"Wait—"
"Oh no!!!"
Gaara's pupils contracted sharply. He could clearly sense the terrifying energy inside the doll's chest. If it detonated, the entire Arena could be caught in the blast.
He stopped hesitating. His hands moved so fast they left afterimages, and the sand around him surged behind him like a tide, condensing into an enormous ball.
With a low shout, a Sand Sphere ten meters in diameter took shape with a rumble. A spiraling Shukaku totem appeared on its surface, every grain of sand compressed to the density of diamond.
Then a giant humanoid figure appeared.
It was covered in runes.
The sand statue of a tanuki wearing a bamboo hat spread its arms to shield Gaara.
"Sand Release: Shield of Shukaku!"
Gaara then waved his hand. Another stream of sand wound around him like a living creature, forming a spiked Absolute Defense. Static crackled through the air between the grains.
"Absolute Defense."
Whoosh, whoosh~ Sand gathered.
A small, round Sand Sphere appeared.
Then it linked to Gaara's vision.
"Third Eye. Open!!!"
At the same time, he manipulated another portion of sand into rising from the ground. Like nimble snakes, the streams coiled around the Explosive Doll. "Sand Release: Sand Binding Prison!"
The sand locked the doll in place like an iron vise,
leaving it unable to move,
or even make the slightest twitch.
In a mere instant, Gaara's three layers of defense
were complete.
"Bastard!!!"
Deidara's expression changed. He hurriedly channeled chakra, trying to detonate the doll ahead of time, but the sand's binding strength far exceeded his expectations. The doll's clay would not activate properly.
He gritted his teeth,
his golden teeth gleaming coldly in the sunlight. "You damned Sunagakure brat. Your defense may be beautiful, but the eternity of an instant is true art..."
Deidara felt