Chapter 26 "What do you hate? Me?"...

You wouldn't attempt to catch someone falling from a great height with your bare hands out of caution. Although the physical abilities of people in this world far surpass those in your previous life, you are still, in general, an ordinary person with average physical fitness.

So in the end, it was Haku who caught Deidara. He carried Deidara on his shoulder like a piece of cargo, walked up to you, and asked, "Mingxi, what should we do next?"

You approach Deidara and reach out to remove the anesthetic needle stuck in his neck. You intended to hit his torso, but it struck his neck directly, and it seems to have pierced his carotid artery precisely.

But as mentioned earlier, the ninjas in this world are a group of exceptionally talented individuals. It was just a minor injury to the carotid artery, and the wound was only a small hole.

It's not a big problem, he'll just need to sleep a little longer. You said, "Take him back and please keep an eye on his condition. We'll talk about other things after he wakes up."

Bai responded and carried him back.

Given that Deidara is also a member of the Akatsuki, even though he has a baby face and looks innocent, you didn't let your guard down. After all, appearances can be deceiving.

So you put the unconscious Deidara in a special room and even sent your personal guards to monitor him 24 hours a day.

After you've done all that, you finally have time to rest. Sit by the floor-to-ceiling window, with the sniper rifle on the table next to you. Although it's Orochimaru's experimental weapon, you found it quite handy to use just now. Next time you have time, ask Orochimaru if he's interested in putting these weapons into mass production.

You wipe the sniper scope with a handkerchief and disassemble the sniper rifle to carefully examine each part. This is also a form of entertainment for you. After taking it apart, you put it back together. During this time, no one disturbs you, and you are immersed in the assembly game.

You put the sniper rifle back in the box. Just then, Haku walked over. You thought he was there to tell you that Deidara had woken up, but he was just there to bring you afternoon tea. You took a sip of your tea and asked, "Hasn't he woken up yet?"

"The tranquilizer bullet you just used contained enough anesthetic to incapacitate an adult elephant." The implication was that he wouldn't wake up so quickly.

"Really? Then adult elephants are really pitiful, they've become quantifiers." Your focus has shifted.

Since Deidara won't wake up anytime soon, you might as well start taking stock of the losses he caused you during his attacks, that is, the money he owes you. You've been working for you for nothing, and when you see the numbers on the bills explode, you ask, "Did he really cause such a huge financial loss?"

"Ah... I added some interest." However, this interest wasn't from a bank but from a private money lender, so it seemed a bit much. Deidara, still unconscious, had no idea what kind of exorbitant bill he would face when he woke up.

The bill is already in the hundreds of millions. You're humming a little tune in a good mood, and then you round it down to the nearest zero, of course, in the opposite direction.

A fresh bill was produced.

You pick up your teacup to take another sip, but Bai says, "The tea must be cold by now. Let me get you another cup."

You hand him the teacup and examine the bill in your hand with great satisfaction, reading it over and over several times.

Bai quickly poured you a new cup of black tea. You took a sip and said, "It's really good." It was unclear whether you were referring to the bill or commenting on the tea Bai had brewed.

Deidara woke up in the middle of the night and struggled to run away. Haku woke you up from your sleep, and you, still grumpy from being woken up, went to the room where Deidara was being held.

He had to wake up at this exact moment, of all times, so you start to wonder if he did it on purpose.

The door to the room was flung open, and several lights were on inside, all cold-toned incandescent bulbs. Deidara, whose limbs were chained, was still struggling desperately. His azure eyes swept over you, and he glared at you fiercely before saying, "Who is your leader? Bring him here—!"

You yawned, pulled your cardigan tighter, walked up to Deidara, and said, "I'm the boss here, not 'he,' but 'she.'"

Deidara's eyes widened slightly. "You? You have no chakra, and your body shows no signs of training. You're just an ordinary person. How could you possibly be the leader here?" He scoffed. "Don't think I'll believe you just because you're trying to fool me."

Too lazy to prove yourself to him, you hold up the huge bill in front of him and say, "This is the money you owe me. Now you're not only a prisoner but also my debtor, and I'm your creditor. Well, it doesn't matter if you treat me as your master."

