The Strongest Artist in Naruto

Deidara was about to head back to meet up with Kisame when, out of nowhere, a pair of long legs burst out of the nearby bushes. No, wait—a little girl with long legs burst out instead.

"Kurotsuchi, what are you doing here?" Deidara asked, puzzled.

"Deidara, take me with you to join the Akatsuki!" Kurotsuchi demanded, hands on her hips.

"What for? Giving up on being the Tsuchikage already?"

"After hearing you talk about the Akatsuki just now, I realized it's way cooler than Iwagakure. Being Tsuchikage isn't appealing anymore," Kurotsuchi replied, her eyes sparkling with admiration.

"Hey, if you just up and leave like this, the old man's going to blow a fuse," Deidara said, reluctant to bring her along. Honestly, she was just a little sprout of a kid—no charm at all. Not like Konan, Mei Terumi, or Tsunade.

Kurotsuchi! Seriously!

You better eat more and grow up fast! You have no idea how much your Deidara has sacrificed for you!

"Let him get mad! He'll calm down after a few days. What's he going to do about it anyway?" Kurotsuchi retorted confidently.

With a rebellious granddaughter and a pupil like Deidara, Ōnoki truly had terrible luck.

"Fine, hop on!"

Deidara's group headed for Amegakure, while back in Iwagakure, Ōnoki was predictably furious.

"What?! That little brat Kurotsuchi ran off with Deidara?!" Upon hearing the news, Ōnoki clutched his chest, feeling a pang that even Deidara's explosions had never caused.

"Yes, that's what she said," Akatsuchi, who had been with Kurotsuchi earlier, replied helplessly. Injured and out of commission, he couldn't stop her.

"Send a diplomatic letter to Amegakure immediately! Tell that brat Deidara to send Kurotsuchi back. That place is full of rogue ninjas—it's too dangerous!"

"When she comes back, I'm grounding that unruly girl! Grounding her!" Ōnoki roared.

"She probably won't come back..." Akatsuchi muttered under his breath.

...

Amegakure

Although Deidara hadn't been gone long, the village's atmosphere felt noticeably off when he returned. It used to feel gloomy and oppressive because of the architecture, but at least people were motivated and enthusiastic. Now, the entire place seemed drained of life.

"Suigetsu, what's going on in the village?" Deidara asked as he passed by the silver-haired swordsman, who was lounging lazily against a wall with a stalk of grass in his mouth.

"Huh? What do you mean? Everything's normal," Suigetsu replied, confused.

"By the way, who's this? Did you bring back another girl from outside?" he asked, eyeing Kurotsuchi with a smirk.

What's with this "another girl" nonsense? How does that even sound right?!

Deidara was about to refute when Kurotsuchi interjected first. "Deidara, have you brought back other girls before?"

"Of course not!" Deidara declared righteously.

"Oh really? What about Karin?"

"And Haku—"

"Wait! How do you know Haku is a girl?"

"Ah!" Suigetsu's jaw dropped, and the grass fell from his mouth.

"Isn't it obvious? Haku's so pretty—I was even thinking of confessing to her!" He looked utterly devastated, like his entire worldview had been shattered.

Deidara couldn't help but find this hilarious. "You, confessing to a girl? I thought all you cared about was swinging that giant sword around."

"Sure, wielding swords is fun, but don't you think the bloodlines of the Hōzuki clan and the Yuki clan would go well together?" Suigetsu explained.

"Back in Kirigakure, the village feared our clans getting too powerful, so intermarriage was forbidden. But now that we've left, I figure it's worth a shot!"

"I see. Well, good luck with that," Deidara encouraged.

"But didn't you just say Haku isn't a girl?" Suigetsu asked, bewildered.

"I was kidding. How would I know something like that?" Deidara replied with a shrug.

"Really?" Suigetsu looked skeptical.

"Really! I swear!" Deidara said, waving him off. Truthfully, he had no idea about Haku's gender. That was for Suigetsu to figure out.

"Deidara, are you guys done talking?" Kurotsuchi interrupted with a polite smile that radiated a barely veiled sense of menace.

"Nothing happened! Karin was rescued by Sasori back in the day. Oh, you haven't met him—he was my old teammate, but he hasn't been around lately. That's why Kisame joined instead," Deidara explained smoothly, utterly confident since he genuinely had no interest in Karin.

Seeing his sincerity, Kurotsuchi's fake smile turned genuine, blooming like a spring flower.

Back to the main topic, Deidara pressed Suigetsu again.

"So you really don't think the village feels off?"

Suigetsu scratched his head and pointed below. "You mean that?"

Deidara looked down and saw a large group of shinobi gathered near the riverfront. Some were chatting, others napping, playing cards, or drinking—everyone looked like they were slacking off.

"What the hell is this?!" Could it be that the Akatsuki's legendary slacker habits had spread to the rank and file?

"It's because the village's commission fees are way too high now. No one has any motivation, so they're just hanging around and wasting time," Suigetsu explained.

Deidara groaned, clutching his forehead. He'd have to talk to Konan about this. If this kept up, Amegakure would collapse in no time!

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Pls Drop some Power Stones

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