Orochimaru's Gift-Earth Curse Mark

The Forest of Death was so damp it felt like water could be wrung from it. Neji felt like a rag on the verge of growing mold.

He had been crouching in this tree for three hours, his Byakugan activated the entire time. Everything within his field of vision was crystal clear—including the awkward sight of Team 7 grilling fish fifty meters away.

"Naruto, that idiot, actually burned the fish." Neji could not help grumbling. "And Sasuke clearly hates it, yet he's forcing himself to eat it anyway. Is this the power of love?"

Tenten whispered beside him, "Neji, what exactly are we waiting for? We haven't found any teams from other ninja villages."

"Patience, Tenten." Neji put on an inscrutable air. "The best hunters always wait for the perfect opportunity."

In reality, he was panicking like crazy. Why hasn't Orochimaru come yet? According to the plot, he should have already taken out the three Rain Village ninjas and be preparing to approach Sasuke!

Could the plot have changed because of his transmigration?

Just as he was thinking that, a bone-chilling chakra suddenly entered the range of his Byakugan. Cold, viscous, and brimming with malice.

He was here!

Every hair on Neji's body stood on end. Even though he knew the plot, actually sensing Orochimaru's chakra nearly made him fall out of the tree.

"Prepare for battle," he said in a low voice to Tenten and Rock Lee. "A powerful enemy is approaching Team 7."

The three of them moved silently through the treetops, keeping a safe distance as they watched.

What happened next was almost identical to the original story: Orochimaru disguised himself as a Grass ninja, intimidated Team 7 with his terrifying presence, then began playing cat and mouse with them. Naruto unleashed Nine-Tails Chakra, but Orochimaru suppressed it with the Five Elements Seal.

Then came the crucial moment—Orochimaru lunged at Sasuke, ready to plant the Heaven Curse Mark.

Now!

Neji gritted his teeth and charged out from his hiding place.

Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!

He shouted the name of a technique he had not fully mastered yet, though he only struck thirty-two palms in reality. But it was enough. Orochimaru indeed paused for a moment because of the sudden interruption.

"A brat from the Hyuga Clan?" Orochimaru turned his head, a trace of interest flashing through his golden vertical pupils. "A member of the Branch House, yet you have quite good eyes."

Neji forced himself to stare into those snake-like eyes. "Sasuke Uchiha is a companion who is taking the Chunin Ninja Exams with me. I cannot let you succeed."

God knew his legs were trembling as he said that. This was Orochimaru, one of the Sannin. Killing him would be easier than killing a chicken.

"Oh? Interesting." Orochimaru extended his unnaturally long tongue and licked his lips. "The curse mark on your forehead... the Caged Bird? An ancient restraint of the Hyuga Clan."

He noticed it! Neji was ecstatic inside, but he still had to maintain his composure on the surface.

"That has nothing to do with you."

"Hehehe..." Orochimaru chuckled softly. "You want to save this Uchiha boy? Unfortunately, you're too late."

A black three-tomoe mark had already appeared on the back of Sasuke's neck—the Heaven Curse Mark was complete.

Neji cursed inwardly. The inertia of the plot was truly powerful. But his goal had never been to stop it completely. It was to attract Orochimaru's attention.

"Still, you are interesting." Orochimaru suddenly turned toward Neji. "You are terrified out of your mind, yet you still rushed out. And those eyes of yours... they seem rather good."

Of course they were different. There was the soul of a thirty-year-old office worker living inside them! Neji complained inwardly.

"As a reward for your brave performance..." Orochimaru appeared in front of Neji in an instant, moving so fast Neji could not react at all. "I'll give you a gift as well."

Neji felt a sharp pain at the back of his neck. Then a violent chakra surged into his body, producing some strange resonance with the Caged Bird Seal.

"The Earth Curse Mark. Though it is not as powerful as the Heaven Curse Mark, it is enough to let you experience the taste of power." Orochimaru whispered in Neji's ear. "If you survive, and if you still wish to pursue true power... come find me in the Hidden Sound Village."

With that, Orochimaru turned into a cloud of smoke and vanished.

As for Neji, he felt the two curse mark powers fighting inside his body. His vision went black, and he fell straight down.

"Neji!" Tenten and Rock Lee rushed over.

In the last of his consciousness, Neji had only one thought: I messed up. I really messed up this time...

When he woke again, Neji found himself lying in a bed at Konoha Hospital.

"You're awake?" A gentle female voice came from nearby.

Neji turned his head and saw a little girl with pale eyes standing timidly by the door—Hinata Hyuga.

His cousin from the original story was now standing alive and well before him.

