Because the meteorite was still burning, its size couldn't compare to Uchiha Madara's Tengai Shinsei at all. When it landed, it was only a bit bigger than a Tailed Beast Bomb.
The range covered by the mushroom cloud also wasn't as wide as the two crashing Tengai Shinsei.
However, the high-temperature shockwave produced by the meteorite explosion was even more destructive than Tengai Shinsei, and its power was no less than the explosion of a Tailed Beast Bomb.
When the mushroom cloud dissipated, the mountain where Sasori of the Red Sand and Deidara had been hiding was already blasted away.
The mountain they hid in, because it was much larger than the surrounding small hills, was only half-destroyed.
Within the mountain range, a huge crater formed.
Only countless pieces of broken rocks remained, along with scorched surfaces and molten fragments from the meteorite.
"Art! This is truly art!"
As the trembling stopped, Deidara, who wasn't hurt thanks to the mountain and the layers of iron balls, emerged from the black sphere. He created a clay bird and flew into the sky, looking excitedly at the scene below.
His crazed expression made it seem like he wanted to self-detonate right then and there to compete with Izayoi.
"Idiot, get down here already."
Sasori's scolding voice came from below.
"Not bad, you're both still alive without a scratch."
At this moment, a strange voice reached the two's ears.
Izayoi's figure had somehow appeared above Deidara once again.
Hearing this voice, Deidara immediately looked up with excitement and asked in a random tone, "Hey, don't you think beauty that exists for just a moment is the true form of art?"
"Are you talking about explosions?"
Unlike those who didn't understand or even looked down on it, Izayoi nodded slightly and answered very seriously, "Explosions are indeed very beautiful, and it's a powerful kind of beauty. The stronger, the more beautiful. The reason Tailed Beasts and Jinchuriki are so feared is exactly because they can unleash the Tailed Beast Bomb, an explosion of tremendous power."
"Right?! Right?!"
Deidara shouted excitedly, "Explosions are true art! Sasori-bro, see? My art is recognized!"
"Idiot, that guy's an enemy," Sasori scolded again, insisting on his own belief, "Also, eternal beauty is the real art."
"No, it's the fleeting moment that's beautiful!"
"Eternal beauty is true art!"
"..."
For a while, the two argued loudly, one from the sky and one from the ground.
Izayoi didn't interrupt them. He just crossed his arms and watched with great interest.
"Hmph, I'm done talking to you."
In the end, it was the sixteen-year-old Deidara, who lost his patience and ended the argument first.
He turned his head away with a snort, then looked at Izayoi and said enthusiastically, "Bro, since you understand art so well, wanna join our organization?"
Having found a like-minded person was rare for Deidara, and he really wanted to pull Izayoi in.
"Oh? What organization are you guys from?" Izayoi asked with an amused smile.
"We are—"
Deidara was about to answer when Sasori's scolding voice came through: "Shut up! Deidara, do you want to die?"
Hearing this, Deidara seemed to remember something and had to stop himself.
But he still said to Izayoi, "Bro, if you join us, I'll tell you."
"Joining your organization is a no, but we can be friends."
Izayoi looked down at Sasori and spoke, "Just now, the gift for meeting new friends has been given. As a return gift, could you give me your puppet techniques and the method for creating human puppets?"
"So that's the reason you came to find us?" Sasori said in a low voice, though inside he was feeling a bit pleased.
It seemed like this guy actually understood art.
But he's a bit two-faced — even though he liked Sasori's eternal art, he still praised Deidara's explosive art so highly.
"Exactly."
Izayoi, unaware of Sasori's inner thoughts, nodded and got ready to move at any moment.
"Bro, why do you want Sasori-bro's puppet techniques? Those things aren't even art! You should come learn Explosion Release with me... mmph!" Deidara said.
Just as he finished speaking, Sasori's voice sounded: "Fine, I'll give them to you."
"?"
Under his mask, Izayoi raised an eyebrow.
That easy?
Seeing Sasori's serious attitude earlier, Izayoi had been prepared for a fight.
Suddenly, Izayoi seemed to realize something and understood slightly.
