Chapter 81 – Clay and Steel
The rain had thinned to a cold mist that clung to every blade of grass. The plains stretched wide beneath the gray sky, wind pushing through the hills with a low, endless hum. Two figures walked along the muddy path, black cloaks heavy with water, red clouds faintly glinting in the dull light.
Deidara kicked at a puddle, letting out a long sigh.
"Man, this place is depressing, un. Even the ground looks bored."
Sasori, enclosed within his hulking puppet shell, Hiruko, didn't answer. His tail twitched slightly, and his hollow voice came from within the mask.
"We're here for a mission, not a walk."
Deidara smirked. "You call stalking some missing-nin a mission? Tch. My art deserves a better audience."
"Your 'art' lasts seconds. I prefer creations that are eternal."
"Oh, come on," Deidara laughed, tapping the side of his head. "That's the beauty of it, un, art's supposed to be fleeting. Like a firework before it fades."
Sasori didn't respond at first. The rain was the only sound between them, until both their rings gave off a low, metallic pulse, deeper and harsher than the usual call.
They stopped in unison.
Deidara frowned, glancing at his hand. "That's… not the regular summon, is it?"
Sasori's voice turned sharp. "No. This one's an emergency. Pain's calling us back, now."
Deidara's lip curled. "Tch. We're about to finish this job, and he calls now? What, did someone sneeze too loud in the village?"
"Mock him again," Sasori said, voice flat, "and I'll report you to Pain."
That shut Deidara up immediately. He remembered those eyes, the way they saw straight through everything. He clicked his tongue, exhaling as he reached into his clay pouch.
"Fine, fine. I'll give you a ride, un."
He pressed his palms together, kneading clay between the mouths in his hands. Chakra flowed through his fingers.
"C1!"
A large clay bird formed and expanded, wings spreading wide. They climbed aboard. With a powerful flap, it lifted off into the gray sky, cutting through the thinning rain.
All across the world, shadows moved.
Black cloaks with red clouds streaked through forests, rivers, and mountain paths.
Itachi and Kisame emerged from a fog-covered riverbank. Kisame grinned through jagged teeth. "Pain hasn't Summon us like this before. Must be serious."
Itachi said nothing, eyes fixed ahead.
Farther away, Hidan and Kakuzu ran across open ground, arguing even as they moved.
"But I was about to sacrifice him," Hidan said, teeth flashing in a grin.
Kakuzu's voice was flat. "Just run. I'm not losing another heart because of you."
In the Kamui void between worlds, Obito's single eye spun, and he vanished into space.
"Pain doesn't summon unless it's important," he muttered, voice echoing. "What have you done, Nagato?"
The world itself seemed to shift toward Amegakure, every remaining Akatsuki answering the call.
When Deidara's bird descended, the horizon was scarred. The plains before them were torn open, craters deep enough to swallow houses, trees splintered into jagged spears. Smoke drifted lazily from patches of burning soil. The once-constant rain had turned into steam.
Deidara and Sasori dismounted, They Arrive first since they were the closest from the Rain Village. The air smelled of burnt metal and blood. Bodies of Rain shinobi were scattered everywhere armor crushed, limbs twisted, faces frozen in disbelief.
Sasori crouched beside a corpse, pulling a panel of armor aside. "Puncture wounds," he said quietly. "Too clean for explosives. Too fast for chakra blades."
Deidara folded his arms. "Looks like someone with no sense of style did this, un."
Sasori didn't look up. "Whoever they are, they're efficient."
He traced his puppet fingers across the ground, deep, heavy footprints pressed into the mud, larger than any human's.
"They were wearing armor, a massive armor."
Deidara raised an eyebrow. "Big and slow, huh? That's all I need to know."
"Underestimating the unknown is how you die."
Deidara smirked, hopping back onto his bird. "Guess I'll find out the fun way, un."
The clay creature lifted off again, circling high into the fog as they followed the trail toward a shallow valley where the rain thinned to mist.
The rain came down in steady sheets, thick and cold. Through the gray mist, four massive figures advanced, their armored boots splashing through the flooded streets of Amegakure. Their ceramite plates were streaked with mud and rain, purity seals torn and fluttering in the wind. Broken buildings and toppled signposts lined the narrow streets, steel towers and remnants of old walkways looming around them like jagged sentinels.
Lieutenant Titus led the formation, his steps deliberate, his gaze scanning the ruined alleys and courtyards of the Rain Village, he felt it, the enemy should be coming now, from the Havoc they made earlier, they should have now responded.
"Formation Alpha," his voice came through the internal vox, calm and measured. "Sweep pattern ahead."
The Bladeguard Veterans obeyed without hesitation, shields raised and bolters at the ready. Their blue and gold armor reflected the faint glow of lightning as they advanced cautiously through the rain-soaked streets, boots splashing in puddles and over broken debris.
