No matter how arrogant and artistic Deidara was, he wasn't a fool. Faced with a foe as formidable as the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki, he chose to test the waters with a C2 explosive first—a tactic he'd used against Sasuke Uchiha in the original manga. Deidara thrust his right hand into his clay pouch, tore off a chunk of clay, and inserted it into the mouth on his palm. His hands worked swiftly, kneading and mixing the explosive material with precision born from experience.
Within moments, a clay humanoid took form, pulsating ominously with latent energy. Adjusting the altitude of his clay bird for optimal drop range, Deidara launched the humanoid down toward the orange-clad shinobi.
"I'll see just how well you handle true art," he sneered, his gaze fixed on Naruto.
Click.
The clay figure inflated rapidly midair, swelling to several meters and emitting a sharp glow.
Without hesitation, Naruto slammed his palms together. "Senpō: Fūton - Kaiten Tōrō!" (Sage Art: Wind Release - Spiraling Gale Shield.)
A spinning vortex of wind burst from around him, reminiscent of the Hyūga clan's Rotation but formed from razor-sharp slicing wind chakra. The whirlwind rotated at high speed, its radius expanding with natural energy as its fuel.
BOOOOM!
The C2 clay bomb detonated with a thunderous roar, vaporizing trees and blasting the forest floor into scorched craters. Hundreds of meters of terrain were reduced to ash and rubble. As the dust settled, the remnants of Naruto's spinning wind defense dissipated into gusts.
Floating in the sky, Deidara narrowed his eyes. "Tch… This brat's no ordinary Genin. That defense absorbed the whole blast!"
"But don't get cocky," he spat, already kneading more clay. "You haven't seen anything yet!"
Below, Naruto's expression remained calm. He understood Deidara's tactics—keep the pressure on from the sky, always testing, probing. But Naruto wasn't the same hothead he'd been before.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto formed the cross seal.
In a blink, more than a hundred shadow clones surged across the clearing. The entire battlefield was suddenly teeming with Naruto clones—some on the ground, others launching skyward with chakra-infused jumps.
Each one charged a glowing orb of blue-white energy in their right hand and roared in unison, "Senpō: Chō Ōdama Rasengan!" (Sage Art: Super Big Ball Rasengan!)
The sheer number of giant Rasengan spinning simultaneously was overwhelming. Even Deidara, whose pride as an artist bordered on insanity, felt a chill. "How much chakra does this kid have?!"
"Don't underestimate me, you loudmouth brat!" he roared, but panic was in his voice.
Realizing direct confrontation was suicide, Deidara made the only logical choice—retreat. He pulled his clay bird into a steep ascent, trying to evade the wave of clones. Explosions erupted one after another as shadow clones collided midair and detonated, their massive Rasengan impacting the clay bird or ground below.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
From below, the real Naruto calmly monitored the chaos, unmoving. He wasn't aiming to kill Deidara—not yet. His real objective was to pressure him into abandoning Gaara's body.
He knew from Granny Chiyo's words earlier that she possessed the Kishō Tensei, the One's Own Life Reincarnation Technique, capable of reviving the dead at the cost of the user's life force. But if Gaara's body was destroyed in the battle, that chance would be gone.
As the clones' assault concluded, Deidara's clay bird burst apart midair, pulverized by the Rasengan swarm. Dust and clay rained from the sky.
Naruto's eyes remained sharp. He had already dispatched ten shadow clones to stealthily retrieve Gaara's body while Deidara was distracted.
Behind the remains of a scorched tree trunk, the real Deidara lay crouched, panting and covered in soot. "Damn… This kid's chakra reserves are on another level."
He clenched his teeth. "But it doesn't matter… The One-Tail Jinchūriki is dead. The extraction is complete. I've already fulfilled my mission."
Naruto placed Gaara's body down gently. As expected, Deidara had used a clay clone to evade the earlier barrage. That was consistent with his evasive tactics from the original series.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto formed eight more clones.
Without waiting, the clones spread out, one rushing toward a nearby tree. Deidara, hiding nearby, saw them approaching and reacted instantly. From his palm, he hurled a small flying clay orb.
Click!
BOOM!
The explosive incinerated the approaching shadow clone in a burst of light.
But from above, another clone descended from the canopy, hand raised high. In his grasp spun a Senpō: Chō Ōdama Rasengan, its surface shimmering with potent nature energy.
"Damn it—" Deidara cursed.
Forming hand seals rapidly, he muttered, "Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu!" (Earth Style: Hiding Like a Mole Technique.)
His body instantly sank into the ground, melding with the earth as the massive Rasengan collided, tearing a crater ten meters wide into the ground.
Although Naruto didn't possess the Sharingan, his Sage Mode granted him near-perfect chakra sensory perception. He could feel Deidara moving underground, fast and erratic.
Naruto turned, already forming another Rasengan. Slamming it down into the soil, he aimed it precisely at Deidara's chakra signature.
"Shit!" Deidara barked, forced to leap out to avoid the impact. The blast had nearly grazed him.
He tumbled to the ground and rolled back to his feet, gritting his teeth.
He'd never seen chakra used so recklessly and with such raw power—except from that man.
"…This is like fighting Kisame," Deidara muttered. "No restraint. Just an ocean of chakra."
Naruto stood calmly, wind stirring around him. "You're not getting away. I see everything."
Those words hit Deidara like a brick. For a second, his mind flashed back to that battle—the one with Uchiha Itachi. The Sharingan, that cursed eye that read every move before it happened.
That bastard had once said something almost exactly the same.
Deidara's eye twitched. "This is insane… Am I cursed to face lunatics who see through my every move?"
And now, the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki—who was supposed to be a wild, reckless boy—was speaking just like Uchiha Itachi.
Deidara was a breath away from snapping.