In the forest at the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Rivers.
Two figures clad in black cloaks patterned with red clouds walked slowly, one ahead of the other.
"I'm telling you, old man Ōnoki is getting more and more timid," Deidara complained disgruntledly as he kneaded the white clay in his hands. "If he wants to know what Konoha is up to, wouldn't it be enough to send spies in directly? Iwagakure must have planted informants in Konoha too, right, Sasori? Hmm."
Konoha had recently undergone major upheaval, with Naruto Uzumaki becoming the newly appointed Fifth Hokage.
Naruto's declaration that he would "unify the ninja world" had already spread throughout the entire ninja world.
Naturally, it had reached the ears of the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, as well.
What concerned Ōnoki even more was that the spies he had planted in Konoha had successively lost contact.
Out of caution, Ōnoki was unwilling to casually send more spies deep inside, or directly clash with Konoha when its circumstances and strength were still unknown.
To uncover the truth of Konoha's internal situation and determine its next move, Ōnoki secretly hired Akatsuki through their old channels.
He commissioned them to investigate the military deployments along the border of the Land of Fire.
Although Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki were also investigating Konoha, they had no time to investigate the border.
Thus, they could only entrust Sasori and Deidara with scouting the border of the Land of Fire.
The one Deidara called "Brother Sasori" was the unusually short, slow-moving puppet beside him.
Sasori replied coldly, "No matter how capable Iwagakure's spies are, they may not be able to obtain a detailed map of the border defenses. Forcibly gathering intelligence would only make them easier to expose."
"So what are we