"What kind of... magnificent flower of evil will you bloom into on this thorn-covered path?"
Shengu Xuan's voice, tinged with amusement and anticipation, slowly drifted through the devastated Forest of Death. The air still held the terrifying heat left by the rampaging explosive demonic flames. Charred trunks cracked and popped from time to time, and wisps of black smoke rose into the clouds, making the already gloomy sky even more oppressive.
The enormous crater, over three hundred meters across, lay like a scar upon the earth, silently recounting the utterly one-sided crushing that had just taken place. Its glassy bottom gleamed eerily in the faint light, proof that the soil and rocks had melted instantly under extreme heat.
"Ugh... Aaaaaah!"
A heart-rending scream shattered the brief deathly silence.
Lying at the edge of the scorched earth, Sasuke Uchiha was enduring torment beyond what ordinary people could imagine. The Cursed Seal of Heaven Orochimaru had left behind-those three pitch-black tomoe-writhed and expanded wildly on his neck as though they had come alive.
The black markings spread down his neck like vicious venomous snakes, greedily devouring his chakra while forcibly injecting a foreign energy, violent, cold, and filled with murderous desire, into every part of his body.
"It hurts... my body's being torn apart..."
Sasuke dug both hands into the soil, blood seeping from his fingers as he strained so hard that the tough stones even snapped his nails. His eyes were bloodshot, and his Sharingan appeared uncontrollably. The two tomoe spun wildly in his eyes, yet could not ease even the slightest bit of his pain.
"Why... why am I still so weak!"
Amid the intense pain, memories of that blood-soaked night surged unstoppably through Sasuke's mind. Corpses littering the ground, his parents lying in pools of blood, and that man standing atop a utility pole, as cold as death itself-Uchiha Itachi!
"Foolish little brother, if you want to kill me, then hate me, curse me, and go on living in disgrace..."
Itachi's icy voice echoed in his ears like a nightmare.
"No! I can't die here! I need revenge! I need power! Any power at all, as long as it lets me kill that man!"
Sasuke roared madly in his heart. He sensed the terrifying power contained within the cursed seal, a shortcut that could let him transcend ordinary limits and gain tremendous strength in an instant. Even if this power was full of evil and ill omens, even if it would drag him into the abyss, he wanted to seize it tightly without a moment's hesitation!
With his hands in his pockets, Shengu Xuan looked down at Sasuke as he rolled and struggled on the ground. He neither intervened to stop the cursed seal's encroachment nor used the Horse Talisman's healing power to relieve Sasuke's pain.
A faint glimmer flickered in his eyes as his powerful perception penetrated Sasuke's skin, carefully observing how that foreign chakra operated.
So that's how it works, Shengu Xuan mused. Natural energy extracted using the Jugo clan's unique constitution, mixed with Orochimaru's own mental will, forcibly alters the host's cellular structure. Put simply, this thing is a shoddy Sage Mode trial pass, plus a backdoor program that lets him take over the body at any time.
That old bastard Orochimaru really is a genius in biotechnology. Too bad his horizons are so narrow. Pinning his hopes on a defective product riddled with side effects-no wonder he never reaches the threshold of the Six Paths level in his entire life.
Shengu Xuan gave a bored yawn, losing interest in this low-level power system.
Just then, a rustling came from the grass nearby.
"Ugh... that hurts..."
Naruto Uzumaki, who had been slapped away by Orochimaru and knocked unconscious earlier, finally staggered to his feet, clutching the back of his head.
His signature orange jacket was in tatters, and his face was covered in dirt and blood. Naruto opened his eyes in confusion and looked around.
The next second, his bright blue eyes flew wide open, and his mouth gaped wide enough to fit an apple.
"Wh... what's going on here?!"
Naruto stared at the enormous, seemingly bottomless crater before him and the surrounding primeval forest that had been completely flattened. His mind simply stopped working. He clearly remembered charging at that terrifying Grass Ninja in a bamboo hat, then everything had gone black, and he knew nothing after that.
How had even the terrain changed while he was out?!
"Sasuke!"
Naruto's gaze swept across the battlefield until he finally spotted Sasuke lying at Shengu Xuan's feet, crying out in agony. With a startled cry, he scrambled over.