Titus paused for a moment, his helm turning slightly toward a toppled bridge connecting two steel towers in the distance. "We are truly on another world," he said, tone controlled but heavy. "I can't raise the Oath of Rectitude on vox."
Metaurus, scanning through the rain and the narrow alleys with his helm's sensors, replied, "Captain Gaius is indeed blessed by the Emperor. We prepared our weapons… and in the next moment, we were here."
Another Bladeguard spoke, his voice low and cautious. "This place reeks of ozone and sorcery. Not of the warp, but something else."
Titus's grip tightened around his bolter. "Whatever this place is, we will do our duties," he said firmly. "Sorcery or not, we adapt. The Emperor guides our steps."
The four warriors pressed on through the rain, their heavy footfalls echoing across the slick streets and through the alleys of Amegakure as thunder rumbled above the steel towers.
The silence shattered with a sharp beeping in Titus' visor.
"Movement. Airborne contact. One o'clock high."
He looked up, a white blur cutting through the rain-streaked light, descending fast between the buildings.
"Contact!" Titus barked.
Bolters came up as one. The Marines fired. Explosive shells tore through the narrow alleys, arcs of gold streaking past walls and puddles, striking the target dead-on.
The clay bird detonated midair with a blinding flash. Smoke and shards scattered through the streets, splattering harmlessly against ceramite armor and the sides of nearby buildings.
"Hold formation," Titus ordered.
Through the drifting smoke, Deidara landed lightly on the wet stone, clay dust swirling around him. His cloak was singed, and his expression held a mix of annoyance and amusement.
"So you're the ones tearing this place apart, huh?" he said, tilting his head. "Looks like I found the culprits."
Titus' visor swept over him, sensors analyzing rapidly. "Objective confirmed." he reported evenly, after seeing the Akatsuki Clothes.
Deidara smirked. "Oh, you noticed. Let's see how well you handle my art."
He clapped his hands, and tiny clay birds and spiders shot from his palms, darting through the narrow streets toward the Marines with incredible speed.
Titus didn't move to dodge. "Brace," he commanded instead. The small, fast projectiles were far too numerous to track individually, and their explosions were unpredictable. Trying to evade would scatter them across the squad and leave openings, steady footing and controlled bracing offered the best chance to withstand the blasts.
The explosions erupted across the village street, shaking the stone and splashing water and mud into the air. When the smoke cleared, the Marines remained unmoved, standing firm in disciplined formation.
"Explosives have minimal effect," Metaurus reported. "Clay composition and detonation radius ineffective against heavy ceramite."
Titus adjusted his stance, bolter raised, eyes locked on the target. "Then we proceed to neutralize the threat."
Titus fired a precise shot, the bolt streaking through the rain-soaked alley. Deidara, anticipating the weapon from prior investigation, twisted to dodge, moving with quick reflexes.
The projectile grazed his shoulder as he shifted, tearing through the Akatsuki cloak and breaking the skin beneath, leaving dark bruises and blood staining the fabric. He hissed, pressing a hand to the wound.
"You're persistent," he muttered, eyes narrowing. "Very well, let's make this more challenging."
From the side streets, a hundred humanoid and non humanoid shapes appeared.
Sasori moved forward, releasing his puppets in a perfect fan, bladed arms, segmented joints, glowing eyes.
The puppets surged through the narrow alleys like a wave.
The Marines adjusted immediately.
"Left flank suppression!" Titus shouted.
Bolters roared. Every shot tore through two or three puppets, splintering them apart. Sasori's fingers danced, replacing them with more, but even he noticed, the enemy's coordination was inhumanly precise.
"These movements… too clean," he muttered. "Machines."
Deidara laughed overhead. "Looks like they're giving your puppets a hard time, huh?"
"Shut up and support me."
Deidara bit another chunk of clay, forming a dragon-shaped bomb. "C2, Dragon!"
The massive clay beast took flight, spiraling through the narrow streets before diving.
Titus looked up. "Sergeant. Plasma fire."
A single plasma bolt streaked upward, striking the dragon mid-descent. It exploded, a thunderous bloom of fire lighting the alleys, the shockwave rattling shutters and splintering weak wood along the streets.
The Marines stood unmoved, armor darkened but solid.
Deidara growled. "That's it, un, you're dead!"
Sasori in Hiruko moved with unnatural precision, weaving between buildings and support beams, each step calculated, every movement a threat. Behind him, Deidara hovered, hands constantly shaping and reshaping clay.
Titus and the Bladeguards held formation in the narrow courtyard, bolters ready, eyes sharp. Metaurus' sensors flared repeatedly as he tracked every motion, every energy pulse in the enemy's body.
