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"It seems this brat is going to be troublesome." Sasori spoke with clear disdain.
Kagaya calmly observed the young man before him.
"Before we begin, could you tell me your name?"
The young man sneered.
"Deidara! Remember it well!"
"Is that so? Then I should give you my name as well. Uchiha Kagaya."
Kagaya reciprocated by offering his own name.
But Deidara had no intention of continuing the conversation. With a flick of his wrist, he launched a small white spider from his hand straight towards Kagaya.
"Swish! Swish! Swish!"
Sasori and Haku swiftly dodged far to the left and right, making it abundantly clear they had no intention of intervening in this fight.
Kagaya, however, merely took a slight hop backward, easily evading the small spider.
"Hah!"
Deidara let out a sharp cry, and the little spider exploded violently, sending up a large cloud of smoke.
However...
"Is that all you've got?"
Kagaya slowly emerged from the smoke, his face expressionless as he stared at Deidara.
"Heh!"
Yet, Deidara only let out a smug laugh.
Kagaya paused, his Sharingan scanning the surroundings. While the Sharingan didn't possess the Byakugan's superior static visual perception, it could still directly perceive the presence of chakra. Through his Sharingan, Kagaya saw that concealed within the surrounding smoke were clusters of small chakra signatures, tightly encircling him.
Deidara chose that moment to speak up.
"Let me inform you, everything surrounding you right now are explosives. So, you can probably guess what happens next, right?"
Deidara's grin grew wider and more arrogant. He raised his right hand, positioning his index and middle finger in front of his mouth.
"You're about to die!! Hah!"
"Boom! Boom! Boom!!"
A series of relentless explosions erupted. The wooden hut was instantly blown apart, collapsing into rubble.
Deidra scrambled outside to avoid being hit by the falling debris. Watching the explosions before him, he raised his hands in a triumphant cheer.
"This is art! Do you see it? Hahahaha! Whatever the Akatsuki, whatever Uchiha Kagaya, you all ultimately fall before my art! Hahahaha! Look closely! This is true art!"
Deidara laughed maniacally. After a moment, he shook his head.
"Ah, whatever. It's not like you can see it anymore anyway. There's no way you could have survived that blast. How boring."
Having said that, Deidara turned around, ready to leave.
"Oh? Is this what you call your art?"
However, when Deidara turned, he didn't find an empty path. Instead, he saw Kagaya and his companions, standing right there.
Deidara's eyes widened in disbelief.
"You... you? Weren't you blown to bits?"
Sasori couldn't resist mocking him.
"Blowing up the building by yourself, then standing there laughing like a fool all by yourself... you've certainly broadened my horizons."
Deidara instantly realized something.
"You... you mean...?"
Sasori continued his merciless taunt.
"Idiot. You didn't even realize you were under a genjutsu, did you? We walked out of there leisurely long ago. Then we watched you secretly crafting your bombs inside before spectacularly blowing up an empty building. It was quite entertaining, actually."
"When...?"
Haku smiled faintly. "The moment Kagaya activated his Sharingan, you were already under the genjutsu."
Cold sweat poured down Deidara's back. He swallowed hard, seeming to want to say something more.
But Kagaya directly raised a hand to stop Deidara from speaking, his cold gaze fixed on him.
"If you continue secretly making bombs behind your back, I think the next thing to be blown up won't be a building, but you yourself."
Deidara froze.
'They found me out.' The hand with a mouth on it, hidden behind his back, stilled.
Then, Deidara's face hardened. He threw the few bombs he had managed to create at Kagaya and the others. Raising his hand, he prepared to detonate them.
"Brat, are you trying to commit suicide?"
Sasori looked coldly at Deidara.
Deidara jolted, and then the scene shifted once again. He was standing alone amidst the ruins, far away from Kagaya and the others. Surrounding him were clusters of white spiders. If he had detonated the bombs just now, he would have undoubtedly blown himself to smithereens.
'Another genjutsu?! What's going on?!'
This time, Deidara felt genuine fear.
Kagaya's crimson Sharingan eyes watched Deidara. Kagaya's genjutsu wasn't particularly powerful, but when facing someone like Deidara, who was encountering the Sharingan for the first time, Kagaya could easily toy with him using illusions.
"We told you, didn't we? From the moment you saw my Sharingan, you were under a genjutsu. I never said I released you from it."
Cold sweat continued to stream down Deidara's face.
"Even now?"
Kagaya gave a slight smile.
"What do you think?"
"Heh heh heh..."
Deidara looked at Kagaya and spoke.
"Fine. I agree. I'll join the Akatsuki. But, you... you guy, remember this! I won't fall for your genjutsu again!"
"Suit yourself. As long as you join the Akatsuki, that's all that matters. My task ends here."
As he spoke, Kagaya walked towards Deidara and handed him a ring, along with the Akatsuki cloak he had brought in advance.
"Here, take it. From today onward, you are a member of the Akatsuki. You'll be partners with him from now on."
Kagaya pointed at Sasori.
Some time later, the rest of the Akatsuki members arrived.
The Akatsuki was short on members, so they typically operated as a full group for now. To recruit Deidara, Kagaya's group had merely gone ahead first; the entire Akatsuki organization had been following behind.
"Are you the leader? Let me make this clear first, I'm not giving up my art."
Deidara, now wearing the Akatsuki cloak, looked at Pain as he spoke.
Pain replied indifferently.
"Do as you wish. However, once you're in the Akatsuki, you must follow the organization's orders. Kagaya should have given you the ring already. Put it on."
Deidara raised his right hand, looking at the ring on his index finger.
"Got it, got it. It's already on."
Pain then turned his gaze to Kagaya.
"Kagaya, next, you and Haku are to pursue and eliminate Orochimaru. Didn't you want Orochimaru's ring?"
Kagaya smiled slightly.
"Yes."
For the ring? No, it wasn't that. Kagaya wasn't that shallow. The ring was merely a pretext. Kagaya had two reasons for seeking out Orochimaru.
The first reason was that, in the original storyline, Orochimaru initiated the Konoha Crush.
The second reason was the Impure World Reincarnation!
However, Sasori was not pleased.
"Leader, wait. Orochimaru was my former partner. The pursuit and elimination should be my responsibility. Besides, I don't believe these two brats are capable of killing Orochimaru."
Pain glanced at Haku, thought for a moment, seemingly agreeing that Haku's strength might indeed be insufficient, and spoke.
"Very well. This time, you and Deidara will go, taking Kagaya and his companion with you, to pursue Orochimaru."
Sasori let out a cold laugh.
"Good. Let's go."
Deidara asked, puzzled. "Who is this Orochimaru you're all talking about?"
Kagaya, with Haku in tow, took the lead and started leaving the area.
"Follow us first. We'll tell you on the way."
"Orochimaru and his group fled towards the Land of Wind. We don't know where they went after that." Konan spoke up at the appropriate time, relaying the intelligence she had gathered to Kagaya and the others.
Sasori said coldly.
"Knowing that is enough. Let's move out."
Deidara grumbled.
"The Akatsuki sure knows how to order people around."
Sasori: "Hey! Hurry up!"
Deidara: "I know, I know!"
After Kagaya's group departed, Pain spoke to Itachi and Kisame.
"Itachi, Kisame, you two head to the Land of Grass."
Itachi nodded silently.
Kakuzu inquired. "What about my partner?"
Pain: "You'll have to wait a bit longer."
*****
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