Explosion Release: Bloodthirsty Self-Detonation was an ability that took both the user and their opponent down together.
It was a secret Explosion Release technique developed by the Explosion Release ninja Gari to prevent himself from being captured and tortured for information.
All he had to do was swallow a large amount of blood while in excruciating pain, and he could use it in place of Hand Seals to detonate all his chakra.
The badly wounded Explosion Release ninja Gari was on the brink of death. He frantically drank his own blood.
Hopping on one leg, he charged at Uchiha Fucheng!
"Art is an explosion!"
The power of nearly seventy or eighty Great Fireball Techniques piled together became a terrifying force.
A gigantic mushroom cloud rose into the air, centered on the Explosion Release ninja Gari.
Sand and stones flew everywhere.
Blue flames raged across everything within a hundred meters.
Misaka Mikoto and the others, who had already run far away, could only stare blankly into the distance.
The horrifying explosion site was so dazzling that they couldn't look at it directly.
A terrifying thought struck them all.
"Lord Uchiha Fucheng, could he have been..."
"Lord Fucheng!"
With tears in her voice, Mikoto tried to rush into the still-burning flames without a thought for her own life.
Uchiha Hezi barely managed to hold her back.
The surviving Mikoto, Hezi, and Hatake Jiangyi stared at the scorched ground, which stretched hundreds of meters across. They felt like they couldn't breathe.
The three of them gaped and sucked in desperate breaths, clutching at their throats with eyes bloodshot.
The thin air made the flames begin to die down.
Thankfully, they were far away.
The air currents farther out whipped up a gale, which soon carried in more air!
The three hadn't died in the explosion, but they had nearly suffocated in its aftermath.
"What a terrifying jutsu!"
Once they could breathe again, the three were like fish hauled from the water. They lay twisted on the ground, gulping down air with all their might.
Utterly exhausted, Mikoto gazed at the sky through tear-filled eyes and murmured sadly, "Lord Fucheng sacrificed himself to save us!"
Hatake Jiangyi began to sob uncontrollably.
Beside him, Uchiha Hezi even shed tears tinged with blood.
A second tomoe slowly took shape in Uchiha Hezi's eyes.
[Follower marked. Current Follower Value: 100%]
[Contract conditions met. Follower Mikoto successfully bound]
Sensing the notification in his mind, Fucheng watched the three sprawled on the ground with satisfaction.
Only after the Two-Tomoe Sharingan in Uchiha Hezi's eyes had fully formed did Fucheng slowly emerge from beside a boulder farther away.
"Why are you crying? Are you crying over me?" Uchiha Fucheng walked over to the three with a mischievous grin.
"Ah! Huh?" The three struggled to sit up.
Seeing that Uchiha Fucheng beside them was unhurt, they rubbed their eyes in disbelief.
"L-Lord, you're not dead?"
For some reason, the moment Mikoto saw Fucheng, it was as if the sky had brightened.
An especially reassuring sense of closeness welled up in her, completely against her will.
Uchiha Hezi was even more excited.
She forced herself to her feet despite the pain. "Lord Fucheng, you're alive. Thank goodness."
Hatake Jiangyi performed a full prostration, touching his forehead to the ground as he bowed to Fucheng.
"Thank you for rescuing me, Lord Fucheng. Without you, I would have been reduced to bones this time." His choked, almost mournful sobs were heartrending.
Seeing that none of them were seriously injured, Uchiha Fucheng felt relieved too.
Fucheng comforted them. "That enemy was Gari, an Elite Jonin from Iwagakure's special Explosion Release unit. We were very lucky to win this time.
"He was arrogant and underestimated us. Otherwise, in theory, that Elite Jonin could have killed all four of us head-on."
Looking at Uchiha Fucheng, who hadn't suffered so much as a scratch, Mikoto asked anxiously, "Lord Fucheng, how did you escape the explosion? We thought you'd died in it."
Fucheng looked at his newly bound follower and smiled at Misaka Mikoto.
"The one who unleashed Fire Dragon Barrage at the end wasn't my real body. It was my Multi-Shadow Clone. The Explosion Release ninja Gari had injured his eyes with Fire Release and didn't see through my deliberate disguise.
"The panic my clone pretended to show made him willing to die alongside me. By then, he'd lost too much blood and missed his last chance to realize it was a shadow clone."
Mikoto's beautiful eyes sparkled.
They were filled with admiration and gratitude toward Uchiha Fucheng.
She had no idea she had become Fucheng's follower.
From this moment on,
her personal fate was tightly bound to Uchiha Fucheng's.
After the three took Hemostatic Pills and Military Ration Pills, Uchiha Fucheng took them away from the explosion site as soon as they'd recovered a little.
The massive explosion was very likely to draw the attention of more shinobi fighting nearby.
With little chakra left, Uchiha Fucheng was better off avoiding trouble.
Once Mikoto had been bound as a follower, a string of notifications appeared in Uchiha Fucheng's mind.
[Changed the course of Misaka Mikoto (Uchiha Mikoto's) fate]
[Changed the course of Uchiha Itachi's fate]
[Changed the course of Uchiha Sasuke's fate]
"?!" Fucheng was surprised.
He had also saved Uchiha Hezi and Hatake Jiangyi, but the notifications only listed three Fate Dice related to Misaka Mikoto.
Fucheng thought, It seems only changes to the fates of people recognized by the system earn corresponding rewards.
Uchiha Hezi and Hatake Jiangyi weren't eligible for system rewards.
[Reward 1: Uchiha Mikoto's Fate Dice]
[Reward 2: Uchiha Itachi's Fate Dice]
[Reward 3: Uchiha Sasuke's Fate Dice]
Fucheng had the strange feeling that he'd cuckolded his own older brother, Uchiha Fugaku.
He'd taken Fugaku's wife and children in one fell swoop.
"May Buddha forgive me. What a sin, what a sin."
With three rewards in hand, Fucheng instantly lost his guilt over "stealing someone else's girl."
In the original timeline, Fugaku would father Itachi, who'd bring about the clan's destruction. Mikoto can't be set up with him. I'd better keep her for myself. Fucheng snickered inwardly.
Who cared about Uchiha Fugaku?
Mikoto now belonged to him, Uchiha Fucheng.
Mikoto wasn't even old enough to be set up on a date, so getting to her first didn't count as "stealing someone else's girl."
As they kept moving quickly away, Fucheng activated all three rewards in his mind.
His Recognition Points had increased again.
But he had only ten points to distribute among the three Fate Dice.
"Ah, a little gambling is harmless, but too much will ruin you. Roll, roll, roll!"
The three rewards ended up giving him completely different results.
Mikoto's die landed on four, rewarding him with a skill: Lightning Release.
After a tingling sensation washed over his skin, Uchiha Fucheng felt that his chakra control had improved considerably.
His mastery of Lightning Release chakra transformation had also increased greatly.
Fucheng thought, Then I can try developing Lightning Release jutsu like Chidori or Chidori Current. Combined with the Sharingan's keen observation, they'll pack more punch than Fire Release.
Before, Uchiha Fucheng had Fire, Earth, and Wind affinities. Thanks to Mikoto's reward, he now had Lightning as well.
If he acquired Water Release too, he'd be like the Third Hokage or Jiraiya.
He'd have the talent of a ninja with all five chakra natures.
As for Uchiha Itachi's Fate Dice, it was lucky enough to land on five!
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