"..."
"What, form a small team?"
Deidara's exaggerated shout pierced through the wooden planks of the house, shattering the tranquility of the snowfield.
Sitting across from him, Logan spread his hands in a knowing gesture.
"You mean, form a team to act together? You, me, and Sasori?"
"Including but not limited to the three of us... the details can be worked out slowly." Logan said slowly. He had already considered this idea before coming to find the Art Duo and felt it was worth a try.
He glanced at Sasori beside him. The other was silently tracing the rim of his water cup, showing no obvious resistance.
"What kind of idea is this? I don't think your plan is very good." Deidara retorted.
Discussing their next steps, after the initial pleasantries following Logan's arrival, the topic had naturally shifted here. It was essentially Logan offering advice to the indecisive pair. But these two restless individuals were definitely going to cause trouble outside sooner or later.
"Come, come, let's all work together, everyone present in this room..." At first listen, it sounded a bit like saying something without really saying anything.
However, forming a structured team was absolutely not the same concept as acting separately, without discipline.
"Cough." Deidara cleared his throat lightly and put on airs, preparing to showw what it meant to be thoughtful and meticulous. This was a chance to one-up Logan.
"I say..."
As all eyes turned to him, Deidara finally realized his vocabulary was severely lacking. He almost choked, "...Isn't it too much trouble?"
"Right, Sasori-danna?"
After an awkward pause, he quickly sought help from his senior. Sasori took the proverbial baton, his expression shifting slightly as he pondered, "Hmm."
"…"
The socially challenged duo fell into a stiff silence.
The idea of forming a new team undoubtedly struck both Deidara and Sasori as sudden and instinctively unbelievable upon first hearing it.
For them, they had genuinely never considered the possibility of leaving the Akatsuki and starting something new separately. They had dismissed this possibility, deeming it unnecessary and unachievable.
They were notorious S-Rank Missing-nin, for heaven's sake! Each was a lethal killer who wouldn't blink an eye at taking a life. Who would want to associate with them? Even if someone did, Sasori and Deidara were more inclined to just eliminate the nuisance.
The Akatsuki was hard to replicate. But now, the situation had changed. They were hearing this possibility from Logan himself.
"Based on some intelligence I've gathered, the Fourth Ninja World War will break out sooner rather than later, as expected." Logan said, watching the temporarily silent pair. He sighed, deciding to intensify his persuasion and dropped a bombshell.
Sasori and Deidara both jolted in unison.
"The organization we once belonged to, the Akatsuki... its goals, purpose, and the mastermind behind it are not as simple as they appear on the surface..." Logan paused slightly, studying their expressions. A complex feeling rose in him inexplicably, but he brushed away the useless sentimentality and continued, revealing the truth about the Akatsuki without holding back.
If Logan sincerely wanted to guide and help these two, who met tragic ends in the original work, then telling them the truth was a necessary step.
The impending conflict that would soon sweep the continent would not spare the people he cared about.
This wasn't intelligence to be hoarded for personal gain, as keeping it hidden would be utterly pretentious.
During the last battle, Kotonami's Sage Art: Blazing Heaven was unmatched, but Logan didn't believe that the biggest hidden threat in the Ninja World, Black Zetsu, had been killed so easily. Obito might have also desperately used Kamui to escape the endless surge of flames.
"...So, after the upcoming Five Kage Summit in the Land of Iron, chaos will erupt."
The behind-the-scenes founding of the Akatsuki, the terrifying Eye of the Moon Plan... Sasori and Deidara digested this shocking information.
It was actually quite heavy and oppressive, but the period of silence Logan expected after they finished listening barely lasted.
"What a bunch of bastards! Sounds interesting!" Deidara slapped his thigh and shouted, his flamboyant tone trembling with either too much agitation or too much excitement.
"Thank you for sharing this, Hattori." Sasori said, a steady emotion flowing from his deep gaze, "If someone else had revealed such astonishing intelligence, its credibility would be questionable. But coming from you, I believe it."
Unnoticed, the sun outside had risen high. The firelight inside the house burned plainly. Logan was taken aback for a moment, then smiled.
"Ha, you weren't scared off. I'll give that reaction a passing grade, then. If you'd been too useless, I would have had to take back the offer to be teammates."
Instantly, two hostile gazes shot back at him. Even knowing it was a provocation, they still wouldn't admit defeat.
Logan rubbed his hands, "Following this logic, the vast Fourth Ninja World War, with battlefields spread everywhere, deep and wide, with thousands upon thousands of Ninja thrown into it, battles happening one after another... Deidara, your Explosion Release, and Sasori, your Human Puppets... there will be plenty of places for you to shine. After forming a team, you won't have to worry about being bored at all."
The two listened, their interest piqued. Freedom, chaos… it perfectly suited them. They would be like fish in water.
Back in the Akatsuki, it was a similar style that had made them agree to join.
"However, there is one slightly different point..."
Here, his tone changed. Logan lowered his hand, pressing it on the table, "This time, we won't be standing on Akatsuki's side."
The Akatsuki hadn't treated them as people.
The Art Duo exchanged a glance, each seeing the original hesitation and bewilderment in the other's eyes disappear.
'A different starting point, huh?' Sasori touched his throbbing chest, murmuring inwardly. Completely free from the manipulation of someone else's conspiracy, starting from their own hearts... When war breaks out, countless people will die, countless families will be destroyed. He ignorantly began to ponder the meaning of puppets, the meaning of eternal life.
His operating core seemed to be telling him the answer, the same perplexity about 'emotions' he had in the past.
When he was saved by that someone surrounded by lightning and flowing energy, the shattered light on the ground was like shards of ice peeling off from his heart.
In that fleeting moment, the emotions of the weak humans he had always looked down upon bloomed with a brilliance comparable to eternity.
'If I could extend that to others in the darkness...' Sasori decided he would go to the battlefield to see.
He didn't know it, but his quietly changing self had already begun to accept emotions. This coincided perfectly with Logan's original intention in coming here.
"Hmph, I've thought about it. Being with you doesn't seem too unpleasant." Deidara suddenly said, as if he had carefully considered and reached a conclusion, muttering to himself.
Logan glanced over at him with mischievous intent, "Why don't you just say you agree?"
"Let me tell you, don't get cocky..."
"I agree." Sasori raised his hand slightly and said indifferently.
"Sasori-danna!" Deidara was shocked, "You could have waited before saying that!"
They were, after all, the famously and formidable S-Rank Missing-nin duo that struck fear into hearts everywhere. There was no reason not to understand the principle of being reserved to increase one's value.
"Excellent! We've reached a consensus." Logan said, ignoring the dismayed Deidara, clapping his hands in approval.
"Then we can decide on a team name, right? I've had one in mind for a while. How about 'Team Hattori'?"