The most important reason why Naruto wanted to recruit Deidara, or even the loudmouthed Hidan before, was primarily tied to his childhood dream of recruiting all the Akatsuki's members.
In his previous life, Naruto had genuinely liked Deidara as a character when watching the original work. His fighting style was straightforward: all about explosions, like a living bomber. Even his final act of defiance, the self-destruction, had left a strong impression.
However, as an adult now, Naruto saw things more clearly. Deidara, when analyzed closely, was simply a clumsy individual. So ordinary, yet brimming with confidence. The only admirable trait he truly possessed was his unwavering dedication to the art of explosions.
As Itachi had pointed out earlier, Naruto's decision to bet wasn't random. His real goal was to subdue Deidara as quickly as possible.
For this reason, Naruto had devised a plan centered around one thing: explosions!
After all, Itachi was the perfect example. Even though Itachi defeated Deidara and brought him into the Akatsuki, it is showed in the original work that Deidara's obsession remained, and his goal to surpass Itachi never wavered. Deidara had never truly been subdued by Itachi.
As the saying goes, 'Magic must be fought with magic'.
To truly crush Deidara's spirit, Naruto needed to defeat him in the one field Deidara excelled in.
After recovering to his peak condition, Deidara stood before Naruto and sneered coldly, "I admit your healing ability is impressive, but in a one-on-one fight against me, you're doomed."
"Enough talk." Naruto said lazily, uninterested in exchanging words, "Show me what you've got."
"Hmph!"
Deidara snorted, "You're already done for!"
Just now, Deidara had discreetly used the mouths on his palms to consume his explosive clay, silently creating C1 spider and centipede bombs.
At this moment, the spider and centipede bombs had already crawled onto Naruto's legs and lower body without a sound.
Naruto, however, stood still, with hands in his pockets, showing no sign of reacting.
"Acting all tough... Katsu!"
Deidara shouted, forming a hand seal. He could already envision the sight of Naruto being blown to pieces.
But...
One second passed.
Two seconds.
Three seconds.
Nothing happened. His bombs didn't explode.
"How is this possible!?" Deidara exclaimed in disbelief.
Then, he noticed the faint arcs of electricity flickering around Naruto's body, and realization dawned.
His explosive clay was Earth Attribute and was being suppressed by Naruto's Lightning Attribute Chakra, rendering it completely ineffective.
Naruto was aware of this.
Deidara's so-called 'stealth' had been nothing but an illusion. Naruto's Observation Haki had tracked Deidara's every move with pinpoint accuracy. There was no way Deidara's bombs could have snuck up on him.
In fact, Naruto had intentionally kept his hands in his pockets, exuding confidence. After all, he'd consumed the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, granting him mastery over lightning.
After revealing his Lightning Attribute Chakra to neutralize the bombs, Naruto still didn't make a move.
With his hands in his pockets, he said calmly, "Deidara, the lightning was just to show you that I completely counter you. But don't worry, I won't rely on this to win. I'll show you that your so-called 'explosions' are utterly worthless in my eyes!"
"You're courting death!" Deidara growled, furious.
He plunged his hand into his clay pouch once more. The mouths on his palms began voraciously chewing, preparing an even larger amount of explosive clay.
Even if Naruto chose to stand motionless, Deidara wouldn't miss this opportunity. If he was going to blow Naruto up, he'd go all out!
As for whether Naruto might try to escape at the last moment? Deidara didn't bother worrying. After all, Naruto had declared his intentions to face him head-on. If he ran now, he'd only humiliate himself.
"C4 Garuda!"
As Deidara unleashed his signature technique, Naruto's heart stirred slightly. He hadn't expected Deidara to jump straight to using such a dangerous, all-or-nothing move.
C4 Garuda was a technique Deidara had specifically developed to kill Itachi. By consuming a lump of explosive clay and spitting it out, it created a massive humanoid construct identical to Deidara himself.
Inside this construct were countless microscopic clay spiders invisible to the naked eye. When the construct exploded, these tiny clay spiders dispersed into the air across a set range.
Any living being that inhaled them essentially became a living bomb. Through countless internal explosions, the technique could completely obliterate its target, destroying them from the inside out.
This was no ordinary explosion, as it was akin to molecular disintegration. Technically speaking, it wasn't an explosion anymore but a form of cellular breakdown!
If it was any other explosion, Naruto's durable body would be more than sufficient to endure the impact. But against this unseen and unavoidable internal attack, which is absorbed through breathing, Naruto had no real means of defense.
The only surefire method to counter Garuda was to envelop his entire body in electricity, neutralizing the technique with lightning. But doing so would contradict Naruto's earlier promise not to rely on his elemental advantage.
'Could I just endure it head-on?'
'No, there must be another way.
As Naruto racked his brain, Deidara completed his preparation of the C4 Garuda. To avoid risking collateral damage, Deidara created a smaller version to specially target Naruto.
Seeing Deidara was about to form the hand seal, Naruto finally came up with a solution at the last moment: Rapid Healing.
C4 Garuda's damage came from countless small clay spiders gradually breaking down the body. However, Naruto's Rapid Healing continuously regenerated his body, effectively countering the gradual destruction!
"Katsu!"
Rapid Healing!
Naruto and Deidara activated their abilities almost at the same time.
Naruto's hand, which had begun to crumble into fragments, instantly regenerated. Due to the passive effect of Rapid Healing, Naruto did not feel any pain.
Seeing this, Naruto laughed heartily, "That's it?"
To drive the point home, Naruto took a deep breath, deliberately inhaling the entirety of C4 Garuda into his body.
"How… how is this possible?"
Deidara was stunned. To him, Naruto's actions looked like blatant suicide. But thanks to Naruto's powerful healing ability, he had completely withstood the effects of Deidara's carefully engineered ultimate technique.
This shocking turn of events left Deidara in a state of disbelief.
"You call this your ultimate move? And you dare brag about it?" Naruto mocked, imitating Deidara's earlier arrogance.
"Hmph!" Deidara snorted angrily, "Don't underestimate me. I'll show you what true terror looks like!"
Indeed, while C4 Garuda was a technique Deidara had meticulously crafted, his strongest explosive was still C3. By using the highest-grade explosive clay, he had the confidence to destroy an entire village.
Based on Deidara's observations, the problem with C4 Garuda seemed to lie in the limited destructive power of each individual micro-spider, giving Naruto enough time to recover. But with C3, there would be no chance of recovery, as Naruto would be obliterated on the spot!
"Take this!"
Deidara quickly molded C3. The colossal bomb hurtled toward Naruto, glowing with intense white flames as it neared him.
Deidara retreated rapidly, knowing full well the immense power of this explosion. Even a slight misstep would result in severe injuries, if not death. And Naruto, standing at the center of the blast radius, was undoubtedly doomed.
Just as C3 was about to detonate, Naruto finally made his move.
"Let me show you what a real explosion looks like!"
A green mist began to radiate from Naruto's body, quickly transitioning into blue before turning a fiery red in an instant.
At this moment, he opened the eighth gate… the Gate of Death.