The following week, Kimimaro's condition worsened. He had already forced himself to visit Jugo and he was soon bedridden again.
Seals and needles were what kept Kimimaro active during this time. To maintain his act, Jugo stayed with Kimimaro at all times, talking to him or simply keeping him company in silence. Even in moments of weakness of Kimimaro, Jugo didn't go mad, which made Orochimaru nod in satisfaction.
If it weren't for the cursed mark not being able to be planted on Jugo, Orochimaru even felt he would be a good choice.
The cursed mark would quickly be swallowed by Jugo's body, otherwise, Orochimaru would have long since seen him as prey.
Kabuto left first to adjust to his role as a Konoha Genin. Ironically, this was his most solid identity, because it was real, but also the most dangerous. After all, Danzo only let Kabuto go because he was connected to Orochimaru now.
So Kabuto was always recognized by Danzo, but he never touched him or reported him so as not to compromise his involvement with Orochimaru.
Jugo was soon summoned by Orochimaru. At first, he thought he would be assigned to some Sound mobs, but when he saw his team, he was a little surprised.
A man with a face and hair covered in bandages and and with a blouse with abnormally long sleeves, and a woman with a long black hair tied up who looked beautiful but still ordinary.
-These are Dosu and Kin. They will be your partners during the Chunin Exam. - Orochimaru explained calmly.
Jugo just nodded outwardly, but inwardly he was thinking. Where's that guy with the tube in his hand that shot air jets? Even if one of them had to be replaced, shouldn't it be the woman? She seemed the weakest.
But maybe it was for balance: he's taijutsu, Dosu's sound jutsu and Kin's sound genjutsu.
In terms of combat, he can hold his own with Dosu's side support and Kin's harassment.
The problem is that even though Dosu has the power of a chunin and Kin is barely an elite genin at most, she's still very weak compared to Dosu. Anyway, he could kill them both before they blink.
Thus, looking at these two, Jugo saw them as mere cannon fodder, but due to his previous personality, he still acted like a background character. After nodding to them both, he remained silent.
-Jugo is the strongest, so he'll be the team leader. - After saying this, Orochimaru turned and left. - I'll leave first, you can follow the group that's going to the exam openly.
Jugo just looked at the departing figure and then at Kin and Dosu. Kin looked fearful, Dosu narrowed his eyes as if tempted to make a move.
Recalling this guy's personality, Jugo thought he'd probably kill himself sooner than expected.
Shaking his head mentally, he left and went to get his new clothes.
Now finally dressed like a human being, he wore a similar outfit to the duo: cow-print pants, a black tank top with a bluish-gray vest over it, ninja sandals, calves bound with bands, and a ninja pouch on his right leg.
A Sound bandana was also tied to his left arm.
His hair was cut short, shaved on the sides and slicked back in a high pompadour, he looked a bit like his Boruto counterpart, but yonger.
Leaving the room, he walked over to his team. Kin stared at him for a moment longer, slightly surprised, then looked away. Dosu, on the other hand, still looked like a strange hunchback with extremely long sleeves.
-Hey, captain, let's go or we'll miss the exit. - Dosu said calmly, his eyes fixed on him.
Jugo narrowed his eyes slightly, feeling irritated by the clear defiance in Dosu's eyes.
The next moment, his body rapidly transformed, entering the first cursed stage, and an extremely strong and vile chakra erupted from him.
After entering the path of the chained, his chakra not only increased due to the increase in physical and spiritual strength, but also became extremely malevolent. In terms of chakra, a large volume of Yin chakra flowed out of him, forming a mist of darkness that seemed to cover everything.
Normally his chakra felt normal because of the prisoner's binding ability, but it loosened up a bit now.
Jugo quickly pulled back the energy. He felt like he was nearly going mad at that moment and quickly retracted his power. It was the first time he had let this power out and he nearly went mad, making it clear that the effects of the Lunatic were extremely active.
It was only a brief moment, but Kin fell back, trembling all over, clutching her arms tightly around her chest. She nearly piss her self.
Dosu, the target, froze, his eyes widening, and his breath caught. It was only when Jugo passed him and was far away that he regained consciousness.
He didn't think he was any better than Kin, who couldn't even lift his head. He'd probably be in a similar state if he hadn't frozen.
He quickly grabbed Kin and dragged her away, still feeling the cold on his back, his eyes no longer dared to look directly at Jugo.
Jugo, on the other hand, thought he'd underestimated himself a bit before. He'd thought he was now at most Asuma's level, but after feeling the power that coursed through him earlier, he knew even Kakashi would sweat. But he didn't think he could even beat Asuma. After all, isn't a powerful monster without control the epitome of the Bijus? How many of them have won battles on their own?
