"Is it okay for you to throw things down like that...?"
Hozuki Mangetsu was sitting on the back of the big bird, his hair flying in the wind from its wings. He looked down, feeling a bit scared.
It was a kind of fear of heights.
As a ninja, he shouldn't have this kind of feeling, but the height that Deidara was flying to was not normal.
It felt like they were flying towards the sun.
Karna was sitting next to him with a blank face, his legs dangling off the bird's back, swinging them with interest.
Although he didn't show any emotion, his actions suggested that he was in a good mood.
Hozuki Mangetsu sat closer to the inside, feeling like he might die at any moment due to Deidara's bad bird-control skills.
Puppets probably don't have fear of heights. At times like these, a puppet body seems better.
Hozuki Mangetsu took a deep breath and looked helplessly at Deidara, who was standing next to him with his arms crossed and a fierce look on his face.
After Deidara took off with the big bird, it felt like he was building a roller coaster in the sky.
They spun around and flew into the air. Hozuki Mangetsu gathered Chakra in his feet, trying to keep himself from falling, even though it was his first time riding a bird like this.
If Deidara hadn't stumbled when the bird returned to normal flight, Hozuki Mangetsu would have thought that the kid was trying to kill him.
Once they were in the air, Deidara stabilized the bird's flight.
Hozuki Mangetsu breathed a sigh of relief, and Karna went to the side of the bird's back and sat down, swinging his legs.
After Deidara got the bird flying normally, he kept throwing down little spider-like bombs. Hozuki Mangetsu was close to tears.
Hatake Satoru really sent him a terrorist to take back to Kirigakure.
This guy didn't seem good at all.
"What does it matter! It's so high up, it won't really hit anything below! Hmph!"
"Besides, I just got here, and you want me to go to Kirigakure overnight. You guys are even more unfair than the Akatsuki organization!"
Deidara clearly had some complaints.
He had just returned from the Land of Earth a few minutes ago, and now this guy was telling him to go to Kirigakure.
It was similar when he joined the Akatsuki, but Hatake Satoru's order seemed more urgent.
And according to Hozuki Mangetsu, he seemed to be in a hurry.
Sigh... how annoying. If it weren't for that puppet, he wouldn't be doing this.
Deidara pouted. Throwing a bomb down as a greeting was already doing them a favor.
"But, I didn't expect you to be the Mizukage."
"Are all the Kage so young these days?"
Deidara thought it was strange when he saw Gaara as the Kazekage, and now Hozuki Mangetsu was so young and already a former Mizukage.
"Well... I'm pretty easygoing... and I didn't really like being Mizukage. It wasn't very interesting."
Hozuki Mangetsu smiled awkwardly, scratching his head.
After Deidara got them in the air, he didn't feel so anxious anymore.
After all, Deidara flying the bird was a fast way to travel, and rushing back wouldn't do him any good.
It was a good chance to figure out what kind of person this guy was while they were on the bird.
Otherwise, taking him back directly felt a bit risky.
"Oh? You're kind of interesting."
"Do you also want to go out and pursue art?! Hmph."
Deidara leaned forward suddenly, curiously getting close to Hozuki Mangetsu.
"Pursue art? I would never do that."
"I just wanted to go out and hang out with my teacher. Being a Kage isn't easy."
"You keep saying 'art, art'. Is the reason you became a rogue ninja to pursue art?"
Hozuki Mangetsu glanced at him, saying it without thinking.
"..."
"Is it that obvious? Hmph."
Deidara was silent for a second, asking awkwardly.
"Yes."
Hozuki Mangetsu replied almost immediately.
Deidara stopped talking, finally stopping his complaints.
Honestly, he didn't know much about Hatake Satoru and Hozuki Mangetsu.
But Hatake Satoru recruiting him and then immediately sending him to Kirigakure with Hozuki Mangetsu was extremely careless.
He wondered what that guy was thinking.
But based on why Hozuki Mangetsu came to find him, Hatake Satoru probably just saw him as a way to travel.
"Tch."
That guy was quick to use people.
He'd ask about the situation in Kirigakure on the way. He wasn't sure how much the guy would tell him, though.
He probably wouldn't be able to get much useful information until he'd fully earned Hozuki Mangetsu's trust.
Thinking this, Deidara realized that he was automatically connecting information with Hozuki Mangetsu.
But information didn't mean much to him anymore. If he left the Akatsuki, he could do whatever he wanted.
Well, knowing what kind of person this guy was would be enough.
...
Gaara wanted to chase Deidara, but making sure the village was safe was more important right now.
The bird was flying too high. No one could see who was on it, only the white bird.
They didn't know where the bird came from or where it was going.
The guards were confused. They didn't see the bird come in while they were watching the sky, but then they turned their heads and saw it flying away.
"It's like they left from inside the village."
A guard said thoughtfully.
Because Deidara had attacked before, they had increased the aerial security.
In that case, there was no way Deidara could have come in from the sky without them seeing him.
"But if they left from inside the village, we didn't see them leave from anywhere in particular."
The guard added.
Gaara and Yamato were confused. Someone from the Akatsuki was riding a bird above the village.
They threw down a bomb that exploded in mid-air and left without looking back. What was that all about?
"From what you're saying, that person's attack was pretty loud and destructive."
"But other than that one noise, there weren't any other sounds."
"Maybe they really were just saying hello..." Spoon.
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