After taking down the Second Mizukage, Kaito had become the center of attention on the battlefield. After all, in the eyes of most shinobi, a Kage represented the very pinnacle of power—and he was one of the Five Great Kage at that.
Deidara looked at Kaito in the distance and felt irritated. He hadn't even gotten to display his art yet—how could he let some Uchiha steal the spotlight?
He pulled out a large lump of clay and shoved it into the mouth on his palm. After a round of chewing, he molded countless little clay birds and sent them flying toward Kaito.
Kaito acted as if he hadn't noticed, letting the clay birds land all over his body.
Deidara wasn't about to waste the chance. He barked,
"Drink!"
In his mind, Kaito would be blown to pieces, not even bones left behind. But he waited, and waited—none of the clay birds exploded.
Frowning, he looked closer. Every single bird that landed on Kaito looked paralyzed, their bodies trembling uncontrollably.
If he had been standing in front of Kaito, he would've seen purple lightning crackling continuously across his body. And the greatest weakness of clay bombs… was lightning.
Kaito turned his head and flashed a smile at Deidara. The sight hit Deidara like a bad memory. Years ago, Uchiha Itachi had crushed him in almost the exact same way.
The smile broke Deidara's composure. He was about to charge forward for a one-on-one when Sasori suddenly stopped him.
"Sasori-senpai, don't hold me back! I'll show that Uchiha what true art is!"
Sasori shook his head and said quietly,
"Think for a second—why did your clay fail?"
"Hmph! Must've been the distance. If I get closer, it'll work just fine... mmm!"
"Idiot. Didn't you see the state of your bombs? That Uchiha Kaito is clearly a lightning-style shinobi."
"Nani?"
Sasori's words cooled him down. If that was true, then his clay bombs really were hard countered.
Still, that didn't mean he was out of options. He shoved another huge handful of clay into his mouth, mumbling,
"Mmph... no matter how strong his lightning is, there's no way he can stop this one... mmm!"
In no time, a massive clay figure shaped like Deidara himself took form.
Wiping spit from the corner of his mouth, Deidara smirked proudly at Sasori.
"Sasori-senpai, feast your eyes. This... is my C4 Karura!"
Sasori had never seen this move before. He stared at the gigantic clay replica and muttered,
"That thing's way too big. Won't it get hit by his lightning before it even gets close?"
"Heh-heh. Sasori-senpai, it's not as simple as it looks... mmm!"
Before his eyes, the giant clay figure exploded—but the blast was no stronger than popping a balloon.
No one noticed that the air was now filled with countless microscopic clay spiders, carried by the wind straight into Kaito's body.
Deidara grinned viciously and shouted,
"Even if your lightning's strong, you can't spark it inside your own body! Die! Drink!"
But just like before—nothing happened. Kaito remained perfectly fine. Sasori glanced at him and asked doubtfully,
"What are you even doing?"
Deidara's face burned red. Staring at Kaito in disbelief, he muttered,
"How... how is this possible?"
Kaito's entire body suddenly blazed with dazzling violet lightning, like a purple sun.
His face flickered in the glow, almost godlike. Watching from afar, Terumī Mei crossed her arms and turned into a full-blown Kaito fangirl.
Sasori frowned.
"To turn your body itself into lightning... that's just like the Hōzuki clan's Hydrification Technique."
Deidara hadn't even touched the lightning, yet he already felt numb all over.
If his opponent could become lightning itself, how was he supposed to fight that?
As Deidara froze, Kaito raised a hand toward him. A powerful suction burst forth, dragging Deidara helplessly forward.
Nagato reacted instantly, using Universal Pull to yank Deidara back. But the pull only managed to stall Deidara midair for less than a second before he was still dragged in front of Kaito.
Nagato's eyes went wide. He was fighting in his true body now, not through Pain's Deva Path—his Universal Pull was easily twice as strong as normal. And yet he couldn't even pull back Deidara?
And worse—why the hell could Uchiha Kaito use Universal Pull too!?
He noted that Kaito's eyes were still plain black, which meant it wasn't a dōjutsu. Some kind of secret technique? But what kind of secret technique could surpass the Rinnegan?
Did the Sage of Six Paths have no shame left?
...
Kaito seized Deidara by the throat and grinned.
"You've really handed me a lot of toys. How should I thank you?"
Deidara's face twisted dark. He spat out bitterly,
"Toys? You dare call my art toys!? Bastard! I'll take you with me!"
Abandoning resistance, he freed both hands, ripping off his Akatsuki cloak to reveal the gaping mouth on his chest.
He stuffed in a huge lump of clay, and his body began turning transparent. Kaito only watched, not interfering—in fact, he even teased,
"Oh? Planning to use Patrick Star?"
With the last of his consciousness, Deidara rasped,
"Patrick Star? What the hell is that?"
Then his body vanished completely, collapsing into a pitch-black sphere radiating destructive power.
...
Fighting the Second Tsuchikage, Ōnoki saw the sight and his heart sank with grief. He knew this was a suicide technique—and it couldn't be stopped.
Terumī Mei's pupils contracted as she stared at the floating black sphere. She shouted urgently,
"No! Hokage-sama, we have to get out of here!"
But Kaito's face was calm, without a hint of panic. He even reached out, pinching the black sphere between his fingers.
"Whether it explodes or not... isn't up to you."
Narrowing his eyes, Kaito casually tossed the sphere to the ground.
To everyone's shock, the black orb sprouted dark lines, flowing in reverse—like time itself rewinding.
And half of Deidara's body reappeared.
He lay on the ground utterly dazed, mind blank.
"Who am I? Where am I? Didn't I already self-destruct?"
Kaito crouched beside him, pinching Deidara's chin between his fingers.
"Explosions aren't something you play with like that."