Saving the Uchiha clan starts with becoming the clan leader.

Reviving Lord Orochimaru is indeed a long and arduous task!

"Jugo, I'll leave the cleaning to you! The experiment is over, it's no longer needed, so remember to clean up all the trash." Shiro gave an instruction.

"That Kidomaru?"

Jugo raised a small question.

Kidomaru, resurrected through Edo Tensei, stared wide-eyed at everything in the room.

For this,

Bai's answer was crisp and clean. He directly formed hand seals to undo the Impure World Reincarnation Technique, returning Kidomaru's soul to the underworld. Before Kidomaru could react, his face peeled off, turning into dust and dissipating, revealing the original appearance of the sacrifice inside. However, the original living person was now a lifeless corpse.

The next steps are self-explanatory.

The most straightforward instruction is to remember to clean up the trash. Without wasting any words, Jugo decisively snapped the neck of the other scum offering, then took out a scroll to seal the two corpses. Corpses are valuable; they are a precious resource used in many experiments and cannot be wasted.

"Karin, Shigego."

After Jugo cleaned the room,

Bai called the two men to his side, looking at these two only subordinates he could completely trust, and said, "Next... we may need to find a way to go to Konoha."

"Huh? Going to Konoha?"

Karin screamed in shock.

"Haku, are you sure? Konoha... If we're discovered, we're 100% doomed." Although she had never appeared in battle on the battlefield of Amegakure, as one of the top sensory ninjas in the ninja world, she actually 'saw' very clearly just how terrifying those monsters in Konoha were!

Going to Konoha at this time,

Isn't this just like a lamb entering a tiger's den?

"The danger is indeed very high. Karin, if you're afraid, you can provide support from outside." Bai smiled slightly, clearly not intending to force the two of them to infiltrate Konoha with him. He then looked at Jugo, "Jugo, if you have…"

"I don't care, as long as it's your order, I will do everything in my power to complete it."

Before Shirai could finish speaking, Shigego directly stated his position.

"What?! Jugo, you bastard..." Karin kicked Jugo angrily, then hurriedly said, "Haku, let's go together! I was just saying it casually, and I feel even less safe leaving you out alone."

"..."

Bai smiled helplessly.

"it is good!"

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

In the mountains north of the Land of Hot Springs, Deidara was soaking in a natural hot spring, leaning against the smooth, warm blue stone, enjoying the wonderful sensation of the hot spring's gentle heat seeping into his very bones. He felt like he was floating on air, so happy he felt like he could take off.

"This feels so good!"

Deidara let out a long breath.

Looking up at the azure sky dotted with white clouds, my heart couldn't help but find peace at that moment.

Since leaving the perpetually rainy Amegakure, Deidara lost contact with the Akatsuki. His rings became completely useless, rendering him unable to sense Pain's presence. He also had no idea where to find Obito-senpai; hopefully, Obito hadn't been killed by the Sixth Hokage...

He wandered aimlessly, caught in his own dilemma.

Before they knew it, they had arrived in the Land of Hot Water.

Compared to the detestable Land of Rain, and the dullness of his homeland, the Land of Earth, the hot springs of the Land of Hot Springs were so comforting. After trying them once, he became addicted to the feeling of hot springs. Although he and Obito Uchiha had passed through the Land of Hot Springs more than once on missions, he had never thought of soaking in the hot springs at that time, and Obito Uchiha had neither the interest nor the time.

I've never had the chance to enjoy a hot spring.

Until this time,

With nothing else to do, Deidara tried soaking in the hot spring and immediately became engrossed in it.

spa,

It is the second most important art form after explosion.

"I wonder if Obito-senpai is still alive." Deidara muttered to himself. The hot springs in the Land of Hot Springs were indeed very comfortable, but they were still a step behind the art of explosion. He hadn't had a proper explosion in a while, and he was getting a little itchy.

"If that doesn't work, let's check the black market! Maybe we'll get an interesting request."

Deidara began to consider the idea of ​​returning to his old ways.

After being driven out of Iwagakure by that stubborn old man, he made a living by taking on black market jobs for a long time. These jobs were mostly about killing someone or destroying a place, which was no problem for Deidara, who loved explosions.

Just then—

Deidara narrowed his eyes.

Something seemed to be falling from the sky... The miniature telescope on his left eye immediately started working, taking in the scene high in the sky. In an instant, Deidara's expression changed, and he sprang up, grabbing the clothes next to him. Before he could even put them on, he rolled away and hid to the side.

Two seconds later,

The enormous rock giant crashed down, slamming heavily onto the spot where Deidara had been sitting.

