Beneath the temple, the air was as thick and sticky as a pot of glue that had never been stirred.
The floor was littered with electronic component fragments that had not been cleaned up in time. They crunched sharply beneath their feet, like stepping on a pile of dried beetle shells.
This place never saw daylight year-round. It reeked of industrial motor oil, along with the sweaty stench of Kara members who squatted in the bathroom all year without washing their hands, enough to make anyone roll their eyes.
Deidara charged in at the head of the group, and his blond upward ponytail was still dusted with white ash from when he had blown apart the stone gate.
His face, usually filled with arrogant swagger, was now covered by a sickly excitement.
His eyes, brimming with a desire for explosions, fixed relentlessly on the long-legged woman blocking his path.
That was Delta.
A member of Kara's Inner, her entire body had been modified into a precision combat machine. Even her long legs gleamed with a cold metallic sheen.
"So you're the old hag who was yapping away out there?"
Deidara spat, and the flecks of saliva landed on the pitted metal floor with a salty, fishy smell.
He reached into his pocket, pulled out a large lump of writhing white clay, and began kneading it right in front of Delta.
"I don't have many hobbies. I just like watching self-important trash like you turn into scraps in my art, yeah."
Delta's mechanically constructed eyes instantly locked onto Deidara.
Two rows of concealed energy cannon ports popped open along her long legs, hissing as they expelled scorching air that reeked of ozone.
"Just you? A little brat from Stone Village who plays with mud?"
A mocking sneer appeared on Delta's heavily