Deidara vs. Darui

Orochimaru watched the changes in Tsunade and Uchiha Izumi from the sidelines, and his surprise made his eyes twitch.

Despite receiving a warning from Shazo, Orochimaru did not give up on [Living Corpse Reincarnation], and in the past two years he has experienced the strange feeling of going from Orochimaru to Snake Aunt.

But he still couldn't understand women's hearts at all, feeling that it was more difficult to understand than the secrets of the world.

So Orochimaru lowered his eyes and continued studying his own things, preparing for the Second Hokage and the First Hokage to Impure World Reincarnation again.

Soon after, Shazo withdrew all his power, as did Tsunade and Izumi, and the Secret Chamber returned to complete calm.

After a moment of silence, Tsunade suddenly spoke up, "Izumi-chan, shall we go for a walk?"

Uchiha Izumi jumped up, responding with a radiant smile, "Great! Tsunade, I was just about to whisper something to you!"

So the two strongest female ninjas of Konoha walked out hand in hand, laughing and chatting, as if they were best friends of many years.

Orochimaru was even more bewildered; his mouth was slightly open, and he had completely lost the ability to speak.

Orochimaru only turned to look at Shazo after Tsunade and Uchiha Izumi had left.

Shazo shrugged and said, "Don't ask me, I still don't understand why those two could go from enemies to best friends so quickly."

"The feelings between women are a mystery; let's continue with the exam."

Orochimaru shook his head. "A battle of this magnitude is like children playing house. What's there to see?"

Shazo pointed to a screen and said, "This time it's different. Look, the strongest Genin from Kumogakure and the strongest Genin from Iwagakure are about to clash."

Orochimaru finally became interested, raised his head, and looked in the direction Shazo pointed.

The battle was initiated by Deidara. He saw the lightning flashing in the distance and, excited, immediately turned around and rushed towards it.

Kurotsuchi, who was following behind him, was terrified and grabbed Deidara's waist. "Senior Deidara, what are you trying to do?"

Deidara excitedly pointed to the arc of electricity not far away and said, "The Lightning Release Chakra is so active there, it must be Darui from Kumogakure. What an interesting opponent!"

Kurotsuchi dared not let go any further. "You're Iwagakure Ninja, and your Explosion Style is so vulnerable to Lightning Release, why did you go and challenge him?"

Deidara replied, "I, this great one, will challenge the strongest Lightning Release Ninja! I will prove that the Iwagakure Ninja are not afraid of the Ninja of Kumogakure!"

--

In Kurotsuchi's opinion, his senior brother was simply out of his mind.

Lightning Release is very effective against Earth Release, and it also greatly suppresses Explosion Style.

During the Third Shinobi World War, the Third Tsuchikage meticulously planned and finally used tens of thousands of the Ninja Army to trap several thousand Cloud Ninja, forming an encirclement.

However, the Third Raikage single-handedly withstood the Iwagakure army at the mountain pass, fighting for three days and three nights before dying from exhaustion.

Although the Third Raikage is dead, the victor is this dead man.

The Third Raikage proved his strength and demonstrated that Lightning Release is unparalleled in its ability to counter Earth Release.

That brutal battle still affects the Iwagakure Ninja to this day. Even those Ninja who didn't participate in the battle instinctively feel aversion and fear towards any powerful Lightning Release Ninja.

After Kurotsuchi repeatedly tried to stop Deidara, he said with great dissatisfaction, "Kurotsuchi, you can't stop me. If you really don't want to go, I'll leave you two here and go fight the Cloud Ninja all by myself!"

"Deidara, are you an idiot?"

Realizing she truly couldn't stop it from happening, Kurotsuchi could only glare at Deidara and say, "Going there alone is just asking for trouble, isn't it?"

Let's go together!

Deidara complained disappointedly, "What a nuisance! Remember to stay far away when the fight starts. My battle with the Lightning Release Ninja will be intense; I don't want to get caught in the crossfire."

Kurotsuchi pouted and said, "I know, Senior Deidara. I'll take good care of myself, you don't need to worry."

The short-haired girl still wanted to persuade him, so she asked again, "Senior Deidara, I remember you harbored resentment towards the Uchiha Clan ever since you returned to the village, and you especially wanted to fight powerful Sharingan users, right?"

"I remember Uchiha Sasuke from Konoha also entered this Forest. Shall we go find him?"

