Boneline Suppression

The laboratory's ventilation ducts reeked of blood and disinfectant.

Hyuga Xiao braced himself against the wall with one hand and pressed the other against Kimimaro's neck. The boy trembled all over, blue-black Curse Mark patterns writhing beneath his skin like living things. Every pulse came with the crackling grind of bones—an omen that the Dead Bone Pulse was about to lose control.

"System, analyze the state of the Curse Mark inside Kimimaro."

[Analyzing... Target: Kaguya Kimimaro. Status: late-stage Kekkei Genkai disease. Orochimaru's Cursed Seal erosion: 72%. Vital signs continuously declining. The Active Curse Mark Seed can emit a specific chakra frequency to temporarily suppress the target's Curse Mark. Duration: 1–3 hours. Warning: This operation will consume 15% of the seed's activity and cannot cure the Kekkei Genkai disease.]

Xiao's fingertips touched the Curse Mark Seed in his clothes.

The black crystal he had brought back from Root was faintly hot now, as though it had sensed the agitation of a similar power. He closed his eyes, and a faint sting came from the Caged Bird Seal on his forehead—the instinctive rejection of Curse Mark-type power by Branch House blood.

But rejection also meant resonance.

"If even the Caged Bird Seal can become my power..." Xiao murmured, gathering Gentle Fist chakra in his palm.

This was not an attack, but a simulation.

He sank his consciousness into the Curse Mark Seed and felt the twisted, savage chakra flow within it, which nevertheless pulsed according to a certain frequency. It was like cracking a combination lock: he needed to find the correct rhythm of vibration. Through his Byakugan vision, the Curse Mark structure inside Kimimaro looked like countless tangled black snakes, each one frantically devouring its host's life force.

Xiao adjusted his breathing.

In the first second, he released chakra perfectly synchronized with Kimimaro's Curse Mark—this was the "control frequency" Orochimaru had left behind. Kimimaro's body suddenly went rigid, and a beastlike ferocity flashed through his eyes, as if he were about to pounce and kill.

But Xiao did not want control.

In the second second, he abruptly changed the frequency.

The nature of Gentle Fist chakra revealed itself at that moment—control precise down to the cellular level. Xiao adjusted the chakra frequency to the "resonance-breaking point" of the Curse Mark's structure, like shattering glass with a specific pitch. This was not brute-force suppression, but precise interference.

"Ugh—"

A muffled cry of pain escaped Kimimaro's throat.

The black patterns under his skin began to falter, sending irregular ripples through his body like stones cast into water. The wildly proliferating bone growth stopped, and the Curse Mark's erosion visibly slowed. But cold sweat beaded on Xiao's forehead—this operation demanded chakra control at an absurd level. One mistake could trigger a Curse Mark backlash and blow both of them to pieces.

Three seconds.

Five seconds.

After ten seconds, the scarlet faded from Kimimaro's eyes.

The boy collapsed onto the floor, gasping heavily, sweat soaking through his tattered clothes. He raised his head, and the violence in his eyes turned to confusion before settling into an almost reverent focus.

"You... suppressed the Curse Mark?" Kimimaro's voice was hoarse. "Lord Orochimaru said no one but him could do that."

Xiao withdrew his hand, sensing that the Curse Mark Seed's activity had dropped by roughly twenty percent. His expression remained calm, but his mind was calculating rapidly—he could use the seed about five more times. He had to find a way to restore its activity.

"Just because Orochimaru can't do something doesn't mean no one else can." Xiao crouched down and met Kimimaro's eyes. "You have two choices now. First, stay here and wait to die, or get taken back by Leaf Village's ANBU to be dissected and studied. Second, come with me."

Kimimaro fell silent.

His fingers unconsciously rubbed against the ground, bone-spike marks still lingering around his knuckles. This boy had been used his entire life—used by the Kaguya Clan as a weapon of war, used by Orochimaru as an experiment, and now used by this unfamiliar ninja before him as...

"Can you cure my Kekkei Genkai disease?" Kimimaro asked.

"No." Xiao answered without hesitation. "But I can keep you alive longer. And I don't need you to be a tool."

"Then what do you need me to be?"

Xiao rose to his feet and brushed the dust from the corner of his clothes. A muffled explosion sounded from deep within the ventilation ducts. The laboratory's self-destruct sequence had entered its final stage.

