Turning Danger into Safety

"Sasuke...?"

Sakura sensed the unfamiliar chakra within Sasuke.

The chakra on Sasuke was like poisoned wine, making people fear getting close to him.

To escape that suffocating chakra, Sakura even failed to notice herself shrinking closer to Naruto.

It was not just Sasuke's chakra that felt unfamiliar.

Sasuke's appearance had also undergone a strange change.

Irregular black markings, like burning flames, had emerged all over his body, making Sasuke look ferocious.

Sasuke swept his gaze over everyone present before finally fixing it on Naruto.

Noticing Naruto's weak, blood-covered state, Sasuke's expression darkened. "Naruto, who did this to you?"

"Me! Anyone else would have died facing my Air Cutter! That trash was just lucky enough to survive."

Before Naruto could speak, Zaku stepped forward to admit it.

Sasuke's attention immediately shifted to the three Sound Ninja before him.

"You're from Hidden Sound..."

Looking at the ninja forehead protectors Zaku and the others wore, Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "So you're the 'test subjects' Orochimaru mentioned... the ones meant to let me fully experience powerful strength?"

"Test subjects?"

Hearing Orochimaru's name from Sasuke, as well as the way he referred to the three Sound Ninja as disposable, insignificant tools—

As the leader of the three Sound Ninja, Dosu naturally connected many things.

The more he thought about it, the more it felt as though Lord Orochimaru, whom he worshipped, had merely used them as expendable pawns. Even Dosu's will to fight began to weaken...

What exactly was Lord Orochimaru thinking...?

"Forget it. None of that matters."

Sasuke looked at Zaku and said in a cruel tone, "You dared lay a hand on my companion. I'll repay the pain he felt a thousandfold!"

The moment Sasuke finished speaking, he vanished.

His Body Flicker Technique was terrifyingly fast!

Before Zaku could even blink, Sasuke had appeared behind him.

"Damn it!"

Shikamaru cried out and hurriedly released the Shadow Imitation Technique.

Shikamaru's judgment had been correct and decisive.

The instant Shikamaru's shadow returned to him, Sasuke had already twisted one of Zaku's arms.

Zaku's broken arm hung from his shoulder at an extremely unnatural angle. The bones had been completely shattered, and every muscle had been torn apart.

With taijutsu alone, Sasuke had rendered Zaku unable to fight.

What Sasuke was doing was no longer normal combat, but one-sided torture.

Even ninjas accustomed to living beside death found it hard to accept Sasuke's cruel torment of an enemy.

"Two left."

Sasuke paid no attention to Zaku, who had collapsed to his knees and was howling in agony. His gaze fell on Kin beside him.

Under Sasuke's fierce, cold, merciless stare, Kin—or rather, Ino, who had taken over Kin's body with the Mind Body Switch Technique—was too frightened to speak.

Sasuke rapidly formed hand seals.

"Fire Release! Great Fireball Technique—"

However, Sasuke's ninjutsu was interrupted at the final moment.

"Stop, Sasuke! The one inside that female Sound Ninja's body is Ino!"

Naruto appeared at Sasuke's side and grabbed the hand that had completed the seals.

Naruto glanced at Kin, who had been scared senseless. Her eyes were wet, tears gathering in them. "Ino, release the Mind Body Switch Technique, or you'll get caught in the crossfire."

Naruto's calm reminder brought Ino back to her senses. She pressed her hands together and formed the release seal for the Mind Body Switch Technique.

As Ino's spiritual energy left Kin's body, Kin lost consciousness and collapsed to the ground.

Ino herself also crawled out from a nearby thicket.

Once the Yamanaka Clan used the Mind Body Switch Technique on an enemy, their own body would fall unconscious and become extremely vulnerable.

When fighting multiple enemies, members of the Yamanaka Clan had to protect their own bodies before using the Mind Body Switch Technique.

"Let go, Naruto!"

Sasuke stared at Naruto with his Sharingan. Two tomoe had already appeared within those red eyes.

The power of the Cursed Seal had directly advanced Sasuke from the One-Tomoe Sharingan to the current Two-Tomoe Sharingan.

Seeing Naruto and Sasuke suddenly clash, Dosu seized the chance to retreat to Zaku and Kin's side.

