Boom! The detonator exploded.
Deidara was blasted off the Clay Bird.
But he twisted aside at the last moment and escaped without much injury. Though he was still falling, he was already rapidly mixing clay for a new Clay Bird.
By then, however, he had dropped lower.
Itachi barked to Aikawa, "Launch me up!"
Aikawa understood and thrust both hands upward as Itachi jumped onto them.
Itachi kicked off with all his strength, shooting into the sky like a cannonball.
In midair, Deidara had already made a new Clay Bird.
Itachi finished his hand seals and blew a Great Fireball toward him.
Deidara grabbed the Clay Bird's wing and leaped up. The fireball narrowly grazed past his body.
But he failed to notice that, under cover of the Great Fireball, Itachi had grabbed the edge of the Clay Bird and climbed aboard.
Deidara had barely steadied himself when Itachi appeared, drew his sword, and slashed at him.
Slash!
The blade struck Deidara, but his face, split in two, burst into laughter.
"You fell for it, Itachi!"
It was a Clay Clone.
The clay beneath Itachi immediately wound around his feet, immobilizing him.
The Clay Bird began swelling continuously, clearly about to explode.
Deidara poked his head out from the other side of the Clay Bird, then hauled himself out of its body, kicked off it, and leaped away.
Itachi's body was tightly bound by the clay, leaving him no way to escape.
"Let me show you what I can do! Hmm!"
As Deidara flew backward, he formed a hand seal. "Art is an Explosion! Katsu!"
Boom!
A violent explosion erupted in the sky, sending a shock wave sweeping outward.
It knocked everyone on the ground flat.
Deidara flipped over and landed on the yellow sand, but he heard no screams