Chapter 289: Taking Turns to Destroy Konoha
Konoha Stadium.
The arena on the ground had long since turned into a desert, and the battle between the two competitors had shifted from the ground to the skies above the stadium.
The 100,000 spectators in the stands were all in the same posture—each with their necks stretched out, heads tilted back, and eyes fixed on the two fighting figures in the air.
The stadium's cameras switched to long-focus lenses, trying their best to capture the battle between Deidara and Gaara.
Boom boom.
In the air, Deidara's hands continuously reached into his ninja tool pouch, pulling out various shapes of explosive clay, which he then hurled at Gaara, launching wave after wave of bombarding attacks.
Meanwhile, Gaara used his vast amount of sand for defence and manipulated the sand to form giant hands to counterattack Deidara, nearly catching him several times.
It was a magnificent fireworks display created by the combination of sand and explosive clay.
Swish, swish swish.
During their exchanges, sand occasionally slipped out of Gaara's control, or explosive clay went off course, plummeting towards the stands below.
Fortunately, the Konoha Anbu reacted in time, forming seals to create a large transparent barrier that covered the entire stadium, shielding the spectators from the fight's residual impacts.
"Is this really a fight between Genin? This is insane," many spectators in the stands exclaimed in shock.
By comparison, the recently concluded Konoha Jonin exams seemed like child's play, not nearly as intense or exciting as this match.
In the audience were the newly promoted Jonin, including Temari, Kankuro, and the trio from the Hidden Mist—Haku, Suigetsu, and Chojuro—as well as Konoha's Neji, Hinata, and Shikamaru.
These young Jonin, considered geniuses, were now all stunned, looking up at the two battling in the air.
"Didn't expect these two to be this strong. I underestimated them," said Hidan from the Hidden Cloud camp, covering his forehead with one hand and squinting at the two in the sky. He muttered, "Luckily, I have the protection of Jashin. Otherwise, I might not be able to handle them."
On the other side, Marisa frowned deeply.
Both Deidara and Gaara possessed wide-ranging destructive ninjutsu and the ability to fly, allowing them to attack ground-based enemies from the air.
Ninja with flight capabilities was exceedingly rare in the entire ninja world, maybe one or two per village.
Combining flight with powerful ninjutsu to attack from above made them almost invincible.
Unfortunately, both Deidara and Gaara were such ninjas.
For Marisa, who excelled only in taijutsu, facing either one would be a problem if they took to the sky. She would be left on the ground, defenceless and exposed to attacks.
Unless...
She could summon Star Platinum and use Za Warudo to freeze time, then take down her opponent with a flurry of punches before they could take off.
That's it. I'll do that, she decided.
Among everyone, Sasuke was the most awkward.
As the referee for this match, he could only watch as the two Genin battled fiercely in the sky, leaving him on the ground, feeling useless.
Before the match, Sasuke had confidently assured them to give it their all, promising to intervene if anything went wrong.
Now, injured and stuck on the ground, he could only look on helplessly.
For a moment, he felt like a real clown.
Luckily, the match was so thrilling that even Sasuke's fan girls had forgotten about him, with almost everyone's attention fixed on the two fighters in the sky.
Otherwise, it would have been incredibly embarrassing if the cameras had panned to Sasuke.
At this moment, the battle's dynamics changed again.
Although the Gaara fighting Deidara was just a substitution with only thirty per cent of his chakra, Gaara, as a Jinchuriki of the One-Tail, had vast chakra reserves. Thus, his strength was not significantly diminished, and he grew stronger as the fight continued.
After gradually figuring out Deidara's flight patterns, Gaara made a sudden move.
Swish swish swish.
Several massive sand hands formed in the air, attacking Deidara from all directions and cutting off all his escape routes.
Damn.
Deidara's heart sank. Despite maneuvering his clay bird skillfully to dodge the sand hands, he couldn't escape Gaara's real killing move.
Swish.
A stream of sand, quick as lightning, caught up with Deidara while he was preoccupied.
This was the sand from Gaara's gourd, imbued with vast chakra, making it much faster and denser than regular sand.
