Pain's Intervention

When Houka reached the entrance of Takigakure, a sense of foreboding suddenly welled up in his heart.

Could it be... Deidara?

With Deidara's self-destructive personality, would he really refrain from causing trouble just because he had been told not to? When had he ever been so obedient?

Houka hurriedly turned and ran back, creating Shadow Clones at the same time and having them use the Chakra Sensory Technique to find Deidara.

"Found him! He's at the entrance to Commercial Street!" Handsome No. 1's Shadow Clone shouted.

Houka vanished from where he stood in an instant.

At that moment, Deidara was holding the hand of a little girl with short teal hair, wearing a weasel-like grin as he coaxed her. "Hey, kid, this is good stuff. Just inject some chakra into it, and it'll explode like fireworks. It's really pretty!"

"Really?"

The little girl was none other than Kaede, Takigakure's Seven-Tails Jinchuriki.

"Of course. You're so cute—why would I lie to you? Hmm." Deidara smiled until his eyes narrowed into slits.

As long as one of these bombs exploded, all the others would be detonated in an instant. By then, the buildings and crowds along these two entire streets would be blown to bits!

It'd be great if I could set them off myself.

The moment that thought surfaced, Houka's words—Don't cause trouble—rose from the depths of Deidara's heart like the toll of a morning bell and an evening drum, ringing in his ears and inexplicably filling him with guilt.

Was what I was doing right or wrong?

Just as Deidara began to struggle, he suddenly bit his tongue and silently warned himself: I absolutely can't be defeated by that idiot bastard Uchiha Houka's Genjutsu! I, Deidara, only obey myself. I will never obey anyone else's orders!

The moment he thought