barely perceptible dent in the ground.
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