He's still far from their power, but he still fights like them. Isn't that just asking for a beating?
So Jugo not only didn't get presumptuous, but he frowned and felt uneasy. He really needed to learn to control his power and ninjutsu, but there wasn't time for that yet.
Orochimaru liked Jugo, a useful beast.
He might accept a strong Jugo as his right-hand man, but how sincere would he really be? Would he trust him? He... Orochimaru only trusts himself.
So Jugo's plan had always been to progress in his sequence first, then he could think about other things.
With Dosu and Kin still slightly trembling behind them, Jugo sighed and hoped that upon reaching the werewolf, his combat skills would take another leap, but only as a Zombie could he truly feel safe.
Werewolves also have major anger issues, but Zombies are more restrained or so he believes.
Of course, his biggest problems would be against the full moon, for a moment he thought it would be cool to be able to destroy the moon with a Kamehameha.
The trio soon encountered the other teams. Their team leader was Orochimaru himself in another disguise, but he had already left earlier on errands, so Jugo, Dosu and Kin simply followed the other teams.
There were three sound teams participating this time. He didn't see the guy with the air tubes there, but he didn't think to look too hard.
On the team, even the jonin leaders didn't dare look at Jugo too closely. For these ordinary jonin, even a purely violent Jugo was still too dangerous to approach.
Jugo paid them no mind, simply following the group calmly, as they began running away toward the Land of Fire.
The Land of Sound bordered the Land of Fire, so it was a quick trip to the border, where a check was made and after confirmation, the group continued on to the Hidden Leaf Village, this time "escorted" by some Konoha Anbus.
Konoha apparently wasn't hospitable enough to let so many groups enter its borders without monitoring their routes.
The Anbus were clearly out of sight, but they were still clearly sensed by ninjas good at perception.
Jugo wasn't very good at that.
Even with his natural energy, he only absorbed it passively, unable to truly sense the world around him. He tried meditating and controlling it, but failed miserably, so he gave up for now.
Even so, his physical senses were quite good, so he still perceived them. He could also speak to animals and ask for their help, so he found them with relative ease.
It was only on the third day of running that they reached the Hidden Leaf Village.
At this point, the Anbu disappeared, but a new one soon approached. They checked in at the gate before being given lodging near the shopping area, likely encouraging them to spend money there.
The group quickly found their rooms and split up. The exam would start in two days, so they had some free time.
But the next moment, as he considered going out to eat, he remembered something: he had no money.
It was nice to be able to live off the "State", but now that he wanted to eat something, he had no money. How was he going to try Ichiraku Ramen?
Just as he was thinking, he glanced at the duo beside him, who had unconsciously followed him.
-Hey, Dosu, Kin, do you have any money? - Jugo asked with interest.
Dosu didn't react, or maybe she did, but her nearly covered face hid it. Kin was a little surprised before nodding. -A little. - she said.
-Well, let's go eat ramen, you guys pay. - Jugo smiled and wrapped his arms around their necks, pulling them away, asking around about ramen shops.
It only took him three shops to find Ichiraku.
Dosu seemed unhappy at being dragged along, but also resigned.
Kin looked at the arm around his neck, a little embarrassed and shy, but didn't pull away.
Soon the trio was seated as Jugo spoke. - A Tonkotsu Ramen! And you guys?
-The same. - Kin lowered her head, a little embarrassed.
-No need. - Dosu shook his head. He didn't like eating out, firstly because it was a pain to take off and put on his bandages, and secondly because he didn't trust other people's food.
Jugo didn't mind, he glanced curiously at Teuchi and Ayame. He thought Ayame looked pretty cute, but didn't think much of it, he'd never been one to think with his lower head.
-Here you go. - Ayame smiled as she handed over the ramen.
Jugo picked up his chopsticks and began eating. He hadn't known how to use them before, but luckily Jugo did.
The first bite said it all, this is damn good!
Sure, it was a little greasy and oily, but he liked it. He just felt it needed a little pepper, so he added a little more.
Kin, who was standing nearby, ate calmly, glancing at Jugo from time to time. She felt that the current Jugo wasn't as scary as the one she'd seen before.
Even Dosu, who was just standing quietly nearby, couldn't help but frown slightly in confusion, but in the end, neither of them spoke about it.
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+10 chapters of Jugo - Father of Devils on P_treon.
+16 chapters of The Legendary Mechanic - Triple Six on P_treon.
P_treon: March_Rain