Thinking of this, Sasori suddenly fired a cannon barrel into the sky. After the barrel burst open, there was no expected explosion or poison gas instead, it released a striking bright light.
"Is this... signaling?"
Just as Furina had guessed, after the light appeared, the white bird that had been idling in the sky flew toward this direction. In no time, it arrived not far from Sasori.
Blond hair in a single ponytail yep, it's you, Patrick Star.
"What's up, Sasori big bro? Didn't you say you'd handle it alone?"
The one who rushed over was naturally Sasori's teammate... Deidara. He was a bit puzzled right now earlier Sasori had insisted on going solo, so why fire a signal flare now?
"Open your eyes and look carefully. An extra target outside the mission has appeared, so naturally we need to readjust the plan."
Hearing this, Deidara looked in the direction Sasori's crimson metal tail was pointing. His gaze swept over everyone one by one, finally landing on Furina.
"This is... that little girl who fought Orochimaru, right? No wonder you called me over, Sasori big bro you ran into a tough enemy."
"Who said I can't handle her? I just felt that since I had you watching from the sidelines the whole time earlier, it wouldn't be fair to keep you out now. If you can't manage, you can keep spectating."
"Oh come on, Sasori big bro, how could I not trust you? I just wanted to show off my own art too, yeah, that's all."
Watching the two start bickering the moment they met, Furina couldn't help but feel a bit awkward. But in the Akatsuki organization, aside from Nagato and Konan, these two probably had the best relationship.
After all, aside from their disagreements on the pursuit of art, they got along quite well in other aspects no complicated schemes. As for the other pairs...
Obito and Black-and-White Zetsu didn't need mentioning one never truly trusted the other as a creation of "Madara" and only wanted to be the savior himself, putting everyone into beautiful dreams.
Black-and-White Zetsu was even more ridiculous. White Zetsu was fine he really was Madara's creation, used to monitor Obito.
But Black Zetsu? Absolute champion of nesting doll schemes the ultimate filial son of the ninja world who lurked for over a thousand years to save his mother. Greatness needs no further words.
Itachi and Kisame got along well on the surface Kisame even worried about Itachi's health but Obito had also instructed Kisame to keep an eye on Itachi. That fact couldn't be ignored.
And Itachi... well, he was a Konoha undercover agent. Thanks to Kishimoto's abstract writing, he spent all those years as a spy without sending back any truly useful intelligence, which ended up messing with his character consistency too.
But at the end of the day, he was still Konoha's spy he couldn't possibly have a truly good relationship with Kisame, who was under Obito's orders.
As for the remaining pair, Kakuzu and Hidan their relationship didn't have too many twists and turns; it was decent enough.
But don't expect much deep interaction between an old money-obsessed geezer and a zealous young guy obsessed with sacrifices every day. That was worlds apart from Sasori and Deidara, who at least shared art as a common topic.
Though one pursued the art of "eternal beauty" and the other the art of a single moment leading to frequent arguments there's a saying for that: truth emerges from debate.
"This blond young man must be the genius disciple of the Third Tsuchikage, Deidara, right? Achieving the strength to join the Akatsuki at such a young age truly impressive."
Looking at Deidara, who was clearly still very young, Furina couldn't help but sigh. Artists really are different such strength at this age meant inheriting the Tsuchikage position would have been a sure thing in the future.
But the guy just wouldn't do it. He could have stayed in the office messing with Kurotsuchi, yet he insisted on playing with his own clay. What could Furina even say? Only admiration.
"Oh oh, Sasori big bro, did you hear that? Someone actually recognizes me! Looks like my art is finally starting to be known to the world, yeah."
Deidara was only about sixteen or seventeen right now. After joining the Akatsuki, he had kept a fairly low profile he really hadn't expected to be recognized.
Still, that feeling was pretty nice. It was like his art was finally being acknowledged. Probably the same feeling Sasori big bro had when he got recognized earlier.
"I'm not deaf I can hear." Listening to his teammate's excited shouting, Sasori retorted irritably.
Couldn't he learn a little from the two young girls opposite them? They looked like they had just graduated from the ninja academy, yet they were so composed. His teammate's behavior was making him lose face too.
"Mm, got it, Sasori big bro."
"By the way, I've heard of your Akatsuki group you're a mercenary organization that takes on missions. You must be here because of a mission too.
But right now, the Land of This shouldn't have any forces left that can resist, right? Don't tell me the mission isn't complete yet. I shouldn't be part of the mission scope, should I?"
Seeing Deidara agree and prepare to make a move while Sasori also got into a combat stance, Furina could only keep stalling with conversation. Sure, she could fight if she had to but both opponents were quite strong.
And Uchiha Hikari's body still hadn't recovered. What if during the fight Uchiha Hikari tried to help again, shouting something like "this is my own choice"? That would be a total disaster.
So if she could avoid fighting, she had to try her best. Otherwise... she'd have to figure out how to escape. She wasn't one for pointless bravado.
Especially now, when a certain someone whose own body wasn't even healed yet was still forcing herself to help strategic retreat was even more necessary. After all, as long as the green hills remain, there will always be firewood to burn.
It just went to show that different people held different places in Furina's heart. She wasn't a saint she could be selfish too. She didn't want someone who would risk everything for her to get hurt because of strangers.
"This, huh."
Hearing this, both Sasori and Deidara temporarily set aside their intent to continue fighting. Furina's earlier words had some effect at least they put them in a good mood and made them less eager to jump into action.
"To explain in detail: after I wiped out the people in the daimyo's mansion, the mission was completed. The remaining people aren't part of the mission scope or rather, our mission was never to destroy this place entirely."
"Oh, is that so? Then it seems there's really no need for us to fight. With that energy, you two would be better off saving it to discuss your art."
"Right, yeah! Sasori big bro, our mission really is done. No need to fight Furina and the others anymore."
"Shut up. Even though the mission is complete, that doesn't mean it has to end here. After all, I heard she fought that guy Orochimaru to a draw I can't help but feel a little itchy myself."