He had almost forgotten — Sasori himself had already turned into a human puppet.
"Then, thanks."
Since he got what he wanted so easily, Izayoi was very happy.
Originally, his plan was to kill Sasori and confiscate his inheritance, even turning him into one of his infinite puppet army.
But just now, while appreciating the explosion, Izayoi had taken a glance at Sasori's status tags and changed his mind.
[Puppet Master (Purple)]
[Kage-level Aptitude (Purple)]
[Chakra Control (Purple)]
In this world, where without ties to the Otsutsuki clan it was nearly impossible to surpass Kage-level, and even achieving great power would cost one's life, purple tags represented the highest level of natural talent.
And purple tags corresponded exactly to Kage-level strength.
In this era, Kage-level powerhouses were extremely rare.
Someone like Sasori, with three purple tags, was even rarer.
Meanwhile, Deidara only had two purple tags: Bloodline Limit: Explosion Release (Purple) and Kage-level Aptitude (Purple).
No one was born a Puppet Master — at most, they were just Puppet Talents (Blue) like Izayoi.
Clearly, Sasori had achieved a heaven-defying feat by turning himself into a human puppet, upgrading his Puppet Talent (Blue) into Puppet Master (Purple).
Killing such a person would be too much of a waste.
It would be better to milk him for benefits, like milking Uchiha Sasuke.
When Izayoi's Tenseigan reached its final evolution, if he wanted to move further beyond, he would need to upgrade his Otsutsuki bloodline, which would require a massive amount of points.
One purple tag, when broken down, could give a random four-digit amount of points.
Since they hadn't died from the earlier "greeting gift," Izayoi didn't mind sparing them.
Although, if they were pushed too far, Deidara's C4: Karura and C0: Self-Destruct could still pose a threat to him.
But since they hadn't reached super Kage-level, it still belonged to the realm of "ninjas' battles are battles of information."
As a transmigrator, Izayoi knew almost everything about them.
Meanwhile, they knew nothing about him.
This was probably also why Sasori agreed so easily.
Otherwise, if a stranger ran up and demanded puppet techniques and human puppet-making methods, Sasori would either have rewarded him by making him a puppet too — or simply killed him with a poisoned needle or a tail strike, leaving him dead in the wilderness.
"Here, take it."
Sasori took out three scrolls, grabbed them with his iron tail, and tossed them toward Deidara in the sky.
As for why he didn't throw them directly at Izayoi — naturally, it was too high.
Before Deidara could fly down to catch them, Izayoi opened his palm.
An invisible force pulled the scrolls midair, suspending them slowly.
"That's... Banshō Ten'in (Universal Pull)?!"
Seeing this, Deidara and Sasori's real body both looked shocked.
Silly Deidara even blurted out, "Leader?!"
You idiot!
Sasori felt full of helplessness inside.
Sure enough...
Izayoi smiled with interest and said, "Banshō Ten'in? Not a bad move name. Your leader also uses gravitational forces?"
"This is bad!"
Deidara hurriedly covered his mouth, fulfilling the achievement of "kissing himself."
The scrolls didn't fly to Izayoi's hand but floated a dozen meters away in midair.
Izayoi lightly slid his finger, and the scrolls automatically unrolled.
Seeing that no poisonous gas was released, Izayoi felt assured using his Tenseigan's farsight to examine them.
After just a quick glance, Izayoi nodded in satisfaction and pulled the scrolls over to himself.
Then, looking down at Deidara and Sasori, he waved and said goodbye, "Thanks for the gift. See you again, my friends."
After speaking, Izayoi flew away.
Watching his departing figure, Sasori, who had been prepared to fight to the death if necessary, finally let out a long breath.
After witnessing his flight and meteorite, Sasori already knew Izayoi was the type who completely countered him.
If Deidara hadn't been present, Sasori might've already escaped while the smoke was still thick.
Seeing him use the leader's ability, and recalling how his poisoned needles were bounced away earlier, Sasori felt an even deeper sense of despair.
Fortunately, the other side had no killing intent.
Still, being ambushed and almost killed like this — the humiliation was overwhelming!