Deidara kept pulling out clay, swallowing and chewing it with both hands, while casually replying, "I saw that Konoha Ninja Uchiha Sasuke, before the exam started."

"But that kid at most has Two-Tomoe Sharingan, he hasn't even Awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan yet, why would I look for him?"

"Even if he were willing to fight me, I would still win without a doubt. What a boring fight that would be!"

"It would be more interesting to fight a Lightning Release Ninja from Kumogakure."

What could Kurotsuchi say? She could only rub her temples to relieve her headache and follow Deidara toward the location of Leiting.

The moment Darui saw Deidara, he was both surprised and overjoyed.

It was like winning the lottery by accident.

He couldn't help but ask, "Deidara of Iwagakure, don't you know that my Lightning Release is the counter to your Explosion Style?"

Deidara replied dismissively, "Of course I know, but how can a cup of water extinguish a fire that has started a house?"

"Darui, the Cloud Ninja, pay the price for your arrogance!"

Darui abandoned his languid demeanor and sneered, "The Iwagakure Ninja are all as hard as Rock."

"I'll show you that my thunder, Darui's Leiting, is no joke."

"And your Explosion Style isn't some kind of house-igniting fire!"

He clenched his fists and slammed them together, creating streaks of blue-white electricity.

Dense arcs of electricity intertwined, weaving into dragons that roared with earth-shaking thunder as they charged toward the enemy.

[Lightning Release: Ten-Headed Leiting Dragon]

Deidara raised his hands with a cold laugh, and from the mouths in his palms came clay that had been prepared beforehand, which flowed out and was shaped into a large bird with two bodies flying side by side.

[Explosive Clay - Two-Winged Bird]

Both of them actually used the technique of casting spells without hand seals. Ten dragons, as thick as arms, woven entirely from electric arcs, snaked through the sky, surrounded by countless clay birds flying wing to wing.

Thunder Dragons's body emitted massive amounts of electric arcs, even generating induced currents, filling half the sky with shimmering electric arcs.

Most of the clay birds were quickly rendered lifeless by the concentrated electric arcs, falling from the sky as if struck by a shotgun.

However, a small number of Clay Bird, with the help of their companions, successfully plunged headfirst into the Thunder Dragons's body, then detonated with a bang.

It only takes two or three large birds to successfully enter the Thunder Dragons's body and detonate. The resulting explosion will destroy the current channels, causing the Thunder Dragons to lose its shape and disintegrate into large arcs of electricity.

However, Darui was able to control these scattered arcs of electricity, channeling the Chakra and electrical energy contained within them to the other complete Thunder Dragons, allowing their inner essence to be concealed, their power to increase further, and their size to rapidly grow larger.

Upon seeing this, Deidara instantly realized that the situation was dire. These Thunder Dragons could merge with each other and eventually coalesce into an enormous Thunder Dragon.

Although the Golden-Haired Ninja is mentally ill and exceptionally stubborn, his Talent in combat is undeniable.

Seeing that the situation was not good, he immediately withdrew some of the clay, while also absorbing a large amount of clay. He was going to prepare a huge Explosive Puppet to give the Cloud Ninja a great work of art.

Darui was also a very perceptive Ninja. After noticing that Deidara, who was at a disadvantage, was making a move, he did not hesitate to give up control of the Thunder Dragons and let the remaining nine Thunder Dragons merge on their own.

He wanted to use the Thunder Dragons's distraction of the enemy to buy himself time to prepare his next powerful Ninjutsu.

As the Thunder Dragons merged and the Clay Twin-Winged Birds launched their frenzied attack, the electric arcs and explosions suddenly intensified.

At this moment, the main screen in the Meeting Hall was showing a fierce battle between two powerful Ninja, leaving the nobles and wealthy merchants dumbfounded. They finally realized just how powerful Ninja truly were.

Ordinary people, as laymen, only see the spectacle, but the Kage, as Ninja, see the intricacies.

Tsuchikage Ōnoki frowned and sighed, "Still so immature."

He glanced at the Fourth Raikage on the other side and praised, "The younger generation of Kumogakure is truly outstanding. It seems that this time, Iwagakure is outmatched."

A rare smile appeared on Raikage A's stern face, "This isn't solely my achievement."

Ōnoki scoffed and then fell silent.

A moment later, both of them had prepared their respective Ninjutsu.

