Compared to chakra refined from one's own body, natural energy drawn directly from the outside world was inherently far more unstable and dangerous. Even when training in Sage Mode through the proper methods, step by step, most people who failed would end up "becoming one with nature" and faceplant on the spot. That was even more true for cursed seals, which were far more extreme than senjutsu.
The stone toads of every size on Mount Myōboku were the best proof of the risks involved.
When using Sage Mode, the way one utilized natural energy could at most be compared to a whale drinking water. But the cursed seals Orochimaru created were more like directly injecting a massive dose under the skin… and since the source of his natural energy was hardly ordinary, the cursed seals were even more violent.
As a result, during the transplantation experiments, whenever Uncle Snake jabbed someone with a needle or took a bite out of them, that person was almost guaranteed to end up dead.
Very few people could survive a cursed seal, let alone the Heaven Cursed Seal, which had the strongest power and corrosive effect among them. Orochimaru's danger lay in the fact that anyone who stayed by his side, regardless of whether they were close to him or not, might unwittingly become one of his test subjects. And once they became a test subject, there was more than a ninety percent chance they would kick the bucket.
Even so, no one could deny how powerful cursed seals were. Once someone withstood the risks, the strength they brought to a shinobi was visible to the naked eye.
Mitarashi Anko was the first successful case of the Heaven Cursed Seal. This was also Yagoromo's first time coming into such close contact with her, and therefore his first time seeing the "Heaven Cursed Seal" for himself.
Naturally, he became curious about it.
As Yagoromo approached Mitarashi Anko step by step, under the influence of the small amount of senjutsu chakra he had stirred up, her cursed seal also began to react.
Anko first felt a sharp, intense pain coming from the back of her neck. Immediately afterward, the black three-tomoe mark arranged in a circular pattern, hidden beneath her skin, emerged. Then the tomoe became like black iron inside a furnace, first turning crimson before melting completely.
Scorching, magma-colored markings spread across Anko's left cheek and the left side of her body. Immediately afterward, the markings seemed to cool a second time, turning black once again and adhering to her skin.
The pain of the cursed seal activating and the way it invaded her body made Anko press one hand against the back of her neck. Then she half-knelt on the ground, gasping for breath… and this was only the cursed seal's first state.
Even among users of cursed seals, their degree of adaptation varied. Judging by Anko's condition, merely resisting its corrosion had already exhausted her, let alone using it as a powerful method in battle.
"As expected, this is one of Orochimaru's tricks…"
Looking at Anko's condition, the special changes that occurred when the cursed seal activated, and her relationship with Orochimaru, it was obvious who had added the accessory on her body. In fact, based on Yagoromo's shallow understanding, Orochimaru had actually liked this disciple quite a bit. Yet even so, he had still performed something akin to an instant-death experiment on her.
Uncle Snake was the shinobi world's Nobel of snakes. For the sake of scientific experiments, he could blow up his whole family along with himself.
However, Yagoromo only sensed high-density natural energy within those black markings. Unfortunately, he did not possess the kind of extremely precise chakra perception ability needed to notice anything else.
Were Mirai here, she would immediately know that another person's chakra was also mixed into the cursed seal.
Naturally, that was Orochimaru's chakra. The Heaven Cursed Seal had not only granted Anko power, but had also turned her into something similar to Orochimaru's "Horcrux." This should have been one of the immortal Orochimaru's final life-saving measures prepared for himself.
"Anko, what's wrong?!"
Seeing her teammate and friend suddenly fall into extreme pain, and noticing the abnormal changes in her body, Kurenai immediately became anxious.
Of course, since Yagoromo was here, she could instantly guess who the culprit was.
"Yagoromo, what did you do this time?!"
Shocking! A famous Konoha shinobi, renowned Lightning Release theorist, and applied scholar—what exactly did he do to a female junior who had just turned eighteen?
Faced with the somewhat furious Kurenai, Yagoromo immediately became a little awkward. After all, this really was his doing. There was no defending it.
She had kept a private thing properly hidden, yet he had insisted on digging it out to take a look. This was purely a case of having idle hands.
"A slip of the hand. Purely momentary curiosity and a slip of the hand…"
After realizing that his actions amounted to bullying a girl in a different sense, Yagoromo immediately stopped what he was doing.
Fundamentally speaking, the most basic design concept of cursed seals was modeled after jinchūriki. After Yagoromo had taken a look and satisfied his curiosity, that was all there was to it. Although their foundational principles were similar, cursed seals and senjutsu were different in every aspect. The former carried greater risks while being weaker in power. To Yagoromo, they were not even worth calling chicken ribs.
