Rumble.
The enormous explosion lit the dim sky a fiery red!
Standing on her Clay Bird, Deidara stared at the mushroom cloud rising in the distance and wept with excitement. "Art is an Explosion!"
Delta flew in front of Deidara. "What—what did you do?"
Deidara said, "Weren't you the ones who told me to hold them off?"
Delta said, "But... Never mind. There's no getting through to a lunatic like you! A large enemy force has appeared to the south. The Engineering Unit is still reinforcing the area, so they need you to hold them off!"
"I'm on it!"
Deidara plunged both hands into the clay pouches at his waist and urged the Clay Bird beneath him toward the south.
Delta called after him, "Hey! If you can't hold them, send word back. Don't die without a sound and leave us caught off guard!"
Deidara smiled. "If I die, you'll see my gravestone! It'll be huge, beautiful, and bright!"
"Lunatic!"
Delta turned and flew back to the camp below.
The camp was bustling. The Engineering Unit was laying small "reinforcement stakes," while the Sensory Unit carefully scanned the surrounding area.
Making his way through the busy crowds, Delta reached the edge of the camp.
Outside, a team was assembling: a three-man combat squad and an Engineering Unit. Its leader was Ranmaru, one of the Research Institute's elite squad members. The two other members of his combat squad were none other than Kakuzu and Hidan, his former comrades in the Akatsuki Organization.
In a crisis like this, even prisoners had to take on combat assignments. So Kakuzu and Hidan had been released by the Research Institute and assigned to the Prisoner Unit. Ranmaru was both their squad leader and their guard.
Delta glanced at Kakuzu and Hidan, then fixed her gaze