Kakashi Seals the Cursed Seal

Kakashi's gaze fell on the vicious cursed seal on Sasuke's neck, and the air in the hall instantly froze.

Naruto and Sakura were so frightened they barely dared to breathe, instinctively taking half a step back.

Ling Yue also felt an invisible pressure. Kakashi-sensei was truly angry this time.

Sasuke clenched his teeth and turned his head away. He did not want Kakashi to see how disheveled and out of control he was right now, much less explain that humiliating encounter.

"It... it was a terrifying guy called Orochimaru!" Naruto could not hold back and stammered out first. "He suddenly appeared and attacked us! Sasuke did it to protect us, so..."

"Orochimaru?" Kakashi's pupils suddenly contracted, and his voice rose with unprecedented shock and gravity. "Are you sure it was Orochimaru? Orochimaru, one of the Legendary Sannin?!"

"He... he said that himself..." Startled by Kakashi's reaction, Sakura added quietly, "He also said... he was very interested in Sasuke..."

Kakashi's face instantly turned ugly. He suddenly stepped forward, grabbed Sasuke by the shoulder, and forced him to raise his head. His Sharingan stared intently at the black cursed seal that was constantly writhing.

"Damn it! It really was him!" Kakashi's voice carried a barely noticeable tremor. "The Cursed Seal of Heaven... He actually planted something like this on you!"

"The Cursed Seal of Heaven? What is that?" Naruto asked blankly.

"An extremely vicious forbidden technique!" Kakashi's tone was heavy, filled with deep concern and lingering fear. "It can forcibly draw out the potential of the human body and grant tremendous power, but it will also continuously erode the host's mind and body. In the end, it will drag them into darkness, or even... turn them into the caster's vessel!"

"A vessel?!" Sakura covered her mouth in terror.

Naruto's eyes widened as well. "What does that mean? Sasuke will become that snake guy's puppet?"

Sasuke's face turned even paler, and his fists clenched tightly. Vessel... that word pierced deeply into him.

Ling Yue watched silently. She knew Kakashi was telling the truth.

Kakashi took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. "This is not the time to talk about that. It has to be sealed immediately, at least to temporarily suppress the cursed seal's erosion!"

Without further hesitation, he rapidly formed hand seals, his movements swift and precise.

"Evil-Sealing Method!"

With his low shout, complex black runes rapidly surged from his fingertips and wrapped around the cursed seal on Sasuke's neck!

"Aaargh!" Sasuke let out a pained scream, his body convulsing violently as though two forces were clashing fiercely within him! The black cursed seal twisted and struggled wildly, trying to resist the seal's suppression!

Fine beads of sweat seeped from Kakashi's forehead. He maintained the hand seal, his Sharingan fixed tightly on the changes in the runes, not daring to relax in the slightest.

Naruto and Sakura watched nervously, their hearts rising to their throats.

Ling Yue held her breath as well. She knew that Kakashi had successfully sealed the cursed seal in the original story, but seeing the process with her own eyes still left her shaken.

Finally, the black runes completely covered the cursed seal and locked it down tightly. The cold chakra fluctuations gradually subsided.

Sasuke collapsed to the floor in exhaustion, gasping heavily. His entire body was drenched in cold sweat, but the frenzy and hostility in his eyes had faded considerably.

"It's been temporarily suppressed." Kakashi also let out a breath, wiping away sweat. His face looked somewhat tired. "But this seal is not perfect. If your emotions fluctuate violently, or if you actively seek the cursed seal's power, it may still break through the seal. Sasuke, you must restrain it with your willpower!"

Sasuke lowered his head without saying anything. He merely pulled up his collar to cover the sealed cursed seal.

But his tightly clenched fists showed just how turbulent his heart was.

Kakashi looked at him and sighed, knowing this could not be rushed. He turned to the four of them, his tone stern. "Give me a detailed report of everything that happened in the Forest of Death. Do not leave out a single detail!"

The four of them filled in each other's accounts, roughly recounting their encounter with Orochimaru, the cursed seal being planted, the scrolls being taken, and how they were ambushed by Hidden Rain Village ninja before taking the scrolls back.

Ling Yue omitted the part about Obito appearing. She only said that Orochimaru had been driven away by a mysterious masked man, after which they had been interfered with by another mysterious person.

The more Kakashi listened, the graver his expression became, especially when he heard of Orochimaru's fixation on Sasuke and the appearance of that mysterious masked man.

"This is more complicated than I imagined..." Kakashi rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Orochimaru, and an unidentified mysterious powerhouse... The Chunin Exams have already become a dangerous vortex."

He looked at the four of them, especially Sasuke and Ling Yue, who were in the worst condition. "Are you sure you still want to continue to the third exam? It is not too late to withdraw. After all, your lives are the most important thing."

"Of course we're continuing!" Naruto was the first to jump up. "We worked so hard to get this far! How can we give up now?!"

Sasuke also raised his head. Though his eyes were weary, they were exceptionally resolute. "I'm participating."

He needed to become stronger. He needed to take revenge on that person. How could he possibly back down here?

Sakura looked at Sasuke and nodded firmly as well. "I'm participating too!"

Naturally, Ling Yue had no reason to withdraw. The system had not indicated that her mission was complete yet. "Same here."

Kakashi looked at the four battered students whose eyes remained determined. He was silent for a moment before finally nodding. "All right. Since this is your decision. However, the third exam will be public, formal matches. You will be facing elites from every village, and even daimyo and nobles from various nations will be watching. The danger and pressure will be completely different, so you need to prepare yourselves mentally."

He paused, then added, "There will be a period of preparation before the third exam begins. I will put you through special training to improve your strength as much as possible. Sasuke, especially you—you must adapt to and control your body after the cursed seal has been sealed as soon as possible."

