"Get lost!"
Ōnoki, after a long struggle, finally managed to utter a single word.
He didn't even look at Deidara.
He feared that if he looked at him for even a second longer, he might lose control and hit Deidara with a Dust Release attack.
Even if he was utterly exhausted, he'd muster up every bit of strength just to land that blow.
Throughout the entire ninja world, countless people longed to learn the Dust Release technique, eager to understand its mysteries.
And here it was, offered to this brat, and he turned his head away!
Explosion Release?
...
No!
Absolutely not!
Ōnoki gasped heavily. He couldn't dwell on it any longer.
If he kept thinking about it, he might really lose control and act.
"That's enough!" Kakuzu, noticing Ōnoki's restraint, shouted coldly at Deidara to hurry up and leave.
To be honest, he couldn't understand Deidara's thinking either.
Dust Release!
That was the Dust Release!
It was definitely on par with his Earth Grudge Fear, perhaps even superior.
Back then, he had turned rogue for something less valuable.
Yet here Deidara was, with the Dust Release practically handed to him, and he willingly rejected it.
Who could understand that?
But he didn't dwell on it either.
As Uchiha Itsuki had once said, the ninja world was full of all kinds of ninjas.
And really, how many of the Kage from the Five Great Shinobi Villages were truly normal?
Kakuzu had spent quite a while counting on his fingers before concluding:
There were normal Kage!
But they were all mediocrities.
All the ninja with extraordinary talent? Almost none of them were normal.
And truth be told, Kakuzu counted himself among them!
"Fine!"
Deidara grinned as he looked at the incoming tide of white Zetsu. With a smirk, he waved his arm lightly.
"Come on!"
Facing the white tide of Zetsu, Deidara casually summoned a massive explosive clay figure.
Number 18!
Whoosh!
Like a bolt of lightning, Number 18 descended from the sky, landing amidst the white tide.
The white Zetsu scrambled to escape.
They had inherited part of White Zetsu's memories, so they knew exactly what it was and who Deidara was. If they got caught in that explosion, they were done for.
At full power, Number 18 could destroy a small ninja village.
"Running?"
Deidara sneered when he saw the white Zetsu fleeing. "Do you really think you can escape?"
With such a large number, how many could actually get away?
"Boom!!!"
A massive mushroom cloud slowly rose.
The immense force rippled through the earth.
Even from a distance, everyone could feel the power of the explosion.
Those present all had a change in expression.
"Hmm?"
Kakuzu, surprised, looked at Deidara. "Was that Number 18?"
As a member of the Akatsuki, he had witnessed Number 18's explosions before. But wasn't this one a bit too powerful?
Impressive!
Even the previous two Number 18s couldn't compare to this blast.
"Idiot!"
Deidara scoffed. "It's still Number 18, but everyone's improving. Why would I stay the same? I've long since modified Number 18."
An improved version of Number 18?
"No!"
Deidara paused for a moment, then smiled slyly. "It should be called Number 19."
"And next... this one should be considered Number 20!"
Deidara clapped his hands together again.
A few balls of white clay fell to the ground.
"Gurgle gurgle!"
With strange gurgling sounds, the four balls of clay slowly grew.
Finally, they morphed into massive white giants, towering over 20 meters tall.
"What are those things?"
Even Kakuzu felt a chill run down his spine.
Even Sasori couldn't help but take a closer look at Deidara.
This brat he had been partnered with actually had this kind of power?
No wonder the Third Tsuchikage chose him as his successor.
Too bad he had chosen the wrong path.
Of course!
Sasori himself stubbornly refused to admit that. He believed his path was the right one.
Ōnoki remained silent, his expression as dark as ever.
Back at the ninja alliance headquarters, the giant water sphere was once again fluctuating violently.
"A massive chakra signature detected! Its power is even greater than the previous one!"
Itsuki looked up, puzzled: How is this straying so far from the original storyline?
But then again, it wasn't that surprising.
This battle had begun three or four years earlier than in the original timeline.
If everything went exactly like the original, that would be strange.
...
"Go!"
Deidara let out a crazed laugh, pointing toward the army of white Zetsu.
One of the giants immediately stepped forward, charging at the white Zetsu army.
"That's it!"
Itsuki, who had linked his mind with the water sphere, suddenly realized something.
White Zetsu had a critical weakness.
Ninjutsu!
They could transform into anyone, but very few of them could actually use ninjutsu.
