"What did you say?"
As Deidara's words fell, seven pairs of Rinnegan simultaneously settled on Deidara. A terrifying pressure that couldn't be described in words instantly swept over him.
Deidara was stunned. He heard a trace of anger from the Leader's words ...
"I, I said... You could beat Jiraiya up."
The seven pairs of dangerous eyes narrowed at the same time.
Deidara realized something!
'Is our Leader prideful?'
"The next words!"
Seven cold voices sounded in unison, almost scaring Deidara to piss himself.
He knew that because he was a member of Akatsuki, the Leader wouldn't do anything to him. At most, he would threaten him as he was doing now.
What's more, this was the exam space, and the last person to cause a ruckus was still being suppressed right now.
But being targeted by Rinnegan, Deidara felt that the whole body was going numb.
It was as if the air around him was being stripped away under the effect of Rinnegan, making it difficult for him even to breathe.
'It's terrible!'
'The Leader's strength is too frightening!'
What kind of situation did he get himself into?
Deidara boasted that his strength was no weaker than that of a Kage-level. Although it was far from his own sensei, compared to other Kages, even if he couldn't win, at least he wouldn't lose too quickly.
But, right now?!
The Leader's gaze alone gave him an urge to kneel. 'And, what the hell was this "if I resist, I will die" feeling in my gut?'
Not even Ōnoki had ever brought out this kind of feeling in him!
'Does it mean that...'
'The Leader's strength was far superior to Ōnoki?'
'Even ...'
'Far beyond Ōnoki?!'
Deidara wasn't a fool. After entering the exam space all this while, he had long since discovered who the real leader of Akatsuki was.
He knew it wasn't just him; the rest of Akatsuki had found out too. It's just that these guys, one by one, were acting like they didn't know anything.
That guy in the wheelchair was the real leader of Akatsuki!
He manipulated the remaining six bizarre corpses, six corpses whose strength were equal to or even exceeded the Kage level!
'Such strength...'
'Such power!'
Deidara forcibly suppressed his body's impulse to tremble.
The feeling of pins and needles on his scalp hadn't gone away, letting him know that above, Pain was still staring at him.
It seemed that if he didn't give him an answer, he would keep staring.
Deidara took a deep breath. In this situation, he certainly knew what he had to say.
To be honest, he was an idiot!
Fortunately, he had experience in dealing with prideful people. Hopefully, there should be no distinction between men and women in the shinobi world.
At the thought of this, Deidara immediately stood up. He raised his spirits with a slightly cheerful tone.
"Leader, I just mean that you're at the peak of the shinobi world. At your level, only a god could beat you!"
'Bullshit!'
'Bootlicker!'
'Fucking idiot!'
Listening to Deidara's words, not only Pain but the other Akatsuki members also froze.
Konan's hand covered her mouth, blocking the giggle.
Snap.
The scroll behind Sasori directly fell to the ground. The crab-like puppet froze completely, as he forgot to control the puppet.
'At the peak of the shinobi world, only a god could beat Pain ...'
'Peak of the shinobi world! Only a god could beat Pain!'
'A god!'
Deidara's voice seemed to have some kind of magnetic charm, like a bell ringing in his ear. In the wheelchair, Nagato's eyes erupted with a sharp light, and goosebumps rose all over his body.
'Yes, yes, yes!'
Even though he was emotionally stable as he always was, at the moment, he yelled three times in his heart.
As a man, who didn't want to get drunk on power and take over the world?
As a strong man, he also wanted to be able to do anything and everything he wanted.
'But, his body ...'
'How long has it been...?'
'How long has it been since I've felt like this?'
Tears appeared again in his eyes. Under his robe, Pain's hand clenched his leg in a deadly grip.
Exhilaration!
Excitement!
Thrilled!
He didn't expect that he could get such an evaluation!
He didn't expect such a comment to come from the mouth of a subordinate whom he regarded as a tool.
And, in front of so many people ...
This guy knew him well!
Nagato's face almost turned red. He looked around between the group of black-robed-wearing people. For an instant, Nagato surprisingly felt indebted to these guys.
Except for Kakuzu, it's amazing that everyone else didn't even get a paycheck!
'This won't work! Things have to change! Must be changed!'
Deidara held his head high, but his eyes kept noticing the expression on Nagato's face. When he saw Nagato actually blushing, he slightly shook his head in his heart.
'The Leader's mental capacity isn't too high... sigh...'
'There were at least one hundred kinds of "heartfelt words" at this level. Unexpectedly, this one already worked?'
Seeing Pain's eyes sweeping in, Deidara quickly straightened up.
Pain's eyes fell on Deidara, his gaze softened, and he nodded in his mind.
Although Deidara had poor strength, poor mental endurance, and poor combat experience, ...
"Deidara, you are too weak. If you encounter an unbeatable enemy, you can summon Deva Path for help."
As the voice fell, Deva Path Pain stretched out his hand and tossed a scroll that landed steadily in Deidara's hand.
"Ah? Yeah, okay!"
Deidara's face suddenly showed a surprised expression. 'Deva Path, isn't this the one everyone else thought was the leader? Did he just... just, lent the guy to me?'
'Oh, not lent, but I can summon him once for myself?!'
'This...'
That's a one-time get-out-of-jail-free card!
Deidara held the scroll and mentally thanked a black-haired girl from back home.
'The leader is powerful! The leader is awesome! The leader is invincible!'
....
'Shameless!'
'Such shamelessness!'
'Tsk!'
Hidan and Kakuzu stared at Deidara, who was still cheering.
They didn't expect that the situation would turn out this way...
Originally, everyone was watching how ridiculous Deidara was, putting his foot in his own mouth, only to turn around and receive a one-time fast pass! (pun intended.)
'That was the original Leader!'
Even Orochimaru couldn't last a single move in its hands, and now his summoning scroll was given to Deidara?!
'Fuck!'
If they had known that a mouth could be that powerful, what was the use of gaining strength!
The undead duo looked at each other, and both saw the resentment in each other's eyes.
They both had lived for so long, but this is the first time they saw this kind of thing!
Sasori was shocked.
'We agreed to make art together, but Deidara turned into an ass kisser.'
'And kissed it successfully?'
'His words...'
'At the peak of the shinobi world, only a god could beat the Leader!'
This ass-kissing was really loud!
Not to mention that the Leader should be in the leading role. He tried to put his name into it, and his whole core shivered with excitement and was almost damaged.
'At the peak of the shinobi world, only a god could beat Sasori!'
Sasori's body trembled again, so he hastily closed his senses to force himself to calm down.
He was also a puppet, so there shouldn't be any feelings like pride...
'Deidara... Deidara! You're really something!'
Sasori sighed tiredly. Now, he finally knew what Deidara's art was about!
'It's not fucking clay at all. It's his mouth!'
'That talking mouth!'
'Deidara, you have a lot of mouths. It's fucking amazing!'