Highlights
- Deidara is Akatsuki’s most versatile member due to his unique ability to mold explosive clay into various shapes, sizes, and movements.
- He excels in medium to long-distance battles, using clay figures and explosives to attack his opponents from above and below.
- Deidara’s biggest weakness is his tendency to talk too much during fights, allowing opponents to learn details about his abilities and exploit them.
Akatsuki is arguably the greatest ninja group in Naruto. What makes this group of infamous criminals so fascinating is not only the monstrous powers they possess, but also the fact that every single member is an expert in their unique fields. Thanks to this, every member can be assigned to certain missions that suit their distinct skill sets and expertise, such as Itachi and Kisame for infiltration missions, or Deidara and Sasori for surveillance missions.
That said, all of them are versatile ninjas that can take on any kind of mission, even the ones that are outside their area of expertise. Once you look closely into what they’ve done throughout the series, however, it’s not a stretch to say that Deidara was arguably Akatsuki’s most versatile member. Here are the reasons why.
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Deidara’s Versatile Combat Style
Deidara possesses the Explosion Release Kekkei Genkai. This unique ability allows him to mold his chakra into explosive clay. Also, thanks to the Forbidden Technique that he stole from his village’s vault, Deidara can turn those explosive clays into clay figures (usually animals) and manipulate the size and movements however he wants. This means if he makes a bird clay figure, it will be able to fly just like a bird, and if he makes a snake clay figure, it will slither on the ground just like a real snake. Needless to say, these dolls can explode.
Deidara is an expert in medium to long-distance battles. For long-range fights, he usually flies on top of a large bird clay and bombards his opponent with numerous bird clays in various shapes and sizes that act like guided missiles. This simple attack pattern is called the C1.
For medium-range fights, he can employ the same tactics although at a much closer distance. For this kind of battle, his favorite tactic is an attack pattern called C2, which is a combination of a large dragon-like clay figure that bombards the opponents with C1 clay birds from above and numerous landmines buried in the ground that will automatically explode on contact. With explosives both from above and below, it’s only a matter of time before the enemy is blown to bits.
Although he rarely engages in it, Deidara is actually quite a formidable close-range fighter. For this kind of fight, he usually uses smaller clay figures like insects or snakes that can either be used to launch a surprise attack on his opponent or to restrain their movement. His favorite tactic is to catch his opponent in his own clay shadow clone jutsu. Once one of his opponent’s limbs is trapped in the clay, the shadow clone will instantly explode.
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Deidara’s Versatile Roles in Akatsuki
As mentioned in the previous section, Deidara is without a doubt a great fighter. But even more important than that is the fact that he can actually assume lots of different roles for Akatsuki and take on different kinds of missions for the organization.
Thanks to his clay bird, Deidara can ascend to a height beyond what a regular ninja can see with their eyes. This makes it easy for him to hover over certain areas without the risk of being detected by any guards, which makes him perfect for surveillance missions. Once he gathers enough information about the target’s security system, he can either report back to their HQ or commence the next part of the mission, which is usually an infiltration.
For infiltration, Deidara will drop numerous small clay insects, usually spiders. He will then control these clay spiders to get close to the guards, stick on their bodies, and blow them up. This series of events was actually what Deidara did to kidnap Gaara.
Deidara’s clay bird can also fly across long distances. This makes Deidara perfect not only for the aforementioned surveillance mission but also for transport duty. He can easily take several people or objects on his clay bird. If he needs to transport more people or objects, he can simply produce an even bigger bird. This was precisely what he did for Kabuto during the Fourth Great Ninja War. The only ninjas that can rival Deidara’s flying capability are the Third Tsuchikage and Gaara.
Last but not least, Deidara is the perfect man for a bombing mission. From launching numerous guided missiles in the form of C1 clay birds to using a huge C3 clay figure that has enough power to decimate an entire ninja village, there’s nothing that Deidara can’t destroy. If that’s not enough, he can also selectively kill living organisms only with his countless microscopic clay bombs, the C4. In a desperate situation, Deidara can perform a suicide bombing with his ultimate art, the C0, which will cause a colossal blast that engulfs anything within at least a six-mile radius.
Deidara’s Biggest Weakness
Despite his remarkable ability to engage in different kinds of combat and perform different kinds of missions, Deidara is cursed with one massive weakness. His mouth. The man loves to hear his own voice and will continue to babble even during an intense fight. This allows his opponents to discern the details of his ability through the information that he freely gives to them. This is precisely the reason why he lost to Uchiha Sasuke. Had he been a much calmer and quieter person, he would have been one of the most dangerous ninjas in the entire series.
Naruto is available to watch on Crunchyroll.
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