Communication

(You didn't think I'd forgotten about Team Guy, did you? Hehe.)

The moment Team Guy broke the Five-Seal Barrier, they triggered a trap.

It was not an explosion, nor was it poison gas—it was a mirror dimension. The six of them tore off the sealing tags at the same time. As the barrier shattered, the ground beneath Might Guy, Rock Lee, Neji, and Tenten suddenly flipped over, and the four fell into a pure white void. There was no sky, no ground, only endless white stretching into the distance—and the people standing before them: themselves.

Standing opposite Guy was another Guy, with a green jumpsuit, thick brows, a bowl cut, even the exact same upward curve at the corners of his mouth. Opposite Rock Lee stood another Rock Lee, opposite Neji stood another Neji, and opposite Tenten stood another Tenten.

Mirror clones.

Guy threw a tentative punch. The mirror did the same, matching him perfectly in strength, speed, and angle. Their fists collided. Guy staggered back three steps, and the mirror staggered back three steps as well.

The mirror said nothing and charged again. The same Leaf Great Whirlwind, with the same force and speed. Guy twisted aside to evade, and the mirror twisted aside too—no, the mirror was not copying Guy's movements. Its movements were the exact opposite of his. Guy moved left, the mirror moved right. Guy threw a right punch, the mirror threw a left punch. The mirror was his reflection: whatever he did, it did in reverse.

Guy closed his eyes, then snapped them open and drove a fist toward the mirror's abdomen—the mirror did not react, because it was still waiting for Guy to move first. But Guy's punch was not an attack. It was a feint. Just as his fist was about to touch the mirror, Guy forcibly withdrew his strength and leaned back.

The mirror's fist swept past the tip of Guy's nose.

"Got you."

Guy's foot kicked the mirror in the knee. The mirror lost its balance and shattered into motes of light as it fell.

Like Guy, the others all had to put in some effort, but they eventually made it out of the dimension.

Neji brushed the dust from himself, his Byakugan habitually sweeping the area before abruptly stopping.

"Someone's here."

Guy's hand rested on a kunai.

A figure stepped out from behind a stone pillar. He was tall, half a head taller than Guy, with dark brown skin.

"Yunju?" Neji recognized him first.

After two and a half years apart, Yunju had changed greatly. He was nothing like the bandaged Sound Ninja Neji remembered, nor was he anything like the silent youth who had first arrived in Konoha two years ago. His skin was much darker than before, evidence of long-term outdoor training. He had shot up in height, and the muscle lines in his shoulders and arms stretched his jonin vest taut. Standing there, he radiated an aura that said, "Don't mess with me." But his eyes had not changed—the same deep, quiet eyes as before, like a pool of water that would never ripple.

Team Guy had run into Yunju several times in Leaf Village before. When Yunju had first arrived in Konoha, Guy had brought Rock Lee over to greet him—not because of a mission, but because Guy had heard about Yunju's one-on-one fight with Neji in the Forest of Death and wanted to see just how strong he was. They had not fought during that meeting. Guy had simply patted Yunju on the shoulder, said, "Just as expected of youth!" and dragged Rock Lee away.

Over the past two years, Yunju had learned the Yin Seal and Hundred Healings, and had also mastered the Fire-Water Dragon Bullet. Tsunade even believed that Yunju at full strength could briefly possess combat power comparable to a Kage.

"Hello, Teacher Guy." Yunju nodded in greeting.

"What are you doing here?" Neji asked.

"Lady Tsunade sent me." Yunju did not elaborate. "Team Kakashi is ahead. I followed them for a while."

"You saw Naruto?" Rock Lee asked.

"I did. He was fighting Deidara." Yunju's tone was flat, as though he were talking about what he had eaten that day. "I didn't intervene because I kept feeling that someone was watching from the shadows. I didn't want to expose my position recklessly."

Guy frowned slightly. "Who were they watching?"

"I don't know," Yunju said. "It might have been my imagination."

Guy did not press the matter. Konoha's ANBU sometimes carried out confidential missions. If Yunju would not say, Guy would not ask.

"Where is Team Kakashi now?" Guy asked.

"Deidara escaped. Naruto is carrying Gaara's body back, and Kakashi is with him."

Yunju did not explain further. He turned and motioned for Team Guy to follow. The six continued forward along the mountain path.

As they traveled, Yunju's thoughts returned to half an hour earlier.

When Deidara burst out of the dense forest, he was clutching the wound where his arm had been severed with his left hand. His steps were unsteady, and the expression on his face was not fear, but a twisted mixture of fury and unwillingness. He stumbled onto the far side of a high ridge, slid down against a rock, pulled bandages and hemostatic medicine from his ninja tool pouch, and began treating the wound on his right shoulder.

The stump was ragged, torn apart by spatial distortion rather than cut by a blade. Deidara clenched one end of the bandage between his teeth and awkwardly wrapped it around his shoulder with his left hand. With every loop, another layer of cold sweat appeared on his forehead.

"The Sharingan..." Deidara gritted out through clenched teeth. "That Sharingan... it's disgusting."

