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Chapter 5 — Six Hundred Billion Explosive Tags, Alex Reveals Himself
Obito Uchiha stood upon the sea, still remaining in an intangible state.
Losing another orb reminded him of the agony when his body had been shattered by a boulder all those years ago.
That right-side orb had been painstakingly nurtured back to function over many years.
And now... once again it was gone. Even if Black Zetsu could replace it, restoring it to its former state—regaining the original utility—would take years of care.
At this moment Obito's hatred and rage toward Konan far outstripped anything he felt for Nagato. He wanted nothing more than to tear her apart immediately.
Unfortunately, he still couldn't move freely, nor could he cancel his intangibility.
Obito clenched his teeth against the pain and fury, looking down as if to say, "These little tricks won't change your fate."
Hundreds of explosive tags were sparsely pasted over his body—already lit, primed to detonate.
If he deactivated intangibility now, he would certainly be burned by the blasts.
All those tags had been placed by Alex during his earlier strike, taking advantage of the brief moment when Obito phased. They were meant to temporarily imprison Obito and give Konan the chance to unleash her ultimate move.
"Just ten seconds—ten, nine, eight..." Obito silently counted down the fuse. Once the explosions ended, he would cancel intangibility and kill Konan—making her death as torturous as possible so she could feel what it was like to lose an orb!
Konan, however, clearly wouldn't give him the luxury of waiting.
Almost the instant the tags ignited, she sensed the explosives she had crafted. Though she didn't understand why her paper release had attacked on its own or how the tags were applied and triggered, the opportunity was unmistakable.
She threw caution to the wind. With Obito restricted in place, she seized the moment.
Konan spread her arms and poured all her chakra into the technique; her Akatsuki cloak snapped in the gale.
"Kami no Shisha no Jutsu: Release!"
"Finally—the big scene's here!" Alex was ecstatic, heart pounding. Even if this jutsu might not kill Obito outright, the colossal blast was a once-in-a-century spectacle.
"What are you doing?!" Obito felt an inexplicable dread as he realized Konan was preparing something monumental. But intangibility prevented him from interfering. He could only watch.
A trembling roar rolled from the sea below. The ocean shuddered as colossal waves rose.
Like a giant blade, the water surface split from beneath Obito's feet—an edge stretching so far it disappeared into the horizon. The sea cleaved into two.
Obito could do nothing as his body tumbled into the yawning chasm—as if falling into an abyss.
"What is—?!" Obito's eyes bulged, pupils twitching. "It's all explosive tags!"
The abyss walls weren't water but layers upon layers of explosive tags—poured and stacked until they brimmed the chasm. They cascaded down with the rushing seawater.
The pit became an ocean of tags, and Obito's form was swallowed beneath an uncountable mass of explosives.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Six hundred billion explosive tags detonated simultaneously, producing an unending thunder of blasts. The fireball pierced the thick cloud layer, forming a colossal mushroom cloud.
The shockwave—like a Category 18 hurricane—rolled outward, whipping up monstrous waves that tore across the western sea.
Countless tons of seawater vaporized into a white fog that blanketed the ocean. The sheer power of six hundred billion tags detonating at once was beyond imagination—a veritable natural catastrophe.
Cough, cough…
Far from the epicenter, Konan knelt upon the sea surface, rising and falling with the waves. The smoke and explosive haze choked her breath; she coughed repeatedly.
Her face was pale and exhausted; chakra reserves were nearly depleted. Yet if she could kill Obito, every sacrifice would be worth it.
"Madara... you greatest darkness of the shinobi world—be buried in this sea of fire."
The six hundred billion tags Konan had prepared were intended specifically for him; there was no surviving such an onslaught.
"The fight has reached its end—time for me to step forward."
Without hesitation, Alex shot from Konan's chest and hovered before her. He had been waiting for this brief safe window. Only now could he attempt to communicate with her.
At first Konan was puzzled—why had a sheet of paper drifted from her sternum? She hadn't issued such a command.
Then, a line of characters appeared on the paper's surface:
[I am Konan. When you see these words, you will die!]
The blood-red letters were shocking and grotesque. Alex could not speak; he could only use written language to seize the initiative with an alarming opening line.
Konan stared at Alex in astonishment. Is this my own paper release? Why is it acting independently and showing text? What does "you will die" mean—could it…
She inhaled, raising her guard. Rather than act rashly, she scrutinized the inscribed sheet. The shinobi world was full of strange jutsu and constructs; ninja adapted quickly.
Although surprised, Konan did not find Alex's presence unacceptable. She half-squatted, gripping a white kunai—her last weapon fashioned with the last of her chakra. She pressed the blade tip to the paper but did not stab further, wanting to understand the message.
"Who are you?! What do you mean by that?" Konan demanded, voice cold and razor-sharp.
Her vigilance was absolute; Alex expected as much and had prepared his explanation.
[I was born from your paper release.] The bloody red letters faded and were replaced by black script.
"No way!" Konan did not believe it. "Every sheet in my paper release is made and controlled by me—there can't be a consciousness among them."
She refused to accept that the paper before her possessed independent awareness. Alex was undeterred—her reaction had been predicted.
[I was indeed born from your paper release. Nagato left me as a contingency of the Rinnegan. If you face mortal danger, I will awaken.]
He fabricated the story on the spot: pin everything odd on Nagato and the Rinnegan to ease her guard.
"Nagato... the Rinnegan..." Konan whispered, expression unchanged, though the kunai tip retreated a centimeter from the paper.
[You know the Rinnegan's wonders. When I awoke, I learned everything: Nagato created me to protect you—he planted me inside your paper release in case you faced life-or-death peril.]
Mentioning the so-called godly eye loosened a fraction of Konan's suspicion. She no longer fully trusted the paper, but she was less hostile.
"If Nagato set you up, why didn't he tell me himself?"