The terrifying impact shattered a large area of ​​surrounding rock slabs, leaving the once pristine natural hot spring pool in a complete mess.

"Long time no see, Deidara!"

On the shoulder of that rock giant,

A burly, honest-looking man greeted Deidara, who was barely clothed, with a smile.

"Akatsuchi! You bastard, couldn't you have come to bother me at another time?" Deidara cursed angrily, while also quickly putting on his clothes. Akatsuchi was always Kurotsuchi's little shadow, and since Akatsuchi was here, Kurotsuchi was probably nearby as well. He didn't want Kurotsuchi to admire his body curves.

"Hmm... No, that won't do! This is the teacher's order."

Red Earth shook its head.

"Tch, so that old man really came too?"

Deidara, having put on his pants, looked around.

"Idiot, stop looking, it's right here!"

The familiar shouts and curses reached Deidara's ears. Following the sound, he saw the figure of a small old man with a big red nose appear on the rock wall to his right rear. It was none other than the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki of the Two Scales, who had ruled Iwagakure with an iron fist for nearly forty years.

He was also Deidara's teacher.

"Old man, you look much older!"

Deidara forced a stiff and awkward smile onto his face.

"Enough nonsense, Deidara. You idiot, haven't you had enough? If you don't want to get beaten up, you'd better come back with me obediently." Onoki flew in mid-air, looking down at his unruly but also exceptionally talented disciple.

"You're still the same old man, never listening to anyone."

Deidara's fake smile vanished. He reached into the ninja tool bag filled with clay, his mouth wide open, and took a bite... Wait? What's this? What's this taste like? He quickly pulled his hand out and looked closely.

The substance that was spat out from the mouth in his palm was a specially made pure white explosive clay.

This is just ordinary loess.

Damn it,

When was it replaced?

"You idiot, I thought you'd made progress all these years, but you've only gotten worse. Your vigilance is so poor, it's a disgrace. With your meager skills, how dare you hang out with Orochimaru and his ilk? You've completely disgraced the Iwagakure people."

Onoki cursed him in exasperation.

Deidara's face turned ashen after being reprimanded.

Can you blame him for being careless? Who the hell is on edge 24/7? Besides, he was soaking in a hot spring! Could he possibly have some explosive clay in his pants and soaking in it too? Even tigers have their naps! Everyone needs to relax occasionally…

Ok!

This is nobody's fault.

This is entirely my own fault for being careless!

But this is unavoidable. He is only one person and cannot maintain a high level of concentration all the time. It is inevitable that he will slack off. This is also an important reason why all the major ninja villages and organizations advocate teamwork. One person's energy is limited and it is impossible to be perfect in every aspect and take care of everything.

We've gone off on a tangent.

Returning to this awkward situation,

"Black Earth, come out here and give me back my clay!" Deidara roared.

Akatsuki wouldn't be capable of such a delicate task as stealing his clay, and the old man would never do such a thing. Given the old man's temper, if someone were to sneak up to him, he would definitely punch him.

After calculating,

Only Hei Tu, who has not yet appeared, would do such a thing, and is capable of doing such a thing.

Although the two disciples hadn't seen each other for many years, Deidara knew how talented Kurotsuchi was and how hard she had worked. After all these years, it was only natural that she had become stronger.

"Deidara, you lost this time!"

A girl with short black hair and delicate features emerged from the ground, dragging a large lump of pure white clay in her hand. It was the specially made explosive clay that the girl had stolen from Deidara's ninja tool bag.

[Chapter 409. I'd like to see how many eyes that Sixth Hokage has.]

We can't beat them!

Can't escape!

It seems there's no other way but to accept defeat?

After carefully assessing the current situation, Deidara realized that he probably wouldn't be able to continue his carefree life this time. Having lost all the pre-prepared explosive clay, he couldn't even launch the final, most magnificent explosion.

"Deidara, you idiot, are you still going to resist?"

Onoki glared angrily at this traitor.

"Old man, you ran away from Iwagakure and traveled all the way to the Land of Hot Springs to capture me. Was it for information about Akatsuki? Or news about Konoha...? No, no, judging from your habits, old man, you probably want both, right?"

Deidara wasn't going to surrender easily and tried to put up a fight.

"I can tell you this information, but I won't..."

A gust of wind from behind interrupted Deidara's bargaining.

In haste,

Deidara twisted his body and did another roll, narrowly dodging the thrown boulder. As for who threw the boulder... Akatsuchi, controlling the rock giant, swung his arm again, and the boulder, estimated to be the size of a bull, flew towards them once more.

"Earth Escape·Earth Flow Wall."