He yanked the bandage tight, and the intense pain made his face twitch.

"And that Nine-Tails brat... that Rasengan... tch." Deidara leaned against the rock and looked up at the sky. "Every last one of them is such a pain..."

He fell silent for a few seconds, then suddenly cursed under his breath.

"That bastard Itachi... if it weren't for him, I wouldn't have come to this damned place... one day... one day I'll blow him to pieces..."

His voice was not loud, but it carried clearly across the open ridge.

"Itachi Uchiha is a member of Akatsuki, isn't he?"

Deidara's pupils shrank sharply. He sprang off the ground as though shocked by lightning, his left hand already pressing against the clay pouch at his waist. He turned and saw a tall figure standing at the edge of the ridge, backlit so that his face could not be seen clearly.

"Who?!"

Yunju stepped out of the light. His hands were not forming seals, there was no kunai at his waist, and his posture was as relaxed as if he were taking a stroll.

"Although I am a Konoha ninja," Yunju said, "I mean you no harm."

Deidara's gaze quickly swept over Yunju—Konoha jonin vest, dark skin, black hair, no conspicuous ninja tools. His chakra reserves... he could not sense the bottom of them. It was not that there was none. It was too deep, like a bottomless well.

"When did you start following me?" Deidara lowered his voice, crushing a lump of clay in his left hand.

"When you ran out of the forest." Yunju stopped about ten meters away from Deidara and did not move closer. "I originally intended to attack you directly."

Deidara's left hand tensed.

"But I changed my mind."

Yunju looked at Deidara, his gaze moving from the severed arm to his pale face.

"Kakashi's space-time secret technique and Naruto's special chakra—either one alone would be enough to give most people hell. The fact that you managed to escape and keep your life was already not easy." Yunju's tone held neither flattery nor mockery. He was simply stating the facts. "Your explosive tactics are indeed impressive. If it had been anyone else, they could never have broken through while seriously injured."

The corner of Deidara's mouth twitched—whether he wanted to laugh or curse, even he seemed unsure.

"What exactly are you trying to say?"

Yunju did not answer directly. He took out a palm-sized paper packet from his ninja tool pouch, placed it on the ground, and then stepped back a few paces.

"Medicine for injuries. It stops bleeding, reduces inflammation, and speeds wound healing. It's issued by Konoha's medical corps. It'll work better than wrapping bandages around yourself."

Deidara looked at the paper packet on the ground, then at Yunju. He did not move.

"If you don't want it, you can throw it away," Yunju said. "I'm leaving it here. You decide."

Deidara was silent for several seconds. He looked down at the wound on his right shoulder, still seeping blood, then looked at the paper packet.

"You said you're a Konoha ninja." Deidara did not pick up the packet, but he stopped kneading clay. "A Konoha ninja is giving me medicine?"

"Konoha and Akatsuki are enemies, yes," Yunju said. "But you and Itachi Uchiha do not seem to be on the same side either."

Deidara's expression changed.

"Itachi Uchiha is a Konoha missing-nin," Yunju said. "Sooner or later, Konoha will settle that score with him."

Deidara narrowed his eyes slightly.

"What are you trying to say?"

"What I'm trying to say is—" Yunju paused. "I want to learn your explosive ability."

Deidara froze for a moment.

"I've seen many kinds of ninjutsu, but you're the first person I've seen turn explosions into art," Yunju said. "Your clay birds, your tracking grasshoppers, and those fireworks exploding in the sky—they aren't just powerful. They're beautiful."

Deidara's left hand slowly relaxed.

"You want to learn?"

"I do." Yunju did not deny it. "But I know you won't teach me. Your art is unique, unmatched. I won't force the issue."

Deidara looked at Yunju and remained silent for a long time.

"You're a rare kind of artist." Deidara's voice lowered. "Most people say my explosions are heretical, that I'm insane. You're the only one who said they're beautiful."

Yunju said nothing.

Deidara bent down and picked up the paper packet. He did not open it, merely held it in his hand.

Deidara stuffed the packet into his ninja tool pouch, then pinched off a small piece of clay from the pouch at his waist with his left hand. He kneaded it a few times and shaped it into a thumb-sized spider.

"Take it." Deidara tossed the clay spider to Yunju.

Yunju caught it.

"This isn't teaching. It's a deal," Deidara said. "Don't you want to deal with Itachi Uchiha? I've been thinking about that too. This spider is my signal flare—if I go to war with Itachi, the spider will explode, and the smaller spiders inside will point you in my direction. Whether you come then is up to you."

Yunju put the clay spider away.

"Fine."

Deidara braced himself against the rock wall and stood. The agony from his severed arm made his face turn another shade paler. He gave Yunju one final look. The hostility in his eyes was gone, but there was still the wariness of someone saying, "I can blow you up at any time."

"You have good taste, Yunju of Konoha. You're far better than those idiots who only know how to say, 'Explosions are heretical.'" He turned around, facing away from Yunju. "But my art is still unique, so stop dreaming."

Yunju remained where he was, watching Deidara's back vanish beyond the treeline.

