35: Chapter 35 Sasuke's Choice, Orochimaru's TemptationNaruto Uzumaki brushed past him without pausing for a moment.
The surging emotional storm almost overwhelmed his senses.
[Ding!Sensing 8800 units of extreme [Jealousy] from Uchiha Sasuke!]
[Ding!Sensing 9200 units of extreme [resentment] from Uchiha Sasuke!]
[Ding!Sensing 7500 units of intense humiliation from Uchiha Sasuke!]
Sasuke stood there, his body stiff as a stone.
He watched Naruto's figure disappear into the shadows of the passage, and that calmness, that indifference, stung more than any direct humiliation.
gap.
There was a time when he thought he was far ahead, leaving that bottom runner far behind.
But now, he finds himself losing even the right to chase after the other person's back.
That victory, which was barely won in the preliminaries thanks to the cursed seal, became a pathetic joke in the face of Naruto's crushing performance just now.
"Sasuke."
Kakashi Hatake's voice sounded behind him, tinged with weariness and helplessness.
He walked over to Sasuke, trying to calm the student who was about to lose control."Naruto's power is special; it's not something you can achieve through simple hard work."
"Shut up!"
Sasuke suddenly turned his head, his crimson Sharingan staring intently at Kakashi, its veins bloodshot.
"Don't mention that guy to me!"
He wouldn't listen to any explanations.He only saw the results.He only acknowledged the gap.
What he needed wasn't comfort, but strength.Strength enough to utterly tear that figure, and the other figure, apart.
[Ding!You have received 6000 units of the ultimate [Craving for Power] from Uchiha Sasuke!]
The three black tomoe marks on the neck seemed to sense the turmoil in the host's heart and began to emit a burning pain.
A cold, evil energy seeped into his meridians, following the pain.
That's a temptation.
A whisper.
It is telling him that as long as he is willing to accept it, he can gain power that transcends everything.
[Ding!Sensing the target [Uchiha Sasuke]'s extreme [pain] x3100!]
[Ding!Sensing the target [Uchiha Sasuke]'s [temptation] x4200!]
Just then, an invisible mental fluctuation, which only Sasuke could perceive, came from the high platform.
"Do you want power, Sasuke-kun?"
The man disguised as the Kazekage, Orochimaru, pierced through the noisy crowd and precisely locked onto the boy whose heart was trembling violently.
His words, like a snake's whisper, resounded directly in Sasuke's mind.
"Your eyes shouldn't be buried in this childish game.Your hatred needs to be watered with a much stronger force."
"Look at Naruto Uzumaki, he's already ahead of you.Are you willing to accept that?"
"Come to me, Sasuke.I will give you everything you want, and empower you to take revenge on that man."
Orochimaru's vision of the future is filled with bloodshed and power, and every word strikes Sasuke's most vulnerable nerves with precision.
revenge.
strength.
Surpass Naruto.
Sasuke's breathing became heavy.In his mind, the indifference of Itachi Uchiha's Mangekyou Sharingan flashed by, followed by the despair-inducingly calm back of Naruto Uzumaki.
Two insurmountable peaks pressed down on him, making it hard for him to breathe.
But then, the scene changed again.
Sakura Haruno's worried cries, Kakashi's helpless sighs, and Naruto's silly, yet undeniably genuine, grin.
Class 7.
Leaf.
That emotion called "bond" was like a fragile spider silk, trying to pull him back from the edge of falling into the abyss.
[Ding!Sensing the target [Uchiha Sasuke]'s extreme [struggle] x11000!]
Naruto Uzumaki stopped in his tracks in the pitch-black contestant tunnel.
He didn't turn around, but he could clearly "see" the sea of emotions raging within Sasuke's heart.
[Desire] and [Bound] are tearing each other apart.
Resentment and discontent are intertwined.
This is a crucial moment.
It was the crossroads where Sasuke made his final decision.
Naruto did not intervene.
He was just a quiet observer, a farmer waiting for the fruit to ripen.
No matter which path Sasuke chooses, he will become the best source of nourishment for himself.
Just as the atmosphere in the arena fell into an eerie stillness due to this series of unexpected events, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, stood up.
