The Strange Cursed Seal

The tall man roared in fury, his eyes filled with venomous hatred.

"Revenge? You mean you were counting on him to avenge you?"

Zhige pointed at the short man behind him, who had just been about to launch a sneak attack.

He sneered, a trace of mockery in his eyes.

"Hmph, I admit you're strong, but you're looking down on people too much. The person I'm talking about could crush you to death with a single finger!"

The tall man snorted coldly.

"Is that so?"

Zhige sneered.

"Then I'd like to see just how formidable this person you speak of is!"

Hearing that, the tall man could not help sneering.

"Do you think you can stand against him? To tell you the truth, even the entire Konoha Village wouldn't be a match for him!"

The tall man's words brimmed with arrogance and disdain.

"Oh, really?"

The corner of Zhige's mouth lifted, his face full of disbelief.

But the next second, a sharp glint suddenly flashed through his eyes.

He turned around to look at the short man behind him, his expression instantly darkening.

"If you tell me the name of the person he mentioned, I can spare both your lives!"

"What do you mean?"

Upon hearing Zhige's words, the short man's expression changed slightly, and a trace of confusion rose within him.

Why did this guy suddenly change his attitude? Could he have discovered something?

"Do you think I'd believe you? Besides, even if I told you, I'd only die a more miserable death!"

The short man spoke coldly.

"Then don't blame me!"

A cold gleam burst from Zhige's eyes as he lunged toward the short man.

The short man's expression changed, and he hurriedly raised the ninja tool in his hand to defend himself.

But in the next instant, the ninja tool in his hand was seized directly by Zhige.

Bang!

Zhige slammed a fist into the short man's chest, knocking him flat to the ground.

The short man's face turned pale. Blood surged wildly up his throat, leaving him unable to speak for a moment.

Zhige's gaze was ice-cold. Looking down at the short man, his voice was like that of an asura from hell, sending chills down one's spine.

"Will you talk? If not, die!"

With that, Zhige gripped the ninja blade he had taken from the short man and swung it down viciously.

Slash!

Blood sprayed out. The tall man's throat had been sliced open, blood streaming from the wound and staining the ground red.

The short man's corpse lay limp on the ground, completely motionless.

A hideous wound remained on his neck.

The tall man's eyes widened, seemingly unable to believe that his teammate had actually died at Zhige's hands.

"I'll talk!"

The tall man finally understood that the youth before him was even stronger than he had imagined!

"I'll talk! I'll tell you everything!"

The tall man panted heavily.

"That person is called... Aah!!!"

Just as the tall man was about to say something, numerous strange Cursed Seals suddenly appeared on his body.

In an instant, the seals spread across his entire body, then exploded along with his flesh.

The tall man was turned into a pool of blood in the explosion.

Seeing this, Zhige immediately frowned, then raised his head to look at the sky.

"Damn it! A Cursed Seal was placed on this guy to prevent information from leaking! What a damn nuisance!"

Zhige cursed under his breath, his eyes filled with irritation.

He had originally wanted to learn something about his opponent through the tall man, but he had not expected the man to have been branded with a Cursed Seal.

Still, Zhige had not come away from this battle empty-handed. In the short man's backpack, he found many scrolls.

Among them was the Earth Scroll he needed.

"What an unexpected gain! I didn't think these guys had collected so many scrolls! Judging from this, at least four teams died at their hands!"

Zhige narrowed his eyes, a chilling killing intent filling them.

However, the most important thing now was to obtain the scroll and pass the second exam.

With that in mind, Zhige left the area directly.

At the tower at the finish line, Chunin had long been stationed there, waiting for the examinees to return from the Forest of Death.

"It's actually Teacher Iruka!"

Zhige handed over his Heaven and Earth Scrolls. He had not expected Iruka to be the one in charge of collecting the scrolls.

When Iruka saw Zhige, he first froze, then revealed an expression of shock and delight.

"You actually survived in the Forest of Death all by yourself!"

"Mm."

Zhige nodded indifferently without saying anything.

"Congratulations. You've passed the second exam!"

Iruka took a deep breath, a strange light gleaming in his eyes.

"Thank you."

Zhige cupped his hands, his gaze sweeping toward Gaara's team in the distance as killing intent surged from his eyes.

It seemed that those people had passed the exam quite some time ago.

"There's still the third round. I hope you can hold on!"

Iruka was full of anticipation for Zhige.

Zhige's performance had surprised and excited him, so he hoped Zhige could pass the third exam!

"Thank you."

Zhige gave the same reply, offering no further explanation before leaving the place directly.

As Iruka watched Zhige's departing figure, a sense of unease suddenly rose in his heart for some reason.

"Compared to Naruto, which one of them will be stronger..."

Iruka muttered to himself, then quickly walked into the tower.

Time passed slowly.

In the blink of an eye, two days had passed.

Today was the day the third exam began.

All the Genin who had passed the second exam were gathered in a large arena.

"The rules for this exam are simple. One-on-one battles, with opponents decided by drawing lots. Your names will appear on the big screen!"

Gekko Hayate, the chief examiner for the third round, said.

"Yes."

Everyone nodded.

"Very well. Then please look at the big screen! The first group of contestants will be revealed shortly!"

Gekko Hayate swept his gaze around before speaking.

Upon hearing this, most of the Genin turned their attention to the big screen.

A pair of names was displayed on it.

Uchiha Zhige VS Wen He of the Hidden Rock Village

"Zhige? Could that be the newly risen star?"

Everyone's expressions tightened.

"Begin!"

Gekko Hayate gave a light cough, then called out.

Whoosh!

The moment Gekko Hayate's voice fell, Zhige's body shot into the air and landed in the center of the arena.

Meanwhile, Wen He strolled down the stairs at an unhurried pace, as if he did not consider Zhige worth his attention at all.

"This guy is far stronger than Zhige!"

"Zhige is no match for him at all!"

"That's right. We shouldn't hold out any hope."

Seeing this, everyone began discussing among themselves.

Not only them—even Iruka and several other Jonin revealed worried expressions.