"Lady Hinata." Neji instinctively used an honorific, then remembered his current identity and fell silent.

"Brother Neji, how are you feeling?" Hinata asked softly. "I heard you were injured while protecting your companions in the Forest of Death. You were really brave."

Brave? I was plotting against Orochimaru, little sister! Neji smiled bitterly inwardly.

"I'm fine." He sat up and touched the back of his neck. The Earth Curse Mark was still there, but it was dormant. And the Caged Bird Seal on his forehead... seemed to have formed some subtle balance with the Earth Curse Mark?

"The doctors said the chakra in your body is abnormally chaotic and that you need rest," Hinata continued. "But the Chunin Exams Preliminary Rounds begin tomorrow. If you can't participate..."

The preliminary rounds! Neji suddenly remembered the plot.

Right. The teams that passed the Forest of Death exam would enter the preliminary rounds for one-on-one battles. In the original story, he fought Hinata and beat her badly, then lost to Naruto.

But things were different now. He had the Earth Curse Mark and knew every opponent's abilities. More importantly, he had to pass the exam and become a Chunin. Only then could he participate in the later mission to retrieve Sasuke as an official ninja and get closer to Orochimaru.

"I have to participate," Neji said firmly.

"But your body..." Hinata said worriedly.

"It's fine." Neji got out of bed and moved around. Other than being somewhat weak, he was unharmed. It seemed the conflict between the Earth Curse Mark and the Caged Bird Seal had temporarily settled down.

After seeing Hinata off, Neji began seriously considering his situation.

The good news: he had successfully caught Orochimaru's attention, gained the Earth Curse Mark, and received an invitation to go to the Hidden Sound Village.

The bad news: the Earth Curse Mark was a ticking time bomb. Using it too much would erode his mind. And Orochimaru clearly only regarded him as a backup test subject.

There was another piece of bad news: he would be fighting Hinata tomorrow.

"Hinata should be manageable. After all, it's an internal Hyuga Clan match, Gentle Fist against Gentle Fist," Neji muttered to himself. "But fighting that cheat Naruto a month from now... Nine-Tails Chakra, talk-no-jutsu, protagonist aura—what am I supposed to use against that?"

When he watched anime in his previous world, he thought Neji lost to Naruto because of his mindset. But now that he stood in this position himself, he understood that was not the case at all.

Naruto's chakra reserves were absurdly huge, his stamina and endurance were ridiculous, and he had a buff that made him stronger the longer he fought. More importantly, he was the protagonist! Could anyone fighting the protagonist possibly end well?

"But I can't lose too badly." Neji stroked his chin. "At the very least, I need to show enough strength for Konoha's higher-ups to approve my promotion to Chunin."

He recalled the original preliminary round brackets. If he remembered correctly, the first round was him against Hinata, and then the winner would face Naruto a month later.

"I have to be careful against Hinata. I can't hit her hard like I did in the original story." Neji calculated. "That girl is already insecure. If I beat her up badly again, the psychological shadow would cover the entire Land of Fire."

Besides, in the long run, Hinata would become Naruto's wife and the heir of the Hyuga Main House. There was no benefit in offending her.

"Then I'll win quickly, but without hitting too hard." Neji made his decision. "As for Naruto..."

He racked his brains. Naruto's weakness was that his combat IQ was not high at this stage. He relied on brute force and unpredictability. Neji's advantages were knowing all of Naruto's techniques, having the Byakugan to see through his movements, and using Gentle Fist to seal his chakra points.

"In theory, if I can end the fight before he unleashes Nine-Tails Chakra, I have a chance of winning," Neji analyzed. "But the problem is, that guy is as hard to put down as a cockroach. How do I end it quickly?"

Gentle Fist's chakra point strikes were one option, but he needed to get close. And Naruto was best at overwhelming opponents with hordes of Shadow Clones, making close combat difficult.

"Wait, I can use his poor ability to predict the battle situation." Neji's eyes lit up. "I know all his habits and tactics. I can set a trap."

A plan gradually took shape.

The next day, at the Chunin Exams Preliminary Rounds arena.

Gekko Hayate announced the rules through a cough. Neji stood in the contestants' area, observing the other examinees.

Sasuke's neck was wrapped in bandages, clearly suppressing the Heaven Curse Mark. Gaara still wore an expression that said, "I'm going to kill everyone." Rock Lee was brimming with fighting spirit, ready to show off his skills.

"First match, Neji Hyuga versus Hinata Hyuga!"

Neji took a deep breath and stepped onto the arena floor.

Across from him, Hinata was so nervous that even her fingers were trembling, but she still assumed the opening stance of Gentle Fist.

"Begin!"

