"The Akatsuki? What kind of group is that? Don't get in the way of my appreciation of art," Deidara said arrogantly, glancing at Ash and the others standing before him.
"Be careful, or I'll blow you all up."
Inside a dilapidated temple, Deidara looked utterly unconcerned. For someone who pursued art to the extreme, he barely paid attention to the shinobi world at large. Naturally, he had little interest in underground organizations or mercenary groups—Akatsuki included.
"Do I really have to partner with this loudmouthed brat?" Sasori said coldly, his tone impatient.
"His strength is only at a borderline Kage level, and that reckless ability of his looks like it could kill him just as easily."
Among all things, Sasori despised two the most: waiting, and people who talked too much.
"This was Nagato's decision," Ash said calmly when he heard Sasori's complaint.
"And our plan still has a long way to go. His strength may not be sufficient yet, but it's only a matter of time. After all, he's the apprentice of the Third Tsūchikage. There's no need to doubt his potential."
Deidara's eyes widened slightly in surprise. "You know about my abilities?"
At only nineteen, Deidara was already considered a near-Kage-level shinobi—two years younger than Itachi had been at a similar level. That alone was enough to prove his extraordinary talent.
After becoming a missing-nin, Deidara had taken over this ruined temple as his base. He spent his days researching Explosive Clay, obsessively refining his "art," and occasionally accepted demolition jobs to earn money. It was no different from the time he had taken on the mission to assassinate a certain noblewoman through controlled explosions.
Recently, however, his actions had drawn attention.
"You're the one responsible for the large-scale explosions within Iwagakure's sphere of influence, aren't you?" Kisame asked, his shark-like grin subdued with curiosity.
"For a missing-nin, that seems… excessive. What exactly is your goal?"
"Goal?" Deidara scoffed proudly. "I don't have one. I just need money—to buy better clay."
In truth, Deidara's defection had been absurd from the beginning.
Although Explosive Clay Ninjutsu was labeled a forbidden technique, it didn't normally warrant exile. What made matters worse was that Deidara had been personally trained by the Third Tsūchikage himself.
The real problem was Deidara's obsession.
Ever since he began working with explosive clay, he conducted reckless experiments nonstop. Toxic gases filled parts of Iwagakure, and several uncontrolled detonations even injured civilians.
Under mounting pressure from village elders and constant reports from villagers, opposition to his research grew fierce.
Left with no choice, the Third Tsūchikage reluctantly declared Deidara a missing-nin and expelled him from the village.
Ironically, no one was ever sent to capture him.
Iwagakure simply wanted him gone.
But reality was never that simple.
Although the Tsūchikage showed restraint, certain hardline elders did not. In the early days after his exile, Deidara was hunted relentlessly. At only eighteen, with strength barely at the level of an elite jōnin, he suffered greatly just to survive.
Fortunately, his talent with explosive clay was genuine.
Explosive Clay was deemed forbidden precisely because of its instability. The chakra ratio had to be perfectly controlled—any imbalance could result in self-destruction. Most Iwagakure shinobi failed to master it entirely.
To date, only the original creator of the technique and Deidara himself had succeeded.
"How about it?" Deidara said proudly, spreading his arms. "Everything in this temple is my work. Artistic, isn't it?"
"Art?" Sasori replied coldly. "Brat, only eternity is true art."
For Sasori, puppets that never decayed were the pinnacle of artistic perfection.
"Eternity?" Deidara sneered. "What a joke, you stinking old man. Art is an instant—an explosion at its peak!"
He gestured animatedly, eyes blazing.
"Look at this! Lines, structure, transformation—this is beauty in motion!"
"And my art doesn't just move," Deidara said, grinning wildly.
"It explodes."
After hearing Sasori's words, Deidara became visibly excited. With a grin, he casually pulled a small clay spider from the palm of his hand.
"Tch. Forget it—there's no point trying to understand what this guy's rambling about," someone muttered.
At that moment, Uchiha Itachi stepped forward. Annoyed by Deidara's constant chatter, he opened his eyes, revealing the three-tomoe Sharingan, and fixed Deidara with a calm, piercing gaze.
"…What's with those eyes?"
Deidara frowned when he saw the crimson pupils. After a brief pause, he sneered dismissively.
"What, you want to fight me?"
As mentioned before, Deidara was obsessed with Explosive Clay and paid little attention to the broader shinobi world. He had no real understanding of powerful kekkei genkai like the Sharingan, nor did he grasp their true danger.
"If I win," Itachi said flatly, "you'll join the Akatsuki."
Deidara's expression instantly darkened.
"Don't underestimate my art!" he shouted, as if his very existence had been denied. "Take this!"
He hurled the clay spider straight at Itachi. At the same time, his left hand slipped behind his back, molding another piece of clay into the shape of a centipede, which silently burrowed into the stone floor of the temple.
"Detonate."
"BOOM!"
Just as the spider neared Itachi, he leapt backward. In the next instant, the clay spider rapidly expanded before exploding violently, the blast tearing through the air with deafening force.
Unfortunately for Deidara, the explosion achieved nothing.
Using the Substitution Technique, Itachi had already slipped out of the blast radius. His figure reappeared several meters away, landing lightly on the temple floor without a scratch.
But before he could move again—
The clay centipede burst out from beneath the stone tiles, coiling around Itachi's body in an instant, binding his limbs tightly.
...
TN:
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