Inside the cave, Deidara was counting his gains. After the battle with the Grass ninja and Kurosuki Raiga, he'd accumulated an additional 5,000 Shock Points. With that, he could finally unlock the Thunder-Resistant Clay.
System Interface
[Ultimate Artist System]
Host: Deidara
Shock Value: 2750/5000
Skill Points: 0
Unlocked Skills: Explosion Mastery Level 1, Enhanced C2 Dragon, Improved Clay, Chakra Reinforcement, Anti-Lightning Clay.
[Advanced Clay (Requires 100 Research Points)]
Looking at the next skill under Anti-Lightning Clay, Deidara frowned.
"System, how do I earn these Research Points?"
[After unlocking this skill, the system will provide you with a prototype. You will then need to refine the material either through your own research or by seeking assistance from others.]
[The speed of unlocking this depends on individual research ability.]
"Research?" The word immediately brought Orochimaru to Deidara's mind. As the foremost scientist of the ninja world, he'd likely be the fastest choice for something like this.
Still, there was no rush. Now that he had Anti-Lightning Clay, Deidara decided to set aside material science for the moment. Instead, he'd focus on explosion studies—the true core of his artistic philosophy!
"Oh, right, System. Are there any skills to increase resistance to genjutsu?" Deidara suddenly thought of another glaring weakness. His complete lack of genjutsu resistance had led to humiliating defeats—first against Uchiha Itachi and then nearly at the hands of Hatake Kakashi.
[Yes. Genjutsu resistance is part of the Ninja Studies tree. You'll need to unlock the Enhanced Ninjutsu skill first to access it.]
Satisfied, Deidara closed the system interface. As he opened his eyes, he noticed a red-haired girl staring at him pitifully with wide eyes.
"What now?"
"Bored, are you?" Deidara turned to Sasori, who was meticulously working on puppet components.
"Hey, Scorpion, lend one of your puppets to this little brat to keep her entertained."
Sasori's hands froze mid-motion. The sheer insult was palpable. His puppets—legendary killing machines that struck fear into the hearts of countless shinobi—reduced to playthings? Even his discarded creations were treasures to puppeteers like Kankuro! And now Deidara wanted to turn them into toys? If it weren't for his self-control, he'd skewer Deidara with Hiruko's tail on the spot.
"You're no fun, Sasori." Deidara shrugged. "Guess I'll just make a Barbie doll out of clay."
He bit off a small chunk of clay and fed it to the mouth on his right hand. Slowly, the hand-mouth began chewing.
"Ta-da! A Barbie doll!"
From the mouth emerged a small clay figure about the size of a figurine.
"Ew! That's so ugly!" Karin wrinkled her nose, taking a step back in barely concealed disgust.
"Ugly?! Do you even know what you're talking about? Hmph… well, maybe it is a bit ugly," Deidara admitted, scratching his head. The doll's face was passable, but its outfit—a crude attempt at intricate clothing—looked more like a lumpy mess of dough.
A thought struck Deidara: this must be what morphology improves—adding detail to clay creations. Most of his constructs, like centipedes, spiders, and snakes, were simple forms. Even the dragons relied on system-unlocked designs. Without finer sculpting skills, he just couldn't create complex shapes.
[Correct, Host. Morphology not only allows for a wider variety of clay constructs but also optimizes their structure, making them more realistic and powerful.]
[For example, clay spiders could spin webs, and clay grasshoppers could jump farther. With further mastery, you could even create clay puppets or clay mechs.]
Deidara's eyes lit up. The thought of commanding an army of clay mechs to attack while mocking Uchiha Madara with, "Do you also wish to dance?" was beyond exhilarating.
He reabsorbed the failed doll and turned to Karin, who was still watching him expectantly.
"What do you want now?"
"I… I'm hungry," Karin mumbled, her voice barely audible.
"Ugh. There's food stored in the back. Go get some, and bring me something while you're at it," Deidara replied, pointing to the depths of the cave.
"What about that scary guy?" Karin glanced nervously at Sasori and the pile of puppet parts scattered around him.
"Don't worry about him. He doesn't eat food, he eats children," Deidara said, making a scary face as the tongue from his palm-mouthed hand flicked out menacingly.
"Ahhh!"
"Hahaha!"
Four days later, the icy beauty, Konan, finally arrived.
"You're late," Sasori grumbled. Though spending a few quiet days crafting puppets had been enjoyable, waiting for others always soured his mood.
"Where's the child?" Konan asked coolly, her expression calm and detached, as though she were one of Nagato's Six Paths.
"Over there," Sasori said, Hiruko's tail gesturing to the cave's depths. There, Karin was sitting in front of a pile of clay "monsters," watching Deidara chew clay as he worked on a new construct.
"Man, creating a clay soldier with a built-in weapon is harder than I thought!" Deidara complained. "My jaws are sore."
His idea was to develop a soldier capable of firing explosive clay bullets, similar to his Enhanced C2 Dragon. But the level of precision required was far beyond his current sculpting abilities. Without the system's Morphology skill, it would take him ages to refine the technique.
"Karin, throw out all these failures," Deidara ordered.
"Why me? You can throw them out yourself!" By now, Karin had grown bolder. After spending days with these two oddballs, she'd realized they weren't as terrifying as they seemed.
"Oh, Konan's here," Deidara said, finally noticing the blue-haired woman.
"I'll be taking the child," Konan said coldly.
"I don't want to go!" Karin clung to Deidara's side, reluctant to leave the relative safety of familiarity for an unknown future.
"Don't worry. She's a good person," Deidara reassured her. "Go with her and learn some ninja skills. That way, you'll be able to protect yourself."
After much coaxing, Karin reluctantly agreed, but her eyes betrayed her unease.
"One more thing," Konan added, her tone serious. "There's a task for you two. One of our bases in the Land of Birds has been destroyed. You're to investigate and handle the situation."
Deidara sighed. "Fine. Let's go, Sasori."
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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