Hinata attacked first, but her movements were stiff and full of openings. Neji easily dodged, then struck her shoulder with his palm. He used soft force, enough to throw her off balance without hurting her.

"Brother Neji really is strong..." Hinata said quietly.

"Lady Hinata, your movements are too stiff." Neji could not help saying, "Relax your shoulders. Your chakra will flow more smoothly."

The moment the words left his mouth, he regretted them—wasn't he instructing his opponent?

But Hinata's eyes lit up. She adjusted her posture as he said, and her next attack was indeed much smoother.

The two exchanged blows on the arena floor. Rather than a battle, it looked more like a training match. Neji kept pointing out Hinata's shortcomings, while Hinata earnestly improved.

In the stands, Hiashi Hyuga watched the scene with tightly furrowed brows. He had thought Neji would bear resentment toward the Main House like the other Branch House members and attack Hinata mercilessly. But reality was the complete opposite.

"That child..." Hiashi Hyuga murmured.

In the end, Neji used a clever application of force to push Hinata out of bounds and win the match.

"My apologies." Neji reached out and helped Hinata up.

"Thank you for your guidance, Brother Neji." Hinata's face reddened slightly. "I learned a great deal."

His match with Hinata had only been an appetizer. His real enemy a month from now, Naruto, was the main course.

One month later.

"Next match, Neji Hyuga versus Uzumaki Naruto!"

The true test had arrived.

Naruto leaped onto the arena floor, brimming with confidence. "I'll definitely defeat you and become Hokage!"

The classic line had appeared. Neji complained inwardly, but outwardly he still wore the expression of a cool, aloof genius.

"Dead last, slogans alone won't get you anywhere."

"Who are you calling dead last?!" Naruto predictably flew into a rage and charged straight at him.

Neji fully activated his Byakugan, easily avoiding Naruto's straight punch before countering with a strike at the chakra point on his chest.

But Naruto suddenly turned into a puff of smoke—it was a Shadow Clone!

"Behind you!" Naruto's real body appeared behind Neji and threw a punch.

Neji had expected it. He bent down to evade, then swept his leg at Naruto's lower body. Yet Naruto reacted extremely quickly, leaping backward while forming hand seals. "Multi-Shadow Clone Technique!"

In an instant, dozens of Narutos packed the arena.

Here came his signature tactic.

Neji remained calm and assumed the opening stance of Eight Trigrams Palm. "Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"

This time, he truly unleashed sixty-four palms. He moved so quickly that afterimages formed, and in the blink of an eye, every Shadow Clone had been cleared away.

"What?!" Naruto was shocked.

The audience also erupted in an uproar. This young man from the Hyuga Branch Family was far stronger than anyone had expected.

"Naruto, if this is all you can do, then the match ends here," Neji said.

"Don't look down on me!" Naruto gritted his teeth and formed hand seals again. "Check out my new technique!"

Neji's heart tightened. Was Naruto going to use the Rasengan here? No, the timing was wrong. Naruto had not learned the Rasengan yet.

Naruto created a Shadow Clone and began forming a sphere of chakra—but after working at it for a long time, he only created an unstable mass of chaotic chakra.

So he still could not do it. Neji sighed in relief, seized the chance to rush forward, and drove his palm into Naruto's abdomen.

"Cough!" Naruto flew backward, but he actually created another Shadow Clone in midair. It caught his real body, and they charged forward again.

His stamina was too absurd! Neji cried inwardly as he continued responding.

The battle lasted ten minutes. Naruto constantly employed all kinds of unexpected tactics, while Neji neutralized them one by one with the Byakugan and his foreknowledge. But Naruto's chakra seemed endless, while Neji had already begun panting.

"I can't drag this out any longer." Neji decided to use his trump card.

He deliberately exposed an opening. Naruto predictably took the bait and punched toward his chest. Neji neither dodged nor blocked, taking the punch head-on as both his hands struck out and hit the chakra points on Naruto's arms.

Gentle Fist: Twin Lion Fists!

This was a technique Neji had only developed much later in the original story, but he used it ahead of time now—after all, no one knew.

Naruto immediately felt the chakra flow in both arms cut off, and his movements stalled. Neji seized the chance and continuously struck several chakra points across his chest and abdomen.

Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms!

The final palm sent Naruto flying out of the arena.

"Winner, Neji Hyuga!"

The referee, Gekko Hayate, announced.

Neji panted heavily as he looked at Naruto struggling to climb back to his feet outside the arena. He felt no joy at winning, only lingering fear.

If Naruto had unleashed Nine-Tails Chakra early, Neji would have been the one to lose.

"But... I won in the end." Neji stepped down from the arena.