Chapter 1034

"Ha!" The two sides were extremely close, and without hesitation Deidara detonated the clay great bird whose head had been split in two, and the next instant a violent explosion enveloped both figures.

The Tsuchikage Ōnoki who had rushed over was pushed a great distance by the blast; although he was very worried about Deidara's safety, he was even more certain that Uzumaki Young Yuanzi would not be defeated so easily, and his Dust Release: Detachment of the Original World Technique was already prepared, waiting only for the smoke to clear to strike the opponent accurately!

Deidara's clay explosion is a special-type kekkei genkai ninjutsu, and the entire explosion process is brief!

Unlike explosive tags or gunpowder explosions, Deidara's 'art' leaves no residue; the so-called smoke and dust is merely ordinary clay dust, which will disperse with a single breath of wind — one could say it is very environmentally friendly!

The sound of metal clashing accompanied by sparks came from the explosion's smoke, and the two entangled black shadows gradually revealed their true forms; Ōnoki looked intently and saw it was Uzumaki Young Yuanzi and Deidara!

Deidara's desperate gamble of detonating his mount beneath him had failed to cause much impact on Young Yuanzi's draw slash; the North Wind, which had ignited the power of the dragon vein, sliced through it without resistance — or rather, without any obstruction at all!

The blast's shockwave continued toward its destination, slashing at Deidara's chest — if not for Deidara pulling out a kunai at the last moment to block it briefly!

Even so, Deidara's current situation could be described as precarious; a finely crafted kunai held absolutely no advantage against the North Wind, and almost at the very moment of contact, this exceptionally sturdy kunai was cleaved in two. In a desperate flash of ingenuity, Deidara had no choice but to raise his hand to block while simultaneously reinforcing his blocking arm with an Earth Release ninjutsu — or rather, an Earth Release ninjutsu he had modified from his own clay-explosion ninjutsu!

"Behold my Earth Release: Explosive Rock Armor!" When Young Yuanzi's North Wind severed the kunai and cut through with irresistible force all the way to Deidara's now earth-yellow arm, an explosion occurred within a very small area at the point of contact with the blade!

"Trading one hand for his own life… Ōnoki has indeed taught a very decisive student, at least stronger than him…" He looked at Deidara, who had already put distance between them; the fellow's appearance at this moment could truly be called utterly wretched — not only was his entire body's clothing tattered and ruined from the explosion.

Worse still, Deidara's left hand — the one he had used to block the attack while also enduring the full explosive force of his own ninjutsu — had now completely vanished. If Iwagakure did not have someone of Orochimaru's caliber, Deidara's left hand would have to be replaced with a prosthetic from now on!

Dammit!

Because the severed arm's nerves were essentially already dead, Deidara actually felt little pain; what was truly tormenting him was a blade wound extending from his forehead down to his cheekbone. Even after sacrificing a hand, he had still failed to prevent Young Yuanzi from achieving her objective, and from this similarly bone-deep gash almost no fresh blood was flowing out.

The crystallization spreading caused by senjutsu chakra was continuously expanding and spreading to cover Deidara's entire left face; such a severe wound was already enough to plunge Deidara into unconsciousness.

Sure enough, the next instant he fell from midair into the jungle below in free-fall. This person was beyond saving. Young Yuanzi no longer paid attention to the doomed Deidara; she turned her head and noticed that outside the still-undispersed smoke, the Tsuchikage Ōnoki was approaching her!

The gradually numbing sensation in her fingertips and the searing pain along her meridians like being cut by a blade constantly reminded Young Yuanzi that her full-power draw-slash state had less than two seconds remaining. Young Yuanzi had always been trying to find a way to improve this drawback; logically, as her mastery of the power grew more skilled, the duration of holding the blade should grow longer!

Young Yuanzi and Ōnoki had engaged in a chance battle, and the actual contact had lasted only a few minutes, yet Deidara, who had come along with Ōnoki, had already been the first to lose combat ability, at the edge of the battlefield carved out by the two chaotic combatants.

The other faction had chosen to observe. For Sunagakure, the grudge against Young Yuanzi was beyond doubt, and with Iwagakure there were also scores to settle. Therefore, the Fourth Kazekage and the Chiyo-led Sand ninja force simply began watching with great interest as these two enemies fought to the death — perhaps in their hearts, these two perishing together would be the best outcome!

These Sand ninja are simply short-sighted!

The Tsuchikage Ōnoki once again used his ability to fly to put some distance between himself and Young Yuanzi. The Yu Guang at the corner of his eye had long since detected the Sand ninja's presence; he hadn't expected these fellows to actually stand by and watch, with no intention of joining forces with him at all!

Especially upon seeing that the one leading the other side was the Fourth Kazekage!

Thinking about the reason the other side was currently holding their position, wasn't it precisely because he had tricked them several times during the Alliance's campaign against Konoha back then? Times have changed! Faced with a once-in-a-thousand-years, absolutely perfect opportunity to strike, these fools would actually remain indifferent!

The Tsuchikage Ōnoki thought resentfully, and once again a light of kekkei totai shone in his hand, this time stronger than before — Young Yuanzi's attack that was almost one with the wind!