The Monster That Kept Evolving

A month later.

The atmosphere in the Tsuchikage's Office was even more oppressive than it had been a month ago.

Akatsuchi stood with his head bowed, delivering the final report to Deidara in a heavy voice:

"Lord Tsuchikage, all the investigation teams have returned. None of them found any leads."

"Further analysis of the monster's remains yielded no useful Chakra signature or mark of a Summoning Contract. The material was hard, but its composition was nothing unusual. It was as if the creature had been made out of thin air."

Deidara raked a hand through his blond hair. His blue eyes, usually bright with artistic fervor, were clouded with frustration.

"How can there be no trace at all?! A monster that big didn't just spring out of a rock, did it?! Yeah!"

Beside him, Kurotsuchi gently placed a hand on his shoulder. "Calm down, Deidara. Maybe it really was an accident?"

"An ancient, unregistered Summoning Beast could have been accidentally reverse-summoned here by a spatial disturbance or a backlash from its contract. After it caused the damage, its summoner might have died, leaving us with no one to trace."

Deidara took a deep breath and forced down his irritation. He was about to say, "Let's hope so."

But his pupils suddenly contracted.

A signal he could never mistake had come through the network of clay sentries he had spread across the vast area outside the village.

After learning from the last attack, he had secretly set up a warning network of countless miniature Clay Spiders and birds.

"Not good!" He shot to his feet, his expression changing. "Another one's coming! Less than a hundred kilometers from Iwagakure, due east! It won't get through this time! Yeah!"

Before he had finished speaking, he burst through the window in a blur and