Deidara stood in mid-air and spat out the clay he had swallowed. The clay quickly transformed into a gigantic clay Deidara. As soon as this Deidara appeared, he immediately expanded at an incredible speed. Believing that such a massive Deidara would explode, Sasuke didn't hesitate and immediately fled, while activating his Sharingan to cast a genjutsu.
"Do you want to use genjutsu on me? Very well, then I'll play along. Your brother also used genjutsu on me back then, but it seems your genjutsu skills are far inferior to his," Deidara noticed it immediately but remained composed; he intended to outsmart his opponent.
"Hah!" Deidara detonated the C4, and as Sasuke fled at high speed, he was seemingly blown to pieces by the explosion.
"Now you're finished," Deidara said with a smile.
"Bzzt… chirp… chirp…"
The sound of Chidori chirping rang out, but even before the sound, a faster Chidori had already pierced through Deidara's chest.
"Weren't you turned into dust by my C4?" Deidara feigned disbelief.
"That was my genjutsu," Sasuke said confidently. Although his genjutsu couldn't compare to Itachi's, the amplification from the Sharingan made his genjutsu quite formidable. After all, he had learned a lot about genjutsu from Orochimaru.
"Now tell me, where is Itachi?" Sasuke said coldly.
"Hehe, just as I thought. Your fighting style is quite similar to your brother's. Thanks to your brother and the old man, are all the Uchiha people like this in battle? Or do you all believe that the genjutsu of the Sharingan is impregnable?"
Deidara's body had turned into clay, and he crawled out of the giant bird at the same time. He once again activated C4, but this time, the range of C4 was relatively smaller. However, it was close enough to Sasuke that it would be enough to kill him.
"Goodbye." Deidara lightly leaped away. Although his hands were somewhat injured, his strength was still formidable. He didn't seem to have consumed too much chakra despite using so many jutsu. He looked incredibly spirited, unlike Sasuke, who was tired and physically exhausted after using his Cursed Mark's Level 2, not to mention the mental fatigue that came with it.
It seemed that Deidara's overall strength had greatly increased after going through so many experiences and returning to the Land of Earth. It appeared that Onoki had invested a lot of effort into him. He not only learned Dust Release, but also his overall combat power, chakra control, and so on had improved significantly.
One could say that in this battle, Deidara was overwhelmingly dominant, occupying a significant advantage. Even Tobi, who was watching Sasuke fight him, couldn't help but nod. Deidara clearly reserved a lot of strength but still held the upper hand. If he were to use his full power, Sasuke wouldn't even be able to escape.
"Darn it, Chidori!" Trapped in Deidara's C4, Sasuke immediately used Chidori, piercing through it. Unfortunately, he still unavoidably inhaled many micro-bombs. However, Sasuke didn't care. He rushed towards Deidara as if he wanted to kill him before Deidara fell and detonated.
"At this height and distance, even if you can fly, it's too late. Die!" Deidara immediately detonated, and the giant bird also fell from the sky. However, at this moment, Deidara didn't fall in a sorry state. On the contrary, he landed nimbly on the ground, showing that he still had considerable fighting ability.
"Did I win?" Deidara looked at the supposedly blown-up Sasuke with a little satisfaction, but he didn't show much excitement. After receiving training from Onoki and experiencing so much, his strength and perspective had grown, and he didn't feel particularly thrilled about killing Sasuke. He was just relieved to deal with someone who gave him the same hateful gaze as Itachi.
"Fwoosh!"
Suddenly, a gust of wind came from behind. Deidara quickly turned around and blocked it with a kick, but Sasuke had arrived.
"You're unharmed?" Deidara said in surprise.
"Hmph, Chidori! I already tested it secretly earlier. As long as I infuse myself with lightning chakra before your bombs detonate, I won't be affected."
Sasuke's eyes also narrowed. His speed had clearly decreased significantly due to the prolonged battle and injuries from the explosions. On the other hand, Deidara seemed as fresh as when the fight began, except for some minor damage to his hands. It seemed that Deidara had enough chakra and vitality left, while Sasuke's chakra was almost depleted. Were all members of the Akatsuki so powerful?
"So, you've noticed that? It means C4 doesn't work on you. But it doesn't matter. You've also exhausted most of your chakra, haven't you? So why don't I use No. 18 to finish you off?"
"However, it's not a good idea. It seems you can enter that cursed mark state. But that state has significant side effects. I noticed you can only maintain it for a short time before reverting. If you force yourself into it, you won't have to worry about chakra anymore. But if you break my clay bombs with ease again, it won't be good. I should really improve my art so that it won't be defused by Lightning Release."
Kakashi had done something similar before, but Deidara was a bit surprised that Sasuke used this technique inside his body. Apparently, he didn't know that Sasuke had mastered the Chidori Stream, which was specifically designed to counter C4.
"Damn it," Sasuke's face darkened. He didn't expect things to turn out like this. It seemed that he had underestimated both Orochimaru and everyone else, including the Akatsuki members. He had been boasting earlier about killing his opponent, but now he was being pushed back step by step. It felt like he was making a big statement and getting slapped in public.
"Earth Release: Heart-Piercing Decapitation!" Deidara suddenly formed a hand seal, and Sasuke immediately knew it was bad. He tried to jump, but his left foot was in excruciating pain, making it impossible for him to exert force. Without wings due to the loss of the cursed mark state, he couldn't fly either, and he was pulled down by one of Deidara's Earth Clone.
"Damn it, this will consume a lot of my energy if it continues. I need some time to recover." Sasuke had no choice but to enter the Cursed Mark's Level 2 again.
Fortunately, Orochimaru had no intention of snatching his body right away. Since Orochimaru had decided to kill two birds with one stone, he wouldn't easily change his mind. Regardless of whether Sasuke was weakened or at his peak, Orochimaru could take over his body. The only difference was that there would be a bit more damage. There was no need to rush things; it was better to get both the Mangekyo Sharingan and Sasuke's body in one go, just as he had decided before.