The Origin of the Immortal's Cursed Seal

"What a troublesome winter this is..."

Toji walked the path home, sighing inwardly.

Tobirama was like this, and Uchiha Chirori was the same; one after another, they insisted on preaching their own Ninja Ways to him.

It was as if he were some enlightened Buddha.

Confiding in him was equivalent to paying homage to their own desires; praying to him was as if it could truly safeguard a lasting peace.

Unfortunately, Toji knew better than anyone that peace was a lie.

Even Naruto, who would possess Kotoamatsukuchi in the future, only achieved a brief period of peace after countless casualties in the Fourth Ninja World War and the defeat of a common extraterrestrial enemy.

Invincible in the Ninja World, yet enemies descended from the heavens.

War and strife would never cease.

If Hashirama and Madara of this era could reach a reconciliation, perhaps it might truly be possible. But under the fated struggle of their "reincarnated brothers," such a fantasy could never come to fruition.

Toji sought nothing else.

He only wished to seek power that transcended the limits of a ninja, using a mortal body.

Toji recalled his conversation with Uchiha Chirori.

Suddenly, he caught a piece of information he had momentarily overlooked: the Land of Rice Fields.

The Land of Rice Fields was home to the secret heritage of Sound Release, which would later be integrated by Orochimaru to establish the Village Hidden in the Sound.

The secret arts of Sound Release were secondary to him.

What truly interested him was that the source of the Sage-mode Cursed Seal, Jugo, seemed to live in the region of the Land of Rice Fields.

Jugo could not possibly be alive in this era.

But tracing it back, the ancestors of his clan were likely active on this very land of the Land of Rice Fields.

This might be an opportunity.

Dropping a piece on the board casually would cost him nothing, yet it might yield massive returns one day in the future.

His subordinates only needed to be responsible for executing orders. As the one pulling the strings behind the scenes, Toji had much more to consider.

"Next time we meet, authorize a budget for Uchiha Yan so she can establish a long-term, stable base in the Land of Rice Fields."

"In addition to transporting human test subjects, her second mission is to locate the clan of 'Jugo of the Scales'."

The last day of the month.

As time passed, the research projects involving secret arts in Toji's hands began to multiply.

[Earth Grudge Parasitism], [Reanimation].

As for the development of the Cursed Seal, he had temporarily shelved it.

He planned to wait for Matsumoto Waka to have an epiphany, or for Uchiha Yan to send back news regarding the "Scales clan," before pushing forward again.

Because he did not know the name of Jugo's clan, Toji tentatively labeled them "Scales."

Regardless of which side made progress first, the research into the Cursed Seal would be twice as effective with half the effort.

Toji only knew how to dump pressure onto others, while he himself could not bear even the slightest bit of stress.

Toji only knew how to dump all the pressure onto others, while he himself could not bear even a fraction of it.

After preparing everything, he walked into the Underground Laboratory once more.

In the laboratory, the One-Eyed Man still wore a fierce expression, his only remaining eye fixed on the Plague Doctor Mask on Toji's face.

Toji didn't care in the slightest, proceeding with his pre-experiment preparations in a leisurely manner.

In his plan, one set of experimental material was enough to be used twice—

First, use [Earth Grudge Fear] to parasitize him and activate the parasitic technique. When he was on the verge of death, use him as a sacrifice to activate [Reanimation], with the target for the vessel being the Scar-Faced Man who had died in the first experiment.

Making the best use of everything was Toji's virtue.

Having learned from the failure of the last experiment, Toji had made two-fold preparations this time.

And these so-called two-fold preparations meant performing the Mystical Palm Technique with both hands simultaneously.

Over a dozen Earth Grudge Fear threads split from his palms, simultaneously activating the Mystical Palm Technique while precisely piercing the vital points all over the One-Eyed Man's body, ready to perform emergency resuscitation at any critical moment.

"Secret Art: Earth Grudge Parasitism!"

Toji released the Earth Grudge Fear once again, and the black tentacles silently coiled around the One-Eyed Man's heart. This time, he was exceptionally cautious, injecting chakra into the other's body like a slow drip, bit by bit devouring his control over his own body.

"Dance."

Toji commanded.

Gradually, the One-Eyed Man's gaze turned vacant, yet his body began to move fluidly, his actions no different from an ordinary person.

There were many secret arts in the Ninja World capable of manipulating a body, the most typical being the Yamanaka clan's Mind Transfer Jutsu.

The difference between Earth Grudge Parasitism and those types of techniques is—

The former directly dominates the target on a physical level and almost ignores distance; the latter, if it encounters a target with powerful mental strength or willpower, is prone to failure, and even if successful, the target might forcibly break free.

But Earth Grudge Parasitism is different.

Unless the target possesses the monster-level vitality characteristic of the Senju or Uzumaki clans, once parasitized, there is almost no possibility of breaking free.

The One-Eyed Man's survival time easily exceeded the thirty seconds of Subject No. 1.

Toji's hanging heart gradually settled as he manipulated the One-Eyed Man's body to refine chakra, then let out a low shout:

"Fire Release: Fire Bullet!"

The One-Eyed Man opened his mouth, and a small fireball sprayed out.

He did not know this technique himself, but through Toji's control, the ninjutsu was easily released through his mouth.

The scorching fire bullet slammed into the ground, instantly burning a patch of charred black.

"Did it succeed?"

Just as Toji felt he had succeeded, an accident occurred.

The One-Eyed Man's body began to convulse.

Toji immediately activated the Mystical Palm Technique, continuously injecting medical chakra into his body, but the One-Eyed Man's life still irreversibly headed toward decay.

Toji looked at the data recorded by the instrument on the side, and combined with the feedback from the Earth Grudge Fear tentacles, he finally realized where the problem lay.

Chakra is a mixture of spiritual energy and physical energy; it can only be refined temporarily and cannot be stored for long.

Currently, his Earth Grudge Fear could only absorb physical energy but could not make up for the void of spiritual energy. If the parasitized person did not cooperate, he could not refine chakra.

Where is the core of a ninja's spiritual energy?

Toji's first reaction was the brain, but after a moment's thought, he rejected this judgment.

The answer should still be the heart.

Sasori of the Red Sand transformed his entire body, even his brain, into a puppet, yet he could still retain his self-awareness; the key lay in the chakra core in his chest.

Toji let out a long breath: "The heart, it really is miraculous."

Even though this attempt ended in failure, Toji actually felt more relaxed.

He had found the direction for his research.

What he needed to do next was to further improve the control precision of Earth Grudge Fear, allowing it to extend from physical domination to the spiritual dimension. By using tentacles to extract spiritual energy directly from the heart, regardless of whether the host's soul was willing, they would completely degenerate into his combat puppet.

Earth Grudge Fear was equivalent to an extension of Toji's body; after parasitization, through the chakra connection, he could achieve the effect of sharing the parasite's five senses.

At that time, he would not only be able to borrow the parasite's body to perform his own ninjutsu, but also directly utilize the ninjutsu mastered by the parasite itself.

A unique, alternative version of Reanimation was thus born ahead of schedule.

It was just that the prerequisite for parasitization was that Earth Grudge Fear could be implanted into the target's body in a stable state. This also meant that under normal circumstances, it would be difficult for him to parasitize a ninja whose strength exceeded his own.

"I can have the parasite take Hero Water and launch a suicide attack on the target."

"After the enemy goes through all sorts of hardships and finally manages to kill the parasite, I will then use Reanimation to resurrect it and conduct a second round."

"Jujutsu Kaisen, huh..."