Starting with Naruto, I'll become stronger through my own efforts.

Chapter 194 Deidara VS Darui

Orochimaru watched the changes in Tsunade and Uchiha Izumi from the very beginning, and his eyes twitched with surprise.

Despite receiving a warning from Xia Zuo, Orochimaru did not give up on the Reanimation Jutsu and experienced the strange feeling of going from Snake Uncle to Snake Aunt in the past two years.

But he still couldn't understand women's hearts at all, feeling that it was more difficult to understand than the secrets of the world.

So Orochimaru lowered his eyes and continued studying his own things, preparing for the Second Hokage and the First Hokage to be resurrected again using the Impure World Reincarnation technique.

Soon after, Xia Zuo withdrew all his power, as did Tsunade and Izumi, and the secret room returned to complete calm.

After a moment of silence, Tsunade suddenly spoke up: "Izumi-chan, shall we go for a walk?"

Uchiha Izumi jumped up and replied with a bright smile, "Okay, Tsunade-neechan, I was just about to whisper something to you."

'

So the two strongest female ninjas of Konoha walked out hand in hand, laughing and chatting, as if they were best friends of many years.

Orochimaru was even more bewildered; his mouth was slightly open, and he had completely lost the ability to speak.

Orochimaru only turned to look at Xia Zuo after Tsunade and Uchiha Izumi had left.

Xia Zuo shrugged and said, "Don't ask me, I still don't understand why those two could go from enemies to best friends so quickly."

"The feelings between women are a mystery. Let's continue with the exam."

Orochimaru shook his head: "A battle of this magnitude is like children playing house. What's there to see?"

Xia Zuo pointed to a screen and said, "This time it's different. Look, the strongest genin from Kumogakure and the strongest genin from Iwagakure are about to clash."

Orochimaru finally became interested, raised his head, and looked in the direction Xia Zuo pointed.

The battle was initiated by Deidara. He saw lightning flashing in the distance and, excited, immediately turned around and rushed towards it.

Kurotsuchi, who was following behind him, was terrified and grabbed Deidara's waist, asking, "Senior Deidara, what are you trying to do?"

Deidara excitedly pointed to the arc of electricity not far away and said, "Where is the lightning chakra so active? It must be that Darui from Kumogakure. What an interesting opponent."

Kurotsuchi dared not loosen her grip any longer: "You're a ninja from Iwagakure, and your Explosion Release is so vulnerable to Lightning Release, why did you go and challenge him?"

Deidara replied, "I'm going to challenge the strongest Lightning Release ninja. I'll prove that the ninjas of Iwagakure are not afraid of the ninjas of Kumogakure."

-

In Heitu's opinion, his senior brother was simply out of his mind.

Lightning Release is very effective against Earth Release, and it also greatly suppresses Explosion Release.

During the Third Shinobi World War, the Third Tsuchikage meticulously planned and finally used tens of thousands of ninja troops to trap thousands of Cloud Village ninja, forming an encirclement.

However, the Third Raikage single-handedly withstood the Iwagakure army at the mountain pass, fighting for three days and three nights before dying from exhaustion.

Although the Third Raikage is dead, the victor is this dead man.

The Third Raikage proved his strength and demonstrated that Lightning Release is unparalleled in its ability to counter Earth Release.

That brutal battle still affects the ninjas of Iwagakure to this day. Even those ninjas who did not participate in the battle instinctively feel aversion and fear towards any powerful lightning release ninja.

After Kurotsuchi repeatedly tried to stop Deidara, he said with great dissatisfaction, "Kurotsuchi, you can't stop me. If you really don't want to go, I'll leave you two here and go fight the Cloud Village ninja all by myself!"

"Deidara-senpai, are you an idiot?"

Realizing she truly couldn't stop it from happening, Kurotsuchi could only glare at Deidara and say, "Going there alone is just asking for trouble, isn't it?"

"Let's go together!"

Deidara complained disappointedly, "What a nuisance! Remember to stay far away when the fight starts. My battle with the Lightning Release ninja will be intense; I don't want to get caught in the crossfire."

Kurotsuchi pouted and said, "I know, Senior Deidara. I'll take good care of myself, you don't need to worry."

The short-haired girl still wanted to persuade him, so she asked again, "Senior Deidara, I remember that you harbored resentment towards the Uchiha clan ever since you returned to the village, and you especially wanted to fight powerful Sharingan users, right?"

