Chapter 256: God's Intervention and The Puppeteer's Masterpiece
The Deidara Battlefield.
The colossal, orange sea of fire, launched by the furious Deidara, instantly engulfed everything in its path. It was a scorching wave of pure destruction.
Five thick, rapidly constructed earth walls—the desperate defenses of the three Konoha pursuers—were torn apart, melted, and sent flying as shrapnel in the roaring flames.
Poof!
The Earth Release specialist, known as Iwa, bore the direct brunt of the initial shockwave. His body, protected only by the rapidly collapsing walls, was sent flying by the brutal concussive force, slamming against a large rock a hundred meters away.
"IWA!"
Uchiha Shunichi and Hyūga Tokuma's eyes instantly turned bloodshot with rage and despair.
The next second, they too were caught in the expanding ring of fire and debris. They were sent flying by the irresistible force, crashing violently into the scorching desert sand to create two deep, smoking craters.
"Damn it..."
Uchiha Shunichi struggled to his feet, coughing up mouthfuls of hot sand and bile. His Sharingan flickered weakly, struggling to maintain its focus.
Hyūga Tokuma on the other side was in an even worse state; one arm hung uselessly, clearly broken, dangling at an unnatural angle. He gasped, forcing his Byakugan to remain active.
As for Iwa, the Earth Release specialist, he was completely motionless, having fallen unconscious near the large rock, his armor shattered.
It's over!
All three had reached the absolute limit of their chakra and endurance. They were broken.
Deidara stood atop his soaring clay dragon, looking down from his secure aerial perch at the three struggling, broken figures.
"Do you see, you pathetic ground-crawlers!?" he shrieked, his voice laced with manic triumph. "This is true art! Your futile resistance only adds a touch of necessary despair to my artistic composition! It makes the ending more beautiful, yeah!"
"Now, I'll send you on your final way! Go appreciate the art of the single, perfect finishing touch!"
Deidara slowly raised his hand, his mouth-pouch grinning maliciously. He began kneading a small lump of clay, preparing to deliver the final, beautiful, lethal blow—a single, focused C3 clay bomb that would reduce them to dust.
Just then...
WHOOSH—!!!
A visible, powerful white air current, accompanied by a faint, distant thunderclap, rushed past the kneeling figures with the force of a localized sonic boom!
Immediately after, a tall, imposing figure, moving so fast it traversed several kilometers in just a few breaths, materialized between the defeated Konoha ninja and Deidara's ready hand!
Uchiha Shunichi and Hyūga Tokuma only felt a blur of motion before their eyes. The next moment, a tall, authoritative figure stood completely still in front of them, radiating an aura of calm, unyielding power.
"Ho... Hokage-sama!"
Hyūga Tokuma, despite his broken arm and exhaustion, managed to force the words out. Uchiha Shunichi's breath hitched in his throat.
The Fifth Hokage! Uchiha Akira!
He had arrived!
Instantly, the entire nature of the battle changed. The outcome was beyond doubt. The battle, in reality, was already over.
Akira vs. Deidara.
In the sky.
Deidara's triumphant, fanatical smile slightly receded. He narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing the figure that had suddenly appeared below.
"Is this guy... Konoha's Fifth Hokage, Uchiha Akira?"
Deidara shouted down, his voice losing its playful edge, regaining its strategic arrogance.
"By the looks of you, you must be the leader of these pathetic wastes, huh?"
"Uchiha Akira, I've heard the rumors. Becoming Hokage at such a young age... you certainly have some skill, I'll grant you that, hm."
Deidara quickly saw an opportunity. He spread his hands wide, a theatrical gesture.
"How about it? Interested in joining our Akatsuki? I hear the leader is looking for another eye-user."
"A decaying Village like Konoha is simply not worthy of your true artistic talent! The position of Hokage will only shackle your ultimate genius!"
"Come to our side! Come join me! I can put in a good word for you with the leader. Together, we can use the most extreme, spectacular art to create a brand new world! Yeah!"
Deidara's expression was frenzied. "This is the path you should be on, Uchiha!"
However.
Uchiha Akira never paid any attention to Deidara's theatrical monologue. Not from beginning to end. He didn't even glance up.
His purple Rinnegan swept over the defeated figures on the ground.
"Shunichi. Tokuma."
His voice was calm, absolute. "Take Iwa and retreat immediately. Get him and yourselves to the main medical tent."
"Yes! Hokage-sama!"
The two Jōnin didn't hesitate for a moment. They knew better than to question a direct order. With Hokage-sama standing there, the enemy's demise was assured. They quickly stepped forward, lifted the unconscious Iwa, and retreated at high speed.
In the sky.
Deidara's smile gradually froze, replaced by raw, disbelieving fury.
He dared to ignore me!
"Bastard..." Deidara whispered, his voice shaking.
"You... you guy..."
"I'm talking to you! Are you even listening to me?! You're supposed to be paying attention to the art!"
"How dare you... ignore me! Who do you think I am?! I am an artist!"
Deidara let out a hysterical, frustrated roar.
"Good! Very good!"
"Since you're so eager to die and disrespect my art, then I'll grant your wish, Uchiha!"
"I'm going to blow you, you arrogant fool, into the most dazzling, beautiful fireworks in the sky! The kind that lasts forever! Yeah!"
"Let you personally experience the taste of being completely devoured by my ultimate art! Hm!"
Deidara clapped his hands together forcefully! The chakra within him surged wildly, pouring without reservation into the colossal C2 clay dragon beneath his feet!
Roar—!!! The clay creature thrashed.
"Die! Uchiha Akira! Taste my full power!"
Deidara waved his hand abruptly!
The giant C2 dragon beneath him opened its ferocious, hinged maw!
