As the battle increasingly leaned in favor of the Cloud Village,
a crimson figure suddenly descended onto the battlefield,
his body glowing as if bathed in molten lava.
Nearby, another ninja was enveloped in swirling steam.
It was none other than the Four-Tails and Five-Tails jinchūriki, Ōzu and Han, rushing in to provide support.
With the arrival of the two jinchūriki,
the pressure on Iwagakure's side was instantly reduced.
Meanwhile, inside Iwagakure,
"KACH!!"
"BOOM!!!!"
A loud explosion ripped through a detention cell,
blowing a massive hole in it.
"Hahaha! It worked!!"
Looking at his masterpiece,
Deidara was ecstatic.
Not long ago, he had been locked up for causing explosions,
courtesy of Ōnoki.
But that couldn't stop him—
he had developed a new type of clay bomb and successfully escaped.
Just as he emerged, he saw Kurosuchi's exasperated face.
"Senpai, I was about to get you out~"
"And now? Once Grandpa comes back, you'll be locked up again for sure!"
Deidara, unfazed, just smiled.
Locked up or not,
he could always blow his way out later.
After all, that's what art was all about!
Just as Deidara prepared to see what was happening,
rumbling and shouts of battle came from outside the village.
"What's going on?"
"The Cloud Village attacked. Otherwise, I wouldn't have sneaked out to free you!"
"What?!!!"
Deidara's expression turned to shock.
While he had been in confinement,
the enemy had reached Iwagakure's gates?
Immediately, he grabbed his special clay from Kurosuchi.
As his hands shaped it,
a massive clay bird appeared before them.
"Let's go! Time to help out!"
"And give these fools a taste of Deidara's art!!!"
The two of them rode the clay bird into the sky above the battlefield.
Seeing the chaos below,
Deidara's excitement skyrocketed.
So many people,
all about to witness his art in action!
"Hahaha!!!"
"This is perfect! Now, everyone will see my art in its full glory!"
On the chaotic battlefield,
no one noticed the sky.
Even Ōnoki, capable of flight, was tied up engaging the Fourth Raikage.
No one expected Iwagakure still had such powerful ninjas.
With Deidara manipulating his clay,
countless small clay figures were absorbed into the mouths on his palms.
Soon,
as he opened his hands,
dozens of clay spiders appeared in front of Kurosuchi.
"Senpai, you've invented something new again?"
"Hahaha, watch closely! This is my latest C1 bomb!"
Without hesitation,
Deidara scattered the clay spiders from the sky.
At first, they went unnoticed—
amidst the chaotic battlefield,
no one paid attention to small spiders falling from above.
Soon, under Deidara's control,
the clay spiders crawled onto the bodies of Cloud Village ninja.
Once all the spiders were in place,
Deidara's excitement could no longer be contained.
Looking at the chaotic battle below,
he formed hand seals:
Snake – Monkey – Tiger!
"Art is an explosion!!!"
KACH!!!
With Deidara's jutsu activated,
the clay spiders immediately came alive,
all glowing a vivid crimson.
Cloud ninja noticed too late,
and before they could react,
the spiders detonated.
BOOM—BOOM—
"AAAHHH!!!"
"My leg!!!"
"Damn it! A bomb!! My arm!!"
"Watch out for those white spiders!"
A series of explosions erupted across the battlefield.
Though the clay spider explosions weren't massively lethal,
anyone caught in the blast risked losing a limb,
causing large-scale injuries among Cloud ninja.
The battlefield upheaval immediately drew the attention of Ōnoki and the Fourth Raikage.
Seeing the familiar clay bird in the sky,
Ōnoki couldn't help but smile.
"That brat… still reliable when it counts!"
For Ōnoki, it was a relief.
For the Fourth Raikage,
it was a pain.
These were Cloud Village elite troops.
Losing them was bad enough,
but having them wounded was even worse—
their teammates had to treat them,
adding pressure on the village,
and causing a major logistical nightmare.
"Impossible!!!"
"Damn fool!!"
Seeing this, the Fourth Raikage roared,
activating full-powered Lightning Release chakra mode.
His target was the clay-flying Deidara.
Though the Raikage could not fly,
his body's power allowed short bursts of levitation.
Ōnoki, however, wouldn't give him a chance.
If that reckless guy got through,
his precious disciple wouldn't survive a single encounter.
Prepared for the worst,
Ōnoki used Dust Release again,
a transparent block cutting off the Raikage's path.
The Fourth Raikage fumed,
but wisely did not charge blindly.
He knew the destructive power of Dust Release.
Reluctantly, he continued to clash with Ōnoki.
Meanwhile, the battlefield situation worsened.
The Cloud army, once dominant,
was now on the defensive as Iwagakure deployed its jinchūriki and Deidara's aerial bombardment.
The tide had turned,
and now the Cloud forces were being chased back.
The Fourth Raikage,
attacking Ōnoki while trying to assist elsewhere,
grew increasingly frantic,
exposing multiple openings.
If not for his full-powered Lightning Release mode,
he might have already been taken down by Ōnoki.
"Still hiding something?"
"What's the Cloud jinchūriki's plan?"
"If you don't act now, it'll be too late~"
Seeing the Raikage stretched thin,
Ōnoki couldn't resist teasing.
After all, the Cloud Eight-Tails was far stronger than Iwagakure's Four-Tails and Five-Tails,
and there was also the Two-Tails.
Though Ōnoki constantly blocked the Raikage,
he never took his eyes off the battlefield,
watching for the Cloud jinchūriki's movements,
fearing any diversion tactic.
Sending a jinchūriki into the village unprepared
would have been disastrous.
So far,
there had been no sign of the Cloud jinchūriki,
though it left Ōnoki's mind buzzing with suspicion
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