A white bird flew straight toward you, and you thought it might be another group of bounty hunters coming after you. Instantly, you reacted to defend yourself.
"Super Enlargement Jutsu!"
You transformed into a towering giant, over thirty meters tall, and swatted at the bird in mid-air with a single massive palm.
However, before your hand could strike, a yellow-haired youth with a severed arm jumped off the bird's back and landed on the ground. He looked furious and immediately started shouting at you.
"Damn it! The Enlargement Jutsu, you're from the Akimichi clan!"
"Has Konoha set up an ambush this far from Suna?"
"Do you really think you can stop me, Deidara?! Let me show you the art of explosion!"
Deidara spat out a ball of clay from his mouth, quickly shaping it into several spiders and sending them toward you.
Hearing his words, you vaguely realized that both of you had misunderstood each other's identities, but before you could speak, the clay spiders exploded upon making contact with your body.
Deidara let out a loud, maniacal laugh, watching as you were engulfed in a series of explosions.
However, when the smoke cleared, you stood there unscathed, with only your clothes damaged from the explosions, your muscular upper body fully intact. You looked at Deidara with a dumbfounded expression, as if his explosions were mere child's play.
Deidara, seeing this, grew pale, but after a cold snort, he prepared to show you something more powerful.
"Humph! You've got some skill. Let's see how you handle this!"
Deidara reached into his pouch and pulled out a large piece of clay, which he quickly molded into a giant white clay dragon.
"C2—Giant Dragon, attack!"
The dragon opened its mouth and launched clay bombs at you, each one designed to explode on impact. But once again, these attacks did no harm to you.
When the last clay bomb came flying at you, you opened your mouth and swallowed it whole. The bomb exploded inside your stomach, but you merely belched slightly, and a few sparks flew from your mouth.
"Mm~ The taste of your art is much better this time," you commented.
Deidara, stunned, watched as you casually commented on his explosive creations, which only infuriated him further. He began to bombard you with even more clay explosives, creating massive explosions around you. But to your amusement, you casually snatched them out of the air and ate them like snacks, unharmed.
Finally, Deidara's clay ran out, and he reluctantly stopped his attacks.
By now, Deidara was growing frustrated. He had summoned his strongest creations—C4 Karura included—but still couldn't even scratch you. He was left with no choice but to retreat.
"Hmm? You stopped?"
"You know, Deidara, not only does your art lack flavor, but it's also not very enduring... what a trashy form of art. I suggest you give it up."
Deidara paused in his retreat and turned toward you, a terrifying expression spreading across his face.
"MDZZ, you're really pushing me! I'll make you see what true explosive art looks like!"
Suddenly, Deidara tore off his shirt and revealed a mouth on his chest. He began eating more explosive clay from his chest and infused it with chakra through his heart. His body began to turn black and slowly fade away as the black sphere of energy began to form in his chest.
At this moment, you still didn't realize the danger and casually mocked him.
"So you've got a mouth on your chest too? Is that what's known as a 'multi-mouthed' monster?"
Deidara's body continued to fade rapidly, and the black sphere grew larger.
"Art is explosion! AAAAAHHH!"
With a loud scream, Deidara disappeared from the world, and the black sphere released an immense energy, poised to explode at any moment.
Without hesitation, you rushed over, opened your mouth, and swallowed the entire black sphere.
The explosion reverberated inside your body, and you couldn't help but let out a burp, a pillar of fire shooting up into the sky.
"Mm~ This time your art actually has the right flavor."
One can only wonder if Deidara, now deceased, would have felt any comfort hearing your comment.
The legendary bomb-throwing madman, the fanatic of explosive art, had been defeated in such an anticlimactic way by you.
"Armored Pangolin, let's go... Armored Pangolin? Where did you go?!"
"Did he get blown up in that explosion? Sigh... what a waste, such a great cook... why couldn't he just move further away?"
Once again, you set out on your journey alone.
Not long after you left, Akatsuki's Zetsu, who had been sent to retrieve Deidara, arrived late to the scene. Holding a torn piece of Deidara's cloak, Zetsu looked around at the massive crater caused by the explosion, bewildered.
He couldn't understand how Deidara had vanished.
Five Years Later
After five years of wandering across the ninja world, the thought suddenly popped into your mind: Perhaps it was time to return to Konoha. You made up your mind and began the journey back.
Given your infamous reputation over the years, your appearance had spread throughout the entire ninja world. Any ninja who valued their life dared not make a move against you.
The journey back to Konoha was unusually smooth.
However, as soon as you arrived at the gates of Konoha, you were shocked to see that the village had been reduced to ruins by a powerful force. Countless people were either dead or injured.
Frantically searching through the survivors, you found Akimichi Chōzō and Chōji. Fortunately, Chōzō was still alive, though gravely injured and unconscious.
After some brief exchanges, you asked Chōji what had happened to the village.
Chōji explained that the Akatsuki, led by Pain, had attacked Konoha, leaving it nearly destroyed. Then, Chōzō hesitantly told you that your biological parents might have perished in the attack.
The news struck you hard, and a surge of anger flooded your chest. The ruins of Konoha were now a place of sorrow for you.
On the other side of the destruction, Pain, in his Deva Path form, slowly emerged from the thick smoke and dust.
"NARUTO!" Pain called out.
Just then, Sakura, who had been spat out by a giant slug, shouted toward the sky.
"Ultimate Summoning — Naruto's Summoning Technique activates!"
Naruto, in his Sage Mode, descended from the sky riding a toad, his cold eyes locked onto Pain. He raised his hand...
But suddenly, a giant hand emerged from the smoke behind Naruto, swatting him and his toad out of the area, sending them crashing to the ground in front of Sakura.
The survivors looked on in horror.
Chōji, his voice a little sheepish, said softly.
"That... that might be my brother..."