Naruto: Deidara’s Struggle

As Deidara and Kisame prepared to clash on the ocean's surface, Sasori immediately maneuvered Hiruko and rushed toward them. Before their departure, the leader had specifically sent Konan to warn them to be cautious of Kisame, and now those words seemed to be coming true.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

A scorching fireball shot out from behind Hiruko, forcing Sasori to dodge to the side. Turning his head, he found himself staring at Itachi Uchiha.

"Itachi Uchiha, are you planning to betray Akatsuki as well?" Sasori demanded.

But I've been an undercover agent all along!

Although Sasori couldn't clearly hear the argument taking place on the ocean's surface, he wholeheartedly supported anything that would delay Akatsuki's collection of the Tailed Beasts.

Moreover, on a personal level, even if it was just a minor conflict, Sasori would undoubtedly side with Kisame.

"Sasori, let them settle their matters on their own," Itachi said calmly.

Whoosh!

Several sealing scrolls unfurled as Sasori released his puppets: the Third Kazekage, puppets from the Hōzuki Clan, and several other exceptional human puppets.

The puppets surrounded Itachi in a tight formation. Sasori sneered, "Itachi Uchiha, my puppets are immune to your genjutsu!"

Itachi glanced around at the encircling puppets, his expression blank. "Then let's test that theory."

Meanwhile, on the ocean's surface...

Hundreds of clay sea serpents surged forth, their streamlined bodies darting swiftly through the water as they charged toward Kisame.

Unfazed, Kisame slung Samehada onto his back and formed hand seals.

"When it comes to creating creatures, I'm quite skilled myself!"

"Water Release: Thousand Feeding Sharks!"

In an instant, blue sharks began to materialize in front of Kisame, seemingly endless in number. Unlike Orochimaru's disposable summoning jutsu, these sharks were chakra-infused water constructs.

Their menacing expressions and razor-sharp teeth spoke volumes about their lethality.

Boom!

A series of explosions rang out as hundreds of sharks were blown to pieces. However, nearly half of the sharks survived and continued their assault on Deidara.

"Deidara, you must be exhausted, aren't you?"

"Surely, you can't even fend off this technique anymore?" Kisame taunted from across the battlefield, refraining from pressing his attack further.

Sensing that Kisame's hostility wasn't too severe, Deidara secretly sighed in relief. He was indeed in no condition for extended combat.

"Don't underestimate me!"

"C1 Special Type: Sea Serpent Swarm!"

Countless smaller clay sea serpents crawled out from Deidara's hands. Although they were much smaller than the previous serpents, their sheer numbers were enough to deal with the remaining sharks.

Boom! Boom!

The Thousand Feeding Sharks and Deidara's sea serpent swarm clashed and were mutually annihilated, leaving nothing behind.

Deidara mounted his Clay Bird again and ascended to the C2 Great Dragon, which had been severely diminished after the battle with Yagura Karatachi. Its size had shrunk to about one-third, and the summoned dragon swarm was down to a mere fraction of its original numbers.

"Kisame, if you can take down my clay dragon, I'll let you have Yagura Karatachi."

"That won't be a problem," Kisame replied with a grin.

Reaching behind him, Kisame grasped Samehada. The bandages wrapped around the sword were instantly torn apart by its expanding form, revealing a massive mouth and a body covered in coarse barbs—the true appearance of Samehada.

Clack! Clack! Clack!

Samehada trembled and emitted noises as if it couldn't wait to attack.

"Oh? Getting excited, are we?" Kisame glanced at Samehada with a smile. "But this opponent won't be a tasty snack. You might be disappointed this time."

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The remaining dragons in the sky launched a diving attack on Kisame.

Kisame, ever the straightforward fighter, began forming hand seals again. Surrounding him, six massive water dragons emerged from the ocean and lunged at the diving clay dragons.

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"

"I can't use Samehada to slice through people, and now I have to rely on ninjutsu. This feels so unnatural," Kisame grumbled.

He looked up at Deidara in the sky and smirked. "At this altitude, I think I can reach you."

"After all, there's so much water here for me to manipulate."

With that, Kisame finally abandoned hand seals and instead clapped his hands together.

"Water Release: Great Exploding Water Shockwave!"

Massive amounts of water erupted from Kisame's mouth, forming an enormous oval-shaped water prison in mere seconds. The prison extended high enough to envelop Deidara's C2 Great Dragon entirely.

This is insane!

That was Deidara's first thought. Even though he had seen this technique in the anime during his previous life, experiencing it firsthand was a completely different level of awe.

Purely in terms of ninjutsu, this was a technique even Madara might struggle to surpass.

If Kisame had a Shock Value System, the notifications would probably be ringing non-stop right now.

"It's coming, Deidara!" Kisame called out, choosing not to use his fusion technique with Samehada. Instead, he wielded Samehada directly and swam swiftly toward Deidara.

Glub!

Deidara, meanwhile, controlled his dragon to ascend further, trying to escape the confines of the water prison. Simultaneously, he worked on crafting new clay bombs.

C2 Standard Type: Water Dragon!

These were clay dragons modeled after the Water Dragon Bullet Technique. Two dragons intertwined, forming the image of "twin dragons playing with a pearl" as they swam toward Kisame.

"Fighting dragons, huh? Quite the entertaining scenario!" Kisame joked, showing he was familiar with the concept. It seemed he had spent ample time slacking off with Itachi, possibly even going to the movies together.

One could only wonder if the other moviegoers were terrified, sitting in the same theater as two S-class rogue ninjas.

Kisame swung Samehada in a diagonal arc, striking one of the dragons at the neck and slicing it cleanly in half. After all, clay creatures weren't known for their durability.

Boom!

A muffled explosion sounded as the other dragon detonated, pushing the surrounding water toward Kisame. Just as the shockwave was about to hit him, Kisame extended his left hand forward, splitting the water flow and remaining completely unaffected.

"I know that bombs explode with greater power underwater," Kisame remarked.

"But underwater, I can use Water Release techniques with half the effort for twice the effect. They can easily counter the force of your explosions."

"In short, fighting underwater is far more convenient for me, Deidara!" Kisame added, unexpectedly demonstrating his knowledge of science. Deidara couldn't help but feel surprised—this beast-like man seemed to understand science better than he did.

Glub!

Although the dragon struggled to ascend, Kisame's approach was faster. With the water prison centered around Kisame, Deidara had no way to escape.

What now?

After countless battles, Deidara's clay reserves were running low. He had no choice but to use that!

Reaching into his clay pouch, Deidara pulled out a pre-made clay octopus. Infusing it with chakra, the octopus instantly transformed into a deep-sea leviathan, stretching across Kisame's path.

~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~

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