"Here should be good. Hmm."
Earlier, Deidara had been flying on his clay bird and finally found a beautiful mountain and river as a perfect place to bury the five people from Team Rockhead below.
He maneuvered the clay bird to face the five members of Team Rockhead. With a grin, he scooped up a large handful of prepared C1 clay spiders and said:
"A bunch of vulgar people who don't understand the beauty of art. Now, open your eyes wide and learn what real art is! Hmm!"
With a throw, a large number of clay spiders fell from the sky, descending toward the formation of Team Rockhead.
One of the ninja from Team Rockhead quickly formed hand seals:
"Doton: Chidōkaku!" (Earth Release: Moving Earth Core)
The ground beneath Team Rockhead quickly sank, and the surrounding earth rose up to tightly envelop them from above.
Deidara, seeing this, formed hand seals with his hands.
"Heh!"
Boom!
A series of explosions erupted.
The layer of earth covering Team Rockhead's heads didn't last long before it was blasted apart.
Plenty of C1 clay spiders, with their eight legs moving rapidly, darted through the gap, charging toward them.
"Use Raiton!" (Lightning Release)
Hagoromo Akira, with his rich combat experience, quickly thought of a countermeasure.
Sure enough, accompanied by the crackling sound of lightning techniques, the approaching C1 clay spiders were instantly disabled, rendered completely motionless.
"Tch~ They figured out the weakness of my clay so fast."
Deidara grumbled, clearly displeased.
Moreover, seeing that all five of them were skilled in using powerful Raiton techniques, he couldn't help but pout.
But that didn't matter.
At this moment, Deidara became serious, carefully observing Team Rockhead on the ground, and analyzed:
"Their formation remains steady throughout their movements, and their teamwork is seamless. I can't give them a chance to use Taijutsu. As for Ninjutsu, aside from one person using Doton, the five of them are proficient in Fūton (Wind Release) and Raiton. It's also possible that they can use other elements like Katon (Fire Release) and Suiton (Water Release). Their Ninjutsu is executed decisively and efficiently. Judging by this, their chakra reserves should be above average compared to regular shinobi. These guys are quite well-rounded."
Though Deidara was bold, reckless, and obsessively devoted to his art, with a personality similar to Hidan—simple and straightforward—he was different from Hidan in that he could remain calm, cunning, and decisive during combat, possessing a well-structured tactical mind.
After a brief exchange, he quickly analyzed Team Rockhead's abilities. Deidara reached into his ninja pouch filled with clay, and the mouths on his hands began chewing once again.
Within moments, he created a batch of clay twin birds and clay locusts, which were spat out from the mouths in his palms.
Although Raiton countered clay explosives, it had to hit them first.
Moreover, Ninjutsu consumed far more chakra than the clay bombs did.
This time, Deidara specifically crafted small, agile, and fast-moving clay twin birds, as well as small, highly mobile, and hard-to-hit clay locusts.
"Let's go again!"
Deidara cheerfully tossed the clay twin birds into the air, and they took flight, swiftly diving toward Team Rockhead from above.
Following them closely, the clay locusts on the ground hopped erratically, encircling Team Rockhead with no predictable pattern.
Faced with this dual aerial and ground assault, Team Rockhead did not scatter.
Knowing that scattering would only lead to being defeated one by one by Deidara, they stayed together. Under Hagoromo Akira's command, they continuously cast Ninjutsu to block the approaching clay explosives while retreating toward a nearby forest.
"Trying to escape?"
Deidara formed hand seals and shouted:
"Explode!"
Boom!
At his command, the small twin birds accelerated, nimbly avoiding the incoming Raiton techniques. They swiftly reached the formation of Team Rockhead and exploded.
At that moment, two broad hands grabbed the twin birds just in time.
After the explosion...
Crack~ Crack~
The hardened earth covering Hagoromo Akira's hands from his Doton: Koka Jutsu (Earth Release: Hardening Technique) completely shattered.
His hands trembled slightly, but he remained calm as he glanced at Deidara, who was still circling high in the sky, out of the range of their Ninjutsu. He said coldly:
"Keep moving."
The key to winning this battle was getting Deidara to come down.
As long as the enemy remained airborne, they could only passively endure the attacks, awaiting a slow death.
By hiding in the forest, they could obstruct Deidara's line of sight.
If Deidara wanted to control his clay explosives effectively, he would have to close the distance.
At that point, their real trump card, the secret technique "Bursting Bugs," which had taken down countless powerful opponents, would be unleashed.
The other members of Team Rockhead were also aware of this.
Without saying a word, they continued advancing, no longer focusing on disabling the constantly harassing clay twin birds and locusts. Instead, they used wide-range Ninjutsu to force them back.
Seeing his clay bombs either explode or halt under various Ninjutsu, and with Team Rockhead getting closer to the forest, Deidara stroked his chin and thought:
"Planning to use the forest to cover your movements and slow down my clay bombs. Should I follow?"
"Of course not."
"They're not just retreating into the forest to reduce my offensive speed; they're trying to lure me down. I'd bet they've prepared a finishing move."
Deidara chuckled.
He wasn't foolish like Hidan, recklessly charging ahead despite knowing there was a trap.
"In that case, I'll just turn you all into dust under my art."
Deidara reached into his ninja pouch again. The mouth on his palm chewed the clay for a longer time this time, and soon, a humanoid explosive figure was spat out into his hand.
C3: No. 18.
An explosive clay doll made with his highest level of chakra infusion.
Its blast radius could destroy an entire village.
Destroying the forest below would be too easy.
Watching Team Rockhead hide in the forest, Deidara calmly raised the clay doll and opened his fingers, allowing it to drop.
At first, the descent of the doll was slow.
But soon, as the doll grew larger, its speed increased.
As it neared the forest...
Deidara formed hand seals, his eyes filled with excitement, and shouted:
"Art is an explosion! Heh!"
A dazzling white light erupted from the now-enlarged clay doll.
In an instant...
Boom!!!
A deafening explosion followed.
Centered around the clay doll, a sizable mushroom cloud formed instantly, spreading outward at an alarming speed.
Everything in its path turned to ash in an instant.
The forest was no exception.
(End of Chapter)
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