"Seriously? You're kidding, right!"
Deidara was the first to shout out in astonishment.
Back when Akatsuki had come calling for him, he had been the one and only, supremely self-assured "sky-high-and-alone" kind of guy.
And yet, just one glance from Itachi had left him completely lost, almost blowing himself up in the process.
Afterwards, there were a few instances where he had resisted—it's not even worth mentioning. That feeling of defeat, where you know someone is about to use genjutsu on you, you're prepared for it, yet somehow you still end up falling for it, had utterly shattered Deidara.
So, in his eyes, the idea that this twisted Itachi, together with Kisame—the so-called humanoid tailed beast—could strike and the opponent still managed to escape was simply unbelievable.
If it were him? Running away would be impossible. The only outcome would have been mutual destruction at best.
Deidara's exclamation pretty much reflected everyone else's thoughts.
At this moment, Kisame chuckled darkly. "It's true, but it also had a lot to do with the fact that the other side… lacked eyes."
"Lacked eyes? What do you mean?"
"Literal meaning."
"Huh? That—"
"Itachi's signature genjutsu didn't work, and combined with the opponent's strong resilience, somehow… it managed to slip away."
As Kisame spoke, his expression was odd—like he found it funny but also couldn't fully laugh about it.
It was easy to imagine that the first time he saw Itachi get bested, it would have been for such a ridiculous, nonsensical reason.
Indeed, for visual-style genjutsu, the blind truly were the ultimate solution!
Of course, during the confrontation, neither he nor Itachi had revealed their true power.
Kisame simply didn't think it necessary; Itachi purely didn't want to waste his ocular strength on the opponent, fearing that he'd go blind before even reaching that "foolish little brat."
---
Still, this was not a good omen. Itachi and Kisame immediately chose to report the situation to the organization.
Whether they sent the same intelligence back to Konoha? No one knew.
Hearing Kisame's explanation, everyone relaxed visibly and even found it amusing.
"Really? All this fuss for something like that? Was it even necessary to gather everyone?" Deidara, of course, continued speaking in his usual brash, insulting tone.
As expected, Pain's Deva Path and Itachi both cast him subtle glances of disapproval.
Sasori, noticing this, silently mourned for Deidara for two seconds in his mind, deciding that if Deidara ever got beaten up, he'd either kick him along with everyone else or stay far away, to avoid being mistakenly implicated.
They weren't close—not even a little!
While considering one day inviting Deidara to the Land of Wind, Nagato continued controlling the Deva Path and said, "There's another piece of intelligence, Zetsu."
Zetsu, in his distinctive accent, began relaying another piece of information.
"A few days ago, within the Land of Wind, a cursed spirit codenamed 'Sand Spirit' appeared. Cursed spirits is the general term for those unknown entities."
"This 'Sand Spirit' gave itself the name Saibote, and in its first strike, it killed two Jonin from Sunagakure and several Chunin and Genin, rescuing many 'of its own kind' who had been captured."
"Afterward, the Kazekage Rasa dispatched three Jonin to pursue, but they only managed a safe retreat at the cost of nine members of the sealing squad and multiple Chunin casualties."
"Later, a first-person report from someone who fought 'Sand Spirit' Saibote circulated through the underground exchange network. The first buyer was none other than Sunagakure itself."
"The intelligence noted that 'Sand Spirit', Saibote is extremely powerful, possessing the ability to control sand, including fully transforming itself into sand to evade attacks… among other abilities."
When Zetsu finished, Pain's Deva Path spoke again: "What are your thoughts on these extremely powerful, unusual cursed spirits that have appeared consecutively?"
"Sounds impressive, but it doesn't really affect us, right? The more chaos among the nations, the more experiences they gather being involved… isn't that beneficial to our plans?"
Deidara, blunt as always, had a personality somewhat like Hidan's, though much sharper.
Even Kakuzu regarded him with a raised brow.
"You're not wrong. But I think the leader's concern is whether these cursed spirits might interfere with our future plans, or even grow strong enough to threaten Akatsuki."
"That's impossible."
"Nothing is impossible. A month ago, would you have believed that a cursed spirit could walk away unharmed from a member of our organization?"
Itachi and Kisame: "."
…Who's this aimed at?!
At this point, Sasori nodded, agreeing with Konan's point: "I've also studied these cursed spirits a bit during this time. They seem to grow by feeding on human negative emotions, and each possesses limitless growth potential."
After a slight pause, Sasori continued: "This means, as long as there are enough humans as food, their power can leap dramatically in a short period of time."
"Just because they're weak now doesn't mean they'll always stay that way. Take the cursed spirit that escaped from Itachi and Kisame—this time it fled in a mess, but next time we meet, the result might be completely reversed."
Once again, Itachi and Kisame: "."
Damn it, it was just one slip-up! Does it have to be brought up every time someone speaks?!
The two of them exchanged a glance. "Next time we meet… no matter what, we kill it."
With just a look, the two reached an unspoken agreement.
---
"Then… can we use this power for our own purposes?" Pain's Deva Path suddenly proposed a path no one had considered.
Everyone fell into thought, each with their own ideas.
For a moment, the atmosphere became awkwardly silent.
After all, everyone present was proud and ambitious; it was hard to get approval even from comrades, let alone from some 'insects.'
Indeed, at least Kakuzu and the others considered these cursed spirits as bothersome insects.
One kick could squash them, but the goo that splattered was disgusting and had to be cleaned.
It's like no one would willingly use cockroaches' power for anything—wouldn't that feel gross?
After a while, Sasori broke the silence.
"I don't think it's necessary."
"Reason?"
"Three reasons. First, these cursed spirits see humans as food or enemies—their positions are naturally opposed and cannot be changed."
"Second, with our current capabilities, we can accomplish everything we need without using cursed spirits. And what we cannot achieve, they also cannot."
"Third… I don't like it."