Chapter 401: Cursed Mark

Chapter 401: Chapter 401: Cursed Mark

While Renge was explaining the secrets of their clan to Kimimaro, a fierce battle was unfolding within the Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals not far away.

"Damn it! Is this Wood Release!?"

Trapped within the Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals, Jūzō Biwa and the other two had remained relatively calm. But the moment wooden stakes burst from the ground and wrapped around them, they truly began to panic.

The power of Wood Release needed no explanation.

The instant the three members of the Mist Squad recognized it, they stopped holding anything back. What had originally been nothing more than a warm-up instantly turned into a life-or-death battle!

Jūzō Biwa reacted the fastest. Before the wooden stakes could bind his arms, he suddenly swung backward, using the sharp edge of the Kubikiribōchō to sever all the wooden stakes erupting from the ground.

After freeing himself, Jūzō immediately turned and slashed again, cutting apart the wooden stakes restraining Ryū.

At the same time, Kisame swung Hiramekarei in his hands and forcibly smashed apart the wooden stakes binding him.

"These brats aren’t simple!"

Jūzō said, "Let’s get out of here first!"

Kisame said nothing more.

He planted Hiramekarei into the ground before him, then rapidly formed hand seals.

"Water Style: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave!"

In an instant, an enormous wave surged forth like a vast ocean.

Standing atop the crest of the wave, Kisame borrowed the tremendous momentum of the rushing water and violently swung the Hiramekarei he had picked up.

As Kisame poured chakra into it, a massive chakra construct erupted around Hiramekarei. The twin-bladed sword seemed to transform into an incomparably ferocious war hammer as it smashed viciously toward the ice mirror.

Crack...

The sturdy ice mirror offered no resistance whatsoever beneath Hiramekarei’s crushing blow and shattered on impact!

Kisame leaped forward and, together with the surging wave, burst through the opening and escaped the Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals. Jūzō Biwa and Ryū followed closely behind, using the wave to make their rather disheveled escape from the icy prison.

Neither Haku inside the Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals nor Yamato outside had expected the three trapped enemies to not only break free from Wood Release so easily, but even unleash such a terrifying Water Style technique. They were immediately caught completely off guard.

The inexperienced Haku was swept away by the raging water, only managing to stop after crashing into a large tree.

Yamato, meanwhile, barely managed to withstand the enormous wave by using Wood Style: Wood Locking Wall, preventing himself from being swept away.

Kisame and the others were all battle-hardened Kirigakure shinobi. Now that they had seized the upper hand, they naturally had no intention of letting up.

Kisame swung Hiramekarei and smashed it viciously toward Yamato’s Wood Locking Wall.

Boom...

But just as Hiramekarei was about to smash into the Wood Locking Wall protecting Yamato, a yellow-haired monster suddenly charged in from the side.

Meeting blade with fist, he forcibly stopped Kisame’s Hiramekarei head-on!

Feeling the violent chakra surging from his opponent’s body, Kisame’s expression changed. He immediately retreated to the sides of Jūzō Biwa and Ryū.

At that moment, Haku, who had been swept far away by the wave, hurried back over, while Yamato also lowered his Wood Locking Wall.

Three of the Sound Four faced off against the three members of the Mist Squad from a distance.

Without a doubt, both sides had badly misjudged the other’s strength. For a moment, neither side could easily back down!

The Mist Squad had assumed the Sound Four were nothing more than the most common cannon-fodder squad from some minor ninja village—the sort of small fry they could mow down in droves with a casual swing of their blades.

The Sound Four, meanwhile, had also mistakenly assumed that the Mist Squad consisted of nothing more than ordinary rogue ninja.

Only after exchanging blows did both sides suddenly realize that their opponents were far stronger than they had imagined—

enemies they would have to face with everything they had!

As the captain of the Sound Four, Yamato said to Haku beside him, "These people are all Jonin-level experts. There must be some ulterior motive behind their coming here. We absolutely can’t let them escape!"

Haku hesitated slightly.

"Should we use that?"

Yamato nodded, then immediately shouted,

"Cursed Mark, release!"

Unlike Kimimaro, Yamato was one of the fortunate few capable of accepting First Hokage cells. Because of his unique constitution, the Cursed Mark within his body was not the Cursed Mark of Earth like Kimimaro’s, but the stronger and far more domineering Cursed Mark of Heaven.

In only a matter of moments, two enormous fleshy wings sprouted from Yamato’s back, while the chakra within his body erupted explosively.

Staring at Yamato, Jūzō Biwa was speechless.

"Is that dead-fish-eyed bastard actually some kind of monster?"

Ryū, who possessed the Red Eye, said with a grave expression, "The amount of chakra in his body has doubled, and it’s still increasing. I’m afraid we’ve run into serious trouble!"

Having already activated the Cursed Mark of Heaven, Yamato said to Haku beside him, "Stop hesitating. If we don’t use our full strength, we’ll all die here!"

Left with no choice, Haku shouted in a low voice,

"Cursed Mark, release!"

Very quickly, a pair of fleshy wings also unfolded from Haku’s back, and the chakra throughout his body skyrocketed.

Among Orochimaru’s more than one hundred experimental subjects, Yamato and Haku were the only two who had survived receiving the Cursed Mark of Heaven.

Like Yamato, Haku also possessed an extremely unusual constitution. His cells had exceptionally high compatibility.

When Hyuga Kagami had used Haku’s cells for cellular fusion, he had obtained two viable clones on his very first attempt. It had even caused Hyuga Kagami to mistakenly believe that his cell-fusion techniques had already become highly advanced.

It wasn’t until he began attempting to fuse Uchiha cells that Hyuga Kagami belatedly realized the truth.

It wasn’t that his cell-fusion techniques had matured—

Haku’s cells were just ridiculously easy to work with!

...

On a distant cliff.

Standing at the edge of a distant cliff, Orochimaru watched the battle between the Sound Four and the Mist Squad from afar, a faint smile curling at the corner of his lips.

Jūzō Biwa could be considered an old acquaintance of Orochimaru’s, while Kisame Hoshigaki’s reputation in the ninja world was nothing to scoff at either.

As for Ryū and Renge, because they were Kirigakure ANBU, they weren’t particularly famous throughout the ninja world. However, the strength of Kekkei Genkai shinobi spoke for itself. One glance was enough to tell that both possessed the strength of elite Jonin.

Naturally, Orochimaru was quite pleased that the Sound Four he had personally trained could fight the Mist Squad on even footing.

Kabuto, standing respectfully at his side, smiled. "Lord Orochimaru, the Sound Four you personally trained truly haven’t disappointed!"

In his hoarse voice, Orochimaru replied, "They’re still a little inexperienced."

Although the Sound Four did not appear to be at a disadvantage on the surface, Orochimaru knew perfectly well that every member of the Mist Squad was a battle-hardened shinobi.

As the battle dragged on, the inexperienced Sound Four would most likely gradually begin to fall behind.

Moreover, aside from Yamato, the other members of the Sound Four were simply too young. They were only around ten years old, still little more than children, and couldn’t sustain such a high-intensity battle for very long.

Kabuto smiled. "Give them another few years, and they’ll all become capable shinobi who can stand on their own!"

Orochimaru shook his head slightly.

"Compared to Kagami, they’re still lacking."

Kabuto’s expression stiffened, and a trace of jealousy welled up within his heart.

He knew very well that, in Orochimaru’s heart, the person he admired and valued most was still Hyuga Kagami—the man who had already completely broken free of Orochimaru’s control.

That elusive bastard who appeared and disappeared like a ghost, whose thoughts were utterly impossible to fathom...