"Sasuke!" Kakashi immediately rushed to his student's side. Seeing the Cursed Seal spreading across his body and radiating an evil aura, his expression turned grim.
He knew what this was. It was one of Orochimaru's most vicious forbidden techniques!
"Ah!!!" Sasuke's scream echoed through the silent forest, making everyone's blood run cold.
Just as Kakashi was about to use the Sealing Jutsu he knew to forcibly suppress the Cursed Seal, a hand gently came to rest on his shoulder.
"Kakashi-sensei, your Evil Sealing Method can only suppress it temporarily." Ling Xuan's voice snapped Kakashi out of his panic. "What you're doing is like wrapping a few more strings around a balloon that keeps inflating. In the end, it won't be restrained—it'll explode with even greater force."
"Then what can you do?" Kakashi asked urgently.
Ling Xuan didn't answer right away. He crouched and gently pressed his hand against the black Cursed Seal. An immense surge of mental energy flowed down his arm and into his fingertips.
At that moment, the Eye of Truth no longer observed the outside world. Instead, it peered inward with unprecedented precision, analyzing the evil technique Orochimaru had planted with his own hands.
In Ling Xuan's vision, a complex, three-dimensional sealing array composed of countless twisted, tainted runes came clearly into view. The Cursed Seal was like a living, vicious parasite, greedily devouring Sasuke's chakra and converting it into a more corrosive force imbued with Orochimaru's will.
But he also saw that at the heart of the seemingly flawless Cursed Seal technique, at its most crucial energy node, there was an incredibly tiny flaw—almost too insignificant to notice.
It was a lingering side effect of the Domain of Silence forcibly disrupting Orochimaru's chakra—a fatal weakness.
A "back door" he could exploit.
"I have an idea." Ling Xuan opened his eyes. "I can't dispel it, but I can modify it. Or, to put it another way, add another lock to this cage."
"What do you mean?" Kakashi asked, puzzled.
"Orochimaru's Cursed Seal corrupts its host's mind and power through resonance. What I'll do is create a new, more stable sealing barrier to isolate the Cursed Seal from Sasuke's chakra system," Ling Xuan explained. "Simply put, I'll build a protective shell to temporarily contain this bomb. That'll stop the Cursed Seal from spreading and prevent Orochimaru from using it to influence Sasuke's will."
Kakashi was dumbfounded. This was a theory of Sealing Jutsu he'd never heard of before. Modify an S-rank forbidden technique cast by one of the legendary Sannin?
Could a Genin really have come up with this plan?
"This is too dangerous! If there's even the slightest mistake with the Sealing Jutsu, Sasuke could..."
"If we don't do this, he'll die." Ling Xuan cut him off, his tone leaving no room for argument. "Either trust me, or stand by and watch as Orochimaru completely devours his body and will. Which do you choose?"
Kakashi looked into Ling Xuan's utterly emotionless eyes, then at Sasuke, writhing in agony on the ground and nearly unconscious. He gritted his teeth and finally made his decision.
"...I trust you."
"Good."
Ling Xuan wasted no time. He didn't have much of it. From his ninja tool pouch, he took out the specially prepared chakra ink and a roll of blank talisman paper he'd set aside for experiments with his research clone.
He bit his finger and let a drop of blood fall into the ink, using his own life force as the key to the new seal.
An Anbu member steadied Sasuke. Ling Xuan took a deep breath, then used a chakra brush dipped in his own blood to draw a more complex, entirely new sealing array on Sasuke's body, centered on the ominous Cursed Seal.
Ling Xuan's movements were precise and steady. Every stroke reflected his profound understanding of Sealing Jutsu. What he was drawing wasn't any known Konoha Sealing Jutsu. It was his own creation, combining the Uzumaki Clan's chain seals, the stable structure of Barrier Ninjutsu, and his own understanding of the rules.
"Cage of Isolation!"
When he finished the final stroke, a circular barrier glowing faintly, composed of countless intricate runes, perfectly enclosed the entire Cursed Seal of Heaven.
Ling Xuan formed Hand Seals and cried, "Seal!"
A flash of light, and all the runes vanished beneath Sasuke's skin.
Miraculously, the black markings that had been spreading wildly across Sasuke's body stopped at once, then slowly retreated to their original form. Sasuke's agonized screams gradually died down, and at last he fell into a deep, exhausted sleep.
The crisis had been temporarily averted.
After finishing, Ling Xuan felt the world spin around him. His mental energy was so depleted that his vision went dark in waves.
Kakashi hurriedly caught him.
"Ling Xuan! Are you all right?"
"...I'm fine. I've just used up a lot of energy." Ling Xuan waved a hand to show he could still manage.
The road ahead became exceptionally difficult.
Naruto and Sasuke were both unconscious, and Ling Xuan was badly drained. Nearly the entire burden of the team fell on Sakura and Kakashi.
Sakura didn't cry or complain. At that moment, the girl who was usually so timid showed astonishing resolve. She supported Naruto with a determined look in her eyes, knowing that she was the only one who could contribute to the team now.
Following Ling Xuan's directions, they avoided every area where they might have to fight and struggled through the forest.
Several days later, when the towering Central Tower finally came into view, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
In the tower's hall, they opened the hard-won Heaven and Earth Scrolls.
"Poof—"
A cloud of smoke appeared, and Iruka-sensei materialized before them.
"Congratulations..." When Iruka saw the miserable state of Team 7, the rest of his words caught in his throat. His eyes filled with worry and sympathy. "What... happened to you?"
"It's nothing, Iruka-sensei." Kakashi managed a faint smile. "Just a few unexpected surprises."
Iruka didn't ask any more questions. He patted Naruto and Sasuke on the shoulders, then glanced at Ling Xuan's pale face.
"Anyway, you passed. I'm proud of you."
After entering the room assigned to them for rest, Team 7 finally got a brief chance to catch their breath.
Just as Kakashi was about to examine Sasuke more thoroughly, a bespectacled Konoha Genin with a scholarly air walked over.
"Hello, I'm Kabuto Yakushi. Your teammates look badly injured. Would you like me to help? I know a little Medical Ninjutsu," he said with a warm smile.
But the instant he appeared, Ling Xuan understood everything.
This ninja named Kabuto Yakushi had cloaked the flow of his chakra beneath an elaborate disguise. Beneath it, however, lurked a cold, evil presence that shared the same source as Orochimaru's.
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