"Huh?".
"What are you doing?".
Sasori looked at Deidara, who was standing in front of him, with a completely blank expression.
The ground under their feet was still shaking slightly from the explosion. Sasori, whose base wasn't very stable, was affected by the vibration and took two steps back.
Luckily, they had walked far enough, or they would have definitely attracted the people in the town to come and watch.
The air blast from the explosion spread around them. Smoke and air currents swirled together chaotically, and the tassels next to Deidara's hat fluttered.
"Huh? Isn't that person in the back chasing you?".
Deidara waved his hand to disperse the smoke around him, vaguely revealing Sasori's confused expression.
And a little bit of disgust.
Although the size and age are different, he was sure, judging from this expression, that this person was Sasori.
"Not at all...".
Sasori helplessly spread his hands out in front of Deidara, shrugging his shoulders as if trying to explain something.
But before he could finish speaking, they both felt something was wrong.
It wasn't killing intent, but it was aggressive.
"—".
A scorching gaze suddenly stared at Deidara's back.
Not referring to a look, but the intense heat that comes from being burned by real flames. Deidara was surprised and quickly dodged to the side.
A beam of light filled with scorching flames instantly grazed past Deidara's head.
The flame looked especially striking in the gray smoke.
Like a bright red light, it brushed past the smoke and rushed into the forest.
Just from this passing, Deidara smelled a faint burnt smell coming from his hair.
Then, after the light penetrated several trees, it made a loud and violent explosion.
"Boom—".
The tree trunks in front that were pierced through were neatly arranged, looking like a hole had been punched right through the middle by a hole puncher.
Dazzling white light shone in front of them, and large areas of the forest were directly destroyed. The heat wave and air blast from the explosion instantly swept over Deidara and Sasori.
"Ah...".
Deidara brushed some of the burnt hair behind his back, staring intently at the huge explosion in front of him, as if savoring it.
He took a few photos with the camera in his left eye, watching as the white light gradually dissipated.
It really was a perfect explosion.
Whether it was the fleeting speed of those few seconds, like fireworks, or the heat waves and air blasts created by the explosion, it was all something Deidara loved.
Most importantly, this explosion was somewhat similar to his abilities.
There wasn't the pungent smell that comes from gunpowder explosions.
Deidara injects Chakra into clay to make it explode, so he doesn't need gunpowder at all, and there's no gunpowder smell when it explodes.
Explosions used by ordinary people have a very obvious gunpowder smell.
It's not that he dislikes it.
But compared to his art, it's still lacking!
The light from the explosion only lasted a few seconds, and Deidara naturally didn't think these few seconds would have any impact on the battle.
Then he quickly turned his head and looked in the direction from which the light beam came.
In the gradually disappearing smoke, a red eye that faintly glowed looked particularly striking.
"That's rare, to be able to create an explosion of this magnitude without using gunpowder."
"Who are you guys? Huh."
The corners of Deidara's mouth turned up slightly, revealing a hint of arrogance.
Apparently, he had developed some interest in Karna, of course, most of the interest was in fighting.
After being chased by them at such close range, he was hit by his clay bird, but it seemed that he was completely unharmed, and he could even fight back.
No matter how you look at it, this guy seems to have some skills.
From what Sasori said just now, this guy shouldn't be a pursuer either.
Is he a new friend?
But he really doesn't talk much, he doesn't seem like a showy person.
"He's my puppet."
"You're asking for a name now? He almost got blown up by you just now."
As the smoke cleared, Hatake Satoru put his hands on Karna's shoulders, looking at Deidara with a smile.
Standing in front of Hatake Satoru, the slightly shorter young man, with the exception of his pale complexion and expressionless face, was almost no different from an ordinary person.
His narrow eyes were slightly upturned, and although they were quite lively eyes.
But whether it was because he was a puppet, or for some other reason, he gave off a somewhat dull feeling.
Karna's eyes were different colors. Besides the red glowing eye that had just fired the light beam.
The other eye was a light blue color, subtly similar to Gaara's eye color.
Deidara glanced at Karna, then raised his eyes because of the somewhat familiar voice.
Looking at Hatake Satoru standing behind him.
"...It's you!?"
A flippant voice, silver hair, sunglasses.
Deidara's Adam's apple bobbed up and down, his pupils narrowed slightly, looking at Hatake Satoru's face in disbelief.
He quickly turned his head to look at Sasori behind him, and then looked at Hatake Satoru in front of him.
Several confused question marks couldn't help but pop up in his head.
In the current situation, there's too much information, and he couldn't react for a moment.
"Why are you two together?!"
Deidara barely swallowed, smoothing out his thoughts and tongue.
"Oh? Even though we only met once, you have quite a deep impression of me."
Hatake Satoru pointed to his face with great interest.
This tone was the same as when they met before.
Deidara couldn't help but drop a bead of sweat behind his head.
Who would forget that face!?
Probably everyone in the Akatsuki organization will remember you and put you on some wanted list.
He used a strange technique to steal the One-Tailed Beast that was being extracted, and also killed Sasori, who was left to deal with the situation.
Logically, the best choice now would be to hurry up and take out his clay bird and fly away as soon as possible.
But, it seems, without realizing it, there were people in front of him and behind him...
Deidara glanced at Hatake Satoru in front of him and Sasori behind him with a bit of a headache. Although he originally thought this person was chasing Sasori, so he blocked him behind him.
Now it seems that this action was like blocking his own retreat.
Who would have thought that Sasori not only didn't die, but also seems to be getting along quite well with this guy?
Damn it, how did it become like this!
"Ah—what are you trying to do by luring me here? Huh."
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