Self-Destruction
Scorpion was extremely confident in his second scroll.
Because his new Human Puppet is sealed inside—
"Deidara!" Naruto looked at the newly appeared enemy with surprise and doubt. "Weren't you already dead?!"
"Of course he's dead." Sasori's smiling face appeared behind Deidara. "However, thank you for only severing his neck; it's perfect for putting this useless piece of trash to good use!"
In last year's battle against Sakura Haruno, Sasori not only lost a large number of ordinary puppets, but also had his precious Kazekage puppet destroyed.
After that battle, he lost almost half of his fighting strength.
Therefore, the body of Deidara that was later recovered was given to Sasori to be made into Human Puppet in order to make up for his lack of high-end combat power.
Sasori felt no guilt whatsoever about his former comrade becoming Human Puppet. The people of Akatsuki had no sense of camaraderie to begin with, let alone towards that noisy young man who preached "Art is an Explosion."
How can art be an explosion?
Art should be eternal!
Naruto didn't understand what Sasori meant by "making use of waste," but he could tell from Deidara's lifeless appearance that it wasn't a good thing.
"They even attacked their own comrades!"
The simple-minded guy felt nauseous, roared, and dragged the remaining Shadow Clone towards Scorpion.
"Heart!"
Sasuke quickly spoke up to remind him.
Naruto's headlong charge posed no threat to the battle-hardened Sasori, who manipulated Deidara to swing his hand sharply, and the monstrous mouth in his palm instantly spat out a large number of Clay Bomb, catching Naruto off guard and engulfing him in them!
Boom--!
A deafening roar erupted, sending a spray of water flying across the sea and obscuring visibility.
Once the water droplets subsided, Sasori saw that the reckless Jinchūriki was unharmed; he was firmly protected in the palm of a giant, semi-transparent purple hand!
"... Susanoo?" Sasori sneered. "The legendary Sharingan Secret Technique that combines offense and defense? Nothing special!"
He had already mounted Deidara's clay bird and was soaring high in the sky.
Looking down at the insignificant Naruto and Sasuke at his feet, Sasori revealed a cold smile.
In terms of strength, Deidara's power is indeed inferior to that of the Third Kazekage. The Ninjutsu he uses is nothing more than clay bombs of various powers, lacking the ever-changing nature of the Third Kazekage's Kekkei Genkai.
However, Deidara's fighting style was far more practical than that of the Third Kazekage: he could create clay birds that flew in the air and bombard enemies who could not fly with ease!
Standing at such a high altitude means you're already in an invincible position from the very beginning!
"Accept the bombing!"
Sasori manipulated Deidara to frantically shower clay bombs upon the two people at his feet!
Boom boom boom--
The one-sided attack has begun.
As Sasori analyzed, Naruto and Sasuke both prefer close combat and lack the means to strike ranged targets, let alone close-range enemies!
Various kinds of Clay Bomb were continuously thrown down from Deidara's hands, from "Explosive Clay - Grasshopper" to "C1 Bomb - Clay Spider" and "C2 Bomb - Giant Dragon". The bombs of all shapes and sizes were hard to defend against, leaving Naruto and Sasuke in a sorry state.
Since creating the Deidara Human Puppet, this was the first time Sasori had used it so freely to bombard his opponents. This tactic of taking advantage of the high altitude and leaving others with no way to retaliate was indeed exhilarating. No wonder Deidara muttered, "Art is an Explosion." In fact, Sasori was beginning to think that this view made some sense!
At this moment, the two who had been dodging bombs finally realized that continuing to fight like this would only exhaust their strength.
On the vast, empty sea, there was no advantageous terrain to avoid the bombs, nor any foothold for the two to launch an attack or counterattack!
They simply stopped in their tracks.
"Give up?" Scorpion sneered, unceremoniously tossing aside "C3 - Number Eighteen"!
Boom--!
The violent explosion created towering waves on the sea, but at the center of the explosion stood a purple giant, its enormous figure remaining unmoved amidst the blast!
