"What the fuck do you mean playing with my legs'?! Wait, no—tell me your purpose for coming to Iwagakure! And what's that in your hand? What were you doing just now?"
Kurotsuchi floated in front of Makoto.
She was confused by his words at first, but realizing now wasn't the time for curiosity, she snapped into interrogation mode.
"Our purpose is naturally to rescue Deidara."
Makoto remained perfectly calm.
His ability, Time Erasure, had a unique characteristic: during the deleted time period, Makoto couldn't affect external objects, but external objects couldn't affect him either.
Back on the bridge in the Land of Waves, when that wandering samurai swung his sword at him, Makoto hadn't needed to dodge.
He simply activated Time Erasure, and his body passed right through the blade as he walked to a safe position.
That's right—this meant there was no barrier or physical prison in the world that could trap him.
Even earlier, when he was hit by Nagato's Planetary Devastation, even if he hadn't awakened C-Moon to reverse the gravity, and even if Nagato hadn't released the technique, Makoto could still have used Time Erasure to phase through the planetary sphere and escape before the time skip ended.
So, facing Kurotsuchi's concrete prison, Makoto had no need to dodge at all.
If he dodged, she would just keep chasing him—it would be a pointless waste of time.
It was easier to just let her think she'd won.
However, Kurotsuchi didn't know this.
Hearing Makoto admit they came to rescue Deidara, she couldn't help but laugh scornfully.
"Hmph! you're captured so easily by me, yet you have the nerve to claim you can rescue Deidara-nii?"
She leaned in closer, eyeing the only part of him that wasn't encased in rock.
"Wait, there's another question you haven't answered yet. What did you take out just now? What were you doing? Were you sending a message to other members of your organization to request backup?"
Makoto was currently wrapped in the Lime-Light Binding Technique up to his neck.
Even if Kurotsuchi got closer, she couldn't see what was hidden in his palm.
"A camera. I took a photo," Makoto answered cooperatively.
This actually made Kurotsuchi feel somewhat uncomfortable.
She had never seen a prisoner so spineless.
Whatever intel she asked for, he just handed it over on a silver platter.
"A photo? What for?"
"Collection," Makoto said with a straight face. "And casually gathering some intelligence. I wanted to let people who don't know what the Tsuchikage's precious granddaughter looks like see her true appearance."
"Gathering intelligence..."
Kurotsuchi's expression turned serious.
She completely ignored the "collection" part.
Her mind raced: 'If the enemy is gathering intel on me, is there a bigger conspiracy? Is this aimed at Grandpa Onoki? Or the security of Iwagakure?'
"Fine. Since you're being so cooperative, I'll undo the Lime-Light Binding on your hands so I can confiscate the camera and the photos."
"Don't even think about forming hand seals to counterattack while I do this—I'll be ready. My next attack won't just restrain you; it'll crush you."
As Kurotsuchi spoke, she raised her right hand, preparing to strike the solidified rock encasing Makoto to crack it open.
However...
"Here, take it."
"Oh, alright then."
Kurotsuchi instinctively reached out and accepted the object.
Then, her pupils abruptly contracted!
She kicked off the air, swiftly distancing herself from Makoto.
"YOUUUUU!"
Kurotsuchi stared in shock at the camera in her hand and the photo sticking out of it, unable to comprehend what just happened.
'How did he hand that to me? His hands were sealed!'
"Don't be afraid. I mean no hostility."
Since he was already exposed, Makoto simply walked out of the Lime-Light Binding Technique like it was a loose bathrobe.
In Kurotsuchi's eyes, Makoto's figure flickered as he instantly teleported out of the rock casing.
The heavy limestone shell, now devoid of Makoto's gravity control support, plummeted straight toward the canyon floor.
CRASH!
It was only then that Kurotsuchi realized what had felt off earlier—if she had truly trapped him in tons of heavy rock, why was he still floating in mid-air along with the limestone?
"Our organization is one that loves peace," Makoto smiled, reciting his sales pitch. "Our Leader often says, 'Let the world know happiness' and 'Ninja Techniques should bring smiles to people.'"
