Sensing a hint of wavering in Jūgo's tone, Rorin let out a slight sigh of relief, then smiled and said,
"It's simple. My method is to extract the Curse Mark power from your body. That way, you won't have your emotions influenced by natural energy anymore."
Jūgo frowned slightly, clearly skeptical of Rorin's words, and asked again,
"Then why are you helping me? If I remember correctly, we don't know each other."
Rorin nodded seriously. "Of course. There's no such thing as a free lunch. I'm doing this because it benefits me as well."
Hearing this, Jūgo looked at Rorin and slowly said, "You want to transfer the Curse Mark power from my body into yours?"
Rorin neither confirmed nor denied it, simply staring at Jūgo and waiting for his decision—whether he would choose to trust him or refuse.
At that moment, Jūgo fell into deep thought. On one hand, he truly wished to no longer have his emotions affected by the Curse Mark's power. On the other hand, his kind nature made him unwilling to pass his suffering onto someone else.
After thinking for a while, Jūgo shook his head and said apologetically,
"First of all, thank you. But I can't agree."
Rorin was slightly surprised and asked in confusion, "Why?"
"Your method is to transfer that power to yourself. But I know better than anyone the pain caused by this power over the years. I don't want to harm someone else just for my own relief. I can tell you genuinely want to help me, but… I'm sorry." Jūgo slowly lowered his head.
Hearing this, Rorin fell into thought.
As the saying goes, when in doubt, ask the system.
'System, Jūgo has a point. If I absorb his Curse Mark power, will I also lose control because of the natural energy?'
[Host, you don't need to worry about that. The extractor not only seizes the target's abilities but also optimizes them, ensuring that the acquired abilities no longer have negative side effects.]
"I see…" Rorin's lips curled slightly upward. Then he looked at Jūgo seriously and said, "Jūgo, you don't need to worry about what you just mentioned. That power might subject you to negative emotions, but it doesn't mean I'll be affected the same way."
Jūgo raised his head, hope appearing on his face. "Is that true?"
Rorin nodded and reaffirmed, "That's right. I'm confident it won't affect me."
Hearing this confirmation, Jūgo was overjoyed and immediately said,
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's start right away."
Rorin smiled, then turned his head to glance behind him and said calmly,
"No rush. We're still in a bit of trouble. Let's deal with the next steps after we leave this place."
Just moments ago, using the Byakugan, Rorin had sensed someone arriving at the Northern Hideout—and they were troublesome individuals.
Rorin muttered to himself, "Instead of properly watching over Sasuke, why did he come here?"
Jūgo was confused but didn't ask further, quietly waiting.
Moments later, two figures appeared at the entrance of the Northern Hideout. Seeing the guards lying unconscious on the ground, the newcomers—Kabuto Yakushi and Orochimaru—had arrived.
Adjusting his glasses, Kabuto muttered,
"Orochimaru-sama, it seems someone has infiltrated the place. What could their objective be? Jūgo?"
Orochimaru, in his hoarse voice, replied indifferently,
"Let's go inside and take a look."
...
Inside the prison, Rorin turned back toward Jūgo, stepped closer, and extended bone spikes from his hand. He cut off the shackles around Jūgo's feet, then placed a hand on his shoulder and said calmly,
"Jūgo, relax your mind and don't resist. Let's leave here first."
Though he didn't fully understand Rorin's words, Jūgo chose to trust him.
With a whoosh!
Rorin and Jūgo vanished from the prison.
Rorin didn't want to encounter Orochimaru too early. He was still very wary of him—mainly because he currently had no means to kill him. To avoid unnecessary trouble, using the Flying Thunder God to leave was the best option.
After all, his objective for this trip had already been achieved—Jūgo had agreed to cooperate in extracting the Curse Mark power.
In a flash, Rorin and Jūgo appeared inside a cave. This was a place Rorin had specifically created over the past few days for resting. Sleeping in a tent all the time had been quite uncomfortable. Each day he would travel for a while, then at night return to the cave using the Flying Thunder God to rest, and in the morning teleport back to the location he had marked the previous day to continue his journey.
After witnessing Rorin's abilities, Jūgo's trust in him deepened even further. He was becoming more and more confident that the problem that had troubled him for many years would finally be solved.
Meanwhile, after the two had left, Orochimaru and Kabuto stood at the prison entrance of the Northern Hideout.
"Orochimaru-sama, it seems we're too late. The other party has already taken Jūgo away," Kabuto said slowly as he looked at Orochimaru.
Orochimaru replied coldly, "Forget it. He was just a research material anyway. I've already gained a general understanding of the Curse Mark's power and lost interest in him. If he escaped, then so be it."
With that, Orochimaru slowly walked inside, with Kabuto following closely behind as the two entered the laboratory within the Northern Hideout.
...
Inside the cave, Rorin removed the scroll from his waist, pretending to summon an item from it. In reality, he communicated with the system and took out the extractor. In an instant, a vacuum-like device appeared on the scroll.
Rorin picked up the extractor, aimed its nozzle at Jūgo, and asked softly,
"Are you ready? Jūgo, remember not to resist."
Jūgo's mouth twitched slightly. Looking at the strange object in Rorin's hand, he asked with some confusion,
"This is the method you were talking about?"
Rorin nodded mechanically, smiling at him.
Jūgo stared at Rorin for a long moment, then let out a slow sigh. He stopped overthinking it.
He nodded slowly and said calmly, "I'm ready!"
Rorin's gaze sharpened as he pressed the activation button on the extractor.
The machine started up.
A powerful suction force surged toward Jūgo. Gradually, his face began to distort slightly from the pull, but he could clearly feel some of the power within his body being drained away. This gave him a sense of relief and made him even more hopeful.
The extractor ran for nearly three full minutes. But for Jūgo, these were perhaps the longest three minutes he had experienced in his eighteen years of life.
When the extractor finally stopped, Jūgo slowly collapsed and fell unconscious.