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 arms, the one-sided battle instantly froze.
However, the real horror had only just begun.
"Heh... hehehe..."
A low, hoarse laugh, as though it had come from the depths of hell, shattered 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. There was only pure, overflowing killing intent. Orochimaru's Chakra was frantically eroding his sanity, turning him into a bloodthirsty beast.
"Just now... who was it that beat Sakura into this state?"
Sasuke's voice was soft, yet it crashed into everyone's hearts like a heavy hammer.
His figure flashed. He moved so fast that even his afterimage could not be seen, instantly appearing behind Zaku, who was clutching his broken arms and screaming.
"Since these hands are already ruined, let's do this properly."
Sasuke seized Zaku's two broken, twisted arms, planted a foot on his back, and yanked backward.
"Stop... stop! Aaaahhh!"
Zaku screamed in terror.
"You seem rather proud of these hands, don't you?"
A cruel, crazed smile spread across Sasuke's face.
Crack!!!
The bone-splintering sound rang through the forest.
Zaku's arms were forcibly bent backward at a horrifying angle. His heart-wrenching screams sent chills down everyone's spine.
Even Dosu, who was usually calm, was so frightened that he collapsed to the ground. Trembling, he handed over the Earth Scroll in his hand. "The scroll is yours... let us go..."
But Sasuke had no intention of stopping. He casually flung aside Zaku, who was like a rag doll, then walked step by step toward Kin, the only female Sound Ninja, with suffocatingly sinister Chakra radiating from his body.
"It isn't 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 tightly embraced Sasuke from behind.
"Please, stop! This isn't you at all!"
Sakura's sobbing cries seemed to awaken a sliver of clarity deep within Sasuke.
The black markings crawling across his skin slowly began to fade, and that suffocatingly evil aura weakened along with them.
Sasuke's body went limp. He dropped to his knees, gasping for breath as the madness in his eyes was gradually replaced by confusion and pain.
"I... what happened to me...?"
The entire area fell silent.
Only the rustling of wind through the leaves remained.
At that moment, a profoundly ill-timed sigh sounded.
"Ah, young people these days really do have quite the temper."
Everyone looked toward the voice and saw Ye Tian, supposedly "gravely injured" and "weak and breathless," dragging himself toward Sasuke from behind with heavy, sluggish steps.
Although Sasuke's Curse Mark had receded, the malicious will Orochimaru had left behind—the remnant soul—was still rampaging through his body. Every one of his Meridians was in agonizing pain, and his body twitched uncontrollably.
"It hurts... my body... it feels like it's splitting apart..."
Sasuke painfully clutched the three-tomoe mark on his neck.
"Don't move."
Ye Tian pressed a hand onto Sasuke's shoulder.
To outsiders, it looked like nothing more than an upperclassman comforting a junior. Sakura had just been about to warn him to be careful when she saw that Ye Tian's palm had already settled against the back of Sasuke's neck.
"Relax. Don't bristle like a hedgehog," Ye Tian said quietly.
In truth, the instant his palm made contact, Spiritual Power began to circulate silently within Ye Tian's body.
[Cultivation Secret Art · Clear Heart Formula]
A cool, gentle stream of Spiritual Power, yet one containing irresistible authority, flowed from Ye Tian's palm into Sasuke's Meridians.
Before Orochimaru's Curse Mark Chakra, a ninja's Chakra might be corroded. But a Cultivator's Spiritual Power was energy from a higher dimension. Moreover, the orthodox Daoist technique Ye Tian cultivated excelled at one thing above all else: Evil Suppression!
Buzzz!
Within Sasuke's consciousness, the violent giant serpent representing Orochimaru's will had been about to devour someone when a beam of golden light suddenly descended from the sky and firmly suppressed it.
The golden light transformed into invisible shackles, forcibly driving the restless power of the Curse Mark back into that tiny Curse Mark core.
"Urgh..."
Sasuke let out a muffled groan, and his taut body instantly relaxed. The pain that had seemed to burn his soul receded like a tide, replaced by an unprecedented coolness and peace.
He turned around in astonishment and looked at Ye Tian behind him.
"You..."
"Shh."
Ye Tian raised a finger to his lips. His face remained pale as paper, and he even swayed weakly. "Don't look at me like that. I only helped settle your breathing. Just a little Medical Ninjutsu trick."
Sasuke's gaze was complicated. Settled his breathing? Could ordinary Medical Ninjutsu truly produce that feeling of having one's very soul cleansed?
Just what secrets was this guy, who had always been considered a "dead-last repeater," hiding?
Before Sasuke could figure it out, the surrounding grass suddenly rustled.
"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—stepped out from their hiding place.
They had witnessed Sasuke's rampage from beginning to end and had not dared to act rashly. Only after the situation calmed down did they dare show themselves.
"Sasuke!"
Ino rushed over.
