Board Thread:Theories and Speculation/@comment-1512913-20180917223942/@comment-1512913-20180918121717

The way I see it, the clay in its basic form is just that, an ordinary clay. So I suppose it goes like this: Deidara eats clay with his palm mouths or his ordinary mouth > uses Earth Release to shape the clay while inside a mouth to turn it into Earth Release clay > when he makes a hand seal, the Earth based chakra inside transforms into Explosion chakra instead. Basically, the Earth shaped clay works as a medium for his explosive chakra. If you hit the clay with Lightning, Deidara's chakra disappears from it. Also of note is that in the same chapter Sasuke calls Deidara's clay 'earth bombs' so that's what they are, clay turned into different sizes and shapes with Earth Release. So what I'm getting at is that Explosive chakra isn't in the clay until a hand seal is made, before it's earth release chakra instead.

It's kinda like the sand Gaara moves is infused with his chakra. Now if you removed Gaara's chakra from his sand, he wouldn't be able to move it anymore. So probably Sasuke's Lightning chakra cancelled Deidara's Earth chakra in the clay, possibly removing his link to it.