Chapter 620: Perfect Art

Deidara frowned slightly, looking at Gaara who had suddenly started spouting nonsense.

It was only then that it hit him – something he'd read in his own intel dossier before.

There had been a brief mention… that he, Deidara, had been the one to take this guy down.

He'd successfully captured him and extracted Shukaku, the One-Tail, from his body.

So, that's why this guy held such a grudge!

Hmph!

The Kazekage!

Deidara couldn't care less about some Kazekage; his only interest lay with Sasuke.

A mere Kazekage… someone he'd easily dealt with in the past. Dealing with him now would be even simpler.

"Sorry! I'm not interested in anyone else right now. The only one I want to fight is him."

"If you're not an Uchiha, then please step aside!" Deidara declared, making it clear he didn't regard Gaara as a threat in the slightest.

A muscle twitched at the corner of Gaara's mouth. This was Sunagakure, his village, and this intruder dared to ignore him, the Kazekage, right here?

This was utterly insolent.

Instantly, streams of sand surged towards Deidara, enveloping him completely in moments.

The next second, Gaara prepared to unleash his Sand Coffin, but Deidara spoke calmly, neither hurried nor slow.

"If you don't let me go, I'll blow up every single person in your village!"

As he spoke, tiny white termite-like figures crawled out from Deidara's body.

These termites burrowed through the sand and dropped to the ground.

The instant they landed, they exploded.

BOOM!

The sudden blast gouged a massive crater in the earth.

Deidara turned his head to look at Gaara.

"About a third of your village's population… my self-destructing termites have already gotten close to them. If you don't release me, well, I'll just detonate them all!"

Hearing this, Gaara froze. Rasa and the Third Kazekage, standing nearby, also saw their expressions turn grim instantly.

All sacrifices were acceptable for the rise of Sunagakure, but if the villagers themselves were gone…

Then what meaning would Sunagakure even have? The so-called 'rise' would become utterly pointless!

Gaara's face shifted through several expressions, a storm of uncertainty brewing within him. In the end, he couldn't bring himself to call the bluff.

He didn't dare gamble on whether Deidara was telling the truth or lying.

If it was a lie, fine. But if it was true, Sunagakure stood to lose a third of its people.

Who would dare take such a gamble lightly?

Slowly, he controlled the sand, releasing Deidara. Deidara looked at the helpless Gaara!

He chuckled disdainfully. "Someone of this level can serve as Kazekage?"

"Sunagakure really is weak!"

"Its reputation as the weakest of the Five Great Nations is truly well-deserved."

Finished speaking, he shot a contemptuous glance at the three Kazekage present.

Although Sunagakure certainly wasn't the strongest among the Five Great Nations…

For Deidara to so brazenly call the village weak right in front of its Kage…

The faces of the three Kazekage were incredibly dark.

But no matter how furious they were, there was nothing they could do right now.

They couldn't risk fighting Deidara, not when they had a more urgent matter to attend to.

They needed to check the situation within Sunagakure – were this lunatic's termite bombs truly scattered everywhere?

If that was the case, they had to find a way to ensure the safety of the villagers first.

Gaara glanced at Rasa and the Third Kazekage beside him.

He would handle things here; the villagers were more important.

The two former Kage silently retreated, preparing to return to the village proper.

At this moment, however, Deidara's attention was solely focused on Sasuke before him.

"You're strong!"

"Everyone I've met since coming here has said you're strong!"

"They even warned me that if I ran into you, I should avoid fighting recklessly, that I should escape if I could!"

Sasuke smirked at his words. "Perhaps you should have listened to them!"

But Deidara's expression suddenly twisted into a ferocious, almost terrifying grin.

"I refuse! I won't believe it! Just how strong can one person possibly be?!"

"Besides, I have now grasped the true essence of art."

"Even you, Uchiha Sasuke, I have no fear of you!"

At this very moment.

Hidden somewhere nearby, Sasori watched Deidara with exasperation.

'That guy is an absolute idiot!'

'Shouldn't we be letting them fight the Kazekage while we snatch the Tailed Beast from the sidelines?'

'But no, he just had to run out and steal the spotlight.'

Sasori sighed silently. Deidara's path probably only led to death now.

Turning his gaze towards the Eight-Tails' direction, a sharp glint flashed in Sasori's eyes.

Previously, Sasori wouldn't have given things like Tailed Beasts a second thought.

But things were different now.

His Puppet Technique had undergone a major upgrade.

He had a bolder idea: what if his puppetry could control a Tailed Beast?

Wouldn't that mean...

His Puppet Technique could reach an entirely new level.

Who said puppetry could only control puppets!

With this thought, Sasori began moving closer towards the Eight-Tails.

Meanwhile, Hamura saw that Sasuke seemed about to engage the man before him in battle.

This was perfect.

Uchiha Sasuke was powerful. If no one kept him occupied, retrieving his big brother's Tailed Beast might prove difficult.

With Sasuke tied down now, this was his chance to act.

Without a word of warning, Hamura suddenly dashed towards the Eight-Tails.

At the same instant, Indra startled.

Sasuke glanced at Hamura's retreating back, roughly guessing his intentions.

But just then, a smile suddenly spread across Indra's face.

"I'm going too!"

With that, Indra immediately chased after Hamura.

Leaving Sasuke, Gaara, and Deidara standing there.

Deidara stared intently at Sasuke, completely uninterested in where the others had gone or what they were doing.

All his focus was now on Sasuke.

He wanted to fight him.

"Come on!"

"Let me see just what kind of power the one hailed as the strongest truly possesses!"

Saying this, Deidara fixed his gaze on Sasuke, raised his hand, and shot a clump of white clay directly from the mouth-like opening on his palm.

The instant the explosive clay was ejected, it morphed into a small white bird.

It shot straight towards Sasuke.

The speed!

Incredibly fast!

Sasuke raised his hand and threw a shuriken, successfully striking Deidara's white bird.

BOOM!

An explosion erupted suddenly, the terrifying blast echoing loudly.

The destructive power generated by a single, palm-sized white bird was astonishingly immense.

The flames from the blast alone spread over a ten-meter radius.

Thick smoke billowed high into the air.

The force of this explosion took Sasuke slightly by surprise.

It seemed Deidara had indeed undergone some changes; even the power of his explosions had suddenly become so terrifying.

"Hahaha! How about that? This is my new art, the true essence that belongs to art!"

"This is perfect art!"

"Uchiha Sasuke, I'm going to tear you to pieces with my explosions!"

Deidara slowly floated upwards, raising both hands and giving a light flick.

A dense swarm of white birds flew out!

They instantly formed a flock,attacking, and in the blink of an eye, there must have been hundreds of these exploding white birds!

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