Kakashi frowned. What the hell is this bastard saying?
He took a slow breath, deciding not to bite on that hook.
"Kazekage-sama."
He changed the subject, his gaze sweeping over the mangled remains of Kakuzu scattered around them.
"These bodies… how are you planning to deal with them?"
Teizawa glanced at the tendrils that were still twitching faintly and waved a hand like it was nothing.
"Someone will clean it up."
He paused, then looked to Kakashi and Guy, sincerity in his eyes.
"Today, we really have you two to thank."
"If you hadn't held that old monster back and kept him from linking up with the others, the fallout could've been ugly."
Guy flashed a wide grin.
"Kazekage-sama! We just did what we were supposed to do!"
Kakashi didn't answer.
He simply watched Teizawa.
Deep in that visible eye, something flickered.
This man…
From beginning to end, he'd been too calm.
Calm when the explosion happened.
Calm now that the fighting was over.
As if everything had been within his expectations.
Kakashi suddenly remembered what Tsunade-sama had told him before he left.
"Teizawa… he's a little off."
Now he understood.
What "off" really meant.
It was when you thought you were the one controlling the situation…
Only to realize you'd been standing on his board the whole time.
"Kakashi-san?"
Teizawa's voice yanked him back to reality.
"Are you alright? Want me to have someone take you to rest?"
"Our medical unit isn't bad."
Kakashi shook his head, snapping fully awake.
"No. I'm fine. I can handle myself."
He hesitated, then couldn't stop himself from asking anyway.
"Kazekage-sama… the enemies in the other directions…"
"Pretty much wrapped up. Other than one delinquent kid, everything's been taken care of."
"Delinquent… kid?"
Kakashi blinked, not following.
Teizawa clearly had no intention of explaining. He went on in that same offhand tone.
"The rest is on Sunagakure. We'll deal with it ourselves."
He paused, then cast another glance back toward that long, chaotic stretch of battlefield.
"You don't need to be involved anymore."
Kakashi's pupils tightened.
Don't need us?
His mouth opened, like he wanted to ask something.
In the end, he asked nothing.
Because in that instant, he realized…
No matter what he asked, the man in front of him would have an answer.
And that answer might not be something he wanted to hear.
"Go rest."
Teizawa turned and started walking back the way he'd come.
"You two head back and regroup. We'll talk again tomorrow."
Guy was still muttering about "youth," "hot-blooded spirit," and "victory."
Kakashi stood where he was, staring at that retreating back.
For a long time.
Then he let out a quiet sigh and left together with the shinobi beside him.
Right now, the priority was linking up with Konoha's group.
Behind them, several Sunagakure ANBU silently gathered up Kakuzu's corpse.
The Earth Grudge Fear tendrils finally stopped twitching.
…
"Damn it…"
Deidara's voice echoed through the ruins, furious and impatient.
"Come out here! Fight me head-on!"
He stood atop a relatively flat pile of rubble, hands constantly tossing out clay bombs.
But every burst of flame and shockwave was blocked, again and again, by layers of sand surging up to meet it.
A sand shield.
That "thin" wall of sand felt like an unbridgeable chasm, sealing his art outside no matter what he did.
"You turtle! Coward!"
Deidara cursed as he threw, not slowing for a second.
The firelight painted his face red, but the expression there only grew more frantic.
Gaara floated in midair.
"Attacking the village…"
He spoke slowly, his voice calm and cold.
"Unforgivable."
The moment the words fell, he lifted a hand.
Sand from the ground surged upward, forming countless hands that lunged at Deidara from every direction.
"Again…"
Deidara rolled away messily, throwing several bombs back in reflex.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The sand hands scattered under the blasts.
But the grains immediately re-formed, gathering into shape and lunging again.
Endless.
Deidara panted, sweat beading at his forehead.
His explosions, at this level, were almost useless against this kind of defense.
No matter how much he blew apart, it just reassembled.