"We lost this time. Please let us go—this is a small token of our sincerity."

Dosu took out the "Earth" scroll belonging to the Sound Ninja team and placed it on the ground.

Dosu's actions were both a sincere attempt to make peace and an attempt to use the scroll to shift their conflict of interests.

Their foremost goal was still to pass the second stage of the Chunin Ninja Exams.

Previously, when Naruto had mentioned the tomoe-like scars on Sasuke's body, Dosu had not seen them for himself and could temporarily suppress his doubts about Lord Orochimaru's orders.

But now, he had confirmed that Sasuke truly had been given the power called the "Cursed Seal" by Lord Orochimaru.

Dosu immediately gave up on fighting.

The order the three Sound Ninja had received from Lord Orochimaru had been to deal with Sasuke, yet Sasuke now possessed the power of the Cursed Seal.

Dosu naturally knew about the Cursed Seal. Those who possessed it were all people valued by Lord Orochimaru.

The five strongest people in Hidden Sound had received this power from Orochimaru.

It was not a power Dosu could contend against, even with Zaku and Kin added in.

Since Sasuke Uchiha was valued by Lord Orochimaru, why had he ordered them to deal with Sasuke?

Could it really be as Sasuke had said? Were the three Sound Ninja merely "test subjects"...?

Once doubt arose, Dosu could no longer fight without reservations.

"How could I possibly let you escape that easily?!"

Noticing Dosu's movements, Sasuke temporarily gave up his standoff with Naruto.

Dealing with these Sound Ninja came first.

Sasuke had thought that with the power of the Cursed Seal, he would be able to easily break free from the hand Naruto had grabbed.

But Sasuke suddenly realized that Naruto was absurdly strong.

Unable to shake Naruto's hand away immediately, he could only watch as Dosu escaped with his companions.

"Naruto!"

Sasuke turned back toward Naruto, furious at him for getting in his way.

It was only when he turned back that Sasuke noticed the hand Naruto was using to restrain him was covered in blood.

That blood had come from Naruto's abdomen. Naruto had originally been pressing a hand over the wound to stop the bleeding...

Yet in order to stop Sasuke's violent actions, Naruto had not even had time to care about his own pain.

"Sasuke, people who surrender themselves to power may seem strong, but they're actually just weaklings putting on a front... I don't oppose you using this strange power, but if the one wielding that power ends up being controlled by it instead, then in my eyes, you're a weakling who can't even defeat himself."

Naruto stared straight into Sasuke's eyes, making no effort to hide his contempt for Sasuke's current obsession with power.

"Someone who can't even defeat himself can never defeat anyone else."

"Or is that all the capacity you have?"

Naruto had not stopped Sasuke from killing the three Sound Ninja out of some saintly impulse or sympathy for his enemies.

The three Sound Ninja were nothing to fear.

But if Sasuke killed them while in such a brutal state, he would be falling right into Orochimaru's scheme to drag him into darkness.

A rampaging Sasuke would greatly affect Naruto's upcoming plan concerning Karin.

Konoha should already know that Orochimaru had approached Sasuke. If something happened to Sasuke too soon, Konoha would certainly place him under control—and Naruto, as Sasuke's teammate in Team 7, would have a hard time avoiding it as well.

If that happened, Naruto's plan involving Karin would fail at the final moment, just as it was about to succeed.

Orochimaru had mixed his spiritual energy into the Cursed Seal, and Sasuke, who harbored darkness in his heart, could easily be led astray.

Given Sasuke's personality, he truly might choose to devote himself to darkness in order to avenge himself upon Itachi Uchiha.

However, Naruto also knew that Sasuke feared even more that he would not have enough power to take revenge on Itachi Uchiha.

Naruto was using Sasuke's own mindset to prevent him from being controlled by the Cursed Seal and falling into a rampage.

Sasuke's reason told him that Naruto was not wrong.

If gaining power now caused him to stop growing, then he would never be able to surpass Itachi Uchiha.

Naruto watched Sasuke's reaction. It seemed his persuasion had worked.

The Cursed Seal on Sasuke's body receded, returning to the three tomoe-like markings on his shoulder and neck.