Instant Art is inferior to Konan, Eternal Art is inferior to Pain

"Huh? Deidara, why haven't you left yet?

And what do you mean my strength is too lacking and I'd ruin the cool factor?

The one really ruining the cool factor is someone who got trapped and needed the other members to rescue him, isn't it?"

Seeing Deidara suddenly appear to stir things up, Kurotsuchi was immediately displeased. Her sharp tongue spared him no mercy.

After snapping at Deidara, Kurotsuchi suddenly tilted her head and scratched it. "Wait, what did you just call this guy? Strategist?!"

"Deidara called you Strategist, which means that perverted deterrence plan of yours was proposed by you?"

Kurotsuchi stared at Shirozumi with an incredulous expression.

After standing there in a daze for a while, she finally let out a breath and spat out a few words. "You really can't judge a person by their appearance..."

"Forget it."

Kurotsuchi shook her head, then raised it and looked at Shirozumi with utmost seriousness in her eyes. "I'll be direct. I want to join you because I want to learn your organization's intelligence. Iwagakure still comes first in my heart.

"But if your organization truly is what you said it is—something meant to protect the Shinobi World—then I can serve as the link between you and Iwagakure."

At that, Kurotsuchi spoke first and cut off Ōnoki, who had been about to stop her. "Old man, don't try to persuade me. I'll remember your will, but your way of thinking is already outdated."

Looking aggrieved, Ōnoki retreated to the side before flying straight down to issue the order for the Iwagakure Ninja below to withdraw.

"Deidara, come out."

"..."

Deidara walked out of the rock cave with an unhappy look on his face, still chewing something.

Kurotsuchi immediately assumed a guarded stance.

"I'm eating ration pills, not clay!"

Deidara shot Kurotsuchi an irritated glare.

Even though an old acquaintance was joining the organization without becoming an official member, Deidara was still somewhat unhappy about it.

After giving the order to retreat, Ōnoki flew back up.

"Since the Tsuchikage has ordered the retreat and they've mostly withdrawn, Konan, you can begin your 'drill.'"

Shirozumi spoke toward the air above.

Konan, who had been floating above the rock wall, slowly revealed herself. The white wings formed from sheets of paper behind her back fluttered twice as she descended and stopped in front of Shirozumi.

"Let's go," Konan said.

"Deidara..."

Shirozumi looked at Deidara.

"Let Kurotsuchi fly on her own, yeah."

Deidara summoned a clay bird, jumped onto it alone, and flew off immediately.

"Fine, I'll fly myself. Tch, he hasn't even learned the Light-Weight Rock Technique, yet he needs a clay bird just to fly. What's he so proud of?"

Kurotsuchi curled her lip.

"Then, Lord Tsuchikage, we'll be taking our leave. You should also get farther away from the mountain. We prepared several hundred thousand firecrackers for this first meeting."

As Shirozumi spoke, he moved away from the rock wall and floated backward.

"Hm?"

Ōnoki froze for a moment, then noticed layers upon layers of Explosive Tags appearing on the rock wall before him, already beginning to glow. He was instantly startled.

Not caring whether he might throw out his back, he hurriedly retreated in the same direction as Shirozumi and the others.

Immediately afterward, the rock wall where they had been standing erupted in an endless chain of explosions.

As everyone knew, to deal with the Masked Man, Konan had prepared 600 billion Explosive Tags, and she had even said that she had "practiced many times before."

This was the opportunity Shirozumi had found for Konan to conduct a drill.

During that time just now, Konan had covered the entire rock mountain's cliff face with Explosive Tags.

The cliff happened to be trapezoidal, with two protrusions on its sides.

When it exploded, it formed the perfect shape of a "Patrick Star."

Hearing the explosions, Deidara turned around atop his clay bird and froze.

He stopped the bird in midair. As soon as Shirozumi and Konan caught up, he immediately asked, "Strategist, that just now was..."

"That's right. That was White Tiger's secret technique, and it's only the preliminary version."

Shirozumi stepped forward and patted Deidara on the shoulder. "Deidara, your fleeting art still falls far short of White Tiger's.

"And your teammate Sasori—his puppet technique is nowhere near the Leader's Pain of the Six Paths.

"Though White Tiger and the Leader do not pursue art, if you cannot surpass even these 'outsiders' who do not pursue art in their respective fields, then I think you should refrain from casually calling yourselves artists."

So, work hard."

"Mm."

Deidara nodded earnestly.

"Seriously? Deidara, you got lectured and didn't even argue back? When the old man lectured you before, weren't you always dissatisfied?"

Kurotsuchi, who had rushed over, was somewhat surprised by the sight.

"What do you know? The Strategist's knowledge and understanding of art are beyond anything you could imagine."

"Oh, right, Strategist, I want to know your evaluation of Kurotsuchi."

Deidara winked at Shirozumi.

Don't misunderstand—Deidara hadn't suddenly lost his mind and decided to play matchmaker.

What he meant was that he wanted Shirozumi's assessment of what Kurotsuchi would be like in the future, so he could finally win one back and mock her properly.

"Leg Shadow."

"What kind of evaluation is that?"

Deidara was completely baffled.

"Leg Shadow, Leg Shadow—you mentioned that term when you first appeared. What exactly does it mean?"

With her hands on her hips, Kurotsuchi floated over to Shirozumi.

"Fourth Tsuchikage."

"Oh? You think I'll become the Fourth Tsuchikage? Then you do have good judgment. So Leg Shadow is another name for the Fourth Tsuchikage?"

Hearing Shirozumi say that, Kurotsuchi proudly raised her chin.

But she was still confused.

What was with the legs? She didn't know any special ninjutsu that used her legs.

"She became Tsuchikage because Iwagakure had no one else left, right?"

Deidara curled his lip.

"More or less." Shirozumi nodded.

"Huh?"

Kurotsuchi was full of question marks.

It wasn't that she was unhappy about Shirozumi saying she became Tsuchikage because Iwagakure had run out of talent. Rather, she found the conversation between the two strange.

Why did it feel like they weren't discussing whether it was possible in the future, but something that had already happened?

How could they speak so certainly?

"The scenery over there is great! Mm."

Deidara seemed to realize that there had been a flaw in their earlier conversation. He whistled twice, then suddenly pointed at the distant sunset with a look of delight.

"Deidara, that was way too fake!"

Black lines appeared over Kurotsuchi's head.

"Strategist, should we tell her? Or should we kill her to keep her quiet?"

Deidara wiped the smile from his face and sought Shirozumi's opinion.

"There's nothing that can't be said. I'm actually from the Shinobi World twenty years in the future, and I know what will happen.

What I just told you and the Tsuchikage was that groups of people would invade the Shinobi World in the future. Before their strength, the Five Kage would be utterly helpless."

"...Your repeated honesty is giving me a headache."

Kurotsuchi clutched her head.

Upon hearing that, she should have been suspicious. But for some reason, after everything that had happened just now, Kurotsuchi instinctively felt that Shirozumi wasn't lying to her.

"Then... what happened to Iwagakure in the future?"

Kurotsuchi did not ask Shirozumi to prove it. Instead, she asked directly.