『The Fifth Eye Ring's activation conditions have been met. Do you wish to activate the Fifth Eye Ring?』

"Yes, activate!"

How could Kurogai refuse such an opportunity? Without hesitation, he ordered the Ultimate Eye to activate the Fifth Eye Ring.

In an instant, a surge of mysterious energy pulsed from the Fifth Eye Ring embedded in the Ultimate Eye. The energy flowed steadily through Kurogai's meridians, converging in his eyes.

His Tenseigan Chakra Mode began to fade, gradually returning to its dormant state.

When Kurogai opened his eyes again, they glowed with a deep golden hue. What made them especially striking were the twelve glowing clock scales embedded in the irises—alongside three ticking clock hands circling slowly.

"So it's this ability… interesting. Kurumi Tokisaki's power," Kurogai muttered with a slight smirk.

What he had just awakened was the Time Clock: Zafkiel—the very ability used by Kurumi Tokisaki to manipulate time.

Zafkiel granted twelve time-based powers, each linked to one of the twelve clock positions. Kurumi traditionally activated them using a pistol, where each bullet unleashed a unique time-altering ability. And now, Kurogai's Fifth Eye Ring had manifested the first of these powers: [First Bullet].

The [First Bullet] allowed him to accelerate his personal time, enabling movements at blinding speeds.

"This is better than I expected," he mused, visibly pleased. "Time manipulation adds an entirely new layer to my power set."

Until now, Kurogai had already acquired multiple vision-based powers: the mental Geass Eye, the mystical Magic Eye, the versatile Sharingan, and the close-combat Byakugan. But time-related abilities had been missing from his arsenal.

And what made it even more remarkable was that his other eye techniques already touched on space manipulation. The Sharingan granted him Kamui, and the Byakugan allowed limited spatial distortion. Now, with time added to the equation, his eyes were nearly complete—wielding both space and time.

"Still, this version of Zafkiel feels a little different from Kurumi's," Kurogai observed.

Kurumi had Zafkiel in just her left eye. In contrast, both of Kurogai's eyes now reflected the full Time Clock. And unlike Kurumi, who required a pistol to channel Zafkiel's abilities, Kurogai could use the power directly—or with a conjured weapon if desired.

"ROAR! Hulk is angry! Hulk will smash you!" a booming voice interrupted his thoughts.

Hulk had no intention of backing off. The entire time they had fought, Kurogai hadn't gone down once. For the Hulk, that was an insult.

This fragile-looking human refused to break. It was as if Hulk had leapt into water only to slam into a wall of ice. The frustration boiled over. His rage deepened. Now, Hulk gathered all his strength, launched himself into the sky, and came crashing down with his fist aimed directly at Kurogai!

"Let's see how this ability performs… [First Bullet – Aleph]."

A pistol materialized in Kurogai's hand as he activated the ability. Without hesitation, he aimed and fired at himself.

Bang!

Immediately, time around him slowed. Hulk's enraged charge turned into a slow-motion fall. The air itself felt thick and sluggish.

Kurogai stepped casually toward Hulk, then lightly swung his fist at him.

Boom!

Time snapped back to normal. Hulk was launched through the air like a cannonball, slamming into a nearby building. The structure collapsed under the impact.

Kurogai had only thrown a light punch, but when time was accelerated to such extremes, even that carried massive kinetic energy.

He smiled. "Speed equals power."

It reminded him of Quicksilver. Like Pietro, he could now devastate his enemies by accelerating himself—though Zafkiel's potential likely went far beyond that.

Even more exciting was what came next. Despite just using the [First Bullet], the Fifth Eye Ring pulsed again. It was responding, evolving.

"This means I can now advance the ring without entering Tenseigan chakra mode," Kurogai realized, thrilled.

But then a thought struck him.

"Wait... something's off."

His eyes widened slightly as realization dawned.

The original upgrade condition for the Fifth Eye Ring was to withstand powerful impact. But this time, he hadn't been on the receiving end—he had delivered the hit. And still, the ring responded.

"I've missed something important," he whispered.

---

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