Sharp teeth pierced directly into Naruto's skin.
The next moment, a chilling coldness spread rapidly from his neck throughout his entire body.
An indescribable eerie force continuously eroded his will.
Pain!
Severe pain!
It felt as if every bone in his body was being crushed, sending unbearable agony from the depths of his skin and marrow straight to his nervous system.
Naruto couldn't help but scream, his whole body convulsing uncontrollably as he collapsed to the ground.
At this moment, he couldn't even say a single word, let alone move a finger.
All he could do was look at the perpetrator with eyes full of fear mixed with anger.
"I have implanted something inside you, called the 'Cursed Seal.'"
Orochimaru licked his lips, a chilling, wicked smile spreading across his face.
"Consider it a gift for our first meeting. Of course, if you can't endure it, you'll be completely consumed—becoming neither human nor demon, a monster without reason who slaughters everything in sight."
"Ahhh!"
Naruto wanted to curse in anger, but the constant searing pain was like burning flames, forcing him to only scream in agony.
"If you want to see your parents again… then survive."
Orochimaru looked down arrogantly at the struggling, suffering Naruto and grinned.
"Then abandon everything and come find me. I will give you the answers."
"Wait—"
Naruto tried to reach out, grabbing at Orochimaru's pants.
But the man vanished into thin air, as if he had never been there, leaving no trace behind.
"Dad… Mom…"
Overwhelmed by pain, Naruto finally couldn't hold on any longer.
His vision darkened and he fainted.
"Naruto!"
Despair flashed in Sasuke's eyes.
She never imagined that a simple Chunin exam would end like this.
The "vengeful spirit" raging inside her was wildly devouring what little consciousness she had left.
Her body grew colder and paler, showing a faint blue tint, looking less and less like a living person.
Finally, Sasuke could no longer hold on either, as if thrown into a freezing abyss, her mind sinking into darkness.
No one knew how much time passed before a trembling figure pushed through thick grass.
"Naruto! Sasuke!"
It was Sakura.
After Naruto told her to escape alone, she had finally mustered the courage to come back.
What appeared before the young girl's eyes was terrifying and frightening.
Naruto lay nearby, motionless and uncertain if alive.
But what scared Sakura even more was the boy's face and arms—skin exposed outside his clothes—covered in strange, complex markings, like some kind of ancient script, full of deep mystery.
The nearby plants seemed to have lost their life force, wilting and turning yellow with a rotten scent.
Sasuke, on the other hand, looked as if she had been dead for days.
Her pale skin had an eerie bluish tint, and her eyes had no pupils—only the creepy white parts showed.
Around them, strange things were happening too, like a freezing cold wind sweeping through.
Thin frost formed everywhere.
"What… what should I do?"
Inexperienced and scared, Sakura looked at the scene, suddenly overwhelmed with panic.
It felt like she had lost her center, swallowed by a huge emptiness and fear, with no idea what to do.
Meanwhile, far away in the Hokage building, White Zetsu sat in a chair, staring at a crystal ball.
This crystal ball wasn't a valuable treasure—it was just a 'medium' used to perform a 'Telescope Technique' to spy on the Forest of Death.
But the image in the crystal ball was blurry, as if someone was deliberately hiding what was happening inside the forest.
"Heh, finally can't hold back, huh?"
White Zetsu's eyes locked onto the mist.
A cold smile appeared on his lips.
"It wasn't for nothing that I lured them with the Advancement Ritual. The Twilight Hermit Order finally showed a crack."
He had already guessed that if he wanted to advance to Sequence Four, the Twilight Hermit Order wouldn't just sit still.
Because once he became Sequence Four, he could enter the Sea of Collective Subconscious directly.
Using the connections between spiritual bodies, he could uncover the identities of all remaining members of the Twilight Hermit Order.
Then, he could wipe out all these troublesome people in one sweep.
This was an open plan.
If the Twilight Hermit Order didn't want to be hunted down and killed completely, they had to stop the Ritual at all costs before his Advancement.
Or eliminate him entirely.
So, no matter what, they wouldn't let him succeed in reaching Sequence Four.
From what he saw, everything was going exactly as he had planned.
"Too bad, you will only be stepping stones for me."
White Zetsu waved his hand, erasing the image inside the crystal ball.
He then looked out the window toward the Hidden Leaf Village and grinned.
"Adam won't be coming back. I, White Zetsu, am the true master of the Twilight Hermit Order — the only winner of this game!"
As for White Zetsu, he was just a fool to be manipulated, not worth worrying about at all.
"The only flaw is the Beyonder potion after sequence four."
White Zetsu's brow furrowed.
Before Adam went into slumber, he only left potions and rituals up to sequence four.
Nothing was mentioned about what came after.
In other words, if White Zetsu wanted to advance further, he had to find Adam and trick him into handing over the remaining sequence potions.
"No problem. Once I reach sequence four, I'll find Adam."
His eyes darkened, flashing with madness and greed.
"What reason should I use? Hmm... Uchiha White Zetsu destroying the Twilight Hermit Order — heh heh heh, that sounds like a good excuse!"
A sinister plan gradually took shape in White Zetsu's heart.
If Adam could become a god, why couldn't he?
Besides, the Adam sitting in that chair wasn't truly powerful — at most, he was only sequence four!
By now, White Zetsu had seen through Adam's true nature.
If he really were a god, why was he defeated by the mere Uchiha White Zetsu?
After giving Naruto a curse seal, Orochimaru immediately used a secret technique to hide his body and spiritual presence.
After all, this was the Hidden Leaf Village.
If the Third Hokage noticed, this plan would be destroyed for sure.
Carefully hiding himself, Orochimaru used a reverse summoning jutsu he had prepared earlier and appeared inside a strange, eerie cave.
********
Support me on my patreon and read upto 30 early chapters.