---
Looking at Deidara's excited expression, Shinji roughly knew what he was thinking.
It was nothing more than figuring out how to destroy his own room.
However.
Under the system's blessing, Shinji's entire house was already rendered indestructible and immune to wear and tear.
If Deidara could actually destroy it, then this system would be truly pathetic.
"Alright then, let's sign the contract. They're almost here," Shinji said. Relying on Zhongli's Geo element affinity, he could already sense the earth's power; in the distance, several ninja were rapidly speeding in their direction.
"Fine!" Deidara, satisfied with the answer, placed one hand directly onto the Star Rock. With a flash of light, the contract between Shinji and Deidara was completed.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
"Heh, they arrived pretty quickly." Shinji chuckled softly, golden light flickering around his hands.
"Stone Stele!" Following Shinji's low chant, two Geo pillars instantly materialized in the distance. The Geo elements interacted, directly halting the advance of the Iwagakure ninja.
"Who's there!" The Iwagakure ANBU captain narrowed his eyes, staring at the suddenly appearing Geo constructs blocking his path.
As a golden glow pulsed beneath the pillars, he felt an uncomfortable sense of restriction.
"They're catching up," Deidara said anxiously, hearing the approaching footsteps getting closer.
He definitely didn't want to be captured by the Iwagakure ninja again.
If he were caught again, the consequences were clear.
His teacher, Ōnoki, certainly wouldn't let him leave so easily again. Instead, he would imprison him once more under the strictest security.
Unless, of course, Deidara gave up his Exploding Clay and peacefully returned to inherit his family's status in Iwagakure.
Right.
If he didn't diligently research bombs, he'd have to go back and inherit a massive fortune.
"It's alright. Karin, Deidara, each of you grab one of my arms," Shinji extended both hands simultaneously.
While Deidara was still confused, Karin had already placed her hand firmly on Shinji's arm.
She now considered Shinji the only person she could trust.
And Karin's personality was just like that; once she committed to someone, she would follow them unconditionally.
One only needed to look at her future actions with Sasuke to know this; no matter how much he hurt Karin, she would always go back to take care of him without hesitation.
Watching Karin's action, Deidara paused for a moment, then grit his teeth and placed his hand on Shinji's left arm.
As they did this, the Iwagakure ninja were about to reach their location.
"Young Master Deidara's presence is just ahead!"
"Be careful, there might be someone holding him hostage. I sense other presences as well."
"Retrieve Young Master Deidara, and the chance for merit and achievement will be ours!"
...
Shinji glanced at Deidara beside him. Then, just as the Iwagakure ninja were about to see them.
In the next instant, the three of them vanished from the forest.
As if they had never been there at all.
"Where did they go?"
"They were just here! Their presence vanished in an instant!"
"Impossible! Young Master Deidara must still be nearby! Sensor team, hurry up and sense his location!"
"Yes!"
...
As time passed, the faces of the Iwagakure ANBU began to darken. An hour went by, and the sensor team still couldn't detect Deidara's whereabouts.
Instead, as they expanded their search area, the ninja from the Land of Grass began to react, heading directly into the forest.
"What are you Iwagakure ninja doing entering Kusagakure territory? Are you trying to start a war?" A ninja wearing a Kusagakure headband suddenly shouted loudly.
It wasn't unfounded confidence; during peacetime, unauthorized entry into another country or village was an extremely serious provocation, and the invaded village had the right to retaliate.
However, the power disparity between Kusagakure and Iwagakure was too vast, so both sides were suppressing their anger.
"Captain, what now?" An Iwagakure ninja approached the ANBU squad leader and asked in a low voice.
"Retreat for now! This matter must be reported to Lord Third Tsuchikage immediately!" The ANBU squad leader grit his teeth.
This situation was now beyond his ability to handle.
Deidara was missing, and he and his men had entered the Land of Grass border without orders.
If they had successfully retrieved Deidara, everything might have been fine.
But now they had achieved nothing. Returning meant facing certain punishment!
Seeing the Iwagakure ninja withdraw beyond the border, the Kusagakure side breathed a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, they weren't here for war. If fighting had broken out just now, the Kusagakure forces would certainly have been no match for Iwagakure, one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages.
...
...
Setting aside the affairs between Iwagakure and Kusagakure.
With a distortion of space.
Shinji brought Deidara and Karin instantly into the .
"Wh-!!! What is this place!!!" Deidara was completely stunned. In the blink of an eye, he had gone from a forest to inside this shop?
"Lord Shinji, is this the 'Odd Jobs' place you mentioned?" Yesterday, Shinji had told Karin some things about the All-Purpose Shop, so she was somewhat mentally prepared.
Of course, Shinji's feat of returning directly to the shop was something she hadn't expected.
"Yes, this is the All-Purpose Shop." Shinji walked behind his counter. Although he had been away for a few days, thanks to the system's blessing, the tabletop and everything else remained spotlessly clean.
"No, no, how exactly did you do that?" Deidara still hadn't recovered from the shock, curiously looking around the shop, touching things here and there.
"Right, this must be genjutsu! I must be under a genjutsu!" Deidara declared as if suddenly enlightened. He then disrupted the flow of chakra in his body, trying to break the 'genjutsu'.
However, nothing happened. The scene inside the shop didn't break apart as Deidara expected. Instead, the sound of birds chirping outside the window interrupted his awkwardness.
"Ah~ Lord Shinji, is that the Hokage Rock?" Karin went to the window. Through it, she could clearly see the four massive Hokage faces carved into the mountain.