"What a joke—when did I owe you money?" Deidara asked, puzzled. At first, when he woke up from his coma, he thought he had encountered an enemy, but later he found that the other party did not intend to interrogate him. They even asked about his physical condition after seeing that he had woken up.

So what exactly do you want to do?

"Have you blown up a few factories recently?" You patiently ask him to recall his actions.

Deidara recalled your words, "Yes, he did blow up a few factories, but so what? As a member of Akatsuki, he did many more attacks. What's the big deal?"

Seeing the change in his expression, you said, "It seems you've remembered?"

"I did do it." Deidara readily admitted to what he had done, mainly because he felt it was just a minor matter.

You said, "Okay, very good. Now that you've remembered, it's only reasonable for me, as the owner of those factories, to demand compensation from you, isn't it?"

Are you the owner of the factory? This was the first time Deidara had encountered such a situation. Before this, he had never considered the possibility of compensating for losses when carrying out missions. Since he had joined the Akatsuki, he could do whatever he wanted, and no one could restrict him. But your words now left him completely bewildered.

"You're suing a dangerous fugitive?" Deidara laughed, thinking you were joking. He didn't even glance at the bill and said, "Then it seems I should not only blow up your factory, but also your entire building."

"You're so stubborn," you said, gently patting his cheek with the bill. "I expect you'll still be saying that in a couple of days."

Before Deidara could speak again, you stabbed him in the neck with another needle.

After he fell into a coma, you yawned again and walked back to your bedroom. Bai followed beside you and said, "Should we interrogate him when he wakes up next time?"

You're not the kind of person who interrogates others all the time, are you? You said, "Well... it's best to persuade people with reason."

Unless under special circumstances, you don't really like to resort to violence.

Back in your room, you go back to sleep, continuing the dream you were only halfway through.

When you wake up the next morning, you hear from Haku that Deidara has also woken up, but you don't go to see him. You spend the whole day enjoying your vacation, occasionally dealing with some work documents. This goes on for a few days. When you feel that it's about time, you go to Deidara's room again. His physical condition is relatively normal, but he has a bad temper. He glares at you as soon as you get close.

"Don't look at me like that. I didn't actually do anything to you, did I? I'm just a poor guy who couldn't collect a debt." You pulled up a chair and sat down. After not seeing him for a while, several fine needle marks appeared on his neck. Because of his fair skin, the needle marks were more noticeable.

Seeing you staring at his neck, Deidara said irritably, "What are you looking at!?"

Does it hurt a lot?

"What are you pretending to be now?" Deidara frowned and turned his head to the other side. A few days ago, he woke up and said he was going to blow up this place. After calming down, he observed the surroundings and planned an escape route. The ninja who was in charge of guarding him, a boy named Haku, checked his physical condition twice a day, morning and evening. When Haku was in contact with him, he would also talk about you.

“Mingxi is a very gentle person. Thousands of people have found happiness because of her, but you know nothing about it.”

Deidara scoffed at this. What talk of making others happy? Does happiness even exist in this terrible world? It's all just an illusion.

But after hearing Bai say it so many times, Deidara could only interact with him in a day, so he couldn't help but start to wonder, what kind of person are you?

Now that you've come, you've finally reappeared, Deidara felt somewhat lost.

"What do you consider a good person and what do you consider a bad person to Deidara?" you asked.

Deidara didn't say anything, but he was certain that you were a terrible and awful guy.

"I've heard of the Akatsuki organization; they're truly renowned. I don't mean to criticize you, but I just occasionally want you to experience what it's like to be in a vulnerable position."

See? He said you're no good.

"Bring out all the interrogation techniques you have—don't think I'm afraid of you!" Deidara laughed arrogantly.

But you only applied ointment to his neck.

"what you do?"

"This will help the wound heal faster."

What on earth are you doing? First you attacked him, and then you're showing him such concern, saying, "Are you out of your mind?"

“Don’t say such jarring things when I’m being kind. You should say ‘okay, thank you.’” You said, pinching his cheek.

They're still just kids; their cheeks are so soft.

Deidara, feeling looked down upon, became even more emotional and exclaimed, "You're sick!"

"Since you're so sure, why provoke a sick person?" You suddenly lean in, face to face, the distance between you becoming very close.