However, cursed seals were somewhat difficult to control. Even after Yagoromo stopped his actions, it still maintained its first state. After all, he had been the one who wanted to draw it out in the first place. Now that it had come out, trying to shove the cursed seal back in without another word was not so simple.
After realizing this, Yagoromo walked up to the two women and bent down. He moved aside the hand Anko had pressed against her neck, then gently covered the spot with his own right hand.
As for this act, which looked rather like taking advantage of someone without a word, Student Anko… was actually quite willing to accept it.
Because along with Yagoromo's movement, the markings on Anko's skin melted again, became fluid, and then withdrew. Finally, they hid once more beneath her fair skin… just like that, the cursed seal's activated state was terminated. This made Anko feel somewhat incredulous.
In truth, Yagoromo had not done anything particularly special. He had merely reactivated the seal that already existed around the outer layer of Anko's Heaven Cursed Seal.
"Your original seal isn't particularly tight when it comes to restraining the cursed seal itself. Do you need me to redo it? I can guarantee that the cursed seal will be completely suppressed."
After removing his hand, Yagoromo offered this suggestion. It could be considered a small apology for what he had just done.
Completely extracting the cursed seal might not be simple, but freeing Anko from the cursed seal's corrosion was not difficult for Yagoromo. All he had to do was apply another layer of sealing.
Anko did not answer directly. Instead, she turned her face toward Kurenai.
The meaning contained in that silence was easy to understand: Who is this guy? He talks like it's nothing. Even Konoha's sealing teams can't accomplish this, yet he opens his mouth and says he can solve Orochimaru's seal?
"White Yaksha…" Kurenai whispered beside her ear.
That title made Anko freeze for a moment. Then… she believed it, because this person was indeed extremely famous, and his sealing techniques were extremely powerful.
In fact, were it not for the poor visibility caused by the night, she would have recognized Yagoromo herself.
But contrary to Yagoromo and Kurenai's expectations, Anko shook her head and refused this once-and-for-all method of dealing with the cursed seal.
"Please forgive me for refusing your kindness… Keeping the cursed seal has great meaning to me," Anko said.
It was not that she was reluctant to part with the power brought by the cursed seal. After all, compared to the power it granted, the pain it brought was even greater. Nor was she cherishing the time she had spent with her teacher. Quite the opposite. She kept this cursed seal because she hoped that one day, she would personally capture Orochimaru and bring him back to Konoha.
Whether it was hatred born from love or some other reason, Anko's attitude toward Orochimaru was far more resolute than even Jiraiya's.
As for the Heaven Cursed Seal on her body, it was both her connection to Orochimaru and a means of tracking him, because once she got within a certain distance of Orochimaru, the cursed seal would react.
That was why she would not choose to give up the cursed seal…
Anko's choice was surprising, but Yagoromo had no reason to force her. At the same time, Kurenai, standing nearby, helped change the subject at just the right moment.
"Yagoromo, why are you in the Land of Rivers? Coincidence?"
She and Anko had appeared here to carry out an escort mission. As for meeting Yagoromo… should that be classified as coincidence?
"Would you believe me if I said I was on my way back after doing something 'unprecedented'?"
"I believe you. Now, what's the truth?"
"…The truth is that I just went on a spur-of-the-moment trip, ran into you two on my way back, and wanted to return to Konoha together."
"Mm. That last part is a little more convincing."
"…"
Fine. Truth and lies were never easy to distinguish in the first place. In short, whichever reason someone believed was the true one became the true one.
As for what exactly Yagoromo had done, he himself would not give any specific explanation.
Author's Note
PS:
Let me say a little about the VIP reader group. To be honest, I was always a bit conflicted about whether or not to create this group, because I had heard some not-so-good things before. Also, even now, the regular group still hasn't filled up. After all, this book is fanfiction, not the kind of work with major topics worth discussing.
However, some friends do have this need. Also, in keeping with the principle of "if others have it, we should have it too," I finally created a group. It isn't large in scale. It's meant to provide a communication platform for readers with full subscriptions. We won't do anything messy. We'll just chat and talk about topics of interest. Occasionally, I'll also write some extras and post them in the group as supplements to the main story. No matter how much I write or how good or bad it is, consider it a tiny token of appreciation for readers with full subscriptions. After all, being willing to fully subscribe to a book really isn't easy. Speaking for myself, I have twelve books on my bookshelf, and only two of them are fully subscribed.
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