"If you won't tell me, I'll beat it out of you!"
Sasuke threatened coldly.
"Hahaha, who do you think you are, daring to threaten me?! You want to kill me? I want to kill you too. The Golden List says Itachi's most beloved person is you. If I kill you, will Itachi be heartbroken? He's always been cold and emotionless, but I'd love to see how he reacts when he knows you're dead."
"Moreover, I'll let everyone witness your death and the greatness of explosive art!"
Thus, Deidara started his livestream.
Golden List Livestream.
[Deidara: Haha, everyone, Sasuke and I are about to fight to the death! Join my livestream!]
[Gaara: Deidara and Sasuke have met?]
[Fourth Raikage: A battle between two rogue ninjas, interesting!]
[Mei Terumi: I'm going to watch!]
Soon, countless ninjas joined Deidara's livestream, witnessing Sasuke and Deidara face off.
Kisame Hoshigaki, who was with Itachi, also saw Deidara's livestream.
"Itachi, that guy Deidara has encountered your brother. Deidara's still pretty strong; aren't you worried about your brother?" Kisame asked.
"There's nothing to worry about!"
Itachi replied expressionlessly.
In truth, he was still worried, but he believed Sasuke would defeat Deidara.
The battle began quickly!
However, the fight was one-sided; Sasuke completely overpowered Deidara.
Deidara unleashed numerous explosive clay attacks, seemingly intent on killing Sasuke.
Yet, with a wave of his hand, Sasuke summoned countless lightning bolts, shattering all the explosive clay.
"Lightning Style counters Earth Style; my explosive clay is restrained!"
Deidara realized the issue, and his expression changed instantly.
He knew Sasuke had obtained the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, but he hadn't expected its power to be so terrifying, controlling such a vast area of lightning.
Suddenly, Sasuke's figure vanished.
Teleportation!
He was using the electrical field to transform his body into lightning, constantly teleporting within it.
"Chidori!"
Infused with demonic power, Chidori, combined with the Rumble-Rumble Fruit and his own Lightning Style chakra, became a black Chidori, tearing through the void and piercing Deidara's body with one strike.
Despite this, Deidara didn't die, but he was severely injured.
"Damn it, how did you become so strong?!"
Deidara exclaimed in shock.
At this moment, everyone in the livestream was stunned.
[Kakashi: The Chidori Sasuke uses was taught by me, but his Chidori has completely changed. That black power must be his Bloodline Selection demon power, along with the Rumble-Rumble Fruit's strength, making his Chidori far exceed my Raikiri!]
[Kisame Hoshigaki: I underestimated Sasuke too; this ability is indeed monstrous!]
[Darui: It looks somewhat similar to my Black Lightning, but fundamentally different.]
[Naruto Uzumaki: Sasuke's become really strong too!]
[Sakura Haruno: Wow, my future husband is so amazing!]
[Gaara: Sasuke is indeed powerful; I hope to fight you one day!]
"Deidara, you are not my match. Tell me, where is Uchiha Itachi?"
Sasuke demanded.
"Why should I tell you, brat from the Uchiha clan?!"
Deidara responded angrily.
At this point, Sasuke unleashed the full power of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.
"Then let me show you my true strength!"
Sasuke activated the maximum power of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, surrounding himself with two hundred million volts of electricity, causing his body to enlarge and transform into the form of a thunder god.
Additionally, the demonic power fused with the Rumble-Rumble Fruit's energy, creating a black thunder god.
In this state, Sasuke used Chidori.
A gigantic Chidori tore through the sky, striking and piercing Deidara, sending his body crashing to the ground, shattering the giant clay bird along with it.
With a thunderous boom!!!!
The earth was split open, countless trees shattered, and everything around was reduced to ashes.
Appearing like a deity, Sasuke walked through the air with a domineering presence.
At this moment, countless kunoichi couldn't help but scream in excitement.
At this moment.
Deidara was on the verge of death, and it seemed that his defeat was certain.
"Deidara, if you tell me Uchiha Itachi's whereabouts, I can spare your life!" Sasuke said.
"Sasuke, I still have one last move. Let me show you the true art of explosion!" Deidara's face twisted as he spoke maniacally.