So when faced with Deidara's giant explosive clay figure, as it charged toward them, they were... pitiful!
Aside from running, they had no other choice.
As for launching an attack...
It was Deidara's ninjutsu. Charging straight into it—what were they thinking? That they had heads of steel, or no brains at all?
"Boom!"
The giant rushed into the white Zetsu army and immediately triggered an explosion.
The explosion was even bigger than the one Number 19 had caused earlier.
Kakuzu and the others, who were standing far away, couldn't help but retreat a little more.
Deidara, flying on his giant white bird, also retreated a bit.
"Go!"
He pointed at another giant.
The giant took another step and charged into the white Zetsu army.
"Boom!"
Another massive explosion shook the battlefield.
"Go, go!"
Deidara kept commanding, sending all the remaining giants into the white Zetsu army.
When all the explosions were finally over, and the smoke had cleared, the ground was littered with white Zetsu corpses.
At least a thousand lay in view!
It wasn't surprising, given the ferocity of the explosions—most of the white Zetsu hadn't even left corpses behind.
As for the survivors, they had already fled.
With Deidara here, if he made a few more of those white giants, how would they defend against them?
To the white Zetsu, Deidara's explosive clay was their worst nightmare.
They weren't like Gaara, capable of summoning massive sand walls.
Nor were they like the Third Raikage, with the ability to withstand explosions with their bodies.
"Hahaha! Hahahaha!"
Deidara burst into wild laughter.
His eyes were bloodshot as he turned sharply, glaring at Ōnoki. "Old man, what do you think?"
Ōnoki remained silent for a long time.
Though he didn't want to admit it, the power was indeed immense.
After a long pause, Ōnoki finally spoke, "Deidara, I admit, your Explosion Release has surpassed my expectations. But I still stand by this: compared to Dust Release, your Explosion Release is nothing!"
The veins on Deidara's forehead pulsed.
Gritting his teeth, he sneered, "Old man, just you wait. One day, you'll admit that my Explosion Release is just as good as your Dust Release!"
"Ha!"
Ōnoki scoffed.
Surpass Dust Release?
This world couldn't possibly have such a ninjutsu.
At least, he had never seen it.
Ōnoki was the oldest in the entire ninja world.
He had seen Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha.
The Susano'o and the Wood Golem Technique—both were top-tier super ninjutsu.
However, Ōnoki was confident that with his Dust Release, he could wipe them out just the same.
It was only that Itsuki Uchiha wasn't playing by the rules.
He actually used Susano'o's arm to block his Dust Release.
In the end, Ōnoki had nearly disintegrated him from top to bottom, just barely missing Uchiha Itsuki, who was hiding inside Susano'o.
Sometimes, Ōnoki wondered if he was really getting old.
If he were ten years younger, the power of his Dust Release would surely have been even greater. In their last battle, Itsuki Uchiha wouldn't have had the upper hand.
"Hmph!"
Deidara snorted coldly, riding his giant white bird as he flew away.
Kakuzu and Sasori exchanged glances.
Deidara had certainly grown.
At this moment, in terms of chakra, he was likely close to the Kage level that Itsuki had mentioned.
He was just a bit lacking in ninjutsu skills.
But that wasn't a big problem.
As long as the chakra was there, with enough practice, the mastery of ninjutsu would naturally follow.
"Unexpected!"
Sasori's voice was low.
Kakuzu sneered, "What? Sasori, are you afraid of partnering with him now?"
Sasori smirked back. "Deidara has grown, but compared to my power, he's still a bit behind."
"Hmph, as long as you're that confident!"
Kakuzu chuckled lightly and glanced at Itachi without saying a word.
Itachi nodded slightly and ordered the approaching ninja alliance, "Attack. Wipe out every last White Zetsu."
"Yes!"
The crowd became excited.
There were still quite a number of White Zetsu left, but after a few rounds of Deidara's bombing, how many could really be left?
They're done for!
Even if they transformed to look like us, it wouldn't matter anymore.
White Zetsu creatures, unless they were gathering intel, even in numbers of ten, dozens, or even hundreds, had little impact on an army of tens of thousands.
The remaining White Zetsu, unable to escape, were hunted down one by one by the ninja forces.
Many White Zetsu who didn't manage to flee burrowed back underground, only to be dug out by earth-style ninja and killed again.
At this moment, the ninja alliance was terrifyingly bloodthirsty.
