In the Tsuchikage's office, Ōnoki pondered for a long time before looking up at Han. "If the Nine-Tails appeared in the village, could you and Kokuō handle it?"
Han closed his eyes to consult Kokuō. After a while, he opened them and reported honestly, "No. Even with Son Gokū, the two of them together can't beat the Nine-Tails. The Nine-Tails is the strongest among them."
"The Nine-Tails is that strong?" Ōnoki could hardly believe it.
He found it hard to accept—why, when all were tailed beasts, could their two not defeat just one Nine-Tails?
"But, Lord Tsuchikage, Kokuō also said the Nine-Tails has the worst temper. Unless the seal is broken, he can't fully transform," Han added.
Ōnoki paused, and if that was the case, the threat was less severe. Judging by Seiryu's personality, he likely wouldn't risk his own student—let alone the previous Hokage's orphan—by using him as a suicide bomber.
But as soon as he relaxed, anger flared again: "Does Seiryu not care about Iwagakure at all? To bring a jinchuriki who can't even transform and parade him around—doesn't he worry we'll try to seize the Nine-Tails?"
Right now, the Nine-Tails' jinchuriki was at their weakest: unable to control the beast's power and unable to protect himself. Iwagakure could easily attempt to capture him.
But then, thinking of Seiryu's perfect Susanoo, Ōnoki had to force himself to calm down.
Seiryu really did have the confidence to travel the world with a young jinchuriki.
"Lord Tsuchikage, what should we do now?" Han asked.
"Keep a close watch on Seiryu and that jinchuriki brat," Ōnoki ordered, gritting his teeth. "Don't let anything happen to him while he's here. And you—get back to hiding. Don't let anyone spot you."
"Yes!" Han accepted the order and left.
…
"Sasuke, Neji, let's go out for a bit! We hardly got to see Iwagakure at all," Naruto said as soon as they got back to the inn.
"Naruto, this is someone else's village. We shouldn't wander around, and Sensei might get angry if he finds out," Neji cautioned.
"Oh, come on, Neji, don't be such a killjoy. Let's sneak out—he'll never know," Naruto said. "Sasuke, what about you?"
"I'm not going," Sasuke shook his head.
"Boring! I'll just go by myself then," Naruto said, and promptly slipped out the window.
All of this took place under Seiryu's watchful eye. As he saw Naruto's sneaky figure disappear into the night, Seiryu grinned.
'Let's see what kind of trouble that kid stirs up in Iwagakure.'
As Naruto slipped into the commercial district, in another corner of the village, a small explosion sounded. The door to a building burst open.
"Heh, you think this could keep me locked up?" Deidara sneered at the door Ōnoki had locked him behind, then swaggered into the village.
"I wonder where that brother from today is staying. I'd really like to talk more about art with him," Deidara mused as he wandered, hands behind his head.
As soon as Deidara hit the street, everyone cleared out. Villagers avoided him as if he were an actual jinchuriki.
Despite not being a jinchuriki, Deidara was treated like one in his own village—truly a first.
Soon, the only one left in the commercial street was Naruto, who hadn't yet learned Iwagakure's unwritten rules.
Naruto looked around in confusion at the fleeing crowds, not knowing what had happened. The next second, he spotted another head of blond hair.
The two blonds—one older, one younger—locked eyes on the now-deserted street.
"Hey, kid, where are you from? I haven't seen you before," Deidara asked, approaching Naruto.
"I'm not from this village. I'm from Konoha—I just got here today with my teacher," Naruto replied.
"Konoha?" Deidara's eyes lit up—the man who appreciated his art today was the Hokage of Konoha, wasn't he?
"You're from Konoha? Do you know the Hokage?" Deidara asked eagerly.
"Sure, he's my teacher," Naruto nodded.
"You're that Hokage guy's student? Do you know anything about art?" Deidara immediately perked up.
"Art?" Naruto was confused, but then thought of his graffiti on the Hokage Rock—maybe that counted? "A little bit," he said.
"Is that so? Excellent!" Deidara clapped his hands. "Come on, let's research true art together!"
Naruto was taken aback, but before he could react, Deidara had slung an arm around his shoulders and was dragging him toward the Tsuchikage Rock.
"That Hokage said the best form of art is to destroy the most beautiful thing for everyone to see. The village's most beautiful thing must be the Tsuchikage Rock, which the old man always says carries the Will of Stone," Deidara chattered as he dragged Naruto along.
Soon, Naruto found himself standing beneath the Tsuchikage Rock.
Rubbing his hands together, Deidara said, "Come on, let's create the ultimate art!"
Naruto hesitated. "Isn't that a bad idea? This is your village…"
"What are you afraid of? If anything happens, I'll take the blame. I'm the Third Tsuchikage's disciple!" Deidara thumped his chest confidently.
With that, Deidara crouched and started mixing up his clay explosives.
Seeing Deidara so confident, Naruto just crouched down beside him, watching the older boy work.
Though Naruto didn't even know his name yet, he couldn't help but feel a strange sense of camaraderie with this big brother, who seemed a couple years older.
"Don't just watch—give me some advice," Deidara said suddenly.
"Advice?" Naruto looked at the growing lump of clay. He thought Deidara was just going to add something to the stone face, so he recalled his graffiti days and offered, "Big bro, don't you think the color's a bit too bland?"
"Bland?" Deidara considered. It was true—his explosions always produced the same color smoke. "You're right."
He nodded, agreeing with Naruto's suggestion. "Let's see how we can fix that."
As a genius with explosives, Deidara recalled how different metals produced different colors when burned. His eyes lit up.
"Got it!" Deidara snapped his fingers and rummaged through a sealing scroll for various metals, tossing Naruto a file. "Help me grind some metal powder from these."
"Okay," Naruto replied, helping Deidara prepare.
Together, they soon produced a variety of powdered metals, which Deidara mixed into the clay.
Satisfied, Deidara stuffed the mass into his mouth, chewed, and quickly formed hand seals.
Soon, a clay bird emerged from his mouth and soared toward the Tsuchikage's stone statue.
As the bird neared the Tsuchikage Rock, Deidara shouted, "Detonate!"
"Huh?" Naruto was shocked, staring wide-eyed at Deidara.
But Deidara was already walking away, wearing a cool expression, never looking back at the explosion.
Boom!
A tremendous explosion echoed through Iwagakure, and under the night sky, the Tsuchikage's face erupted in a cascade of brilliant, multicolored fireworks, lighting up the entire village.
Naruto stood frozen, jaw dropped.
So this is what he meant by art?
"What are you staring for?" Deidara, seeing Naruto still rooted to the spot, grabbed his hand and urged, "Run! If you get caught, just give them my name—Deidara!"
Before Deidara could finish, both he and Naruto were tackled by Iwa ANBU, who had rushed to the scene.
….
In the Tsuchikage's office, Ōnoki stared at the two blond troublemakers, his blood pressure rising—especially as Deidara kept repeating, "It was all me! Why are you arresting my little bro?"
Soon, Seiryu, having heard the news, was politely invited by ANBU to the office.
"What's going on?" Seiryu asked with feigned innocence as he entered.
With the joint Chūnin Exams about to begin, and with other village leaders present, the explosion of Ōnoki's stone face was a huge loss of face for him.