"If that's how it's gonna be, then I'll just have to beat some respect into you. Frankly, I think your so-called 'art' is worthless compared to mine."
Hyuga Gakuya activated his Sharingan, and the look in his eyes as he stared down at Deidara was enough to ignite fury.
"You bastard! You dare insult my art?! That's unforgivable!" Deidara reached into his ninja tool pouch and pulled out a lump of clay.
In his hands, the clay quickly morphed into a massive centipede.
"Explosive Clay—Centipede!"
He flung it toward Gakuya. In midair, the centipede expanded, coiling around Gakuya's body.
Seeing that his attack landed, Deidara smirked and was just about to detonate it when—
"You might wanna take a look at what's wrapped around your body instead," Gakuya said calmly.
Deidara's eyes darted downward—and froze. At some point, the clay centipede had latched onto him, binding him tightly.
"Genjutsu! When did you—?!"
"The moment you looked into my eyes."
"This... is your art?"
"Yes and no."
"I can join the Akatsuki—but I want your life first."
"You're welcome to try."
Gakuya tossed Deidara an Akatsuki cloak. Deidara dispelled the clay centipede around himself and slipped the cloak on.
"Welcome aboard. No hard feelings about earlier."
Gakuya gestured toward the other figure beside him.
"This is Sasori. Unlike your explosive art, his pursuit lies in eternal art."
"So our organization's full of artists, huh?"
"You could say that."
Kakuzu and Hidan chase the art of immortality. Itachi and Kisame—the art of slaughter. Konan and Pain aim for the art of peace through destruction.
"I'm really starting to like this group."
"You won't be disappointed."
Deidara, still a kid at just twelve years old, younger than both Uchiha Itachi and Gakuya, had a passion for art—and was naïve enough to be lured in with a few words.
"The intel said you know flight ninjutsu. Can you carry passengers?"
"Of course. My art knows no limits."
The group climbed atop Deidara's clay bird, which took off at speeds several times faster than their incoming journey.
"Your art is surprisingly convenient," Gakuya said, not holding back the praise.
Hearing approval from a fellow artist made Deidara beam with pride.
"Of course it is! My art is absolute!"
"Mind if I ask you some questions about Explosion Release?"
With his ego thoroughly inflated, Deidara assumed Gakuya was just another admirer looking to learn from a master.
"Haha! Sure, ask away."
Sasori glanced over at Gakuya—pampering the kid like this... He couldn't help but think Deidara was lucky to be alive. Just a few flattering words, and he was ready to spill the secrets of his kekkei genkai.
"Explosion Release is a combination of which chakra natures? And how exactly do you fuse them?"
Gakuya had long been curious. His personal experiments with bloodline fusion had all failed. Now, he finally had a live tutor.
"It's an earth and fire style fusion... You have to..." Deidara began to explain, sparing no detail.
After the thorough explanation, Gakuya found his understanding of kekkei genkai elevated to a new level. Explosion Release was indeed a fusion of earth and fire styles, similar to Lava Release—but manifested in a different form.
Gakuya nodded, signaling his comprehension, and immediately began trying to merge the two chakra types.
"Tsk tsk... You're not all that talented, huh? I figured it out after watching it a couple times back in the day," Deidara said smugly, clearly pleased to have found something he could lord over Gakuya.
Gakuya didn't mind. After all, he'd gone through a lot to get himself a teacher. Might as well keep the kid happy.
...
"Time to land—we're entering the Land of Rain," Sasori reminded them.
Delivering Deidara to Konan marked the completion of Gakuya and Sasori's mission.
With no assignments left, Gakuya was finally free to manage his own time.
Lately, he'd felt increasingly pressed—there were just too many things demanding his attention:
Fully assimilating the power of the Tenseigan.
Mastering chakra fusion for bloodline limits.
Learning puppet crafting.
Studying Uzumaki sealing techniques under Yukari.
All of these were time-intensive, high-difficulty undertakings.
Fortunately, for goals 2, 3, and 4, Gakuya had found mentors—he was no longer fumbling around on his own.
Shortly after he absorbed the bloodline essence from the Uzumaki mother and child, and was preparing to dive into focused training, Uchiha Izumi came looking for him.
"Gakuya-sama... When I saw Uchiha Itachi, I didn't feel any anger. He destroyed our whole clan, but... I don't hate him. In fact, I feel... familiar."
Gakuya's Mangekyō ability had rewritten her memories—but not her emotions.
"You're just too kind, Izumi. You understand the truth now. You understand why he made that choice."
"I see. That makes sense."
"Just treat him like a stranger. That's all you need to do."
"Yes, Gakuya-sama."
...
No sooner had Izumi left than Uchiha Itachi arrived.
"What did you do to Izumi?" he asked coldly, wasting no time.
Gakuya narrowed his eyes. "Is that how you speak to your ANBU senior?"
Itachi activated his Sharingan, staring Gakuya down without blinking. He had spent the past few days digging into everything he could about Gakuya.
He'd uncovered a disturbing trend—after leaving Gakuya's command, the Second Division of the ANBU, under Gakuya's leadership, had been quietly orchestrating moves that soured relations between Konoha and the Uchiha.
...
"Heh. I altered her memories. Izumi's already forgotten all about you."
"You abandoned her, didn't you? Now, under my care, she finally has a reason to keep living."
Itachi's fists clenched. For once, a flicker of anger crossed his usually unreadable face.
"So you absorbed Uchiha Shisui's body too, didn't you?"
He'd pieced it together from Izumi's strange behavior—likely due to Kotoamatsukami—and the rumors out of Konoha that Gakuya could absorb kekkei genkai from corpses.
Back then in Konoha, when Gakuya had suddenly stopped taking missions... It hadn't been concern for Itachi's state of mind.
He must've discovered the location of Shisui's body.
The timing matched exactly with the day of Shisui's death.
If Gakuya could hear Itachi's deductions now, he'd probably applaud him.
Not bad for a Uchiha genius.
"And what if I did? Still better than murdering your entire clan."
Silence lingered. Finally, Itachi loosened his fists and returned to his usual calm expression.
"We're not so different, you and I."
"No, we are different," Gakuya said coldly. "The Hyuga murdered my parents and kin. I wiped them out. That's justice. But you..."
He didn't finish, but his meaning was crystal clear.
I had a reason. You slaughtered your own blood without one. That makes you worse.
Itachi said nothing. He'd gotten the answer he came for.
"I'm warning you—stay away from Sasuke. If you touch him..."
Gakuya scoffed. "Why tell me this? Shouldn't you be watching Orochimaru? He's the one who might go after your brother if he can't beat you."
Itachi's steps froze mid-turn.
That... was a valid point.
He made a mental note to visit Konoha soon—to place a few Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi-encoded traps inside Sasuke's Sharingan.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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