The Out-of-Control Curse Seal and “Evil Suppression”

The air was thick with the stench of blood, mixed with the smell of scorched earth. It was nauseating.

After Ye Tian's stunning Stone Piercing Clouds crippled Zaku's arm, the one-sided battle froze in an instant.

However, the real horror had only just begun.

"Heh... hehehe..."

A low, hoarse laugh, as though it came from the depths of hell, broke the brief silence.

Sasuke, his entire body covered in flame-like black markings, slowly raised his head.

There was not a trace of human emotion in those scarlet Sharingan eyes now—only pure, overflowing killing intent. Orochimaru's chakra was frantically eroding his reason, turning him into a bloodthirsty beast.

"Just now... who was it that beat Sakura into this state?"

Sasuke's voice was soft, yet it struck everyone's hearts like a sledgehammer.

His figure flashed. He moved so fast that not even an afterimage could be seen, appearing behind Zaku in an instant as he clutched his broken arm and screamed.

"Since these hands are already useless, let's make it thorough."

Sasuke grabbed Zaku's two broken, twisted arms, planted a foot on his back, and yanked backward.

"Stop... stop! Aaaahhh!"

Zaku screamed in terror.

"You seem pretty proud of these hands, huh?" Sasuke wore a cruel, manic grin.

Crack!!!

The bone-splintering sound that made everyone's teeth ache echoed through the forest.

Zaku's arms were forcibly bent backward at a horrifying angle. His heart-rending screams sent chills down everyone's spine.

Even Dosu, usually so composed, had collapsed to the ground in fright. Trembling, he handed over the Earth Scroll. "The scroll is yours... just let us go..."

But Sasuke had no intention of stopping. He casually flung Zaku aside like a rag doll, then walked step by step toward Kin, the only female Sound ninja, wrapped in suffocatingly sinister chakra.

"It's not over yet... everyone who hurt Sakura has to die!"

Purple chakra gathered in his hand. It was a fatal blow.

"No! Sasuke!"

Sakura, her face streaked with tears, finally rushed forward and hugged Sasuke tightly from behind.

"Please, stop! This isn't you at all!"

Sakura's cries seemed to awaken a sliver of clarity deep within Sasuke.

The black markings crawling across his skin began to fade slowly, and the suffocating evil aura weakened with them.

Sasuke's body went limp. He fell to his knees, gasping heavily as the madness in his eyes was gradually replaced by confusion and pain.

"I... what happened to me...?"

The entire area fell deathly silent.

Only the rustling of wind through the leaves could be heard.

Then, an extremely ill-timed sigh rang out.

"Sigh, young people these days really do have tempers."

Everyone looked toward the sound and saw Ye Tian—the one who was supposedly "seriously injured" and "weak and short of breath"—dragging his heavy steps as he slowly made his way behind Sasuke.

Although Sasuke's Curse Mark had receded, the vicious will Orochimaru had left behind—a remnant soul—was still rampaging through his body, causing agonizing pain in his meridians and making him convulse uncontrollably.

"It hurts... my body... feels like it's about to split apart..." Sasuke clutched the three-tomoe mark on his neck in agony.

"Don't move."

Ye Tian pressed a hand onto Sasuke's shoulder.

To outsiders, it looked like nothing more than an upperclassman comforting a younger student. Sakura had just been about to warn him to be careful when she saw Ye Tian's palm already resting against the back of Sasuke's neck.

"Relax. Don't be like a hedgehog," Ye Tian said softly.

In truth, the instant his palm made contact, spiritual energy within Ye Tian's body began to circulate silently.

[Immortal Cultivation Secret Art · Clear Heart Formula]

A cool, gentle spiritual energy, yet one carrying irresistible authority, flowed from Ye Tian's palm into Sasuke's meridians.

A ninja's chakra might be corrupted by Orochimaru's Curse Mark chakra, but an immortal cultivator's spiritual energy was a higher-dimensional power. Especially the orthodox Daoist cultivation art Ye Tian practiced—it excelled at Evil Suppression!

Buzz!

Within Sasuke's consciousness, the violent giant serpent representing Orochimaru's will had been about to devour someone when a beam of golden light descended from above and pinned it down.

That golden light transformed into invisible shackles, forcibly driving the restless Curse Mark power back into the tiny center of the mark.

"Urgh..."

Sasuke let out a muffled groan, and his tense body instantly relaxed. The pain that had felt like it was burning his soul receded like the tide, replaced by unprecedented coolness and peace.

He turned back in surprise and looked at Ye Tian behind him.

"You..."

"Shh." Ye Tian held a finger to his lips. His face remained pale as paper, and he even swayed weakly. "Don't look at me like that. I just helped straighten out your breathing. It's only a little medical ninjutsu trick."

Sasuke's expression was complicated. Straighten out his breathing? Could ordinary medical ninjutsu create that sensation, as if even his soul had been cleansed?

What secrets was this guy, who had always been considered a "dead-last repeater," hiding?

Before Sasuke could figure it out, the surrounding bushes suddenly shook.

"What a pain... looks like it's finally over."

A lazy voice drifted over.

Immediately afterward, Team 10's Ino–Shika–Cho trio—Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akimichi, and Ino Yamanaka—walked out from their hiding place.

They had witnessed Sasuke's rampage from beginning to end and had not dared act rashly. Only now that things had calmed down did they dare reveal themselves.

"Sasuke!!"

Ino rushed over.

