End of Chapter 77

The Land of Fields, the underground base of the Sound Village.

In the cold, damp corridor, Kabuto walked briskly.

When he pushed open the door to the core laboratory,

A nauseating smell of blood, mixed with the smell of burning, hit me.

Dou subconsciously pushed up his glasses, and the sight before him made his pupils shrink slightly.

In the dim light,

Orochimaru was slumped in the operating chair, his whole body soaked in sweat, with a few strands of hair sticking to his pale face.

Several complex curse marks on his temples and chest were slowly fading.

"Lord Orochimaru... what's wrong?"

Kabuto had rarely seen Orochimaru so weak and disheveled.

"call……"

Orochimaru let out a long breath.

The initial fervor in his golden eyes had faded.

Instead, there was a calm and ambitious attitude, just as before.

"It's nothing, just a minor surgery."

Orochimaru, his voice hoarse, casually picked up a cloth and wiped the blood off his body.

"That inexplicable emotion is really bothersome."

"It interfered with my thinking and made me feel like a disgusting beast in heat."

"So, I strengthened my brain's defense mechanisms."

Upon hearing this, Dou felt a chill run down his spine.

To maintain one's sanity, would one really be willing to sever one's own soul?

As expected of Lord Orochimaru.

"Now that you've recovered..."

Kabuto steadied himself, took out Naruto's scroll from his pocket, and stepped forward:

"Naruto asked me to give this to you."

He said that the next steps must be carried out in accordance with the instructions in this document.

"Oh?"

Orochimaru took the scroll, a hint of amusement flashing in his eyes.

Now that the blind emotion has been suppressed,

He wanted to see what that brat wanted him to do.

He would refuse if it were something boring.

Orochimaru himself didn't realize that even though he had sealed away some of his emotions,

But he still never showed any disrespect or murderous intent towards Naruto.

They even subconsciously believe that the greatest disrespect is to refuse his proposal.

The reel was slowly pulled back.

Orochimaru's gaze swept over the text.

At first, he was just casual about it.

But gradually, his gaze became serious, until he was shocked.

The laboratory fell into a deathly silence.

a long time.

Orochimaru's fingers began to tremble slightly.

It wasn't out of fear, but a deep-seated tremor and excitement.

"A genius... no, he's a complete madman."

Orochimaru's mouth split open.

"Kabuto, do you know what? I originally just wanted to push the windmill."

"And Naruto... he wanted to take the windmill down, and then..."

He closed the reel and gripped it tightly in his hand.

There is no need for domination or emotional bondage.

The sheer scale of the plan itself was enough to convince Orochimaru to join in.

Orochimaru stood up.

Although his body was still weak, his aura was stronger than ever before.

"From now on, I will fully cooperate with Naruto-kun's actions."

"I want to see for myself... what the world he described is really like."

……

Outside Konoha Village, beneath a secluded waterfall with raging torrents.

The roaring sound of the water was deafening.

Sasuke, shirtless, struggled against the force of the rushing water.

His body was covered in purplish-blue bruises; he was completely exhausted.

But he persevered like a tireless machine.

shore.

Jiraiya sat cross-legged on a large rock, scribbling and drawing in a small notebook.

I occasionally glance at that stubborn boy.

"Hey kid, take a break."

Jiraiya closed his notebook and looked at Sasuke, who was climbing out of the water and panting heavily.

"If this is all I'm capable of, how am I supposed to catch up with that guy!"

Sasuke wiped the water off his face and said through gritted teeth.

Jiraiya looked at Sasuke.

He had been observing the boy for the past few days.

He has all the flaws of the Uchiha clan: cold, aloof, arrogant...

But in the heart of this young man, Jiraiya saw a fire.

"I'm asking you."

Jiraiya suddenly became serious and said:

"You crave power so much, is it for revenge? To kill that person?"

Sasuke was stunned for a moment.

revenge?

Of course, that was the meaning of his life.

but……

Scenes from his time at the Ninja Academy to the present flashed through his mind.

It reminds me of the humiliation of being powerless to stand behind each time danger arises.

That feeling was more suffocating to him than revenge.

"Revenge is necessary."

Sasuke clenched his fist.

"But before that... I don't want to be that burden who can only be protected by him anymore."

He raised his head, his dark eyes burning with resentment and determination:

"Power... is so that I may be qualified to stand beside him, even before him!"

"If we can't even catch up with the back of that loser, what's the point of talking about revenge?"

Jiraiya was stunned.

Although the motivation is still pride, the will to protect one's companions is genuine.

"Don't you want to be protected...?"

Jiraiya muttered to himself, then a bold smile appeared on his lips.

