Chapter 255: Deidara
Not far from the battlefield.
In an uninhabited corner.
A giant Venus flytrap suddenly emerged from the ground.
"It seems the fight is very intense..." The Venus flytrap opened, revealing a strange, half-black, half-white figure inside. He looked into the distance at the scene of the fireball and the giant water beast colliding with a roar, and a strange smile split his face. "Oh my, if I were to be accidentally drawn in, I'd be finished!"
You guessed it. This person was the Akatsuki's reconnaissance member—Zetsu.
"But it seems there's been a bit of an accident," he said to himself. "The person fighting Sasori-danna is not Orochimaru..."
"Oh well, I'll tell Deidara first!"
Bloop—
After Zetsu finished talking to himself, he melted into the earth as if sinking into water, making a strange sound of something falling into water.
"Secret Technique: Mayfly!"
As a life form propagated from Hashirama's cells, Zetsu had the characteristics of a plant. Using a special secret technique, he could merge his own body with the grass and tree roots in the earth and move at high speed.
This subterranean stealth jutsu could almost completely conceal all of Zetsu's own presence.
However, wary that the two people fighting might be sensitive to chakra, he still did not get too close to the battlefield, fearing that he would expose himself to Sakura's perception range.
Deidara was waiting not far away. Zetsu soon found him.
"How is it? Is there any situation, un?" the youth with the long bangs asked when he saw Zetsu emerge from the ground.
He was sitting on a rock, and a large white bird was squatting behind him.
He glanced at Zetsu, then continued to focus his gaze on the clay doll in his palm.
"That's right. The fight has indeed started, but..." Zetsu said, his mouth split in a half-smile. His strange appearance made it difficult to distinguish his expression. "The opponent is not Orochimaru."
Deidara stood up, his foot on the rock. "Un? What's going on... Didn't they say that that spy might have already betrayed him and gone over to Orochimaru, so he could lure Orochimaru out?"
"Yes..." Zetsu said, half of his body exposed, "But the ones who got there first were Konoha ninja."
Konoha ninja... The first person Deidara thought of was the person he disliked the most in the Akatsuki, that man with the cold, crimson eyes.
Uchiha Itachi.
Deidara hated that person's "I don't care about anything" expression the most. Itachi's indifferent eyes were dismissive of his art, which was a deep insult to him.
The expression on the blonde youth's face instantly turned cold.
"Un... Konoha, huh? They're fast!" Deidara sneered. "But they're all just a bunch of annoying guys, from Orochimaru to Itachi..."
When he said the last two sentences, his voice was already at the level of talking to himself.
Zetsu didn't hear the last sentence clearly, but he did hear him ask again, "Aren't the Konoha people all dead yet?"
"The fight is in full swing!" Zetsu said with a "hehe" laugh. This time, his expression was much more obvious. "The opponent is that girl who gave Kakuzu a hard time last time. Sasori-sensei is also having a headache! She shattered his puppet with a single punch. Oh right, what was her name?"
"It's Sakura! Also, Sasori-danna is not like that guy Kakuzu. He's much stronger than him! My man Sasori's art will not be defeated, you idiot!" A vein popped on Deidara's forehead. He rushed in front of Zetsu and gave him a hard knock on the head. "Un, although compared to eternity, I prefer the explosion of a moment."
"Ouch!" Zetsu rubbed his head and said angrily, "Oh right, you'd better go take a look!"
"Idiot, Sasori-danna doesn't need support!" Deidara sat down again and said to Zetsu with a sneer, "Your judgment is really terrible... Even in the Akatsuki, Sasori-danna is a standout powerhouse. He can handle an enemy like that. I'll just wait for him here!"
"..." Zetsu was silent.
He just—
stared at Deidara with a blank expression. Deidara was soon made to feel very uncomfortable by his stare.
"Hey, I say, Zetsu, what are you still doing here, staring at me?"
He was fidgety. He pointed at Zetsu and shouted.
"You bastard, being stared at by you with such strange eyes, I've lost all my artistic inspiration! Get the hell out of here."
Deidara's attitude, which was completely unmoved, made his eyebrows stand on end. He said through gritted teeth.
"You bastard, are you deliberately trying to piss me off? My patience is about to explode! Un!"
Deidara shouted, frantic, and threw the clay animals in his hand.
"Aaargh! I'm going to blow you up! Hah!"
