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"One… two… three… Boom! Haha! Even if I can't witness the explosion firsthand, I know without a doubt—this is true art!"
A young ninja with long, bright yellow hair stood atop a rooftop, arms flung wide open as he let out an exhilarated shout.
His long bangs draped over one eye, partially concealing the symbol etched on his forehead protector, though a deep, deliberate scratch sliced straight across it.
"But you still didn't manage to kill Asachi Midorima. What was the point of going through all that effort, Deidara?" asked a tall, powerfully built ninja whose skin carried a distinctive bluish-gray tint.
"Mind your own business. We're only teaming up for the moment, Kisame," Deidara shot back. His gaze remained fixed on the inn, now almost entirely swallowed by roaring flames. After the thunderous detonation, the entire structure crumpled in seconds, and the grin stretching across his face only widened. "Shame I couldn't crank up the power just a little more. If I had, I'm pretty sure I could've flattened the whole of Yugakure."
"That 'little more' is actually a pretty big difference," Kisame remarked dryly.
"Heh heh, details like that don't matter in the slightest. Not even a tiny bit," Deidara replied, glancing over the pandemonium now gripping the village. "So, what's our next move? Head out and mop up those two tailed beasts hanging around outside?"
"No, it's not time to go after the Eight-Tails yet. And honestly, four of us trying to subdue two tailed beasts simultaneously would be pushing it. Plus, there's still Midorima to consider."
"Tch. How impressive can some random Mist ninja really be? Word is he's become the Six-Tails jinchūriki. Why not just grab the Six-Tails while we're here?!"
"The Two-Tails is clearly the higher priority. Let's avoid stirring up extra trouble—otherwise, securing the Two-Tails will become significantly harder. Pain made it clear: we follow Itachi's orders."
"You sure are obedient when it comes to him," Deidara sneered, spitting off to the side.
"Don't get the wrong idea. I've clashed with him before, and we never finished settling who's stronger. But a mission is a mission—that fact doesn't change. Even if I've got some personal gripes, the task always comes first," Kisame answered evenly.
Deidara twisted his mouth in distaste but fell silent.
He had no real quarrel with carrying out the assignment itself. His issue lay solely with Itachi.
"One of these days, I'll show him exactly what real art looks like," Deidara muttered, voice thick with resentment.
...
The moment the explosion thundered behind him, Midorima activated his signature Instant Body Technique and vanished from Yugakure in an instant.
When he touched down again, his ears continued to ring painfully, the lingering buzz making him grimace in discomfort.
Five Iwagakure shinobi were frantically trying to revive five others who had been knocked out cold. Three of the ones who had just regained consciousness took one look at Midorima suddenly appearing and promptly passed out again.
The remaining five immediately drew kunai and sprang backward, putting four or five meters between themselves and Midorima while watching him with extreme caution.
"Where are the other two?" Midorima asked, sweeping his gaze across the ruined landscape. All he saw was a wide swath of torn-up earth.
"Why the hell should we tell you anything?!" one of them hissed quietly.
Midorima poked a finger into his ear again.
The blast had temporarily dulled his hearing, and he hadn't caught the words clearly.
"Say it again. Couldn't hear you," he said, brow furrowed as he dug a little deeper. It eased the pressure somewhat. "Louder this time."
All four others instantly shifted their stares onto the one who had spoken.
Feeling the sudden weight of their attention, the ninja coughed lightly, drew in a steadying breath, and spoke up. "They were fighting, then took off running in that direction," he explained, jabbing a thumb over his shoulder.
Midorima turned to look. In the far distance, he could just make out the massive outline of the Eight-Tails. From this range, it looked almost small and delicate.
"So that's where they went… Oh, right—I swung back through Yugakure just now. The Cloud ninja really were inside the village, but they're dead. Killed by Iwagakure shinobi."
"That's nonsense… I mean—you're lying," the ninja quickly backtracked. "There's no way we'd march straight into the village, kill Cloud shinobi, and then just stand around outside afterward."
"Exactly!" the other four chimed in unison.
"Clay bombs. Ring any bells? Boom… they just detonate out of nowhere…" Midorima spread his hands dramatically. "Isn't that supposed to be your village's specialty?"
"You're the one who's into that garbage! We don't bother with junk like that."
"Is it that you look down on it, or that you simply can't pull it off?" Midorima countered.
After all, Deidara was the Tsuchikage's personal student. His raw talent clearly outstripped these men by a wide margin.
The ninja turned his head away without responding directly. After two or three minutes of tense silence, he finally spoke again. "It really was clay bombs?"
"Definitely. My head's still ringing like crazy."
Midorima held no personal fear of Deidara, but no one could have anticipated clay explosives being concealed inside the clothing of corpses.
"We get it. We'll pass the information along to the Tsuchikage."
Midorima gave a short nod.
He had no desire to waste energy on meaningless combat. Seeing they weren't looking for a fight, he turned and dashed off in the direction of the two jinchūriki.
The clash between Killer B and Han had already reached its final stages.
Confronting the fully released Eight-Tails, Han had only achieved a half-tailed-beast form and was thoroughly dominated. Now he lay unconscious beneath Killer B, who sat cross-legged atop him like it was the most casual thing in the world.
Midorima gazed up at the towering Eight-Tails—truly a mountain of muscle and chakra—and felt a flicker of genuine surprise.
"Want me to shrink back down?" the beast rumbled.
Midorima nodded.
Since this matter concerned the Hidden Cloud, it made more sense to speak directly with Killer B himself.
The Eight-Tails' enormous frame rapidly contracted until Killer B stood there in his usual form.
"What's the situation?" he asked.
"The injured Cloud shinobi didn't make it," Midorima replied, taking a deep breath before swiftly summarizing everything that had happened.
"Clay bombs?!" Killer B's brows knitted together. He immediately hauled Han up off the ground and delivered two sharp slaps across his face to rouse him.
"Since I lost, do whatever you want with me! I'm not scared of death!" Han snarled through gritted teeth.
"Your people killed our wounded comrade…"
"He had it coming!" Han sneered coldly. "Don't act like you didn't take out any of ours. This is just payback!"
Killer B raised a clenched fist, ready to smash it into Han's face, but Midorima stepped in to stop him.
"He was killed by a clay bomb. Does that sound familiar at all?" Midorima asked.
"Clay bomb?" Han blinked in confusion, then shook his head firmly. "No way. You're lying. He already left Iwagakure long ago."
"What's his name?" Midorima pressed. Though he already knew the answer, he needed the name spoken aloud.
"Deidara," Han forced out, the word tasting bitter on his tongue.
After a quick, quiet discussion, Midorima and Killer B agreed they should head back to the Hidden Cloud Village without delay. Han, meanwhile, felt as though he had just survived a terrifying roller-coaster ride. Only once the two had disappeared from sight did he finally accept that he was still breathing.
But it wasn't enough.
The difference in power between himself and the Eight-Tails was overwhelming. He needed to grow far stronger.
Han tightened his fist until the knuckles whitened and silently swore to himself that he would close that gap.
When he returned to the site of the earlier ambush, the Iwagakure team was nowhere to be seen. Instead, a lone figure in a black cloak, orange-red hair visible beneath the hood, stood with his back turned.
"Who are you?" Han demanded.
"Me?" The figure straightened and slowly turned around. "The name's Sasori. Oh—and you're looking for them, right?"
Han's eyes dropped to the ground in front of Sasori, and pure fury surged through him.
Several severed heads had been carefully lined up—exactly the heads of the Iwagakure comrades who had accompanied him.