Sakiya was curious.
"The ultimate art?"
Was he really going to use that so soon?
She found it hard to believe.
Sure enough, Deidara began consuming his explosive clay at a frenzied pace.
A moment later, black threads spread across his body, making him look even more terrifying.
Deidara laughed wildly.
"Hahahaha! Witness the ultimate explosion!"
Sakiya remained unfazed. She stepped forward, countless magic circles forming around her.
"Since you've chosen to resist, I will grant you death!"
With that, a massive magic circle floated into the air.
Deidara grinned.
"You want to challenge my ultimate art? Then bring it on!"
Click—
Deidara stiffened.
The ominous black threads on his body condensed further. His explosion was imminent.
Sakiya quickly formed a seal and teleported away with Gaara.
As the projection faded, Sakiya gathered the energy of countless magic circles, unleashing a blinding surge of holy light toward Deidara.
Then—boom!
Deidara detonated.
The explosion and the holy light clashed violently.
For an instant, everything was engulfed in pure white. A massive shockwave tore through the battlefield, flattening everything within miles.
Even Kakashi, fighting in the distance, felt the ground tremble beneath him.
When he looked up, he could see the explosion cloud rising into the sky.
Meanwhile, Sasori was dealing with multiple enemies—Chiyo, the Konoha genin, and Kakashi's squad.
Might Guy had just opened the sixth gate and crushed Kisame's clone. Now, he had joined Kakashi in attacking Sasori.
Sasori had activated his Red Secret Technique: Performance of a Hundred Puppets.
But no matter how skilled he was, controlling so many puppets at once inevitably led to openings.
Then, seeing the massive explosion in the distance, Sasori knew immediately who was responsible.
"What the hell is that idiot doing now?"
Only Deidara could cause such a spectacle.
Had he run into serious trouble?
Sasori frowned.
The situation was becoming worse for him.
Fighting Chiyo was difficult enough.
Now he had to deal with the Ino-Shika-Chō trio and Kakashi's Sharingan as well.
---
Sasori knew he couldn't maintain both the Performance of a Hundred Puppets and the Third Kazekage Puppet indefinitely. Controlling them at this intensity wouldn't last long.
And escape?
That wasn't an option.
Not because he couldn't—because he didn't want to.
The emotions he had buried long ago had surfaced the moment he saw Chiyo's two puppets, the ones that represented his parents.
From that moment, Sasori had already decided.
He wasn't leaving this battle alive.
But despite everything, he still held a certain fondness for Deidara.
"Deidara… take care of yourself."
With that silent farewell, he deliberately left an opening for Chiyo, ensuring she could use the Mother and Father puppets to finish him off.
---
Meanwhile, Deidara crawled out of the ground, gasping for breath.
"Phew~ I underestimated my own explosion. Almost buried myself alive."
He had secretly switched places with a clay clone just before detonation, planning to take down his opponent with an overwhelming blast.
But Sakiya…
She didn't even run.
She stood there and faced his explosion.
The thought made Deidara grin.
"Hah! Idiot. But at least you got to die in the presence of true art!"
That blast had consumed nearly all his remaining detonating clay, including the C2 Dragon.
There was no way she had survived.
Deidara dusted himself off and turned to leave.
Then—
He froze.
A girl stood before him, her hands behind her back, a faint smile on her lips.
She wore a blindfold.
Sakiya.
Deidara's mouth fell open.
"Hmph. Surprised? My Eye of Death meets you again."
Sakiya gave him a small wave, greeting him as if nothing had happened.
Deidara clenched his fists.
"You…! Was that all just an illusion!?"
He gritted his teeth.
"Tch. You're just like that damn Itachi, using these annoying mind tricks!"
Sakiya shook her head and wagged a finger.
"Illusion? No, no. It's simply a boundary between different dimensions."
Deidara was furious.
Sakiya had tricked him one too many times.
"You! You're still using illusions, aren't you!?"
Sakiya crossed her arms, equally annoyed.
"I told you already, I'm real! Just at a different level!"
With that, she stepped toward Deidara.
He hesitated, taking a step back.
"Hey… what are you doing?"
Sakiya's expression turned serious.
"I'm going to prove that I wasn't lying!"
Before Deidara could react, she suddenly pulled out a massive club from seemingly nowhere—
And smacked it right on his head.
BAM!
A huge lump swelled up instantly.
Sakiya tossed the mallet to the ground and grinned smugly.
"See? Told you I'm real!"
Deidara winced, rubbing the growing bump.
"You—!!"
Enraged, he threw a handful of explosive clay bombs at her.
The bombs flew straight through Sakiya's body and detonated harmlessly behind her.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Small craters formed where the explosions hit.
Deidara's jaw dropped.
"You just said you were real!"
Sakiya tilted her head innocently.
"I am real. Just on a different level. Obviously, you can't hit me."
That nonsense again!
Deidara looked into her completely sincere eyes and felt a deep, existential exhaustion.
"This world… is not worth it."
With a sigh, he gave up.
"Forget it. Just destroy everything. I'm done."
He peeled off his cloak, revealing the giant mouth on his chest.
Taking the last bit of his detonating clay, he fed it to the mouth, letting it chew.
Black tendrils spread across his body as he started laughing.
"Heh… hehe…"
"Hahahaha!"
"THIS is my ultimate art!"
"I will become art! And take everything with me!"
But Sakiya just smirked.
Forming a frame with her fingers in front of her right eye, she mimicked aiming a gun.
Then, she pointed a "finger gun" at Deidara with her other hand.
"Take this! The Great Seal of Death!"
Deidara's eye twitched at her ridiculous gesture.
"This is my greatest, most beautiful final art! The kind that will be admired forever! Show some respect, dammit!"
Sakiya didn't even blink.
She simply said—
"Piu!"
A bolt of lightning shot from her fingertip, striking Deidara dead on.
The Raiton chakra surged through his body in an instant.
His ultimate art came to an abrupt halt.
Deidara stood frozen.
"…Lightning Release?"
Sakiya beamed.
"Nope! It's my 'Death Seal'!"
Then, as if remembering something, she clapped her hands together.
"Oh! There's one final step."
With that, she pulled out another massive club and walked toward Deidara, smiling.
He instinctively took a step back.
Then he realized—
She had already teleported in front of him.
"WAIT—!"
Deidara screamed.
"DON'T COME ANY CLOSER!"