Chapter 42

It was unclear whether they had been so engrossed in their discussion or if the other party was simply too elusive, but neither of them noticed the massive figure that suddenly appeared behind them.

"Hey, hey, hey, weren't you two just talking about me?"

"Now that I'm standing right in front of you, hurry up and decide—are we fighting, or are you running? Just pick one~"

"I've been waiting here for days in this barren desert just to meet you guys..." Xing Liu grew a bit irritated when neither of them reacted at all.

Clearly, he had gone through the trouble of traveling so far to wait for them, but now that they finally saw him, they didn't give him any response. Wasn't this making him look foolish?

So, Xing Liu decided to give them a little demonstration of what it meant to have fists as large as a cauldron, using a hand enhanced by his Amplification Technique. He figured that giving each of them a slap to the head would be quite satisfying.

"Heh, I've never tried using this move before. I hope your heads won't explode from just one little tap~" As he spoke, Xing Liu's right hand slowly began to swell.

Though his right hand seemed to expand gradually, it quickly grew to a size far beyond that of a cauldron. Within just a short time, it had grown large enough to knock both of them down with a single punch.

At first, Deidara didn't realize what was happening. He thought the sky had suddenly darkened. But when he saw the massive fist approaching, he finally sensed something was wrong.

"Eh? What the hell?! How did the sky suddenly turn dark in just that short amount of time... wait! Scorpion, get out of the way!"

Once Deidara snapped back to reality, he shoved his partner, the Scorpion of the Red Sand, out of the way, narrowly avoiding the incoming fist.

"Ouch... What the hell?!" The Scorpion had no idea what was going on at first, but as soon as he saw the enormous fist covering where they had been standing, he realized that Deidara had just saved him.

"I won't thank you or anything, but I won't hold it against you for pushing me earlier either."

Great, another typical tsundere (proud, cold-hearted character), though men's tsundere behavior has no market value whatsoever...

As expected, just after the Scorpion finished his tsundere remark, Deidara clumsily climbed to his feet and began to complain.

"Dammit, 'won't hold it against you'? Next time, I won't save you anymore!"

If it hadn't been for saving that idiot, he wouldn't have ended up in such a miserable state. And now that idiot had the nerve to talk about not holding things against him?! If he saves that idiot again next time, he'd be a dog!

Cough… Although it felt a bit awkward to interrupt them now, Xing Liu decided to speak up for the sake of efficiency.

"I'm sorry to interrupt your conversation, but I have to ask—"

"Are you two ready to fight, or are you planning to leave?"

As a mature man, of course, he should let them choose the way they'd prefer to handle things.

Of course, whether he would accept their choice was another matter entirely.

"So, Scorpion, what do you think?" Deidara's top priority was clearly to leave, but he asked the Scorpion, not because he cared about his opinion, but simply to have an excuse for retreating. Otherwise, he'd be mocked back in the Akatsuki.

The Scorpion was speechless at Deidara's question. Even a fool knew that if you couldn't beat the opponent, you should run away, right?

And yet, here Deidara was, still asking him this question. Was he the idiot, or was the Scorpion the idiot?

Of course, the Scorpion would never voice these thoughts aloud, or Deidara would likely look down on him.

So, the Scorpion made what was probably the most foolish decision of his short life...

"Hmph! Do we really need to talk about this? We're members of the esteemed S-Class rogue ninja organization—Akatsuki. Of course, we're not going to run away with our tails between our legs."

"Besides, isn't the opponent just some little brat? Do we really need to be scared of him?" After making this dramatic speech, the Scorpion turned around, leaving Deidara with the image of his "invincible" back.

Heh, if it comes to leaving later, at least he'll have an excuse: "I already tried to persuade my partner, but he insisted on leaving, so I had no choice but to go with him."

Yes, if anyone from the organization asks about this later, that's exactly what he'd say.

However, things didn't go as planned. Just as the Scorpion thought Deidara would suggest they leave, he heard something that completely shocked him.

"Since you've said that, I guess it's not impossible to try to take him down…"

"???"

What?!

Did Deidara, who was so afraid of death, just say they should try to take the opponent down, despite facing such a powerful enemy?

Was this still the Deidara he knew, the one who was terrified of dying?

"So… you've made your choice, right?" Although Xing Liu already knew their decision, he still politely asked Deidara and the Scorpion one last time.

"Then, please tell me, what's your choice?"

After exchanging a glance, both Deidara and the Scorpion saw the same expression in each other's eyes: a mixture of "fighting spirit" and "despair." They slowly made their decision: "Our choice is..."

As they spoke, they simultaneously distanced themselves from Xing Liu and began hurling every desperate attack they could muster toward him.

"Sigh… So, it's going to be like this, huh? I thought we could settle this peacefully."

Seeing the many clay bombs and poisonous gas canisters flying his way, Xing Liu simply waved his hand lightly, sending them all back in the opposite direction.

"You guys must have seen your leader use this trick, right?" Xing Liu smiled as he spoke.

"Goddamn! The Rinnegan?!" Both Deidara and the Scorpion were stunned when they saw that Xing Liu's eyes were no longer ordinary, but had transformed into the Rinnegan (Eye of Rebirth).

They knew the Rinnegan only from their leader, who possessed such a "bug-like" ability. But now, they were facing it from someone else.

"I say, Qinglong," Deidara began, after a moment of hesitation, "I admit I was a little loud just now... how about we just leave?"

"Coincidentally, I was just thinking the same thing, but I'm not sure whether the other party is willing to let us go..."

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