Ōnoki: Where's My Disciple?!

Iwagakure, Tsuchikage's Office

"What?! Deidara was taken away by Akatsuki?!"

In the Tsuchikage's office, Ōnoki suddenly sat up from his chair, his tone grave:

"What on earth is going on...?! My back is killing me!!"

Before he could finish speaking, a crisp sound came from his lumbar spine.

Ōnoki froze in mid-air for a moment, his old face contorted in excruciating pain, his hands clutching his lower back tightly, before he weakly slumped back into his chair.

"Ah... my old back."

"Lord Tsuchikage!!"

The Iwagakure standing in front of the desk almost Jonin wanted to rush forward to help him, but Ōnoki had already raised his still slightly trembling hand and waved it forcefully at him:

"First, let's not worry about such trivial matters."

"Quickly, tell me, what exactly happened?"

"Yes!"

The Iwagakure Jonin his back, trying his best to remain calm, but his tone still betrayed a hint of lingering fear:

"My subordinates were originally on surveillance duty near the abandoned temple where Deidara was located."

Suddenly, two people dressed in Black Cloak with Red Clouds appeared at the temple entrance.

They asked their subordinates if Deidara was there. The subordinates initially intended to drive them away, but upon meeting the eyes of the leader, they instantly lost consciousness.

When his subordinates awoke again, the temple was in its current dilapidated state, and Deidara...

The Iwagakure Jonin, his hands involuntarily clenching into fists:

"I'm afraid he's already been taken away by Akatsuki. I'm truly sorry! It's all my fault for failing in my duty, which is why Deidara... that's why he was..."

No, this is not your fault.

Ōnoki rubbed his still throbbing lower back, a meaningful glint in his eyes:

"Just asking, among those two Akatsuki members, is there a brat who carries two swords on his back, speaks in a cocky manner, and has a roguishly handsome look?"

"Swelling of the liver?"

The Iwagakure Jonin for a moment, tried to recall, and then shook his head uncertainly:

"They were all wearing straw hats at the time, so my subordinates couldn't see their faces clearly."

But there was indeed one person carrying two swords, which should match your description.

"... Then it's not surprising."

Ōnoki nodded slowly, and said in a complicated tone:

"After all, you were facing that Uchiha Kuro. It's only natural that you couldn't react in time and fell into his Genjutsu."

"Uchiha Kuro?! Is that the legendary Black Lightning?!"

The Iwagakure Jonin's eyes, which had been relatively calm, widened instantly.

"It's him again... Uchiha Kuro, what a troublesome guy."

Ōnoki looked at the densely packed documents on the table and sighed with a deep headache.

The situation in Iwagakure recently has been quite dire.

Economically, those rough men from Kumogakure, for some reason, suddenly started spending huge sums of money throughout the entire Ninja World, opening branches of some kind of the Notebook Association everywhere.

When the Fourth Raikage sent people to discuss entering the Land of Earth's market, Ōnoki scoffed at the idea!

What can a bunch of brutes accomplish? It's just young people messing around!

So he rejected the Notebook Association's request to join without hesitation, calmly waiting to see his old rival Kumogakure, make a fool of himself in front of the entire Ninja World.

Who would have thought that those roughnecks actually succeeded?!

Nowadays, Kumogakure can practically make money while lying down!

The glittering banknotes poured into the Kumogakure's treasury like a floodgate had been opened, making even a seasoned veteran like Ōnoki, who considered himself accustomed to grand occasions, envious.

The daimyo and nobles of the Land of Earth, who had rejected the Notebook Association because they listened to his advice, are now regretting it terribly, not even getting a sip of soup, let alone any meat!

"That Ōnoki has ruined our Land of Earth!" -- This phrase has now become the most widely circulated complaint among the noble circles of the Land of Earth.

This fatal misjudgment not only caused the Land of Earth to miss an important economic opportunity, but also caused the daimyo and nobles who had previously held him in high esteem to become much more distant.

Worse still, the nobles have recently issued a joint order to Iwagakure) to their deaths.

No matter the cost, the Land of Earth must participate in the Ninja World Notebook Association's territory!!

This gave Ōnoki a deep headache.

After all, the father of the Fourth Raikage of Kumogakure, the Third Raikage A, was beaten to death by Iwagakure during the last Ninja World War.

Now, he can't possibly swallow his pride and apologize to the Fourth Raikage. He can't exactly say something like, "We Iwagakure only killed your father, how can you hold a grudge against us until now?" to try and win him over!

