Art is a Blast

"Peng! Peng! Peng! Peng!

In an instant, beneath the clasped hands of Hiruko, the ground cracked and shook violently as numerous trees sprouted rapidly.

"Do you see this? This is the Wood Release that the First Hokage used to sweep through the ninja world!"

As someone born in Konoha, even though he had become a rogue ninja, Hiruko had always been deeply fascinated by Wood Release, just like other residents of Konoha.

With years of development in the Ghost Marrow Jutsu, he had finally acquired the Bloodline Limit of his dreams, the Wood Release, and he was filled with pride.

"I originally didn't want to get involved in this mess, and I didn't intend to be your enemy, Konan. But since you've chosen this path, don't blame me for being ruthless. Become the first sacrifice to my Wood Release!"

As Hiruko's words fell, many trees shot out from around him, raining down towards Konan.

Is this all?

Konan's mouth curled into a cold smile, showing no panic in the face of the famous Wood Release.

She had witnessed the power of Yuki's Wood Release earlier, and now, looking at Hiruko's version, it was like seeing a mere river after witnessing a vast ocean.

It has the same Wood Release but completely different effects in different hands.

To Konan, if Yuki's Wood Release had filled her with despair, Hiruko's Wood Release was merely causing her trouble.

Swish, swish...

More sheets of paper peeled off from her body, gathering into large paper shurikens. With a series of sharp whistling sounds, they flew towards the oncoming mass of trees, cutting them down individually.

With Konan's chakra infusion, these paper shurikens were even sharper than normal shurikens.

In no time, the large trees were shredded into pieces, and the debris piled up on the ground.

Seeing this, Hiruko furrowed his brow momentarily but then relaxed, indifferent. "Even if you can cut down this batch, what about the next one? You should know that the one thing Wood Release doesn't lack is sustainability."

As if in response to Hiruko's words, the trees that Konan had mostly cleared away suddenly began to sprout and grow once again.

But in an instant, just like the first time, an uncountable number of trees surged towards Konan.

Seeing this, Konan's eyes flickered slightly. She let the paper shurikens, which had already separated from her body, form a thick paper wall to block the Wood Release attacks while her white wings unfurled behind her.

"What? Do you want to run away now?" Noticing Konan taking to the air as if to escape, Hiruko increased the Wood Release attacks and chuckled triumphantly.

But Konan, with an icy expression on her face, paid no attention to Hiruko's arrogance.

When she reached the exit of the base, ready to leave, she suddenly stopped and turned around to look at Hiruko, who was chasing after her with a forest of trees.

"This is your grave," she calmly declared.

"What kind of joke are you making? I..."

Before Hiruko could finish his sentence, a series of sizzling sounds echoed in his ears.

Instinctively, he looked around, his face changing drastically.

Because at that moment, the base walls, which had been composed of cold stone just moments ago, seemed to have undergone a magical transformation. In an instant, countless explosive tags, too numerous to count, revealed their true forms on the stone walls.

With the ear-piercing sound of flames, in the midst of a constant "sizzle, sizzle" sound, they rushed towards him from all directions like a tidal wave.

"How is this possible?" Hiruko stared at everything in disbelief.

He had been in the base for so long, but he had never realized that so many explosive tags were hidden around him.

"Nothing is impossible."

Seeing the terrifying wave of explosive tags approaching her, Konan remained calm and composed.

Before this, not only here but also in other locations where Akatsuki members were gathered, as well as at various important points in Amegakure, Konan had used her God's Paper Jutsu to camouflage a large number of explosive tags to prepare for any unforeseen circumstances.

Although they had once been part of the same organization, for S-rank rogue ninja-like Hiruko, who was known for their treachery and lack of loyalty, both she and Nagato had to be cautious.

Therefore, in Amegakure, aside from dealing with someone as unreasonable as Tobi with his space-time abilities, Konan held a significant advantage against the others.

This was why she had readily agreed to kill Hiruko when Yuki asked her.

"Let this magnificent explosion be your farewell."