"Sasuke! What's wrong! Hang in there!"
Naruto threw himself down beside Sasuke and tried to help him up, only to jerk his hands back as though burned by the cold aura emanating from him. He stared in horror at the black markings spreading constantly across Sasuke's neck, sensing the violent, chaotic chakra within his body.
"What the hell is this thing! Did that disgusting snake Grass Ninja do this?!" Naruto was so frantic he was nearly in tears. He whipped his head around and fixed his eyes on Shengu Xuan, who had stood indifferently beside them the whole time, shouting furiously, "Shengu Xuan! Have you just been standing here watching?! You're so strong, so why didn't you save Sasuke! Why did you let that Grass Ninja hurt him!"
Faced with Naruto's accusations, Shengu Xuan merely picked lazily at his ear.
"Hey, hey, don't shout so loudly. I'm not deaf yet." Shengu Xuan flicked his fingernail, his tone as casual as if he were discussing the weather. "First, the one who injured you was Orochimaru, not some Grass Ninja. Second, I saved your lives. If I hadn't scared that big snake away, you'd already be snake droppings by now. Third..."
Shengu Xuan pointed at Sasuke on the ground, a meaningful smile curling his lips. "Are you sure he's suffering right now, rather than enjoying a baptism of power?"
"What nonsense are you talking about! Sasuke's clearly in so much pain he's about to die!" Naruto could not take in Shengu Xuan's explanation at all. All he saw was his companion being tormented.
"Shut up... dead last..."
Just then, a weak voice full of malice came from beneath Naruto.
Naruto jolted and looked down.
Sasuke had stopped rolling around. He panted heavily, his entire body drenched in sweat as though he had just been hauled out of water. The black cursed seal on his neck had stopped spreading and contracted back into three tomoe, branded firmly into his skin.
Sasuke slowly opened his eyes. The two tomoe in his Sharingan actually showed faint signs of turning into three tomoe! More unsettling still, the look in his eyes had changed. Alongside his original coldness was a trace of chilling evil and madness.
"Sasuke... are you all right now?" Naruto asked cautiously.
"Get lost!"
Sasuke abruptly shoved Naruto away and struggled to his feet. He clenched his fists, sensing the terrifying power that had subsided but still lay dormant deep within him, and could not help the corners of his mouth lifting.
"So this is... the power Orochimaru gave me... so strong... such incredible chakra..." Sasuke murmured, a fervent light flashing in his eyes. "With this, I can... kill that man!"
Pushed to the ground, Naruto stared blankly at Sasuke, who seemed like an entirely different person, and a powerful unease rose in his heart. "Sasuke, what's happened to you? What's that mark? You're acting so strange!"
"I said, shut up!" Sasuke whipped his head around and glared viciously at Naruto. "How could trash like you, who can't even control his chakra properly, possibly understand how I feel right now! I need power! Even if it's a demon's power, I want it!"
Startled by Sasuke's murderous gaze, Naruto opened his mouth but could not say a word.
Shengu Xuan watched this scene of brothers turning against each other and gave a bored yawn. "All right, all right, if you're done with the melodrama, hurry up, get yourselves together, and move along. This lousy forest reeks of blood. It'll attract other flies soon."
Sasuke turned toward Shengu Xuan, a trace of deep wariness flashing in his eyes, though there was even more stubborn refusal to admit defeat. He had witnessed Shengu Xuan's overwhelming power firsthand. Even that terrifying Orochimaru had been beaten into a desperate retreat. But now he had the cursed seal. He believed that as long as he mastered this power, sooner or later, he too could surpass Shengu Xuan!
"Hmph, spare me your nonsense." Sasuke snorted coldly, forcing himself to endure his body's weakness as he turned to leave.
Yet the instant he turned, Shengu Xuan's eyebrow suddenly rose slightly.
"Hm?"
Deep within his mind, Shengu Xuan felt that ancient, mysterious Twelve Talismans wheel suddenly give a faint hum! Immediately afterward, a completely new energy, light and mysterious, slowly flowed out from the depths of his soul.
The Sheep Talisman, which represented "astral projection," had unlocked at that moment!
An excited smile curled Shengu Xuan's lips.
"Xuan, did you just say... a new power?"
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