"Konan-senpai, even if Sasori is busy refining his puppets, isn't it a bit too rushed to assign me a new teammate? He doesn't seem to understand art at all," Deidara said, looking displeased at Kimimaro, his soon-to-be teammate.
They were supposed to be the Art Duo; adding someone who didn't appreciate art would ruin their dynamic.
"This is Pain's order. You two need to complete a mission together. Sasori isn't available, and Kimimaro is the best choice."
"Alright, but just this once. I still prefer teaming up with Sasori. Even though I don't fully agree with his artistic views, at least we're the same kind of people."
Since it was Pain's decision, Deidara reluctantly accepted.
Kimimaro, on the other hand, was studying Deidara.
They were around the same age. Before Kimimaro joined the Akatsuki, Deidara was the youngest core member.
Seeing Deidara agree, Konan left. Task assignment wasn't her responsibility; Nagato would brief them later.
"Kimimaro, right? I remember you were teamed with Kakuzu. Why were you suddenly assigned to me?" Deidara asked curiously.
"The organization recruited a new member who is a better match for Kakuzu-senpai, so I was freed up."
"Oh? So, you're just what's left over, huh? Did Itachi really bring in someone this lousy?" Deidara taunted.
Anything related to Itachi irked Deidara.
After all, he had been humiliated by Itachi once and became obsessed with him ever since. His left-eye training was specifically aimed at countering the Sharingan.
From the moment he first saw Kimimaro, Deidara didn't like him.
Noticing Deidara's attitude, Kimimaro smirked.
"Deidara-senpai, I heard your art is all about explosions. Mind showing me?"
"Show you? I'm afraid all you'll do is scream. There aren't many who survive my art."
"Let's see."
"Interesting. I'd like to see what Itachi's recruits are capable of. But before we fight, did Itachi use genjutsu on you when he recruited you?"
"He did. But it didn't work."
"It didn't work?" Deidara's eyes widened. Could Kimimaro resist Itachi's genjutsu?
"Then how did he beat you?"
"What makes you think he beat me? It was a draw, actually. But I heard you fell into Itachi's genjutsu and almost self-destructed. Is that true?"
Deidara's composure cracked at those words.
"That was in the past! If I fought him now, I'd definitely win!"
"Really? I don't believe it."
It was the kind of comment that could make anyone's blood pressure spike.
At least for Deidara, it certainly did.
"You brat, I'll kill you!"
Deidara shoved his right hand into his pouch, feeding his clay to the mouths on his palms, and spat out clay birds.
"Go!"
The clay birds shot from Deidara's hand, flying rapidly toward Kimimaro.
"Art is an explosion! Hah!"
Deidara snapped his right hand's fingers together, and the clay birds detonated in front of Kimimaro!
Smoke and dust billowed!
"Tch, I thought you'd be tougher, but you couldn't even withstand one attack," Deidara said, only to see when the smoke cleared that Kimimaro was unscathed, protected by a golden, circular barrier.
Bakudō #39: Enkosen!
"What kind of jutsu is this? It's so fast and blocked my explosive clay," Deidara exclaimed in surprise.
"Is that all your art amounts to?" Kimimaro replied as the Enkosen vanished.
Facing a ninja like Deidara, Kimimaro's strategy was simple: beat him up and then win him over.
Deidara was still a hotheaded youth, not overly cunning. As long as Kimimaro won the fight, everything else would be easy.
"Don't get cocky just because you have some tricks up your sleeve. Now, I'm getting serious."
Both of Deidara's hands dove into his pouches, his palm-mouths devouring clay and quickly molding more explosives.
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!
Deidara hurled explosive clay at high speed toward Kimimaro.
This time, Kimimaro didn't move, but the Pikachu on his shoulder was eager to act.
"Little guy, go ahead. Show off what you've been training for," Kimimaro said.
"Pika!"
With Kimimaro's command, Pikachu leaped into action!
Its small hands grasped the handles of the Lightning Blades, and it unsheathed both swords!
Clang!
Pikachu wielded the swords with precision.
Starburst Stream!
In a flash of lightning, Pikachu swung its twin blades with incredible speed.
Sixteen consecutive slashes!
Each slash struck an explosive clay bomb, rendering them duds upon contact with the electrified blades.
Lightning counters earth!
In the entire ninja world, no one suffered more from chakra attribute disadvantages than Deidara.
He was the only ninja who consistently lost due to attribute restraints—truly tragic.
In mere moments, Pikachu's lightning-charged blades were inches from Deidara's face.
"What the—!"
Deidara jumped back in alarm, tossing a large white clay bird behind him.
He took to the skies on his bird, dodging Pikachu's attacks.
"This rodent-like creature can use Lightning Release? And those blades aren't ordinary either. Damn, being countered by such a small summon," Deidara said, his face twisted in frustration. He never expected that the odd-looking creature on Kimimaro's shoulder could wield such powerful Lightning Release.
His explosive clay was almost entirely countered.
"Pika!"
Seeing Deidara retreat out of range, Pikachu pouted in frustration.
"Hah, little thing, why don't you come up here if you're so tough!" Deidara taunted, noticing Pikachu's annoyance at being unable to reach him.
"Go ahead, little one. Show Deidara-senpai some love. Thunderbolt!" Kimimaro instructed.
Of course, he had to meet Deidara's challenge.
"Pika-Pikachu!"
Following Kimimaro's command, Pikachu unleashed a bolt of golden lightning.
"What—!"
Deidara was shocked as the lightning approached at incredible speed.
Could Lightning Release really have such a long range?
In the nick of time, Deidara leapt off his clay bird, narrowly avoiding the attack.
Boom!
The clay bird plummeted from the sky, struck down by the golden lightning.
(End of Chapter)