Facts proved that although "flight" had always been something mankind dreamed of, it really was not suited to this featherless bipedal creature. For humans, flying higher only meant falling harder.
The massive overload caused by the violent impacts might well have given Deidara black vision, or even caused temporary shock or unconsciousness. Even a shinobi's body had limits to what it could endure… In short, after Hagoromo's beasts crushed two of his little birds in succession, Deidara fainted for a brief moment.
Especially that second impact. It was no light hit. Being rammed by such a thick rhinoceros horn—who could take that? So, after tracing a beautiful parabola through the air, he truly fell this time.
Hagoromo also felt he might have overdone it a little, which had led to a small problem. It was not that he was afraid Deidara would fall to his death. If a shinobi of that level could really die from a fall… then if he died, he died.
"Too much force? His landing point is a bit far…"
Judging from Deidara's flight path, his landing point had been flung far outside the combat area. At that moment, Hagoromo was somewhat worried that once the other party realized he had been thrown so far away, he might simply abandon his good buddy Sasori of the Red Sand and run off on his own. After all, people who could fly were usually quite good at escaping.
Hagoromo could personally testify to that point…
He looked back at Mirai and Sasori, who were still exchanging blows. Hm? It had become a little like ice and fire at the same time—although the fight was heated, their main method of attack was actually Ice Release.
Still, it seemed the three children were doing quite well. At this rate, dismantling Hiruko again was merely a matter of time.
So, after thinking it over, Hagoromo decided to give chase.
In reality, he was overthinking it. Little Deidara currently had no intention of fleeing. It was not that he did not know how to run, but under certain specific circumstances, some people became so stubborn that they went excessively hard.
Right now, Deidara had gotten a little stuck on one point. No matter what, he had to make Hagoromo "marvel" at least once. Otherwise, what charm would his art have left?
Thus, after Hagoromo had only chased a few steps, countless birds suddenly emerged from the forest, braving the rain and flying toward the battlefield in a way that seemed to defy normal behavior.
But was it really abnormal?
No. These birds were still fleeing a dangerous area. The only reason they were flying toward the battlefield was because the commotion deeper in the mountain forest was even greater.
A huge humanoid object swelled up rapidly like an inflating balloon. Then, rising higher than the forest, the parts of its body above the shoulders were exposed outside the trees.
With one heavy footstep after another, the ground also trembled rhythmically again and again. This gigantic humanoid object was walking toward the battlefield.
Hagoromo did not even need to think to know that the thing before him was some kind of technique from Deidara. Not because it had come from the direction where Deidara had just fallen, but because this huge doll looked exactly like Deidara himself, merely enlarged many times over in equal proportion.
After being slammed down so hard, was Deidara finally willing to use his big move directly?
This move could indeed be considered one of Deidara's big moves. Although it could no longer fly, based on certain characteristics of the technique that could send anyone hit by it straight to bliss, Deidara still gave it a flight-related name.
He called this technique "Garuda."
"But what's the point of making it this big? Earth Release is still Earth Release in the end. Against me, that can only be called an attribute that is completely countered."
Using Earth Release in front of Hagoromo was absolutely the worst possible choice. In fact, this special explosive technique of Deidara's was even less effective against Hagoromo's Lightning Release than ordinary Earth Release.
Explosive Clay was indeed enormously powerful, far surpassing ordinary Earth Release, but that was only under the premise that it did not encounter Lightning Release. Once it met Lightning Release, Deidara's bombs would completely fizzle out and become nothing more than decorations.
So what was now walking toward Hagoromo was not some immensely powerful bomb, but more like a harmless figure.
"And even if this thing could explode, wouldn't he blow himself up too?" Hagoromo added.
As he saw it, with such a huge bomb, when Deidara detonated it, there was no way he could escape the blast radius.
So, was this meant to be a suicide terrorist bombing?
However, Hagoromo did not know that although "Garuda" looked extremely massive, its actual nature was just the opposite. Its attack method was exceedingly delicate. It was not the kind of technique that pursued blowing out a huge crater with a single blast. What it pursued was complete destructive annihilation from inside the target's body.
Since he had confirmed that Hagoromo's Lightning Release really was that powerful, Deidara was no longer stupid enough to continue using his previous attack methods.
If possible, he wanted to kill Hagoromo "silently."
After the enormous doll took heavy steps into attack range, Hagoromo did not hesitate. He slashed at it with a Chidori Sharp Spear.
The result was just as he expected. In the very first instant, a section of Garuda's "lower leg" was cut open with an extremely smooth incision. The doll's leg remained where it was, while the doll took another step. After losing its balance, its gigantic body toppled to the left.
So far, everything was still within his expectations. But what happened next exceeded Hagoromo's predictions.
A large mass of extremely faint mist spilled out from Garuda's cut. The speed at which it poured out was as violent as air escaping from a punctured balloon. Before the doll had even fully fallen to the ground, it had already completely shriveled up.
The rain did not create any obvious obstruction to the mist, so its particles were extremely tiny and could pass freely through the curtain of rain.
Its diffusion seemed even better than ordinary poisonous mist. At that moment, the area around Hagoromo was rapidly filled with this mist.
"What is this? Poison?"
Seeing this scene, Hagoromo quickly retreated at once. If it was poison, then its method of transmission was still unknown. Breathing? Skin contact?
But it did not matter. After Tsunade became Hokage, the most obvious change in Konoha shinobi equipment was the addition of all sorts of antidotes. Many of them were even aimed at deadly poisons on Granny Chiyo's level.
No matter how poisonous Deidara was, could he be more poisonous than Chiyo?
So even with the poisonous gas filling the area, Hagoromo did not feel he was at too much of a disadvantage.
But this time, he was wrong again. This "poisonous mist" caused his own bioelectric signals to become slightly disordered, but that was not a reaction to being poisoned.
In an instant, Hagoromo's deformed and bizarre knowledge system came into play again. He vaguely remembered that large-scale dispersal of organic dust could also pose an explosion hazard, right? For example, flour in an enclosed space or something?
So, this cloud of mist was still a bomb?
Whether it was or not, in any case, he would just discharge electricity first and ask questions later. Thus, Hagoromo very unreasonably released Chidori Current directly.
At the same time, he did not forget to warn Mirai's side. After all, sooner or later, this mist would drift over there too.
"Mirai, use Lightning Release!"
With just those five words, the three of them immediately understood Hagoromo's meaning. Thus, before the mist arrived, everyone successively entered the "Age of Electricity."
That mist was indeed composed of extremely tiny clay bombs, but its method of explosion was still somewhat different from what Hagoromo had imagined. "Garuda" itself should have been a technique that invaded the human body through this method, then exploded internally to eliminate the opponent. But now…
What was rather miraculous was that there were only six people on the battlefield in total. Ignoring enemy and allied sides, four of them could use Lightning Release, while the fifth did not even have a human body.
In other words, if Deidara still wanted to use Garuda, the only person he could actually blow up was himself…
Deidara had originally planned to use "nanobombs" to sneak inside quietly, then carry out a precise internal detonation. But the result?
Damn it, they discharged Lightning Release without another word. Were they going to let him live or not? Fine, he already knew all of them were Lightning Release experts, all right?
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