Tanking C4 with His Body Alone! Deidara Lost All Hope!

Deidara's hands were frantically stirring inside the clay bag.

The tongue in the palm chewed the Chakra clay at an unprecedented speed, each wriggling motion injecting more energy into the expanding white substance.

His left eyeglass lens reflected the first rays of light rising from the horizon.

"C4 Garuda..."

His voice was no longer arrogant.

They're no longer even angry.

It is calm.

A kind of tranquility that comes after betting everything, only to return to nothingness.

The clump of white clay flew from his palm and rapidly expanded in mid-air.

One second.

Two seconds.

In three seconds, it swelled into a gigantic humanoid shape that was over ten meters tall.

Then, it shattered silently.

There was no explosion.

There was no Kakkō.

There was no shockwave.

The giant clay figure, like a dandelion seed scattered by the wind, transformed into countless tiny particles invisible to the naked eye, spreading out silently.

It covered an area of 300 meters in radius.

"Um?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow.

Scorpion's hoarse voice came from inside Hiruko, unusually tinged with urgency. "Don't breathe. C4 is a nano-bomb. Once inhaled, it will detonate at the cellular level. You will become—"

"Ash."

Deidara picked up the conversation.

He was standing twenty meters away.

The lens was half shattered, long golden hair was scattered, and the blood on her forehead had dried into a dark red scab.

But he smiled.

That kind of smile is the expression a gambler shows when they put their last chip on the table.

"This is my masterpiece. Nanoscale Explosive Clay —smaller than a blood cell. Inhaled into the lungs, it seeps into the blood vessels, penetrates the gaps between every cell, and then detonates simultaneously from the inside."

He raised his right hand, his index and middle fingers together.

No one can escape the air.

Naruto stood in the very center of that invisible field of nanoparticles.

He looked down at the air around him.

No abnormalities are visible.

There is no smell at all.

But his Sage Body sense it.

Countless tiny Chakra reaction points enveloped him like mist.

With each breath, hundreds of millions of nanobombs rush into the nasal cavity with the air.

An ordinary person seeing this scene would probably hold their breath.

Naruto didn't.

He did one thing.

Open your mouth.

I took a deep breath.

That gesture was too deliberate.

Deidara deliberately thought he was seeing things.

His mouth was wide open, and his cheeks were puffed out exaggeratedly, like a tourist taking a deep breath at the beach.

"You—" Deidara's pupils contracted sharply.

What he didn't expect was that Naruto inhaled C4.

What he didn't expect was that this brat did it on purpose.

Naruto took a deep breath and then closed his mouth.

Deidara's fingers clenched.

"Drink!"

Hand Seals.

Detonate.

The command to detonate within the body was transmitted through Chakra fluctuations.

The hundreds of millions of nano-bombs that had already infiltrated Naruto's alveoli, blood vessels, and intercellular spaces received the detonation signal at the same instant.

Deidara waited.

Waiting for that short-haired blond body to silently disintegrate into powder, from the inside out, from cells to skin, from blood to bones, like a sand sculpture.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

Naruto stood still.

The tracksuit didn't have a single extra wrinkle.

"Belch--"

A loud, uncouth burp escaped from Naruto's mouth.

He patted his stomach.

"Excuse me."

He tilted his head, a grin spreading across his face, revealing a set of white teeth. "It's a little bland. Remember to add more salt next time."

Deidara's mouth was open.

It can't be closed anymore.

His hands remained in the Hand Seals position.

With his index and middle fingers together, his Chakra was still sending out detonation signals.

But there was no response.

Those hundreds of millions of nanobombs—his greatest masterpiece, the ultimate art he had devoted half his life to researching—were assimilated the moment they entered Naruto's body by the immense Yang Release life force contained within that terrifyingly unreasonable Sage Body, just like digesting food.

Break down.

Absorb.

It was transformed into nourishment for Naruto.

So he burped.

It's not a metaphor.

This is not sarcasm.

It's true—she ate C4 like a snack.

"This..." Deidara's knees buckled.

It's not kneeling.

It couldn't stand up anymore.

His legs felt as if the bones had been removed.

He fell backward onto the sand, kicking up a small cloud of dust.

Place your palms on the ground.

My fingertips sank into the sand.

His pupils were unfocused, his gaze shifting aimlessly, as if half of his soul had been ripped out.

"My... art..."

The sound was very soft.

So softly that even he himself could barely hear it.

"My art—is it a joke?"

Inside the Hiruko, Sasori of the Red Sands remained silent.

He didn't say, "I already said that."

It didn't say "retreat".

Because he was also shocked.

C4·Garuda.

That was Deidara's most powerful, forbidden technique.

Nanoscale explosions—theoretically, no carbon-based organism could be immune to them.

There's no way to avoid it.

Undefendable.

Unless—your body itself is not a conventional carbon-based organism.

Unless every single cell in your body contains a terrifying power capable of directly devouring, assimilating, and transforming foreign energy.

The scorpion lived for decades.

He created countless puppets.

Countless studies have been conducted on human anatomy.

He had never seen such a creature before.

Naruto didn't give Deidara time to process his despair.

Step.

His step left only a shallow footprint in the sand.

But he was already in front of Deidara.

Distance -- zero.

Deidara's pupils reflected a face that was inches away from his own.

Short blonde hair.

Azure blue eyes.

A smile played on her lips.

That smile was very gentle.

So mild it sends chills down your spine.

Do you know that?

Naruto leaned down, his voice very soft.

"Your 'Art'--"

Raise your right hand.

Spread your five fingers.

"--In my eyes."

The palm fell.

It's not a fist.

It was a slap.

"Smack!"

A crisp slap echoed throughout the entire Gobi Desert.

Deidara's body flew sideways.

What came out of his mouth was not blood.

They are broken teeth.

White and pink fragments traced an arc in the morning light.

His body bounced twice on the sand.

It rolled three times.

Finally, he lay face down on the ground.

Motionless.

Naruto withdrew his hand.

He rubbed his palms on his trouser leg.

"Not even good enough to warm me up."

He straightened up, his gaze passing over Deidara's corpse—no, his unconscious body.

He looked at Hiruko.

Look at the scorpion.

"Hello."

He put one hand in his pocket and turned his head to the side.

"Your turn, Puppet Master."

Hiruko remained silent for three seconds.

Then, a hoarse voice came from inside.

"... You want to save the One-Tail Jinchuriki?"

"Nonsense."

Naruto scoffed, "Otherwise, why would I fly 300 kilometers in the middle of the night to this crappy place to stargaze?"

Scorpion didn't reply.

Hiruko's enormous body began to move.

It's not an attack.

Yes -- go back.

But as he retreated, Scorpion's fingers gently flicked inside Hiruko's body.

Something was slowly unfolding beneath his wide black robe.

Naruto's Sage Body sensed it.

It is not a puppet.

Not ten.

Yes—hundreds of them.

A puppet that once belonged to a living person, still bearing the remnants of Chakra...

Scorpion's hoarse voice rang out again.

This time, it carried a hint of... arrogance.

"Deidara's art is truly garbage."

The outer shell of Hiruko began to crack.

What's showing inside—no, that's not a person.

It was an exquisitely crafted doll, forever frozen in the form of a young boy.

Sasori of the Red Sands.

Ontology.

"But my art--"

His ten fingers twitched slightly.

Behind them, countless puppets spread their wings, obscuring the rising sun.

"It is eternity."