Iwagakure, the Village Hidden in Stone.
The village stood amidst a desolate desert landscape, its outskirts dominated by craggy mountains formed from countless accumulated boulders. Among these rugged formations sat a simple house with a thatched roof.
"RUMBLE!"
Several kilometers southwest of the house, a thunderous sound suddenly erupted. A violent explosion had occurred, sending thick plumes of smoke billowing into the sky.
WHOOSH!
A silhouette burst from the rising smoke cloud—a large white bird with a peculiar, almost artificial appearance. Atop this strange creation stood a figure who reached into a pouch and flung something downward.
"Ha!" the figure exclaimed, forming a one-handed seal.
The object he had thrown began to emit an intense light before—
"BOOM!"
A violent explosion erupted in mid-air, its force rippling outward to affect the rocks below. The mountainside suddenly collapsed, sending enormous boulders tumbling down the slope.
"Hmm," the young man standing on the giant bird murmured with satisfaction as he observed the explosion's aftermath.
He had a strikingly handsome appearance, with long golden hair dancing in the wind. "My art truly is perfection, hmm!" he declared to himself.
Reaching once more into the ninja tool pouch at his waist, he paused momentarily. When he withdrew his hand, it held a palm-sized white bird—a miniature replica of the larger creation he was riding.
He opened his palm, and the small white bird took flight. Again, he formed a one-handed seal, preparing to detonate it as he had the previous explosive.
Suddenly, he raised his eyes and noticed something peculiar—white origami shapes floating in the distance, approaching his position at this considerable altitude.
The boy froze in confusion. Why would there be such densely packed origami at this height?
The paper constructs drew closer, hovering before the young man before gradually condensing into a human form.
"Who are you?" he demanded, staring at the purple-haired woman who had materialized before him.
"You're Deidara, correct?" the woman asked, ignoring his question entirely.
"How dare you ignore me!" Deidara's brows immediately furrowed. To his mind, the purple-haired woman's refusal to answer showed tremendous disrespect.
"To create an explosion of such magnitude..." the woman murmured, her eyes narrowing slightly as she assessed him.
"You bitch!" Seeing that she had dismissed him again, Deidara's patience evaporated. He formed a seal with one hand, sending the white bird directly toward the woman.
"Katsu!"
At his command, the bird detonated, engulfing the area in dust and smoke. Only then did Deidara's expression soften slightly in satisfaction.
"Hmph!"
However, the woman emerged from the dust cloud completely unharmed, floating serenely on paper wings.
"Just as Zetsu described—a boy who talks to himself," Konan thought privately. She recognized that an ordinary ninja would likely have been seriously injured by Deidara's attack.
"Impossible!" Deidara exclaimed, shocked to see the woman unscathed.
Without hesitation, he reached into his pouch again. When his hand reemerged, it held several white creatures of various shapes.
Seeing this, Konan feigned mild surprise before increasing her speed and turning to fly away.
"Trying to escape?" Deidara refused to let her go. The massive bird he rode flapped its wings powerfully, pursuing Konan closely.
As he gave chase, he hurled the creature-shaped explosives from his hand and rapidly formed a seal.
"BANG! BANG! BANG!"
Explosions rocked the air in succession, yet somehow Konan evaded each attack without suffering a scratch.
As their aerial pursuit continued, the two gradually moved farther and farther from Iwagakure. Behind them, scattered throughout the rocky terrain, lay the bodies of several shinobi wearing Stone Village uniforms.
The aerial battle continued for some time until, at considerable distance from Iwagakure, Konan descended toward a dense stone forest and disappeared into it.
"Done running away?" Deidara laughed, seeing that Konan had stopped her retreat. Rather than follow her directly, he performed his familiar technique, creating several white creatures larger than his previous explosives.
With a casual flick of his wrist, he sent these creations plummeting toward the stone forest below.
"Art is an EXPLOSION!" Deidara's eyes burned with excitement as he formed a detonation seal.
Before his explosives could reach the forest floor, however, a whistling sound cut through the air as several projectiles shot upward from the stone formations.
"SWOOSH!"
These missiles collided with Deidara's explosives in mid-air.
"BOOM!"
A cataclysmic explosion sent shockwaves in all directions, the force of the blast affecting even Deidara hovering above.
As the explosion subsided, Deidara surveyed the scene below. The stone forest had sustained damage, though less than he would have expected.
"How dare you interfere with my art!" he snarled through clenched teeth. "Absolutely unforgivable!"
As he spoke, his hands worked frantically, preparing to craft even more devastating explosives.
SCREECH!
Suddenly, an enormous, strange-looking bird burst from the stone forest, heading straight for Deidara.
Caught off guard, he hastily maneuvered his clay mount to evade the attack. An aerial battle ensued, with Deidara gradually forced lower and lower.
When he was flying dangerously close to the treetops, he felt an irresistible gravitational force erupting from below. His bird was instantly dragged downward into the stone forest and slammed violently against the ground.
"Damn it!" Deidara cursed as he pulled himself up from his fallen mount.
Before him, two figures emerged, walking slowly in his direction. One was Konan, who had led him to this trap.
"So there's an accomplice," Deidara's eyes darkened, though he showed little fear. Immediately alert, he reached for his ninja tool pouch.
"You are Deidara, correct?" the man beside Konan asked, repeating the same question she had posed earlier. His eyes reflected complete indifference.
Deidara couldn't tolerate this continued dismissive attitude. Plunging his arm into his pouch, he withdrew it violently, flinging several explosives toward the pair.
"Go to hell!" he shouted, detonating the bombs without concern for the fact that he stood well within the blast radius.
From within the explosion came a voice that seemed to command the very forces of nature:
"Shinra Tensei!"
A terrifying repulsive force erupted outward, blasting away the explosion, the white bird, and Deidara himself!