"I remember Sasuke Uchiha from Konoha Village also entered this forest. Shall we go find him? —"

Deidara kept taking out clay and swallowing and chewing it with his palms, while casually replying, "I saw that Konoha ninja, Uchiha Sasuke, before the exam started."

"But that kid at most has a two-tomoe Sharingan, he hasn't even awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan yet, what would I need him for?"

"Even if he were willing to fight me, I would still win without a doubt. What a boring fight that would be!"

"It would be more interesting to fight a Lightning Release ninja from Kumogakure."

What could Kurotsuchi say? She could only rub her temples to relieve her headache and follow Deidara toward the location of Thunder.

The moment Darui saw Deidara, he was both surprised and overjoyed.

It was like winning the lottery by accident.

He couldn't help but ask, "Deidara of Iwagakure, don't you know that my strongest technique, Lightning Release, is a counter to your strongest technique, Explosion Release?"

Deidara replied dismissively, "Of course I know, but how can a cup of water extinguish a fire that has started a house?"

"Darui, the Cloud Village ninja, pay the price for your arrogance!"

Darui abandoned his languid demeanor and sneered, "The ninjas of Iwagakure are all as hard as rocks."

"I'll show you that my thunder, Darui's thunder, is no ordinary cup of water."

"And your Explosion Release technique isn't some kind of house-igniting fire!"

He clenched his fists and slammed them together, drawing out streaks of blue and white electricity.

Dense arcs of electricity intertwined, weaving one dragon after another, emitting thunderous roars that shook the heavens and earth, as they charged toward the enemy.

[Lightning Release: Ten-Headed Thunder Dragon]

Deidara raised his hands with a cold smile, and from the mouths in his palms came clay that had been prepared beforehand, which flowed out and was shaped into a large bird with two bodies flying side by side.

【Exploding Clay - Two-Winged Bird】

Both of them actually used the technique of casting spells without seals. Ten dragons, as thick as arms, woven entirely from electric arcs, snaked through the sky, surrounded by countless clay birds flying wing to wing.

Lei Jiao's body emitted massive amounts of electric arcs, even generating induced currents, filling half the sky with shimmering electric arcs.

Most of the clay birds were quickly rendered lifeless by the concentrated electric arcs, falling from the sky as if hit by a shotgun.

However, a small number of clay birds, with the help of their companions, successfully plunged headfirst into the Thunder Dragon's body, then detonated with a bang.

It only takes two or three large birds to successfully enter the Thunder Dragon's body and detonate. The resulting explosion will destroy the current channels, causing the Thunder Dragon to lose its shape and disintegrate into large arcs of electricity.

However, Darui was able to control these scattered arcs of electricity, channeling the chakra and electrical energy contained within them to the other complete thunder dragons, allowing their inner essence to be concealed, their power to increase further, and their size to rapidly grow larger.

Upon seeing this, Deidara instantly realized that the situation was dire. These thunder dragons could merge with each other and eventually coalesce into an enormous thunder dragon.

Although the golden-haired ninja is mentally ill and exceptionally stubborn, his talent in combat is undeniable.

Seeing that the situation was not good, he immediately withdrew some of the clay and swallowed a large amount of clay at the same time. He was going to prepare a huge explosive puppet to give the Cloud Village ninja a great work of art.

Darui was also a very perceptive ninja. After noticing that Deidara, who was at a disadvantage, was making a move, he did not hesitate to give up control of the Thunder Dragon and let the remaining nine Thunder Dragons merge on their own.

He wanted to use the Thunder Dragon to restrain the enemy and buy himself time to prepare the next powerful ninjutsu.

With the merging of the Thunder Dragon and the frenzied attack of the Clay Lovebirds, the electric arcs and explosions suddenly became more intense.

At this moment, the main screen in the venue was showing a fierce battle between two powerful ninjas, leaving the nobles and wealthy merchants dumbfounded. They finally realized just how powerful the ninjas were.

Ordinary people, as laymen, only see the spectacle, but the Kage, as ninjas, see the intricacies.

Tsuchikage Onoki frowned and sighed, "Still so immature."

He looked at the Fourth Raikage on the other side and praised, "The younger generation of Kumogakure is truly outstanding. It seems that this time, Iwagakure is inferior."

A rare smile appeared on Lei Yingai's stern face: "This is not my achievement alone."

