Chapter 31: Explosion Art Falls Short of Konan; Puppet Art Falls Short of Nagato
"Huh? Deidara-nii, why are you still here?"
"And what do you mean my strength is too weak and would drag down the prestige of the organization?"
"The one really dragging down the organization's prestige is the guy who got trapped and had to be rescued by other members, right?"
When Kurotsuchi saw Deidara suddenly jump in to stir things up, she immediately became displeased. Her sharp tongue showed no mercy as she fired back at him.
After snapping at Deidara, Kurotsuchi suddenly tilted her head and scratched her hair.
"Wait, what did you just call this guy? Strategist?!"
"Deidara-nii called you strategist means that you're the one who came up with that twisted deterrence plan?"
Kurotsuchi stared at Shiromo with a face full of disbelief.
She froze for a moment, then let out a breath and muttered a few words: "You really can't judge a person by their looks…"
"Forget it."
She shook her head, then lifted her face and looked at Shiromo with a serious expression.
"I'll be straightforward. I want to join you because I want to know your intelligence. Iwagakure is still number one in my heart."
"But if your organization is really like what you said, something about protecting the ninja world, then I can serve as a link between you and Iwagakure."
At this point, Kurotsuchi spoke first, cutting off Ōnoki, who was about to stop her.
"Granda, don't try to persuade me. I'll remember your will, but your way of thinking is already outdated."
Ōnoki looked frustrated but retreated to the side. Then he flew downward and issued orders for the Iwa ninja below to withdraw.
"Deidara, come out."
"..."
Deidara emerged from the rock cave with an unhappy expression, still chewing on something.
Seeing this, Kurotsuchi immediately assumed a guarded stance.
"I'm eating soldier pills, not clay!"
Deidara shot Kurotsuchi an annoyed glare.
Even though an old acquaintance was joining the organization, even if not as a formal member, Deidara still felt somewhat displeased.
After Ōnoki gave the retreat order, he flew back up again.
"Since the Tsuchikage has already ordered the retreat and it's mostly done, then Konan, you can 'rehearse' now."
Shiromo spoke toward the empty air above.
Konan, who had been floating near the cliff face, slowly revealed herself. The white wings formed from countless sheets of paper behind her fluttered twice as she flew downward and stopped in front of Shiromo.
"Let's go," Konan said.
"Deidara…"
Shiromo looked at him.
"Let Kurotsuchi fly on her own. Hmph."
Deidara summoned a clay bird, jumped onto it by himself, and flew away without another word.
"Fine, I'll fly on my own. Tch. You haven't even learned Light-weight Rock Technique, and you need a clay bird just to fly, what's there to be proud of?"
Kurotsuchi curled her lips.
"Then, Tsuchikage-sama, we'll be taking our leave. You should also move farther away from the mountain. We prepared several hundred thousand 'firecrackers' for this first meeting."
As Shiromo spoke, he also moved away from the cliff face, drifting backward.
"Hm?"
Ōnoki froze for a moment, then noticed layers upon layers of already glowing explosive tags covering the cliff face in front of him. He was immediately startled.
Not caring whether he might strain his back, he hurriedly retreated in the same direction as Shiromo and the others.
Moments later, the cliff they had been standing on erupted in continuous explosions.
…
As everyone knows, in order to deal with the masked man, Konan prepared six hundred billion explosive tags, and she even stated that she had "rehearsed many times."
This was precisely a rehearsal opportunity Shiromo had found for her.
During that short period just now, Konan had already covered the entire cliff face of the rocky mountain with explosive tags.
Coincidentally, the cliff had a trapezoidal shape, with two protrusions on the sides.
When it exploded, it formed the perfect shape of a "Patrick Star."
Hearing the explosions, Deidara turned his head to look back from atop the clay bird and instantly froze.
He stopped the bird midair. As soon as Shiromo and Konan caught up, he immediately asked: "Strategist, that just now was…?"
"That's right. It was Byaku's secret technique, only the beginner version."
Shiromo stepped forward and patted Deidara on the shoulder.
"Deidara, compared to Byaku, your momentary art still falls quite a bit short. And your teammate Sasori, his puppet techniques are also nowhere near the leader's Six Paths of Pain."
"Although neither Byaku nor the leader pursues art, if you can't even surpass 'outsiders' who don't care about art in your respective fields, then I think the title of 'artist' shouldn't be claimed so lightly. So, work harder."
"…Yeah."
Deidara nodded seriously.
"I'm really surprised. Deidara-nii, you got lectured and didn't even argue back? When Grandpa lectured you before, you always complained about it."
Kurotsuchi, who had just caught up, looked surprised at the scene.
"What do you know? The strategist's insight and understanding of art are beyond your imagination."
"Oh right, strategist, I want to know your evaluation of Kurotsuchi."
Deidara wiggled his eyebrows at Shiromo.
Don't misunderstand, this wasn't Deidara suddenly losing his mind and trying to play matchmaker.
What he meant was that he wanted Shiromo to give an evaluation of Kurotsuchi's future, so he could turn the tables and mock her properly.
"Leg Kage."
"What kind of evaluation is that?"
Deidara looked completely confused.
"You keep saying 'Leg Kage.' You already said that term when you first appeared, what does it even mean?"
Kurotsuchi crossed her arms and floated in front of Shiromo.
"The Fourth Tsuchikage."
"Oh? You think I'll become the Fourth Tsuchikage? Then you do have good taste. So is 'Leg Kage' some nickname for the Fourth Tsuchikage?"
Hearing Shiromo say this, Kurotsuchi proudly lifted her chin.
But she was still confused.
Legs? What legs? She didn't know any special leg-based ninjutsu either.
"She becomes Tsuchikage because there's no one left in Iwagakure, right?"
Deidara curled his lips.
"More or less," Shiromo nodded.
"Huh?"
Kurotsuchi's head was full of question marks.
She wasn't dissatisfied because Shiromo implied she became Tsuchikage due to a lack of talent in Iwagakure. What confused her was their conversation itself.
Why did it feel like they weren't discussing "whether it might happen in the future," but rather something that had already happened?
Why were they speaking with such certainty?
"That scenery over there is really nice! Yeah!"
Deidara seemed to realize that their conversation had revealed something awkward. He whistled twice and suddenly pointed at the distant sunset with an exaggerated look of delight.
"Deidara-nii, that's way too fake!"
Black lines appeared on Kurotsuchi's forehead.
"Strategist, should we tell her? Or… silence her permanently?"
Deidara wiped the smile from his face and asked Shiromo for his opinion.
"There's nothing that can't be said. I'm actually from the ninja world twenty years in the future, and I know what will happen."
"What I told you and the Tsuchikage earlier is that, in the future, groups of people will invade the ninja world one after another, and the Five Kage will be utterly powerless before them."
"…Your repeated honesty is giving me a headache."
Kurotsuchi clutched her head.
Hearing this, she should have been suspicious. Yet for some reason, after everything that had just happened, she subconsciously felt that Shiromo wasn't lying to her.
"Then… what happens to Iwagakure in the future?"
Kurotsuchi didn't ask Shiromo to prove anything. She simply asked the question directly.
(End of this chapter)