"No good! That's an Explosive Clay Dragon! It's powerful enough to level a small hill hundreds of meters across in an instant!"
Ōnoki's face darkened completely. He glared at Deidara, then hurriedly waved to the people below.
"Run! No one can stop that much power!"
Even he would have needed time to prepare to have any chance of stopping it.
But they were in midair now. They'd already lost their chance to act in time.
Buzz.
Buzz-buzz-buzz.
Space rippled.
Just as the dragon was about to reach a point three meters above their heads, a spinning vortex suddenly appeared.
The vortex wasn't large, only two or three meters long, but it appeared directly in front of the giant dragon.
Pop~
Then, as if piercing through a curtain of water, the dragon plunged straight into it.
There was no further sound, and no explosion.
"Huh? Where's my dragon? Where'd my giant dragon go?"
Deidara was stunned. He hadn't expected his invincible C2 Dragon to simply disappear like that.
"So... Space-Time Ninjutsu? You're quite bold for a little brat!"
Following the commotion, his gaze gradually settled on the boy below, sitting on a small stool and cracking sunflower seeds.
He licked his lips.
At that moment, Jin spoke from below, too. "You're Deidara, right? Come down—let's have a little chat."
Thump.
The moment he said that, the many Leaf shinobi who'd rushed over instantly breathed a sigh of relief.
Their tense bodies relaxed completely.
Even the overseer behind them flicked his whip and prepared to get back to work.
"R-relaxed? Could it be..."
Kitsuchi narrowed his eyes as he looked at Uchiha Jin and the others.
The Leaf shinobi across from them hadn't reacted much just now, but they'd clearly been on guard.
Now, though, they were as relaxed as if an