Who... was he?
Deidara's lips trembled, and the arrogance he had nearly grown accustomed to displaying before Tobi vanished without a trace.
"You... are Tobi?"
The man beneath the mask let out a faint, cold chuckle.
"It seems you've sobered up a little."
His voice first shifted into the comical, exaggerated tone Deidara knew so well. "Oh my, Deidara-senpai, you looked so scary just now! You almost blew Tobi up into fireworks on the horizon too! Senpai's art is truly magnificent, hm!"
Deidara was stunned by the sudden change.
But the next second, that voice returned to its low, icy tone.
"'Tobi' is merely an identity. And you, Deidara, need to remember something else."
Obito looked down at him from above, his tone filled with undisguised contempt.
"Weak art is worthless. Does something at that level deserve to be called art?"
Every word cut deeply.
"You..." Deidara wanted to argue, but under that oppressive gaze, he could not force out a single word.
"Recover from your injuries." Obito no longer looked at him. "Akatsuki still needs tools capable of capturing Tailed Beasts. Your next mission is to form a two-man team with Sasori of the Red Sands, head to Sunagakure, and capture the One-Tail."
With that, he turned and walked into the depths of the rocky cavern's shadows.
Deidara collapsed on the ground, gasping for breath as cold sweat soaked his back. It was not only the tremendous physical damage caused by triggering his self-destruction mechanism, but also the crushing blow to his mind.
"Damn it, how did this happen? I looked like a clown..."
At that moment, two figures emerged from the shadows.
At the front, Pain's Deva Path wore an indifferent expression, while Konan beside him had slightly furrowed brows.
"The mission failed." Pain's Rinnegan showed no fluctuation.