Chapter 62

"Finally!"

Naruto shouted happily, standing in front of the tower door. Just looking at its massive structure will give you a neck ache.

"I bet there will be more tests." Shikamaru looked at the paper seal on the door and clicked his tongue.

"Did you forget the last Chūnin selection match we had in Konoha? It was an elimination match." Raito replied to Shikamaru. Every once in two years, the Chūnin exam is held in Konoha and Daimyō and various notable leaders are invited to watch the match. The winner not only gets prestige for himself but also for the village.

Neither Genin, Jōnin nor ANBU selection is shown to anyone outside the village. So, the village focuses on the Chūnin exam, making it bigger than necessary, and as a form of advertis.e.m.e.nt.

"Whoever lasts until the end will get to fight at the stadium."

"Um, we had to transform to just see the match. And that earful from Iruka-sensei… ugh." Naruto recalled and told the story of how he and Raito bunked the class and went to see the Chūnin selection exam.

"Hmm… I remember my dad took me to the Chūnin finals." Chōji commented, munching on a fresh packet of ch.i.p.s.

"My old man dragged me too," Shikamaru added with his lazy tone.

"…" Ino blushed. She couldn't just tell that she wasn't interested in the Chūnin finals at that time.

"What about you Ino?" Naruto asked in curiosity.

"I…I was…" Ino stammered.

As Ino was about to make some excuse, the half-opened door was fully opened and a lazy voice was heard, "You finally came."

"Kakashi-sensei." Raito quickly let go of the door handle and shouted in surprise. The building had some kind of seal that interfered with looking into the building.

"Kaka-sensei."

"Sensei."

Opening the door, not only Kakashi was there but also Kurenai and Asuma stood there, behind Kakashi.

"Asuma-sensei," Ino shouted.

"Sensei." Only the quiet Shino called out to Kurenai this time, making her think of various reasons.

"We have been waiting for you all for quite some time now." Asuma walked forward, looking at his Genin trio.

With his hand on Ino's head, he said happily, "I'm glad that you all are well."

Kurenai also walked towards her Genins and looked at the wounds on Shino's and Kiba's body in shock. Green chakra covered her hands as she traced the broken bones.

Surprise covered Kurenai's face as she found that the bones had already started forming callus and were supported by Shino's own chakra. "I didn't know you learned advanced healing technique, Shino."

"…I didn't, sensei. It was Raito-san who healed us." Shino replied.

"Wrap up, Hokage-sama wants to meet." Kakashi interrupted everyone then called out names, "Raito and Sasuke. You two are needed. Everyone else, go to rooms and get some rest."

"Man, so troublesome." Shikamaru narrowed his eyes and looked at Sasuke from the corners of his eyes

Sasuke seemed like he didn't care but he was panicking about the things that happened. He tried his best not to touch his neck. 'It's about those marks'.

"Oi… Kakashi-sensei." Raito called.

"Hm."

"What should we do about the scrolls?" He asked taking out the 'Heaven' and 'Earth' scrolls.

"That…" Kakashi looked at the scrolls and laughed sheepishly.

"If 'Heaven' does not exist, enrich your knowledge, and prepare for chance."

"If 'Earth' does not exist, run the field in search of an advantage."

"With the blessing of Heaven and Earth, all perilous ways shall be redressed."

As Hinata read the words on the plaque hung on the room, everyone's eyes were drawn from the Jōnin leader to Hinata, to the plaque.

['Chūnin Core Principles' Plaque]

Owned by Konohagakure

Made by 'Hiruzen Sarutobi' (3rd Hokage of Konohagakure)

>>

"What does that mean?" Naruto grumbled, feeling that it was just too complicated.

When Kakashi and Asuma were about to speak up Raito's voice cut them off. "Power and knowledge, duh."

"Really?" Naruto looked at the plaque then asked back with a frown.

"It's true, Naruto. With enough power and good knowledge for the mission, you can easily complete any mission."

"No way would it be that easy," Raito commented recalling the mission detail scrolls he had read from Yamanaka clan. About how a mission easily turned into shit fry in a blink of an eye.

"It may not be always true but this is what a Chūnin must follow," Kurenai spoke up then at her students with a bit of sadness.

"If you cannot follow these values then you are not fit to be a Chūnin and will remain a forever Genin." She sighed recalling her experience.

"These are the core values for a Chūnin." Kakashi walked forward knocking on to Naruto's head and said with an eye smile, "If 'Heaven' does not exist, enrich your knowledge, and prepare for chance. That means, if your weakness is your brains then you should read more."

"I read, ya know." Naruto forced the hand off his head.

"If 'Earth' does not exist, run the field in search of an advantage," Asuma spoke up then placed his hands on Ino's and Shikamaru's head.