It didn't even seem like they were killing; it looked more like they were savoring it.
This entire scene was witnessed by Uchiha Obito, hidden in the shadows.
Once again, he was speechless.
It wasn't just him—Black Zetsu was also at a loss.
His face even carried a trace of bewilderment.
Damn it, another unexpected turn.
Deidara!
It was Deidara!
That damn brat actually had this kind of ability.
"Obito!"
Black Zetsu's ghostly voice echoed, "Maybe we shouldn't have given up on the Akatsuki."
Obito suddenly turned his head, glaring at Black Zetsu. "Shouldn't have given up? Do you think I wanted to give up? No, I was forced out!"
Black Zetsu was speechless.
That's true!
Then again, how useless are you?
You created an organization for decades, only to get kicked out.
You just started making progress, and someone else stole the show.
Though to many, the Ten-Tails was the real prize.
"So what do we do now?"
Black Zetsu sighed, "The Edo Tensei ninjas aren't working!"
"The reanimated Kages were almost all taken down with zero casualties."
"Now, even the White Zetsu army has been wiped out."
Black Zetsu felt like crying.
Oh heavens!
Oh earth!
What kind of sin have I committed?
"Oh heavens!"
"Oh earth!"
"What kind of sin have I committed?"
Obito muttered in anguish.
Black Zetsu stared blankly at Obito.
Obito turned his head to look at him. Even with his Rinnegan, he couldn't hide his pain.
Itsuki Uchiha, you've had the worst luck imaginable.
At this moment, the two of them seemed like kindred spirits in misery.
"Tell Orochimaru to send out those two."
Obito spoke calmly, "Besides those two, it seems no one else can turn the tide."
"That's true, but..."
Black Zetsu hesitated. "Will Orochimaru agree?"
He could see clearly.
Orochimaru had already used Edo Tensei to revive those two.
But!
Orochimaru mostly kept them close as bodyguards.
"I will make him agree!"
"Are you so sure?"
Black Zetsu was surprised.
"Yes!"
Obito said with certainty, "Tell Orochimaru that if he doesn't cooperate, I'll go find him myself."
Black Zetsu froze again. "Obito, those two are by Orochimaru's side."
"I know!"
Obito's voice was cold. "So what if they're there? Do you think I'd be afraid?"
His eyes began to shift.
One had always been the Rinnegan, and the other now transformed into the Mangekyo Sharingan.
Black Zetsu was stunned.
"You—you're going to make a move against Orochimaru?"
"That depends on whether he cooperates or not."
Obito sneered.
Black Zetsu's expression became strange.
Ever since Obito had awakened the Rinnegan, he had indeed grown cocky for a while.
But!
He still didn't have the guts to face Uchiha Itsuki head-on, let alone talk about winning.
He kept saying he wanted to draw Itsuki out and defeat him.
But honestly, deep down, Obito doubted his ability to beat Itsuki.
Otherwise...
If he were truly bold, he would've stormed into Itsuki's village alone a long time ago.
"I understand!"
Black Zetsu's voice was low. "I'll make the arrangements. Obito, be careful."
"Hmm."
Black Zetsu disappeared underground.
Obito turned back, continuing to watch the one-sided massacre.
The ninja forces were hunting down White Zetsu.
These White Zetsu were destined to be abandoned by Obito.
There were 80,000 White Zetsu soldiers, and only around 10,000 were here.
Most of the White Zetsu had been sent to attack the six great ninja villages.
Another battle would soon unfold there.
...
Orochimaru's expression shifted.
"Heh."
He chuckled.
"Deidara?"
It was actually that kid!
He couldn't help but laugh.
An insignificant member of the Akatsuki had grown to this level.
It was indeed surprising.
But!
What amused Orochimaru the most was that Obito hadn't accomplished anything on his side.
Was that even possible?
From the start of the war to now, they had fought three times.
Obito's side had lost twice.
The first two times were due to Orochimaru's Edo Tensei.
Once, elite ninjas.
Once, the Kages!
Both times ended in failure, and Obito still had the nerve to blame Orochimaru.
But!
The disastrous defeat of the White Zetsu army had left no room for excuses.
Orochimaru stared at the chess pieces on the board and kept laughing.
But as he laughed, his smile faded.
"Hmm, looks like Obito might come looking for me!"
Orochimaru muttered in surprise, "The defeat of the White Zetsu army means he's running out of cards to play. Should I be getting ready?"
(End of Chapter)