Naruto: I, Uchiha, Just Want to Die

Chapter 170: Dark Spiraling Sphere! The Concept of the Artificial Tailed Beast Form!

Whoosh!

A violent blue sphere rapidly expanded before him, spinning madly in a counterclockwise direction.

Uchiha Ci felt his scalp tingle and instinctively leaped backward while supporting himself on the ground. With a swift motion, he unsheathed the Kusanagi Sword, prepared to cleave the object before him.

However, he abruptly halted mid-swing.

"Minato...!"

Minato was still holding the sphere! If the sword came down, he might end up killing the future Fourth Hokage instead!

Namikaze Minato also realized that if the sphere in his hand detonated, the consequences would be catastrophic. He hurriedly attempted to retract the chakra, but the massive amount of chakra already infused into the sphere had begun spinning uncontrollably due to centrifugal force and could not be withdrawn.

The sphere grew increasingly volatile before their eyes.

Reacting immediately, Minato reached into his ninja tool pouch, left behind a kunai at the scene, and vanished with the Flying Thunder God Technique.

In an instant, a yellow flash streaked across the distance, leaving an unknown gap between him and the sphere.

Boom!

A deafening explosion erupted, and Minato, now in a sorry state, reappeared at a haystack in the abandoned village using his Flying Thunder God Technique.

Scratching his slightly singed blond hair, he looked awkward.

"Ci, I—"

Minato was about to apologize when he noticed Uchiha Ci frowning deeply, staring pensively at the explosion's aftermath on the ground.

In the wake of the explosion, the primitive Spiraling Sphere had gouged out a massive spiral-shaped crater in the earth.

The power...

The unstable, uncontrollable form...

The scene instantly reminded Ci of the dark chakra of the Zero-Tails.

Both shared the same wild, uncontrollable nature, making them unsuitable for traditional ninjutsu.

For the most part, this immense chakra had been relegated to special effects or used to whip up a dramatic gust during his explosive transformations. The rest was funneled into his Forbidden Technique: Body Revival.

With the enhancement from the Heaven's Curse Mark and the support of high-tier Orochimaru-style substitution techniques, Uchiha Ci now had more tactical options. He no longer needed to tank every attack as he did in the past.

Moreover, Orochimaru-style substitution techniques were more efficient than the Forbidden Technique: Body Revival. This relegated the latter to an awkward yet indispensable position in his combat arsenal. It remained useful as a prerequisite for other skills but would likely see reduced use in direct combat.

As a result, the dark chakra of the Zero-Tails became an untapped resource—a waste.

Uchiha Ci had long struggled to control this power. But now, witnessing Minato's spiraling prototype, his mind lit up.

This method of creating centrifugal force through rapid rotation, making chakra uncontrollably volatile, sparked an idea.

What if he reversed the process? What if he used an already wild and uncontrollable chakra as the starting point?

For example, the dark chakra.

At this moment, Minato mistook Ci's trance for shock at his earlier blunder. After all, Ci was just a twelve-year-old child. Feeling deeply apologetic, Minato quickly began to explain,

"Ci, I'm sorry. I—"

"Shut up!"

Uchiha Ci turned and glared at Minato.

"What exactly did you just do?"

It was a dumb question. Ci realized moments later that Minato was undoubtedly in the process of developing the Spiraling Sphere and was currently stuck at the final stage: control.

Inspired by the Tailed Beast Bomb—a technique that achieves unparalleled destructive power through the extreme compression of 2:8 yin-yang chakra—Minato had sought to replace this compression process with rotation.

This was different from the three-step training Jiraiya had devised for Naruto's Spiraling Sphere:

1. Making chakra rotate.

2. Giving the rotating chakra immense power.

3. Perfecting the combination of rotation and power while maintaining the structure.

From the very start, Minato had aimed directly at the third step, striving to create a human-usable version of the Tailed Beast Bomb.

Furrowing his brow, Uchiha Ci thought deeply.

With Naruto's future demonstrations, the Spiraling Sphere already proved itself as a remarkably versatile jutsu. It could accommodate all kinds of attributes.

After all, Naruto had once created 37 different versions of the Spiraling Sphere.

If Uchiha Ci could master the Spiraling Sphere and integrate the dark chakra of the Zero-Tails into it, he could develop a technique tailored to his combat style: the Dark Spiraling Sphere!

The concept was entirely feasible.

However, one Dark Spiraling Sphere alone wouldn't suffice for someone like Uchiha Ci. Most of his opponents were Kage-level combatants. One more attack wouldn't drastically alter the tide of battle.

That was why he hadn't considered this approach before.

But now—

He had witnessed Minato's prototype.

This rudimentary Spiraling Sphere technique, grounded in the final phase of development, offered a new method to channel uncontrollable power through rotation.

A reversed, bolder idea sprang into Uchiha Ci's mind!

His physical attributes were far superior to those of a normal ninja like Minato.

First, he was effectively a pseudo-Jinchūriki with regeneration surpassing any Tailed Beast host.

Second, his Fire Release Chakra Mode was akin to a pseudo-Tailed Beast Cloak.

Lastly, the Heaven's Curse Mark provided speed and physical enhancements comparable to a half-transformed Tailed Beast host.

Though the Fire Release Chakra Mode's concentrated attacks had fallen short against stronger foes, Uchiha Ci considered repurposing it. Instead of focusing on attack potency, he envisioned it as a permanent transformation state alongside the Heaven's Curse Mark.

Aside from lacking a Tailed Beast Bomb, he could become a fully functional artificial Tailed Beast. This cloak would resemble Roshi's Lava Release Chakra Mode, complete with its high-temperature scorching properties.

If he mastered the Dark Spiraling Sphere and solved the problem of deploying it effectively, Uchiha Ci could even impersonate a Tailed Beast.

Unlike Minato, who needed to stabilize his Spiraling Sphere to avoid injuring himself, Uchiha Ci sought raw firepower, massive explosions, and wide coverage.

Transforming the Spiraling Sphere into a genuine Tailed Beast Bomb would better suit him!

At present, Minato's imperfect prototype—designed to increase power through the chaotic centrifugal force—had ironically given Uchiha Ci the inspiration he needed.

He had found the proper way to unlock the Spiraling Sphere:

Sage Art: Ultra-Big Dark Tailed Beast Bomb Spiraling Sphere! (Unstable Version)

An artificial Tailed Beast Bomb!

This technique would integrate everything Uchiha Ci had learned so far, becoming the ultimate release of his full combat potential—

A true artificial Tailed Beast mode!

Boom!

In an instant, Uchiha Ci felt as if the Spiraling Sphere had struck his mind, surging with unparalleled excitement.

He abruptly looked up at Minato, whose awkward expression seemed torn between speaking or staying silent. A sly smile appeared on Ci's face.

"Minato, could you do that again? Just now, that move—"

Minato's eyes widened in shock as he hastily explained,

"Ci, that technique is incomplete. It's riddled with flaws. If you want to learn, it's better to wait for—"

But Uchiha Ci immediately shook his head like a drum.

"Spiraling Sphere? Who wants to learn that? No, no, no—I just want to see what you did earlier."

His eyes sparkled as he gave Minato a big thumbs-up.

"That was... so cool!"

(Support me and read additional chapters on my Patreon: [email protected]/craxxtranslation. Leave a positive review if you've enjoyed it so far. Thank you for your support!)