"I knew it." Shikamaru sighed, leaving it to his fate.

"I train!!" Ino reacted violently.

"If your weakness is physical strength then you should get off your butts and train more."

"So meddlesome."

Raito looked at the scrolls in his hands then at the plaque. Shrugging his shoulders he threw the scrolls in front.

Poof

Smoke covered the area below the plaque.

"With heaven and earth covered, any perilous situation will be solved." Voice could be heard from the smokescreen.

With the voice and outline of the person, Naruto immediately jumped in joy. "Iruka-sensei."

Dispelling the cloud, Iruka walked forward and looked at his previous students.

"Congratulations, everyone. You all passed the second part of the Chūnin selection exam." Iruka announced.

Looking at the Jōnins in the room, Iruka immediately deduced that something was wrong.

"Kakashi-senpai?" Iruka voice out, his face changing into a solemn one.

"Good work. I'll leave them to you." With a smile, Kakashi brought Raito and Sasuke away.

"Where are they going?" Naruto asked to no one looking at the back figure of Raito and Sasuke.

"It must be related to the weird mark that Sasuke had that time," Hinata answered to Naruto's question.

Iruka had walked away, leaving the Genins with Kurenai and Asuma.

"Now, simple rules." Asuma turned with a bit of sternness in his voice.

"No one goes on talking about that marks on Sasuke or what Raito and Naruto did, okay?" Asuma asked looking at each and every one of them including Naruto.

"What the heck did I do?" Naruto asked

The underground part of the tower was dark and humid, giving an unpleasant smell making Raito frown. There was a single corridor that led to a door with lights above and an ANBU in front of the door.

With the two in tow, Kakashi reached the door, standing in front of the ANBU.

"Hokage-sama has been waiting." The purple haired cat ANBU opened the door and walked in first.

Walking inside the room, which was a very big room or it could simply be called a hall. In the middle of the room stood Hiruzen, with his Hokage outfit, looking at the incoming people, more specifically, Sasuke. Beside him were Inoichi, Ibiki, Mari and another ANBU.

"What's going on here?" Raito asked looking at Kakashi and the purple haired ANBU then his gaze landed on the source of all trouble, Sasuke.

"Hokage-sama." Kakashi bowed which made the two Genins following him also react and follow the same.

Hiruzen raised his hand then looked at Sasuke, "Take a seat, Sasuke."

After a bit of hesitation, Sasuke nodded then sat on the chair placed at the center of the hall.

"What's going to happen?" Sasuke asked looking at Kakashi but got no reply.

"We are making sure that there is nothing wrong with you." Inoichi placed his hand on Sasuke with a bit of force.

"I am fine." Sasuke felt his body stiffening.

Hiruzen who had been silent till now, spoke up, "You encountered one of the highest, S-ranked, missing-nin of Konoha, Orochimaru. You may have read about him in your textbooks, in the academy or from the bingo book given to you in these past six months."

"Hn" Sasuke nodded in confirmation, affirming that he had heard about Orochimaru.

"Now what you haven't heard is that… He can seal his chakra into someone else… like Anko here."

With her name being called Anko appeared from the shadows.

Raito who was behind Kakashi clenched his fists and gave Anko a special kind of look.

Anko removed her long coat and stretched her neck. With the activation of her chakra, the magatama making a circle appeared on her neck.

"That seal is called "Cursed Seal", made by Orochimaru. When this seal is used, the user is covered with different kinds of marks, all over the body. This seal has only one function and that is to make the user stronger."

"How much stronger?" Sasuke asked in a daze.

"… A lot," Hiruzen answered.

"…"

"But do you think that power like this comes without consequences?" Hiruzen asked.

"What… consequences?" Sasuke asked his hand already loosened and his eyes out of focus.

"This curse seal will destroy your body, make you mentally unstable. Like a drug, it will make you a slave, a slave that cannot live without that cursed power. Power… that will make you blind and hollow."

"Use that seal again and be forever weak or work hard and become strong."

At the end of the Hiruzen's talking, Sasuke had already closed his eyes and fallen into a deep sleep.

"Genjutsu?" Raito asked to no one.

"It's not a Genjutsu but hypnosis," Kakashi answered.

"Hypnosis?" Raito asked in curiosity.

"Yes." Kakashi nodded and said no more.

"Shall I?" From the corner of the room, the voice of an old man filled with heavy tone came.

As he walked out two figures were seen behind him. Danzo along with Koharu and Homura walked out of shadows, standing in front of Sasuke.

Danzo turned back to look at Raito before giving his attention to Sasuke once more.

"Danzo." Hiruzen nodded, signaling Inoichi to stop.

