"You talk too much."
Kisame grinned. "Finished yet?"
Itachi remained expressionless. "Hard to say. I'll handle this."
As he spoke, his scarlet three-tomoe Sharingan slowly spun to life.
Deidara scoffed. "What's with those eyes? Looking for a fight?"
"If I win," Itachi said calmly, "you join Akatsuki."
"Don't underestimate me! And don't belittle art!" Deidara snapped. "My ninjutsu is the ultimate aesthetic—art that transcends all!"
A clay centipede slipped into his left hand behind his back, while his right tossed out a clay spider.
"Witness my art! Hah!"
Itachi leapt clear of the spider—but the centipede burst from underground, coiling around him.
Deidara smirked. "All that confidence for this? It's over."
"You should look at yourself first," Itachi replied quietly.
Deidara froze.
"What—?! How—?!"
Kisame chuckled. "That was close. You nearly blew yourself up."
Sasori added dryly, "Told you he was the short-lived type."
"Genjutsu…?" Deidara trembled. "When did it—?"
"From the beginning," Kisame said. "The moment you looked into Itachi's Sharingan."
Sunlight streamed through the blasted wall, illuminating Itachi's figure.
Deidara stared, awestruck.
"So beautiful… Is this… art?"
The clay centipede dropped harmlessly. Deidara covered one eye, humiliated.
"I was captivated by someone else's ability? That's art? No—I refuse to accept it!"
"You lost," Itachi stated.
Grinding his teeth, Deidara carved a slash across his Iwagakure forehead protector.
"Fine! But I'll get this back someday! Damn Sharingan!"
He donned the Akatsuki cloak.
Thus, Deidara of the Azure Dragon joined.
The Hunt for Orochimaru
Pain issued their next command.
"Sasori. Deidara. Hunt down Orochimaru."
Sasori's eyes gleamed. "Finally."
Deidara blinked. "Who's Orochimaru?"
"You'll find out," Sasori replied.
In the Land of Wind, they traced him to the Eastern Great Sand Dunes—Sasori's old territory.
Soon, Orochimaru emerged.
"I expected Itachi," he said lazily. "So you're the executioners?"
"I'll kill you without hesitation, traitor," Sasori answered coldly.
Deidara mounted a clay bird, circling above.
Sasori summoned his ultimate puppet—
The Third Kazekage.
Orochimaru smiled.
"You like treasures. So do I."
A coffin rose from the sand.
Out stepped—
The Third Kazekage.
Reanimated.
"Scorpion… how dare you…" the Kazekage growled.
"You used a forbidden technique?" Sasori demanded.
"Impure World Reincarnation," Orochimaru replied smoothly. "Your puppet or my jutsu—let's see which prevails."
The two Kazekages clashed in a storm of Iron Sand.
Sasori shattered the reanimated body—
Only for it to regenerate instantly.
"Immortality takes many forms," Orochimaru mused. "Even in death."
Deidara swooped down.
"Art is an explosion! Hah!"
Clay birds rained down.
BOOM!
The Kazekage was obliterated—
And reformed moments later.
Deidara gaped. "I blew him to dust! Why isn't he dead?!"
"Once you die," Orochimaru said pleasantly, "I may revive you like this too. Though I prefer Itachi's body."
Sasori's killing intent flared.
The battle intensified.
Yet thanks to unlimited chakra and regeneration, the Edo Tensei Kazekage gradually gained the advantage.
Then—
The Kazekage began resisting.
"I am the strongest Kazekage! I will not be a pawn!"
Cracks spread across the summoning control.
Orochimaru clicked his tongue. "Still imperfect, hm?"
The instant the Kazekage collapsed—
Orochimaru fled without hesitation.
Deidara bombarded the cave entrance.
"Art is an explosion! Hah!"
The hidden base was reduced to rubble.
But no corpse was found.
Akatsuki Meeting
Back at the base, Sasori reported.
"No body. Status unknown."
"Itachi," Pain said, "your thoughts?"
"It's the Second Hokage's forbidden technique," Itachi replied. "Impure World Reincarnation. The dead cannot be killed again. Only sealed."
"So kill Orochimaru?" Deidara suggested.
"Even then," Itachi answered, "the technique won't necessarily cease."
Pain concluded, "Monitor him closely."
Sasori muttered to Deidara, "No one here is ordinary."
Hidden Sound Village
Inside a secret laboratory—
Orochimaru conducted experiment after experiment with Yakushi Kabuto assisting.
"The jutsu is incomplete," he murmured.
He sought perfection.
True immortality.
Revenge on Konoha.
The ultimate truth of this world.
"Once Impure World Reincarnation is perfected," he whispered, eyes gleaming, "even Kage-level shinobi will be my chess pieces."
Akatsuki's pursuit meant little to him.
He might lose direct combat—
But in research?
He was leagues ahead.
"Until then… I'll remain hidden."
"When I emerge next time…"
A thin smile curled across his lips.
"I will rewrite the history of the ninja world."
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