Watching the Cursed Seal's Erosion Outside the Tree Hollow

Sasuke's screams pierced through the canopy just as the root pillar beneath Chiba's feet crossed the last ditch left behind by the snakes.

The newly grown meridians along his neck were torn open by the run, blood seeping down his collar as Sage Sensing flickered out for an instant.

By the time the roots connected with the soil again, Orochimaru's chakra had already retreated into the depths of the forest, leaving behind only vast stretches of snake skin that were rapidly losing vitality.

"Still too late."

Chiba stopped behind the canopy without drawing closer. Team 7's presence was directly below him. The three of them had already hidden inside a hollow tree trunk.

Sasuke lay at the very back, the three tomoe on the side of his neck darkening as cursed power spread through the meridians in his shoulder toward his chest.

Sakura knelt beside him. She had wrapped the bandage wrong twice, then tore it off after it became soaked with blood.

"Naruto, hold down his shoulder. Don't let him touch the wound."

"I'm holding him down! Why is he still moving?"

Half of Naruto's clothing had been torn away, and the mark of the Five-Finger Seal remained on his abdomen. Yet both hands still gripped Sasuke's arms tightly.

"I don't know. Just don't let him bite his tongue."

"What did that long-necked freak do to him?"

"He bit Sasuke, and then these things came out."

Sakura used a kunai to pry open his collar. Purple-black patterns immediately surged from the outer edges of the tomoe, and even the tip of the kunai was darkened by chakra.

"Don't touch it!"

Naruto knocked the kunai aside. The instant the back of his hand brushed the cursed markings, Sasuke's body arched upward.

"It hurts, it hurts, let go of me..."

"Sasuke,