Chapter 213: Uchiha War Dance

Sasuke frowned when Naruto's voice reached him.

The curse marks stopped spreading. He forced the foreign chakra down through will alone, and the patterns across his face and arms slowly withdrew toward his neck.

From the Sound instructor's gallery, Orochimaru watched behind Iori's face.

"What magnificent will," he thought. "The vessel I chose exceeds expectation."

Many shinobi saw Sasuke change without understanding the cause. They knew only that the sudden transformation had broken Yoroi's Hellfire. Hiruzen and Anko recognized more.

"Stop the match and take him for treatment," Anko urged. "Leaving that seal active is too dangerous."

Hiruzen considered the boy below and refused. The danger remained, but Sasuke had demonstrated that he could suppress it for the moment. Hiruzen allowed Hayate to continue watching for a decisive loss of control.

Sasuke knew this was his last opportunity. The borrowed strength had receded, Yoroi had drained his reserves, and another spasm could end the match before he attacked.

He remembered an opponent created during Tonbo's Battlefield Simulation. That enemy had once defeated him in a single movement by planting one hand and changing the axis of a kick. Sasuke had died to it, studied it, and carried the motion out of the illusion.

"Uchiha War Dance."

He vanished from Yoroi's sight and appeared inside the reach of the older genin's hands. Sasuke planted his right palm upon the floor, rotated his body, and connected the strength of arm, hips, and leg through one rising kick.

Yoroi had no time to absorb chakra. The heel struck beneath his guard and hurled him across the arena. He hit the wall and collapsed at its base.

Sasuke landed upon one knee, breathing hard.

Hayate checked Yoroi and raised one hand. "Winner: Uchiha Sasuke."

The announcement released the last of Sasuke's strength. He fell.

Kakashi reached the arena and caught him. Tonbo joined them before the medics arrived.

"Let me examine him."

Chakra covered Tonbo's hand as he placed it against Sasuke. Fine nerves spread through the boy's body, reading the cursed seal, the foreign chakra, and the biochemical changes supporting it. Tonbo fed him a secret medicine and used genjutsu to guide the recovery of his exhausted system.

The illusion regulated signals of pain and rest while the medicine replenished what Yoroi had drained. Tonbo did not merely observe the outer pattern. His filaments followed its connection through tissue, chakra pathways, and the altered compounds released when the black marks spread.

"No serious injury," he said. "He needs rest."

Kakashi understood the distinction. Sasuke's immediate condition was stable. The cursed seal remained.

"I am fine," Sasuke insisted as he struggled to rise.

Strength returned gradually under Tonbo's treatment.

Tonbo still had enough attention to consider the finishing move. The original had been an abandoned experiment inspired by a rotating fighting dance from his previous life. It worked only in narrow circumstances and had never earned a place among his serious techniques. Sasuke had seen it in simulation and adapted it to his own proportions without formal instruction.

The talent was worthy of a central figure in the future Tonbo remembered.

Lee's eyes shone. "Guy-sensei, that move was incredible."

Guy laughed. "Strong, but my beloved disciple will surpass it."

"Yes, Guy-sensei!"

The visiting candidates were less enthusiastic. Sasuke had defeated a difficult opponent with taijutsu alone while visibly compromised. Sound and Sand alike revised their estimates of the Uchiha.

Tonbo remained absorbed in the information collected from the seal.

Orochimaru had derived its power from Jūgo's mutation. Sasuke's body now contained a unique enzyme linked to the mark, held dormant within its formula until activation. Tonbo knew of no identical enzyme in medical literature, though one known family came close enough to suggest a possible path of development.

The enzyme acted as the biological half of the seal. The formula invited and directed chakra while the altered body made contact with natural energy possible. Removing only the visible mark would therefore leave part of the process unexplained. Tonbo preserved the full relationship inside Inner Archive before the activation faded.

Contact Evolution had recorded the structure. If Tonbo guided his own related enzymes toward the same function, he might gain the ability to sense natural energy. Learning to use that energy would remain a separate problem, but sensing it was the necessary beginning.

The nerves he placed within Sasuke did not all withdraw.

Tonbo left a hidden network behind. If Sasuke later awakened Mangekyō, the Rinnegan, or the power of the Six Paths, Tonbo could activate those nerves while close enough and collect the new information. The boy's future growth made him too valuable an opportunity to ignore.

The preliminary matches continued.

Shino Aburame defeated an arrogant opponent who found no answer to his insects. Kankurō concealed the true nature of his puppet long enough to end his own match.

Shino's opponent spent the opening moments mocking a quiet boy who appeared reluctant to attack. By the time he realized kikaichū had crossed the floor and entered his clothing, the swarm was already consuming the chakra needed for resistance. Kankurō allowed his wrapped burden to appear like equipment until the puppet moved and closed the contest from an unexpected angle.

Sakura and Ino entered as rivals, enemies, and old friends. Battlefield Simulation had sharpened Sakura, but Ino possessed clan ninjutsu Sakura could not match. Mind Body Switch took control of Sakura's body.

Ino had not prepared for the second voice inside Sakura.

The inner personality resisted for so long that Ino exhausted her chakra maintaining control. Sakura spent the rest of her own strength forcing the intruder out. Both collapsed, and Hayate declared a draw.

For several breaths, neither could separate friend from rival. Ino knew every insecurity Sakura tried to hide, and Sakura knew the habits that preceded Ino's decisive technique. Their familiarity made each attack personal and each defense easier to anticipate. The final stalemate exhausted both bodies without resolving the argument between them.

Tenten's match against Temari proved more inventive.

Her first tool launched a lasso at extreme speed. It caught Temari's legs before the older kunoichi adjusted. Two hooks tore through the fishnet fabric and bit into flesh, drawing blood.

Temari used a narrow Wind Release to break the restraint, sacrificing strips of stocking and skin to free herself before Tenten could finish the match.

The release twisted the trapped fabric and ripped it away from the hooks. Blood marked Temari's legs, but remaining bound would have allowed Tenten to bury the next volley before she could open her fan.

The next weapon carried a structure designed for strong winds. Its fins converted an opposing current into greater flight speed, turning Temari's element into propulsion.

Temari answered with her full power. The stronger and changing current exceeded the tool's tolerances. Its flight became unstable, and the same blast lifted Tenten from the floor and drove her against the wall.

She fell with serious injuries. Hayate ended the match.

Tonbo studied the broken device with admiration. Tenten had created a weapon that fed upon the force intended to stop it. The design had failed only when Temari's output exceeded its unfinished structure.

That failure did not make the idea less ingenious.