"...?"
As these words fell,
Deidara's expression paused slightly,
Huh?
Jashin Cult...?
Is that the guy named Hidan...?
Thinking this,
Deidara turned around, looking towards the direction the voice came from.
There ahead,
Stood a handsome man wearing trendy casual clothes, carrying a red scythe in his hand.
His silver hair was slicked back against his scalp, and he wore a strange pendant. At this moment, he was smiling as he looked this way.
When he saw Deidara turn around, his expression clearly paused for a moment, then he raised an eyebrow and said:
"Hmm? Didn't expect it to be a brat..."
"Well, age isn't really a problem. So, want to join my Jashin Cult, little brother?"
"..."
Deidara's gaze swept up and down, sizing him up.
He immediately confirmed,
This guy,
Was definitely Akatsuki's recruitment target, the ninth member -- Hidan.
Thinking this,
Deidara lifted his chin and said flatly:
"What is this Jashin Cult you speak of?"
As his words fell,
Hidan's face lit up with joy, thinking he was interested. He grinned and explained with a smile:
"Hehe, our Jashin Cult,"
"Just by joining, you can obtain blessings, you know."
"Even if you kill someone, you won't be charged at all. Not only that, if Jashin-sama knows about it, he'll be even happier..."
"How about it? Our doctrine is pretty good, right?"
"Wanna join? Huh?"
Hidan spoke animatedly, looking at Deidara with expectant eyes.
Hearing this,
Deidara showed a knowing look, then glanced at the blood array beneath him, and looked back, saying:
"Oh,"
"So you killed this person just to please that so-called Jashin?"
"Just as the intelligence said, truly a senseless murder maniac."
Deidara said flatly.
In the intelligence he had received,
Hidan was indeed labeled as an "immortal murder maniac".
However,
Hearing Deidara's words, Hidan immediately frowned, curled his lip and said:
"Ha?"
"Murder maniac? No way, alright?!"
"I'm just devoutly offering prayers to my Jashin-sama."
"By the way,"
"You little brat..."
"Hey, that casual tone of yours, are you disrespecting Jashin-sama? Huh?"
As he spoke,
Hidan raised the scythe in his hand and pointed it at Deidara ahead.
Seeing this,
Deidara immediately snorted in disdain,
Then, revealing an arrogant smile, he directly lifted his chin and chuckled lightly:
"Are you an idiot?"
"Believing in the existence of something as illusory as a so-called god?"
"Something like that sounds ridiculous, right?"
"...?!"
At these words,
Instantly, Hidan's smile froze,
Then, a hint of anger began to appear in his eyes. He stared at Deidara and said in a very unpleasant deep voice:
"Hmph, brat."
"Don't think just because you're young, you can casually insult Jashin-sama..."
"I still kill little guys like you without hesitation, you know."
"Next,"
"I'll let you witness the power bestowed by Jashin-sama..."
As he spoke,
Hidan raised his scythe even higher.
And at this moment,
Hearing this,
Deidara still showed a contemptuous smile, saying:
"Power bestowed by Jashin?"
"Hmph, in front of my explosion art, it's garbage!"
Saying this,
He even directly raised his middle finger!
Extremely arrogant.
Seeing this,
Hidan naturally couldn't tolerate it any longer. He immediately gritted his teeth and stepped forward charging!
He swung his scythe fiercely at Deidara!
The red blade streaked across like a crescent moon, tracing a beautiful arc, horizontally slashing towards Deidara's waist!
For someone who insulted his Jashin-sama like this, Hidan wouldn't hold back at all!
Just slash away!!
Whoosh!!
In the blink of an eye, the blade was about to reach Deidara's body!
But just then, a sudden change occurred!
From somewhere,
A giant white bird suddenly flew over. Deidara reached out and grabbed it, and was instantly lifted off the ground!
Hidan's scythe slash just barely missed!
"!?"
Realizing this,
Hidan immediately gritted his teeth and looked up.
At this moment,
Deidara was sitting on the white bird, looking down from above, when he suddenly waved his hand!