The next moment, he consumed a large amount of explosive clay, and an immense amount of chakra gathered in his chest. Then, his body began to swell—he was about to self-destruct! This was his most powerful move, his final trump card—a suicidal technique called C0, the ultimate explosion art!
Then.
Countless ninjas in the livestream witnessed an explosion that covered a radius of ten kilometers, turning everything around into ashes.
In the Golden List Livestream:
[Deidara: Hahaha, did you all see that? This is the ultimate explosion art! Even though I'm dead, that detestable Sasuke is definitely dead too!]
[Sasuke: A mere ant like you couldn't even make me use my Sharingan, and you lost!]
[Deidara: I may not have been able to beat you, but didn't you die too?]
[Manda: Sasuke, damn you! Did you use me to block Deidara's self-destruction???]
[Aoda: What happened? Did that guy Manda really tank such an explosion?]
[Manda: I'm not dead yet, but I'm close. I feel my soul being pulled towards the Pure Land! Damn it, I was just sleeping in Ryūchi Cave, and I could still die from this!]
[Gamabunta: Hahaha, Manda, you really have the worst luck!]
[Deidara: How could this be? That was my ultimate explosion art, Sasuke, how are you not dead????]
[Hidan: Deidara, you really just blew up in vain! Oh, wait, at least you took out Manda, one of Orochimaru's summons—you did something worthwhile!]
[Fourth Raikage: Seeing the power of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, I regret it! If I had obtained the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, my strength would have advanced even further!]
[Kakashi: The Rumble-Rumble Fruit is indeed powerful, but that Bloodline Selection of demonic power is also very strong!]
Karin and the others quickly summoned the nearly dead Manda using Sasuke's blood, and then Manda opened its mouth, allowing Sasuke to walk out, completely unharmed.
In reality, if Sasuke had used the power of his demonic abilities combined with the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, he could have endured the C0 self-destruction directly, but there was no need for that. Since Manda was disobedient, using Deidara's self-destruction to kill it was no big deal. Besides, he was currently searching for Itachi, so he didn't want to get seriously injured.
"Sasuke, are you okay?" Karin, Jugo, and the others asked.
"I'm fine," Sasuke replied calmly.
"What should we do next?" Karin asked.
"Continue searching for Itachi. We'll go through Akatsuki's bases one by one—I refuse to believe we can't find that guy!" Sasuke said.
In Konoha.
Danzo, having witnessed the battle between Sasuke and Deidara, was shocked. Sasuke was already this strong; if he activated the Mangekyō Sharingan, how terrifying would his power be?
"In the future, if you see Sasuke, the first thing to do is run!" Danzo thought to himself.
Kisame also observed Sasuke's strength and had to admit that Sasuke's power was formidable. He glanced at Uchiha Itachi, sighed, and said nothing. Perhaps in the near future, Itachi would indeed have a battle with Sasuke.
Time passed, and the ninja world was quite peaceful for the moment. However, everyone knew that this calm wouldn't last long, as Obito would lead the new Akatsuki in capturing the Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails. Meanwhile, Sasuke was still searching for Itachi but hadn't found him. It seemed that Itachi didn't want to be found by the current Sasuke.
"I thought Sasuke would soon fight Itachi, but it seems that won't happen anytime soon!" Ye Tian said with a smile.
In the original story, Itachi was gravely ill and nearing death, which prompted him to appear and allow himself to be found by Sasuke, ultimately choosing to die at Sasuke's hands. Even without that battle, Itachi would have died soon. But now, it seemed Itachi could live for a few more years, thanks to the Heart of the Angel healing his body.
Ye Tian also roughly guessed Itachi's plan: Itachi intended to die at Sasuke's hands, but not now—sometime in the future. As long as Itachi was alive, Sasuke would continue to have the drive to improve, constantly growing stronger in his hatred.
This was part of Itachi's plan! Especially with the emergence of the Golden List, which had changed the balance of the ninja world, with everyone's power continuously increasing. As the Golden List's rewards became more plentiful and resurrection methods more numerous, Itachi's intentions might also change.
Unnoticed, several months had passed.
One day.
A new ranking was about to be announced! Countless ninjas eagerly awaited it because this time there were two rankings!