Konoha's Tatsuya

Hidden Leaf Village, the Forest of Death.

At the forest's edge, within a massive cave, Tatsuya walked slowly deeper into the darkness. He rounded a long, narrow, and dimly lit passage, and a vast cavern opened up before him.

"Tatsuya-kun, you've arrived!"

Orochimaru's hoarse, low voice echoed through the cave. This was one of Orochimaru's secret laboratories, hidden within the village.

"Orochimaru-sama!" Tatsuya greeted, his gaze quickly drawn to the enormous figure within the cavern.

It was Seiryu!

Seiryu's current condition seemed dire. The massive snake's body was covered in numerous burn marks, and the exposed wounds emitted a thick, acrid stench.

Hiss...

Seiryu sensed Tatsuya's arrival and turned, giving a soft hiss in his direction.

Seeing Seiryu, Tatsuya breathed a sigh of relief, and a smile finally spread across his face. Compared to before, Seiryu's condition and spirits were noticeably improved!

Nearly twenty days had passed since the Nine-Tails' attack. The constant threat to Seiryu's life had weighed heavily on Tatsuya's mind.

During his battle with Kazuma, Tatsuya had, in a moment of desperation, detonated the scroll containing the Nine-Tails' chakra. The malevolent chakra had entered Seiryu's body and had been continuously burning it from the inside out.

For a while, Tatsuya had managed to stabilize Seiryu's injuries by using the life energy converted from vast amounts of food, but it was merely a temporary fix. This life energy could only replenish what the Nine-Tails' chakra was consuming; it did nothing to heal the actual wounds, merely engaging in a constant, internal tug-of-war within Seiryu.

If that had been the only issue, Tatsuya might have gritted his teeth and continued to pour money into buying food for Seiryu, hoping to outlast the Nine-Tails' chakra until it was completely depleted. However, after careful observation and analysis with his bio-chip, he discovered that the Nine-Tails' chakra was actually growing naturally.

The growth rate was incredibly slow, but it was just enough to offset the chakra being consumed in the internal struggle. Moreover, during this prolonged conflict, Seiryu's mental state had been gradually deteriorating.

Tatsuya had tried every method he could think of, but the problem remained unsolved. Left with no other options, he had finally turned to Orochimaru for help.

Tatsuya didn't want to give up on Seiryu, a powerful summon. Dealing with the Snake Sannin was dangerous, but Tatsuya hoped that Orochimaru wouldn't do anything too drastic at this stage. For Seiryu's sake, he had to take the risk.

Orochimaru had readily agreed to Tatsuya's request. After all, how could he refuse such valuable and readily available experimental material?

The final result seemed to prove that Tatsuya's gamble had paid off! In just a few days, Seiryu's condition showed clear signs of improvement.

"Orochimaru-sama, have you found a solution?" Tatsuya asked, his voice filled with excitement.

"Kukuku! Tatsuya-kun, I must say, your summoning beast has remarkable vitality! It's temporarily resolved, at least," Orochimaru replied with a sinister chuckle, nodding. His gaze on Seiryu was like that of a connoisseur appraising a rare treasure.

"Orochimaru-sama, what method did you use to eliminate the Nine-Tails' chakra within him?"

Looking at Orochimaru's expression, Tatsuya felt a slight chill. He stepped forward to carefully assess Seiryu's condition, and his face displayed utter astonishment.

Tatsuya sensed that the majority of the Nine-Tails' chakra within Seiryu had vanished, replaced by a massive, unknown energy that had been generated within the snake's body. Vaguely, Tatsuya felt a sense of familiarity with this energy, though he couldn't quite place it.

"Tatsuya-kun, this is a gift from nature!" Orochimaru extended his snake-like tongue, licking his lips, his gaze still fervent.

As he spoke, Orochimaru suddenly pressed his hand onto Seiryu's body.

Tatsuya's expression shifted slightly, and he was about to call out to stop him, but he was immediately captivated by the changes occurring in Seiryu.

As Orochimaru acted, a large, black, three-tomoe symbol slowly appeared on Seiryu's body. Following this, numerous black markings began to spread across Seiryu's scales, and its body began to undergo subtle changes.

On both sides of Seiryu's body, two fleshy lumps slowly grew, stopping only after they had reached about half a meter in length.

A Cursed Seal! It was actually the Cursed Seal developed by Orochimaru!

Orochimaru's face twisted in a manic expression, and he laughed loudly. "Tatsuya-kun, do you know? This is the Cursed Seal Jutsu I meticulously developed! Your summon was able to perfectly tame it; it's completely beyond my expectations!"

Seeing that Seiryu showed no signs of going berserk in its Cursed Seal state, Tatsuya couldn't hide the smile on his face. The Cursed Seal Jutsu developed by the Snake Sannin was a super-powered cheat that could enhance combat ability!

Although Tatsuya didn't yet know whether Orochimaru had applied the Cursed Seal of Heaven or the Cursed Seal of Earth to Seiryu, either one would undoubtedly significantly increase Seiryu's power.

And, more crucially, the Cursed Seal Jutsu was a variant of Sage Jutsu!

Thinking of this, Tatsuya guessed that the massive, unknown energy he had previously sensed within Seiryu was likely natural energy or Sage Chakra!

Tatsuya had never imagined that, in his attempt to save Seiryu by bringing it to Orochimaru for experimentation, he would stumble upon such a windfall.

The fundamental reason Tatsuya had made no progress in his training of Sage Mode was his inability to sense natural energy. Without concrete examples of natural energy and Sage Chakra to analyze, even his bio-chip was helpless.

But now that natural energy or Sage Chakra had been born within Seiryu, he finally had an object for experimentation and analysis. The first hurdle in mastering Sage Mode had finally been overcome. How could Tatsuya not be overjoyed?

In his overwhelming delight, Tatsuya completely failed to notice that Orochimaru had stopped his manic laughter and was now staring at him intently.

A moment later, sensing that the atmosphere had shifted, Tatsuya snapped back to reality. He turned his head and immediately met Orochimaru's scrutinizing gaze.

"Orochimaru-sama..." Tatsuya said, forcing a dry laugh to cover his nervousness, his heart tightening slightly.

"Tatsuya-kun, you seem quite knowledgeable about the Cursed Seal Jutsu I've developed," Orochimaru stated, each word deliberate.

"How could that be? How could I possibly know anything about a jutsu you've just developed? I was simply happy about Seiryu's increase in power," Tatsuya replied calmly, although his palms were slightly sweaty.

"Is that so? I thought Tatsuya-kun might also have considerable research in the area of Cursed Seals," Orochimaru said noncommittally, but he stopped staring at Tatsuya.

He turned, and after observing Seiryu's condition for a moment, he released the Cursed Seal state.

Seeing this, Tatsuya breathed a sigh of relief, but his brow furrowed again. It was clear that Seiryu couldn't yet control the Cursed Seal state on its own, requiring Orochimaru's intervention to activate and deactivate it.

Tatsuya was quite concerned about this. He couldn't tell if this was intentional on Orochimaru's part or simply a matter of time. He wanted to ask, but he was afraid of touching on Orochimaru's core secrets and provoking his anger.