Sasori was already irritated by Deidara's nonstop chatter.
"You're too loud."
Kisame chuckled.
"Finished yet?"
Itachi remained expressionless.
"Unclear."
"Forget it. I'll handle this."
As his words fell, Itachi calmly revealed his scarlet three-tomoe Sharingan.
Deidara's eyes filled with disdain.
"What is this?"
"Those eyes…"
"You wanna fight?"
Itachi's voice turned cold.
"If I win… you join Akatsuki."
Deidara bristled instantly.
"Don't look down on me."
"And don't you dare underestimate art."
"My ninjutsu is a sacred aesthetic that surpasses everything. Hmm."
His left hand slipped behind his back, secretly pulling out a clay centipede—while his right hand tossed a clay spider forward.
"Feel my art!"
"Ha!"
Itachi sprang aside to dodge the spider—
But the centipede suddenly burst from underground and wrapped around him.
Deidara smirked.
"So much talk, and this is all you've got?"
"It's over. Hmm."
Itachi replied calmly.
"You should take a look at yourself first."
Deidara met Itachi's deep gaze—
And his expression snapped into shock.
"W-What?"
"How is this possible?!"
Kisame let out a low whistle.
"That was dangerous."
"Almost blew yourself up."
Sasori added flatly,
"I told you. Short-lived type."
Deidara trembled.
"Genjutsu…?"
"When did he—"
Kisame answered casually.
"From the very beginning."
"The moment you saw Itachi's Sharingan… you were already inside the illusion."
Sunlight streamed through a section of wall that had been blown open earlier, falling across Itachi's figure like a spotlight.
Deidara stared, entranced.
"So beautiful…"
"Is this… art?"
The centipede binding Itachi fell apart like dust.
Deidara covered one eye, humiliation burning through him.
"I… got captivated by someone else's power?"
"That's art?"
"No. I don't accept it. Absolutely not!"
Itachi's tone remained steady.
"You lost."
Sweat streamed down Deidara's face.
"Don't mess with me…"
"I'm stronger."
"My art is perfect!"
"Damn Sharingan…"
"I'll get this back someday!"
Itachi didn't care.
"Join Akatsuki."
"You'll have plenty of chances."
With no choice left, Deidara slashed a line across his Iwagakure forehead protector.
Wearing the red-cloud cloak, Deidara—Akatsuki's Blue Dragon—officially joined.
"Let me be clear."
"I won't stop pursuing art!"
Pain answered calmly,
"Do as you like."
"Just complete your missions."
Deidara took the ring engraved with the character 青 (Blue).
"But you—remember this," he glared at Itachi.
"I won't fall for your genjutsu again!"
Itachi replied evenly.
"Now that we're comrades, I won't use genjutsu on you again."
Deidara's face twitched.
Was that even something a human should say?
One day—he would make Itachi understand true art.
Mission: Hunt Orochimaru
Pain's voice echoed again.
"Sasori."
"You and Deidara will hunt down Orochimaru."
Sasori's eyes sharpened.
"Finally."
"That slippery snake… leave him to me."
Deidara blinked.
"Wait—who's Orochimaru?"
Sasori didn't bother explaining.
"Come."
"I'll tell you on the way."
Konan handed them intelligence.
"Orochimaru fled into the Land of Wind."
"That's all we know."
Sasori nodded.
"That's enough."
"Let's go."
Deidara brushed back his hair dramatically.
"Akatsuki sure loves ordering people around."
Sasori's patience thinned.
"Move."
"I don't like waiting."
"Got it, got it," Deidara followed.
"Wait for me, Sasori-nii."
Land of Wind — Eastern Great Sand Dunes
Sasori activated a hidden mechanism in a stone monument.
A scroll slid out.
"Eastern Great Sand Dunes."
Sasori burned the scroll after reading.
"That's his base."
Deidara looked curious.
"Isn't that your hometown?"
Sasori's voice turned cold.
"Don't say it like that."
"But this terrain benefits me."
Sandstorms howled as they arrived.
Suddenly—
Sasori sensed movement beneath the sand.
Hiruko's hidden blade shot downward.
Sand snakes burst out.
"I'll handle them!" Deidara shouted.
Sasori shook his head.
"Pointless."
"We're already exposed."
Deidara frowned.
"No way."
Sasori gave him a flat look.
"Of course we are."
The sand shifted.
Orochimaru emerged slowly.
"I thought Itachi would come."
"So you're the ones Akatsuki sent?"
Sasori's killing intent surged.
"I'll kill you without mercy… traitor."
Orochimaru smiled faintly.
"Oh?"
"Think you can?"
"And that kid—he was part of Iwa's demolition corps, wasn't he?"
