Selfish Desire [Sasuke Uchiha]

Chapter 21: Cages

Third Person's P.O.V

A gargantuan explosion erupted in the middle of the forest, blowing away or decimating any lifeless or living thing ruthlessly in its zone. The sky-scraping explosion was very big it could be seen miles away. So it was not surprising to learn that hundreds of people caught sight of it glowing brighter than even the natural daylight itself.

Sakura, Shino, Kiba, Sai, Kakashi, Shiori, Naruto, Hinata, Yamato, Kazuki, and Kaito were now gazing up at it with wonderment, surprise, and curiosity. Without waiting for the towering explosion to diminish, all of them unanimously set out to get a closer look at it.

Jugo was already sprinting towards his destination with an earnest yet concerned look on his face. Karin, who was in the same town where Sakura was, discovered an unbelievable fact that both Sasuke and Ayuda's chakra had vanished without a trace.

"That location is the rendezvous point," pointed out Suigetsu who was the farthest from the rest of his teammates. His eyes then blew wide in realization and he hastily took out a scroll with a snake image on it. However, the said image glowed brightly before it disappeared as soon as Suigetsu glanced at it, leaving the scroll blank. Suigetsu fretted, "No way! Don't tell me...!"

Reina, who had seen it as well from her whereabouts which was in the middle of the forest, could only stare at it in wonder, "What the hell is that?"

She looked over her shoulder, sneaking glances at the two Akatsuki members who were seated under different trees. Itachi and Kisame still had their eyes closed as though they did not sense the incandescent explosion at all. Reina was fully aware of what they were doing at that moment. Itachi had briefly shed light on her that this was their way of communicating with the rest of the Akatsuki members who were far away from one another. Their physical bodies were staying in this place while their consciousnesses and minds were present in their hideout; at least this was what Reina concluded.

Meanwhile, in the Akatsuki's gloomy hideout, several colorful figures stood on various gigantic fingers of a statue. The various colors that painted over their seemingly misty forms signified that their physical bodies were not present. Instead, they were just their consciousnesses. A deep, grim voice declared to the rest, "Deidara is dead. He ended it with a great explosion."

Kisame replied, "Oh, my. It seems we've lost yet another member, eh? I thought he was pretty strong. So, who killed him off? Was it Sasuke, or was it the Nine-Tails Jinchuuriki?"

One of the undiscovered Akatsuki members was called Zetsu. He was a humanoid with one half having black color while the other half bearing white color and he possessed a venus flytrap-like extension that enveloped his head and upper body as a shell. The black half answered in a deep voice, "It was Sasuke."

"However," the other white half added with a lighter voice, "It looks like Sasuke died, too."

Itachi lowered his Sharingan eyes, looking away from everybody else while maintaining a straight face. However, his expression was oddly terrifying due to how hard he seemed to keep a poker face upon learning the news regarding his younger brother. Kisame spoke up, "Dragged him along, huh?"

"You should be grateful, Itachi," said the leader of the Akatsuki who was blessed with a resonant voice, "Deidara died while preventing any unnecessary hindrances."

"Hmm... it seems like we're forgetting something," pointed out Kisame.

White Zetsu apprised, "Tobi died along with a woman named Ayuda Makino who seemed to be Sasuke's comrade. Deidara decided to blow everything up indiscriminately."

Once they were dismissed, Itachi and Kisame's consciousnesses finally returned to their physical bodies, resulting in them opening their eyes. Upon noticing this, Reina rushed towards them and questioned, "Hey, you two are aware, right, that there was a massive explosion not far from here? It is gone right now, though."