Watching the explosion that resembled a collapsing mountain, Hiruko couldn't help but marvel at its grandeur.

If Deidara were here, he would undoubtedly applaud it as "truly great art."

But this was Amegakure, and even though Hiruko's base was on the outskirts of the village, the terrifying sound of the explosion was enough to startle the villagers.

Fortunately, Konan had foreseen this and instructed the Rain-nin to handle the situation in advance. Combined with her own prestige in the village, there was little disturbance.

"I hope we can find the remains."

After the loud explosions caused by the detonation of countless explosive tags had subsided, Konan looked around at the pitch-black crater filled with thick smoke.

Before, she had promised Yuki that she would send Hiruko's body to him.

Now, she wondered if there would be anything left to find.

Konan waved her hand, and many paper sheets turned into shovels, starting to clear the scene.

After a few minutes, when she thought everything was over, something unexpected happened.

As one of the shovels was about to dig into the ground, it was as if something was holding it down, rendering it immobile in an instant.

Konan turned her head to look.

At that moment, the shovel shattered into pieces, and a blackened hand emerged from underground, followed by a completely black figure crawling out.

At this point, only Hiruko could appear here.

"You're not dead?" Konan was very surprised.

"Cough! Damn it... Cough! Cough!" Hiruko wanted to say something, but the explosion had left him breathless and coughing.

The combined power of so many explosive tags, even with his Wood Release, was something he couldn't withstand.

In a life-or-death situation, Hiruko had absorbed another Bloodline Limit called Steel Release, despite its immaturity, and had even survived by the slimmest of chances.

The Bloodline Limit, known as Steel Release, could harden the body.

That was why he had managed to withstand the onslaught of millions of explosive tags.

But even though he had barely clung to life by combining Steel Release with Wood Release, the explosion was still too powerful.

, and he ended up seriously injured.

Originally, he had planned to hide underground and play dead to avoid this disaster.

But what Hiruko hadn't expected was that Konan would be so cautious.

A normal person wouldn't think that anyone could survive such an explosion.

But she was relentless.

Seeing that Hiruko had no choice but to surface, heavily injured, he had no intention of continuing to engage with Konan. After using some trees to entangle her, he quickly turned to flee.

Although she was surprised by Hiruko's resilience, Konan noticed that he was significantly weaker now. She didn't care as she said, "So, it was all in vain."

As soon as she said this, Konan, in her Dance of the Shikigami state, transformed her entire body into sheets of paper that separated and flew towards Hiruko at incredible speed.

His face changed, and although he tried to dodge left and right, he couldn't avoid the barrage of paper sheets that seemed to fill the sky. Soon, the first sheet of paper stuck to Hiruko's body, followed by the second, third...

Although the paper seemed thin and powerless, Hiruko felt his body becoming increasingly heavy.

As time passed, with more and more paper sheets on him, his steps became increasingly sluggish.

Until finally, he had no strength left.

"No!

!" Wanting to say something, Hiruko, who was very unwilling and desperate, was silenced as paper sheets covered his mouth, then his nose, ears, and forehead.

In the end, his entire body was wrapped in white paper, leaving only his eyes staring at Konan through the sheets of paper that converged on him.

But Konan, with an expressionless face, said, "It's over."

Afterwards, the newly formed sheets of paper paid no attention to Hiruko's despair, pleas, and begging. They covered his remaining eyes.

Steel Release could indeed protect the body from harm, but it couldn't save him from suffocation.

A few minutes later, after watching Hiruko's lifeless body covered in paper, Konan waved her hand and said, "Come here!"

Instantly, a team of Rain-nin, who had been waiting for a long time, appeared before her, half-kneeling and showing respect.

"Great Angel!"

"Take this body to Konoha and maintain secrecy along the way," Konan ordered.

"Yes!"

Watching the Rain-nin carrying Hiruko's body away, Konan breathed a sigh of relief.

Konoha's request had been fulfilled.

Now, she could seek revenge without any worries."