The Fourth Great Ninja War began when Deidara tossed a clay bomb straight into Ōnoki's bedroom.
At that time, Ōnoki was sleeping soundly in the Land of Iron. Deidara rode his giant clay bird into the sky, swooping down toward his target.
With a sharp shout of "Hah!" from Deidara, Ōnoki was instantly buried where he lay. Fortunately, he was the Tsuchikage. Aside from being badly startled by the explosion, he wasn't harmed.
Leaping out of the rubble, Ōnoki looked up at the sky. There, he immediately saw Deidara astride his bird—nearly making him faint from rage.
He cursed out loud,
"Deidara, you ungrateful brat! You dare try to blow me up!?"
Deidara was dumbfounded. He had only wanted to cause some chaos for the Allied Shinobi Forces—he hadn't meant to bomb Ōnoki!
But since it had already happened, and Ōnoki didn't seem hurt, Deidara flicked his hair back, craned his neck, and shouted,
"Hmph! Old man, I just came to tell you—the war has already begun! And you'd better take your old bones home to rest... un!"
Hearing the commotion, Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi rushed over. Seeing Deidara in the sky, they froze briefly before joy spread across their faces.
Kurotsuchi cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted,
"Deidara! It's been so long!"
With his little junior disciple, Deidara's attitude softened noticeably. He grinned and replied,
"Yo, Kurotsuchi! Long time no see, un!"
Ōnoki's forehead veins bulged. Without a word, he used the Light-Weight Rock Technique and shot up toward Deidara.
As he ascended, rock gradually wrapped around his right arm—he was using the Rock Fist Technique.
Deidara had a good sense of his master's strength. He didn't dare take it head-on. Tossing out several small clay bombs to stall, he quickly pulled his bird back in retreat.
But the old were still the craftiest. Ōnoki dodged every clay bomb with nimble movements mid-air, closing the distance swiftly. In the next moment, Deidara saw his master's fist coming at him with terror in his eyes.
"You ungrateful brat! You're not leaving!"
Boom!
The "Deidara" he struck suddenly exploded, smoke filling the sky. Floating in the air, Ōnoki could only sigh helplessly.
Glancing off into the distance, he muttered with a scolding smile,
"That kid..."
What he had hit was merely a clay clone. Deidara's real body had long fled who-knows-how far.
Back on the ground, Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi hurried up to him. Seeing their teacher looking a bit singed and bedraggled, Kurotsuchi couldn't resist teasing,
"You totally got played by Deidara! Hahahaha!"
Ōnoki's old face flushed red. He raised a fist to his mouth and gave a fake cough before saying,
"That brat's gotten sly. Next time, he won't be so lucky!"
By now, Mei Terumi and the others had also arrived. After some polite exchanges, Ōnoki asked,
"Where's the Hokage?"
Mei replied,
"I went to him earlier. He said this is Iwagakure's family matter, so you should settle it yourselves."
At those words, everyone immediately turned to Mei with strange looks.
In the middle of the night... you went looking for the Hokage?
But Mei seemed utterly unconcerned by their stares. With a completely straight face, she said,
"I only wanted to discuss war strategy with him. When I heard the commotion, I came right over!"
Since she put it that way, none of the men present could press the matter further. Still, Kurotsuchi secretly curled her lip and muttered,
"As if anyone believes that. Why didn't you go see him during the day? You just had to go at night?"
Her voice wasn't loud, but none of those present were ordinary folk—they all heard her clearly.
Mei shot Kurotsuchi a glare. Kurotsuchi, refusing to back down, tilted her chin up and stared right back.
On a nearby rooftop, Kaito stood with his arms crossed, watching the group below. Beside him, Minato teased,
"Kaito, those two women are about to start a fight. Aren't you going to step in?"
Without turning his head, Kaito replied coolly,
"What, did you take a fancy to one of them? Want me to tell Kushina, let her set you up with a marriage proposal?"
"Come on now... you're joking, right?"
Kaito rolled his eyes, then looked back up at the sky.
"Between those two women, I'm actually more interested in Deidara."
Minato's expression changed as he gasped,
"Nani!? Kaito, don't tell me you..."
Bang!
Minato dropped into a crouch, clutching his head. Smoke curled from Kaito's fingers as he snapped irritably,
"I just think the Akatsuki members are all pretty interesting. Killing them would be a waste."
Inside, Minato groaned furiously,
"So that's why you handed Hidan over to Orochimaru for experiments!?"
If anyone in Akatsuki had it the worst, it was Hidan. Aside from his so-called Jashin, he submitted to no one. In the end, Kaito simply delivered him to Orochimaru.
These days, Hidan was being tormented to death daily. Whether his faith was shaken yet, no one knew.
Still lounging on the rooftop, Kaito kept watching the scene below. Suddenly, several crows flew in and gathered, forming into Itachi.
Itachi first glanced in surprise at Minato crouching on the ground. Then he turned respectfully to Kaito and said,
"Kaito-sama, I've scouted the surroundings. Aside from Deidara, no other Akatsuki members have come."
Kaito's tone softened when addressing Itachi. Smiling, he said,
"Itachi, you don't need to be so tense. If others were here, I would've sensed it already."
"Kaito-sama, I only think you should rest more. You're far too important to us."
"Alright, alright. Go back and stay with Sasuke. No other Akatsuki will show up tonight."
"Yes!"
Bowing, Itachi dissolved once more into crows and flew off.
After he left, Minato couldn't help but sigh,
"Itachi really is such a good kid."
"You're not much older than him yourself. Calling him a kid—is that really fitting?"
"Uh..."
Minato froze, only now remembering that his current body was still twenty-four years old. Compared to Itachi—or even Naruto—he wasn't that much older. Standing side by side with Naruto, people might even mistake them for brothers.
Thinking about this, Minato sighed with a hint of smugness,
"Can't be helped. I just look a bit too young."
Kaito arched a brow.
"What, you'd rather look older? That's easy enough."
With that, Kaito activated his Rinnegan.
A gray vortex enveloped Minato. To his shock, wrinkles rapidly spread across his face, his youthful features aging visibly until he went from a young man to a middle-aged uncle.
Hesitantly, Minato touched his now-rough cheeks. The texture made him cry out,
"Kaito! What did you do to me!?"