Suddenly!

This... how...

At that moment, time seemed to slow down. Half-kneeling on the ground, Chiba held up two fingers, about to detonate the Exploding Tag. His body gradually stiffened, his eyes widening bit by bit as his pupils slowly shifted backward.

"Crackle..."

Fine arcs of electricity linked together into electric snakes, flickering through his hair. As they danced, his slightly long hair gradually drew taut and stood on end, trembling faintly, as though coated in a pale blue layer of dense static.

When did he—? In that instant, Hirohiko and Yukina, standing behind and to either side of him, slowly turned their Three Tomoe Sharingan and Byakugan toward Chiba. Reflected in their eyes, a flash of lightning seemed to be fading away.

"Crackle..."

In the corners of their eyes, a hand flashing with electricity was already behind Chiba's head. The static in Chiba's hair seemed to collide with the electricity in that hand, producing intermittent snapping sounds.

Damn it! Too late! Snap!

The next second, time seemed to resume. The electrified hand pressed against the back of Chiba's head without a doubt. It had come too fast. Though their eyes had caught that fleeting movement, their bodies could not react.

Tap!

Then, a sturdy black figure wreathed in electricity landed in a crouched stance beside Chiba, directly in front of Hirohiko.

The instant that sturdy black figure landed, the ground beneath his foot cracked open with a crack, centered on his foot. Amid the crackling, the hem of Hirohiko's dark blue shirt slowly fluttered upward. Pale blue static currents burst from it, drawn toward the electricity leaping from the black figure, snapping as they attracted and collided with one another.

My body's paralyzed...

In that instant, Chiba clenched his teeth slightly as the figure's resolute, solemn profile reflected in his