Cursed Seal of Heaven Erupts, Sasuke Seriously Injured

Sasuke let out an enraged roar, his voice filled with overwhelming fury and unwillingness.

There was also a trace of fear he could not conceal. Chakra surged wildly around him, and killing intent nearly spilled from his scarlet Sharingan.

This was the man who had slaughtered every member of the Uchiha Clan. This was the man who had destroyed everything he had. This was the man who had left him alone, forced to struggle in hatred.

"I'll kill you!"

Sasuke roared, rapidly forming hand seals as chakra flooded into his mouth.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

A fireball larger and hotter than before instantly condensed, carrying devastating power.

It blasted toward Itachi, and the temperature in the air rose sharply.

Itachi remained indifferent. He did not even raise his hands to form seals. With a slight turn of his body and a small shift of his feet, he easily dodged Sasuke's attack.

The fireball grazed his clothes and slammed into a distant wall with another deafening boom. It blasted a huge hole through the wall, sending rubble flying.

"Is that all you can do?"

Itachi's voice remained cold and utterly calm, as though Sasuke's attack was nothing more than a child's play to him.

The moment he finished speaking, Itachi moved. He was so fast that he left only an afterimage, appearing before Sasuke in an instant.

Sasuke's pupils constricted as he tried to react.

But he found that his body could not keep up with Itachi's speed. He could only watch helplessly as Itachi's fingertip reached toward his forehead.

"Buzz, buzz."

A powerful, icy chakra instantly entered Sasuke's body and spread through his meridians. Everywhere it passed, Sasuke felt unbearable pain, as if countless needles were piercing his meridians.

"Ah...!"

Sasuke let out a pained scream. His entire body convulsed, and he collapsed uncontrollably to the ground, curling into a ball as cold sweat instantly soaked his clothes.

At that moment, the Cursed Seal of Heaven within him was completely activated by Itachi's chakra.

Black Curse Mark patterns rapidly spread from his neck to his cheeks and arms, while a violent, sinister power rampaged through his body.

This power was far beyond anything he had imagined, directly raising him from the late stage of Chunin to the late stage of elite Jonin.

It gave him an unprecedented sense of power.

But at the same time, the power was beyond his control. It continuously eroded his consciousness, making him increasingly violent.

Before this, when Itachi and Kisame entered Konoha, they had not gone unchallenged.

Several veteran Konoha instructors sensed the strange aura surrounding them and immediately stepped forward to stop them, intending to capture them and protect Konoha.

But how could they have known that the two before them were both peak Kage-level experts, especially Itachi, whose strength was unfathomable.

Facing the Konoha instructors' attacks, Itachi showed no mercy and did not even use his full strength.

A simple genjutsu was enough to trap several Konoha instructors in an illusion.

Within the illusion, they suffered torment, their bodies convulsing as foam spilled from their mouths. They had no strength to resist.

One instructor skilled in Earth Release refused to be controlled by the genjutsu.

He forcibly broke free from the illusion and used Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall, attempting to block Itachi's path.

But with a casual wave of Itachi's hand, a black Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique blasted forth, instantly melting the Earth-Style Wall and sending the instructor flying. He spat out blood and lost all ability to fight.

In just a few minutes, several Konoha instructors had been utterly crushed by Itachi. Unable to fight back, they could only lie on the ground and groan in pain.

Itachi and Kisame simply stepped over their bodies and made their way to the rear mountain training ground as if no one stood in their path. Not a single person could stop them.

Now, facing Sasuke's vengeance, Itachi still showed no mercy. While using chakra to stimulate the Cursed Seal of Heaven inside Sasuke, he also used genjutsu to continuously stir up the hatred and despair in Sasuke's heart.

"You're too weak, Sasuke."

Itachi looked down at Sasuke, who lay on the ground struggling in pain, his voice cold and merciless.

"With your current strength, you aren't even qualified to approach me, much less avenge the Uchiha Clan."

"You think that with this little training of yours, you can defeat me? You think you can take revenge?"

"Ridiculous."

Uchiha Mu watched the entire time without intervening. He knew this was Sasuke's path.

Every word Itachi spoke was like a sharp blade.

They stabbed viciously into Sasuke's heart, crushing his pride beneath their heel.

Sasuke trembled all over, not from fear, but from anger, unwillingness, and his own weakness.

He felt the violent power of the Cursed Seal of Heaven within him, power he could not control.

He felt the overwhelming pressure Itachi brought, felt his own helplessness, and the obsession in his heart grew stronger than ever.

He wanted to grow stronger. He wanted greater power—power strong enough to defeat Itachi, strong enough to take revenge, strong enough that no one would ever look down on him again, strong enough that he would never again feel this helpless!

"I won't admit defeat... I'll definitely become stronger... I'll definitely kill you!"

Gritting his teeth, Sasuke struggled to rise from the ground. The Curse Mark patterns around his body grew darker, his gaze became increasingly crazed, and his scarlet Sharingan was filled with obsession.

Itachi watched him, and an almost imperceptible complicated emotion flashed through his eyes before quickly being concealed by coldness.

He did not attack again. He merely said calmly:

"If you want to become stronger, come find me. But remember, only when you are strong enough will you be qualified to stand before me, qualified to speak of revenge."

After saying that, Itachi turned to Kisame and nodded.

"Let's go."

"Mu, you're not going to stop us?"

Mu shrugged.

"No need. Right now, I can't stop the two of you by myself."

Kisame sneered, casting a deep glance at Uchiha Mu and Sasuke. He tightened his grip on Samehada, then turned and vanished from the training ground alongside Itachi in a flash.

After Itachi and Kisame left, the Curse Mark on Sasuke's body did not fade.

Seeing this, Mu sighed inwardly.

He extended his right hand and pressed it against Sasuke's head.

The violent power gradually receded and slowly calmed, but the obsession in Sasuke's eyes did not lessen in the slightest. Instead, it became even deeper.

He stood where he was, drenched in sweat and breathing erratically.

Yet he still clenched his fists tightly. His nails dug deep into his palms until blood seeped out, but he did not notice at all.

Just then, hurried footsteps sounded as Naruto rushed to the training ground.

He had just heard that unfamiliar powerful enemies had broken into Konoha.

They had even injured several Konoha instructors. Alarmed, he immediately thought of Sasuke and rushed over without stopping.

When he saw Sasuke in such a bedraggled state, with madness in his eyes, Naruto immediately panicked. He ran over and asked anxiously:

"Sasuke, how are you? Did those two people attack you just now?"

Sasuke slowly turned his head toward Naruto. His gaze was cold and unfamiliar, completely devoid of warmth, as though he did not know him at all.

"Naruto."

Sasuke's voice was hoarse, carrying a faint, barely perceptible tremor. "Fight. Become stronger."

Naruto froze, his face full of confusion.

"Sasuke, how did you get hurt so badly?"

Sasuke roared as chakra erupted around him once more, and his Three-Tomoe Sharingan lit up again.

His obsession with growing stronger had already clouded his mind. In his eyes, only constant battle—

Only by continuously defeating powerful opponents could he become stronger quickly.

Watching Sasuke like this, Uchiha Mu's heart was filled with pain and helplessness. He understood Sasuke's suffering and obsession, but he did not want to see Sasuke sink like this.

With a wave of his hand, Sasuke fainted.

"Lord Mu, Sasuke's injuries..."

Mu did not speak. Beside him, Jiraiya took a deep breath and said:

"Sasuke's injuries... I'm afraid only Tsunade can heal them."