Yunju shrugged and headed in the opposite direction. He had already achieved his goal: gathering intelligence on Itachi Uchiha. After all, the seriously wounded Deidara no longer posed much of a "threat."

Back on the mountain path.

Yunju briefly told Team Guy about his negotiation with Deidara. He omitted the part where Deidara cursed Itachi Uchiha and only said, "He accepted the medicine and gave me a signaling device. He said he would notify me if he went to war with Itachi Uchiha."

After hearing this, Guy was silent for a moment.

"Do you think that person can be trusted?"

"No," Yunju said. "But his hatred for Itachi is real."

Neji walked in the middle of the group without saying anything. His Byakugan remained active, but not out of vigilance—he was observing Yunju. After two and a half years apart, Yunju's chakra had become deeper, heavier, and harder to perceive than Neji remembered. Before, he could at least make out a rough outline. Now, all he saw was dense fog.

The seven crossed the mountain path and returned to the sealing site.

The cave was in complete disarray. Broken puppet parts were scattered all over the ground, dried bloodstains marked the floor, and the air was filled with the bitter smell of medicine and the metallic scent left behind by Sand Iron.

"No. There are still people inside, but they aren't Naruto's group," Neji suddenly said.

Everyone immediately tensed and rushed inside.

There really were people still inside the cave.

Two of them.

Sasori's corpse had been turned over.

One stood where Sasori's body had once lain, bending down to pick something up from the ground—a ring. The character "Jewel" was engraved on it. His body was split vertically down the middle: the left half snow-white, the right half pitch-black, with white protruding spots lining the edge of the black side. His grass-green short hair resembled a clump of grass tousled by the wind, and his yellow vertical pupils slowly turned in their sockets.

The other stood behind him, shorter in stature and wearing a black cloak. He wore a one-eyed mask with an orange base and black spiral patterns. The mask had only one hole over the right eye, revealing a scarlet Sharingan within. The entire mask was covered in spiraling ripples, like ripples on water.

They both wore Akatsuki uniforms.

Guy was the first to step forward.

"Who are you?"

Both of them looked over, yet neither said a word.

No one spoke.

The air in the cave felt cold enough to solidify.

Yunju stood among Team Guy, his gaze shifting from the face resembling a pitcher plant to the mask beside it, focusing on the Sharingan visible through its eyehole.

Sharingan.

Another Sharingan.

But he merely stood there and watched the two uninvited guests.

The pitcher plant tossed the ring to the masked man and straightened up.

"Konoha ninja." The pitcher plant's voice was neither male nor female, as if two people were speaking at once. "You came again at a time like this."

The masked man still said nothing. He merely tilted his head toward Yunju. The Sharingan behind the mask's eyehole narrowed slightly, as if it were smiling—or examining something interesting.

Guy stepped forward and took a fighting stance. Rock Lee and Tenten prepared for battle at the same time. Neji's Byakugan locked onto the chakra flows of the two figures—the pitcher plant's chakra was strange, unlike a normal person's chakra, more like plant sap flowing through its body; the masked man's chakra was even stranger. There seemed to be nothingness inside his body. When Neji looked with his Byakugan, he could see nothing at all.

"You're from Akatsuki, aren't you?" Neji's voice was icy.

Zetsu did not deny it.

"We have recovered Sasori's ring." The pitcher plant's tone was calm. "Your mission is over, Konoha ninja. There is no need to pursue us further."

Guy clenched his fists.

"What if we insist?"

Zetsu glanced at Guy, then at Yunju, before finally returning his gaze to Guy.

"Then you will die."

The masked man finally spoke.

"Oh my, don't be so fierce." Tobi's voice sounded young, and his tone was as frivolous as casual conversation. "We just finished fighting a war. We're exhausted to death. How could we possibly have the strength to fight?"

He patted the pitcher plant on the shoulder.

"Come on, come on. We got the ring, the mission is done, and I get to become an official member now."

Then the two left in ways Yunju and the others could not understand: the pitcher plant sank into the ground, while the masked man summoned a vortex and vanished directly into it.

"Akatsuki." Guy rolled the name around in his mouth, and when he spat it out, it carried a bitter taste.

Yunju stood still, looking toward the hidden door. The clay spider was still in his hand, its cold little legs pressed against his palm.

And there was still the matter of Itachi Uchiha.

He remembered Deidara's expression when he cursed Itachi, the Sharingan visible through the eyehole in Tobi's mask, and the reflection of that triangular pinwheel in Kakashi's left eye when he used Kamui to tear off Deidara's arm.

Sharingan.

Sharingan everywhere.

"Let's go back first," Yunju said. "We need to report what happened here to Lady Tsunade."

Guy nodded. The seven turned and left the cave, heading toward Konoha.

Team Guy's shadows stretched long through the windblown sand. No one spoke. Each of them was thinking about their own matters, but what they were thinking was probably much the same—what exactly was Akatsuki? And who was that masked man?

Yunju walked at the back of the group, putting the clay spider deep into his ninja tool pouch.

(From here on, the original story is going to start changing.)