According to the usual script, as Sasuke's number one fangirl, Ino would definitely have thrown herself at him first thing and fussed over him.
But this time, the script changed.
Halfway there, Ino's steps abruptly veered aside. She completely ignored Sasuke, who was kneeling on the ground, and instead rushed anxiously toward Ye Tian, who was swaying unsteadily nearby.
The reason was simple.
Although Sasuke had returned to normal, the sight of him snapping people's arms and emanating black flames all over his body was simply too frightening. Even fangirl Ino felt a little intimidated.
Then there was Ye Tian.
His clothes were torn to shreds, a large, shocking patch of blood stained his chest—blood he had forced out himself earlier—and his face was pale. His melancholy eyes gave his entire being a kind of shattered beauty.
Combined with the scene of Ye Tian stepping forward to "protect" Sasuke, he was practically Ino's only source of comfort right now!
"Ye Tian! Are you okay?!"
Ino grabbed the "weakened" Ye Tian to support him. Seeing the bloodstains 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 promptly shifted all his weight onto Ino.
He had to admit that although Ino was still young, she was much more developed than Sakura. Her shoulders were soft, and leaning against them was very comfortable.
"Cough, cough... it's Ino."
Ye Tian weakly raised his eyelids, revealing 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 is poor, and I'm a little squeamish around blood... blegh..."
As he spoke, he even put on a show of wanting to vomit, frightening Ino into hurriedly patting his back.
"Stop talking! Sit down and rest!"
Ino was heartbroken. She turned and glared at Shikamaru. "Shikamaru! Get over here and help! Ye Tian is about to faint!"
Not far away, Shikamaru rolled his eyes dramatically, hands in his pockets, wearing an expression that said this woman was beyond saving.
"Please... when that guy threw rocks and crippled someone's hands earlier, he didn't look squeamish around blood at all," Shikamaru muttered under his breath. "What a troublesome woman. She only cares about looks."
Though he complained, Shikamaru still walked over. He carefully watched their surroundings, keeping guard for Ye Tian and Team 7.
Choji, meanwhile, crunched on potato chips and said indistinctly, "Ye Tian-senpai's complexion really does look awful. Want some grilled-meat-flavored chips to help you recover?"
While things were noisy over here, the three Sound Ninja had long since supported one another and fled in disgrace.
After "resting" against Ino for a while, Ye Tian's gaze seemingly casually swept across several ninja tools scattered on the ground.
They had been dropped by the three Sound Ninja while fleeing, along with the Earth Scroll Dosu had surrendered 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 across the Sound Ninja's equipment.
"Tch, what a bunch of paupers."
Ye Tian secretly looked down on them.
The air tubes on that guy Zaku's arms were only ordinary alloy, without even a trace of spiritual material. Kin's Senbon were common goods as well.
"Hm? Wait."
Ye Tian's gaze locked onto a ninja tool pouch that had fallen into the grass. It had been left behind by Dosu.
Pretending that he could not stand steadily, he staggered two steps forward and bent down to pick up the pouch.
"Be careful!"
Ino hurriedly supported him.
"It's fine. I'm just checking whether there's any medicine."
Ye Tian casually made up an excuse, though his hands swiftly rummaged through the pouch.
Very soon, he found a roll of special-textured talisman paper.
[Special High-Frequency Explosive Tag]
"It's actually made with pulp mixed with trace amounts of Lightning Sand?"
Ye Tian's eyes brightened slightly.
Although this material was considered low-grade even in the cultivation world, it was not commonly seen in the Shinobi World. Lightning Sand could greatly improve a talisman's Spiritual Power conductivity.
"Not bad. If I take it back and redraw it, I can make Thunderflame Explosive Tags. They'll be at least three times stronger than the ordinary ones I use now."
Without changing his expression, Ye Tian slipped the roll of special Explosive Tags into his sleeve, using the Storage Bag as cover, then tossed the ninja tool pouch aside with a look of disdain.
"Just some bandages. Useless stuff."
After doing all that, Ye Tian clutched his forehead again, let his body go limp, and accurately fell back into Ino's embrace.
"I can't... my head is spinning... Ino, let me lean on you for a while. Just a 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 her former idol Sasuke was still lying not far away.
Seeing this, Shikamaru sighed helplessly and looked up at the sky.
"Ah... the clouds are so white. I really don't want to get involved in these troublesome matters..."
Meanwhile, deep in the forest, Tanaka Ichiro and Sato Jisuke watched from hiding.
"Big bro... what is Boss Ye Tian doing?"
Sato Jisuke hugged a tree trunk and trembled.
Tanaka Ichiro wore an expression of worship. "Idiot! That's the boss's strategy! It's called the 'honey trap'... no, it's called 'showing weakness to the enemy'! Not only did he resolve the enemy without shedding blood, he even picked up a girl from another class while he was at it! As expected of the legendary man who repeated for three years!"
"That's right! Boss is amazing!"