Aoyama continued laughing loudly, completely unfazed by Deidara's threats. To him, this brat already carried a faint air of defiance, a wild streak that made him seem perfectly suited to join the Akatsuki one day.
Deidara made a move to detonate the clay serpent coiled around Aoyama's ankle. The snake pulsed with explosive chakra, but just before it could blow, Aoyama suddenly summoned Godzilla. With a speed that left no time to react, he snatched the clay snake and shoved it straight into Godzilla's mouth.
The giant beast looked baffled, but obediently swallowed it. A moment passed. No explosion. No boom. Just silence.
Deidara blinked in confusion. He had triggered the detonation. Why was there a blast? Turning his head, he froze when he saw the massive monster standing stupidly behind Aoyama, smoke curling lazily from its jaws.
"You didn't seriously feed my clay to that thing, did you?" Deidara asked, dumbfounded.
Aoyama nodded. "Of course. Godzilla loves eating things that explode."
Godzilla gave a satisfied burp, releasing a puff of black smoke into the air. Its massive tail wagged back and forth like an excited puppy, clearly asking for more explosive snacks.
Aoyama spread his hands helplessly. "Sorry, that was the last one."
Kakuzu, who had been watching silently until now, finally lost patience. He coughed and scowled.
"Enough playing around. Let's move."
"Tch. You two weirdos… fine, follow me," Deidara muttered, turning to lead the way.
Aoyama climbed onto Godzilla's back, drawing a sidelong glance from Kakuzu. After a while, the elder shinobi couldn't hold back anymore.
"Doesn't your ass hurt riding on something like that?"
Godzilla's dorsal fins weren't exactly comfortable. Perching on its neck didn't match the Akatsuki's intimidating image either.
Aoyama went silent for a beat, then pulled out a straw hat and hung it around Godzilla's neck. The little wind chime attached to it jingled pleasantly as the monster walked. Nodding in satisfaction, Aoyama said, "Much better. I could summon Kong, too—you could ride on his neck. It's comfortable. Want to give it a try?"
"…Comfortable?"
Kakuzu felt a chill run down his spine. He shivered and shook his head violently, striding ahead to walk shoulder-to-shoulder with young Deidara as if escaping the suggestion.
Deidara, meanwhile, had only recently graduated from the Academy, but as the Tsuchikage Ōnoki's student, his strength was already on par with a full-fledged shinobi. Resources flowed freely to him, and his growth was astonishingly fast.
The trio soon arrived at their destination: an abandoned town. The place bore no signs of human life—no smoke, no lights, no residents—only the occasional bird alighting on the ruins before flapping away again.
Deidara lowered his voice. "According to intel, the enemy is using this place as a hub for collecting and analyzing information. They've been smuggling everything about our village back to Konoha."
The "town" wasn't much larger than a village, and judging by its ruined state, it had likely been deserted for two or three decades, probably abandoned during a past shinobi war.
Kakuzu spoke gravely: "Root runs Konoha's external intel network. That means the enemy here will likely be Root operatives—elite, fearless, and perfectly willing to die for their mission. Don't show mercy."
Aoyama grinned. "Then let's kill them all. That's the mission anyway—wipe out every last one."
Deidara had no objections. His job was only to guide them to the target. After that, he could step back and leave the real fight to them.
Without hesitation, Kakuzu leapt into the air, weaving hand seals. He inhaled deeply, then roared, unleashing a blazing inferno.
"Fire Style: Searing Migraine!"
Flames surged forward, crashing into the village.
"Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall!"
A stone wall shot up instantly, blocking the torrent of fire. Sadly, unlike Hatake Kakashi's, this wall wasn't decorated with a dog's face.
Aoyama charged in at that moment, directing Godzilla to rampage through the ruins. He showed no intention of fighting—just a commanding presence.
Godzilla roared, barreling through the town. When Root shinobi tried to intercept, the beast's claws came down in a brutal swipe, shredding them apart.
Not satisfied with the pace, Aoyama flipped open his Monster Book and summoned Kong, wielding a massive battle axe. Together, the two beasts tore through a full Root squad in moments.
Elsewhere, Kakuzu displayed his true power. Fire, Earth, Water, and Wind-style jutsu erupted simultaneously, their combined explosion rivaling a forbidden technique. A third of the abandoned town was leveled in an instant.
The Root shinobi quickly realized they were hopelessly outmatched. Spotting Aoyama riding Godzilla, they recognized him as the rogue missing-nin and decided to retreat with what intel they could carry.
From his hidden vantage point, Deidara spotted two fleeing operatives carrying documents. He quietly kneaded clay in his palms, shaping it into tiny hopping fleas.
The fleas leapt from his hand, bouncing rapidly after their targets. Faster than human sprinting, they caught up within seconds.
Deidara raised his fingers and whispered, "Drink it in… explode!"
"Art is an explosion!"
The clay fleas ignited, erupting in blinding flashes. The fleeting beauty of the blast lit up the ruins—short-lived, but dazzling.
The two operatives were caught in the blast. One was critically injured, his back torn open. The other was only lightly wounded, but the documents they carried were partly destroyed.
Aoyama, perched on Godzilla's neck, pointed at the survivors and grinned.
"You're up, Kong!"
Kong roared and hurled his axe. It spun through the air and struck true, cleaving off one enemy's head in a single blow.
The last Root agent, desperate, ignored his injuries and began forming seals. He wasn't trying to fight back—he was trying to burn the remaining intel.
Ordinary shinobi might have tried to flee. But Root operatives didn't fear death. For them, completing the mission always came first, even if it meant self-destruction.
Aoyama saw the man's intent and sighed. Too late to stop him. Fine then—just kill him.
"Go again, Kong!"
The monster lunged forward, finishing the job. The intel burned to ash in the flames, but the mission objective—to annihilate every last enemy—was still achieved.