422. The Troublemaker

Just as Temari was about to continue exploring Konoha, a wild laugh suddenly echoed from above, followed by a chaotic gust of wind.

On the commercial street, many people were caught off guard by the sudden laughter and wind, and they looked up to see what was happening.

A giant white bird swooped down at low altitude, causing a wave of exclamations. On the bird's back, a blond-haired boy burst into laughter upon seeing the scene below.

"The so-called strongest nation in the shinobi world? Doesn't seem like much to me," Deidara said, his face filled with a mischievous grin as he watched the panicked crowd.

However, several ANBU ninjas soon appeared on the rooftops nearby.

Wearing masks and exuding a stern aura, they warned Deidara, who was flying at low altitude, "Flying is prohibited within Konoha's borders!"

The ANBU ninjas had already recognized Deidara as a foreign participant in the Chunin Exams.

Otherwise, they would have immediately taken action and arrested him for disturbing the peace.

But Deidara wasn't about to comply with their warning.

It seemed he had completely ignored Onoki's instructions. Instead, he made his giant bird climb higher and stuck out his tongue at the ANBU ninjas.

"Catch me if you can!" he taunted.

Temari, who had been watching the scene, frowned. "That's Deidara from Iwagakure."

As a participant in the Chunin Exams, Temari was familiar with the top candidates from each village, so she recognized Deidara immediately.

According to the intelligence, this guy had a rebellious and carefree personality, often getting punished by the Tsuchikage.

Who would have thought he'd dare to cause such trouble in Konoha?

As she pondered this, a black figure suddenly flashed past her.

"Is that... Uchiha Itachi?" Temari's eyes widened as she saw the figure, about her age, darting across the rooftops at incredible speed, chasing after Deidara.

By now, Itachi had activated his three-tomoe Sharingan, his crimson eyes firmly locked onto the figure in the sky.

He knew that at this critical moment, the entire shinobi world was watching.

If Deidara continued to cause trouble and it ended up requiring intervention from higher-ups like Danzo, Konoha would become a laughingstock.

Therefore, as someone of the same generation, Itachi had to teach this troublemaker a lesson!

With this thought, Itachi's eyes grew even more intense.

He focused on the white bird above and quickly formed hand seals.

In the next moment, a swarm of black crows emerged around him, flying toward the sky like a dark cloud.

"Oh? Finally, someone dares to challenge me?" Deidara, sitting on his white bird, grinned arrogantly.

"Well then, let me show you what true art is!"

With that, he raised his right hand, and the mouth on his palm chewed for a moment before spitting out a large clump of specially treated clay.

"Explosive Clay: Bomb Blast!"

Deidara hurled the spherical clay with incredible speed, accurately hitting the incoming swarm of crows.

"Boom!!"

A deafening explosion rang out, and thick black smoke filled the air. The crows' caws echoed across the sky.

The loud explosion naturally caught the attention of many, including Onoki, who was resting at the inn.

When he heard the familiar sound of the explosion, he felt as if he had been struck by lightning, his scalp tingling.

"That sound... it couldn't be..." he muttered.

Before he could finish, a subordinate rushed in to confirm his suspicions—the explosion had indeed been caused by Deidara, who was now riding his clay bird through the skies above Konoha, engaging in direct confrontation with Konoha's ninjas.

Hearing this, Onoki's beard trembled with anger, and he felt utterly exasperated.

But Deidara didn't care about his teacher's feelings.

At this moment, he wore a look of disdain.

"Hah, so this is the famous Konoha, the so-called strongest in the shinobi world? What a joke," he sneered.

Konoha might be prosperous, but without the power to back it up, that prosperity was nothing more than a colorful bubble—beautiful to look at, but easily popped.

As Deidara was thinking this, several black figures shot out of the smoke like arrows, heading straight for him.

He quickly made his bird climb higher, but the crows that had broken through the smoke were too fast.

In an instant, they were right in front of him.

"Dammit..." Deidara narrowed his eyes and sent out a long, thin clay centipede to intercept the attacking crows.

At that moment, a red light flashed in the eyes of the crows.

Deidara's heart skipped a beat as he saw three slowly rotating black tomoe in the crows' eyes.

"The Sharingan!"

He immediately became alert.

Only now did he realize that the sky above him had turned a deep crimson.

The air around him was filled with countless flapping crows, cawing loudly.

"Damn it, did that eye contact just trap me in a genjutsu?" Deidara's expression turned grim.

As an artist who revered explosions, he had always dismissed genjutsu as foolish and had never bothered to learn how to break it.

Now, he could only watch helplessly as the swarm of crows engulfed him, sending him plummeting toward the ground!

In reality, the crows flew past Deidara's body, and the wires wrapped around their feet instantly ensnared him like a net.


Then, Itachi, standing on the ground, pulled hard on the wires, causing them to tighten with incredible force and yank Deidara and his bird down toward the ground!

Seeing this, the Konoha ninjas and civilians watching from below erupted into cheers and applause.

Clearly, they were thoroughly impressed by Itachi's performance.

His actions had perfectly defended the dignity and honor of the Land of Fire!

On Konoha's turf, no one was allowed to act recklessly, no matter who they were!

Of course, in stark contrast to the excited crowd was Onoki, who had just arrived at the scene.

He saw his disciple being defeated and slammed into the ground.

How could he tolerate this?

Immediately, he activated his Kekkei Tota, "Dust Release," and used the "Atomic Dismantling Jutsu" to sever the wires binding Deidara.

He then caught Deidara just before he hit the ground.


Otherwise, at that speed, Deidara would have been killed on impact!