418 Learning Ninjutsu in a Glance

The group searched several places Jūgo often visited, but they couldn't find a trace of him.

In the end, it was Shinju who entered Sage Mode and sensed Jūgo's senjutsu chakra. That was how they finally spotted Jūgo at a marsh near the border of the Land of Silence, staying among a flock of birds.

Jūgo truly possessed a miraculous power. He stood at the center of the wetland, surrounded by birds of all kinds circling and calling out, making him look like a spirit of nature.

Of course, since Jūgo was over two meters tall, this "spirit" was a little—no, extremely—burly…

Once they confirmed Jūgo's location, Suigetsu opened his mouth and shouted,

"Hey, Jū—"

Before he could finish the sentence, Shinju reached out and stopped him.

Suigetsu turned his head in confusion and saw Shinju pressing an index finger to his lips in a silencing gesture, while pointing forward toward Jūgo with his other hand.

Suigetsu: "Jūgo being able to communicate with birds—didn't you already know that? ┐(´-｀)┌"

Shinju: "..."

He grabbed Suigetsu by the head and forcibly turned his face toward Jūgo.

"Look again. What do you think Jūgo is doing right now?"

The slow-on-the-uptake Suigetsu looked ahead and saw Jūgo extending his hand.

The next second, a black goose that looked completely out of place among the surrounding flock landed gently in Jūgo's palm.

The other geese all had dark pupils and mottled feathers.

This one was different. Its feathers were pitch-black from head to toe, like ink—and even its pupils were an eerie red…

Then, Jūgo gently began stroking the black-feathered goose.

Something miraculous happened.

Under Jūgo's caress, the intense black color of the goose's feathers seemed to fade.

At the same time, its crimson-red eyes slowly darkened, returning to normal…

After Jūgo finished, a black curse-mark blot appeared on his hand, and his entire body visibly grew exhausted…

Seeing this, Suigetsu immediately understood and shouted,

"The curse mark! That goose had a curse mark on it! Jūgo absorbed the curse-mark power from its body, that's why he got weaker!"

Suigetsu's shout instantly drew the attention of Jūgo and the geese in the marsh.

"Chirp—chirp—chirp—"

The flock's cries became chaotic, irritable, and filled with hostility!

Some of the geese, startled, immediately took flight!

Others stayed where they were, twisting their heads toward Shinju's group, their eyes seemingly full of displeasure!

Suigetsu got annoyed when he saw this.

"What are you looking at, you feathered beasts? (Ծ‸ Ծ)"

That was the worst thing he could have said. The moment the words left his mouth, the geese were enraged, chirping wildly as they surged toward them all at once!

It was only then that Shinju noticed—although these violent, easily angered geese didn't all have black feathers, every single one of them had red pupils without exception!

"Infected by the curse mark?"

After muttering that to himself, Shinju raised his hand, preparing to use Shinra Tensei to blast all the geese away!

But just as his hand went up, Jūgo's shout rang out from nearby:

"Don't hurt the birds!"

Shinju had no choice but to switch hand signs and called out,

"Lightning Release: Lightning Net!"

"Crackle—!"

Dense arcs of lightning burst forth from Shinju's hands, weaving together into an airtight blue-violet net!

"Whoosh—!!"

All the geese charging toward them were caught in the net. After being electrocuted, they stiffened instantly and came raining down from the sky with soft rustling sounds!

Not far away, Jūgo ran over with a pained expression, picked up a goose that had been shocked unconscious, and after confirming it was still alive, looked at Shinju with gratitude.

"Thank you."

He knew Shinju's strength well—just a breath from him could have killed all these birds. Only knocking them out was clearly a courtesy to him! T^T

Opposite him, Shinju asked curiously,

"You haven't come home these past few days. Have you been helping these birds remove their curse marks the whole time?"

Jūgo nodded.

"I can feel the pain of being bound by the curse mark. And I'm the only one who can help the birds break free without harm…"

Karin asked with curiosity,

"Then why didn't you tell us when something like this happened? (￢‸￢)"

Jūgo scratched his head.

"You wouldn't be able to help much with something like this anyway. And I didn't want to trouble you."

"And also… after absorbing too much curse-mark power, the curse mark inside my body will go out of con—"

As he spoke, the expression on Jūgo's face became stranger and stranger!

Black-gray curse marks began eroding his body, already staining half of his face pitch-black!!

Karin reacted instantly.

"What Jūgo was trying to say is that the curse-mark power inside him will go berserk! (≖╻≖;)"

The very next moment!

"Boom!!"

Jūgo's entire body turned black-gray as curse-mark armor formed over his skin!

His expression went mad, violent and bloodthirsty.

"Hahahaha… I'll kill you! I'll kill all of you!! ٩(๑`^´๑)۶"

A few seconds later!

Jūgo collapsed onto the ground, barely clinging to life!!

Karin looked at the half-dead Jūgo, then at Shinju's calm expression: ヽ( ຶ▮ ຶ)ﾉ!!!

"You hit way too hard! You almost beat him to death! (°ー°〃)"

Shinju said a bit guiltily,

"You were the one who said that once Jūgo fully transforms with the curse mark, he becomes a different person and his combat power increases dozens of times… You told me not to hold back… (*￣3￣)"

Karin: "Even so, you still can't—"

Before Karin could finish speaking, Shinju had already bent down, crouched on the ground, and healed the severely injured Jūgo!

Watching Jūgo's complexion rapidly improve, Karin blushed.

"Sorry, I got a little loud just now."

Shinju waved it off.

"It's fine. For now, let's deal with these geese infected with the curse mark…"

As he spoke, Shinju entered Sage Mode and began absorbing the curse marks from the red-eyed geese. As he absorbed them, he complained,

"How did these geese even get infected with curse marks? Could it be from staying around Jūgo too long?"

Karin made a strange face.

"No. Jūgo's curse mark isn't contagious."

Suigetsu: "Then did he deliberately release it?"

"Bang!"

Karin smashed Suigetsu's body apart with a punch.

"You've been with him for so long—you should know he treats birds as friends. There's no way he'd do something that harms them. ꐦ≖ ≖"

Shinju: "Then this is strange. Orochimaru is locked up in the Konoha prison now—could there really be someone else in the shinobi world researching curse marks? (´°Δ°`)"

Karin: "It's possible! (ㅎ‸ㅎ)"

...

A few minutes later.

Jūgo woke up and looked around curiously, seeing Suigetsu and Karin guarding him nearby.

"I didn't hurt you just now… did I?"

Knowing how evil his curse mark could be, Jūgo asked guiltily.

Suigetsu grinned and shook his head.

"Shinju knocked you out with one slap back then. You didn't even get the chance to hurt us! 乁( ˙ ω˙乁)"

Jūgo smiled.

"That's good. Why don't I see Shinju? (‧_‧?)"

Karin said,

"After he finished absorbing the curse marks from the birds, he went back to Konoha. He said he's going to investigate the source of the curse marks on those birds."

"Coming without a trace, leaving without a sound—doing the deed and hiding his merit… That's the perfect man in my heart! (⌯︎¤̴̶̷̀ω¤̴̶̷́)✧︎"

Jūgo nodded.

"Truly perfect. After Kimimaro died, he became my restraint—my sun… (•‾̑⌣‾̑•)✧˖"

Karin: "Even you are trying to steal him from me?! (º Д º*)"