Sasori stood completely stunned as he watched the two figures flicker and vanish over the water, just like ghosts in a horror movie.
But what shocked him even more was what happened next. He had finally reached the open water and was trying to put some distance between himself and the center… yet no matter how far he went, he suddenly realized he was right back where he started — or rather, even closer to the middle of the lake!
Putting this together with the bizarre teleportation‑like movement he had just witnessed, he was certain: those two bastards had tricked him.
And he was right — Shinji was indeed behind it all.
While escaping, Moxi had told him: "That shark thing was the one that attacked the Tailed Beast."
Hearing that, Shinji had immediately decided to leave the culprit behind to take the beast's rage instead of them.
He had zero interest in Tailed Beasts whatsoever. He had come here expecting to find a massive Special‑Grade Cursed Spirit, based on local rumors. Never in a million years did he expect to run into a Tailed Beast.
At this point in time, the only wild Tailed Beast hiding in a lake was that unlucky Three‑Tails.
"Forget it — let's just get out of here fast."
In the blink of an eye, he and Moxi were less than a hundred meters from the shore.
Hovering high above, Deidara looked down and frowned in confusion.
"Hmm? Why isn't Sasori‑san running away yet?"
Then his expression brightened as he "understood."
"Ah! I get it! As expected of Sasori‑san! He's staying put to lure the Three‑Tails out completely. That's why he's in no hurry to leave."
"With his skill, he must have prepared for everything. He's confident he can withstand my explosions. I can't let him down! I have to make this big — truly big!"
Filled with his own interpretation of the situation, Deidara excitedly stuffed a huge lump of clay into the mouths on his palms and began chewing furiously.
Down below, Sasori was seething with frustration.
He pushed The Shark puppet forward at maximum speed, while he himself opened the shell of the puppet, sat up from inside, and waved frantically toward the figure in the sky, shouting at the top of his lungs:
"The situation changed! Wait until I'm far away — then detonate!"
"Huh? What is Sasori‑san doing?"
Deidara tilted his head, still confused. He was too high up to hear a single word.
"Wait… de… tonate…?"
"But the Three‑Tails hasn't even shown itself yet… Oh! I understand now!"
Deidara had another brilliant realization.
"Sasori‑san means for me to strike at the perfect moment! The second it surfaces, before it knows what's happening — before it can shield its weak spot — I blast it right in the face and finish it in one hit!"
"Yes! That's exactly it!"
"But… can Sasori‑san really escape the range of my art in time?"
He hesitated for a second, then slapped his own cheek to snap himself out of it.
"What am I thinking? If he didn't think he could do it, he wouldn't ask me to do this. I have to trust him!"
His eyes hardened with determination. He emptied every bit of explosive clay from his bag and fed it all to the "little friends" in his hands.
He stuffed so much in that the creatures eventually gagged, heaved, and spat out a single, exquisitely detailed clay figure.
It was shaped like a miniature version of Deidara himself — identical in proportions and features — except it had no lower body; instead, it stood on a round, weighted base like a roly‑poly toy.
Super C3 · Number Eighteen — READY.
It was still the C3 bomb, but this time its power was at least several times greater than the one used days ago. He was confident it would be enough to take down the target instantly.
"Come on then! Let me show you what true art really is!"
Holding the miniature statue, Deidara stared down at the violently churning water below, calculating altitude, falling speed, wind speed, and trajectory.
He was going to make this the most perfect drop ever!
Meanwhile, Sasori — completely unaware that Deidara had twisted his words entirely — was pushing his puppet to its absolute limit, desperate to get as far away as possible before the explosion.
Even though he had long ago given up his humanity, if his Regenerative Core was destroyed, he would die permanently.
To some extent, Deidara's indiscriminate bombing was his natural weakness.
That was exactly why he had told him to wait — to give him time to escape. After all, they could catch the Three‑Tails anytime; there was no need to throw his life away for it.
"Here it comes."
He could feel the shift in the water even without looking back. The Three‑Tails was rising to the surface.
Then he saw it: Deidara had dropped something from the sky — and it was growing larger and larger as it fell, expanding rapidly into a massive form.
Dammit!
Sasori was now fully convinced that Deidara was trying to kill him along with the beast!
It was too late to run. All he could do was pull out the scrolls he carried and summon every puppet he had stored inside, ready to defend himself.
"I'll make these despicable creatures pay dearly for this!"
The Three‑Tails' eyes burned red with rage. As it broke through the surface, it let out a roar that shook the very air.
But before it could even get a clear look at its surroundings, a giant clay figure — over twenty meters tall — smashed directly onto its head.
Dead center. The timing was perfect, the aim flawless — right where the beast's skull was most exposed.
SUPER C3 · NUMBER EIGHTEEN — DETONATE!
BOOM!!!
The entire lake seemed to boil over. Massive waves crashed endlessly against the shore, rolling in one after another.
The Three‑Tails, which had just surfaced and done absolutely nothing, was struck by a direct hit. It was instantly knocked dizzy… then unconscious… then completely flipped over, belly‑up.
It probably had never encountered such a shameless, underhanded enemy in its life.
Who throws a firecracker right in someone's face? And not just any firecracker — one the size of a barrel! It was practically an assassination attempt!
The beast went down, completely defeated.
A column of water shot upward like a fountain, reaching as high as the sky, before collapsing back down as torrential rain.
Along with the water, hundreds of fish rained down from above.
Shinji — who had already reached the shore — turned around just in time to witness this earth‑shaking display, his face full of shock.
Recalling what Moxi had told him earlier, and the strange shark‑creature she had described…
He realized there were other people here besides them — people who were also hunting the Three‑Tails.
Now the question was: Who were they?
Shinji thought back to the original story and the events related to the Three‑Tails. The most memorable were:
- Orochimaru sending Guren to capture it. Her Crystal Release was spectacular — though she was eventually countered by Shino's Destructive Insects.
- And then there was Akatsuki.
Tobi had used his Sharingan to take control of the Three‑Tails underwater, making Deidara believe that his random clay bomb had single‑handedly taken down the beast.
That incident had led Deidara to conclude that wild Tailed Beasts — without a Jinchūriki to guide them — were much weaker than those with hosts.
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