Naruto, wearing a Root organization mask to protect his face, stared at Deidara, who was clearly waiting for him to make a move in order to launch another attack.
"First of all, I need to shoot that clay bird out of the sky and bring him to ground level. I don't want to be bombed from above again—once was enough."
Riding atop his giant clay bird, Deidara looked down upon Naruto. He was eager for an honorable showdown with this ninja who had single-handedly defeated Red Sand no Sasori.
Their last encounter had mostly been about Naruto dodging his explosives while he launched attacks from outside Naruto's range.
Although he couldn't see the expression beneath Naruto's mask, Deidara noticed that Naruto wasn't fleeing or glancing around—he was simply staring directly upward. That alone showed he was ready for battle—and that thrilled Deidara.
Deidara reached for more clay.
"Art is an explosion!"
Naruto dashed back and forth across the battlefield without a word, charging toward Deidara. However, Deidara merely smiled and guided his bird higher into the air, just in case Naruto could leap up and land a hit.
"What are you hesitating for down there? I thought you had more tricks up your sleeve!"
Still silent, the masked blond figure shot straight toward Deidara.
[Wind Release: Chakra Bubble!]
Shocked, Deidara watched as Naruto seemed to step on thin air, shooting forward at full speed.
"So he can fly?" Deidara thought, before quickly realizing he was still in the middle of battle.
He sharply steered the bird sideways, narrowly avoiding Naruto's strike—but not completely.
Instead of striking Deidara directly, Naruto sliced off one of the bird's wings.
However, the bird became useless once it lost its flight capability, crashing heavily to the ground.
Ever since their first encounter years ago, Naruto had kept refining his auxiliary ninjutsu. Back then, the jutsu barely let him perform a second jump. Now, he could use it effortlessly—no hand seals needed at all.
But this was only part of the improvement. With each step he took, he could now generate a chakra bubble under each foot, letting him genuinely run through the air without having to jump.
As Deidara fell, Naruto attempted another attack, but Deidara quickly shaped several small clay spiders and threw them toward him. Naruto halted midair, letting himself descend safely to the ground, dodging the bombs exploding overhead.
Landing safely himself and avoiding a deadly drop from the sky, Deidara saw Naruto rushing toward him once again, just like in his first assault.
Far from being frustrated or discouraged, Deidara let out a mocking laugh.
"Looks like the fox actually taught you some new tricks, huh?" He reached into his pockets again, pulling out more clay and added it to what he already held.
"Incredible… You really are something, Jinchuriki."
Naruto didn't say a word. The blank expression on his white mask perfectly reflected his current attitude—firm and silent. He simply held a kunai in hand, assuming a fighting stance, ready for the next round of battle.
"Looks like C1's not enough for you anymore," Deidara was clearly delighted by this fact. "No… I'll show you a higher form of my art! Get ready for the ultimate [baptism] of C2!"
A large dragon-shaped sculpture appeared in his hand. Then, amid a burst of smoke, it transformed into an enormous clay dragon. The dragon loomed before Deidara, fixing Naruto with a fierce glare.
Naruto quickly assessed his options. Unlike that clay bird, this thing looked extremely dangerous.
He made several Shadow Clones and sent them charging forward with shuriken, rushing toward Deidara.
"Even his clones are fast!" Deidara shouted as he jumped onto the dragon's head. "This time I'll get serious. Let me see your true strength, kid!"
The clay dragon took flight, spitting from its mouth a smaller flying dragon also made of clay. Though smaller, this new dragon was still roughly human-sized.
The small dragon dropped in front of Naruto's Shadow Clones and detonated, sending them flying.
Naruto didn't need to protect his face during the explosion because most of his face was already covered by the mask.
He saw Deidara's dragon soar upward and noticed its tail had visibly shortened after launching the attack.
When Deidara commanded the dragon to fire another dragon-shaped bomb, its tail became even shorter.
"Tobi's not here, so I can't lay any traps. And the moment he spots my Shadow Clones, he takes off into the sky. Those won't work on him. This isn't like last time—I can't pin him down and take him out easily. I need to come up with something."
Naruto leapt from his spot, again using [Maximum Output] to run across the air, dodging the incoming dragon-shaped bomb.
Deidara watched Naruto running through the air, constantly changing direction in a desperate attempt to escape the small dragon-shaped bomb—but to no avail.
"It'll hunt you down until it blows—turning you into nothing but scraps."
Naruto leaped high, flipped midair, formed a hand seal, and snapped his fingers.
[Lightning Release: Storm of Drunken Dragon!]
Bolts of lightning shot from Naruto's hands, striking the small dragon-shaped bomb repeatedly until it finally fell from the sky to the ground.
Mid-air, Naruto twisted his body, stepped onto an invisible Chakra Bubble to stabilize himself, and charged straight toward Deidara again.
"If I can't even beat you, then I don't deserve to fight Sasuke or Itachi face-to-face! If this is a contest of strength, then I've long surpassed you!"
Deidara's eyes went wide at Naruto's words. "What did you just say?" He aimlessly zipped around in the air.
"You heard me," Naruto replied. "You're not dumb—I know that well enough. Itachi is more dangerous than you. That's exactly why I'm here. I'll beat you first, then him—or his kid brother."
Deidara roared in fury, gnashing his teeth as he shouted:
"You actually think Itachi is more dangerous than me? I'll show you just how dangerous I really am! Aaaaaaah!"
He bellowed. Manipulating the giant dragon, he launched another dragon-shaped bomb at Naruto.
"Seriously? This move again?"
Naruto roared back, forming another hand seal. Lightning struck the poor bomb midair and sent it crashing down once again.
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