Seeing the overwhelmingly powerful explosion, Deidara nodded in satisfaction.
"That should have killed them with my art—"
Before he could finish speaking, Yōsuke and the other two burst out of the dust cloud and instantly appeared right in front of him.
Deidara was startled and immediately leapt backward, putting distance between himself and the three.
Seizing the opportunity, Yōsuke explained,
"We want to invite you to join our organization."
"The Crow? What kind of random, nonsense organization is that?" Deidara scoffed mercilessly. "Who would join a group whose name has absolutely zero artistic sense?!"
A vein bulged on Yōsuke's forehead as he ground his teeth.
"As long as you join, anything can be discussed!"
Hakuji and Gyūtarō simultaneously rubbed their temples in silence. It seemed that this time, Yōsuke-sama was absolutely determined to recruit this brat.
"Tch, no way!" Deidara grabbed another handful of clay, chewing it with the mouths in his palms.
Gyūtarō suggested,
"Yōsuke-sama, let me handle this."
Yōsuke sighed.
"Now I finally understand why this guy is such a troublesome kid. But since I'm the one who wants to recruit him, I'll take care of it myself."
He looked at Deidara and said,
"If I win, you'll join our organization."
Deidara's fighting spirit flared.
"Don't underestimate me—and don't underestimate art! My ninjutsu is a supreme art that surpasses everything!"
"Come experience art!"
From his palm, Deidara hurled a centipede-shaped piece of clay toward Yōsuke.
At the instant the clay centipede reached him—
"Hah!"
It exploded instantly.
Yōsuke had already leapt into the air before the explosion, cleanly evading it and landing steadily on the ground.
But then, a sudden change occurred.
The earth beneath Yōsuke's feet burst open, and a massive centipede erupted from the ground, binding him in place.
Deidara sneered.
"You sure talk big for someone with only this much ability. It's over!"
"Blood Domain!"
The ground beneath Yōsuke was instantly flooded with blood. Within the domain, ropes woven entirely from blood wrapped tightly around the clay centipede, forcibly tearing it away from Yōsuke's body.
Next, Yōsuke entered his Demon King Form.
Blood-red wings spread from his back, his hair turned a vivid crimson like fresh blood, and he rose into the air, hovering above Deidara and gazing down at him.
Seeing Yōsuke take on the Demon King form, Hakuji exclaimed in shock,
"It's just a fight with a kid—does Yosuke-samareally need to be this serious?"
Gyūtarō hesitated before guessing,
"Maybe… Yosuke-sama wants to show off his own 'art' as well?"
Deidara stared in disbelief at Yōsuke's form—the blood-woven domain, the demon-king-like figure suspended in the sky. Under the sunlight, it radiated an eerie, indescribable beauty.
At that moment, Deidara was entranced, completely immersed in that strange aesthetic.
"So beautiful… This… this is art!"
Covering part of his face with one hand, Deidara muttered in disbelief,
"I was actually captivated by someone else's power… This is art—no, I won't accept it!"
Yōsuke swept his arm through the air. Within the Blood Domain, countless weapons formed entirely from blood rose up, all aimed at Deidara. With a single thought, Yōsuke could kill him instantly.
"You've lost."
Deidara's shock twisted into rage.
"Don't joke with me! I'm the stronger one! My ability is perfect—it's art that surpasses everyone else! I can't lose!"
He shoved all the remaining clay from his ninja pouch into the mouths in his palms and chewed furiously. A small clay humanoid emerged.
Deidara threw the clay doll to the ground and formed a hand seal with one hand.
"C3: Number Eighteen!"
The clay figure rapidly expanded, transforming into a massive humanoid construct.
Yōsuke opened his palm and aimed it at the giant clay figure. Countless streams of blood surged upward, enveloping the construct and sealing it into a spherical mass.
With a crazed expression, Deidara shouted,
"Art is an explosion! Hah!"
The blood-wrapped sphere swelled several times in size under the violent detonation—but contrary to Deidara's expectations, it didn't rupture or cause a massive blast.
Instead, it let out a dull thud, like a misfired shell, and nothing happened.
Deidara had exhausted all of his clay. He had no means left to resist.
He collapsed to his knees, hands braced against the ground, unable to believe that he had lost—not just the battle, but even the art he had always taken pride in.
Yōsuke flapped his blood wings and descended to the ground, dispersing the Blood Domain and canceling the Demon King form. He walked up to Deidara and extended his hand.
"By our agreement, you'll join our organization."
Deidara stared blankly at the outstretched hand—then slapped it away.
He pushed himself to his feet, looking both stubborn and unwilling to concede.
"I'll join your organization. But I won't admit defeat. My art will never lose! Next time, I'll definitely beat you!"
Yōsuke smiled.
"Good. I'll be waiting."
Deidara removed the forehead protector from his head and drew a deep scratch across it with a kunai.
Yōsuke asked, puzzled,
"What are you doing?"
Deidara looked at him strangely.
"Isn't it obvious? I'm a rogue ninja now."
Yōsuke didn't know what to say. All he felt was a dull ache in his head.
"Joining our organization doesn't conflict with you being a ninja of Iwagakure."
"Huh? Aren't you guys rogue ninja too?" Deidara said incredulously. "You're not even wearing forehead protectors."
"We're not rogue ninja. Or rather—we were never ninja to begin with."
Deidara was stunned.
"You're not from any ninja village?!"
"Many strong people are ninja," Yōsuke replied, "but there's no rule that says all strong people must be ninja."
"Tch, whatever," Deidara said indifferently. "Being a rogue ninja saves me the trouble of that old man coming after me. What a pain. Now I can finally focus on researching art without being disturbed."
A hint of excitement appeared on Deidara's face.
Before leaving, Deidara left his scratched forehead protector inside the house, along with a letter, and followed Yōsuke away from Iwagakure.
Inside the Tsuchikage Building, Ōnoki, the Third Tsuchikage, was handling official affairs.
He had long since noticed the explosions outside the village. Since Deidara caused explosions from time to time anyway, Ōnoki wasn't surprised. During Yōsuke and Deidara's battle, Ōnoki simply assumed Deidara was up to his usual mischief.
"Huh? Why is that brat acting so strange today?" Ōnoki muttered. "The explosions stopped after such a short time."
Because the battle had ended so quickly, it instead made Ōnoki suspicious.
"I haven't checked on that little troublemaker in a while. I'm not busy right now—might as well go take a look."
Ōnoki opened the window and cast Ultra-Light-Weight Rock Technique on himself, allowing him to float into the air. He drifted leisurely toward Deidara's residence.
When he arrived, the place was already empty. Only a scratched forehead protector and a letter remained on the table.
After reading the letter, Ōnoki slammed the table, shattering it to pieces in rage.
[Old man, I've become a rogue ninja. I'm going off to pursue art!]