He saw into your eyes, and even if he didn't want to admit it, he was indeed struck by your beauty. The more beautiful something is, the more dangerous it can be.

You patted his cheek again, "Get well soon."

"I didn't have any problems to begin with." For some reason, his tone became weaker, and his momentum also weakened.

“When I said ‘get better quickly,’ I meant become an obedient person quickly. Do you understand now?” You distanced yourself from him, putting away the ointment in your hand. Deidara’s trembling mood changed instantly. He shouted, “I’m going to blow you all up after I get out of here.”

"Okay, let's talk about it after you leave," you said casually.

Seeing that you were about to stand up and leave, Deidara hurriedly said, "Wait—wait a minute!"

You stopped as he wished, turned around and gave him a questioning look. Deidara hesitated for a few seconds, "Is it okay as long as I pay the bill?"

See? In the end, he's the one who compromises. You knew it would end like this. With a slight upturn of your lips, Deidara almost exploded when he saw your smile. "Hey, what are you laughing at?! Are you mocking me?!"

"No."

I think it is!

“Okay, then there is.” You went along with him, but Deidara wasn’t very happy. His face was gloomy. If he could escape from here on his own, and if the clay spider he sent out before he lost consciousness hadn’t responded yet, he wouldn’t have resorted to this drastic measure.

He only bowed down to you out of sheer desperation, and it was only a superficial bow; he was not convinced at all.

"So, you're saying I can just pay and leave?"

"Yes, it seems you've finally grasped the key to the problem."

What's with the way you praise the kid? He's not that much older than you, is he? Why do you always act like some superior adult?

But is it really that simple? Is money all you want? Deidara habitually assumes the worst about his enemies. He's probably wondering if you've discovered his identity as an Akatsuki member and are trying to use him as bait to lure other members. But your plan is doomed to fail, since the Akatsuki members won't fall into your trap for that.

Deidara, as a second choice, asked to see the bill, and you obediently handed it to him.

It's truly astonishing what you find when you see it. Even Deidara, who has seen his share of grand occasions, was surprised by this exorbitant bill. He pointed to the final total and said, "It wasn't this number when I looked at it a couple of days ago!"

His memory is pretty good; he even remembered that string of numbers. You kindly explained, "Ah... those were two days ago. Today's bill is today's. I forgot to tell you, your bill accrues interest every day."

Simply put, it's about rolling over loans, which is how you accumulate a mountain of debt.

Deidara finally understood and said, "Isn't this just usury?!"

"You can't say that... Think about it, if you had agreed to repay the loan in the first place, the interest wouldn't have kept increasing. So no matter how you look at it, it's your fault, right?" In just a few words, you shifted all the blame onto Deidara.

He knows you're playing word games, but he can't find a rebuttal for the moment. Oh well, he'll never admit to the so-called bill after he leaves anyway.

Deidara had everything planned out perfectly. After all, you're just an ordinary person who doesn't know ninjutsu. No matter how skilled your bodyguards are, there will always be times when they make a mistake. He just needs to seize the opportunity and kill you with one blow.

"I understand, now you can finally let me go, right?"

"Tell me your account number and password first. Transfer this money from your account to pay off your debts. Don't look at me like that. You don't even know your own account? How does your Akatsuki organization usually operate?" Are they just gathered together based on ideals? They didn't have any start-up capital. Didn't they develop a plan before even starting their operation?

Ah... never mind, you should have known this already, ninjas in this world don't have this concept.

Deidara never thought about this kind of thing; his mind was only on his dream of pursuing art.

"What exactly is in your head?" you couldn't help but ask.

"Art is art that you can't possibly understand."

I didn't realize he was such an artsy guy. But he really does have long hair, a melancholy expression, and you can't seem to have much money to your name.

It's the standard look for long-haired, artsy men.

"Can your art put food on the table?"

"vulgar."

"Having enough to eat is a matter of utmost importance." Many dynasties fell into chaos because the people below didn't have enough to eat. You're too lazy to argue with him, so you just pat his cheek and say, "I can release you, but you have to make amends for your mistakes."

Deidara didn't think he had done anything wrong, but in order to escape, he had to swallow his pride and say, "I understand."

I hope he really knows.

