"The winner of the first match is Uchiha Sasuke! Congratulations, you've passed the preliminaries!"
After crushing the Sound ninja opposite him with the Cursed Seal of Heaven, Sasuke undoubtedly claimed victory and successfully advanced to the final round!
But from here on out, his good days were over.
"Not bad."
Kakashi's lazy voice suddenly came from behind him.
After the battle ended, the markings on Sasuke's face slowly began to fade. Hearing Kakashi's praise, he could not help but reveal a proud little smile.
"But..." Kakashi's voice suddenly turned cold. "I don't approve of victories gained by relying on external power."
Sasuke's gaze immediately darkened.
"Come with me!"
Kakashi called out sharply before turning and leaving.
Sasuke gritted his teeth and got to his feet, stumbling after Kakashi as he left.
Sakura watched Sasuke's retreating figure with a worried expression. Indecisive by nature, she was beginning to regret telling Kakashi about the cursed seal.
What if Sasuke gets mad at me? What if he stops talking to me? I clearly promised him I'd keep it a secret... Aah, what have I done...?
Up on the stands, Orochimaru watched Kakashi take Sasuke away, a disdainful smile flashing through his eyes.
Kakashi...
Hmph!
Inside the high tower, Kakashi had Sasuke strip naked and began examining the Cursed Seal of Heaven.
After a while, Kakashi let out a breath of relief.
Back then, when he had competed with Houka, he had stubbornly cracked open an entire box of Houka's sealed Ninjutsu Scrolls, greatly improving his Sealing Jutsu. Now that he had encountered Orochimaru's cursed seal, he had plenty of knowledge to draw on and was not flustered.
Then, using the Cursed Seal of Heaven on Sasuke's body as the starting point, Kakashi wrote line after line of densely packed seal markings.