Chapter 164

Although the Land of Waves is a small country, a daimyō is still a daimyō.

While the daimyōs from other countries didn't attend the funeral in person, most sent envoys to pay their respects.

Even as these people were on their way, the funeral hall for the daimyō of the Land of Waves had already been set up.

It must be said, while the daimyō was a scoundrel, he did have a decent sense of aesthetics.

Not only was the new daimyō mansion a blend of luxury and artistic expression, but even the funeral hall, built upon the original structure, had a unique beauty.

This didn't go unnoticed by a certain blonde youth passing by in the sky.

"These buildings are quite pretty. While their artistic value doesn't even come close to one-tenth of mine, they're not bad. They've caught my eye. Hm!"

Deidara, ever the art lover, sat atop his clay bird, gazing down at the remarkable architecture below, nodding in satisfaction.

Having scoured the coastal regions in search of the Three-Tails without success, he was eager to appreciate some art to relieve his boredom.

And how best to appreciate art?

Through explosions, of course!

What he wanted to do, he would do.

After a bit of preparation, Deidara tossed dozens of explosive clay bombs from the sky, shouting with excitement:

"Art is an explosion! Ha!"

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The bombs rained down upon the daimyō's mansion like a scattered bouquet. In an instant, a series of earth-shattering explosions filled the air.

In mere moments, much of the mansion turned to ashes, and the remaining parts crumbled like a set of blocks under the shockwave, collapsing one after another.

Thick smoke billowed up from the ruins, rising like a dragon into the sky.

"Now this is art! Hm!"

Deidara looked down at his masterpiece with a face full of satisfaction.

The transformation from opulence to ruins, the beauty of that instantaneous change—it was mesmerizing and brimming with artistic beauty.

"Sasori really took the wrong path. The idea of eternal beauty is completely mistaken! I'll have to convince him to correct his ways later. Hm!"

After admiring his work one last time, Deidara, now more resolute in his artistic philosophy, prepared to leave.

Suddenly, a roar erupted from the ruins.

"Who did this?!!"

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Members of Team Rockhead rushed out from the smoke, carrying the freshly unconscious four-year-old daimyō and a few others.

It didn't take long for them to spot the white bird in the sky, and Deidara perched on top of it.

"Was this all your doing?" The leader of Team Rockhead, Hagoromo Akira, twitched at the sight of the destroyed mansion before turning his gaze to Deidara, killing intent radiating from him.

He hadn't expected that while he and his team were comfortably staying in the daimyō's mansion, everything would suddenly explode around them.

If it hadn't been for their quick reactions, they might not even be standing here now.

Fortunately, after the daimyō's death, the many maids and servants who had been forced into the mansion had been dismissed.

As for the others, those who had committed countless crimes? A few casualties were no big deal.

The only one that mattered now was the future four-year-old daimyō.

Akira glanced nervously at the unconscious boy in his arms. Seeing that he was only frightened but otherwise unharmed, Akira breathed a sigh of relief.

However, his relief was short-lived as a teammate reported bad news: "Leader, we can't find the former daimyō's body."

Akira: "..."

Not being able to find the body meant that it had been blown to pieces, beyond any hope of recovery.

That daimyō was truly pitiful—he couldn't even rest in peace after death.

Whatever, if his body was gone, it was gone.

They could just find another corpse to place in his stead for the arriving envoys to mourn.

The real issue now was the person in the sky!

Akira looked at Deidara.

He didn't know if this person had a personal grudge against the daimyō or if he was actually targeting the people behind the Land of Waves, including their own group.

If it was the latter, that would mean the person knew quite a bit.

With that in mind, Akira discreetly signaled his teammates, indicating that they couldn't let this person escape.

But the next thing Deidara said left Akira utterly confused.

Facing their questioning, Deidara placed one hand on his hip and proudly declared, "All of this? Of course, it was me! What do you think? This artwork is beautiful, right? Hm?"

"Artwork?" Akira thought he'd misheard.

Seeing Akira's expression, Deidara looked a bit displeased and said, "Hey, hey, hey, it's normal for an artist to create their own art, right? Why are you so confused? Hm?"

"So, you're saying you're an artist, and you blew up the daimyō's mansion because it was an art piece?" Akira tried to make sense of the situation.

"No! No!" Deidara quickly corrected him. "The daimyō's mansion wasn't the art piece. The moment it disappeared—that's the art! You have to understand, true art is beautiful and fleeting! Hm!"

After listening, Akira finally understood.

There was no revenge, no hidden agenda targeting the people behind the Land of Waves.

It was simple.

"Another madman!"

The ninja world had no shortage of crazies.

But a madman who found beauty in destruction and called it art? Hagoromo Akira had never encountered one like that.

The more dangerous the person, the less they could afford to let him escape.

As the ninja hired by the daimyō, they needed to account for the destruction of the mansion.

More importantly, this blonde kid was a rare ninja with the ability to fly.

If he kept hanging around, he might discover the secret of the airborne fortress.

So...

Akira raised his hand.

The Team Rockhead members sprang into action.

"Wind Release: Wind Cutter Technique!"

A massive wind blade, like a scythe, sliced rapidly toward the clay bird beneath Deidara's feet.

"Hey, hey, hey, are you attacking out of jealousy after seeing how high my artistic prowess is? Hm?"

Deidara casually spoke as he maneuvered his bird to dodge.

But he underestimated the Wind Release mastery of the Team Rockhead ninja.

Slash!

The wind blade sharply turned and accelerated, slicing off one of the clay bird's wings in an instant.

Deidara stumbled, nearly falling out of the sky. The mouth on his hand quickly chewed some clay.

In no time, a small clay bird was spat out.

Deidara tossed it into the air, and it transformed into a large bird just like the previous one, lifting him back up.

"Wind Release: Vacuum Waves!"

"Wind Release: Net!"

"Wind Release: Tornado Hurricane!"

Meanwhile, the other Team Rockhead members continued to launch Wind Release jutsus at Deidara.

This time, Deidara took things more seriously, personally controlling his bird and expertly dodging the attacks.

"These guys are pretty good." Deidara glanced at the five below and didn't mind playing with them for a while.

"However, I need to move the fight somewhere else."

Deidara guided his clay bird toward the distance.

Team Rockhead, of course, gave chase.

(End of Chapter)

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