Upon discovering that his opponent was also preparing Ninjutsu, Deidara changed his mind about attacking and instead unleashed his signature move.

[C2·Dragon]

Large amounts of white clay were spat out of the mouths in their palms, piling up and twisting like Slime.

Soon, a gigantic, ugly dragon with a pure white head and belly appeared on the battlefield.

The dragon's tail looked like an inflatable balloon, and its eyes and nose were just round black holes. It was dull and not cute at all; it looked like an idiot no matter how you looked at it.

Although this dragon is incredibly ugly, it does possess immense power, and most importantly, it can fly.

Deidara personally experienced Darui's Lightning Release power and felt how unique his Lightning Release was, and how incredibly effective it was at countering his own self-destructing clay.

Deidara's previous preparations against Lightning Release were not strong enough. Even the Thunder Dragons did not need to attack directly; the naturally dissipated electric arcs were enough to destroy [Explosive Clay - Twin Birds]. Small clay creations like little birds were even more vulnerable.

Darui's Lightning Release technique rendered Deidara's most prized miniature Clay Bomb completely ineffective, as Lightning Release is inherently designed for small-scale, automatic sensing attacks.

Deidara always relied on sheer numbers to completely overwhelm the enemy's Lightning Release Chakra, then blasted them into dust.

But from the start of the battle until now, the induced current in the air has been continuously destroying the Miniature Self-Destructing Spiders he released, and they have never been more than 5 meters away from his body.

Deidara had defeated many Lightning Release Ninja before, but compared to Darui, they were like newborn babies; the strength of his Lightning Release was simply on a different level.

This made Deidara feel more constrained and helpless than ever before.

Therefore, his next goal was to engage in aerial combat, taking advantage of the superior position to allow only him to attack the enemy, while forbidding the enemy from attacking him.

Only in this way can the Lightning Release's special advantage against Deidara's Explosion Style be negated.

Before Deidara could even mount the dragon, a black panther formed from black Inazuma coalesced between Darui's hands and charged directly at Deidara.

[Lightning Release: Black Spotted Blade]

However, the Black Panther was blocked by a suddenly rising earthen wall.

[Earth Release · Earth Style Wall]

Because the interception point was still quite far away, only a few of the spreading arcs of Leiting hit the dragon that was resting on the ground, peeling off a few small pieces of clay.

The dragon's size became Deidara's greatest asset.

Even though Lightning Release counters Deidara's Explosion Style, it can't withstand the enormous size of a dragon, which is capable of withstanding attacks from Lightning Release.

Furthermore, under Deidara's control, [C2·Dragon] can also peel off the clay that has lost its explosive power, thus maintaining the dragon's mobility and combat capabilities.

Deidara laughed heartily, "I'm skilled at simultaneous casting! Now, I'm about to take flight!"

Darui saw that his attack had been blocked and he had failed to intercept Deidara, who had already flapped his wings and taken flight, with even the dragon's feet leaving the ground.

Without further hesitation, Darui quickly formed Hand Seals and unleashed a surge of Chakra, activating his Kekkei Genkai.

[Storm Release: Laser Circus]

From Darui's clasped hands, a black sphere condensed, releasing moisture before transforming into multiple powerful Laser beams that shot towards Deidara as he ascended into the air.

This Storm Release Secret Technique possesses both the destructive power of lightning and the control over water, and also has a powerful guiding effect, allowing it to channel real Inazuma from Thunderclouds to attack enemies.

Unfortunately, today is a rare sunny day; there isn't a single cloud in the sky, not even a wisp of mist.

Darui's most powerful and final attack method was ineffective, but that did not affect the effectiveness of his Storm Release technique against aerial targets.

Each Storm Release Laser was slower than Inazuma, but it was clearly far faster than the round, clumsy flying dragon.

The enormous dragon was pierced through more than a dozen transparent holes, almost piercing through Deidara's back as well, which terrified the Golden-Haired Ninja, who turned pale.

Deidara wasn't afraid of being hit himself, but rather that one of the Storm Release Laser grazed the Kurotsuchi and nearly killed the girl.

However, Storm Release is not Lightning Release after all, and its effectiveness against Explosive Clay is not absolute. The clay on the dragon's wounds wriggled and was quickly repaired, allowing it to flap its wings and fly into the Liao Kong.

Once a sufficient distance had been created, Deidara finally let out a triumphant laugh.

From now on, he will have complete control of the entire examination room.