Outside the battleship hatch, in the deep, hair-raising void of space, several strangely shaped white warships bore down like sharks.
Their hulls carried a cold metallic gray sheen, with eerie dark-red streams of light occasionally flashing across them. They looked like nothing decent.
Deidara was squatting at the edge of the deck, continuously kneading that sticky, earth-smelling Explosive Clay in his hands.
His azure eyes were filled with the madness of someone determined to blast a hole through the heavens.
"Hmm, look at these big metal shells."
Deidara grinned, exposing two rows of teeth stained with grease. His carefree irreverence seemed to seep straight from his bones.
He pulled out a lump of clay he had not finished kneading earlier and slammed it viciously into his palm.
"I thought these alien monkeys would be something special, but this is it?"
"They're not even as blast-resistant as those useless Leaf Village idiots from before, yeah!"
"Quit yapping over there."
Yoru, dressed in a black cloak patterned with red clouds, leaned against the battleship's metal railing.
He casually pulled the flavorless gum from his mouth and stuck it onto the radar display beside him.
The greasy fingerprints on the screen became especially glaring once the gum was plastered over them.
Yoru brushed the ash off his collar, his eyes carrying a cold hardness that seemed capable of making the stars tremble.
"They're after Iwagakure's energy."
"Everyone on that ship has the sort of bioengineered structure that would make Orochimaru drool."
"If they reach Earth, the few mineral veins our village has won't even be enough to fill the gaps between their teeth."
"Then what are we waiting for?"
Deidara sprang to his feet, his messy blond ponytail whipping in the fierce wind like a broom.
He patted the vest covered in clay