At the mention of special training, Naruto's eyes lit up. "Special training? Awesome! Kakashi-sensei, are you going to teach us some powerful ninjutsu?"

Sasuke also looked toward Kakashi.

Kakashi looked at the three of them, his gaze lingering on Ling Yue for a moment. "I'll create different training plans based on each of your strengths."

"Sasuke, your Lightning-nature chakra and Sharingan will be the focus."

"Naruto, your chakra reserves and Shadow Clones have tremendous potential."

"Sakura, your chakra control and theoretical foundation are solid. You can develop in the direction of medical ninjutsu or genjutsu."

"What about me?" Ling Yue could not help asking. With her messy skill tree, how would Kakashi arrange her training?

Kakashi looked at her, a trace of complexity flashing through his single eye. "Yue, your situation is rather special. Those... 'family techniques' of yours seem to form a system of their own, and they lean toward speed and concealment. I'll help you strengthen your fundamentals and train your chakra control. As for anything deeper, you'll need to explore and decide for yourself."

Ling Yue understood. Kakashi was telling her to keep hiding her true abilities. After all, there was no way she could explain where her powers came from.

"All right, go back and get some proper rest. Treat your injuries." Kakashi waved them off. "The special training starts tomorrow. Remember, the third exam will be the real test."

The four left the tower hall, all carrying the exhausted feeling of having survived a disaster, but even more so, anticipation and nervousness for what lay ahead.

Back in their temporarily assigned rest room, Ling Yue lay on the hard bed and stared at the ceiling, recalling scene after scene from the Forest of Death.

Orochimaru, Obito, the cursed seal, and those Hidden Rain Village ninja who had taken their scrolls... danger lurked everywhere.

Strength! She was still not strong enough!

She summoned the system interface.

[Dimensional Points: 650] (Previous 800 - 150 for smoke bombs)

[Skill Card Voucher (R): 1] (Written exam mission reward)

[Status: Seriously injured (recovering), mildly poisoned (easing)]

She did not have many points left. She had one skill voucher.

Should she try her luck with a draw, or save her points for unexpected circumstances?

After thinking it over, she decided not to use it yet. Kakashi's special training was about to begin. Perhaps she could learn methods of strengthening herself in this world. It would be safer to save the points for emergencies.

She closed her eyes and began trying to circulate Thunder Breathing, using Resilient Body to speed up her recovery.

The next day, Kakashi's special training officially began.

He truly tailored the training to each individual.

Sasuke was taken to the river, where he began training in Chidori. Kakashi personally guided him through the nature transformation and shape transformation of Lightning-nature chakra.

Naruto, meanwhile, was taken to the outskirts. Kakashi seemed to have found a "professional" to guide him. Ling Yue guessed it was Jiraiya.

Sakura was introduced to Ino Yamanaka's father at the hospital and began learning the basics of medical ninjutsu.

As for Ling Yue...

She stared blankly at what Kakashi handed her.

It was a stack of... chakra test paper? Along with a pile of practice shuriken and targets?

"Your foundation is... unique, but it isn't solid enough." Kakashi scratched his head. "Especially when it comes to fine chakra control and applying multiple natures. Start with the simplest things. Use chakra to cut the test paper, controlling the depth and shape of the cuts. Then practice throwing shuriken—not for power, but for absolute precision and control."

Ling Yue: "..."

Fine. If she had to shore up her basics, then she would shore them up.

And so, she began the tedious training. She carefully cut paper with chakra, controlled the arc of a shuriken's spin, its flight path, and its point of impact.

It was boring at first, but gradually, she realized that this foundational training was not entirely useless.

The delicate manipulation of Zetsu and the perception of Paper Arts actually improved through this extreme fine control. Her understanding of chakra also deepened.

After several days of special training, her chakra control had visibly improved, and her injuries were mostly healed as well.

That day, she was repeatedly throwing shuriken at the training ground, striving to make every one hit the exact same point at the center of the target, when a voice suddenly sounded beside her.

"Your chakra control has improved quickly."

Ling Yue turned around and saw Sasuke standing some distance away. He seemed to have just finished training in Chidori. Bandages still wrapped his hands, and his gaze was steadier than before.

"Not bad." Ling Yue retrieved her shuriken. "How's your Chidori training going?"

"I'm starting to get the hang of it," Sasuke said flatly. His gaze swept over Ling Yue's target, and a flash of surprise crossed his eyes.

Every shuriken had been nailed into the exact same spot without the slightest deviation. That level of control...

He was silent for a moment before suddenly speaking. "In the Forest of Death... thanks."

Ling Yue paused before realizing he meant taking back the scrolls and supporting him afterward. "It was nothing. We're teammates."

Sasuke looked at her as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he merely nodded and turned to leave.

Ling Yue watched his retreating back. She could sense that his aura had become more restrained, but that obsession and heaviness within him seemed to have deepened as well.

Could the cursed seal's influence really be removed so easily?

A few days later, all the genin who had passed the second exam were gathered together.

The Third Hokage personally announced the rules for the third exam: formal one-on-one matches, with the winner advancing until the final victor was decided. He also emphasized that this was a stage for displaying the Hidden Leaf Village's younger generation of strength to every nation.

The list of those who had passed the preliminaries was also announced.

When the match bracket appeared on the large screen, Ling Yue's eyes immediately locked onto one particular name.

Her opponent in the first match was...

A genin from the Hidden Rain Village. The name was unfamiliar.

But for some reason, she felt that somewhere in the stands, a ninja wearing a Hidden Rain forehead protector and bearing a sinister gaze was watching her, seemingly casually.

Was it just her imagination?