"Council elders." Inoichi bowed then took a step back.

"We will have to depend on you, Danzo." Koharu and Homura looked worriedly at Sasuke then at Danzo.

Danzo caught Sasuke's blue clan shirt then with a shake, removed it.

Hiruzen expression didn't change but Homura's and Koharu's tensed a bit.

"There doesn't seem to be any visible marks on his body," Danzo commented while moving Sasuke and checking for marks.

"Those marks disappeared only after Fuinjutsu was applied. Right, Hiruzen?" Koharu asked looking at Hiruzen and Anko.

"Yes, elder," Anko answered respectfully.

"That was many years ago. Maybe he has developed the technique." Homura commented.

"I shall use Fuinjutsu then…" From Danzo's left arm sleeve, he took out a scroll and with a flick, the wooden core of the scroll extended, revealing a small chamber for storing ink.

Under the influence of chakra, ink floated and soon covered Sasuke and the area around him with character seals. Dropping the scroll, Danzo made a half ram hand seal, channeling his chakra and linking to the character seal and Sasuke.

[Fuinjutsu - Revelation]

The ANBU behind Hiruzen had silently appeared beside Sasuke, a comfortable distance away.

The characters on Sasuke's body glowed, giving off an eerie blue light then moved like wriggling worms. Just like Shino's back then, Sasuke's whole body had turned black with ink.

Danzo's face turned dissatisfied as he poured more chakra into the Fuinjutsu.

Behind everyone's back, Raito looked at the scene with a faint smile and mocking chants on his mind.

'Fuinjutsu depends on technique but the amount of chakra is important too. I asked Naruto and his heritage from Uzushiogakure for help creating this seal and the amount of chakra invested in this Fuinjutsu is much more than the amount you have.'

Raito looked at the CP bar above Danzo's head draining like a flood gate.

"It's good that it isn't here." Homura let out the breath he was holding.

"We need to think of the future now." Koharu gave Hiruzen and Homura a signal before taking a step back.

"Danzo," Homura called but it seemed that Danzo was hell-bent on finding the curse mark.

"SWALLOW," Hiruzen called then turned around to find a comfortable spot.

"Danzo-sama." The ANBU called once and waited for a couple of seconds but Danzo didn't react.

SWALLOW sighed then walked forward, directly catching Danzo's hand and canceling the Fuinjutsu.

"Danzo-sama, you just went against the leader of the village. Please stop this action."

"You!" Anger in his eyes, Danzo waved his hand, freeing himself.

"Danzo!" Koharu shouted. "There is no curse mark on the boy. That Fuinjutsu was handed down by Mito-sama and we all know what it means when there is no reaction."

As all eyes fell on Danzo, as he weakly pulled his hand back. Letting out a breath, he turned towards Hiruzen and said, "I just wanted to confirm."

"Hm. You have confirmed."

In this intense situation, Raito looked at the ANBU, the more he looked at him, the more he felt this familiar feeling of a close one.

"That sword."

[ANBU 'SWALLOW'/ ??? Lvl ?]

'Has to be Shun-nii.'

Behind Raito, the purple haired ANBU was not paying attention to anything in the room except him. 'Definitely Yugao-nee.'

[ANBU 'CAT'/ Uzuki Yūgao Lvl ?]

'He has a cool arm.' Under his chakra sense, Raito could see Danzo's right forearm covered with a metallic structure but nothing more than that.

Looking around the room then at the sideways at CAT, he whispered, "14."

CAT behind him heard that and let out a small noise of acknowledgment.

A smile bloomed on Raito's face but it soon disappeared as he saw Danzo and Konoha council, walking towards him, more specifically towards the door. He hurriedly moved sideways, letting the way for the elders.

When the Konoha council elders left, the room was filled with ANBU and people who Raito was comfortable with.

"Kakashi, take this." Hiruzen took out a scroll from his sleeve and gave it to Kakashi.

"This is…?" Kakashi held the scroll in his hand and looked at Hiruzen for an answer.

"Sasuke will be under you from now on. Teach him well." Hiruzen replied looking sideways.

"You don't have to worry about Naruto. I will be looking after him." From the cauldron filled with water, Jiraiya jumped out and announced.

Immediately the comfort vanished and Raito became a little guarded.

"Raito-kun, you have something for us." Hiruzen sighed then turned around to face the lone awake Genin in the room and said.

Raito looked towards Kakashi then at Jiraiya, then at everyone else in the room.

Taking out a medium-sized scroll from his inventory, Raito placed it on the floor and opened it.

"A summoning scroll?" Jiraiya walked close to the scroll and gave it a look.

It was a summoning spell with kanji for rock written on it.

