Crash!
As the hospital walls continued to collapse, countless thick wooden branches surged forward. However, they were all blown apart by Deidara's Clay Butterflies. With the assistance of Clay White Ants, they managed to temporarily hold off Tobi's relentless attacks.
"Ah, I guess I can't keep thinking about poop anymore. I really need to get serious—looks like the enemy is about to escape!"
In the shadows, Tobi clapped his hands together, summoning a massive tree trunk resembling the tentacle of a giant beast. It smashed through countless walls before slamming down heavily toward the three fleeing figures of Deidara, Kabuto, and Yueguang Rin.
The attack was so obvious that even Deidara, whose sensory abilities weren't particularly sharp, could easily detect it. He abruptly halted his steps and hurled a few small Clay Spiders toward the ground. The resulting explosion blasted a hole in the corridor floor, allowing him to drop to the level below.
"Rin, Kabuto, come down quickly!" he called. The two immediately followed, dropping to the lower floor.
However, their situation didn't improve after descending. In mere moments, the Wood Release attacks, as if alive, followed them relentlessly. From all directions, they surged toward Deidara in a continuous assault.
"Lord Seiryu, the enemy's Wood Release is incredibly strong. I'm afraid it'll be difficult for us to escape," Kabuto said, slicing through a wooden branch with his chakra scalpel. His body was already covered in multiple wounds. Though he was a medical ninja, the current situation left him no time to heal himself.
"Follow me. I've got a plan," Deidara said without looking back, tossing out another handful of Clay Spiders.
"Ha!"
Deidara continued to create explosions with his clay creatures, blasting holes and running through the hospital like a desperate fugitive.
"Running around aimlessly like this will only get you caught in the end!"
But was Deidara truly running aimlessly? Of course not.
By continuously causing destruction and luring Tobi into doing the same, Deidara had turned the entire Konoha Hospital into an empty shell. If Tobi wanted to avoid exposing himself, he had to use Wood Release to reinforce the hospital structure.
This, in turn, increased the hospital's overall durability, giving Deidara the opportunity to use more powerful clay bombs inside without worrying about the building collapsing.
"C1 Special Type: White Ant Swarm!"
More Clay White Ants were summoned, followed by—
"C1 Standard Type: Beavers!"
A swarm of clay beavers appeared. Using their sharp teeth, they gnawed furiously at the wooden branches alongside the white ants. If they couldn't chew through, they would self-detonate, buying Deidara precious time.
"These little critters sure know how to eat. Do they poop after eating?" Tobi mused to himself. "Probably not, since they're just creations like me. But I suppose I'll have to make the wood sturdier so they can't chew through it."
Tobi strengthened his chakra input into the Wood Release, and Deidara immediately noticed the enhancement.
Wood Release was a technique with an enormous range of power levels. In the hands of Hashirama Senju, it could block Susano'o and suppress the Nine-Tails. But in Yamato's hands, it was mostly used for landscaping.
"Rin, Kabuto, as medical ninjas, your sensory abilities should be relatively strong," Deidara said. "I'll lure the enemy into using a powerful Wood Release technique. When that happens, pinpoint their location so we can take out the real body."
As he spoke, Deidara spat out ten identical Clay Humanoid Puppets. Thanks to his mastery of Human Form Mastery, creating lifelike clay puppets had become a simple task.
The ten clay puppets, mixed with Deidara's real body, ran forward together. They split off at intersections, each heading in a different direction.
"Ugh! Which one is the real one?" Tobi exclaimed, sounding distressed.
"If I can't tell them apart, I'll just destroy all the fakes along with the real one!"
Tobi praised his own cleverness. For someone like him, who could even use the Wood Human Technique, this level of Wood Release was child's play.
"Wood Release: Advent of a Sea of Trees!"
Though this was a weakened version of Deep Forest Emergence, it was still terrifying. The hospital interior was completely destroyed, replaced by a dense, dark forest of intertwining branches.
As the Wood Release attacks became overwhelming, Deidara didn't panic. Instead, he smiled faintly.
To win this battle, escaping wasn't his only option. There was a second choice: get close to Tobi.
Tobi wouldn't dare expose his identity, so he'd have no choice but to retreat.
Moreover, there was an additional benefit to the second option—obtaining a sample of White Zetsu's cells, which could further Orochimaru's research on Hashirama's cells.
"C2 Special Type: Myriad Snake Net Formation!"
Hiss! Hiss!
Thousands of clay white snakes slithered down the thick wooden branches. Even though the Wood Release had been reinforced, it still appeared fragile in the face of explosions.
Deidara dropped down from above Kabuto and Yueguang Rin, who were carefully sensing their surroundings.
"Have you located the enemy's real body?"
"Yes, Lord Seiryu!" Kabuto, whose abilities were clearly superior, pointed with his right hand.
"The chakra signature is coming from over there. The enemy's real body should be in that direction!"
"Good! Let's go!" Deidara called, and the reluctant Yueguang Rin quickly followed.
"Oh no! They're coming straight for me! Have they found me?" Tobi exclaimed in shock, quickly retreating into one of the trees created by his Wood Release.
"Lord Seiryu! The enemy's chakra has disappeared," Kabuto reported.
Once Tobi stopped using jutsu, White Zetsu's ability to hide was unparalleled. Not even Kabuto, and likely no one else in the ninja world, could directly detect him.
This would remain the case until Naruto, with the help of the Nine-Tails, later developed the ability to see through White Zetsu's camouflage.
"Don't worry! As long as we know his general location, that's enough," Deidara replied.
"C1 Standard Type: Giant Pythons!"
Two massive clay pythons shot out from Deidara's hands, coiling around the area Kabuto had indicated.
"Art is an explosion! Hah!"
The searing heat and powerful shockwave spread outward. However, the Wood Release structures ended up shielding Deidara, Kabuto, and Yueguang Rin from the blast. This was why Deidara felt confident using such large-scale clay bombs at close range.
Otherwise, at this distance, even Yueguang Rin and Kabuto, let alone Deidara himself, would have been in serious danger.
"What should I do now? If Deidara sees me, won't that cause problems?"
Blown out of his Wood Release, Tobi was relatively unharmed. But with Deidara closing in, he was on the verge of being exposed.
Just as Tobi was panicking, Black Zetsu appeared behind him. "Retreat. You've already lost this time."
By the time Deidara arrived, the area was empty.
~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~
Explore More Amazing Fanfiction on My Patreon!
Unlock 30+ Advance Chapters and Enjoy Exclusive Stories Early!
��� patreon.com/GoldenLong