Days turned into weeks, and the half-month deadline Lian Xing had agreed upon with Itachi arrived. Lian Xing planned to go alone, as it was just a meeting and wouldn't take long.
"Karin, Yugito, today is the day I'm supposed to meet Itachi. I'm going by myself. You two wait here for me. It should only take half a day."
"You two behave and don't tear this place down, understand?"
Before leaving, Lian Xing instructed them with a serious expression.
"Star-kun, I want to go with you."
"Li Xing, you said you'd take me everywhere."
Neither of them wanted to stay behind. They clung to Lian Xing's arms, looking at him with peculiar eyes, as if to say that if he didn't take them, the shop would surely be demolished.
"Ah, fine, fine, we'll all go. It's not an important matter anyway, and we'll be back in half a day." Lian Xing couldn't stand their gazes and decided to bring his companions to meet Itachi. They were all members of the same organization, so meeting wouldn't be an issue.
...
Meanwhile, Sasuke's Snake Team, after gathering combat supplies, began searching for Itachi in the Land of Fire. For the past half month, Itachi and Kisame had been causing minor disturbances in the Land of Fire, their objective being to allow Sasuke to find them.
Sasuke knew it would be difficult to find someone in the Land of Fire, so he split his team, with all four members searching simultaneously.
Deidara and Tobi finally found Sasuke in a small grove.
"That attire, are you..." Sasuke was the first to notice Tobi and was about to ask a question when Tobi started speaking on his own.
"Are you Uchiha Sasuke? You really do resemble him, like Itachi-senpai."
The moment Sasuke heard Itachi's name, his eyes became sharp. Seeing Sasuke's fierce expression, Tobi shouted "Scary!" and retreated more than ten meters.
Deidara, riding a clay bird in the air, formed two similar clay birds in his palms and threw them at Sasuke without hesitation.
As the two clay birds were about to hit Sasuke, Deidara formed the Ram hand seal.
"Hmph!"
With a loud roar, the area where Sasuke stood erupted in a powerful explosion. The original grove was cleared by Deidara's fireworks, creating a wide opening.
Watching the colorful fireworks, Deidara's lips curled up. "Is this all you've got? A brat like this could defeat Orochimaru? It was probably a sneak attack or taking advantage of his weakness!"
Seeing this, Tobi also bravely stepped forward. "As expected of Deidara-senpai, you defeated Sasuke in an instant!"
Deidara jumped down from the air and landed beside Tobi. "Tobi, let's go. This level can't possibly ignite my passion for art."
"Where do you think you're going? Who did you just say you defeated?"
Just as Deidara was about to leave, Sasuke's voice came from the dust.
As the dust completely settled, Sasuke's figure was revealed. He was now enveloped by a white snake, its scales bearing burn marks. Sasuke himself was unharmed.
"So that's how it is. You instantly used a summoning jutsu to have your summoned beast tank the explosion, didn't you? Hmph! This makes it worth showing off my art!"
Sasuke completely ignored Deidara's words. In an instant, his eyes turned crimson, revealing his three-tomoe Sharingan. He glared fiercely at Deidara and Tobi.
(This should actually be called a 'tomoe', as a 'magatama' has holes and more curved parts. The Sharingan's shape is like a black bean with a tail, like a tadpole, and without holes. 'Magatama' is just what domestic fans call it. Many people don't know this, so I'm providing some knowledge here. However, to follow the trend, I'll still write it as 'magatama'. If I wrote 'tomoe', I might be scolded as a 'cloud shadow'.)
Picking up from the last chapter, Sasuke was glaring intently at Deidara and Tobi with his three-tomoe Sharingan. Seeing the Sharingan again, Deidara was reminded of the tragic scene of being instantly killed by Itachi. A surge of anger suddenly rose within him.
"Tobi, we are being watched by some amazing eyes, un!"
"Uchiha Itachi, where is he? Tell me and I'll let you go!" Sasuke coldly asked Deidara. Having defeated Orochimaru, Sasuke looked down on the likes of Deidara.
This arrogant and condescending attitude further angered Deidara. Like Uchiha Itachi, he was someone he detested.
"You defeated Orochimaru simply because of the Uchiha name. You, who rely on your bloodline, don't underestimate me!"
Saying this, Deidara began preparing clay bombs. Although angry, Deidara did not lose his rationality.
Seeing that Deidara was unwilling to answer, Sasuke drew the Kusanagi sword and charged at them.
"So fast!" Deidara was shocked. It wasn't just the Uchiha bloodline; his speed jutsu was also incredibly fast. Judging by his sword-drawing motion, he must be a master swordsman like Lian Xing.
However, Deidara was prepared. He leaped and easily dodged Sasuke's attack. Unfortunately, Tobi wasn't as lucky and was instantly bisected by Sasuke.
"I'll take care of one first, then it's your turn!" Sasuke looked up at Deidara, who was standing on a tree, and said.
"Hey! Tobi, what are you doing! Don't hold back just because he's a kid, un!" Deidara, seeing Tobi fall, directly ignored Sasuke's words and shouted at him.
Tobi slowly got up and touched his head. "Senpai, his speed jutsu is too fast; I can't keep up!"
Seeing Tobi unharmed, Sasuke was somewhat shocked. He had clearly hit him just now. What kind of ninjutsu did he use to evade it?
In reality, Tobi had used Kamui's phasing ability, causing Sasuke's sword to pass through him, making Sasuke believe he had hit Tobi.
"Let's start by testing his level with C1!" Deidara wasted no time. He took out the small spider bombs he had prepared and scattered them forward like stones.
Sasuke quickly formed hand seals, and lightning appeared in his hand. With a wave of his hand, he shot countless lightning needles that precisely hit all the clay spiders.
Some of the clay spiders landed around Tobi. Deidara was about to detonate them when Tobi quickly reached out and shouted, "Senpai! Please pause! Don't shout 'Hmph' yet!"
Deidara turned his head and saw Tobi slumped on the ground, surrounded by his clay bombs. He had no choice but to pause his hand seal.
"Tch, Tobi, you step aside!"
Seizing this opportunity, Sasuke used a speed jutsu to appear behind Deidara and swung his sword at him from behind.
Deidara's lips curved into a dangerous smile as he quickly formed hand seals.
"Enjoy my brand new art! Hmph!"
Immediately, the area where Deidara and Sasuke stood exploded. Deidara had prepared a clay bird in advance and immediately rode it to fly away from the blast zone.
Sasuke, too, used a substitution jutsu to evade the explosion in an instant.
"From your first attack, I knew your close combat skills were not weak. I had already set up bombs all around me. How does it feel to have your confident speed jutsu and swordsmanship rendered useless? It's quite sad, isn't it! Un!"
Deidara's face was full of smiles. It seemed today's battle would end quickly. Lightning style alone could not defeat him.
(I might have to take a few days off. I'm busy playing games lately.)