After thinking for a moment, you finally unlocked Deidara's shackles and took his hand. He seemed unaccustomed to physical contact with people. After taking only two steps, you felt as if your palm had been licked.

What is this thing? It's so scary that you're even using inverted sentences.

What's that in your palm?

Deidara snorted coldly, "Help me process clay."

Well, you've seen all sorts of strange people in this world, so you were just a little surprised at first. You quickly calmed down and grabbed his wrist instead. Deidara said strangely, "Grabbing me won't do any good." If he really wanted to run, you couldn't stop him anyway.

"Would you like something to eat?" you asked him again, as if you hadn't heard what he had just said.

Deidara's feelings were incredibly complicated. On one hand, he couldn't figure out what you were thinking, and on the other hand, he realized that he didn't seem to dislike you that much.

Human emotions are strange. Even though you were the one who shot him down, he should have hated you, or even loathed you. But he seems unable to hate you. He doesn't know why. He says, "I don't want to eat anything, hmm!"

"Is that your verbal tic?" Your focus has shifted back to his verbal tic.

Deidara is like a fox caught in the tail, caught in a dilemma. This kind of question is simply not suitable for him and you, since you are not that familiar with each other. But you seem to have no chance of getting involved, so you ask questions that have already crossed the line of social distance with complete ease.

Such a question would only catch someone off guard. He said, "So what? Is it not allowed? Hmm!"

The more you try to cover it up, the more this verbal tic pops up uncontrollably.

"How awful," Didara muttered, pressing his lips tightly together.

And you, you're like the victor who has the upper hand, laughing triumphantly, even looking at him with those beautiful eyes.

What are you looking at? Are you trying to provoke me?

Deidara grew angrier the more he thought about it. He could have easily pulled his hand back, but he didn't. He let you hold his wrist, your palm pressed against the inside of his wrist.

It's an indescribable feeling; I can't figure it out.

You pulled him into the kitchen and told him he could order whatever he wanted. Deidara usually pursued art and spent his days either training or carrying out missions. Now that you had suddenly put this question in front of him, he was stunned for a long time before finally managing to stammer, "I don't know."

"Then let's have a coconut chicken, a shrimp salad, and some other side dishes. Sparkling water, please; he's not old enough to drink alcohol yet," you say to the chef in the kitchen. Deidara replies, "Are you old enough?"

You nodded. "Yes, we've arrived."

"You're not that much older than me, hmm!" It's that familiar verbal tic, one that's hard to shake off anytime soon.

"That's not necessarily true, kid. You'd better just stick to your soda."

Deidara, feeling dejected, finished his entire meal and drank a bottle of soda under your watchful gaze. Oh no, he did want to drink another bottle, but that would confirm his reputation as a brat. It was just one less bottle of soda.

"A small act of impatience can ruin a great plan," he told himself, only to hear you say the next second, "Is it still orange-flavored soda?"

"Hmm." By the time she realized what she had said, it was too late.

He blurted it out almost without looking up; he knew without even looking that you must have a mischievous smile on your face right now.

hateful.

As he held the second bottle of soda in his hand, he was still thinking to himself, "Damn it, don't think you can get close to me like this."

“It’s time to rebuild the factory. Besides making explosions, your clay can also be used as building material, right?” you said.

"You want to rebuild the factory with my clay? That's not in line with my art at all, hmm!"

"Really? But you're still in my hands, so you don't have the freedom to discuss art. My advice is that you'd better behave and listen to me, okay?" You mimicked his verbal tic at the end of the sentence with an "Mmm."

Deidara stared at you blankly, his feelings becoming even more complicated. He told himself that cooperating with you was only a temporary measure, and followed you to the factory reconstruction site, reluctantly rebuilding the factory with clay.

You weren't the only one in charge of supervising the construction; there were several other ninjas, including the one named Haku.

You used to praise Deidara every time he used clay to seal the gaps in the building materials, but after Haku came, you only cared about chatting with him.

It seems like they've been completely ignored.

Wait a minute, why does he need your attention? What is he expecting?

"How strange," Deidara muttered to himself, "How annoying."

Your voice suddenly popped out, "What do you hate? Me?"

His hand trembled, and he looked at you in surprise.