Just as Ōnoki was struggling to withstand the immense pressure from the nobles and was frantically trying to figure out how to properly handle this troublesome matter with Kumogakure,

Another major piece of news, enough to affect the entire Ninja World's landscape, recently reached his ears:

Mist Village is about to formally ally with Konoha.

Moreover, Mist Village is also planning some Odd Jobs Agency project, which seems to be an opportunity to make a major foray into the inland market!

Ōnoki Kumogakure already exhausted by the messy affairs of the Kumogakure's Notebook Association, and now the news that Mist Village was going to join forces with Konoha made his head feel like it was going to explode.

And now, before he can even figure out how to deal with those two messy situations, he's received the devastating news that Deidara has been kidnapped by members of the Akatsuki.

Ōnoki slumped weakly into his chair, muttering through gritted teeth:

"That damned Notebook Association in Kumogakure kidnapped Deidara..."

"Really, aside from that messy alliance between Mist Village and Konoha, these other two things are both inextricably linked to that brat Uchiha Kuro."

"This is absolutely despicable!!"

He slammed his hand on the table, causing the steaming teacup on the corner to bounce slightly.

"Lord Tsuchikage!"

Jonin Ōnoki Iwagakure hesitated for a long time before finally cautiously asking:

"Is it appropriate for us to publicly criticize the Akatsuki forcibly taking Deidara away, in front of the entire Ninja World?"

This way, at least enough public pressure can be put on the Akatsuki, forcing them to release Deidara as soon as possible.

"... Release? Why release?"

Ōnoki rubbed his temples and asked calmly in return.

"Huh? Huh?!!"

The Iwagakure Jonin tilted his head, momentarily failing to understand the words that had just come from the Lord Tsuchikage.

Ōnoki looked at his completely bewildered subordinate, waved him casually, and a cold glint flashed in his eyes:

"Don't forget, we in Iwagakure have hired Akatsuki to do a lot of dirty and hard work for us. If we openly become enemies with Akatsuki now, it will only cause unnecessary trouble and losses for Iwagakure."

More importantly, we at Iwagakure currently have a host of troublesome matters to deal with.

Before I've finished dealing with those important matters, I don't have the energy to deal with that brat Deidara.

"In a way, it's a good thing that the Akatsuki took that troublemaker away for us."

Hearing Ōnoki's explanation, the Iwagakure Jonin couldn't help but recall the horrific scene of Deidara frequently using Clay Bomb to blast the Training Ground and even the exterior walls of the Tsuchikage Building into ruins.

He nodded with deep feeling, but then, as if remembering something, he shook his head vigorously:

"But, but Lord Tsuchikage! No matter how much trouble Deidara causes, he is still your disciple and the undisputed number one genius of the younger generation in Iwagakure!"

Is it really okay to just let him be taken away by the Akatsuki?

"Don't worry."

Ōnoki looked at his worried subordinate and smiled shrewdly:

"We, Iwagakure, are the Akatsuki among the Five Great Shinobi Villages for mission requests."

If Xiao wants to continue receiving high-level, well-paid missions from us, she must maintain regular contact with us.

At that time, we will naturally have the opportunity to meet Deidara again.

Furthermore, allowing that kid to operate outside as a member of Akatsuki for the time being allows him to do things that were previously restricted by his Iwagakure identity, now under the guise of a missing-nin.

Ōnoki paused, his eyes gleaming with even more cunning:

"More importantly, it would be a good thing for that brat to get away from the comfortable environment of the village and go to the Akatsuki to suffer some real hardship."

Once he's been worn down by reality and suffered enough, he'll naturally understand—life in the village was the most comfortable!

The Iwagakure Jonin in realization.

He looked at the Lord Tsuchikage, who was leisurely picking up his teacup with a smug smile on his lips, and bowed deeply with utmost respect:

"To think that far ahead... truly worthy of the Lord Tsuchikage!!"

Ōnoki brought the still-steaming teacup to his lips, gently blew on it, and recalled his current miserable state, overwhelmed by the two messy affairs of Kumogakure and Mist Village.

Then he thought of that brat who always had "Art is an Explosion" on his lips, causing chaos throughout the entire Iwagakure. Right now, he was probably being ordered around by those dangerous members of the Akatsuki, suffering a miserable and disheveled fate.

A feeling of profound comfort welled up from the bottom of my heart instantly.

Ōnoki tilted his head back and let out a series of gleeful laughs:

"That Deidara kid is probably suffering in Akatsuki right now, crying and begging to come back, hahaha!!"

The Iwagakure looked awkwardly Jonin Ōnoki, who was laughing wildly in front of him, and then joined in the laughter.

"Hahahaha..."

"Gagagagaga!!!"