Up ahead, Anko turned just in time to see Sasuke being bitten on the shoulder by Orochimaru. Her eyes widened in shock.
"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"
With a shout, dozens of snakes shot out from her sleeve, striking at Orochimaru!
But Orochimaru's body was already dissolving like sludge, slowly melting away.
Facing Anko's attack, Orochimaru sneered with disdain.
"Hoho… using a jutsu I taught you won't defeat me, Anko."
"And one more thing—don't even think about canceling the Chunin Exams because of me. If you do, I'll destroy all of Konoha."
With those words, his body sank into the ground like liquid, vanishing completely.
Anko stomped her foot in fury.
"Damn it, he slipped away again!!"
At that moment, Naruto shouted in panic.
"Proctor! Hurry over here and look! Sasuke's not gonna make it!"
Startled, Anko rushed forward.
Sasuke's body was covered in dark markings, writhing on the ground in unbearable pain, letting out pained roars from time to time.
Anko pulled open his collar to check his shoulder.
There, a black three-tomoe mark was slowly taking shape.
"This is the Cursed Seal of Heaven!" Anko said grimly.
"What does that mean?"
Shinju asked anxiously.
Anko explained what she knew.
"The cursed seal is something Orochimaru developed after researching a certain natural Sage Body. He uses a snake bite to brand it onto someone."
"The survival rate of those branded is only one in ten."
"High risk comes with high reward. If the cursed seal takes, the person will gain tremendous power—but that power is hard to control, and there's a high risk of going berserk."
Shinju frowned, staring at the suffering Sasuke on the ground.
"So you're saying… Sasuke has only a one-in-ten chance of surviving this?"
"That's right. Whether he lives or dies depends on his own luck."
Anko sighed.
"Once Orochimaru bites, the transfer of the cursed seal can't be reversed."
"Then… is there any way to ease his pain, or at least improve his odds of survival?"
Shinju asked, though he knew how naïve it sounded.
Anko answered,
"Certain sealing jutsu can suppress the power of a cursed seal. But as for raising the survival rate… I don't know."
Shinju nodded thoughtfully.
He'd heard of sealing techniques back at the Academy, but they were never taught. Most of them were clan secrets, passed down only within families.
So, while Sasuke rolled in agony, Shinju sat beside him, thinking hard.
Maybe he could use the runes he'd studied to create a sealing jutsu of his own—to ease Sasuke's pain, and reduce the cursed seal's effect on him…
Two minutes later, Shinju's eyes lit up.
He pulled out a brush from his tool pouch and began drawing runes.
Anko's eyes widened in alarm.
"What are you doing?! A wrong rune could speed up Sasuke's death!"
"And sealing techniques are insanely hard— even I can't use them! What could a little brat like you possibly draw?!"
"I never said I was experimenting on Sasuke."
Shinju spread his hands casually.
Then he stepped into the sealing array himself.
If he tested on himself, he could undo it if it went wrong. But if he messed up and used it on Sasuke, it could kill him outright.
He formed seals, activating the jutsu, intending to seal part of his own chakra first.
As the technique took effect, countless symbols flowed into his body, covering his skin.
Finally, a tree-shaped mark appeared on his lower back, just above the tailbone!
Anko stared blankly.
...(꒪⌓꒪)
This brat could really use sealing techniques?!
And ones she'd never even seen before?!
Normally, the only way to seal a cursed seal was with the Evil Sealing Method.
But that jutsu could only lessen the cursed seal's effect after it had taken root.
And how did she know? Because she had one branded on her herself.
Yet this red-haired kid actually knew other sealing techniques!
"This kid's got red hair… could he be from the Uzumaki clan?"
Anko asked Naruto offhandedly.
"No clue. I've never heard of Shinju's family name. He's an orphan, just like me. But—speaking of which, I am from the Uzumaki clan! ( ˉ͈̀꒳ˉ͈́ )✧"
Naruto proudly pointed at himself.
"No family… then who taught him sealing techniques?" Anko pressed.
"Don't think anyone did… oh wait, I think Shinju mentioned having a teacher in the Anbu."
Naruto thought for a moment, then answered.
Anko clapped her hands excitedly.
That explained everything!
It must have been someone in Anbu who taught this red-haired kid sealing jutsu!
There was no way he had just figured it out on his own, right?!
Meanwhile, Shinju's experiment on himself had actually succeeded.
He sealed away half of his own chakra and dulled his sense of pain.
Encouraged, he began drawing a new sealing array—this time for Sasuke.
Minutes later, the runes were complete.
He pushed the writhing Sasuke into the center of the array, then formed rapid hand seals.
"Pain-Reduction Sealing Technique!"
(a dumb name Shinju came up with himself)
With his shout, the black runes surged into Sasuke's body!
Within seconds, they converged on the tomoe mark at his shoulder.
A tree-shaped seal formed, wrapping around the three-tomoe cursed seal.
And the effect was immediate.
Sasuke, who had been thrashing in pain, suddenly grew quiet.
The black markings across his body began to fade away.
"Amazing… that's incredible!"
Anko was stunned, unable to hold back her words.
If she'd had this sealing jutsu back when Orochimaru branded her, she wouldn't have suffered so badly!
She hurried over to Shinju, pressing him.
"Hey! Where did you learn this sealing technique? Who in Anbu taught you?!"
"This? Oh, it's simple."
Shinju shrugged.
The runes he used to form the sealing jutsu could all be found in Konoha's library. It wasn't difficult, so to him this really was nothing special.
"Don't get cocky, brat! Tell me the truth—who taught you this sealing technique?! This is extremely useful—I need to report it to the higher-ups!"
Anko was frantic.
Shinju nodded. He wasn't planning on hiding something so basic. He pulled out a sheet of paper and wrote down the entire formula.
Anko snatched it up, and even after just skimming, she was utterly shocked!
"You… you even annotated the runes for specific situations?!"
"How could you possibly know that tweaking these few runes would create completely different effects?!"
Shinju spread his hands again, perfectly calm.
"Because I just thought of it right now. ┐(´-｀)┌"
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