Holding a lantern in his hand, a monk-in-training questioned, "Did you hear the sound just now?"
His companion who is also a monk-in-training carefully looked at nearby surroundings, but finding nothing, he said, "Perhaps it was just a small animal…"
"Is that so?" the first monk muttered doubtfully.
"Yes, there are a lot of them in the surroundings, squirrels, and cats can always be seen here…" answered the companion monk with a nod, then said, "Anyway, it's getting late and it's time to change shifts, let's go back and rest, I am sleepy."
"All right, let's go back." The first monk nodded, and then, the two monks left the area…
They walked for a while and arrived at the Buddha Statue seated at the main hall of the Temple, respectfully bowed towards it, then gently left the main hall and proceeded towards the monks sleeping quarters to retire for the day.
When the two monks-in-training left the main hall of the temple, when the light of the lantern started to dim, and when the sway of the candlelight lit in the hall had returned to normal, at that time, a shadow that was hiding between the wooden beams of the roof jumped down and gently landed on the ground.
Looking at all the structures in the hall, he couldn't help but admire them, "Ahh… so this is where the art of this temple was hidden…"
Undoubtedly, he, who has sneaked inside the Temple of Fire and is currently admiring the art of this ancient temple is Deidara.
He has been wandering all over the shinobi world for a few years now, and if it is said whether he has a purpose or not, then without a doubt it is the pursuit of art all over the Shinobi World. Not long ago, Deidara heard somewhere that the sculptures of the ancient Temple of Fire are masterpieces of art, so here he is.
Stroking all the bronze sculptures, Deidara was amazed… While admiring these pieces of art, he suddenly thought of something, then quickly put his hand inside the shinobi bags tied around his waist, and took out white clay… It was undoubtedly his detonation clay…
Carefully matching all the details, Deidara shaped the detonation clay in his hands in the same structure and appearance as the sculptures in the hall.
After he was done with this, he held the sculptures made of detonation clay in his hand, then again looked at the sculptures before him and said with a smile, "Any art that cannot explode is imperfect… it can never be called true art! Let me sublime you all with my masterpieces…!"
And the very next moment he threw the sculptures made of detonation clay on the bronze sculptures in the hall.
Although the white sculptures looked very good and they drew beautiful arcs in the air, under the dim light of the candle, they projected shadows on the wall that looked like flurrying demons!
And as these flurrying demons approached the bronze sculptures, Deidara's smile widened, then without hesitation, he weaved the hand sign, and shouted, "Katsu!"
Boom Boom Boom BOOM!!!
Immediately as he shouted, several explosive roars sounded through the peaceful and quiet night sky, and the violent explosions shook the entire main hall, in the midst of the blazing flares that were soaring through the sky, the entire Temple of Fire fell in chaos.
"What happened?!"
"Did an enemy temple attack us?"
"There's a fire in the main hall!"
"Then why are you shouting around, hurry up and extinguish the fire!"
All of a sudden, rapid screams resounded through the temple, and one after all the sleeping, resting, and meditating monks were disturbed, as a result, the entire Temple of Fire suddenly fell into commotion.
All the monks rushed out of their houses and sleeping quarters like panicked animals in a drove… Some picked up batons to patrol the surroundings to watch out against the enemy, while others picked up wooden barrels and buckets and tried to put out the fire.
In the crowd that was coming and going, Chiriku, the current head monk of the Temple of Fire looked at everything with a frowned expression and scanned the surroundings of the area affected by the explosion with sharp eyes.
He was quite sure that such an explosion couldn't have occurred naturally, so there must have been someone here who caused these explosions… Because it hasn't been very long since the explosion took place, there was a possibility that the suspect has yet to leave the Temple of Fire… And if that's the case, then…
His search was indeed fruitful, and soon enough he was able to find a few footprints in an inconspicuous place of the temple… "As expected, someone did manage to sneak inside the temple, and this explosion was created by that person!"
But there was a problem, "Is it a Shinobi?"
Chiriku could be sure that these footprints aren't of the monks in the temple because the monks either remain barefooted, or they wear wooden sleepers, but these footprints were the result of Shinobi sandals… which is something only ninjas wear.
Chiriku has served as one of the 12 guardian ninjas for a few years, therefore, he was sure of his guess, but he wasn't sure of why would a shinobi destroy the main hall of Temple of Fire… this just doesn't make sense with how Shinobi work in general.
Unless… "This is just a diversion!" he muttered in realization and quickly followed after those footprints.
His figure flashed and disappeared from the Temple of Fire.
Whoosh!
…
In the forest outside the Temple of Fire.
Looking back at the soaring flames, Deidara–who had already left the temple–smiled narcissistically, and was still immersed in joy.
Whoosh!
But his joyful moments were soon interrupted as Chiriku appeared before him with a quick Body Flicker.
Chiriku observed Deidara for a few moments, then asked, "Who are you, and what was your purpose of sneaking inside the Temple of Fire?!"
"Purpose? I am just admiring art… huh!" Deidara answered with a shrug.
"Admiring art?!" Chiriku was taken aback, then questioned angrily, "If that's the case, then why did you cause an explosion in the main hall? Was it because of art too?"
Deidara nodded in an 'isn't it obvious?' manner, and said, "Of course! It was for art! Because true art is an explosion!"
Chiriku looked at Deidara's face had no trace of guilt or tension with a shocked expression… From the manner the other party was speaking, it's obvious that he is extremely serious, but… but… with the way Deidara is behaving, Chiriku felt uneasy in his heart, and declared, "You… are a dangerous person… You may not be lying, but you are psychologically disturbed and your tendency to create explosions in the name of art is extremely dangerous for innocent people… I cannot allow a dangerous person like you to walk away… either you will become a monk-in-training at the temple and repent for all your sins… or your body will be buried in the cemetery of the Temple of Fire…!"
Deidara shook his head, and denied, "Huh… I don't want to stay here... I have already seen all the art that this temple has to offer, and it is nothing compared to my art…"
"In that case, you leave me no choice…! As the head monk of the Temple of Fire, I can not allow you to leave without paying for your sins…" As Chiriku declared this, he put his hands together and exuded extremely powerful Chakra.
But Deidara wasn't perturbed, he calmly put his arm in his Shinobi bag and said with an excited smile, "I see… you want to fight huh? I am all game!"
.
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Read up to Chapter - 888 on P.a.t.r.e.o.n Page: p-atreon.com/Milta_translations