Deidara exploded.
"Don't call me a kid!"
Clay formed instantly in his palm.
Sasori raised a hand.
"Go airborne."
"Watch him. Don't let him escape."
Deidara hesitated.
"You want him for yourself?"
Sasori's voice was ice.
"Personal grudge."
"You don't have one."
Deidara sighed.
"Fine."
"If you need help, say it."
The Third Kazekage vs. The Third Kazekage
Sasori revealed his ultimate puppet—
The Third Kazekage.
"Fighting here gives me advantage."
"You know his strength."
Deidara hovered above, fascinated.
"So that's your masterpiece."
Orochimaru's lips curved.
"When I see something good… I want it."
A coffin rose from the sand.
With a dull thud—
A living Third Kazekage stepped out.
Sasori's eyes narrowed.
"What is this… Orochimaru?"
Orochimaru spoke calmly.
"The Third Kazekage you killed."
"I revived him."
"Your puppet."
"My forbidden jutsu."
"Let's see which is stronger."
Sasori roared.
"Die!"
Iron Sand collided with Iron Sand.
The desert roared with metallic shrieks.
Sasori shattered the Edo Third Kazekage—
But the fragments reassembled instantly.
Orochimaru's voice carried over the wind.
"This is another form of eternity."
"It cannot die… even though it's dead."
Sasori refused to accept it.
He killed the Third once.
He could do it again.
A dead body would not intimidate him.
Art vs. Immortality
Deidara dove from the sky.
"Art is an explosion! Ha!"
Clay birds swarmed downward—
BOOM!
The Edo body was blasted apart into dust.
Deidara grinned wildly.
"Now you see art's power, right?!"
But in the next instant—
The body regenerated again.
Fully restored.
Deidara froze.
"I turned him into dust… why isn't he dead?!"
Orochimaru smiled faintly.
"When you die…"
"I'll revive you like this too."
"Though the one I want most… is Itachi."
Sasori's anger burned hotter.
If Itachi had severed Orochimaru's arm—
And Sasori failed here—
He would lose face completely.
The battle dragged on.
Because Edo Tensei granted near-endless stamina and regeneration—
Orochimaru gradually gained advantage.
Just as he tried to press further—
The Edo Third Kazekage suddenly trembled.
"I am the Third Kazekage!"
"The strongest Kazekage!"
"I will not be anyone's puppet!"
His soul began resisting control.
Orochimaru clicked his tongue.
"So the technique still has flaws."
"Time to go."
Without hesitation—
He shed his skin and vanished into underground tunnels.
Explosion of the Dunes
Deidara roared.
"Running?!"
"Too late!"
He dropped a swarm of clay birds into the collapsing cave.
"Art is an explosion!"
BOOM!!!
The Eastern Great Sand Dunes base was obliterated.
Sand erupted into the sky.
Deidara laughed triumphantly.
"Now that's art!"
Sasori remained silent.
The base was gone—
But Orochimaru's corpse was nowhere to be found.
After searching fruitlessly—
They returned to Akatsuki.
Akatsuki Base — The Truth of Edo Tensei
Pain listened quietly.
"No corpse?"
Sasori shook his head.
"Unconfirmed."
Deidara slammed his fist.
"If he's alive, I'll kill him myself!"
"What kind of technique was that?!"
Pain looked toward Itachi.
"Your thoughts?"
Itachi answered calmly.
"The Second Hokage's forbidden technique."
"Edo Tensei."
"It revives the dead."
"Grants near-immortality."
"Only sealing techniques can truly stop it."
Deidara frowned.
"Then kill Orochimaru!"
Itachi shook his head.
"Even if you kill him…"
"The Edo bodies may not stop."
Silence fell.
Troublesome.
Pain concluded,
"Monitor Orochimaru closely."
Deidara muttered,
"No one survives explosions like that…"
Sasori glanced at him.
"Is anyone here normal?"
Otogakure — Orochimaru's Laboratory
Deep underground—
Kabuto assisted Orochimaru in repeated Edo Tensei trials.
The technique was incomplete.
He needed refinement.
Orochimaru had already glimpsed the outline of immortality.
Now—
He needed vessels.
He needed revenge on Konoha.
He needed truth.
Edo Tensei was key.
Akatsuki was watching him.
But Orochimaru didn't mind.
In direct combat, he might lose.
In "research"—
He was unrivaled.
A true strategist lets others fight.
Once Edo Tensei was perfected—
Even Kage-level monsters would become his chess pieces.
Orochimaru's eyes gleamed.
"Until it's complete…"
"I'll remain hidden."
"The next time I appear…"
"I will rewrite the history of the shinobi world."
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