Now it was time for the next fight and it was between Aoto and Deidara. Since Aoto was kind of leader of the team, it was kind of given that he would fight the 'genius' of their village. Though there were other geniuses for sure, but Deidara was the only one who was around the age of Aoto.
And more so because it was Deidara who had challenged Aoto. Since there were 5 fights, it was given that the three wins would decide the whole supposed 'tournament'. This was supposed to be teaching a 'lesson' to Konoha but after losing first two fights it definitely didn't seem like that.
The air crackled with tension as the two adversaries faced each other, sizing up the unknown abilities that each possessed.
Daidara smirked, molding clay in his hands. "I hope you like explosions, because I'm about to create a masterpiece!" Unlike the Deidara we know, this Deidara didn't have two mouths in his hands, as he probably hadn't run away after stealing the knowledge of kinjutsu yet. The molding he just did was just using hands to make a clay.
Even the clay which he used was brown in color with markings on them unlike the known white colored clay with no marks. Aoto smiled at Deidara, and said.
"Well, maybe.. But there are other masterpieces too in the world." He raised his hand and in the next moment two identical man appeared near Aoto. These were the clone of Aoto, but unlike the normal clones made out of chakra, this was made out of magic.
Onoki who was watching the whole fight was in deep thought now. For some reason when Corazon and Aoto was using those 'techniques' he could feel some kind of weird familiarity. It was very minimal but it was there.
It was as if he learned those techniques, it would be easy for him.
As the first move, Daidara hurled a barrage of explosive clay birds at the sorcerer. The birds weren't that good to look at though. The sorcerer responded with a swift wave of his hand, creating a shimmering mystical shield that deflected the explosions harmlessly. All his clones did the same.
"Nice try, but your primitive art won't work against the mystic forces I command," Aoto taunted.
Daidara grinned, forming a massive clay golem. "Let's see how you handle this! Explosive Style: Artillery Golem!"
The clay golem charged at Aoto, causing the ground to quake with each step. Aoto focused his energies, conjuring a swirling vortex of magical force. With a wave of his hand, he unleashed a Mystic Cyclone that tore through the golem, dispersing it into harmless clay fragments. The Cyclone seemed to have nothing but air in it, but at the end it was able to disperse and also make the clay non explosive as he had used a bit of lightning in the cyclone.
"My turn," Aoto said and made a run at Deidara. All the other clones did the same. They approached Deidara at a fast speed, and Deidara, who had just lost to the cyclone attack, wasn't ready to just receive the attack with his face down.
Aoto kicked him, and Deidara matched his kick, only to see his feet passing through the body of Aoto, and then vanishing. It was an illusion clone. Next, another clone appeared in front of Deidara, and that too turned out to be an illusion.
With the last one going for the punch.
"What a cliché attack. You need more experience," Deidara said, and he went for the upper hook, but was even more surprised that this attack of his was also an illusion. "What?!"
And the next moment, Aoto appeared from behind and proceeded to attack his knee to make him fall, but Deidara seemed to have expected that kind of attack and lunged forward away from Aoto to get away. He turned midway, and he already had a smile in his voice.
But just when Deidara landed, two Aotos suddenly appeared near him and held both of his hands from two sides.
"What?"
Deidara didn't expect that. All this time, after three consecutive attacks, he thought that the clones were just an illusion, and this was the first time Deidara saw actual physical manifestations. And Aoto's clones were able to pin him down while making his hands immovable with a useful hakuda move.
Thanks, Kisuke! *Wink* *Wink*
"That's one tricky move you have there, trickster," Deidara said through gritted teeth.
"The whole charade of being a ninja means one has to trick the other person, other platoon, or other village to death, isn't that right?" Aoto said.
"Oh! So you have quite the shinobi lessons for someone who claims never to attend an academy."
"C'mon, many shinobis don't need to attend an academy. Plus, this is not even shinobi techniques."
"What a weird way to say that your techniques are much better than the ones others use," Deidara said.
"Then let me open your eyes," Aoto said as he placed his thumb on his forehead, and in the next moment, Deidara's astral form came out of the body.
"What?" Deidara was appalled as he floated in the air. "What a nice genjutsu!" Deidara said. For some reason, he turned to the audience, and they seemed to be looking at the main body with fear, fear of losing the match too, as they didn't know what Aoto had done.
But there was one person who was just looking at him. His astral form. And that was Onoki. His aged eyes seemed to have a spark that he had almost never seen before.
"Old man, what are you looking at?" Deidara shouted. He didn't know why he shouted that, maybe because he was trying his best to get out of the genjutsu and he felt like the old man was the only one who could see him and subtly give him advice from far, but instead, the face of the old man just lit up more.
The next moment, Deidara's astral form was again back in his body.
"What the hell did you do to me?" Deidara asked. He was expecting some kind of attack, but instead, it was a weird experience.
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