And that damn Jinchuriki was floating up there. Deidara couldn't even reach him.
He still had plenty of trump cards.
C2 Dragon. C3…
And that one he'd developed specifically to deal with Itachi Uchiha…
But he didn't want to use them.
Those were his real art.
For opponents who were actually worthy.
Using them here felt like a waste.
And besides…
He glanced up at Gaara hovering in the sky, sensing that faint, skin-prickling chakra pressure.
A tailed beast's presence.
This guy had already started tapping into that power.
Deidara grit his teeth.
What a pain.
If he'd known he'd run into an opponent like this, he would've prepared a few more contingencies.
But what really made his blood boil was…
He couldn't fly.
That damned Kazekage had shut down "airspace."
Without a clay bird, he was stuck on the ground like a living target, getting chased around by that sand monster.
It wasn't worth it at all.
As he dodged, Deidara calculated whether he should use that.
Self-destruction.
His final art. The most dazzling bloom.
But if he used it…
That was it. He'd be gone.
No. No, no. Not there yet.
He shook his head irritably and threw another string of bombs, blasting open a path through the sand hands closing in.
…
Far away, on a rooftop that was still mostly intact.
Teizawa stood with his hands behind his back, watching quietly.
A faint smile slowly surfaced at the corner of his mouth.
Interesting.
In the original storyline, Gaara had been forced back step by step, then kidnapped, had his tailed beast extracted, and nearly died.
But now…
Teizawa watched the red-haired boy floating above the battlefield, controlling the sand with composure.
A flash of satisfaction crossed his eyes.
Still green. Still rough around the edges.
But to be able to draw on Shukaku's power at all, and fight Deidara to this extent…
That was already good.
After all, even if Deidara was "so-so," he was still core Akatsuki.
An S-rank missing-nin who could solo a One-Tail Jinchuriki.
"Still…"
Teizawa's gaze settled on Deidara, eyes narrowing slightly.
That blond bastard looked like he was cursing and flailing and scrambling for his life.
But in his eyes…
There wasn't any real panic.
He still had something up his sleeve.
Teizawa knew it.
Deidara looked crazy, but he was sharp.
He'd survived this long on more than power alone.
…
He also had that frighteningly keen intuition.
He knew when to gamble his life, and when to pull out.
And…
Teizawa's eyes traveled over Deidara like he was evaluating merchandise.
This guy, to a certain extent…
Was actually talented as hell.
Explosion Release was top-tier in pure destructive output.
And his clay constructs, in creativity and imagination, were in a league of their own.
"Think Deidara could hand-make a nuke one day?"
Teizawa couldn't help letting the thought drift.
Of course, the most important part was…
In Teizawa's eyes, Deidara's nature was pure.
Pure in his pursuit of art. Pure in his pursuit of the ultimate beauty of explosion.
People that pure…
If you used them right, they became the sharpest blade in your hand.
A glint of ambition flashed through Teizawa's eyes.
Maybe…
It was worth trying to recruit him.
He'd already taken Sasori in.
If he could take Deidara too…
Two Kage-level fighters, both top-tier long-range damage dealers.
Add Gaara and Chiyo on top of that.
Sunagakure's high-end combat echelon would be complete.
"The only question is…"
Teizawa murmured, eyes resting on Deidara's furious face.
"How hard is that artist temperament going to be to soothe?"
In the distance, Deidara dodged another wave of sand hands and screamed up at the sky.
"Bastard! If you've got the guts, come down and fight me! Hiding up there, what kind of hero is that?!"
Gaara's expression didn't change.
"I'm Gaara."
He paused, then added in the same flat tone.
"Not a hero."
Deidara choked on his own words, unable to respond.
Teizawa shook his head, then blurred forward, heading toward the battlefield.
Time to step in.
If Deidara kept cursing like that…
He was worried Gaara, that silent brick, might actually get so annoyed he injured himself out of spite.
(End of Chapter)
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