Clang!
Three swift clay doves instantly flew down, charging towards Hidan!
Seeing this,
Hidan wasn't one to be trifled with either; he had anticipated it. So his gaze darkened, and he dodged.
Clang.
The three doves just happened to land on the ground beneath Hidan's feet, not hitting him.
Then,
He hoisted his scythe onto his shoulder, looked up at Deidara above, and said unhappily:
"Tch... brat,"
"Didn't expect you to know these strange tricks..."
"However,"
"Your ambush accuracy is way too poor, right?"
"I can dodge your pigeon attacks even with my eyes closed."
Hidan said loudly, arrogantly.
However,
Hearing this, Deidara didn't get angry at all. Instead, he directly curled his lips and chuckled lightly, saying:
"Kyo-senpai once said you might be a mentally handicapped person... seems he was right."
"In that case, I... win!"
As he spoke,
Deidara raised his hand and directly formed a seal with one hand!
"Katsu!"
As he yelled softly,
The technique activated!
The three clay doves at Hidan's feet instantly exploded!!
Boom!!!
The suddenly bursting flames and shockwave instantly engulfed Hidan completely!
At this moment, he had no time to dodge, his pupils abruptly contracted, and his mouth only had time to utter two words:
"The hel-?!"
However, before the words could finish, the explosion had already detonated!!!
Boom!!!
Blazing flames shot into the sky, smoke and dust scattered everywhere, startling countless birds and beasts in the forest!!
A violent gale swept through!!
High in the sky,
Deidara stood on the back of the white bird, revealing an excited smile!
"Art… is Explosion!!!"
And at this moment,
In the distance, Zetsu naturally noticed the sudden change here.
In fact,
After discovering Hidan's trace, he had left here and gone to Konoha's side to find Itachi and Kisame.
After confirming that everything was normal there, he returned here.
He didn't expect that just as he returned, he would see an explosion.
Hmm...?
Is it Deidara...?
Has he already started fighting with Hidan?
Thinking this, Zetsu immediately activated the Mayfly Technique, merging into the earth, heading towards Deidara and Hidan ahead.
...
A moment later, he emerged from a tree trunk.
At this moment, the smoke below had cleared,
And Hidan, holding his scythe, had been blown ragged, lying on the ground spitting blood, seemingly temporarily unable to move.
And then, Zetsu's gaze turned to Deidara ahead.
Correspondingly,
Deidara naturally noticed Zetsu appearing beside him.
He immediately curled his lips and chuckled lightly:
"Yo, is that Zetsu?"
"Just in time, be a witness."
"Let me blow this ungrateful bastard to... my heart's content, hmm!"
As he spoke,
Deidara crossed his arms and raised his hands, and two round clay bombs appeared in his palms.
Seeing this,
Zetsu's heart skipped a beat, his expression shifting slightly.
This...?
What the hell...
You got the mission direction wrong?!
Aren't we here to recruit Hidan? Not to kill him, hey!!
Thinking this,
Zetsu immediately said firmly.
"Ahem, Deidara, mind your limits."
"Hidan is the crucial ninth member we want to recruit... not an enemy."
"...?"
At these words,
Deidara's expression shifted slightly, then he curled his lip unhappily and said:
"Ha?"
"Tch... alright, alright, I get it."
"Then I won't blow him up for now. Let's go ask if he's willing to join."
As he spoke,
Deidara leaped down from the white bird and walked over to Hidan's side.
He looked down at Hidan calmly and directly said:
"Hey,"
"You, the Jashin believer."
"Your abilities aren't bad. Want to join our Akatsuki?"
However, as soon as his words fell, suddenly, the situation changed!
Hidan, who had seemed barely alive just a moment ago, suddenly moved his arm violently, swinging the red scythe towards Deidara's leg!!
"?!"
Deidara's expression changed drastically, and he quickly dodged!!
However,
The moment he stepped back,
His right leg was still cut with a slight wound by Hidan's scythe.
A trace of blood seeped out.