Border of the Land of Rain.
Deidara was flying toward Amegakure alone on his clay bird.
He had left the others far behind.
It wasn't because Deidara didn't get along with the others.
It was because they earned a lot this time, and everyone received plenty of bonus money.
Sasori went to buy materials to upgrade his puppets.
Kakuzu and Senku left the group and their whereabouts were unknown.
As for Deidara, he had received a signal from the village.
This thing was what made the people of Iwagakure keep following him.
He squeezed the clay in his hand. Inside it was a pebble sized sphere that seemed to contain some kind of sleeping insect.
After flying some distance, Deidara jumped off his clay bird. Someone was waiting for him by a tree on the ground.
"Duiwa! You're the one following me?"
Deidara recognized the Iwagakure nin in front of him. He was a captain of the scouting unit who had once supervised Deidara for a while.
"Lord Tsuchikage is worried about you, afraid you'll get captured by Uchiha people again."
Duiwa smiled with squinted eyes. His concern only made Deidara's face darken.
He always prided himself on his intelligence, yet he had taken a huge loss at Uchiha Rengoku's hands.
But Duiwa only knew Deidara had been captured by Uchiha people. He didn't know Deidara held no ill feelings toward Rengoku and even liked him quite a bit.
"What do you want with me? I'm telling you, I'm not going back, yeah!", Deidara pointed at the scratched forehead protector on his head, meaning he was already a rogue nin.
"Lord Tsuchikage says you came back to train and must be tired, so he'll let you relax for a while."
Hearing this, Deidara immediately became suspicious. He didn't believe the old man would be so considerate.
"Since you've joined Akatsuki, you can conveniently provide some information on Akatsuki for us at Iwagakure."
Deidara fiddled with the ring on his hand and didn't speak.
He really wasn't interested in gathering intelligence.
But he wasn't going to turn hostile right after learning Dust Release. After all, the Tsuchikage had seriously taught him.
Duiwa took out a grey white lump.
"This was specially ordered by Lord Tsuchikage. The newest blend of clay."
"You can't buy it anywhere."
Onoki practiced oppressive education, but not everyone in Iwagakure was stupid.
They knew that a rebellious kid like Deidara needed coaxing, so they tried things like this.
Deidara took the clay excitedly. To make clay bombs, this was essential.
Ordinary clay could only be used for pottery.
To make explosive clay required specially remixed clay.
There weren't many users of clay bombs. If they weren't needed in construction, you wouldn't find them in the market at all, and few people studied them.
All high quality clay was something Deidara found himself.
This clay Duiwa brought was very much to his liking.
"Hahaha! What info does the old man want? I just joined Akatsuki, I don't know much."
He played with the clay and was ready to give the old man a bit of face.
Duiwa smiled, "For now, just gather basic information on the other Akatsuki members."
"The most important are intel on the leader Pain and Senku."
"You know their achievements."
Deidara waved his hand to show he understood, "Don't worry, I'll keep an eye out."
Duiwa pointed at the bead in Deidara's original clay, "I'll be nearby. Use that to find me."
———
[Border of the Land of Fire]
After several days, Rengoku led the five kids across the border of the Land of Fire.
The border was long, and since this side didn't border any other ninja village, it was basically an uninhabited zone.
They had not seen anyone for an entire day.
After crossing the border, they walked on water for a long time before reaching their destination.
———
[Land of Waves]
"Ah, the place where the dream began."
Rengoku looked at this poor and backward country and sighed.
Karin curiously asked, "Master, what is the place where the dream began?"
Rengoku placed his hand on Karin's head, "I'll tell you next time."
"Lord Rengoku, I see a big bridge under construction ahead,"Hinata reported while scanning with her Byakugan.
"Mm! The end of the bridge is the location of this mission."
Rengoku gestured forward, and everyone sped up toward the bridge under construction.
The Land of Waves was a poor island nation near the Land of Fire, lacking various supplies.
The people mainly relied on fishing or maritime transportation and shipping for income.
But recently the country had been taken over by a crime syndicate.
Although this syndicate publicly claimed to be a shipping company, in private they used thugs and ninja to traffic drugs and contraband.
They even encroached on other businesses and small countries.
The head of this shipping company was Gato.
When Rengoku was browsing for a suitable mission, he found the Land of Waves had issued a mission long ago.
But the commission was pitifully low. A B rank mission paid only C rank commission.
Basically no one would bother to take such a mission, or so it should be.
Rengoku wasn't that idle, but he still paid attention when he saw a mission from the Land of Waves.
He might forget other things, but he would never forget this place where the dream began.
When he saw the mission, he recalled that during the mission Tazuna had said that Gato arrived in the Land of Waves over a year ago.
At that time Naruto was 12 years old. Now Naruto was almost 11, so it matched perfectly.
Since Rengoku ran into this, it was a good chance to show the kids how small countries lived.
Soon, Rengoku brought the five children to the end of the bridge.
———
[Tazuna's Home]
Knock! Knock! Knock!
"You are," Tazuna opened the door slightly with a guarded expression.
Rengoku pointed at Sasuke's forehead protector, "We are Leaf nin who accepted your mission to eliminate the Gato group."
Tazuna was dumbfounded, but when he saw most of them wearing Leaf forehead protectors, he quickly opened the door.
"Oh! Oh dear, please come in. I was-I was terribly rude," Tazuna was a bit emotional. He never expected such a small amount of money could hire ninjas.
Rengoku walked inside casually with the others, "I'm training these kids nearby, so I accepted your mission along the way."
His casual demeanor actually reassured Tazuna even more.
He wouldn't have believed it if someone said they came specifically for his mission.
The five kids followed him inside.
Although the house was big, all the furniture was wooden and clearly handmade.
They had electricity, but no appliances.
It looked extremely poor.
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