"Hey… you should probably put out those flames in the lake down there before they wreck the environment!"
To ease the awkward tension, Kazama quickly changed the subject.
"Understood!"
With a light wave of its hand, the fire spirit formed from Guren Goka (Lotus Hellfire) extinguished all the strange flames in the lake below.
"If there are no further orders, I'll take my leave. I'll reappear when my master is in danger!"
Without waiting for Kazama's response, the fire spirit transformed into a wisp of flame and returned to his body.
"She's got such a striking look, but her personality's like an iceberg. And she even calls herself 'this seat'—talk about acting all high and mighty! Someone who didn't know better might think she's my master!"
As the Guren Goka settled back into his body, Kazama wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
"This Guren Goka, ranked eighth among the strange flames, is already this powerful. I can't even imagine how insane the seventh or sixth ones must be!"
While musing, Kazama used Kotsurei Hika (Bone Spirit Cold Fire) to freeze the unconscious Sanbi Isobu into an ice sculpture.
He planned to take it back to his Otogakure (Hidden Sound Village) to serve as the village's Tailed Beast.
After all, every ninja village in the Five Great Nations had their own Tailed Beast. If his Otogakure didn't have one, wouldn't that be way too embarrassing?
"You jerk! You tricked us and hogged the Sanbi all to yourself!"
Deidara and Sasori, who had seen through Kazama's Mokuton Bunshin (Wood Clone) trick, finally caught up to him.
But when they saw the entire lake dried up and reduced to a barren pit, they exchanged stunned looks.
They'd never seen anyone cause a battle scene like this before.
"Just how terrifying was the fight that happened here?!"
Just thinking about it sent chills down Deidara and Sasori's spines.
As the two stood there in shock, they suddenly noticed the Sanbi Isobu, frozen into an ice sculpture by Kotsurei Hika.
Deidara was so startled he nearly fell off his giant clay bird.
"You… you actually…"
Sasori let out an incredulous exclamation as well.
Good thing Sasori was a puppet, or he'd probably be just as slack-jawed as Deidara.
They'd known for a while that Kazama was strong—way beyond your average ninja.
But since they'd never fought him themselves, they always thought the rumors about him were exaggerated.
Now, seeing with their own eyes how Kazama single-handedly turned the Sanbi into an ice sculpture, they realized every rumor about him was true.
"Perfect timing! Next, I'll use the ultimate genjutsu, Betsu Tensei (Another Heaven), to control you both and make you serve me!"
With that thought, Kazama grinned at Deidara and Sasori.
Since he could use Betsu Tensei an unlimited number of times, he figured it'd be better to recruit them to his side rather than kill them.
Not only would they provide intel on Akatsuki, but they could even join his Otogakure in the future.
So, Kazama decided to first restrain their movements and then cast Betsu Tensei on them.
"Deidara, what do you think of this 'art'—freezing the Sanbi into an ice sculpture? Pretty cool, right?"
"Hmph! Don't think you can get cocky just because you took down the Sanbi, kid. I'm not out of tricks yet. Let me show you what real art looks like—C4 Garuda!"
Knowing Kazama wasn't an easy opponent, Deidara went straight for his trump card.
Unfortunately, while Deidara's Bakuton (Explosion Release) was impressive, it was useless against Kazama, a master of Raiton (Lightning Release).
The moment Deidara's C4 Garuda took shape, Kazama's Kyuryu Rai Gohi (Nine Dragon Thunder Flame) shattered it into pieces.
What Deidara didn't realize was that those nine flaming dragons also contained top-tier Raiton chakra.
So, he immediately started mocking Kazama.
"Haha, you're not as impressive as the rumors say! My C4 Garuda isn't afraid of your attacks—it wants you to hit it! The harder you strike, the bigger the explosion! Boom!"
With Deidara's shout, he expected a massive explosion… but instead, there was only dead silence.