Thanks to Sasori's reminder, Deidara realized he'd misspoken and shut his mouth without another word.
If Itachi had been the only one glaring, Deidara might have tossed out a few taunts.
Something like: "You got a problem? Come at me one-on-one! Who's afraid of who?!"
But right now—apart from Kakuzu and Hidan—everyone else was eyeing him, so Deidara naturally didn't dare act up.
'What, are you all love-starved or something?!'
He grumbled inwardly, but he was still an Akatsuki Organization member; while he knew nothing of Konan, Pain, or Black Zetsu's past,
he'd heard bits and pieces about Big Brother Sasori and Uchiha Itachi.
Sasori was one thing—if circumstances were different, Deidara really wanted to snarl at Itachi: "Didn't you kill your own parents?
What are you moping around here for? Who exactly are you putting on this act for?"
"Enough."
At that moment Pain spoke, slowly turning his gaze back to the multiverse projection. Calmly he said, "Let's keep watching. Maybe in the next two countdowns we'll catch another glimpse of the future."
Originally Nagato had gathered them to discuss the organization's recent situation and the shortage of funds; they needed to take mercenary jobs for the great nations to bring in operating expenses.
After all, relying on Kakuzu alone couldn't possibly collect enough.
But once the countdown video began showing future scenes, Nagato—Pain—grew far more interested in the footage and decided to keep watching,
to see if any more future fragments appeared.
Leaving Akatsuki Organization aside, over in the Naruto World, Team 7—
after the video ended—Naruto and Sasuke fell silent.
The two most talkative members suddenly closed their mouths.
In the past, after a countdown video they'd usually chatter nonstop.
Yet now neither spoke, their silence making Sakura Haruno uneasy.
"What's wrong, Sasuke? Naruto?" Sakura asked, puzzled, unable to understand why the usually lively pair had gone quiet.
What had changed.
"Nothing—just Tiamat's final words made me uncomfortable."
Sakura's question snapped Naruto back. Right now the girl he liked was still Sakura, so he rubbed his nose and forced a smile. "She seemed to really love her children."
"..."
Kakashi felt a pang; he knew what Naruto was trying to say.
A boy who'd never known a mother's love, Naruto had often fantasized about what his own mother might be like.
When he saw Tiamat—a "mother"—and heard her confession,
his heart must have been a storm of conflicting feelings.
The family bond he longed for had, inside the countdown video, been pushed away—pushed away by a whole crowd.
And indeed, recalling Tiamat's tear-streaked face, Naruto thought that if he'd been Fujimaru Ritsuka he probably would have hugged her and stayed by her side.
Not just Naruto.
Sasuke felt the same. Unlike Naruto, who'd never known family,
Sasuke had once had it—and lost everything. He clenched his fists, the gentle image of his mother flashing through his mind.
"Itachi!"
But the moment he thought of his mother, that night returned—the night of genocide!
Under that fresh shock his Sharingan evolved again; the Two-Tomoe Sharingan spun in his eyes.
Only moments ago he'd had a single tomoe, but now his spirit had taken another leap.
Clearly Tiamat's words, merged with memories of his mother and the massacre night, had jolted him once more.
"??? It can work like that?"
Seeing Sasuke's silent breakthrough, Kakashi was stunned—Sasuke had already awakened the two-tomoe?
Though not matching Itachi's potential, it was still terrifying.
"Ah, so this is the Two-Tomoe Sharingan?" Sasuke noticed his own change and broke into an overjoyed grin.
At last his strength had risen again; the day he would defeat Itachi had inched a step closer!
'Mother, you're giving me power, aren't you?'
he asked inwardly, vowing that he would kill Itachi and avenge both her and their father.
In the Akame ga Kill World, Night Raid Headquarters.
Right after the video, before anyone could comment, Tatsumi announced he'd obtained Water Breathing training from Tanjiro.
The Night Raid squad was thrilled; even the idea of sharing post-video thoughts was forgotten.
Tatsumi passed the Water Breathing method to everyone so they could start training at once.
"Huh? Why can't I understand any of this???"
Bulat, a superb warrior in his own right, wore a rather 'menacing' expression as he stared at the instructions.
Individually the words made sense, but strung together they were nothing but question marks.
"Incomprehensible—impossible to learn," muttered Akame, the unit's top assassin, equally baffled.
''This is giving me a headache…''
Mine simply stopped looking at the screen; whatever was written there might as well have been gibberish.
''Uh…''
Najenda studied the Water Breathing notes Tanjiro had sent, fell silent for a moment, then said helplessly, ''Tatsumi, could you ask Tanjiro to explain things in, well, simpler "starter" terms?''
As a former general, Najenda was a formidable fighter and no slouch at learning either.
Yet the training method Tanjiro had forwarded was… a little too basic.
Basically, it read like a diary.
The gist was: during training Tanjiro figured out the correct breathing, followed by a mighty 'whoosh,' he unleashed Water Breathing, First Form: Surface Slash, then used Water Breathing, Second Form: Water Wheel to deal with some traps.
Fine as light reading, but as an instruction manual? Who knows how long you'd have to study before you could produce that 'whoosh.'
''Right!'' Tatsumi answered at once; he could already see the problem.
Tanjiro genuinely wanted to pass Water Breathing on, but his teaching style—if you could call it that—was just a trimmed-down recollection of his own training days.
He'd tried hard to convey the idea, but the method simply didn't work.
Tatsumi didn't know whether to laugh or cry.