His aged yet authoritative voice, amplified by his ninjutsu, resounded throughout the entire venue.
"Given the many unexpected situations that occurred during this Chunin Exams preliminary round, in order to ensure the fairness of the finals and to give the injured contestants enough time to recover."
"I hereby announce that the final will be postponed for one month!"
This decision caused another uproar among the already agitated crowd.
But soon, the uproar turned into even higher expectations.
A month is enough time for those genin who have shown their talent in the preliminaries to become stronger.
The final match will surely be even more exciting.
[Ding!You've received 12,000 "expectations" from the audience!]
[Ding!You have received 2500 [Decision] from Hiruzen Sarutobi!]
Naruto was not surprised by this result at all.
Hiruzen Sarutobi needs time to investigate the cursed seal on Sasuke and the incomprehensible power within himself.
This month is perfect.
Time flies.
After the shock of the preliminary rounds, Konoha Village appeared calm on the surface, but undercurrents were surging beneath.
Naruto completely disappeared from everyone's sight.
His small apartment was shrouded in an invisible barrier.
[Spell: Tent, unfold.]
Hiruzen Sarutobi's crystal ball completely turned into aIt was pitch black.
Inside the room, Naruto sat cross-legged.
He is digesting the gains from the qualifiers and preparing for the storm to come.
"System, exchange for [Reversal Spell] Proficiency."
[Confirmed consumption of 50,000 Glory Points?This technique multiplies negative curse energy to generate positive energy, possessing a healing effect.]
"confirm."
A warm and pure energy, completely opposite to the power of the curse, was born within him.
He needs more efficient "healing" methods to deal with the upcoming, larger-scale "harvest".
At the same time, he also devoted a lot of energy to practicing the [Spell: Shadow Manipulation Technique].
He could sense that Orochimaru's gaze never left Sasuke.
He himself needed a stronger Sasuke, a Sasuke who had completely embraced darkness, to provide him with higher quality and purer negative emotions.
During this month, subtle changes also occurred in another ancient and prestigious clan in Konoha, the Hyuga clan.
After suffering a crushing defeat at the hands of Naruto, Neji Hyuga became taciturn and withdrawn.
He no longer promoted that ridiculous theory of fate.
His gaze toward the Zong family mansion was no longer one of simple resentment, but rather one of complex, cold scrutiny.
Meanwhile, Hiashi Hyuga, the head of the Hyuga clan, summoned the clan elders several times late at night, the contents of which remain unknown.
But when he looked at his daughter Hinata, his gaze was less stern and more filled with a sense of guilt that he himself was unaware of.
[Ding!You have received 3000 [Transformation] from Hyuga Neji!]
[Ding!You have received 2200 "Reflections" from Hiashi Hyuga!]
Everything was unfolding according to Naruto's pre-planned script.
A month passed in the blink of an eye.
The final day has finally arrived.
The entire Hidden Leaf Village was immersed in a carnival-like atmosphere, and the area around the arena was packed with people, far exceeding the scale of the preliminary rounds.
However, just when everyone was looking forward to the ultimate showdown between the geniuses.
The night before the final.
Sasuke Uchiha's apartment was deserted.
On the table in the room, there was only one letter.
The handwriting on the letter was messy and forceful, almost tearing the back of the paper.
There was no farewell, no lingering affection, only a line of words filled with madness and determination.
"I need power, at any cost."
Almost at the same time that Sasuke stepped out of the Konoha barrier.
Naruto Uzumaki, who was resting with his eyes closed in his apartment, suddenly opened them.
He clearly sensed that at the edge of the village, an evil and powerful chakra suddenly erupted.
That was the power of the cursed seal, unleashed completely and without reservation.
Sasuke made his choice.
Naruto slowly stood up, walked to the window, and looked in that direction.
There was no surprise on his face.
[Ding!Sensing the final [choice] of target [Uchiha Sasuke]!]
[Ding!You have received 15,000 units of the ultimate [Craving for Power] from Uchiha Sasuke!]
[Ding!You have received 13,000 units of Ultimate Obsession from Uchiha Sasuke!]
Naruto raised his hand, and a thin black thread quietly emerged from his shadow before disappearing again.
"The game has begun."
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