"A blade," Xiao said. "But the hand holding that blade will be your own."

Kimimaro stared at him for a long time.

Then the boy struggled to his feet and dropped to one knee—not in submission, but in the manner of one warrior honoring another.

"My name is Kaguya Kimimaro," he said. "From today onward, my life is yours. But if one day you become like Orochimaru..."

"You can kill me," Xiao finished for him. "Provided you can do it."

Their eyes met, and some unspoken understanding formed in the silence.

Xiao turned toward the depths of the tunnel. "Follow me. The laboratory is about to collapse."

Five minutes later, the two of them crawled out through a concealed drainage outlet on the outskirts of Hidden Sound Village.

The night sky was stained dark red by the flames.

All of Hidden Sound Village had fallen into an inferno. Leaf Village's ANBU assault had clearly targeted more than just the laboratory—they meant to uproot Orochimaru's entire base. Explosions rang out one after another, the blaze of ninjutsu leaped between buildings, and screams were swallowed by the thunderous roar of collapsing structures.

Xiao activated his Byakugan, his vision piercing through the smoke.

Three hundred meters away, the ANBU squad led by Kakashi was withdrawing in orderly fashion. They had clearly completed their main mission—destroying the laboratory data and eliminating the test subjects. But Xiao's pupils narrowed slightly.

Kakashi held a specially made sealing scroll in his hand.

Complex sealing formulas flowed across its surface, but through his Byakugan vision, Xiao could clearly see what was sealed inside—a pair of eyeballs soaked in nutrient fluid, the tomoe patterns unique to the Uchiha Clan still remaining in their pupils.

Shisui's Sharingan.

"So that's how it is..." Xiao murmured.

Leaf Village's higher-ups had never intended to let Shisui live. All they wanted was the pair of eyes containing the power of Kotoamatsukami. As for the owner of those eyes, he was merely experimental waste to be disposed of. Kakashi's orders were probably to "retrieve the Sharingan and erase all traces," which was why he had so decisively tried to kill Shisui in the cultivation tank.

"Master?" Kimimaro sensed the change in his presence.

"It's nothing." Xiao deactivated his Byakugan and withdrew his gaze. "We should leave."

He took one last look in the direction Kakashi was leaving.

Those Sharingan would return to the person who should possess them sooner or later. But not now—Xiao had more important bargaining chips in hand: a living Shisui Uchiha, and the core data from Orochimaru's laboratory.

Using the darkness and chaos as cover, the two of them slipped toward the forest beyond Hidden Sound Village.

Although Kimimaro's Curse Mark had been temporarily suppressed, the weakness caused by his Kekkei Genkai disease remained. He had to stop to catch his breath every few steps, his skin so pale it was nearly translucent. Xiao slowed down while keeping watch over their surroundings with his Byakugan.

"How much longer can your body hold out?" Xiao asked.

"I don't know." Kimimaro shook his head. "Lord Orochimaru said three months at most."

"Three months is enough."

Xiao took a small scroll from his ninja tool pouch. When he unfolded it, it revealed a simple map of the Shinobi World. His finger landed on the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Rice Paddies.

"We're going here," Xiao said. "A safe house with medical equipment and medicine. Once we get there, I'll try to treat your Kekkei Genkai disease."

"You said just now that you couldn't cure it."

"Not being able to cure it now doesn't mean I won't be able to later." Xiao rolled up the map. "I have all of Orochimaru's experimental data on Kekkei Genkai, including his research records on the Dead Bone Pulse. With my own methods added in... I'm seventy percent certain."

Kimimaro did not ask what would happen if that remaining thirty percent failed.

They both knew failure meant death. But in the Shinobi World, a seventy percent chance was already absurdly high.

As they passed through the last burning district, Xiao suddenly stopped.

At the edge of his Byakugan vision, three Sound ninja were surrounding and attacking a Leaf Village ANBU. That ANBU was already badly injured, his forehead protector lying on the ground and revealing familiar silver hair—not Kakashi, but a senior Xiao had met once during ANBU training.

"Detour." Xiao turned around decisively.

"You're not saving him?" Kimimaro asked.

"If we save him, we'll expose ourselves." Xiao's voice did not waver. "Leaf Village ANBU rules state that if a mission fails or someone is captured, they either commit suicide or get silenced by their comrades. Saving him would be the same as harming him."

Kimimaro silently followed.

