At this moment.
Deidara was completely dumbfounded.
He was undeniably familiar with Onoki.
At least, before moving out of Iwagakure, he had always been Onoki's direct disciple.
And although he had never witnessed the full extent of Onoki's power,
He certainly knew about his earth-shattering "Dust Release."
That was an ultimate existence that surpassed Kekkei Genkai-
Kekkei Tota.
Legend has it that it was developed by the Second Tsuchikage, Mu, and later taught to Onoki.
Its immense power was enough to reduce everything it touched to ashes, rendering it non-existent!
For this reason,
Although Deidara hated him,
He still harbored a trace of fear towards him in his heart.
Because, if one had to describe Onoki in one word, it would be-
Terrifying.
Other than this word, nothing else could fully demonstrate his strength.
And possessing strength at this level,
He had always been stubborn by nature.
But,
What Deidara could never have imagined was that such a stubborn Onoki would today... actually completely restrain himself...
Completely different from his past behavior...
Thinking this,
Deidara looked again at Kyo below, involuntarily swallowing nervously.
"..."
And at this moment,
Kyo seemed to notice his gaze,
Just calmly looked up, expressionless, and said:
"Let's go, Deidara."
As the words fell,
Kyo directly turned around, hands in his pockets, and continued leisurely walking south.
Deidara was momentarily stunned, then sneakily glanced at Onoki.
Seeing that he seemed to make no move, he very confidently urged his clay bird downwards, "Coming!"
Zetsu naturally didn't hesitate either, getting up and following.
He knew about the Tsuchikage.
Before the collaboration with Akatsuki ended, this old man naturally wouldn't rashly start a war with Akatsuki.
After all,
That would only bring disaster to Iwagakure.
As a cunning and scheming Kage, Onoki understood the meaning of "balance."
So, he naturally wouldn't worry about a backstab either.
Since Deidara had already been recruited, there was no need to stay here any longer.
...
A moment later,
Kyo, Zetsu, and Deidara had already left Iwagakure.
And Onoki slowly landed on the ground.
Although his expression was stern,
He ultimately did nothing.
And just a moment later,
Akatsuchi led a group of Shinobi over.
When they saw the temple ahead, now reduced to rubble by the explosion, everyone's expressions shifted slightly.
This...
What's going on, Deidara disappeared?!
But,
Tsuchikage-sama had previously ordered that he was not allowed to leave here!
Could it be...
This kid... has defected?!?!
Thinking this,
A female Shinobi beside him looked grim, stepped forward, and said:
"Tsuchikage-sama!"
"Shall we immediately dispatch a search unit to pursue Deidara's trail?!"
"..."
Hearing this, Onoki looked over.
Then, he just shook his head seriously and said:
"No... no need."
"I already have an idea of Deidara's whereabouts."
"Everyone, don't worry about it."
"Ah? This..."
The Shinobi exchanged glances, their expressions all very strange.
What's going on?
Tsuchikage-sama, who always valued Deidara so much,
Had suddenly become so unconcerned about Deidara's disappearance...
What does 'having an idea' mean...
However,
Just as they were pondering,
Onoki before them spoke firmly again, his voice deep:
"The priority right now,"
"Is to first go and calm the civilians in the village."
"The back mountain was just blown up; right now, the village must be in a state of panic."
"We cannot let everyone fall into fear."
"Go and handle this immediately!"
"...!"
Hearing this, everyone suddenly realized and quickly replied:
"Yes... Tsuchikage-sama, please rest assured!"
"Understood! We'll go right away!!"
A squad of Shinobi quickly left.
Although the back mountain was very rugged and people usually didn't go up there, it could basically be confirmed that there were no casualties.
However, being so close to Iwa, having it blown up would naturally affect public sentiment.
They understood this, so they acted quickly.
Soon after,
Only Akatsuchi and Onoki remained.
Akatsuchi,
Iwagakure's strong-arm Shinobi, like Deidara, was also one of Onoki's direct disciples.