Ssshh ssshh.
Before Deidara could react, the sand had climbed up his right arm and began spreading over his body.
This is bad.
Deidara finally realized the danger. If the sand enveloped him, its immense pressure could crush him instantly.
In a split second, Deidara's eyes sharpened, making a decisive choice.
He sacrificed his arm.
Swish.
A clay centipede flew out from his left sleeve, wrapped around his right arm, and with a single-handed seal, he shouted:
"Ha!"
Boom.
The clay centipede exploded, taking Deidara's right arm and the sand with it, shattering them to pieces.
Blood splattered everywhere.
Deidara, on the back of his clay bird, wobbled, his face pale, looking like he might collapse at any moment.
Fortunately, with sheer determination, he managed to temporarily escape Gaara's sand and fled to a distance.
However.
It was clear to everyone that Gaara had gained the upper hand. With Deidara's severed arm, the balance of power shifted further in Gaara's favour.
At this rate, Deidara was merely prolonging the inevitable, and his defeat was only a matter of time.
Unless he had some hidden ace up his sleeve.
"It's over."
Gaara said calmly, retracting the blood-stained sand and infusing it with even stronger chakra, preparing for the finishing blow.
He planned to use the power of the sand to crush Deidara to dust.
Unexpectedly, the annoying guy across from him started to smile at this moment.
Could he still smile?
Gaara was momentarily stunned, and then his pupils contracted as he looked at the sand tainted with Deidara's blood beside him.
The next second.
"Art is an explosion, yeah!"
Deidara shouted again, performing his jutsu from a distance, followed by a loud boom accompanied by flames and smoke.
The sand next to Gaara exploded, transforming into a massive fireball that instantly engulfed him.
It turned out.
When Deidara decided to sacrifice his arm, he mixed explosive clay into his blood. When the sand returned to Gaara's side, it was the perfect moment for his desperate counterattack.
Deidara's strategy worked.
This time, even the sand infused with Karura's spirit couldn't react in time to protect Gaara.
He was seriously injured and fell unconscious.
Then, under the watchful eyes of the entire audience.
Whoosh.
Gaara fell from the sky like a meteor, but fortunately, the protective sand followed, slowing his descent.
Finally, under the protection of the sand, Gaara landed smoothly.
At this moment, he looked terrifying, with most of his body appearing cracked like porcelain.
However, his situation wasn't as bad as it seemed.
Because this was his jutsu—Sand Armor.
Crack.
Pieces of the armour fell off, revealing his true form inside.
Although seriously wounded by Deidara's explosion, his body still had the strength to fight.
However.
Deidara wasn't going to give Gaara any chances.
"You broke one of my arms. Do you know what a right hand means to an artist? My art will never be complete again, damn it..."
He mumbled in the air, his breathing becoming rapid, and anger surged in his heart.
Whoosh.
He pulled out a large amount of explosive clay from his ninja pouch and desperately stuffed it into his mouth.
After a quick chew.
"Ugh!"
Deidara spat out the clay, which poured from his mouth like a waterfall, forming a puppet in mid-air.
Chakra Level C3, Number 18.
Whoosh.
Number 18 appeared and then plummeted, rapidly expanding into a giant puppet with human and bird-like features, arms outstretched.
"Screw you, Gaara, screw the Chunin Exams, screw Konoha, I'll destroy everything.
Today is the day my art spreads throughout the ninja world, haha!"
Deidara laughed maniacally, making a declaration fit for a terrorist.
His C3 Number 18 was his most powerful explosive clay, falling from the sky and detonating near the ground.
Its power was enough to destroy a ninja village.
That's right.
Deidara planned to blow up Gaara, the Konoha Stadium with its ten thousand spectators, including the Five Kage and the Daimyo, and even Konoha's central area.
This was Deidara's art—the brutal beauty of an instant explosion.
Once Konoha was reduced to ruins, his name as an artist would be remembered forever in the ninja world.
At that time, everyone would remember Deidara's famous words:
"Art is an explosion, yeah!"
