Chapter 212: The Cursed Seal
Clang! Clang!
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, the battle unfolded.
Unlike the original story Tonbo remembered, both fighters adopted standard Genin tactics. They opened with shuriken to test the waters. Yoroi Akado was a man wearing a mask, his eyes pitch black and void of emotion. Facing a genius of the Uchiha, he showed no cowardice—in fact, he seemed quite confident.
Fire Style: Running Flames!
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Yoroi broke the stalemate first, weaving hand seals to unleash a Fire Style jutsu. With him as the center, three streaks of flame erupted from the ground, crisscrossing and flowing across the floor toward Sasuke.
"Oh? This guy can use Fire Style?" Tonbo's eyebrows shot up. In his memory of the original work, there was no such sequence.
He turned his gaze back to Sasuke. Currently, Sasuke bore the Cursed Seal from Orochimaru but hadn't been sealed by Kakashi yet. He should be unable to use the Sharingan or high-level ninjutsu without triggering the seal's corruption. In other words, Sasuke was essentially limited to Taijutsu.
Furthermore, Sasuke hadn't had his pre-exam duel with Lee in this timeline, meaning he couldn't have copied the movements to create the "Lion Barrage." Would he lose right here?
Zip! Zip!
Sasuke's expression was grim. He used rapid Taijutsu movements to shift positions, narrowly avoiding the flames. However, Yoroi didn't make it easy; the flames on the ground curved, relentlessly pursuing Sasuke. Searing heat filled the arena, and soon, the floor was partitioned into a grid of fire.
Whoosh!
Enduring the throbbing pain from the Cursed Seal, Sasuke hurled a kunai directly at his enemy.
"A naive counterattack," Yoroi sneered, side-stepping twice to dodge the projectile.
Thud! The kunai embedded itself in the far wall.
Seeing his attack fail, Sasuke followed up with several shuriken.
"Still don't get it? You're too weak." Yoroi pulled out his own shuriken to deflect the incoming blades.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Whoosh!
Just as Yoroi was occupied with the shuriken, Sasuke suddenly appeared right in front of him.
"How is that possible?!" Yoroi's pupils constricted.
Bam!
Sasuke's fist slammed into Yoroi's face, distorting his features. However, at the critical moment, Sasuke's body stiffened from a spike of pain. Yoroi seized the opportunity to grab Sasuke's follow-up kunai strike, and the two tumbled to the ground in a struggle.
In the clinch, Yoroi noticed thin steel wires leading from Sasuke back to the kunai stuck in the wall.
"I see... you used wires to pull yourself forward, gliding over my flames? Clever. But it ends here."
A blue chakra aura began to glow where Yoroi's hands touched Sasuke.
Thump! Thump!
Sasuke's Cursed Seal pulsed violently. Intense pain radiated through his body. That sudden jolt was exactly what had caused his attack to falter a moment ago.
"Dammit, not now..." Sasuke's face paled.
Suddenly, he felt his physical energy draining away. His grip on his opponent began to weaken as Yoroi slowly overpowered him.
Thwack!
Sasuke kicked off with both legs, entangling his opponent's arms in an attempt to break the hold with a leg lock. He realized that wherever Yoroi touched him, his stamina was being siphoned. With his arm strength failing, he had to rely on his legs.
Flash!
Yoroi wasn't a fool; he released Sasuke and jumped back. If his arms were broken, he'd lose for sure. Sasuke took the chance to retreat. By now, the flames on the ground had died out since they lacked fuel and a continuous chakra supply. The scorched earth told the story of their struggle.
"I can't let those hands touch me..." This was the first time Sasuke had encountered such a troublesome technique.
Ugh! Another surge of agony made him grunt. Dammit... The intermittent pain not only broke his concentration but also meant that any attempt to mold chakra might stimulate the seal, preventing him from going all out.
Yoroi was also surprised. "As expected of the last Uchiha survivor. You really are a genius."
"What's wrong with Sasuke? Why isn't he using ninjutsu?" Naruto was dying of anxiety in the stands. Is Sasuke really gonna lose? Even though he wanted to see Sasuke humbled, seeing him actually about to lose made him restless.
"Sasuke..." Sakura watched with worry. She knew the mark on his neck was the reason he was so defensive.
Kakashi also observed the scene closely. What's happening? Sasuke's performance shouldn't be this poor.
"Is that the Uchiha genius, Sasuke Uchiha? Why does he look so weak?" Lee watched the fight below, feeling that Sasuke didn't live up to the legends at all.
"Lee, don't underestimate others. There's something wrong with his body," Guy said. With his vast combat experience, Guy could tell from Sasuke's pained expressions that he was struggling with an internal issue. After all, the enemy hadn't hit him with any major jutsu yet, except for the touch.
"Yes, Sensei. But what exactly is it?" Lee was still confused. Why was Sasuke only showing this much? Was he trying to deceive future opponents by acting weak?
Neji spoke up: "There's a problem with his chakra. Every time he tries to mold it for a jutsu, a surge of sinister chakra erupts from his body. That must be the cause."
"Sinister chakra? How sinister?" Tenten asked.
"I know! It's as sinister as when Neji uses the Byakugan to look at girls!" Lee said innocently, recalling a time Tenten had gotten angry at Neji.
"Shut up, Lee! What are you talking about?!"
Bam! Bam!
Sasuke was kicked back, rolling several times across the floor. His stamina was hitting rock bottom.
"Dammit, this guy's ability is too much of a pain." Limited to Taijutsu, facing an enemy who absorbed physical energy was a nightmare. Now, his chakra was dwindling too.
If I can't even handle an enemy like this, how can I ever kill that man...
Dark, malicious thoughts began to bubble up in his heart. The Cursed Seal on his neck started to flicker.
"It's over. Demonic Illusion: Hellfire!"
Yoroi wove hand seals, his eyes locking onto Sasuke.
Whoosh!
While Sasuke was still trying to devise a strategy, he suddenly found himself surrounded by a raging inferno.
"AGH!"
The fire seared his body; burns began to appear on his skin. He let out a scream of agony.
Yoroi mocked him, "Sasuke Uchiha... is that all you've got?"
Zzt! Zzt!
Suddenly, something startling happened. Black patterns began to crawl slowly across Sasuke's skin, spreading from his arm to his face. One of his pupils shrank, turning orange, while the sclera turned black.
He lunged forward with explosive speed, as if his physical energy had been instantaneously restored.
"Sasuke! What are you doing?! Just finish him off already!" Naruto yelled from the balcony, unable to watch the struggle any longer.
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