However, he was much older than Deidara, considered a senior brother figure.
Onoki had always trusted him greatly.
Hence, he appointed him as his bodyguard.
And now,
The remaining Akatsuchi seemed to notice something unusual in Onoki's gaze. He paused, frowned in surprise, and said:
"Tsuchikage-sama... what's wrong with Deidara?"
Hearing this,
Onoki looked over, then, after a moment of silence, said in a low voice:
"It's Akatsuki."
"Deidara... has been brought into the Akatsuki."
"...?!"
At these words, Akatsuchi was visibly shaken.
"You mean... that mercenary organization active in the Shinobi World, Akatsuki?!"
"That's right."
Onoki nodded, his gaze deep as he looked into the distance, murmuring as if to himself:
"In the past few years, we have always hired Akatsuki to fight."
"Who would have thought,"
"In the end, even our genius has been poached..."
His tone was distant.
Lost in thought...
Seeing this, Akatsuchi beside him couldn't help but feel complicated.
He naturally knew that his master's feelings towards Deidara were filled with regret.
An ultimate genius fully capable of being Tsuchikage, yet he was a problem child fanatical about the art of explosion...
If before,
They could still hope that Deidara would slowly mature and eventually become stable.
Now, that seemed unlikely.
Akatsuki,
Akatsuchi naturally knew about it.
He had even dealt with some of its members before.
Therefore,
Akatsuchi knew,
Those who joined here were almost all Missing-nin from various great villages.
Here, there were no so-called rules, constraints, or illusory love and justice.
Deidara...
Might very well go further down the wrong path.
Realizing this,
Akatsuchi understood Onoki's feelings at this moment even more.
...
...
A flower blooms in two places, each branch tells its own story.
Meanwhile,
On the other side.
Within the Land of Rain, in Amegakure.
Dark clouds, like tidal waves, covered the sky.
Continuous rain fell, beating against the iron buildings.
In a dim, tall building, two Shinobi in black robes with red clouds stood quietly.
They were Pain and Konan.
At this moment, the two quietly gazed at the pouring rain outside.
After a moment, Pain spoke.
"Konan."
"Has the intelligence from that man... been confirmed?"
The man he referred to was naturally the mysterious masked man calling himself Madara.
Hearing this, Konan looked up slightly and replied:
"It's confirmed."
"However... the target's exact location hasn't been found yet."
"The guy mentioned in the intelligence seems to be a member of some cult organization, with no signs of surfacing yet."
In fact,
Some time ago, after the masked man proposed recruiting new members,
He had simultaneously provided two sets of intelligence.
The first,
Was naturally the Explosion Release genius Shinobi from Iwagakure, Deidara.
Kyo and Zetsu had already gone to recruit him.
And the second,
Was a strange Shinobi named "Hidan."
It was rumored that he possessed some kind of strange technique, granting him absolute immortality surpassing even Kakuzu... also qualifying him to join Akatsuki.
However, as of now,
Even the masked man hadn't pinpointed his exact location.
Therefore,
He had rejected the plan for Pain and Konan to personally recruit Deidara, and instead tasked them with confirming the intelligence on Hidan.
But now,
Two days had passed, and Konan's investigation had only yielded one useful piece of information,
That was-
This guy believed in some cult.
However,
Even with this information, it was useless for now.
After all, there was no specific location.
"A believer, huh..."
Pain repeated softly, his expression indifferent.
But just then,
Suddenly, his usually indifferent expression shifted.
Then, he turned his face to the left, looked into the distant darkness, and let out a soft sound of puzzlement.
"Hmm...?"
Seeing this, Konan was naturally somewhat surprised.
"What's wrong?"
Pain slowly turned back, raised his eyes, and said calmly:
"Someone blocked my rain."
"These few Chakra Signatures should be those three without a doubt."
Hearing Pain's words,
Konan was momentarily stunned, and subconsciously said:
"You mean..."
"Those three children who participated in the Chunin Exams?"