"Deidara, you've lost it!"
In the stands, Onoki couldn't sit still. He used the Light-Weight Rock Technique to shoot into the sky, trying to stop Deidara's madness.
If C3 Number 18 exploded over Konoha, the first to be destroyed wouldn't be Konoha but Iwagakure.
On the ground.
"That thing, it must not be allowed to fall..."
Sasuke was horrified, watching Number 18 descend from the sky, frozen in place.
None of the jutsu he knew could help.
Damn it, how could he do nothing? As the referee, he had the responsibility to stop this dangerous match.
Just as Sasuke gritted his teeth, ready to take action despite the risks, a massive chakra burst from Gaara's body not far away.
This chakra was violent and evil. It felt like winter had descended on the stadium the moment it appeared, causing Sasuke to shiver uncontrollably.
He turned his head, his pupils contracting sharply as he witnessed an unbelievable scene.
The Takigakure genin named "R" suddenly hunched over, drooling, and his entire body and limbs began to swell rapidly.
In Sasuke's horrified gaze.
"Roar!"
With a thunderous roar, a monster burst out from within Gaara.
It was a massive yellow raccoon dog, over twenty meters tall, covered in sand, with its body adorned with violet curse seal patterns.
Shukaku, the One-Tailed Beast.
"Hahaha, I'm finally out!"
Shukaku shouted as he emerged, then looked up at Number 18 in mid-air and snorted disdainfully before opening his massive mouth.
Boom!
A massive wind bullet, ten meters in diameter, shot out from Shukaku's mouth like an anti-air missile, breaking through the stadium's barrier and striking Number 18.
Wind Style: Drilling Air Bullet.
At the moment of impact, Number 18 didn't immediately explode but was instead pushed higher into the sky by the Drilling Air Bullet. It finally detonated several hundred meters above Konoha's ground.
Boom.
A brilliant and massive fireball blossomed in the sky, forcing the spectators in the stadium to close their eyes. The cameras captured nothing but pure white.
"Ah!"
Deidara let out a scream. Not only did he fail to kill Gaara, but he was also caught in the explosion of Number 18, causing both him and his clay bird to plummet from the sky.
Whoosh.
Fortunately, Onoki arrived in time to catch Deidara, preventing him from becoming a splattered mess on the ground.
A useless idiot who only ruins things.
Onoki sighed inwardly, disappointed in Deidara, and then turned his gaze to the massive raccoon dog on the ground, his expression gradually turning to shock.
If he wasn't mistaken, that was...
On the ground.
Since he was already exposed, Gaara decided to take this opportunity to destroy Konoha.
With this thought, he commanded Shukaku without hesitation.
Although his motives differed from Deidara's, their goal was the same: to destroy the village.
"Something big is coming!"
Shukaku laughed maniacally, opening his mouth wide again as a black sphere began to form.
Tailed Beast Bomb.
This was the most powerful technique of the Tailed Beasts, surpassing even Deidara's Number 18 in destructive power, capable of easily obliterating a village or flattening a mountain.
Who could have thought?
Two genin in the Chunin Exams, fighting each other, would end up trying to destroy Konoha.
"Gaara, stop!"
In the stands, Temari and Kankuro, pale with fear, stood up and shouted at Shukaku in the arena.
Zzz!
A flash of bright lightning appeared nearby as Sasuke, with a fierce look in his eyes, lowered his stance, channelling a massive amount of Lightning Release chakra into his right hand.
Lightning Release: Chidori.
Sasuke recognised Shukaku and realised that "R" was actually Gaara, the Jinchuriki of the One-Tail.
He had to stop it and prevent it from releasing the Tailed Beast Bomb.
With this determination.
Whoosh.
Sasuke, like a bolt of blue lightning, charged fearlessly at the giant Shukaku.
"Sasuke, you're so cool!"
"Go, Sasuke, defeat that thing!"
In the stands, Sasuke's fangirls, noticing his actions, cheered and encouraged their idol.
But their cheers abruptly stopped within a second, and their expressions froze.
(End of this chapter)