Because the falling meteor was aflame, its physical mass couldn't compare to Madara's "Tengai Shinsei."
When it hit the ground, it was only slightly bigger than a Tailed Beast Bomb. Its mushroom cloud was also nowhere near the size caused by double Tengai Shinsei.
However, the high-temperature shockwave from this meteor was actually more devastating than that from the Tengai Shinsei, and its destructive power easily rivaled the explosive nature of a Tailed Beast Bomb.
When the mushroom cloud cleared, the mountain that Sasori and Deidara had been on was basically gone. That massive mountain had been bigger than its neighbors, so only part of it was obliterated.
Still, a huge crater lay in the middle of that mountain range. All that remained in the immediate vicinity were shattered rocks and superheated debris – or leftover molten chunks from the meteor.
"Art... now that is art!"
When the quakes finally stopped, Deidara—entirely unharmed behind layers of mountain rock and that iron-sand sphere—emerged.
He immediately whipped up a white clay bird, then soared into the sky to watch the aftermath. He looked downright ecstatic, wanting to blow himself up on the spot to see who had the better "art."
"Idiot, get down here."
Sasori's sharp tone echoed from below.
"Well, well—you survived in one piece."
Suddenly, a new voice chimed in, unfamiliar to the two. They looked up to see that same figure—the man who'd conjured the meteor—hovering once again over Deidara's head.
Hearing that voice, Deidara beamed and glanced upward. "Hey, you—don't you agree that the beauty of a single instant is the real art?"
"You mean explosions?"
Rather than dismissing him as others might, the man nodded thoughtfully. "Explosions are beautiful—and the stronger they are, the more stunning. Tailed Beasts and Jinchuriki are so feared precisely because they unleash those massive Tailed Beast Bomb explosions."
"Right?! That's what I'm saying…"
Deidara cheered, "See that, Sasori-bro? Someone does appreciate my art!"
"Idiot. He's the enemy," Sasori barked back, still insistent that eternal beauty was the true art.
"No, it's the ephemeral that's beautiful!"
"Eternal!"
"Ephemeral!"
"…"
For a moment, they stood there—one on the ground, one in the air—arguing about art. The hovering man just crossed his arms and watched in mild amusement.
"Tch, forget it, I'm done with you."
Eventually, Deidara—only sixteen this year—ran out of patience and dropped the argument. With a huff, he turned to the masked man and said enthusiastically, "Hey, man, you've got good taste! Wanna join our organization?"
Finding a like-minded soul thrilled Deidara.
"Oh? What organization's that?" the masked man asked playfully.
"We're—"
Deidara began, only for Sasori to snap, "Shut your mouth, Deidara! Are you trying to die?"
Deidara clammed up, remembering something important. Still, he told the newcomer, "Hey, if you join us, then I'll spill the beans."
"Thanks but no thanks," the man chuckled. "We can be friends, though."
He looked at Sasori on the ground. "I already gave you guys a greeting present. Any chance you'd trade me your puppet techniques and instructions on making human puppets in return?"
"So that's why you came after us?" Sasori asked in a low voice, inwardly rather pleased. It seemed this stranger understood the value of "eternal art" and also praised Deidara's "explosive art," though that was a bit two-faced.
"That's right," said the stranger.
Sasori nodded. "Fine. I'll give them to you."
"...Huh."
Izayoi, concealed behind that mask, found himself surprised. That was easier than expected—he'd prepared for a fight. Then again, he suddenly remembered that Sasori's real body itself was a human puppet.
"Thanks," the masked man said. He'd been ready to kill Sasori and loot his stuff if he refused, or perhaps even turn Sasori himself into an "infinite puppet." But after scanning Sasori's "entries," he'd changed his mind.
They were:
Puppet Master (Purple), Kage-level Aptitude (Purple), Chakra Control (Purple)
In this era, lacking ties to the Otsutsuki, a ninja who could surpass Kage level was almost unheard of. Purple-tier stood for true Kage-level.
Sasori had three Purple-tier entries. Deidara only had two Explosion Release (Purple) and Kage-level Aptitude (Purple)).
Odds were Sasori had started with something like "puppet prodigy (Blue)" but by converting his entire body to a puppet, he'd reversed his fate and raised it to "puppet master (Purple)."
Killing a talent like that would be a shame. Better to keep him around and farm him again and again like he did Sasuke. Once Izayoi's Tenseigan reached its final form, he'd need to upgrade his Otsutsuki bloodline next—and that required a lot of points.
A single Purple-tier entry could yield thousands of points when dismantled. No sense in prematurely offing them.
"Catch," Sasori said, producing three scrolls and launching them upward via his iron tail—technically tossing them in Deidara's direction, because the masked man was too high up.
Before Deidara could descend, the man simply raised his palm. An invisible force grabbed the scrolls midair, halting them, then letting them float gently.
"What the—Almighty Pull?!"
Deidara and Sasori both reacted in shock. Even Deidara's simple mind recognized it. "Leader?"
Idiot. Sasori fumed silently.
Seemingly intrigued, the man said, "Almighty Pull, huh? Nice technique name. So your leader also commands gravity?"
"C-crap!" Deidara slapped a hand over his mouth—he'd almost said too much.
Meanwhile, the scrolls hovered about ten meters from the masked man, who flicked his finger, and they unrolled by themselves in midair. Seeing no poisonous gas emerging, he used his Tenseigan to scan the contents. A quick look confirmed they were legit, so he reeled them in with gravitational pull.
Fixing his gaze on Deidara and Sasori below, the masked man waved goodbye. "Thanks for the present. Maybe we'll meet again someday, my friends."
With that, he flew off. Sasori, who'd been ready to fight to the death if the masked man turned hostile, secretly breathed a huge sigh of relief.
After witnessing this person's flight, that summoned meteor, and gravity-based repulsion, Sasori had zero confidence in taking him on. He was glad the man didn't show any killing intent. Still, getting "robbed" out of nowhere was an awful feeling—even if they escaped with their lives.
~~~
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