Going Through the Motions

"Deidara, someone came specifically to see you today. He left this behind. Take a look first."

Someone had issued a mission today, specifically requesting that a letter be delivered to Deidara.

After being inspected, the letter was naturally sent to Ōnoki's desk at the first opportunity.

With his wealth of experience, Ōnoki recognized it at a glance.

It was a secret letter.

Ōnoki's mindset had changed considerably over the years, so he simply took the letter and brought it to Deidara.

Deidara accepted the letter somewhat doubtfully and only glanced at it.

Then he noticed Brother Sasori's mark on it.

Deidara's face lit up with joy. Following the method of deciphering secret letters from his memories, he decoded the letter again.

"Old man, it's... it's a friend asking to meet me."

"I want to head out for a bit." Deidara had nearly blurted out Sasori's name, but stopped himself at the last moment.

Ōnoki's expression remained unchanged as he said with a smile,

"Then come back early, and be sure to stay safe."

"Okay! Old man, I'm off!"

Deidara was incredibly excited. He tossed a lump of clay into his mouth and chewed it.

Then he kneaded out a lifelike owl.

After infusing it with Chakra, the owl abruptly grew larger.

Deidara jumped onto it and flew outside.

Even in midair, he did not forget to call out to Kurotsuchi. "Kurotsuchi, I'm heading out for a bit. I'll be back soon."

The owl was incredibly fast. It had vanished from sight before he finished speaking.

Kurotsuchi snorted. "Grandpa, you're not even stopping him?"

Ōnoki looked utterly at ease.

"What do you know? What Deidara hates most is being restrained. The more you stop him, the more he'll want to leave."

"As long as you're appealing enough, there's no need to