"Even though I said I agree..."
"But is this guy really okay?"
"If I run away, I'll be chased forever."
Even though he'd agreed, Deidara still seemed a little unsure and walked up to Hatake Satoru, standing on his toes to look at his face.
Last time, this guy just barged into their meeting and took the One-Tail away. Judging by his methods, he was pretty strong.
Plus, when he and Sasori were outside, they didn't even realize someone was following them, even after trying to cover their tracks.
Normal ninjas would have a hard time tracking them accurately, but Hatake Satoru was quick to save them.
It was almost like he knew exactly where they were and just barged right in.
Since they hadn't actually fought, he seemed like he had hidden strength.
And what was up with that puppet?
Did this guy have skills like that?
Back in the cave, it seemed like he was the only one there.
He didn't understand the situation.
He'd agreed somewhat easily, but that was because the offer was pretty good.
"My partner isn't here right now."
"But he knows I was here. If I disappear and run away, they'll probably look for me around here."
"And it wouldn't be strange for you to find Sasori near here either."
Then it would be two people running away!
Even though Sasori has changed a lot now, if one person changes, putting two together will make it more obvious.
Basically, they'll be easier to recognize.
Even though everyone in the Akatsuki thinks Sasori is dead, if they happen to see Deidara with a red-haired kid,
they'd probably instinctively think something was up with those two.
Hatake Satoru is putting himself against everyone else by doing this.
"Hmm."
Hatake Satoru thoughtfully touched his chin.
Sasori wasn't wrong. Deidara, while focused on his art, could think clearly.
He was basically passing the problem to him.
Deidara could run away, and their offer was what he wanted.
But if Hatake Satoru couldn't help them disappear, it was pointless.
"You guys won't get caught."
"Dealing with people isn't hard for me."
Hatake Satoru paused thoughtfully. Actually, even though the Akatsuki had a big reputation and seemed strong,
Orochimaru wandered around for a long time, and they never really caught him.
Of course, Orochimaru was strong.
But when Orochimaru was weak or busy, the Akatsuki didn't seem to take any big action.
They said they were hunting people, but they were really focused on capturing the tailed beasts.
They'd look if there was news, but if there wasn't, they wouldn't bother.
They just needed to hide the two of them.
"And in the lab, you can all create art!"
Hatake Satoru winked at Deidara, who had come closer.
Deidara rubbed his arms and took a few steps back. Even before, he thought this guy was strange when he talked, but he was even stranger in person.
"He's not as easy to fool as I am."
When he gets going, he's worth twice as much.
Hatake Satoru's promise to Deidara wasn't very reassuring.
Deidara wasn't like him.
Sasori looked at Deidara next to him without any expression. You could say this kid was a natural destroyer.
Sasori at most killed a few people to make human puppets and studied the body structure to figure out how to change himself.
Now Hatake Satoru had almost perfectly changed his body, and he didn't have a strong need to make human puppets anymore.
So usually he just studied poison and looked at mechanisms and joints; that was it.
Sasori also had more human feelings than Deidara.
Well, looking for human feelings in the Akatsuki was like looking for meaning in anime in real life; it was almost unreasonable.
Hatake Satoru thought that Sasori went down the wrong path because he lacked love and wasn't a bad person at heart.
In short, it was the result of his upbringing.
But Deidara was different. He was a pure, emotional artist.
He wasn't introverted. He was flamboyant and arrogant, and he had that bit of craziness that a lot of artists have.
He would really blow up other people's houses for no reason. He was kind of heartless.
And he'd say it was dedicating himself to art.
Hatake Satoru took him in, and could let him blow things up in the desert.
But after a while, Deidara would probably be unhappy. He couldn't sit still.
Karna could probably hold him back for a while, but soon this kid would want to blow up Sunagakure Village to see how it looked.
Deidara heard what Sasori said and immediately jumped up to argue.
"What are you talking about? Everything I do is for my art!"
"There has to be a sacrifice; yeah!"
Why was Sasori saying this now? The person who said he'd support his art didn't have any complaints.
"Even though you keep calling him a puppet, he doesn't seem like one at all."
"And Sasori's body...is that five-year-old body you made too? Yeah."
"You can't tell it's a puppet body at all."
This level of detail meant this person's puppet-making skills were probably better than Sasori's.
Deidara didn't dare touch Sasori, but he was curious about how this puppet, which was almost exactly like a real person, felt.
So he cautiously went up to Karna and pinched his cheek.
So soft.
It wasn't like Sasori's, which felt like wood covered in human skin.
Deidara opened his eyes in surprise and carefully felt the texture.
Karna was really doing his job as a puppet, and didn't say anything even when his face was pinched.
But those different-colored eyes looked down kindly, as if looking at Deidara.
Actually, Deidara wasn't very interested in puppets.
Besides being curious about the strange explosions Karna caused, he didn't feel anything towards this puppet.
This immortal thing probably wouldn't change its expression even if it was blown up.
It's always been like this, so it feels a little boring.
"Who are you guys?".
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