Slap!
Thud!
Slap!
Thud!
If the fight between Moxi and Sasori could still be called an even, spectacular contest, then the situation on Shinji's side was just plain boring.
Against a Deidara who had run out of explosive clay, it was nothing short of a one‑sided beatdown.
No matter what trick Deidara tried to escape, Shinji only needed to clap his hands lightly — and boom, it was time for the "Unlimited Beating Deluxe Package" again.
At first, he had used Black Flash. But later, he worried he might damage Deidara too much and accidentally trigger a self‑detonation — which would be bad. So he switched to plain, ordinary punching.
"Enough already! What the hell do you want from me?! You won't kill me, you won't let me go, and every punch goes straight to my face! Are you jealous that I'm better‑looking than you or what?!"
Thud!
Before Deidara could finish his anguished yell, Shinji punched him right in the nose again — and blood started gushing.
"Ah, sorry, sorry! I got carried away and couldn't stop myself. What did you say just now? Jealous? No way. I'm sure if we stood side by side, anyone with eyes would know exactly who to pick. After all, one is a handsome human being, and the other looks like a pig's head. What's there to compare? Hahaha!"
Shinji cheerfully pointed from his own face to Deidara's.
One was dashing and elegant; the other was swollen black and blue. Did it even need choosing?
And even if they did compare, Shinji would definitely win. After all, his character design was modeled after all the handsome and charming readers out there.
How could a mere Deidara ever compare to them, right?
"Dammit, that bastard!"
Deidara cursed silently in his heart — he definitely didn't dare say it out loud.
Earlier, when he was flying high above, he had noticed these people, but hadn't paid them any attention. At that time, Sasori was still underwater and couldn't be warned.
Who would have thought he'd end up capsizing in such shallow water?
That's right — Deidara absolutely refused to believe he was beaten like this because he wasn't strong enough.
Okay, fine — in terms of taijutsu alone, he really was pretty average.
But the point was, he was a master of secret arts!
If only he had a pouch of explosive clay in his hands right now, he'd blast this guy until he shits his pants!
At this moment, Deidara felt exactly like that old poem: "The village children mock me, old and weak…"
Slap!
"Thinking about what?"
This time it wasn't a swap — Shinji just casually slapped Deidara across the cheek. He didn't use much force, but it still swelled up instantly.
Deidara's eyes were bloodshot — redder and redder, to the point where you wondered if the capillaries in his eyeballs had burst. Otherwise, how could they be that red?
"I'LL FIGHT YOU TO THE DEATH! WE'RE ALL DYING TODAY, YOU HEAR ME?!"
Completely losing his mind, Deidara started tearing at… his own clothes, revealing a mouth embedded right in the center of his left chest.
A human being with a creepy mouth growing on their chest.
Eww~~~ so gross.
"Bastard! What's with that look?!"
Deidara had been ready to blow himself up — but now, hurt by the look of pure disgust on Shinji's face, his composure shattered all over again.
Shinji sighed helplessly. "What's it to you? Hurry up then. I've got dinner waiting back home."
"Fine! THEN LET'S DIE TOGETHER!"
Deidara shouted at the top of his lungs — and then…
…then he froze.
Because he suddenly remembered: he had run out of explosive clay.
Without clay, he couldn't feed the mouth on his chest, and without feeding it, he couldn't detonate.
Dammit!
The air went dead silent.
Deidara was filled with regret. Why did I have to use every last bit of clay on that C3 Number Eighteen?!
Sure, it had taken down the Three‑Tails in one shot… but it also left him completely defenseless.
And to make matters worse, they were in the middle of a lake. He didn't even have the chance to use Earth Release: Underground Projection Fish Technique to escape.
And then there was this bastard in front of him!
Whatever jutsu he was using — swapping places just by clapping his hands — it was absolutely broken.
What the actual hell!
"Hurry it up. I've been waiting so long my flowers have withered."
Shinji stood there, casually making sarcastic remarks.
It wasn't that he had suddenly remembered the rule that Deidara needed to feed his chest‑mouth clay to explode — it was simply that he was confident he could subdue him before he could do it.
All it took was a single Cursed Word, and Deidara would be fast asleep instantly.
"Give me a fair chance! If I hadn't run out of clay, you really think you could defeat me?!"
Deidara was furious, yelling and spewing insults, completely ready to throw his life away. The humiliation was just too great to bear.
But today, the infamous Akatsuki curse — "Take off your cloak and you die" — had suddenly failed.
Because Shinji had absolutely no intention of killing him.
"Hey, since you're not in a hurry to die anymore, why don't we chat for a bit?"
"I'll chat with your—"
Thud!
Shinji stepped forward and punched him right in the nose.
This time, he used just a little bit more strength.
Deidara immediately crouched down, clutching his nose, tears welling up in his eyes.
This is too damn much! It's outrageous!
Waaaaah…
Deidara suddenly felt like crying, but he kept telling himself over and over in his heart: You are a tough guy. You mustn't cry!
And so he stubbornly held the tears back.
"Now… can we talk? If not, we keep going. Your choice."
Shinji stretched his arms and legs, leaving the decision entirely to Deidara.
Deidara glared at him fiercely. "In your dreams! I'd rather die than chat with you — unless you promise you won't hit me again!"
Hearing the first half of that sentence, Shinji already had his fist raised.
Luckily, Deidara noticed and sped up his speech, getting the whole sentence out before Shinji could strike.
Otherwise, that fist would have been plastered right onto his face.
"Fine. I promise — no more hitting while we talk. We good?"
"…Fine."
"Judging by your outfits, you're members of Akatsuki, right? What are your names? Which villages did you come from originally?"
Deidara nodded with a sour expression — though his face was so swollen he looked like a pig's head anyway, so you couldn't really tell.
"Seems like you know something. Since you know who we are… why aren't you running away?"
Shinji silently raised his fist again.
Deidara quickly yelled, "You promised not to hit me!"
"Then why are you still trying to act tough looking like that? Just answer the question!"
Deidara had no choice but to answer honestly. But when it came to anything about Sasori, he only said: "I will never reveal any information regarding Sasori‑san or the organization to you. Give up on that right now."
Not bad — he really was loyal to his comrades.
Shinji clicked his tongue a couple of times. He didn't press Deidara further; after all, he didn't need him for information about Akatsuki anyway.
He could just ask Itachi directly.
"Alright. Next question… have you ever heard of the Cult of the Evil God?"
"The Cult of the Evil God?!"
Deidara's eyes widened as much as they could through the swelling (which still basically just looked like narrow slits).
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