"Hey! How long has it been? Why am I being summoned with Impure World Reincarnation again?" Senju Hashirama complained.
Beside him, Senju Tobirama looked even more displeased. Being repeatedly manipulated by his own forbidden technique was an experience he found utterly unbearable.
"My esteemed predecessors, the situation is critical, and we had no choice but to summon you for assistance once more," Jiraiya said apologetically.
"What's the matter this time?" Tobirama asked sternly, his expression clearly conveying that if Jiraiya couldn't provide a sufficient explanation, he wouldn't hesitate to teach him a lesson.
"Well, it's like this…" Jiraiya began explaining the situation involving the ancient gods.
At this moment, neither Jiraiya nor Deidara knew that Kabuto had already conducted a large-scale Impure World Reincarnation. However, to prevent the possibility of the Hokage being controlled by others, Deidara had Orochimaru summon Hashirama and the others first.
"Why do I feel like we've become hot commodities, being fought over by everyone?" Hashirama quipped again.
"What do you think?" he asked, looking at the other three Hokage.
Minato Namikaze scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "It does feel that way, but it's all for the peace of the ninja world, after all."
"In that case, I must trouble the esteemed Hokage to assist in the battlefields of the Land of Whirlpools and the Land of Hot Water. The sooner we resolve those conflicts, the better," Jiraiya requested.
As for why Jiraiya and Deidara didn't step in personally, they had more important matters to attend to—monitoring Orochimaru.
Indeed, the key to this war's outcome lay in whether Deidara could ascend to the Six Paths level. If he could reach such a divine tier, their side would gain an overwhelming advantage against Mōryō.
Conversely, if Deidara failed to reach the Six Paths level and stand among the ancient gods, even victories in smaller skirmishes would ultimately be meaningless.
The key to reaching the Six Paths level lay in the development of Perfect Clay, which required Orochimaru's expertise to expedite the process.
But Orochimaru, being who he was, always gave off an enigmatic and untrustworthy vibe.
Even though Deidara had collaborated with him multiple times, he still couldn't fully trust Orochimaru.
If Orochimaru were to suddenly switch sides or deliberately delay the development of Perfect Clay, the consequences would be catastrophic.
Thus, Deidara and Jiraiya had no choice but to personally oversee Orochimaru, ensuring he completed the clay as quickly as possible.
Orochimaru, though displeased, had no choice but to comply. Even after reincarnating into the Yamata no Orochi, he was no match for the combined strength of Deidara and Jiraiya. Moreover, the pair of Mangekyō Sharingan originally belonging to Uzumaki Yusuke had been confiscated by Deidara.
Left with no better options, Orochimaru reluctantly agreed to cooperate.
"Deidara, give me the clay," Orochimaru said irritably, extending his hand.
Deidara quickly opened the system interface.
Strongest Artist System
Host: Deidara
Shock Value: 2000/30000
Skill Points: 2
Unlocked Skills:
Pyrotechnics: Explosion Mastery Level 3, C2 Enhanced Great Dragon, Ultra-High Temperature, Greater Detonation Range, Timed Bomb, C3 Enhanced Number 18, C4 Enhanced Sun, C4 Special Garuda, C4 Enhanced Death WingsMorphology Optimization: Morphology Optimization Level 2, Insect Form Mastery, Insect Form Activation, Human Form Mastery, Human Form Activation, Animal Form Mastery, Animal Form ActivationMaterial Science (Clay): Improved Clay, Lightning-Resistant Clay, Advanced Clay, Durable ClayNinja Arts: Chakra Enhancement, Ninjutsu Enhancement, Genjutsu Resistance Level 2, Clayification
Unknowingly, Deidara had already reached Level 30. Conveniently, he still had two skill points—one for unlocking Perfect Clay and the other for unlocking Modern Armaments.
After handing over a sample of Perfect Clay to Orochimaru, Deidara turned his attention to studying the Modern Armaments skill.
As mentioned before, both his Asura Path creations and fighter jets could already be considered technological armaments.
Thus, Deidara had always been curious about what the system's Modern Armaments skill would entail.
The result was beyond his expectations.
Deidara chewed on some clay and spat out a Clay Tank, its appearance bold and imposing. Aside from its pure white color, which looked a bit odd, it was indistinguishable from a real tank.
In fact, it wasn't just visually similar—it was functionally identical. Not only could Deidara operate it, but others could also use its controls and levers to maneuver it.
"Deidara, these creations of yours are quite handy!" Jiraiya exclaimed, sitting inside the Clay Tank and experimenting with its various features.
"Of course!" Deidara replied confidently. Without saying much more, he took out a large chunk of clay and began chewing. After a while, he spat out a miniature model of a military factory.
Deidara carefully examined the model, ensuring there were no issues, before creating a Clay Clone.
"I'll send this to the battlefield so more people can witness my new art!"
As he spoke, he created another one, handing it to another Clay Clone to deploy to a different battlefield.
Land of Whirlpools.
Led by Tsunade, Kakashi, and Guy, the ninja forces had been battling the army of the dead for several days.
"Komma! Stop being so stubborn!" shouted Asuma Sarutobi, cigarette in mouth. Holding two short blades, he looked somewhat disheveled after the prolonged fighting.
His shout was directed at a man with a scarred face and white hair—Komma, a former comrade and one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja. Their differing ideologies had led to a falling out.
As the defeated party, Komma had long sought revenge. Somehow, he had managed to acquire a degraded version of the Impure World Reincarnation technique.
This, in turn, led to him being chosen by the God of Death as its proxy, temporarily serving as the leader of the undead army.
"Asuma, you're still so naive," Komma sneered.
"The Land of Fire—no, the entire ninja world—can only have one ruler!" he shouted maniacally.
"It seems there's no choice but to keep fighting," Kakashi said, rubbing his temples.
Although the individual quality of the undead army wasn't exceptionally high, it wasn't low either. The resurrected undead could still use ninjutsu and their abilities from life.
The most troublesome part was their sheer numbers. Despite the sealing teams working tirelessly over the past few days, replenishing their scrolls multiple times, it felt like a drop in the ocean.
"By the way, why does Amagakure have so many blank sealing scrolls in storage?"
"If not for this timely supply, they might not have used them all up in a thousand years," Tsunade remarked, looking at the mountain of blank sealing scrolls piled up behind them, unable to resist making a joke.
After several rounds of resupply, Amagakure had sent them an enormous quantity of blank sealing scrolls, leaving everyone stunned—even Komma was shocked.
"Don't tell me they're really going to seal every single one of us?"
"I heard they stockpiled them back when the organization was active. They might've overstocked a bit," Kakashi explained.
"But this is way too much! If converted to money, it'd be worth tens of millions!" Tsunade said enviously.
Tens of millions would be enough for her to indulge herself for quite a while!
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