According to the usual script, Ino, Sasuke's number-one fangirl, would definitely have thrown herself at him first and fussed over him.

But this time, the script changed.

Halfway there, Ino abruptly veered aside. She directly ignored Sasuke kneeling on the ground and instead rushed anxiously toward Ye Tian, who stood off to the side looking as though he might collapse at any moment.

The reason was simple.

Although Sasuke had returned to normal, the sight of him snapping people's arms and radiating black flames had been far too terrifying. Even devoted fangirl Ino felt a little afraid.

Then there was Ye Tian.

His clothes were in tatters, a huge, shocking bloodstain covered his chest—blood he had forced out himself earlier—his face was pale, and his gaze melancholy. His whole body gave off a sense of "broken beauty."

Combined with the scene of Ye Tian stepping forward to "protect" Sasuke earlier, he was practically Ino's only source of support at that moment!

"Ye Tian! Are you okay?!"

Ino caught the "weakened" Ye Tian. Seeing the blood on his chest, her eyes instantly reddened. "Oh no, why are you bleeding so much? Were you hurt protecting everyone just now?"

Ye Tian, who had been worrying about finding an excuse to rest, secretly rejoiced and conveniently put all his weight on Ino.

It had to be said that although Ino was still young, she had developed far better than Sakura. Her shoulders were soft, and she was very comfortable to lean against.

"Cough, cough... it's Ino."

Ye Tian weakly lifted his eyelids and revealed an extremely forced smile. His voice was as faint as a mosquito's buzz. "I'm fine... it's just... that scene was too bloody. You know, my health isn't very good, and I get a little dizzy at the sight of blood... blegh..."

As he spoke, he even pretended to be about to vomit, frightening Ino into quickly patting his back.

"Stop talking! Sit down and rest!" Ino was heartbroken. She turned and glared at Shikamaru. "Shikamaru! Come help already! Ye Tian's about to faint!"

Not far away, Shikamaru rolled his eyes hard. With both hands in his pockets, he wore the expression of someone thinking, This woman is hopeless.

"Please... when that guy threw stones and crippled someone's hands just now, he didn't look the least bit like someone who gets dizzy at the sight of blood," Shikamaru muttered under his breath. "What a troublesome woman. She only cares about looks."

Though he complained, Shikamaru still walked over and vigilantly watched their surroundings, keeping guard for Ye Tian and Team 7.

Choji, meanwhile, crunched on potato chips and mumbled, "Ye Tian's face really does look terrible. Want some barbecue-flavored chips to help you recover?"

While things were noisy on this side, the three Sound ninjas had long since supported one another and fled in disgrace.

After leaning against Ino and "resting" for a while, Ye Tian's gaze seemingly casually swept over several ninja tools scattered on the ground.

They had been left behind when the three Sound ninjas fled, along with the Earth Scroll Dosu had handed over to save his life.

Ye Tian did not bother with the scroll. It was useful to Team 7, but not to him.

His Divine Sense silently swept over the Sound ninjas' equipment.

"Tch, what a bunch of poor bastards."

Ye Tian secretly looked down on them.

That Zaku guy's air tubes were just ordinary alloy, without even a trace of spiritual material. Kin's senbon needles were common goods too.

"Hm? Wait."

Ye Tian's gaze fixed on a ninja tool pouch that had fallen into the grass. It was Dosu's.

He pretended to lose his balance, staggered forward two steps, and bent down to pick up the pouch.

"Be careful!" Ino hurriedly supported him.

"I'm fine. I'll see if there's any medicine," Ye Tian casually lied, while his hand quickly rummaged through the pouch.

Soon, he felt a roll of talisman paper with a special texture.

[Special High-Frequency Explosive Tag]

"It's actually made from paper pulp mixed with a trace amount of Lightning Sand?" Ye Tian's eyes brightened slightly.

Although this material was low-grade even in the immortal cultivation world, it was rare in the Shinobi World. Lightning Sand could greatly improve a talisman's spiritual energy conductivity.

"Not bad. If I take it back and redraw it, I can make Thunderflame Explosive Tags. Their power will be at least three times greater than the ordinary ones I use now."

Without changing his expression, Ye Tian slipped the roll of special Explosive Tags into his sleeve—using his storage pouch as cover—then tossed the ninja tool pouch aside with a disgusted look.

"Just some bandages. Useless stuff."

After doing all that, Ye Tian covered his forehead again, let his body go limp, and accurately fell back into Ino's arms.

"I can't do this... my head is so dizzy... Ino, let me lean on you for a while. Just a little while..."

"Okay, okay, lean on me. I won't move." Ino's face was flushed red. She was both nervous and excited, completely forgetting that Sasuke, her former dream guy, was still lying nearby.

Watching this scene, Shikamaru sighed helplessly and looked up at the sky.

"Ah... the clouds are so white. I really don't want to get involved in all this troublesome stuff..."

Meanwhile, deep in the forest, Tanaka Ichiro and Sato Jisuke watched from afar.

"Big bro... what is Boss Ye Tian doing?" Sato Jisuke hugged a tree trunk and trembled.

Tanaka Ichiro looked utterly awestruck. "Idiot! That's the boss's strategy! It's called a 'honey trap'... no, it's 'showing weakness to the enemy'! Not only did he defeat the enemies without shedding a drop of blood, he even picked up a girl from another team! He truly is the legendary man who repeated three years!"

"So that's how it is! Boss is amazing!"