Curse Seal

Curse Seal

"Why are you so late? You should have had an easy time completing a mission for a newly promoted Genin."

"I ran into some rats on the way here, and it took a little time to shake them."

At this moment Kakashi had already arrived at Orochimaru's laboratory. Taking advantage of that burst of thick smoke, the shadow clone had slipped away from underground. The real body remained in place to continue training, holding back physical strength and Senjutsu energy only because someone was watching.

"Your chakra reserves... so it's a shadow clone." Soon Orochimaru discovered that the Kakashi in front of him was merely a shadow clone.

"It seems the person tracking you is quite skilled. Has this village really reached this point..." A simple sentence revealed the tracker's identity to Kakashi. Orochimaru did not dwell on the topic.

After all, at this moment he, on one hand, still deeply respected his teacher, and on the other, needed the support of the village to continue his experimental research.

"..." Kakashi.

"I had you come today to tell you about the subjects I brought back from the village near Ryūchi Cave last time. Most of them exhibit a phenomenon where natural energy invades the body and corrodes the spirit."

When it came to professional matters, Orochimaru could not help but let his eyes gleam.

"I found that after these ordinary people came into contact with natural energy, their physical structures actually underwent massive enhancement. The price they paid was turning into the monsters people talk about!"

"Nani!" Cooperating with the surprised Kakashi, he took the report handed over by Orochimaru.

"So I feel your previous question has an answer. Natural energy and chakra should be two completely different energy systems of equal standing!"

Saying this, Orochimaru's excited emotions calmed somewhat.

"It's a pity I can't personally master natural energy, or the research could go a bit smoother. But I researched a little something." As he spoke, Orochimaru led Kakashi to the room where the experimental subjects were being held.

In the small room, a boy around thirteen or fourteen years old was curled up in a corner. He wore hemp clothing, had brown hair, and sported a few small scars on his bare feet. On his arms and neck exposed outside his clothes, some new and old scars were also faintly visible.

Seeing Orochimaru enter—the man who had performed numerous experiments on his body over the past few days—the youth trembled all over. Yet he dared not resist, knowing resistance would only invite even more cruel torture.

The few people from his own village or neighboring villages who had been captured along with him had been tortured to death one by one by the demon before him. Only he was lucky enough to survive on his last gasp.

At the mere recollection of the tragic experiences of this period, Tensubo Takao swore inwardly that he must survive, and then keep growing stronger—strong enough to kill this monster.

No, that wasn't enough. He had to torture this monster alive, torturing him until he begged for death in vain and wished he could die. The intense murderous intent made this originally simple and honest rural youth look ferocious.

He quietly lowered his head, but two crafty veterans stood before him.

The emotions he thought he had hidden well had long since been discovered. The ending awaiting him... went without saying.

"This is the only surviving experimental subject."

Ignoring Tensubo Takao's attitude, Orochimaru introduced him to Kakashi.

"I extracted a large amount of body cells and flesh tissue containing natural energy from his body. These cells and flesh possess extremely strong vitality."

At this point, like a snake discovering prey, Orochimaru's slit pupils dilated and contracted violently.

"Although it can't compare to that level of the First Hokage, it already surpasses Bloodline ninja of the Jonin level. Yet this little brat hasn't received any formal training; he's purely under the influence of natural energy."

This discovery made Orochimaru exceptionally excited.

"So I wondered how to master this ability. It's what you envisioned at the beginning: directly dissolving natural energy into the body."

Saying this, Orochimaru looked rather proud.

After all, this was an experiment that the entire village of Konoha had failed to accomplish with all its might, yet he had cracked it in less than a month.

As expected, once the answer was obtained, the difficulty of working backward dropped precipitously.

"The village's approach was wrong. They should first tame the natural energy and then inject it into the body. The method I used is the Curse Seal!"

Excitedly, Orochimaru used the release sealing technique, and a middle-aged man dressed as a Sunagakure ninja was revealed inside the sealing scroll.

This middle-aged ninja was currently in a coma. The aura on his body was extremely weak, like a candle in the wind, about to be extinguished at any moment.

With sharp eyes, Kakashi immediately spotted a trace of Orochimaru's Cursed Seal of Heaven on the middle-aged Suna ninja's neck.

After waking the Suna ninja up with clean water, Orochimaru continued his introduction.

"This Suna ninja is roughly at the Genin level. I stripped away the chakra in his body, leaving just enough to trigger the curse seal."

The awakened Suna ninja possessed poor strength, yet his vigilance remained very high. Upon discovering his surroundings were unfamiliar, he immediately assumed a defensive posture. To his surprise, however, he found his chakra completely depleted.

"Feel it with your heart; a powerful force lies dormant within you." Orochimaru beside him timely launched an illusion to bewilder the Suna ninja.

Hearing this, the Suna ninja started slightly, then forcibly mobilized the chakra within his body.

It was like digging a well in previously parched land, accidentally striking an underground spring.

In an instant, a powerful force unlike anything the Suna ninja had ever experienced surged forth. This was the curse seal Orochimaru had planted within his body.

The overly powerful force shattered the Suna ninja's sanity, transforming him into the monster mode common to the Tensubo Clan. Not only did his form change drastically, but his personality did as well.

"Hahahahaahahah, though I don't know what you did to me, at this moment I should thank you! Konoha ninja."

"Let me use killing you as my repayment!" The Suna ninja spread his wings to fly low and prepared to launch an attack, but stopped within inches of Orochimaru and Kakashi.

"This...! This!!"

Before the words finished, his entire body exploded directly into a mist of blood.

"It seems this test subject isn't very complete, Orochimaru-sensei." Realizing at a glance that the Suna ninja had been directly blown apart by the curse seal's energy, Kakashi joked.

"Heh heh, I just grabbed this test subject at random when passing through the Land of Wind. He wasn't screened." Orochimaru remained unconcerned.

"As long as the approach is right, slowly perfecting the curse seal or improving the aptitude of the test subjects will make this jutsu very practical." Orochimaru was full of confidence in his research.

"Teacher, do you intend to use this idea to master Senjutsu?"

"I have that consideration, but I want more." Kakashi was well aware of Orochimaru's capacity and ambitions.

In the original story, Orochimaru's Heaven-Earth Curse Seal would slice off a portion of his own soul and use it to enter the bearer's body. The ultimate goal was to take over the other person's body in the future.

He knew but did not say it out loud. After chatting with Orochimaru for a while longer, Kakashi prepared to leave.

Before leaving, Orochimaru asked Kakashi for some cells and hair tissue.

Without the slightest hesitation, Kakashi agreed to have his real body come over tomorrow to cooperate with the extraction, and then left the laboratory.

Kakashi's unhesitating agreement to his request left Orochimaru, standing behind him, silent for a long time.