Chapter 263: Disaster Strikes! The Monsters Inside Uchiha Ci Start Fighting Each Other!
Almost the moment the thunderous roar of the heavens dissipated,
another blinding bolt of lightning erupted on the battlefield!
Like a pale white arrow, it shot out in an instant!
Then—halt, twist, lower stance—one hand swung back to grab the divine artifact strapped to his back—the Amber Purifying Bottle!
A's eyes were locked onto Uchiha Ci, who was charging toward Killer Bee.
At this moment, the young man's ears were bleeding profusely, his throat was pierced by a kunai, and his entire body was charred black. Yet, his blazing red eyes shone like the morning sun at dawn!
He knew—for someone who could no longer hear or speak, the Amber Purifying Bottle was no longer capable of sealing him!
But—
"Brat, don't underestimate the power of a ninja village!"
A's gaze turned ice-cold. In that instant, he recalled the intelligence he had seen and heard a month ago in the Raikage's office.
In his ears, it was as if the voice of his subordinate, Gabui, echoed once more—
"Raikage-sama, based on our prior investigations, the Tailed Beast inside Uchiha Ci is not one of the nine great Tailed Beasts."
"Instead, it was artificially created by the remnants of the now-destroyed Sky Ninja Village after the Second Shinobi World War—specifically by Shinnō, the Sky Ninja leader who was previously pursued by Orochimaru in the Land of Hot Water."
"It is known as—"
At that moment, A's eyes flashed with a sharp gleam, and he stomped the ground with immense force!
CRACK!
A web of fractures splintered outward, sending chunks of rock flying and shaking the surrounding trees and grass!
Taking a deep breath, A pulled the yellow lid off the Amber Purifying Bottle with one hand. With the other, he held the artifact high—his stance as perfect as an elite javelin thrower—before hurling it with full force!
His eyes widened, veins bulging, thunder crackling wildly around his body, as he let out a deafening roar:
"Zero-Tails—"
"Void!!!"
With this thunderous shout, the Amber Purifying Bottle turned into a streaking yellow blur, shooting straight toward Uchiha Ci!
Just as Uchiha Ci was about to reach out and crush Killer Bee's throat, the bottle arrived—a fraction of a second before he could close his grip!
Then—
A surge of chakra erupted from the bottle's mouth, rising like an invisible giant hand, and in the next instant—
It grabbed at Uchiha Ci's abdomen!
At that moment, Uchiha Ci's pupils shrank in shock.
Because despite his deafness—he suddenly heard a sound!
It was a voice from within his stomach—
Like an overworked corporate employee who, after pulling too many all-nighters, suddenly hears a boss shouting in his ear, startling him into reflexively exclaiming—"Boss, I wasn't slacking off!"
A childlike, innocent voice cried out:
"—Chirp chirp!?"
The sound wasn't heard through his ears—it was transmitted through chakra, vibrating inside his body, resonating via bone conduction!
"Stupid snake!?"
"Wait, what the hell—did you agree to this?!"
Uchiha Ci's eyes snapped wide open as he stared at his own abdomen, where the confused and startled Zero-Tails had just spoken.
His scalp tingled so hard it felt like an electric current was running from his head down to his feet!
That's right—the Zero-Tails had a name.
And its name was Void!
Before Uchiha Ci could even begin to process how the Raikage had learned about something that should have been impossible to leak—
A terrifying, irresistible force extended from the Amber Purifying Bottle, piercing into his stomach like a crab claw grabbing hold of its prey!
With an iron grip, it seized the tiny Zero-Tails—squeezing it so hard its eyes, nose, and mouth bulged out grotesquely—before violently yanking it outward!
BANG! BANG! BANG!
For no apparent reason, Uchiha Ci suddenly heard a dull, rhythmic thunk-thunk-thunk—like a forehead being smashed against a sealing formula!
Then, to his absolute horror—
The Eight Trigrams Seal on his stomach was forcefully cracked open!
Dark chakra gushed out from his abdomen, forming a shadowy tendril.
Realizing the danger, Zero-Tails' eerie white eyes flashed with fear.
It immediately sank its teeth into Uchiha Ci's abs, clinging on for dear life—flapping in the wind like a red-and-black flag being pulled toward the Amber Purifying Bottle!
At the same time—
Uchiha Ci felt his strength draining away, his body rapidly weakening!
"THUD!"
He collapsed to the ground, staring in shock at the floating, brownish-yellow gourd in the air.
For a brief moment, he felt as if he'd been transported to the Journey to the West Flat Peak Mountain set—where a Silver Horned King loomed over him, calling out:
"Hey, Uchiha Ci! I call your name—do you dare answer?!"
Uchiha Ci thought: Damn, you win! Fine, I'll just stay mute and pretend I'm deaf!
But just when he thought he had outplayed the bottle—
That Silver Horned King suddenly flipped the script and shouted:
"Hey, Uchiha Ci's pants! I call your name—do you dare answer?!"
And his pants actually responded!
So now, he found himself in the utterly absurd predicament of having to desperately clutch onto his waistband to preserve his dignity!
Tailed Beasts—
They weren't just sources of power for Jinchūriki. They were bound to their very existence!
Just like when Uchiha Ci extracted Matatabi from Yugito Nii, causing her death—
If the Raikage succeeded in forcibly removing the Zero-Tails from his body, even with his absurdly resilient physique and all the bizarre additions in his body... there was no telling if he would survive!
But—
What truly horrified him was—
Without the Zero-Tails' ability to absorb extreme emotions and convert them into chakra, he would be completely powerless against the Third Raikage!
In other words—
He was doomed!
However—just then—
Uchiha Ci suddenly felt a sharp pain at the Cursed Seal of Heaven on the back of his neck!
A familiar emerald-green chakra flared to life!
This was the same Sage Chakra he had extracted from the Cat's Eye Stone during his battle with Chiyo!
As the energy surged forth—
The Zero-Tails, which had been clinging desperately to his abs, teeth nearly breaking—
Suddenly reacted as if electrocuted!
Then—
"Cough cough, gag! Chirp, cough—"
Before Uchiha Ci's utterly bewildered eyes—
The tiny creature started hacking and retching violently, like someone dry-heaving in the morning after forgetting to brush their teeth.
And then—
It vomited out an emerald-green necklace.
Uchiha Ci's eyes locked onto it—and his confusion only deepened.
"Wait… isn't this… Tsunade's necklace?!"
At that same moment—
In a forest near the Hell Valley Cliffside, a brown-haired, spiky-haired youth squatting behind a tree, covering his ears, secretly watching the battlefield—
Suddenly froze.
It was as if he had sensed something. His head snapped up!
Yamato quickly pulled off his wrist guard—
Revealing a Cursed Seal identical to Uchiha Ci's on his wrist.
At that moment, the seal burned slightly, its markings spreading outward—forming a single word in his palm:
"Zero."
Seeing this, Yamato's eyes widened, his jaw clenched, and his face began to tremble.
At that moment—
He recalled what Orochimaru had told him before taking him away from Danzo—
"Now—it's time for you to burn for Konoha!"
Thus—
As the Silver Horned King continued trying to strip him bare—
With his life hanging by a thread—
The monsters inside and outside Uchiha Ci's body finally emerged—
And started fighting each other!
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