Ryou asked, "Why are Anko and Yamato here? Are they also taking part in the Sage Mode trial of Ryūchi Cave?"
Ichikishimahime nodded. "That's right. Sage Mode training in Ryūchi Cave is too cruel. The Great Sage personally injects Sage Mode energy; one slight mistake and the natural chakra will mutate the person into a monster."
"Orochimaru wants Sage Mode but doesn't want to take the risk, so he wants his two disciples to take the risk for him. If they succeed..."
"...Orochimaru will reincarnate into their bodies and obtain Sage Mode!"
Ryou pulled back the collar on Anko's neck and saw a three tomoe pattern. This was a Cursed Seal, specifically the Heaven Cursed Seal.
In the original work, Orochimaru implanted the Heaven Cursed Seal into Anko when he defected, but Anko couldn't withstand its energy.
The Cursed Seal she received was incomplete. The flawed Heaven Cursed Seal acted as negative feedback for her.
The Cursed Seal constantly erodes Anko's chakra, and she must dedicate a portion of her chakra to resist Orochimaru's seal.
The only function of this Cursed Seal is that when Orochimaru is nearby, Anko can sense him through the pain it causes.
The Cursed Seal has caused Anko much harm and has also consumed her talent as a Shinobi.
Otherwise, with Anko's talent, it would be impossible for her to be a mere Special Jonin.
She is a successor with a contract with Ryūchi Cave; she can defeat a Jonin just by summoning giant snakes.
Even if the Heaven Cursed Seal had been successful, Anko's fate would not have been good, as she would have become a sacrificial vessel for Orochimaru's reincarnation.
Orochimaru truly intended to harm Anko; there's no defending him.
When he defected back then, he took all his subordinates with him, but he didn't take his own disciple.
Because Anko's Cursed Seal experiment failed, Orochimaru abandoned her, but out of some lingering sentiment for their master-disciple bond, he didn't kill her.
He simply let her live a life of pain in Konoha.
Ryou touched Anko's Cursed Seal. "This Orochimaru, how can he be such a beast? To use up even such a cute disciple, he truly has no humanity!"
Ichikishimahime and Candy subconsciously glanced at Ryou.
Was Ryou any better?
Orochimaru and Ryou were like two peas in a pod; the pot shouldn't call the kettle black!
Ryou discovered that Anko's Cursed Seal was perfect. Unlike in the original work, the Cursed Seal on Anko now was the most perfect Heaven Cursed Seal.
Surprised, he immediately released his perception and found that Anko had cells identical to his own inside her body.
These were White Zetsu cells!
"I see!"
Ryou understood now.
Orochimaru had pre-implanted White Zetsu cells into Anko, enhancing her constitution and talent, allowing her to perfectly contain the power of the Heaven Cursed Seal.
Relying on the natural chakra of the Cursed Seal, Anko could possess power comparable to a Jonin.
Combined with the powerful support abilities, chakra volume, perception, absorption, and regeneration provided by the White Zetsu cells...
An average Jonin really wouldn't be a match for Anko.
She has already become even stronger than in the original work!
Although Orochimaru is a beast, it's thanks to him that Anko was able to exceed her original limits.
Perhaps Orochimaru wasn't that much of a beast.
However, Anko still had hidden dangers; the Heaven Cursed Seal contained Orochimaru's chakra.
At any moment, Anko could become a vessel for Orochimaru's reincarnation.
The stronger Anko became, the more she was just paving the way for Orochimaru.
Perhaps once she learned Sage Mode, Orochimaru would take her over.
And then there was Yamato.
Ryou let go of Anko and went to check Yamato's condition, finding that Yamato had also been implanted with a Cursed Seal, though it wasn't the Heaven Cursed Seal.
Instead, it was something similar to Kimimaro's Earth Cursed Seal.
Although Yamato could perform Wood Release, he could only perform the techniques and didn't receive the supplementary boost from Hashirama cells.
For example, in the 'Stamina' category of the Eight Shinobi Stats, which represents chakra volume, out of a maximum of ten, Kakashi has a score of 6, while Yamato is only one point higher than Kakashi.
But in terms of other Shinobi stats, Yamato was qualified, and being able to withstand the Earth Cursed Seal was already excellent.
While Ryou was checking Yamato's Cursed Seal, Ichikishimahime released Senjutsu chakra to clear the Sage Snake Venom from Anko's body, and Anko's complexion gradually improved.
Candy then injected her own Yang Release chakra to repair Anko's weakness.
Soon, the cold sweat on Anko's brow subsided, and her deathly pale face slowly regained a faint colour.
She recovered, let out a sleep-mutter, and slowly opened her eyes.
Anko had a dream—a nightmare where Orochimaru abandoned her.
Because he didn't become the fourth leader of Konoha, Orochimaru's heart became cruel and distorted, and he used the Cursed Seal on Anko first.
Anko struggled to endure, suffering unspeakably as the Cursed Seal eroded her, wishing for a release.
The Cursed Seal failed, and Anko luckily survived, but most of her talent was ruined.
What was even more painful was that Orochimaru was going to abandon her.
"Master Orochimaru, where are you going? Take me with you!"
Orochimaru left without looking back: "Anko, you are too weak. The path I am taking is not one your talent can keep up with!"
Anko watched the departing Orochimaru in helpless agony; the betrayal of her heart was even worse than the pain in her body.
From then on, she could only be alone.
Anko opened her eyes, and her first words were about Orochimaru: "Master, don't leave me! I'm willing to defect with you!"
"Well now, Anko, you've finally exposed your disloyalty to the Village!"
Ryou pinched Anko's face and shouted, "You ungrateful girl! The Village fed you and clothed you, and yet you actually want to defect?"
"Is the sun in Konoha not bright enough for you? Do you want to eat purple eggs instead?"
Anko broke free from the pain of the illusion and immediately saw that big villain Ryou bullying her.
She snapped back, "Uchiha Ryou, what right do you have to lecture me? You're currently an S-rank rogue Shinobi of Konoha, a big villain everyone wants to take down!"
Ryou pulled on Anko's cheek. "How bold! I didn't call it defecting; I called it embracing civilization."
"If humans can migrate freely, then the direction of the flow of people is the direction of civilization."
Anko, her cheek being pulled by Ryou, felt uncomfortable and questioned, "Are there many people migrating into the Land of Rain?"
...
Ryou was struck silent. One of his Spore Clones was currently playing the role of the Daimyo of the Land of Rain, handling the administrative affairs of the country.
Ryou knew the situation in the Land of Rain very well; many people were desperately trying to flee the country.
It was like this before Madara arrived, and even more people fled after he came.
Even in the Hidden Rain Village, the imperial city at the foot of the Son of Heaven, people were defecting every day.
The direction of the flow of people is the direction of civilization. A place everyone flees from is either a hell or a prison.
But there is one such place where the flow of people heads toward it and then moves away from it.
That is—school!
Seeing Ryou silenced by her words, Anko sneered, "Defecting is defecting! Don't give me that talk about embracing civilization."
"You've become a street rat in the Shinobi World, someone everyone has the right to kill!"
Ryou exhaled. "Anko, you're lecturing me now! If it weren't for me, you would have been eaten by a snake demon by now."
"What do you mean?!" Anko was a bit puzzled.
Ryou's words were heavily biased, so he let Candy explain.