"Deidara, are you trying to die?" Sasori said coldly, his voice dripping with irritation. The tail attached to Hiruko swayed menacingly in the air, as if ready to strike at any moment. To Deidara, however, this was nothing more than a sign of Sasori's frustration and embarrassment.
"Brother Sasori, looks like we can't leave even if we wanted to now!" Deidara replied with a grin.
The Takigakure ninjas who had been fighting around the Seven-Tails Jinchūriki were now either dead or severely injured. Naturally, the two strongest chakra signatures remaining on the battlefield—Sasori and Deidara—became the next targets of the rampaging Jinchūriki.
"Boom!" A dark red tail slammed down on the spot where the two had been standing, obliterating the entire street in an instant.
"What a nuisance," Sasori muttered, leaping onto the roof of a nearby building with Hiruko. He glared at the distant, rampaging Seven-Tails Jinchūriki, his expression dark.
"Brother Sasori, since you can't handle it, just leave it to me. Let them witness my art! Hm!" Deidara declared confidently as he rose into the air on a Large Clay Bird. His first priority was to lure the rampaging Seven-Tails Jinchūriki out of the town. The area was full of innocent civilians, and while Deidara had chosen a path of enduring humiliation to survive, he still couldn't bring himself to ignore the lives of ordinary people.
"Almost there! Perfect timing to test my latest unlocked art!" Deidara reached into his clay pouch and pulled out a large lump of white clay. He brought it to the mouth on his face, took a big bite, and began chewing vigorously. To craft such a large clay bomb, he had to use the mouth on his face!
"Is it following me?" Deidara glanced back at the pursuing Seven-Tails Jinchūriki, now revealing three tails behind it.
"Prepare to be awed by my art! C2 Enhanced Great Dragon!"
"Roar!" A deafening dragon's roar echoed through the forest. A massive clay dragon, over twenty meters long with a wingspan of similar size, appeared in the sky. Unlike the sleek and powerful dragons of traditional imagery, this one appeared somewhat bloated—a feature that was intentional. The dragon itself was a bomb mother, capable of continuously producing clay bombs by reducing its own body size.
"Sasori of the Red Sand Shock Value +500." "Seven-Tails Shock Value +800."
Trailing behind, Sasori looked up at the colossal clay dragon in the sky, which rivaled a Tailed Beast in size. For the first time, he felt a sense of awe.
"So this is that brat's art? Impressive," Sasori admitted begrudgingly.
Finally, Sasori—a kage-level ninja—had been shocked. Seeing the system notifications, Deidara couldn't help but smile. Being able to show off in front of such a strong opponent felt incredibly satisfying.
"Let me show you my art!" Deidara exclaimed, slightly out of breath. Creating such a massive clay dragon had taken a significant toll on his chakra. He guided the clay dragon higher into the sky, forming the Earth Release hand seal as his hands crossed in front of him.
The dragon's throat began to churn, and a small dragon, roughly the size of a car, emerged from its mouth before being spat out.
"Hah!" The small dragon dived toward the Seven-Tails Jinchūriki on the ground at incredible speed. Unable to dodge in time, the Jinchūriki was hit, and the resulting explosion lit up the night forest with a fiery glow.
"Roar!" The Seven-Tails let out an enraged roar as it leapt out of the explosion, unharmed as expected. After all, it was a Tailed Beast—such a minor attack wouldn't faze it.
"Don't just focus on the sky; you'd better watch your step too!" Deidara taunted.
As his voice fell, a massive Clay Centipede, several meters long, emerged and coiled around the rampaging Seven-Tails. This was a trap Deidara had set earlier while luring the beast to this location. At the perfect moment, it finally served its purpose.
"Exploding point-blank—this should be enough to get your attention, even as a Tailed Beast! Hah!" Deidara shouted.
Another deafening explosion followed, the firelight illuminating Sasori's face as he observed from a distance.
"Hmm? A fourth tail has appeared? This form of rampage is new to me," Sasori remarked, intrigued. For him, watching the Jinchūriki's tails increase in number was a rare sight. After all, Sunagakure's One-Tail Shukaku only had a single tail and didn't undergo such a gradual transformation.
Perhaps tired of being on the defensive, the rampaging Seven-Tails suddenly sprouted four chakra wings from its back. Then, with a powerful flap, it took to the skies.
"This is bad! I forgot the Seven-Tails can fly!" Deidara smacked his forehead in frustration. At this point, he had no choice but to use the signature ability of the Enhanced Great Dragon. He couldn't let the Seven-Tails get close—after all, the dragon's bulky structure made it far from agile. In an aerial chase, it would undoubtedly be destroyed.
"Secret Technique! Dragon's Nest!" Deidara shouted. Crossing his hands in the Earth Release seal once more, he channeled a massive amount of chakra into the dragon beneath him. The clay dragon visibly shrank as it rapidly produced a series of white clay eggs, which it spat out one after another.
"These aren't bombs? Hm? Wait, something's different," Sasori muttered from a distance, captivated by the spectacle of the battle.
The white eggs varied in size. Some were as small as a person, while others were as large as a two-story house. They plummeted toward the ground at high speed, but before they could land, they began to hatch. Various types of clay dragons emerged from the eggs, breaking their shells as they came to life.
"Come on! Witness my art!" Deidara shouted excitedly, his voice filled with childlike glee as he gazed at the swarm of dragons before him.
"First, the Combat Hatchlings!" These were the smallest dragons, roughly the size of an average person. Unlike the bloated C2 Great Dragon, they were sleek and agile, using their sharp claws and teeth to inflict damage.
"Next, the Raiding Pterodactyls!" These dragons were twice the size of the hatchlings. Flying at high altitudes, they resembled the pterodactyls of the Jurassic era. Their primary attack method was to dive at high speed from above, piercing enemies with their long, pointed beaks.
"And finally, the Guardian Great Dragons and the Dragon Mothers!" The Guardian Great Dragons were the largest, each the size of a truck. Covered in white scales, they were far stronger than the hatchlings and pterodactyls. Their primary role was to protect Deidara and any other designated targets. As for the Dragon Mothers, there were only two of them. These were standard C2 Great Dragons capable of continuously producing clay bombs.
Of course, all of these dragons were themselves clay bombs. If the situation called for it, they could explode at any moment, dealing massive damage.
"Sasori of the Red Sand Shock Value +500." "Seven-Tails Shock Value +800."
"Roar!" The Seven-Tails flew into the air, initially intending to charge directly at Deidara. However, it was quickly bogged down by the relentless attacks of the dragon swarm. Frustrated by the constant harassment, it opened its massive jaws, and a black sphere of concentrated chakra began to form above its mouth—a Tailed Beast Ball.
"No way! It's using that?" Deidara muttered, slightly panicked. This was his first encounter with a Tailed Beast Ball, and he knew that a direct hit would be fatal.
"Hah!" Forming a seal with his left hand, Deidara detonated a large portion of the dragon swarm surrounding the Seven-Tails, hoping to disrupt the formation of the Tailed Beast Ball. At the same time, he leapt backward, tossing a small Clay Bird with his right hand and retreating to the cover of the remaining clay dragons.
"Boom!" A thunderous explosion erupted as the Tailed Beast Ball tore through the detonations, heading straight for Deidara.
"It looks like I'll have to sacrifice the Guardian Great Dragons to block it. At the very least, I need to deflect its trajectory!" Deidara gritted his teeth. "Hah!"