Deidara's lone visible eye narrowed, irritation flashing within it. He pulled a lump of clay from his pouch and shoved it into the grinning mouth on his palm. The wet sound of chewing filled the air as his fingers kneaded the clay.
His body began to swell, grotesquely inflating like a balloon.
"This idiot…" Naruto muttered under his breath, adjusting Gaara's limp form in his arms as he took a cautious step back.
The swelling continued until Deidara looked bloated to the point of bursting—then he did.
BOOM!
The shockwave ripped through the landscape, tearing up trees, cracking stone, and churning the desert floor into chaos. Naruto shielded Gaara, steadying his stance against the gale-force wind.
But when the smoke began to clear, Naruto's Sage Mode perception caught something odd. The familiar presence of Deidara's chakra wasn't gone—it was retreating.
Naruto sighed. "Seriously? In the original timeline, you blew yourself up against Sasuke. Now you just… run away?" He shook his head. "Coward."
What Naruto didn't know was that Deidara's hatred of the Uchiha ran deep. The memory of Itachi's Sharingan still gnawed at him. Seeing the raw, bottomless chakra of the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki had convinced him—this wasn't his fight to the death. His self-proclaimed destiny was to kill Uchiha Itachi, and nothing else was worth dying for.
Ten kilometers away, Deidara landed in a crouch, panting hard. "Damn Nine-Tails brat… I'll remember you. But my life's reserved for Itachi. You're lucky."
Back at the battlefield, Naruto returned to find the fight with Sasori already over.
"Kakashi-sensei?" he called out, eyes widening at the sight of his teacher lying unconscious on the ground. "What happened to him? You guys had Sakura, Granny Chiyo… shouldn't that have been enough to take down Sasori?"
Sakura looked away guiltily. "Naruto… Kakashi-sensei came to help at the last moment. That's why he's like this."
Seeing Naruto's confusion, she quickly explained. Kakashi had used his Mangekyō Sharingan twice.
Naruto frowned. He could guess the rest. Kakashi had probably wanted to test its limits. But the cost…
Setting Gaara down gently, Naruto placed his hands on the Kazekage's chest, channeling chakra into him. "Sakura, help me."
"Right!" She hurried to his side, placing her palms beside his. She risked a glance at Naruto's face—his eyes were fixed, determined. Gaara's body was cold, lifeless, but Naruto refused to stop.
"Gaara, wake up!" Naruto's voice cracked with grief. "I won't allow you to die like this! You've just become Kazekage! You still have so much to do!"
The raw emotion in his voice made Sakura bite her lip. Chiyo, standing off to the side, felt a pang deep in her chest. She thought of her grandson. She thought of all the lives lost in her lifetime.
Finally, she stepped forward. "Konoha boy… let me try."
Naruto turned, hope sparking in his eyes. "Granny Chiyo?"
"I have a technique that can bring him back," she said simply.
Relief and gratitude surged through Naruto. "Thank you!"
Team Guy soon arrived, the dust of their battle still clinging to them. Everyone gathered around as Chiyo knelt beside Gaara, beginning the hand signs for the Reanimation Technique—a forbidden jutsu that traded the user's own life to restore another's.
The toll was immediate. Chiyo's breath grew shallow, her movements slower.
Naruto moved without hesitation, placing his hands over hers. "Let me help."
The instant his chakra poured into her, Chiyo's tired eyes widened. It was like standing in the ocean during a storm—a vast, overwhelming current rushing into her technique.
"Even now… this boy…" she thought.
Neji's gaze softened. "Naruto… you really can change people."
"Of course," Lee said with a thumbs up. "Because he's Naruto!"
"Focus," Tenten chided, though a faint smile tugged at her lips.
Chiyo's body was failing, but Naruto's endless chakra kept the jutsu alive. The reincarnation technique flared brightly—until Gaara's fingers twitched.