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Standing atop the giant bird, Deidara spread his arms wide. In the center of each palm, a mouth gaped open, busily chewing and molding clay.
"Hah! This time I'll give you a really big one—let you all feel the true allure of art!"
Deidara burst into loud laughter, as if he had suddenly been infused with an entirely new surge of energy. All the pent-up frustration weighing on his chest was swept away in an instant.
As he spoke, Deidara molded a serpent roughly half a meter in diameter and hurled it straight downward. His target was none other than Hiruzen.
Facing the Hokage directly in the skies above the Hidden Leaf Village naturally carried the risk of being shot down. But that didn't stop Deidara from feeling a rush of exhilaration. It was precisely at moments like this that the true value of art shone brightest.
However, while the bomb was still in midair, it was struck by an incoming fire-style technique. A massive shockwave rippled outward in all directions, and the surging updraft buffeted the wings of the giant bird, nearly throwing Deidara right off its back. It was only thanks to his quick reflexes that he managed to stabilize the wildly lurching bird in time.
Down below, Hiruzen raised his head and watched the giant bird climbing ever higher. A dull ache settled into his temples. Unless a shinobi specialized in a very particular kind of ninjutsu, it was extremely difficult to remain suspended in the air for long periods. That was why Hiruzen found himself at a loss facing this giant bird—he, too, had no way to fly up there.
Still, that didn't mean he was completely out of options.
"Shikaku, organize the nearby shinobi and have them all scatter!" he commanded.
"Understood." The moment Shikaku heard Hiruzen speak, he knew the old man had already formulated a plan. When it came to formulating broad strategies, Shikaku was indeed exceptional. But in a one-on-one, practical combat situation, Hiruzen was the true top-tier expert. Shikaku could use tactics to hold his own when the gap in strength wasn't too overwhelming. But when faced with battles at the highest level, he could no longer devise truly effective countermeasures—he simply wasn't a shinobi operating in that realm. Many situations could only be imagined, but the battlefield shifted too rapidly. Pure imagination couldn't fill in all the gaps. So, seeing that Hiruzen had already grasped the situation, Shikaku immediately moved to instruct the surrounding shinobi to disperse.
"You all need to take cover, now!" Jiraiya shouted at the Uchiha renegades who were still tending to one another's wounds.
The middle-aged shinobi eyed Jiraiya warily. "Are you trying to use this as an opportunity to capture us?"
Jiraiya shook his head. "You are victims as well. You were deceived by the Akatsuki's schemes. Perhaps there are indeed some deeply entrenched conflicts between the Uchiha clan and the Hidden Leaf Village that are difficult to resolve, but we are still people of the same village. Right now, our true enemy is the one up there dropping bombs on our heads—not each other. So hurry up and take cover."
The middle-aged shinobi was about to respond when three more bombs plummeted down nearby. Two were intercepted in midair by Great Fireball Techniques, but the third struck the ground. An Uchiha shinobi with wounded legs was instantly swallowed up by the erupting cloud of dust and debris.
The middle-aged shinobi stared, his mind going completely blank as he watched his clansman consumed by the blast.
"How... How could this..."
"If we wait any longer, it'll be too late! You! Take them and get out of here, now!" Jiraiya pointed at several shinobi who were already moving to take cover, shouting orders. Then, without waiting for the middle-aged shinobi's consent, he shoved him forcefully away.
High above, Deidara grew increasingly agitated as he watched the Leaf shinobi scatter in all directions. The exploding clay was only truly entertaining when it detonated in the middle of a crowd. As long as the clay hit the ground, more than just one person would be hurt. But once they were all spread out, what would even be the point of dropping more bombs?
Deidara rapidly chewed his clay and hurled down twenty to thirty clay bombs in one furious volley. But without exception, every single one of them was intercepted in midair by Jiraiya.
"Damn it!" Deidara glared at the ground below. A wide clearing had been created. Hiruzen stood right in the center, while Jiraiya waited not far off, watching like a spectator at a show.
Even though Deidara had never directly clashed with Hiruzen before, he understood perfectly well that Hiruzen was preparing to attack him. But for the life of him, he simply couldn't figure out how Hiruzen intended to pose a threat to him all the way up here in the sky.
Among all the shinobi he had encountered, the one he detested most was Midorima—even more than Itachi. The reason was simple: Midorima was the only person who could, without Deidara ever noticing, leap onto his giant bird and beat him senseless, knocking him straight off. Not even Itachi could pull off something like that.
"Forget it! If the Hokage refuses to find a hole to hide in, then I'll just give him something extra special." The thought had barely surfaced in Deidara's mind when the giant bird suddenly lurched violently beneath him. He nearly tumbled off again.
What was going on?!
Deidara's heart seized with shock. The wind, however, grew stronger and stronger, rapidly coalescing into a whirling tornado. Though he desperately tried to steer the bird clear of the vortex, the ferocious air currents mercilessly sucked him in without the slightest effort. He could do nothing but sway and spin helplessly within the tornado. In that moment, he felt that his fate no longer belonged to him—it belonged entirely to these accursed winds.
Then, in an instant, the tornado vanished. Deidara plummeted in a near free-fall and crashed heavily onto the ground.
From their vantage point in the distance, the five remaining Paths of Pain watched the scene unfold, their brows twitching ever so slightly.
"Looks like Deidara overplayed his hand," the Human Path remarked.
"Things are about to get a lot harder. He's no match for the Hokage," the Animal Path said.
"But whether he lives or dies isn't really that important. As long as we can secure the two jinchuriki, any price is worth paying," the Asura Path stated.
"They must be secured. That's precisely why we've thrown the Hidden Leaf Village into such utter chaos. I believe it will all prove worth it," the Naraka Path said.
"As expected. This was all part of your plan."
A discordant voice suddenly rang out, catching all five of them off guard. They whipped their heads around, searching for the source.
Standing atop a neighboring rooftop was a white-haired shinobi. The character for "Oil" was clearly visible on his forehead protector.
"Jiraiya?" the Animal Path said.
"You know me?" Jiraiya asked, surprised.
"The last time you infiltrated the Hidden Rain Village, you should have died then. Having survived this long, you've already lived on borrowed time," the Animal Path stated.
"I didn't expect you'd still be dwelling on that incident," Jiraiya said, his surprise evident.
"There aren't many who can slip into the Hidden Rain Village and then slip right back out again. Looking back on it now, with Itachi and Midorima acting as inside agents, it's no accident that you made it out alive," the Animal Path said.
"Speaking of Itachi, someone told me that the reason he killed Kimimaro was because he was coerced. Is that true?" Though a smile lingered on Jiraiya's face, he made no effort whatsoever to conceal the killing intent radiating from his body. Pain's answer would determine his next move.
"When he killed the Kazekage, he was not coerced," the Animal Path replied, sidestepping the direct question.
"Then... you really do deserve to die!" Jiraiya gritted his teeth, and the smile vanished from his face entirely.
To the Hidden Leaf Village, the death of the Kazekage was the more serious matter. But for Itachi personally, it was the killing of Kimimaro that had truly severed his path of retreat. The root cause of Itachi's defection from the Leaf lay squarely in the fact that he had murdered Kimimaro.
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