"Sasori, are you planning to turn him into a puppet?" Deidara asked curiously, watching Sasori stow away the corpse of the Seven-Tails Jinchūriki.
"Though the tailed beast has been extracted, he was a Jinchūriki for a long time. Traces of tailed beast chakra are likely still lingering in his body. He'll make an excellent addition to my collection," Sasori replied, speaking more than usual—a clear sign of his excitement.
Deidara scoffed inwardly. Judging by Sasori's intentions, this puppet would probably be comparable to the likes of Kinkaku and Ginkaku: capable of light partial transformations but far from being able to unleash a Tailed Beast Bomb.
"Ha! Even a fully intact Seven-Tails Jinchūriki couldn't withstand my art. Sasori, is your art reduced to picking through my leftovers now?" Deidara taunted, smirking smugly. "It seems the debate over whose art reigns supreme is settled."
"Deidara, shut up before I kill you," Sasori snapped irritably.
Three days passed before Sasori completed crafting the puppet. As they stepped out of the cave, sunlight spilled over them, and Deidara felt an odd sense of disorientation, as though years had passed since he last saw the sun.
"Sasori, have you tracked down Kurosuki Raiga's location yet?" Deidara asked. While waiting, Sasori had already issued orders to gather information. His extensive network of informants spanned the ninja world.
"He's in the Land of Grass," Sasori replied, retrieving a scroll from a prearranged drop point. Using a specialized technique to unseal it, he deciphered the encoded message before relaying the intel.
"What's he doing there?" Deidara wondered aloud. He recalled from the original storyline that Raiga fled from the Land of Water and ended up holed up in the Land of Rivers, becoming a self-styled tyrant over a gold mine while raising a boy named Ranmaru. Eventually, he was defeated by Naruto and Neji. But that event was still over four years away.
Deidara's primary concern was whether Raiga had already defected from Kirigakure. If Raiga was still loyal to the Mist, attacking him would be unwise. But if he was in the Land of Grass, that was another matter entirely.
"Rumor has it there's an Uzumaki girl there with the ability to heal others by allowing them to bite her. He's likely trying to capture her," Sasori speculated.
So this is where Karin comes into play? Deidara thought, intrigued. Apparently, before Raiga played tyrant in the Land of Rivers, he was involved in other nefarious activities. Such minor details were never revealed in the original story.
"Think he'll succeed?" Deidara asked, falling in step beside Sasori.
"A defeated loser like him? Grass Village may be small, but it still has some strength," Sasori replied matter-of-factly.
At Deidara's insistence, the two abandoned their leisurely pace and traveled at full speed. The Land of Grass bordered the Land of Waterfalls, so they arrived in less than half a day.
"That green-haired, dark-circled, big-mouthed guy—is that Kurosuki Raiga?" Deidara murmured, trying to dredge up his memories. Though his recollection was blurry, Raiga's odd appearance stirred faint recognition.
"I must say, his looks are... distinctive," Deidara commented dryly. It seemed the original Seven Ninja Swordsmen had an unfortunate tendency toward peculiar aesthetics.
Raiga stood armed with his twin Lightning Blades, facing off against a group of Grass ninja. Among the Grass shinobi was a small girl with red hair, oversized black-framed glasses, and plain clothes. Bite marks covered her exposed skin, and her expression was a mix of fear and exhaustion.
"Hey! Green hair! Hand over your blades! And you lot from Grass Village, give me the girl. Play nice, and I'll spare your lives," Deidara called out boldly, striding into the tense standoff.
The Grass ninja burst into laughter.
"Who's this kid, spouting such nonsense?" one of them sneered. "Guess we'll deal with you and the rogue ninja at the same time."
"If you want my blades, then bring your life as payment!" Raiga roared, clearly offended at being dismissed by a random child.
"Tch. Looks like talking won't cut it. Time to showcase my art," Deidara muttered, reaching into his clay pouch. The mouths on his palms eagerly devoured chunks of clay, their tongues flicking as they molded the material.
"C1: Standard Type—Spiders!" Deidara exclaimed, unleashing a swarm of clay spiders that scuttled toward both Raiga and the Grass ninja.
"Is this kid mocking us?" a Grass ninja muttered in irritation, noting that Deidara had targeted both sides. But irritation quickly gave way to caution as they began retreating—an unspoken rule of survival in the ninja world was to avoid anything they couldn't immediately understand.
"Wind Style: Vacuum Bullet!" one of the Grass ninja declared, releasing a powerful gust of wind that scattered the approaching spiders.
"Now! Use kunai!" barked another Grass ninja.
The kunai pinned the clay spiders to the ground. A younger Grass chunin smirked.
"Not so tough, huh?"
"Watch out!" a jonin shouted, shoving the chunin aside as a massive clay centipede erupted from the ground. Though it missed its mark, Deidara remained unfazed.
"My art isn't about direct hits," Deidara said, a grin creeping across his face. "Time for the grand finale! Katsu!"
The explosion tore through the battlefield, sending shockwaves that earned Deidara a series of notifications:
...Shock Value +100
....Shock Value +100
....Shock Value +100
The flood of Shock Value made Deidara's day. Once this fight was over, he'd have enough to level up and unlock the Anti-Lightning Clay.
"Where are you looking, brat?" came a voice from behind. A Grass ninja emerged from the earth, kunai poised to strike Deidara's back.
"You really think I'd be unprepared? Hmm!" Deidara sneered. "Take a closer look at yourself."
"What?" The Grass ninja froze in confusion. Tiny clay centipedes were crawling all over his body, planted there by Deidara at the start of the battle.
"Katsu!"
The explosion reduced the would-be assassin to rubble. "A clone?" Deidara remarked. "As expected of a ninja battle—always full of twists and turns."
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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