"Although I don't like gloomy brats like you, I don't like the Uchiha either."

"But I must say, I admire your integrity!"

He pulled out a huge scroll from behind him and spread it out in front of Sasuke.

"Want to become stronger? Want to catch up with that monster?"

"Then let's sign this!"

"This is the contract that leads to the path of immortality, the Toad Contract of Mount Myōboku!"

Sasuke stared at the scroll in front of him, his pupils shrinking slightly.

He knew what this meant.

This is the legacy of one of the Three Legendary Sannin, a shortcut to becoming a strong person.

Without any hesitation, Sasuke bit his finger and drew blood.

He didn't want to lose.

Whatever the power, even if it comes at any cost.

"Naruto Uzumaki... I will never lose to you again!"

Snapped!

Bloodstained fingerprints were imprinted on the scroll.

The contract is established!

……

Whirlpool Shrine.

Two figures sat at the table, and the floor was covered with draft paper filled with complex spells.

"It's done..."

Kakashi put down his pen, his voice filled with undisguised exhaustion and shock.

He looked at the final draft of the sealing technique diagram in front of him.

The densely packed runes on it form an exquisite closed-loop system.

"Based on the Four Symbols Seal, a new and improved technique has been constructed."

Kakashi looked up at Naruto, who had a calm expression, his eyes filled with relief and anticipation.

"Naruto, with this technique, when the Nine-Tails' rampaging chakra surges out, the excess will be automatically filtered out, leaving only pure energy."

"It can also regulate the output of chakra."

"You might actually be able to... perfectly control the Nine-Tails' power."

Naruto picked up the final draft of the technique paper, a grateful smile on his face.

"Thank you, Kakashi-sensei."

Without your help, this procedure wouldn't have been so easy to complete.

At this point, Naruto seemed to have thought of something.

He put down the blueprints in his hand and looked at Kakashi's Sharingan, which was covered up.

"To repay the teacher for their help... I'll do the teacher a favor too."

"Huh?" Kakashi was taken aback.

"That Sharingan must be a huge burden for someone who isn't from the Uchiha clan, right?"

Naruto walked up to Kakashi, a wisp of dark blue chakra gathering at his fingertips:

"Just add a small control seal."

"It can act like a valve, normally cutting off the Sharingan's unnecessary consumption of chakra, and at crucial moments, it can remove the restriction."

"Teacher, would you like to give it a try?"

Kakashi looked into Naruto's clear eyes and felt a warm current surge in his heart.

This child, while studying such a complicated sealing technique, was actually distracted by thinking about my physical condition?

"Since it's a sealing technique from the Uzumaki clan, then I'll accept it without further ado."

Kakashi pulled up his headband, revealing his crimson Sharingan, and said with a smile, "Thank you for your help, Naruto."

"It's no trouble at all."

Naruto extended two fingers and gently pressed them on Kakashi's eyelids.

As the faint light seeps into the fingertips,

Kakashi felt the persistent heaviness in his left eye vanish instantly.

The flow of chakra within his body became smoother than ever before.

"How are you feeling?"

Naruto withdrew his hand, a bright smile on his face.

"Perfect... I feel so much lighter."

Kakashi stretched his shoulders, feeling refreshed, and looked at Naruto with a gentler gaze:

"In exchange, would you like me to draw the incantation on your abdomen?"

Kakashi asked.

"After all, it involves altering the Bagua seal, and there are some risks involved in doing it alone."

"No."

Naruto smiled and declined, calmly putting away the blueprints.

"The intervention of outsiders' chakra might provoke that fox, so I'll just use shadow clones myself."

"Too."

Kakashi had no doubts; Kurama's xenophobia was indeed very strong.

"Now that it's finished, I'll head back first."

"The final is tomorrow, get some rest."

Kakashi stood up and patted Naruto's hair:

"Go for it, Naruto!"

"I will, teacher."

Kakashi left.

The doors of the ancestral hall were closed again.

The smile on Naruto's face slowly disappeared.

"Control the Nine-Tails? No, we'll talk about that later."

He walked to the mirror, unbuttoned his collar, revealing the three jet-black cursed jade beads on his neck.

"The most important thing right now is to accept this gift."

Naruto summoned a shadow clone and, without hesitation, inscribed the spell he had just completed around the Heavenly Curse Seal.

As the procedure was completed.

Those wills filled with killing and madness were stripped away and shattered.

Only pure natural energy remained, flowing into Naruto's meridians.

"call……"

Naruto felt the power surging within him, and a smile curved his lips.

"Kakashi-sensei, you've been a huge help."

"Thanks to you, Orochimaru's gift... is now entirely mine."