"Rock?" Jiraiya looked intrigued as he read the Fuinjutsu.

"Hai," Raito replied then went through a series of hand seal and pressed chakra in the seal.

With a burst of chakra cloud, three large stones appeared around Raito.

'Inventory.'

With the clap of his hands, the stones broke down and revealed three people inside namely; Dosu, Kin and Zaku, the Oto-nin.

"They are the Oto-nin whose village leader is Orochimaru, one of three Sannin. Their chakra and senses have been sealed.."

"To be able to seal the senses, you must be a high level Fuinjutsu practitioner huh, kid?" Jiraiya smiled checking the seals on the Dosu then looked at Raito.

"I'm just in between," Raito answered modestly.

"Sealing senses means you are at least level six." Jiraiya let go of Dosu and stood upright, looking at Raito with a bit of surprise.

"Ibiki." Hiruzen signaled.

Ibiki nodded, then with Mari grabbed the three and left the room. But before leaving, Mari glared at Raito, showing her sharp canines.

"Well…" Raito turned to face Hiruzen and bowed, "Mission complete."

"Now the main point." Hiruzen nodded towards Raito.

"There should really be good pay for this," Raito grumbled and took out a small scroll.

According to what Jiraiya could see it was a Fuinjutsu key for a seal. "A key?"

"Techniques from Uzushiogakure. Naruto helped me make this all." Raito answered as he channeled chakra to the key.

"This sealing technique wasn't meant for Sasuke at all. So, I can't say how long the seal will be effective."

"According to what I learned from cursed seals, they are made up of the yin chakra of the caster which interferes with the natural chakra pathway of the victim. My plan of action was to balance the yin with yang chakra, which can lead to stability of the seal, and with the help of an extraction seal, get rid of the curse seal."

With his focus on the Fuinjutsu, Raito had closed his eyes linking the key to the seal on Sasuke.

Kakashi who was behind Raito, gave an eye smile at the dumbfounded looks on Jiraiya and Hiruzen, possibly many others.

"How could that be so easy balancing yin and yang chakra? Do you know what yin and yang chakra even is?" Jiraiya shook his head in disbelief as he heard Raito explaining.

"It was Naruto who came up with the solution. That book you gave him Jiichan, it was written in there. It means the previous owner of that book was working on destroying the curse seal."

"And that book had a blood seal."

"A blood seal, huh?" Hiruzen looked at Jiraiya and sighed.

"Maybe we should let Naruto come in contact with more of Uzushiogakure stuff huh, sensei?" Jiraiya replied Hiruzen with another question.

[Fuinjutsu - Revelation]

The characters from the scroll latched into Sasuke's shoulder, revealing the 'Evil suppression Seal' and the 'Curse seal of Heaven'.

SWALLOW and Jiraiya led Sasuke on the table then looked at the curse seal. The slight purplish aura emitting from the seal, made Jiraiya remember about Orochimaru, who he had met in the numerous times in the past years. His chakra resembled his nature; dark and creepy,

"This seal…" Jiraiya frowned then took out a fresh scroll.

"Orochimaru." Hiruzen sighed then took off his hat, his eyes switching between Raito and Sasuke.

"It is impossible to break the Evil suppression seal," Raito commented.

Scribbling on the scroll, Jiraiya replied, "I am not trying to break the seal and… if you have enough knowledge and chakra, you can do anything."

"Say, did you modify the 'Evil suppression seal'?" Jiraiya asked, his focus still on the curse seal. The curiosity got to Jiraiya as he inspected the seal.

"I did with Naruto's help," Raito answered opting to sit down and read a book in the meantime. The book was about some random story that Raito had brought in batch from the traveling merchants.

"Read this instead." A book was pushed in front of Raito by Hiruzen. Instead of reading these random stories, a book regarding their trade will be quite useful.

"Um." Raito grabbed the book then looked at Hiruzen. "Jiichan."

"Hm…" Hiruzen looked at Raito then sat by his side. Before he could sit down, a chair was already placed for him by the ANBU in the room.

"You are old, Jiichan," Raito commented then started reading the book. "Give that hat to someone already."

Several people in the room gave Raito a stink eye at his comment. But looking at Hiruzen, they thought that he was indeed getting old to deal with everything that comes with the seat.

[Elemental Ninjutsu and Hand seals]

Type – Book

It is said that some specific hand seals are more favored to a specific elemental nature. Like tiger hand seals which Sasuke usually uses for his [Great fireball jutsu] and snake hand seal for earth jutsus.

There are twelve basic hand seals, each one named after an animal. Five elemental hand seals, hundreds of variations and unique seals.

"You are stingy too." Raito pouted.