The Strongest Artist in Naruto

Chapter 33: Chapter 33: Konoha's Shinobi



"Ugh... that hurts!"

Deidara tumbled down onto the main street, driven by the force of the explosion. His right shoulder hit the ground hard before he rolled twice more, finally coming to a stop. Yet, the danger was far from over.

Behind him, a male ninja with pure white eyes appeared, his movements composed and precise. Raising his hand, he spoke in a calm, almost detached tone.

"Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"

Crap!

Deidara felt his stomach sink. If he got hit by a Hyūga's Gentle Fist and his chakra points were sealed, he'd be left completely at their mercy.

In that fleeting moment, the only thing he could do was hastily chew a batch of clay spiders with his left hand. It wasn't part of any plan—just a desperate move in the face of death.

"How pathetic, Deidara!"

Thankfully, countless poisoned senbon shot from Sasori's puppet, Hiruko, intercepting before the attack could land. The needles were nearly invisible in the dark, but for a shinobi of this caliber, sound and air currents were more than enough to detect them—especially for someone with the Byakugan.

Cold sweat dripped down Deidara's back. He hated being ambushed like this. At least the Akatsuki worked in pairs—that decision had proven to be invaluable more times than he could count.

From the shadows of a nearby room, Sasori's puppet Hiruko emerged, shifting the battlefield's dynamic. A strange equilibrium settled after this initial exchange. Both sides, wary, chose to gather intelligence instead of rushing into action.

"So, Konoha shinobi, huh?" Sasori's tone grew cold and sharp.

The venom in his voice was no surprise—his parents had been killed by Konoha's White Fang. There was no way Sasori could harbor anything but contempt for the village.

Across from them, three shinobi stood together, assessing their enemies: Deidara and Sasori.

"The puppet explains the weird moves earlier," Sarutobi Tendou muttered as he recalled Hiruko firing poisoned needles from its mouth. A seasoned shinobi, he'd fought Sunagakure's puppet masters enough times to understand their tactics. Despite the current ceasefire between Sunagakure and Konohagakure, small skirmishes still broke out behind the scenes.

But something felt off to Hyūga Kazuto. His Byakugan spotted no chakra threads controlling the puppet, and there was a strange chakra signature centered in its heart. It wasn't normal.

"Kazuto, can you locate the puppet master's real body?" Tendou asked.

Kazuto shook his head, his expression tense. "I can't."

Tendou frowned. It was troublesome. Kakashi had previously reported on Deidara and Sasori to the Third Hokage, but that intel was classified at an S-rank level. The Hyūga and Sarutobi trio had no access to it, leaving them in the dark about the pair's full capabilities.

"Then I'll use a powerful elemental attack as cover. Kazuto, Kiyoto—focus on taking out the blond one first. Fighting a puppet master like him in close combat is a losing game," Tendou instructed.

Deidara watched them murmur among themselves, unable to hear their words but guessing from their body language and glances that they were planning to prioritize him.

Of course.

Teaming up with Sasori had its downsides. Deidara was always targeted first—enemies assumed that taking him down was easier than dealing with the puppet master. Little did they know, Sasori's true body was hidden within Hiruko.

"You're too slow!"

Sasori grew impatient. Hiruko's right arm splintered into countless wooden limbs, reaching for Kazuto.

"Rotation!"

Kazuto spun like a whirlwind, releasing chakra from every tenketsu in his body. The high-speed rotation formed a dense, impenetrable shield—a move touted as the Hyūga clan's ultimate defense.

Crash!

The spinning defense shattered the wooden arms into pieces, scattering debris. At the same time, Tendou formed seals.

"Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame!"

A scorching torrent of flames erupted from Tendou's mouth, roaring toward Hiruko. The goal wasn't merely to harm—it was to force Sasori to pull back his attack.

"Tch, this is turning into quite the hassle." Deidara's hands began shaping clay again.

Fighting in a populated area like this was a nightmare. It meant he couldn't use large-scale explosives, forcing him to fight with a self-imposed handicap.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Shimura Kiyoto lunged at Deidara, his blade slicing through the air with a sword slash so sharp that it cleaved the clay bird Deidara had crafted in two.

"Damn it!" Deidara cursed. Flying was proving impossible under this kind of pressure. The enemy wasn't stupid—they wouldn't give him the space or time to take off.

As Kiyoto closed in, Deidara responded with a swift counterattack.

"C1: Serpent Swarm!"

A stream of white clay snakes slithered out from his hands. Modeled after Orochimaru, the snakes writhed and surged with eerie precision.

"What the hell? Do you have something to do with Orochimaru?" Kiyoto demanded, startled by the resemblance.

Deidara smirked. "Had a little run-in with him recently. Thought I'd borrow the concept."

"Don't let those things near you! His jutsu likely detonates them," Tendou shouted, analyzing the attack. He'd already pieced together the nature of Deidara's abilities based on their earlier exchange.

"And what if you know?" Deidara mocked. "Just like Orochimaru's technique, these snakes will keep coming. Got a plan for that?"

Tendou's face darkened, but he wasn't deterred. Deidara wasn't Orochimaru, after all.

"Wind Style: Drilling Air Bullets!"

Compressed air bullets shot out from Tendou's mouth, blasting the clay snakes into fragments.

"Earth Style!"

A massive circular slab of rock descended from above, aimed to crush Deidara before he could retreat. The seamless transitions between powerful jutsu left Deidara in awe.

"This guy's no joke. A true Sarutobi," Deidara muttered under his breath.

Sasori's voice carried over with unsettling calmness.

"A body like yours would make an excellent addition to my collection."

Before Tendou could reply, Kazuto's voice rang out.

"Eight Trigrams..."

Suddenly, Kazuto halted his attack. A tiny clay insect latched onto his neck, its presence forcing him to prioritize dislodging it instead of finishing his move.

"When did you..." Kazuto's eyes widened in shock. Despite his Byakugan's near-perfect vision, he hadn't noticed.

"There's a blind spot at the back of the neck for the branch family's Byakugan, isn't there?" Deidara sneered, relishing Kazuto's frustration. "You never stood a chance."

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Pls Drop some Power Stones

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