Invitation

"Your Ninjutsu is indeed impressive, but it's still far too immature. Simply creating explosions involves no skill whatsoever. Not to mention me—even a Jonin could easily evade your techniques. No matter how powerful they are, it's pointless if they can't hit anyone," Miao said slowly. His mask concealed his expression.

Deidara was not stupid; on the contrary, he was exceptionally intelligent and highly gifted in Ninjutsu. The fact that he later developed C1, C2, C3, and even C4 proved that he was a Ninjutsu genius. His calculation against Gaara also showed that his mind was remarkably sharp—provided he remained calm.

The reason Deidara hated Uchiha Itachi so intensely was not merely because Uchiha Itachi had instantly defeated him with a single move. More importantly, he believed Uchiha Itachi had toyed with him. Knowing nothing about the Sharingan, he had been effortlessly manipulated by Uchiha Itachi's Genjutsu. It was as though his art had become a clownish performance before Uchiha Itachi's Genjutsu, an immense humiliation for someone as prideful as him.

If Deidara had been defeated head-on, he would not have held such a deep grudge. Later, when Uzumaki Naruto's Nine-Tails erupted and left him in a miserable state, or when Kakashi used Kamui to sever his Left Arm, Deidara was furious, but he had not lost his reason. Self-Destruction was even more out of the question.

"Damn it!!! You bastard, are you looking down on my art?!" Deidara roared, his face flushed red. Yet no matter how one looked at it, he lacked conviction. Still, he was quite clever and knew that his Ninjutsu was only in its early stages. He had constantly been considering how to improve and strengthen it, but he was simply too stubborn to admit it.

"I'm not looking down on you. I'm merely stating the facts. Never mind whether your Ninjutsu can hit an opponent—even its power is not particularly great. A powerful Earth Style Jutsu could defend against the explosive force of your Clay Spiders. As a Ninja from Iwagakure, you should know that. Deceiving yourself isn't something an artist should do," Miao said calmly.

"Tch!!!" Deidara awkwardly turned his head away. Of course he knew that. His clay explosions were quite effective against Chunin-level Ninja, but their effects against Jonin-level Ninja were limited. Anyone who could become a Jonin had a few tricks up their sleeve. Though he was a genius in Iwagakure, it was difficult for him to win when fighting Iwagakure's Jonin. Powerful Earth Style Jutsu alone could easily defend against his explosions. Otherwise, given his temperament, he would have blown up Iwagakure long ago.

That was because his Ninjutsu was still very immature. The secret technique of mixing Chakra into matter was a Forbidden Technique of Iwagakure, and he had only secretly learned it not long ago. At most, he had practiced it for two or three years, far from enough to bring out the power of this Forbidden Technique. It was a Forbidden Technique, after all. How could it be so simple?

By then, Deidara had calmed down. He stared intently at Miao and slowly asked, "Who exactly are you? A Ninja of your level can't possibly be an unknown figure in the Ninja World."

"Me? You can call me Wu. I'm a Bounty Hunter Ninja," Miao said indifferently.

"Wu? I feel like I've heard that name somewhere before." Hearing Miao's words, Deidara began muttering to himself. Then, as if he had remembered something, he asked in surprise, "Wu!! Are you the mysterious Bounty Hunter Ninja said to have a one-hundred-percent mission completion rate?"

Over the past two years, Deidara had actually been a Bounty Hunter Ninja as well. Others hired him by paying him rewards, except the missions he carried out involved terrorist acts such as bombing attacks and destruction in various places. His reputation was terrible, making the people of Iwagakure despise him even more. By now, Deidara had practically half-separated from Iwagakure.

Due to his personality and various other reasons, he had never been welcome in Iwagakure and had very poor relationships with others. Then he had secretly learned Iwagakure's Forbidden Technique and conducted explosive experiments within the village, bringing disaster upon many innocent people. As a result, he had almost no place left for himself in Iwagakure.

If he had not been a genius Ninja of Iwagakure and the disciple of Ōnoki of Both Scales, the Third Tsuchikage, Iwagakure's High-Level officials would have wanted to get rid of this menace long ago.

On top of that, the many terrorist bombing activities he had carried out over the past two years had made his reputation in Iwagakure stink even worse—so badly it was unbearable. Deidara was no longer permitted to live in Iwagakure. It could be said that he was already half-separated from Iwagakure.

Naturally, Deidara, who had spent the past two years taking bounty missions involving bombing attacks and the like, had also heard Wu's great name. "So you're Wu!! No wonder. You really are different from ordinary Ninja," Deidara said, staring at Miao in surprise. He had not expected that the mysterious Ninja standing before him was the legendary Wu.

"Why not act with me? Two People are always better than One Person, and you have quite a few enemies too, don't you?" Miao said slowly. Deidara truly was a genius. Though he was only twelve or thirteen, he already possessed this level of strength. His Ninjutsu might not have seemed particularly powerful at present, but Wu could see at a glance that its potential went far beyond that. The most terrifying aspect of this technique was not its great destructive power or spectacle, but its instantaneous explosive force. The energy released in that instant would be difficult to defend against for any Ninja without special abilities. With sufficient concealment, it would become even more terrifying.

"Act with you?" Deidara looked at Wu doubtfully, then spoke with disdain. "Your reputation may be great, but I won't trust some guy wearing a mask and pretending to be mysterious."

It was clear that although Deidara's thinking was rather simple, he remained highly vigilant. Otherwise, he would not have survived after carrying out terrorist attacks everywhere. The reason he later partnered with Tobi was that Tobi was also a member of the Akatsuki Organization. The Akatsuki Organization was not made up of only the two of them, and its leader had permitted Tobi to join, so Deidara had been willing to trust him.

But now, there were only Two People. He would absolutely not easily trust Wu, who wore a mask and exuded mystery at every turn.