Ōnoki scoffed and then fell silent.

A moment later, both of them had prepared their respective ninjutsu.

Upon discovering that his opponent was also preparing ninjutsu, Deidara changed his mind about attacking and took the initiative to unleash his signature move.

【C2·Dragon】

Large amounts of white clay were spat out of the mouths in the palms of both hands, piling up and twisting and deforming like slime.

Soon, a pure white, incredibly ugly dragon with a round head and belly appeared on the battlefield.

The dragon's tail looked like an inflatable balloon, and its eyes and nose were just round black holes. It was dull and not cute at all; it looked like an idiot no matter how you looked at it.

Although this dragon is incredibly ugly, it does possess immense power, and most importantly, it can fly.

Deidara personally experienced Darui's Lightning Release power and felt that his Lightning Release was so unique and had such a strong restraint on his self-destructing clay.

All of Deidara's previous preparations against lightning were not strong enough. Even the Thunder Dragon did not need to attack directly; the naturally dissipated electric arcs were enough to destroy the [Exploding Clay - Twin Birds]. Small clay creations such as small flying birds were even more vulnerable.

Darui's Lightning Release power rendered Deidara's most prized miniature clay bombs completely ineffective, because the nature of Lightning Release is to automatically sense and attack within a small area.

Deidara always relied on sheer numbers to completely overwhelm the enemy's lightning chakra, then blasted them into dust.

But from the start of the battle until now, the induced current in the air has been continuously destroying the miniature self-destructing spiders he released, and they have never been more than 5 meters away from his body.

Deidara had defeated many Lightning Release ninjas before, but compared to Darui, they were like newborn babies; the strength of his Lightning Release was simply not on the same level.

This made Deidara feel more constrained and helpless than ever before.

So his next goal was to engage in aerial combat, to be high above and allow only me to attack you, not the other way around.

Only in this way can the Lightning Release's special advantage against Deidara's Explosion Release be negated.

Before Deidara could even mount the dragon, a black panther formed from black lightning coalesced between Darui's hands and charged directly at Deidara.

[Lightning Release: Black Spot]

However, the black panther was blocked by a suddenly rising earthen wall.

[Earth Escape·Earth Flow Wall]

Because the interception point was still quite far away, only a few of the spreading arcs of lightning hit the dragon that was resting on the ground, peeling off a few small pieces of clay.

The dragon's size became Deidara's greatest asset.

Even though Lightning Release counters Deidara's Explosion Release, it can't withstand the enormous size of the dragon, which is capable of withstanding attacks from Lightning Release.

Furthermore, under Deidara's control, the C2 Dragon can also peel off the clay that has lost its explosive power, thus maintaining the dragon's mobility and combat capabilities.

Deidara laughed heartily: "I'm skilled at simultaneous techniques! Now, I'm about to take flight!"

Darui saw that his attack was blocked and he was unable to intercept Deidara, and that the dragon had already flapped its wings and taken off, with even the dragon's feet leaving the ground.

Without further hesitation, Darui quickly formed hand seals and unleashed a surge of chakra, activating his bloodline limit.

【Storm Escape: Resilience and Resilience】

From Darui's clasped hands, a black sphere condensed, releasing moisture before transforming into multiple powerful laser beams that shot towards Deidara as he ascended into the air.

This Storm Release technique possesses both the destructive power of lightning and the control of water, and also has a powerful guiding effect, allowing it to guide real lightning from thunderclouds to attack enemies.

Unfortunately, today is a rare sunny day, and there isn't a single cloud in the sky, not even a wisp of cloud.

Darui's most powerful and final attack method was ineffective, but that did not affect the Storm Release's strikes against aerial targets.

Each lightning bolt was slower than a bolt of lightning, but it was clearly far faster than the round, clumsy flying dragon.

The giant dragon was pierced through more than a dozen transparent holes, almost piercing through Deidara's back as well, which terrified the blond ninja so much that his face turned pale.

Deidara wasn't afraid of being hit himself, but rather that one of the Storm Release lasers grazed the black soil and nearly killed the girl.

But Storm Release is not Lightning Release after all, and its effect on explosive clay is not so absolute. The clay on the dragon's wounds wriggled and was quickly repaired. The dragon then flapped its wings and flew into the air.

Once a sufficient distance had been created, Deidara finally let out a triumphant laugh.

From now on, he will have complete control of the entire examination room.

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