Chapter 20: The Three-Second World, and the Stray Dog with No Home
When Uchiha Ci tore open the first explosive tag—
All the sealing patterns connected to him blazed with a fierce, fiery yellow light!
At that moment, Uchiha Ci became light.
In the most literal, physical sense.
He was shining brighter than the first rays of dawn themselves!
The intense radiance flooded his entire field of vision in an instant, making him feel as if what he held in his hand wasn't an explosive tag, but a divine glow stick.
For a split second, it almost felt like he was about to transform into a Gundam and launch into battle.
Of course, that was just wishful thinking.
Uchiha Ci hadn't even awakened his Sharingan.
And honestly, he didn't believe a man like himself—someone who woke up every morning at six sharp, went to bed precisely at ten, drank a bottle of cola before sleep, and whose emotional stability was comparable to the alarm clock ticking reliably beside his bed— would ever awaken something that only lunatics awakened.
Shaking his head, Uchiha Ci couldn't help but grin and burst out laughing:
"Hahahahahahahahaha!"
"Farewell, Uchiha!"
"Farewell, this goddamn world!"
He threw his head back, smirking with pride, spread his arms wide, and stepped into the sea of flames—
Embracing the entire world like a victorious hero.
The temperature surged. The tongues of fire licked his skin.
If nothing went wrong, three seconds from now, Uchiha Ci would explode into a dazzling firework, bidding farewell to the shinobi world once and for all.
And then, with a five-hundred-million life insurance payout, he'd happily head back home.
This round? This round was him bathing in explosive tags.
Funeral service all-in-one package. The whole process on fast-forward—straight to cremation. The burning speed was faster than a dragon diving face-first into battle.
Tell me—how could I possibly lose this one?!
HOW COULD I LOSE?!
But… in the midst of his beautiful fantasy, Uchiha Ci forgot something—
Before setting out today,
He had smashed his alarm clock with his own hands.
And sent himself straight into the most unpredictable battlefield of the entire Third Shinobi World War!
Besides—
For someone who drank cola instead of goji berry tea…
Was his emotional stability really that reliable?
---
Sealing Technique: Million-Fold Rage Ink Enslavement!
A signature sealing technique from Kumogakure—one of the strongest in the world, second only to the Uzumaki clan's fūinjutsu.
Because its crafting cost…
Was the ink of the Eight-Tails, Gyūki.
And that material could only be harvested—by none other than the man called both the "Strongest Shield" and the "Strongest Spear," the Third Raikage A himself—through personally beating the ink out of Gyūki.
How powerful was this technique?
During the Fourth Shinobi World War, Gyūki and Killer B once used this move to seal nearly a thousand enemies simultaneously!
The ink, once released, formed humanoid clones coated in the Eight-Tails' chakra cloak, each locking their target in a manji-shaped grapple. After three seconds, the ink completely engulfed the target—sealing them forever!
However, the technique had one fatal flaw—
From initial contact to activation, it required a full three seconds!
And as for explosive tags—by design, unless manually triggered, they too took about three seconds from activation to detonation!
See the coincidence?
---
At this moment—
At the edge of the barrier surrounding the ruins,
Moloi's eyes were cold. His hands, dripping with thick blood, formed seals as he shouted:
"Sealing Technique—Million-Fold Rage Ink Enslavement!"
The blood-stained scroll before him lit up with a blazing "八" (Eight).
A torrent of ink surged from the scroll like a black waterfall!
Within the ink, a massive figure slowly rose—its body cloaked in a swirling black-and-red chakra cloak.
It tilted its head slightly—
And its empty, emotionless white eyes instantly locked onto Uchiha Ci.
The next second, the ink-born beast lunged forward, treading the cascading ink—
Straight into a GRAPPLING HOLD!
Its elbow clamped around Ci's neck, one leg kicked his ankle out from under him, another wrapped around his arm, and the final limb pinned his waist—
A "Till-Death-Do-Us-Part Lock!" worthy of legend!
Uchiha Ci, who had been laughing maniacally moments ago, suddenly found himself tackled by a chakra-coated monster in the middle of a firestorm. The thing slammed him into the ground with a joint lock so vicious his handsome face scraped raw against the dirt!
In the blink of an eye—darkness swallowed his vision.
The beast melted into a pool of dripping ink.
Uchiha Ci blinked stupidly, like Patrick Star getting splashed in the face with lemon juice by Squidward.
The ink quickly spread across his body—
Wherever it touched, the blazing yellow glow of the explosive tags dimmed instantly, turning to lifeless scraps of paper.
Nearly 80% of the tags were neutralized, and the remaining 20% fell silent soon after.
The smile froze on Uchiha Ci's face.
Meanwhile, on the other side—
Moloi, the one who had cast the sealing jutsu, wore the exact same dumbfounded expression.
He stared at the scroll in disbelief.
Before his departure, the Third Raikage had solemnly warned him—this technique must only be used if the Blood Pool clan defied orders and tried to flee from Hell Valley.
He was explicit: use it only during a full-scale clan rebellion!
And now?
This?!
You're telling me this was supposed to suppress an entire clan?!
What the hell did it just do—aside from summoning a chakra-coated beefcake that jumped a brat and put him in a chokehold?!
Where was the power? The devastation? The refund policy?!
Moloi was on the verge of losing his mind.
But before he could say a word—
Eight kunai whistled through the air, grazing his cheek and pinning themselves deep into the barrier wall behind him.
Then came a roar—hoarse, guttural, filled with rage so raw it could only belong to something dragged straight out of hell:
"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST DO?!"
The voice carried the hatred of a stray dog that had crawled out of the underworld—mangled, starving, left to wander the wasteland alone.
From its source—
Uchiha Ci rose from the ground, drenched head-to-toe in inky black. His face twisted beyond recognition.
And then—
Two crimson Sharingan tomoe burst to life!
A single, solitary tomoe spun madly within the blood-red iris.
Twisted, feral, his shadow writhing across the ground, Uchiha Ci screamed with a voice cracking under fury and pain:
"What did you do?!"
"I'm asking you!"
"WHAT DID YOU DO?!"
"ANSWER ME!"
"WHAT DID YOU DOOOOOOO?!"
"SAY SOMETHING!"
"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DOOOOOOOOOOO?!"
Head thrown back, eyes wide, teeth clenched, body trembling—
His eyes bloodshot.
A tear of blood streaked down his cheek.
He looked like a beast driven to madness—murderous, deranged, consumed by chaos itself.
And in the world three seconds later—
Uchiha Ci…
Still…
Hadn't managed to bid farewell to this world.