The next second, with a terrifying pressure!
Five white shapes, much larger than the previous bombs—each already the size of a smaller clay dragon—spewed out consecutively from the dragon's mouth!
Deidara roared, controlling the five colossal clay dragons to charge downwards in a rapid, converging dive towards Uchiha Akira's lone figure.
Uchiha Akira's expression remained utterly calm. He finally looked up.
Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan!
The purple ripples of the Rinnegan remained, but the tomoe of the Mangekyō spun beneath them, giving his eyes a layered look of ancient, destructive power.
"Die! Uchiha Akira!" In the sky, Deidara's face was contorted with fanatical glee, his hands clasped together, ready to detonate the five dragons in a single, world-shattering explosion.
Just at this critical moment.
Uchiha Akira's right eye slightly narrowed.
His ocular power instantly activated!
Kamui: Chronal Regression!
[Inorin's Note: Kamui is the space-time dōjutsu of the Mangekyō Sharingan. In this fanfic, Akira's unique right-eye variation, Chronal Regression, allows him to locally reverse time.]
Buzz—
A terrifying, localized ocular power instantly enveloped the five descending clay dragons.
In Deidara's stunned, horrified gaze, an incredible, reality-defying scene unfolded.
The five menacing clay dragons, just meters from hitting the ground and exploding, suddenly paused in mid-air.
Immediately after, the dragons' bodies, as if a rewind button had been pressed on reality itself, began to rapidly shrink and disintegrate in a manner that defied all laws of physics and Ninjutsu.
From their complex, menacing dragon forms, they reverted back into formless lumps of unshaped white clay.
Finally, with a few soft "plops," the now-inert clay dropped harmlessly onto the sand in front of Uchiha Akira, turning into several pieces of ordinary earth with no chakra fluctuations whatsoever. The threat was erased.
In the sky.
Deidara remained with his hands clasped, frozen in the posture of preparing to shout the detonation command, his entire body locked in a momentary daze.
"...Hm?"
"My... my art... where is my art?"
Deidara stared down at the pile of mundane clay, then at the unharmed Uchiha Akira. His mind was a complete blank.
"It... it disappeared?"
"How could it disappear?! Was it... was it a genjutsu?!"
Deidara's first, desperate thought was that he had fallen under some impossible Genjutsu, cast by the Uchiha's eyes.
He immediately mobilized the chakra within his body, attempting to break free from the Genjutsu's interference.
However, the flow of chakra within him was perfectly smooth, completely unaffected!
It wasn't a Genjutsu at all!
"Impossible! This is absolutely impossible! A spatial ninjutsu!?"
"You, you bastard! What exactly did you do to my art?!" Deidara shrieked, his mind reeling from the violation of his fundamental truth.
Meanwhile, on the Sasori Battlefield.
Boom—!
With a final, deafening bang, the deadly puppet of the Third Kazekage—Sasori's greatest human-puppet masterpiece—was completely shattered into countless pieces by Tsunade's devastating punch.
The violent air current and debris sent Sasori flying backward, slamming into a dune.
Sasori tumbled awkwardly in the sand for a few turns before barely steadying himself, spitting sand and bile.
He slowly stood up, his youthful, delicate face now devoid of any of its initial composure or theatrical calm.
It was replaced by an extreme, cold, murderous killing intent. He was furious.
"Tsunade..."
Sasori's metallic voice sounded as if it was being squeezed through his teeth, filled with cold vengeance.
"You actually... destroyed my most perfect collection! You reduced a Kage to rubble!"
"Unforgivable!"
"You foolish woman who only relies on brute, clumsy force! You do not understand what eternal art truly is! You only understand destruction!"
"In that case," Sasori's voice rose, a chilling, synthetic laugh escaping his lips, "I'll let you witness the horror of sheer numbers! The beauty of an eternal, living army!"
Sasori suddenly pulled out a wide, heavy scroll from the inner workings of his body.
Rip!
The scroll unfurled instantly in mid-air. It was densely covered, edge to edge, with complex, dark runes—a massive sealing formula.
"Secret Skill: Red Secret Technique!"
Sasori formed a rapid series of hand seals and slammed the scroll onto the ground with a powerful, focused impact!
Bang—!!!
A cloud of white smoke, dozens of times larger than any normal summoning, exploded, instantly engulfing an area of several hundred meters!
From within the massive smoke cloud came a spine-tingling sound: countless high-pitched, grating noises of gears turning, metal grinding, and wood joints clacking together.
The smoke dissipated instantly, revealing the sight within.
A terrifying spectacle.
Centered around Sasori, hundreds upon hundreds of puppets—all wearing identical red cloaks and wielding various poisoned, gleaming weapons—stood densely packed across the entire sandy area. They formed a vast, silent, metal encirclement, trapping Tsunade firmly in the center.
This was Sasori of the Red Sand's strongest ultimate technique:
"Performance of a Hundred Puppets!" (Hitokugutsu: Hyakki no Sōen!)
[Inorin's Note: Red Secret Technique: Performance of a Hundred Puppets is Sasori's most powerful, Kage-level technique, allowing him to control 100 human puppets simultaneously, often used to conquer entire nations.]
It was the very power he had used to conquer a city by himself decades ago!
"In front of my eternal army, how utterly insignificant your individual, fleshy strength truly is, Tsunade!"
Sasori stood behind the perfect ranks of the hundred puppets, countlessly fine, almost invisible chakra threads extending from his ten fingertips, connecting to each and every puppet in the silent army.
"Right here, Tsunade... you will become the crowning piece of my greatest collection! My latest, most beautiful human puppet!"
"KILL!" Sasori shrieked the final command. The puppet army surged forward as one.
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