Scorpion was slightly startled.
The purple giant continued its movements, blocking the scorpion's attack. Then, it reached into the air with one hand, and countless bolts of lightning instantly gathered in its hand. The violent lightning eventually coalesced into a brutal and bloodthirsty lightning spear!
The spear tip was aimed at the scorpion in mid-air.
Die!
"Call out--!"
Scorpion instinctively jumped up, and at the same time, the purple giant fiercely threw out the lightning spear, which was as fast as lightning and swallowed the clay bird completely in a whoosh!
"Damn it, that almost hit!"
Sasuke watched Sasori land safely on another clay bird and shook his head resentfully.
Naruto, undeterred, declared, "Let's try again, Sasuke!"
They exchanged a glance, and without hesitation, Sasuke manipulated Susanoo to condense a new lightning spear. At the same time, Naruto created a giant Rasenshuriken, which transformed into a blue spearhead, combining to form a new Wind Release: Lightning Spear.
Since precision isn't enough, let's use wide-range, lethal Ninjutsu to ensure a hit!
This was a combined attack from Naruto and Sasuke!
Wind and lightning combined, "Wind Release - Spiral Lightning Spear"!
"Call out--!"
The second lightning spear was fired, and this time it still missed its target. However, the Rasenshuriken at the spearhead exploded the instant it passed by, and the huge hemisphere of explosion completely engulfed Sasori and Deidara!
"How can there be such a powerful technique?!"
Bang!
With a muffled thud, Sasori and Deidara were seen suffering severe injuries and crashing to the ground.
The Rasenshuriken's cellular-level attack has little effect on puppets like Sasori and Deidara, but the power of the explosion itself is enough to severely injure Human Puppet that don't have time to defend themselves.
Scorpion slowly stood up, his face so gloomy it seemed as if water could drip from it!
He hadn't fully recovered his fighting strength to begin with, and he was severely lacking in both low-end and high-end puppets. Now, he was even more seriously injured... Naruto's Wind Release: Rasenshuriken and Sasuke's half-giant Susanoo gave him too many surprises!
"I must admit, I've seen you!" Sasori manipulated Deidara to stand up with one hand, coldly stating, "But the outcome of this battle is not yet ready to be announced!"
He suddenly ripped off Deidara's clothes.
Sasuke and Naruto were shocked to see that a huge mouth was sewn onto the chest of the Human Puppet with thick black thread!
The black line was quickly removed, and the giant mouth suddenly opened wide, swallowing the clay from its mouth in one gulp.
The bizarre movements and intense Chakra fluctuations made Naruto and Sasuke dare not stand idly by. They wanted to stop Deidara's actions, but Sasori spared no effort to bring out the last of his Hundred Puppet Puppets, hoping to hold them off for even a moment!
"Deidara's body has many natural mechanisms, which I preserved using my superb skills!"
The scorpion grinned maliciously!
"Take this! Deidara's final attack, C0 - Self-Destruction!"
Sensing the terrifying Chakra fluctuations, Naruto and Sasuke had no choice but to halt their charge.
"It's too late... it's going to self-destruct!" Sasuke his teeth, trying to remain calm. "I'll push my Susanoo to its maximum power. You come inside and I'll protect you!"
"No, that's not enough!"
Naruto sensed the strength of Susanoo. This level of defense couldn't even stop the power of Deidara's self-destruction. He had to do something too!
"You stinky fox, it's time to pay the rent! Sasuke, Susanoo in!"
Naruto lay on the ground, and in the few seconds it took to speak, Deidara's violent Chakra gradually reached its peak, while the boy quickly activated the Six-Tailed Mode!
The two combined their techniques once more, with Susanoo transforming into armor that covered Naruto's Tailed Beast Cloak. The massive Tailed Beast Chakra enveloped both of them, surrounding them in the center.
Having just completed these preparations, Deidara also gathered his final strength!
Boom--!!!
It detonated.