Gaara

"Evil Sealing Method!"

Kakashi performed a series of complex hand seals, and the special runes drawn upon the ground seemed to possess a life of their own, converging entirely onto the curse mark on Sasuke's neck.

"Ah!!"

As the myriad blood-red runes burrowed into the three black tomoe forming a circle on his neck, Sasuke felt as if the seal were burning like a raging fire, his body trembling uncontrollably from the intense pain.

I'm so eye-catching, yet Orochimaru hasn't come for me yet. He still chose to plant the curse mark on Sasuke first—could it be that he thinks my talent isn't enough?

Standing to the side to assist, Uchiha Isho wore a look of slight confusion; his original goal had been to attract Orochimaru, to shift the snake's target from Sasuke to himself.

In the dim secret chamber, Kakashi wiped the sweat from his forehead; simply sealing the curse mark had already exhausted a great deal of his energy.

"You've grown quite a bit, Kakashi."

From behind a stone pillar behind them, Orochimaru appeared out of nowhere, his voice sounding eerie and sinister.

Isho guessed that perhaps because Orochimaru frequently changed bodies through reincarnation, with his long black hair, slit-like snake eyes, and pale skin, his features always carried an androgynous air.

"Uchiha Isho, how convenient that you are here; it saves me the trouble of seeking you out. Your heart must be buried in the flames of vengeance against Uchiha Itachi, after all, you could be considered someone who has walked back from the hands of the Grim Reaper."

"As long as you are willing to accept my curse mark, with your and Sasuke's talent, in a few years, Uchiha Itachi will certainly be no match for you."

"Enough, Orochimaru. You do this only for your own tedious ambitions. They are my students, not fools to be seduced by you."

"What is your true purpose in coming to Konoha this time?!"

Kakashi's eyes, usually dull and listless, now revealed sharp hostility. Isho, having activated his Sharingan, curled his lips slightly, entirely unfazed by this overwhelming pressure.

In his heart, he had already planned to use an Elite Experience Card and join forces with Kakashi to either detain or severely wound this bizarre and hard-to-kill monster.

"Three-Tomoe Sharingan, truly a pair of beautiful, mysterious eyes. Hahaha, hahahaha!"

"Isho and Sasuke, you will eventually come looking for me."

Orochimaru smiled confidently and suddenly turned to leave as if nothing had happened. His slow, rhythmic footsteps suggested that the time was not yet ripe, and that the others were merely lambs waiting for the slaughter.

"Tch, what's with the posturing? If I had been born a few years earlier, he'd only be fit to be my human punching bag. Hmph!"

Watching Orochimaru vanish from sight, Isho immediately scoffed with disdain.

"Isho, do you not realize who that S-rank missing-nin was? He once held the title of one of the Legendary Sannin, Orochimaru."

"Before you have the strength to absolutely defeat an opponent, you still need to keep a low profile. If he had heard you just now, a brutal battle would have been inevitable."

Seeing that Isho almost never showed fear, but rather remained extremely calm even when facing powerhouses many times stronger than himself, Kakashi often wondered where this kid found such courage, as if he didn't know what fear was.

"I know, I just can't stand the sight of him."

Isho, not wanting to waste 100 Luck points, nodded in response.

"Can't you just keep a low profile for once?! If this keeps up, we won't even be able to tell people that you, Uchiha Isho, are our friend when we go out."

Hearing Isho throw out harsh threats to over a hundred examinees, Qiupu still couldn't help but gasp even now. He had to scan his surroundings every time he stepped out, terrified of being ambushed by other ninja villages.

Hurriedly swallowing a mouthful of ramen, Changyang's eyes were filled with awe. He had also heard that the examinees who came to challenge Isho to a duel hadn't gained any advantage at all.

"Then what about the Chunin Exams? The next one isn't for another half a year," Changyang asked while blowing on his steaming ramen.

"It's just a Chunin Exam, isn't it? If nothing else, I just won't take it. It doesn't affect my growth in strength at all; it's just an extra title."

The two beside Isho sighed again at his indifference toward an honor others could only dream of, and Isho continued with a laugh, "Actually, the title of Genin is quite good. Once I reach Kage-level strength, if I defeat someone while holding the title of Genin, wouldn't that make them even worse than a Genin? Hehehe..."

After a moment of thought, Qiupu and Changyang were both stunned. Then again, Isho was exactly the type of person to do something like that.

Even though Isho wasn't short on money now, the two, not wanting to take too much advantage of him, still insisted on paying their own way when it was their turn.

After Qiupu paid for the three bowls of ramen, Isho, having been quite idle these past few days, accompanied Team Five to clear some D-rank missions.

A few days later, at the Konoha training grounds.

"Are you sure you want to fight me? I heard Gaara stole the spotlight in the preliminaries, but that was only because I, Uchiha Isho, was forbidden from participating."

Isho crossed his arms over his chest, facing Gaara and his two companions, as well as Neji Hyuga, without the slightest worry about them surrounding him together.

"Is that so? Then let me have a taste of what your blood feels like!"

Before Gaara could finish, yellow sand continued to pour from the mouth of the gourd on his back. Under his impatient control, a portion of the sand surged toward Isho at high speed.

The three behind him, seeing Gaara strike first, immediately leaped backward, all intending to observe Isho's current strength.

Since it didn't trigger a system mission, I might as well end this quickly.

Feeling a slight sense of regret, Isho suddenly used the Body Flicker Technique. When he reappeared, his right fist was already coiled and ready, striking directly at Gaara's cheek.

Bang! Isho felt as if he had struck a thick stone wall. Seeing the sand keep pace with his near-maximum speed, he immediately activated his Sharingan.

So fast... Gaara's face showed a hint of surprise; the sand swirling around him had barely managed to keep up and block Isho's attack. Under this blow from Isho, the sand wall was on the verge of collapsing.

The moment the sand transformed into sharp weapons to pierce Isho, he dodged, delivering a side kick in mid-air with even greater speed and power.

Boom! The sand failed to form a complete defense in time, and this kick sent Gaara spinning to the ground.

Uchiha Isho pressed his advantage, a single Kunai suddenly pressed against Gaara's throat.

"You lost."

Looking at the stunned Gaara before him, Uchiha Isho spoke calmly. He then withdrew the Kunai and turned his gaze toward the three others standing on different tree branches, their faces equally etched with shock.

"You... how could you be this fast! I'm going to kill you!"

Amidst Gaara's roar, his right arm suddenly transformed into the massive claw of the One-Tail Shukaku. His grimacing face was gradually covered by sand, and a vast amount of sand began to gather around him.

"Stop it, Gaara! Our mission this time is of vital importance; you must not lose control here."

Seeing that Gaara had already shifted into his jinchuriki form, Temari hurriedly spoke to dissuade him. Yet Gaara continued to stare fixedly at Uchiha Isho, prompting Temari to add immediately, "Once the mission is complete, you will still have time to use your full strength and battle Uchiha Isho again."

Amidst Temari's panic, Gaara gradually suppressed the bloodlust within his heart. Like a machine that knew only how to fight, he did not care what would become of himself.