"Boom, boom, boom!"
Deidara's Clay Bombs and Mo Xie's puppets collided in midair.
The instant they collided, the Clay Bombs detonated one after another.
A mass of puppets was blasted away.
But Mo Xie's puppets could do more than passively endure the explosions.
Under his control, only a portion of the defensive puppets confronted Deidara's Clay Bombs head-on.
Most of the offensive puppets chose to skirt the front and attack from other directions.
A competent Esper could not know only how to defend or only how to attack.
They had to find opportunities to counterattack while defending, and remain mindful of defense while attacking.
Mo Xie was demonstrating the former, looking for chances to counterattack as he defended.
Deidara was demonstrating the latter, never neglecting his defense as he attacked.
When Mo Xie's puppets attacked from other directions, Deidara reacted swiftly, tossing several small clay birds from his hands. They flew precisely into the midst of the puppets and exploded.
The shock waves from the explosions were enough to send all those puppets flying.
That was one of the advantages of Explosive Clay.
Other weapons required sufficient accuracy to hit their targets.
But the shock waves from an explosion covered a wide area, so even if the Explosive Clay failed to hit directly, its explosion could still blast away every target within range.
Still, Mo Xie's puppets were no pushovers.
A few puppets were blown away, but the rest continued their attack.
The Fire Spirit Puppets opened their mouths and spat out enormous fireballs.
The Wind Spirit Puppets unleashed powerful gusts of wind.
"Puppet Technique: Wind-Fire Combination!"
Wind and fire worked together, the wind feeding the flames until they instantly became a raging sea of fire that swept toward him.
Deidara's pupils contracted slightly. He quickly molded a basketball-sized clay