"Huh? What's going on?"
One moment, the bandit's mind had been in a haze; the next, he found himself back to normal.
"B-boss, don't kill me! I'll take you to our Bandit Stronghold."
The bandit leader felt Yemu's merciless grip on his head.
An overwhelming sense of impending death surged through him.
His instincts told him that even a moment's hesitation would get him killed on the spot.
Boom!!
With a casual toss, Yemu hurled the bandit leader far into the distance.
Then he swiftly followed, disappearing into the bushes.
A few seconds later, Yemu emerged from the bushes again.
"Are you done?"
Qingxue Uchiha watched Yemu approach, glancing behind him with a hint of suspicion.
She sniffed with her delicate nose, sensing that something about Yemu's scent was off.
"Some personal business."
Seeing that Qingxue seemed to have realized he was not the original, Yemu's Shadow Clone offered an explanation.
"Oh."
Qingxue Uchiha nodded without asking what exactly Yemu was going to do.
Her attitude, however, clearly grew a little colder and more distant.
A Shadow Clone was only a mass of chakra. Even if it felt exactly like the original to the touch, it was still not the original.
"Boss, boss, this is our stronghold. What are you going to do here?"
The bandit leader brought Yemu Hyuga to the entrance of a wooden Bandit Stronghold.
The Bandit Stronghold looked fairly large, probably housing a hundred people or so.
After all, the world only seemed peaceful these days.
In reality, war and chaos ran rampant.
Unless they lived in the Five Great Nations or one of the smaller countries, most people had little choice but to seize a mountain and become bandits.
Basically, ninja preyed on bandits, bandits preyed on wealthy merchants, wealthy merchants preyed on commoners, and commoners preyed on refugees.
"You never said there were other people in your stronghold."
Yemu looked toward the entrance. Flames were spreading, and the place looked as though it had been looted clean.
Moreover, he sensed two immense sources of chakra approaching him.
Judging by their chakra alone, they were probably no ordinary ninja.
Crack!!
Yemu tightened his hand, snapping the bandit's neck.
His first kill did not leave him feeling uncomfortable.
On the contrary, in this world where the strong devoured the weak, showing mercy to an enemy meant being cruel to himself.
Yemu took a Space Scroll from inside his clothes. After forming hand seals with one hand, he produced a white hooded robe and a silvery-white mask.
When traveling out in the world, precautions were necessary.
He still needed to conceal his identity, or his Tenseigan would likely attract the covetous attention of various factions.
"Hey, why are you so slow? Can you walk any faster?"
A puppet resembling a giant scorpion, draped in a Black-and-Red Cloud Robe, spoke coldly.
Its tail was equipped with a retractable Metal Poison Stinger that gleamed coldly in the sunlight.
"What's the rush? We're only collecting gold for Kakuzu because you lost that bet."
"And why don't you sell a few puppets? This is seriously getting on my nerves."
Deidara sported an edgy blond hairstyle that covered one eye, and his words were full of complaints.
"Why don't you sell that disgusting clay of yours, then?"
Sasori was always extremely cautious, so he spent most of his time holed up inside Hiruko, his puppet that combined offense and defense.
"For fuck's sake, Sasori, do you have a death wish? This is art! You think art can just be sold off for pennies?"
Cursing, Deidara reached the stronghold's entrance.
He figured the bandit leader they had sent out should have returned by now.
Instead, all he saw was a mysterious masked figure in a white robe.
At the figure's feet lay the corpse of the bandit leader they had sent out to gather gold.
"So you do know what art is? And my puppets aren't art?" Sasori's voice remained cold.
Bickering had practically become a daily routine for the two of them.
"Pfft, you call that stuff art?" Deidara could not help covering his mouth as he laughed.
Sasori's expression instantly darkened. "You bastard. Are you trying to pick a fight with me?"
Just then, Yemu interrupted their quarrel. "I don't care if you two want to fight, but answer one question before you do. You destroyed this Bandit Stronghold, didn't you?"
Yemu Hyuga's calm voice successfully drew the attention of the two Akatsuki members.
Impatience filled Deidara's eyes. He had always been blunt and done whatever he pleased, so his words were far from friendly when Yemu interrupted his exchange with Sasori.
"Who do you think you are, demanding answers from us? Wearing a mask because you're afraid to show your face?"
Unlike Deidara, Sasori was more decisive and immediately made his puppet attack.
Today, he had to have a proper fight with Deidara. The bastard actually looked down on his art.
Granted, this was nothing new.
But that did not mean Sasori did not want to beat him up.
Before that, though, he needed to shut up this mysterious figure in the white mask.
Yemu Hyuga did not answer their questions.
He easily dodged the poisoned needles fired from the mouth of Sasori's puppet.
Then he slowly reached inside his clothes and pulled out a big black beauty.
The Black Orb gave off an eerie shimmer, as though not even light could escape its pull.
The instant it appeared, even the surrounding space visibly warped.
"Fuck!! You idiot, what are you standing around for? Run!!"
Sasori could not help bursting into curses.
He watched Deidara stare, entranced, as the Black Orb slowly rose into the air.
Inwardly, he cursed his teammate for being a moron.
Despite his cautious demeanor, he hated waiting for people more than anything, and sometimes he could become downright hotheaded.
Boom! Boom! Boom!!
Deidara watched the ground shake continuously as cracks spread across it.
He knew that if he did not flee before the black orb's gravitational pull engulfed the area, he would have no chance of escaping.
Damn it, I didn't expect to run into someone this tough!!
Deidara quickly pulled out his Clay Giant Bird. Once Sasori jumped aboard, he immediately fled into the distance.
"Holy crap, that's gorgeous!"
High in the sky, Deidara watched an enormous stone sphere form not far behind them.
His eyes brimmed with admiration.
Now that's art! It has my approval!!
"Hey, hey, hey, stop spacing out! That guy hasn't left! He's been following us!"
Sasori's warning came from behind Deidara.
"What do you mean?? Don't tell me that masked guy can fly too?"
Deidara turned again and discovered that the mysterious man in the white mask was standing right in midair, flying toward them.
For a moment, he was dumbfounded.
Fine, fine, fine. Not even pretending anymore, huh?
Could this guy be a student of the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki?
No wonder he gave me such a big welcoming gift the moment we met.
There was no helping it. A few years ago, he had been causing terror incidents in the village every single day.
As a result, he had been forced to leave the village.
Before you continue