MWM Chapter 305

“As expected from someone who killed Kakuzu, defeated Kisame and Itachi—truly formidable!”

The moment Deidara detonated all of his miniature clay spider bombs, he used **Earth Release: Hiding Like a Mole Technique** to bury himself underground.

Throughout his battle with Leo, he had been completely outclassed, and none of his techniques could inflict any serious damage on his opponent. The jutsu he just used was one of his strongest, aside from his ultimate self-destruction technique.

Yet even with that, Deidara had no confidence in being able to kill Leo. To be safe, he decided to hide and bide his time.

The key issue, according to the information Zetsu had provided, was that Leo possessed space-time ninjutsu. Even if Deidara sacrificed himself in a grand explosion for the sake of his art, Leo could easily escape using that ability.

Deidara loved art and was willing to die for it, but he wasn’t foolish.

“BOOM!”

A deafening explosion resounded throughout Konoha, flattening most of the buildings in the southeast quadrant of the village. The blast was so massive that all the ninjas in the midst of battle paused to look in its direction.

In truth, ever since the appearance of the giant statues—Deidara’s clay golem and Leo’s Thousand-Armed Kannon—their fight had already attracted much attention. Those two colossal figures were impossible to ignore.

“He actually forced Deidara to use that technique. It seems this prince does have some real power.”

To the southwest, in the Hyuga clan’s territory, Sasori flicked the body of a Hyuga ninja off the tip of his **Scorpion Tail** attached to his puppet Hiruko and glanced eastward with a blank expression.

Around him lay a field of corpses. Some were poisoned, paralyzed on the ground, while others were completely skewered and dead.

Opposite him stood about twenty more Konoha ninjas—mainly from the Hyuga clan with a few others who had rushed over for support—but they all wore grim expressions as they faced Sasori.

At the village gates, Kisame was overwhelming Asuma, Kurenai, and Anko with his massive chakra reserves and the chakra-absorbing abilities of his sword Samehada. His sheer strength left the three Jonin struggling to keep up.

This firsthand experience with Kisame’s power gave the Konoha ninjas a new appreciation for just how strong Leo must be, having previously defeated both Kisame and Itachi.

As for Itachi, the double agent was currently engaged in a fight with Kakashi, Sasuke, and Sakura in the Uchiha compound. When the Akatsuki first arrived in Konoha, Itachi had deliberately lured Sasuke away from the others, knowing his brother’s hatred would draw him into a private battle.

Kakashi and Sakura, worried for Sasuke’s safety, had followed them.

Itachi’s real goal was to keep Sasuke out of the hands of Akatsuki’s other members, ensuring his brother wouldn’t be killed.

Akatsuki’s plan to attack Konoha was straightforward: they aimed to storm through the village from the southern gates to the Hokage Monument, killing every living person in the village, especially the Konoha leadership.

Deidara’s role was to carpet-bomb the village from the sky, spreading the forces thin as ninjas scrambled to protect civilians. Sasori was tasked with wiping out the Hyuga clan, one of Konoha’s major families, while Kisame and Itachi were to take out any other Jonin in their way.

Pain, with his Six Paths, was to head north to eliminate the Third Hokage, the ANBU, and any remaining ninjas from Konoha’s clans.

Meanwhile, the two members Akatsuki considered less powerful—Tobi and Zetsu—were to act as backup, ensuring that no one escaped and leaked their plans.

Aside from Deidara being injured and Itachi holding back, the rest of Akatsuki’s assault was going smoothly.

…

“He nearly broke through my **Sage Art: Welcoming Thousand-Armed Murder**. That jutsu of his does pack quite a punch.”

After the explosion subsided, Leo observed the now-crumbling Thousand-Armed Kannon statue and chose to dispel it.

Deidara’s previous attack had almost breached the Kannon, even in Sage Mode. It was indeed a powerful technique, especially considering that it was originally meant to detonate inside a person’s body.

“But I think it’s about time to end this.”

Receiving intel from several of his shadow clones, who had been monitoring the village’s overall situation, Leo sensed that the moment had arrived. It was time to defeat Deidara and truly make his entrance.

“Did you think hiding underground would escape my detection?”

Leo’s lips curled into a smirk as he focused on a spot not far from him on the ground.

Although Deidara had cleverly concealed his chakra, Leo had still seen right through him. Recently, he had discovered a new ability in his Yin-Yang Eyes—or more precisely, he had developed a new application of their powers.

He could now directly perceive souls.

Whether the enemy was invisible, disguised, or hiding underground or behind any obstacle, he could see their soul as long as he wished to.

At this very moment, Leo clearly saw Deidara’s soul, six meters beneath the earth, about twenty meters in front of him.

Of course, this ability only allowed him to see souls; it wasn’t like X-ray vision or some kind of all-encompassing scanning ability. But even this level of insight was more than enough. Now he didn’t have to worry about ambushes or hidden attacks.

“**Excavate!**”

Leo pointed at the spot where Deidara was hiding. Instantly, the earth surrounding Deidara vanished, exposing him completely.

Before Deidara could even form a hand sign to escape, Leo appeared right in front of him and casually flicked him on the forehead, rendering him unconscious.

As Deidara passed out, he realized one thing—his opponent had been toying with him the whole time. If Leo had fought this fast from the start, Deidara would have been defeated while still in the sky.

“**Sleep!**”

At the same moment, Leo cast a **Slumber Spell** to ensure Deidara remained unconscious, using both physical and magical means to guarantee his deep slumber.

“One down.”

Leo lifted Deidara by the collar, the latter sporting a swollen bump on his forehead, and with his flying sword wings extended, he soared toward the southern gates where Kisame was wreaking havoc.

“This is Konoha’s might? It’s not much!”

At the village gates, Kisame had unleashed a massive **Water Style: Great Shark Bullet**, creating a giant water sphere that engulfed Asuma, Kurenai, and Anko. Inside the sphere, he summoned a swarm of sharks to aid him in slaughtering his enemies, all while Samehada absorbed their chakra.

The once-clear water quickly turned red with blood, leaving only Asuma, Kurenai, and Anko struggling to survive, fighting back-to-back.

But all they had left was despair.

Asuma’s fire-style jutsu was countered by Kisame’s water-based techniques, Kurenai’s genjutsu was useless due to Kisame’s bond with Samehada, and Anko could barely hold on using snake jutsu.

With each exchange, their chakra was further drained, and soon they wouldn’t have any left.

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