"What? Hokage Rock?" Deidara was shocked once again. He rushed over to Karin's side, staring out the window at the Hokage Rock with a stunned expression.
This was completely beyond his comprehension.
Just moments ago, he was at the border between Iwagakure and Kusagakure, and now, just like that, he was in Konohagakure in the Land of Fire???
"Wait, you couldn't be Konoha's Yellow Flash... No, the Yellow Flash is definitely dead!" Deidara stammered incoherently.
To Deidara, Shinji's ability was clearly space-time ninjutsu. And currently, the only known user of space-time ninjutsu was Minato Namikaze, who had already died!
"That's not it, but... Deidara, Karin." Shinji interrupted their astonishment.
"What is it, Lord Shinji?" Karin obediently walked over to Shinji's side and spoke respectfully.
In Karin's heart, Shinji was now the most important person.
"Since you both have signed a contract with me, there are some rules within the All-Purpose Shop that you must follow." Shinji directly lifted the still-astonished Deidara up and brought him forward.
If he hadn't, Deidara might have kept staring at the Hokage Rock in shock.
"Please speak, Lord Shinji."
"Ahem, are there rules we need to follow?"
Deidara and Karin had completely different personalities. Compared to Karin's composure, Deidara seemed more impulsive.
And Karin was currently only 4 years old, while Deidara was already 7...
Comparing the two, Shinji even felt like Karin was the older sister.
"Of course, there are conditions you need to follow." Shinji said seriously. Seeing the earnest expression on Shinji's face, Deidara and Karin simultaneously dropped their smiles and stood attentively before Shinji.
"Very good."
Seeing the two little ones' actions, Shinji smiled with satisfaction.
At least they listened. That was good.
"First, you absolutely cannot cause trouble within Konoha. This is the most basic principle." Shinji looked at the two children in front of him. Their unusual hair colors alone highlighted how different they were.
Especially Karin, her blood-red hair was incredibly conspicuous.
Of course, if Deidara were discovered, it would also be a huge hassle. After all, being Ōnoki's student, walking around Konoha with that identity would be troublesome.
Naturally, if they stayed inside the All-Purpose Shop constantly, there wouldn't be much trouble.
But Shinji didn't plan on doing that.
It was one thing for Deidara to stay inside the shop researching his Exploding Clay art – a standard science geek – but Karin couldn't do the same.
In another two years, she would be old enough to attend the Ninja Academy.
Shinji didn't intend to hinder her potential.
Next, Shinji explained some basic matters to the two children, mostly just principles. Other things didn't matter much.
"Shinji... uh... Lord Shinji." Just as Deidara was about to call Shinji by name directly, Karin's murderous glare shot over.
It wasn't about a difference in strength; currently, Deidara could easily handle ten Karins...
However, Karin's gaze still startled Deidara, making him automatically add the word "Lord" after Shinji's name.
Seeing Deidara being so perceptive, Karin nodded with satisfaction.
"Is something wrong, Deidara?" Seeing the Deidara who would later be arrogant within the Akatsuki acting so obediently in front of him now, Shinji felt a sudden sense of contrast.
It was really quite amusing.
"You mentioned before, where is that room I can't blow up?" Deidara still remembered the most crucial point of the agreement he'd made.
The room Shinji had promised, one that wouldn't be damaged and would allow him to freely research his Exploding Clay art.
Of course, he wasn't afraid of Shinji tricking him. If it wasn't as miraculous as Shinji claimed, he'd just set it on fire... uh... no, just blow it up with some clay.
"I'll take you there first. There happen to be a few extra rooms upstairs." Shinji didn't mind and led them directly to the second floor.
The second floor was originally Shinji's living quarters, but since there were several empty rooms, providing space for Deidara and Karin wasn't an issue.
He first went to Karin's room. It was already furnished with essentials suitable for living, complete with bedsheets and quilts.
After handing the room key to Karin, Shinji then took Deidara to his room.
"Such a small room?" Deidara looked at the room, less than 10 square meters. This had to be the smallest room he had ever stayed in.
"But you can damage this room to your heart's content. That is, if you can manage it," Shinji said with a mysterious smile.
"Hmph, such a tiny little room. Watch me, the great Deidara, take care of it with one exploding clay!" When had Deidara ever tolerated such provocation?
However, due to Shinji's miraculous abilities, Deidara cautiously observed the furniture and other items in the room first.
After a thorough observation, Deidara made an astonishing discovery.
This was just an ordinary, plain room!
Even the wardrobe, bed, table, etc., were just furniture made from very common wood. Just this kind of room?
Enough for him to mess around in?
"What's wrong, Deidara?" Shinji looked at Deidara somewhat curiously. In his mind, he had expected Deidara to immediately create some exploding clay to test its power.
He hadn't expected Deidara to actually restrain himself and observe everything in the room first.
"If I destroy this room, you won't say anything, right?" Deidara asked cautiously.
"Of course not. If you manage to destroy it, I'll even give you a reward," Shinji said with a smile, his words clearly conveying his utter disbelief that Deidara could possibly destroy anything here.
---
> Check my: [email protected]/ShixT9 for extra 60 Chapters
> Each 50 Spirit Stones I will release an extra chapter
> If a member joins my p@treon
> Tier 1 = 20 Advance Chapters +1 Extra Chapter + Shoutout
> Tier 2 = 40 Advance Chapters + 2 Extra Chapters + Shoutout
> Tier 3 = 60 Advance Chapters + 4 Extra Chapters + Shoutout
A review will also be greatly appreciated ^•^