The two of them bypassed the battlefield and slipped into the forest. Behind them, Hidden Sound Village gradually shrank amid the flames, like a gravestone sinking into hell.

After entering the depths of the forest, Xiao found a concealed cave.

He told Kimimaro to rest while he set up warning traps at the cave entrance. His movements were skilled enough to seem unlike those of a sixteen-year-old Branch House boy—he had practiced in secret through countless nights. To survive, he had to be more cautious than anyone else.

After setting the traps, Xiao returned to the cave.

Kimimaro had already fallen asleep against the rock wall, his breathing weak but steady. Xiao sat across from him and took out the Active Curse Mark Seed from his clothes.

The crystal gave off a faint glow in the darkness.

"System, analyze the resonance data between the seed and Kimimaro's Curse Mark."

[Analyzing... Resonance frequency recorded. Chakra pattern required to suppress the Curse Mark has been modeled. Notice: Through reverse analysis, the "Cursed Seal Simulation Technique" can be developed—temporarily generating a Curse Mark-like structure within the user's body to amplify combat power, but it will accelerate Divine Erosion.]

Xiao's eyes narrowed.

Simulating a Curse Mark? That was an unexpected gain. Orochimaru's Curse Mark was essentially a degraded version of natural energy and senjutsu chakra. If he could decipher its structure, perhaps he could bypass Ryuchi Cave's inheritance and directly grasp the rudiments of senjutsu.

But the cost was accelerated Divine Erosion.

Xiao remembered the system's original warning: the purer his Otsutsuki Bloodline became, the faster his humanity would fade. He needed emotional bonds as anchors, and something like a Curse Mark—twisted natural energy—would clearly intensify that process.

"A difficult choice..." Xiao murmured.

He put away the seed and looked toward the brightening sky outside the cave.

Dawn was approaching. A new day was beginning. And another item had been added to his list of plans: cure Kimimaro's Kekkei Genkai disease, decipher the Curse Mark's structure, trace the whereabouts of Shisui's Sharingan, and—

"It's time to return to Leaf Village," Xiao said to himself.

He had to return. Hinata was still there. Those old fools of the Hyuga Clan's Main House were still enjoying the offerings of the Branch House. And the Caged Bird Seal on his forehead still throbbed faintly.

More importantly, he needed Leaf Village's resources.

Orochimaru's data required professional equipment to analyze, Kimimaro's treatment required large amounts of rare medicinal herbs, and Shisui's revival required a safe environment—only by returning to Leaf Village and using the Hyuga Clan's influence could he accomplish these things without anyone noticing.

"Master." Kimimaro had woken up at some point. "Where are we going next?"

Xiao stood and brushed the dirt from himself.

"Home," he said. "Back to the place that wishes I were dead, yet has no choice but to provide for me."

He walked out of the cave as the morning light pierced through the clouds and fell across the side of his face.

The Caged Bird Seal on his forehead was clearly visible beneath the sunlight, like an eternal brand of humiliation that could never be erased. But the corner of Xiao's mouth lifted in the faintest curve.

Soon.

When he returned to Leaf Village next time, he would make everyone in the Main House understand—

A cage could not hold a beast destined to tear it apart.

At the same time, at the border of the Land of Fire.

Kakashi stood atop a tree, looking at the scroll sealing the Sharingan in his hand. An ANBU ninja beside him reported in a low voice, "Captain, the laboratory has been confirmed completely destroyed, and all test subjects have been dealt with. It's just..."

"What is it?"

"Cultivation Tank No. 3 was empty. Someone took the test subject inside before we arrived and severed the data chip's connection line. The method was highly professional, like it was done by an insider."

Kakashi narrowed his one eye.

He remembered the vague figure in the ventilation ducts, those pure white pupils that had flashed through the darkness.

Someone from the Hyuga Clan?

No, the Hyuga Clan's Main House had no reason to sneak around, and the Branch House did not have the nerve. Unless...

"Captain, should we investigate?"

Kakashi fell silent for a moment, then tucked the scroll into his clothes.

"No need," he said. "The mission is complete. As for everything else... leave it for Lord Hokage to decide."

He turned and leaped toward the next tree, his silver hair lifting in the morning wind.

But a rare sharpness flashed through those usually lazy, dead-fish eyes.

Someone had stolen one of Leaf Village's most important spoils right under his nose. This matter would not end so easily.