Deidara's mouth was twisted with anger.
"You're pissing me off! Don't you dare hide in the ground!"
The helpless Deidara raised his hands in surrender.
"Huff! Huff! You bastard...! Damn it, I'm going to Sasori-danna's side, alright! Stop staring at me. I can't find any inspiration at all!"
Deidara panted, supporting himself on his knees, and said to Zetsu, who had drilled out of the ground again, with a headache.
"You agreed to this. We didn't force you!" Zetsu said with an innocent look on his face.
The corner of Deidara's mouth twitched. He flipped onto his white giant bird and left this place in an instant.
"Un! Why didn't I think just now that I could fly into the air to avoid that bastard?" This guy found that he had been an idiot again...
The large-scale clash of ninjutsu, apart from Zetsu, who had been hiding in the ground, had also attracted the attention of others.
Not far from the Land of Rivers, a mixed ninja squad—containing ninja from both Konoha and the Sand—was following the secret sign left by Shino.
The orange-haired ninja walking at the very front suddenly stopped.
He looked into the distance, as if he had sensed something.
The forehead protector he was wearing showed that he was a Konoha ninja.
The squad leader following closely behind him raised his right hand and made a "stop" gesture. "Did you find something, Hoshino Uo?"
"A very intense chakra reaction..." Hoshino Uo said with a tight frown. "It's right in front of the mark Shino left!"
He closed his eyes, carefully distinguished for a while, and added, "It's two large-scale ninjutsu clashing. The power is very astonishing. It can be sensed even from such a long distance!"
"How strong?"
"At the level of being able to completely destroy that village we passed just now with a single blow..." Hoshino Uo said gravely.
A ninja with a Sand forehead protector came over and asked, "Can you tell who the two sides of the battle are?"
"I can! One of them should be our village's ninja, Haruno Sakura. The other is a completely unfamiliar chakra, but very strong!" Uo said.
"He is our Sand's rogue-nin, the former genius puppet master, Sasori of the Red Sand," the sensory-type ninja from the Sand said coldly. Sasori was known to everyone in their generation!
"I heard that Sasori became even stronger after he left the village. He has a record of destroying a small country by himself. His strength might even have surpassed that of an ordinary 'Kage'-level ninja!"
The few of them sucked in a cold breath.
"Sasori of the Red Sand? I heard he's even stronger than the Kazekage...!"
"It's actually him! Such a strong enemy, how are we supposed to deal with him?"
The Sand-nin were in an uproar, whispering in low voices.
If it were an ordinary enemy, with their five or six Tokujō and Chunin, plus two Jonin captains, they could still deal with them.
But an opponent of Sasori's "Kage" level, ordinary Chunin, no matter how many there were, were just cannon fodder. Even Jonin had to team up to fight a ninja of this level.
Of course, the simplest way to fight a Kage-level ninja...
...was to have a comrade of the same level on your side.
For example, the power of a Tailed Beast.
And so, first the Konoha ninja, then the Sand-nin, after a moment's hesitation, also turned their gazes to the last person in the team, the red-haired youth.
The Jinchuriki, Gaara.
Suspicion, vigilance, wariness... and even expectation, hope—all their gazes were focused on him.
The only one in the team who could contend with a Kage-level was the power of Shukaku. No matter how much they had detested, how much they had hated this monster, who was reeking of blood, right now, they had to rely on him.
"Gaara..." the captain said, embarrassed and a little hesitant. "We..."
He was the one who usually hated the Jinchuriki the most, and had been giving Gaara a cold face all along the way. But now, he was begging Gaara.
It was just like a cliché "face-slapping" plot. The villain who had been bullying the protagonist all along now had to beg him in a low voice.
Gaara had thought he would laugh, or that he would cry, but he did not. He just looked at the captain's eyes calmly and said, "I understand. I will..."
He glanced at the people present. Some had lowered their heads, not daring to meet his gaze.
These were the ninja of the Sand Village, the people whose recognition Gaara craved. The evil deeds he had committed in the past had now all turned into his comrades' deepest prejudices. To want to gain their recognition and friendship was harder than climbing to the heavens.
"I will protect you," Gaara said firmly.
He knew how difficult this path of self-redemption was. This was just the beginning.
On the path to becoming the beloved Kazekage, Gaara had finally taken the first step.
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