"Sasori of the Red Sand Shock Value +800." "Seven-Tails Shock Value +1000."
"Seven-Tails, it seems you truly understand art!" Deidara peeked out from behind the Guardian Great Dragon. The Tailed Beast Ball had been successfully neutralized by the self-detonation of his Guardian Great Dragon. Having blocked one Tailed Beast Ball, Deidara now felt confident.
With the remaining Dragon Mother and the C2 Enhanced Great Dragon, he could at least withstand two more Tailed Beast Balls. However, the rampaging Seven-Tails Jinchūriki had been in this state for quite some time, and its body was likely nearing its limit. Deidara doubted it could muster three more attacks.
"Hm? Out of clay?" Deidara reached into his clay pouch with his right hand, only to find it nearly empty, with just a small amount of clay left. No matter—his chakra reserves were also running low. Even with more clay, he wouldn't have enough chakra to create another C2 Enhanced Great Dragon, let alone a standard one.
"In that case, I'll take this opportunity to finish you off!" Seeing that the Seven-Tails was once again preparing a Tailed Beast Ball, Deidara decided to go on the offensive. He commanded the two Dragon Mothers to rapidly approach the Seven-Tails. If they intercepted the Tailed Beast Ball at close range, the resulting shockwave and heat would still inflict significant damage.
"Beep!" The sound of the Tailed Beast Ball forming echoed ominously. The Seven-Tails seemed to realize Deidara's intentions, but the Tailed Beast Ball was not something that could be stopped so easily once initiated. Moreover, in its rampaging Jinchūriki state, its intelligence was severely diminished, leaving it unable to react quickly to such situations.
"Art is an explosion! Hah!"
"Boom!" An extraordinarily spectacular explosion lit up the sky like a sudden sunrise. The light it emitted illuminated even the distant, pitch-black town, let alone the epicenter of the blast.
"Sasori of the Red Sand Shock Value +1000." "Seven-Tails Shock Value +2000."
"Deidara, that guy! He's way too reckless!" Sasori, piloting Hiruko, had hidden underground to avoid the massive shockwave. Centered around the Seven-Tails, the explosion obliterated a vast swath of forest, leaving behind a massive circular crater with a radius of at least a hundred meters.
"I did it! My art truly is the best!" Deidara exclaimed triumphantly as he descended on a Clay Bird to the side of the now-unconscious Seven-Tails Jinchūriki. The host was an elderly man with a deathly pale complexion, clearly on the brink of death.
Wait a minute—the Seven-Tails Jinchūriki was originally supposed to be a young girl, about the same age as Naruto and Sasuke. It appeared that the previous Jinchūriki had not yet passed the mantle to her. If the original storyline held true, this rampage likely led to the death of the old Jinchūriki, prompting the Seven-Tails to be resealed into a new host.
"It seems he won't live much longer," Sasori said coldly as he emerged from the ground, eyeing the old man lying on the ground.
"Why not bring him back to the Leader? After all, it's a Tailed Beast," Deidara suggested. Since Akatsuki would eventually need to collect all the Tailed Beasts, capturing the Seven-Tails now and sealing it would save them the trouble of harming another innocent Jinchūriki later.
"As you wish," Sasori replied indifferently.
"Brother Sasori, you're not upset because I outshone you, are you?"
"Deidara! Do you want to die?"
"Brother Sasori, you can't even hit me!" Deidara teased as he soared away on his Clay Bird, cutting through the sky with glee.
"A Seven-Tails Jinchūriki? Excellent!" A holographic image of Pain, shimmering in rainbow hues, gazed down at the unconscious old man. Even the usually stoic Pain couldn't hide a flicker of emotion at the sight. His plan had been to initiate the Tailed Beast capture operation years later; he hadn't expected to acquire the Seven-Tails so soon by sheer coincidence.
"No one noticed your identities, correct?" Pain's Rinnegan swept over Deidara and Sasori as he spoke.
"No. The Takigakure ninjas who initially tried to stop the Seven-Tails' rampage were all killed by the beast itself," Sasori answered.
"Good."
"Step back, both of you."
"Summoning Jutsu: Demonic Statue of the Outer Path!"
The ground trembled violently as a colossal humanoid figure emerged, its upper body towering over the cavern. It had nine eyes, its arms bound in shackles, and its hands raised high.
So this is the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path? Deidara thought, feeling a wave of awe wash over him. Though he had seen it many times in the anime, witnessing it in reality was an entirely different experience. The statue's sheer size dwarfed even the Tailed Beasts, and despite being an empty shell, its oppressive presence rivaled that of the rampaging Seven-Tails from the previous night. Its bizarre and enigmatic appearance exuded an aura of immense mystery and terror, capable of instilling fear in anyone who laid eyes on it.
"Stand in position according to the order: Zero, Blue, White, Vermillion, Boar, Jade, Three, North, South, and Empty," Pain instructed, leaping onto the statue's right thumb.
"Next, I will convene an Akatsuki Meeting to announce our organization's new objectives."
"What is this thing? It looks like a target worth blowing up!" Deidara remarked, staring intently at the statue.
Pain: "..."
"This is the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. It's used to seal Tailed Beasts. As for the rest, you'll find out in due time," Pain replied.
Deidara leapt onto the statue's right index finger, striking a pose. "You gave me the second position, Leader. You have good taste! Hm!"
"Brother Sasori isn't bad either, taking the first spot on the left hand. After all, they say it's better to be the head of a chicken than the tail of a phoenix."
Pain: "..." Sasori: "..."
Are all kids this difficult to deal with nowadays? Why are their priorities so strange?
"Enough. Don't focus on trivial details. Let me summon the others," Pain said.
Before long, the rest of the Akatsuki members began to arrive one by one. Clearly, most of them were seeing the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path for the first time. Aside from Konan and Zetsu, everyone appeared visibly surprised.
"Hey! How did a pitcher plant become a core member of our organization?"
"Are you a human-shaped pitcher plant or a pitcher plant-shaped human? You look way too weird!" A teasing voice came from across the statue's right hand.
Sanbi? Wasn't Sanbi supposed to be that unlucky guy? But it seems he's already been replaced by Hidan in just a few days.
"If you embrace the teachings of Jashin, the god will save you," Hidan said, his tone dripping with fanaticism.
Always going on about Jashin—so Hidan has joined, huh? With this, the Akatsuki roster was complete, except for the vacant "Empty" position left by Orochimaru's defection. Of course, Orochimaru had taken the "Empty" ring with him when he fled, leaving Pain unable to recruit anyone new to fill the spot. This had led to a kill-on-sight order against Orochimaru.
"You're right, it is strange. Can you photosynthesize like a plant?" Deidara asked, feigning ignorance to tease Zetsu despite knowing his true identity.
"A mass murderer and a guy with three mouths have no right to judge others," White Zetsu retorted in his usual sharp tone.
"Enough!"
"The Akatsuki Meeting is now in session!"
______________________________________________
Weekly Stable Updates with 30+ Chapters Always Available. High-Quality and Consistent Translations Are the Channel's Top Priority.
Current Books:
Naruto: Deidara's Struggle
God-Tier Kazekage: Building the Ultimate Hidden Sand Village
patreon.com/GoldenLong