"If Iwagakure has any dirty laundry—tasks that are unsuitable to handle openly or problems you can't resolve—you can come to us. If the mission is appropriate, we can intervene to help and guarantee a 100% completion rate."
Makoto wasn't saying this without purpose.
After all, it was explicitly stated in the original timeline that Iwagakure frequently hired the Akatsuki.
Aside from Kumogakure, which relied solely on its own strength and distrusted outsiders, Iwagakure was the only Great Nation that directly employed the Akatsuki.
So why was that?
It was simple—just look at the attitudes of Onoki, Kurotsuchi, and the others toward Deidara to understand.
Iwagakure never issued a "Kill on Sight" bounty for Deidara.
Onoki never viewed him as a sworn enemy or a true rogue ninja.
In Onoki's eyes, Deidara was just a rebellious grandson going through a phase.
Since they couldn't persuade him to return, Onoki resorted to hiring the Akatsuki indirectly to achieve his goals.
The Akatsuki worked as mercenaries to gather funds, and Onoki took advantage of this to employ Deidara.
As a result, Deidara actually contributed more to Iwagakure as a rogue ninja than he ever did as a legitimate Stone ninja.
"So you're just mercenaries?" Kurotsuchi asked, exasperated.
"Not exactly. Mercenaries only care about money," Makoto wagged his finger. "We have principles."
"And you're weird, too... What on earth did you take a picture of?!"
Kurotsuchi grumbled as she pulled the photo from the camera slot and glanced at it.
She instantly lost her composure!
Makoto's snapshot was perfectly timed.
He had taken the photo exactly when she puffed up her cheeks to spit the Quicklime technique. Her entire face looked like a swollen, angry baby pufferfish.
[Photo]
With a dark expression, Kurotsuchi tore the photo to shreds.
Then, she raised the camera, posed with a cute peace sign, took a new picture of herself, and stepped forward to hand the new photo to Makoto.
"Here. Use this one."
"Ahem! Ahem! AHEM!"
Onoki, who had been watching the entire scene from behind, finally couldn't take it anymore.
He coughed violently.
'Has my foolish granddaughter forgotten something?!'
Just moments ago, she was thinking the photo was dangerous enemy intelligence and considered destroying it.
Now, why is she voluntarily taking a cute selfie to give to the enemy?!
Don't ask why Onoki only watched without acting.
As the Tsuchikage who had lived since the founding era of the Hidden Villages, Onoki possessed rich combat experience.
From the start, he could tell that Makoto wasn't trapped, but he could also tell the boy held no killing intent.
Onoki suspected that Makoto was merely bait—a distraction to draw their attention away from the cave—while someone else was preparing to rescue Deidara in the meantime.
Thus, he kept the majority of his focus on the cave entrance and on Deidara to prevent an escape.
"Grandpa, stop coughing," Kurotsuchi rolled her eyes without looking back. "I told you, you're getting old—just retire already."
Onoki nearly fainted from pure rage.
"CHUN! STOP!"
A frantic shout suddenly came from the troops below.
Onoki was taken aback.
He looked down just in time to see a kunai with an Exploding Tag tied to the handle streaking upward.
It pierced straight through Makoto's forehead.
The blade passed through his skull, arced through the air, and landed on the ground behind him, exploding into a small crater.
BOOM.
Makoto stood there, unharmed.
The hole in his head simply wasn't there.
"I was just worried about not finding a target for my demonstration," Makoto laughed, looking down at the canyon floor.
"And here one delivers himself to me."
"Chun! How could you act on your own without orders?!" Kurotsuchi shouted, frowning.
Regardless of whether Makoto was friend or foe at the moment, even if he were an enemy, they should keep him alive to extract information.
Killing him now was stupid.
"Alright, it's fine," Makoto patted Kurotsuchi's shoulder reassuringly.
He looked up at the empty air above the cave entrance.
"Konan. You heard the name, right? 'Chun.' Help pass the message back to headquarters."
"So there really are other accomplices!"
Onoki's eyes narrowed.
Seeing Makoto's signal, he stood up from his floating rock, his chakra flaring.
He was ready to counter whatever move Makoto and his hidden partner made next!