Then Sasori took out his a puppet while moving, He then controlled the Third Kazekage puppet with unnerving precision, the iron sand swirling violently around the courtyard like a living storm. Spikes of jagged metal shot out from the swirling mass, tearing into walls and roof supports, sending shards clattering in every direction. The rain hissed as it struck the iron, steam rising in a fleeting haze of danger. The Marines reacted instantly, shields raised and weapons ready, trying to withstand the relentless assault.
Metaurus's eyes narrowed as he scanned the scene. The source of the iron sand, it was the Third Kazekage puppet, became apparent. "There," he muttered under his breath, raising the plasma gun. A concentrated beam lanced out, striking the core that animated the iron sand. Sparks flew, and the swirling storm collapsed in an instant, the iron sand scattering harmlessly to the wet cobblestones.
With the sand neutralized, Titus advanced, determination in his gaze. "For the Emperor!"
He swung his chainsword with ruthless precision. The blade tore through Hiruko's armor, splintering metal and sending sparks scattering across the rain-slicked ground. For the first time, a flicker of unease passed over Sasori's puppet face. The armor shielding Hiruko's body groaned under the assault, and for a moment, it seemed the battle's tide might shift.
Sasori's puppet attempted a desperate counterattack, but Titus pressed forward relentlessly. His chainsword struck again and again, rending the Hiruko armor almost to ruin. For a fleeting moment, the puppet seemed on the verge of collapse. Then, with mechanical precision, Sasori discarded the damaged Hiruko, stepping out into the open as his inner form revealed itself, a puppet with no flesh, only the small core that contained his life.
Before Titus could react further, a sudden burst of flame erupted from tubes hidden in Sasori's hands. The flamethrower licked across the rain-soaked ground, engulfing Titus in searing heat. The smell of burning metal and ozone filled the courtyard as he was submerged in the inferno. Sasori's eyes glimmered with triumph. "Finally… one less enemy," he muttered, watching as flames danced over the figure of Titus, certain of his victory.
But then came the sound of footsteps. Heavy, deliberate, cutting through the roar of the flames. Sasori froze, his mechanical heart skipping a beat of calculation. Through the smoke, Titus emerged, his chainsword gleaming, dripping with boiling rainwater. With a single, unstoppable motion, he drove the blade straight into the core of Sasori's body. Sparks, smoke, and mechanical groans filled the air as the puppet shuddered violently. For a brief moment, Sasori's eyes flickered with disbelief, and then went dark.
Deidara hovered above the battlefield, his wings beating against the rain. Shock and anguish twisted his features as he gazed at the broken remains of Sasori. For a moment, he simply couldn't move. His partner, precise, unflinching, a true artist, was gone.
Rage and grief coiled inside him, boiling over. He looked at the Bladeguard Marines below, their armor gleaming wetly in the rain, weapons ready, standing disciplined and unflinching. He knew he couldn't back down, not now. Not after Sasori's death.
Deidara clenched his hands, molding a massive sphere of clay. Energy radiated from it, compressing the air around him, making the rain hiss and tremble. This was his ultimate technique, C0, a self-destructive explosion capable of destroying everything around him.
Even as the thought of his own death flashed through his mind, he pushed it aside. This wasn't recklessness; this was art. This was a tribute to Sasori. A final statement that their work, their vision, and their art, would not be ignored.
"I'll show you… my strongest art!" he shouted. The sphere hovered before him, humming with dangerous energy. "Art… is an explosion!"
The village streets shook, the rain distorted by the power of the technique, as Deidara prepared to unleash his ultimate creation.
Metaurus' sensors flared. "Captain, he's preparing a self-destruct!"
Titus' bolter was raised, but Metaurus stepped forward ahead of Titus, experience guiding his hand. Years of facing chaos and unpredictable energy had taught him to recognize the signs of a self-destruct. He saw the energy compressing inside Deidara, building to a catastrophic climax.
With unwavering precision, Metaurus fired his plasma pistol. The shot struck Deidara directly in the chest at the exact moment the energy peaked. The clay sphere erupted, but only partially, the blast still shook the village with a force unlike anything before, hurling Titus and the three Bladeguards backward across wet streets and broken stone. They hit hard, armor dented, bruises forming, mud coating their bodies, but none were incapacitated.
Deidara screamed, staggering as the energy surged outward in a weakened but still devastating shockwave. Rain washed over his bloodied chest, the clay of the sphere cracking and smoking around him. He fell to his knees, grief and rage contorting his face. "My… art…" he gasped, voice breaking, tears mixing with rain.
For a long moment, he looked at Sasori's fallen body one last time. Then, with a final shudder, he collapsed into the mud, blood and rain mingling on the scarred streets.
The courtyard fell silent except for distant thunder. Titus rose slowly, scanning the battlefield with steady, controlled movements. "Threats neutralized," he said, voice calm despite the force that had just slammed into them.
End – Chapter 81: "Clay and Steel"
Chapter 81 - 2,525 words
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