Deidara hugged his left arm, staring blankly at Sasori of the Red Sands, who was engulfed by the explosion and Kakkō.
The senior scorpion, whose artistic philosophy was completely opposite to his own and who had always pursued eternal life, ended his life prematurely because of one of his arms, and never had the possibility of pursuing eternity again.
"It shouldn't be like this... It shouldn't be like this... Sasori-senpai, didn't you say that the Akatsuki were all selfish missing-nin...? Why... Why!"
Deidara knelt on the ground, his eyes misty as if tears were welling up, but they never spilled.
Pain's Deva Path exhaled a breath of stale air, feeling the pressure on his shoulders increase even more. Although Sasori of the Red Sands had saved Deidara, Deidara clearly had no desire to fight at this moment.
Fortunately, the Chakra of the Six Paths of Pain has been fully restored, and the Preta Path and Human Path will become important forces to restrain the Jinchūriki.
Pain's Deva Path had witnessed the unpredictability of Space-Time Ninjutsu three times in a row. Even Sasori of the Red Sands Tailed Beast Bomb, completely losing any chance of being saved.
Therefore, we need to be even more careful from now on!
"Hahaha-- Lord Jashin, I have already seen Lord Jashin glory!"
A sudden burst of maniacal laughter interrupted Six Paths of Pain's actions. That familiar voice—it was Hidan, that brainless idiot!
That damn idiot! Why didn't he show up earlier? What's he trying to do now?!
Falling from a height of 100 meters wouldn't kill Hidan, or even injure Hidan; at most, he'd suffer a broken leg bone, which could be easily fixed.
What truly delayed Hidan's arrival was his elaborate prayer ritual. For the sake of the cult's ritualistic feel and to immediately pursue the glory of the Jashin, Hidan dawdled through the ritual and prayer before finally arriving.
Moreover, upon arriving at the battlefield, without even observing the situation, he brandished his Bloody Triple-Bladed Scythe and charged into the center of the battlefield, displaying an attitude of utter scoundrels who claimed that everyone had to kill him today.
"Who unleashed that Ninjutsu just now? Come on, let's do it again! That aura was absolutely amazing!"
This was the first time Naoki Senju had heard such an 'unreasonable' request, but there was no reason for him to refuse.
The blue and red Chakra began to gather again, and a small Tailed Beast Bomb began to take shape. Moreover, in terms of both quality and speed of condensation, it was much more skillful than before.
Seeing that Naoki Senju was beginning to condense Tailed Beast Bomb again, Pain's Deva Path troubled. He certainly wouldn't take a mere Tailed Beast Bomb seriously, but what if this Tailed Beast Bomb could be used to attack any target?
Tailed Beast Bomb Flying Thunder God —this is simply the most unreasonable combination of Ninjutsu. The only way to counter such an unreasonable Ninjutsu is to be even more unreasonable!
More Chakra began to converge on Pain's Deva Path, but this time the commotion was different from before. The other Six Paths of Pain were not completely drained. Chameleon, under the cover of Pain's Deva Path, and with the help of the two summoning beasts, Two-Headed Hellhound and Cerberus, they secretly circled behind Naoki Senju.
Shinra Tensei!
The suddenly expanding repulsive force clearly disregarded Hidan's life or death, directly blasting the increasingly crazed cultist away. Perhaps in Nagato's view, it was also an important matter to take the opportunity to clean up the unstable factors within the Akatsuki.
The Tailed Beast Bomb Naoki Senju that Senju Naoki was gathering was interrupted, but the Tailed Beast Bomb, which had lost its stability, did not explode directly. Instead, it turned into a wisp of Chakra and dissipated into the air.
The Tailed Beast Bomb was just a pretext to distract Pain's Deva Path. Naoki Senju's real target was still the Art Duo, and this time it was Deidara, the only remaining member of the Art Duo.
As Naoki Senju, leaving a trail of blood, charged straight at him, the memory of his left arm being torn apart flooded his mind. But the clearer memory was of Sasori of the Red Sands preserving a sliver of hope for his survival by sending him out of the blast radius of the Tailed Beast Bomb.
Deidara simply unleashed a barrage of Clay Bomb, not caring whether their Clay Bomb radius would injure him, as long as they could buy him some time.
Amidst the deafening explosions, Deidara was engulfed by Clay Bomb. Although Naoki Senju managed to force his way in using his Tailed Beast Cloak, Pain's Deva Path had already arrived.
Blood-red Chakra condensed into a giant claw, aiming at Pain's Deva Path's head and slamming down. However, Pain's Deva Path was able to contend with the Partial Tailed Beast Transformation of Senju Naoki Senju, supporting the Chakra without showing any signs of being overwhelmed.
" Banshō Ten'in."
Naoki Senju struggled against the Rinnegan's Dōjutsu, but his Partial Tailed Beast Transformation form was still forced to move little by little toward Pain's Deva Path.
"As expected, this is the limit that Jinchūriki can achieve, but Pain's Deva Path has far more limits than this. Nagato, just how far have you been hiding?"
Naoki Senju's senses swept across the surrounding area again and again, but whether it was Nagato's concealment skills that were too superb or the range of his senses that was not large enough, he still could not find Nagato's hiding place.
Without Nine-Tails's ability to sense malice, it's still too difficult to discover Nagato hiding behind the scenes.
However, we must continue with the attempts we should make. We've already Pain's Deva Path to this point; it would be a shame to give up now.
Unbeknownst to anyone, a sapling stubbornly pushed through the gravel, its tender green branches wrapping around Naoki Senju's ankles, while the surrounding Natural Energy, through Wood Release, continuously converged into Naoki Senju's body.
" Sage Mode, activate!"
Under Pain's Deva Path's astonished gaze, Naoki Senju, in his Partial Tailed Beast Transformation, further increased his power, directly withstanding the gravitational pull of the Banshō Ten'in, remaining as steady as a mountain, completely unmoved.
But this was already the strongest power Pain's Deva Path could unleash. If he wanted to suppress the inexplicably stronger Naoki Senju, the only option was for his main body to get even closer to Six Paths of Pain and transfer more Chakra...
The only hidden danger is that it's too dangerous. Should they continue the stalemate with Naoki Senju, hoping for a miracle, or take the risk and move closer to the battlefield?
But while Nagato was struggling to make a decision and was caught in a dilemma, Deidara had already completed his ultimate art.
Deidara removed all the stitches from his chest, revealing Deidara mouth located at the heart site, which was now incessantly chewing on Explosive Clay.
Deidara, who was accidentally injured by the Clay Bomb, was in a terrible state. Apart from his left arm, which had been severed, the rest of his limbs were also affected by the explosion. His right eye was blown to pieces, and only two of the five fingers on his right hand remained. However, the excruciating pain did not make Deidara scream.
Deidara felt an unprecedented sense of satisfaction at that moment—the satisfaction of creating the ultimate art that would explode!
At the moment Sasori died, Deidara finally understood what true ultimate art was.
Only at the moment life blossoms can art that can be called the ultimate art, the explosive ultimate art, be born!
--c0·Self-destruct!