The lookout post of Kumogakure discovered the anomaly instantly and, without the slightest hesitation, pulled out a warning signal flare and fired it forcefully into the sky.
In an instant, a dazzling burst of fire shot straight upward, lighting up the entire night sky.
"It's a clay bomb! Everyone, be careful!", a sharp-eyed Kumogakure ninja shouted the warning first.
Immediately afterward, the other ninja reacted one after another, preparing to deal with the sudden crisis.
"Lightning Release, Lightning Spear!"
Along with three furious shouts, three Kumogakure ninja riding on the backs of giant eagles simultaneously unleashed powerful Lightning Release techniques.
Three long spears flickering with blue lightning tore through the air, racing toward the rapidly falling C3 No. 18 at lightning speed.
One ninja's lightning spear was slightly off and brushed past the target.
But the lightning spears from the other two ninja struck the core of the massive C3 No. 18 with perfect accuracy.
BOOM!
A not-so-loud explosion suddenly rang out as C3 No. 18 blossomed in midair into an incomparably gorgeous, enormous firework.
However, regrettably, this beautiful scene only lasted for a brief moment.
Because it had been hit by Lightning Release earlier, the clay bomb at its core lost its original stability.
Its explosive power was drastically reduced, by at least a full eighty percent.
The slight excitement Deidara had felt over his imminent success was instantly doused by a basin of icy water poured over his head, turning ice-cold to the bone.
He said in disbelief, "The defenses are actually this tight?"
Although Deidara had once seen himself being suppressed by Sasuke's Lightning Release within Rengoku's pupil techniques, that had ultimately been nothing more than an illusion.
Actually experiencing it firsthand was a completely different feeling.
After all, in the real world, experts proficient in Lightning-style ninjutsu were extremely rare.
Yet who could have imagined that, coincidentally enough, almost everyone in Kumogakure was skilled in Lightning-style techniques?
In reality, Deidara was still young at this point. He had relatively little real combat experience and lacked sufficient battlefield experience and countermeasures.
Because of this, his carefully planned operation ultimately turned into a case of much thunder and little rain, leaving him feeling quite awkward himself.
At this moment, those Kumogakure ninja riding giant eagles had already swiftly flown up into the air.
Facing the situation, Deidara did not panic.
He calmly continued to control his clay bird as it soared through the sky, while his mouth kept chewing the clay inside.
When the Kumogakure ninja below gradually drew closer, Deidara suddenly spat the chewed clay into his palm and gently kneaded it with his hand.
In an instant, countless densely packed, snow-white little pellets appeared in his palm as if by magic.
Countless dense, snow-white little pellets gathered in his palm like a tide, so numerous it was astonishing.
The corners of Deidara's mouth lifted slightly into a smile. He then lightly swung his arm and tossed the pellets high into the air.
In the blink of an eye, the pellets fell like a torrential downpour, covering the sky as they plummeted rapidly toward the Kumogakure settlement below.
The Kumogakure reconnaissance personnel wore grim expressions, because they already knew this man's true identity.
This guy was the prized disciple of the Tsuchikage Onoki, the clay-bomb-using Deidara.
One Kumogakure ninja made a decisive call.
"Lightning Release, Lightning Net!"
As his hands rapidly formed seals, a powerful surge of lightning erupted from his hands.
In an instant, it transformed into a massive net of crackling lightning, spreading out toward the white clay pellets falling like raindrops.
However, something completely unexpected happened.
Just as those white clay pellets were about to collide with the lightning net, they suddenly sprouted eight slender, agile long legs in midair, transforming in the blink of an eye into small, delicate spider shapes.
At the same time, the spiders' thin eight legs collided with one another.
Accompanied by a crackling barrage of popping sounds, the little spiders were directly bounced away, as if they had been granted the ability to fly.
Just like that, the swarm of small spiders, like nimble sprites, shot away through the air with ease, cleverly evading the incoming lightning net.
Even so, a small portion of the white clay pellets were unfortunately caught by the lightning net.
But the vast majority successfully escaped its restraints and continued to plummet rapidly toward the Kumogakure camp below.
Immediately after, a series of ear-splitting explosions rang out one after another.
The entire Kumogakure camp instantly fell into a degree of chaos.
"Ohhh!"
Deidara cheered excitedly.
"Haha! What the hell, I thought Kumogakure had made thorough preparations. Turns out it's just like this. What a disappointment! Hmm!"
However, Deidara completely failed to notice that although there was some disorder within the Kumogakure camp, overall it was still well organized.
And among a cluster of tents, a pitch-black cannon barrel slowly extended outward.
At the mouth of the barrel, a mass of yellow light had already begun to gather.
The Kumogakure ninja who had been relentlessly pursuing him earlier pressed the communication earpieces hidden in their ears.
Immediately afterward, the giant eagles circling in the air and the Kumogakure ninja upon them
suddenly seemed to receive some kind of order and swiftly split to both sides, opening up a clear path.
In an instant, with a sharp "whoosh!", a piercing howl rang out as a dazzling yellow beam of light erupted from the ground.
Like lightning, it shot straight toward Deidara's position.
This sudden turn of events shocked Deidara. He hurriedly yanked upward on the clay bird, trying to make it climb rapidly to evade the attack.
Although his reaction was quick, the yellow beam was simply too fast, and it ultimately grazed the edge of one wing of the clay bird.
Deidara cried out inwardly that this was bad. When he tried to control the clay bird again, he discovered it had already lost control and was plunging straight downward like a wounded bird.
"To think something like this would happen. I really miscalculated!"
Even while falling, Deidara did not panic. He merely complained to himself.
He remained extremely calm, methodically adjusting the clay in his hands.
At the same time, the Kumogakure ninja below had already completed their formation.
They stood ready in full array, waiting only for Deidara to fall from the sky so they could swarm in and capture him.
Just as the wobbling clay bird was about to plunge into the encirclement they had long prepared, Deidara sprang forward in a single swift motion, leaping off the clay bird and hurling himself forcefully to the side.
Even in midair, Deidara was remarkably agile. He even remembered to stomp hard on the falling clay bird.
Using the recoil to propel himself even farther.
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