Chapter 612: Jugo
Tyrannical chakra surged wildly out of Sasuke's body.
Crackle, crackle—!
Violent thunder suddenly erupted!
Accompanying the thunder were blindingly bright, white-blue electrical arcs floating around him, like densely packed, slithering lightning snakes.
Then, in the blink of an eye—after Sasuke took a deep breath.
The noisy thunder abruptly vanished, the restless lightning snakes stopped moving, and the blazing lightning became gentle. In an instant, everything quieted down, peacefully lying over the youth's body like a tranquil, ripple-less deep pool of water, or a pale blue lightning cloak wrapped around his exterior.
The unimaginably powerful lightning-natured chakra was now surprisingly like a docile kitten.
This scene made the enemies' scalps go numb with fear and unease far more than the massive, riotous thunder from just a moment ago.
—Provided the other party understood what this meant.
The test subjects obviously understood.
At first, the monsters were still laughing—mocking laughs, berserk laughs—but gradually, they all retracted their smiles. Their eyes showed surprise first, then solemnity, and then fear slowly covered the depths of their eyes.
The man in the lead unknowingly took a step back. He was secretly annoyed at his own cowardice, but soon, this annoyance and these distracting thoughts completely vanished, leaving only... the thought of taking even more steps back.
Karin watched as that group of arrogant rioters fell silent in just a few seconds, like cats held by the scruff of their necks, or ducks lifted high by their throats. She then looked at Sasuke calmly walking toward the crowd, her heart filled with disbelief.
She had sensed Sasuke's chakra from afar and perceived the scene of his battle, and didn't think much of it at the time. But now, feeling all of this at close range made her realize how laughable she was...
This was exactly like the world of difference between seeing a tiger playing around in a photo, watching a tiger lazily resting in a zoo, and encountering the king of the forest crouching, ready to pounce and hunt in the wild!
This was the momentum and strength of a Kage-level ninja...
So strong, so terrifying!
The young girl couldn't help but swallow a mouthful of saliva, unable to resist glancing at Sakura Uchiha again. If Sasuke's imposing might was already like this, what kind of spectacle would it be when Sakura, who was even above him, made a move?
While Karin was letting her imagination run wild, Sasuke had already closed in on the crowd. The rioters, who were stepping back bit by bit, were like springs compressed to the extreme; they finally had to fight back!
However, with their momentum severely oppressed, their attacks were more like a venting, a release of their fear.
Their power might have been greatly enhanced, but their coordination and accuracy were severely compromised.
Sasuke didn't even pay attention to their attacks; the lightning shield automatically intercepted the enemies' feeble ninjutsu and shuriken. He simply slowly opened his palm, and the lake-like tranquil lightning condensed into a slender sword in his hand.
The youth gripped the sword.
The air seemed to freeze in this second.
Then—
The lightning abruptly burst, and its shining brilliance filled the entire space!
His figure flickered within that endless brilliance.
The swing of the lightning sword could not be heard. Within the lightning, the only sound that could be heard was a dense series of Thud, thud, thud—!
That was the sound of bodies hitting the ground.
No one could withstand a single slash!
Just as Sasuke had said, it took only a brief instant.
The intense light suddenly vanished. Karin blinked hard, only to see the last rioter stagger and fall. On the floor, the test subjects' bodies gradually exited the Curse Mark state, returning to their normal human appearances, littering half the hall in a disorganized mess.
Sasuke stood at the end of the hall, the blue light fading from his body, looking calm and breezy.
The battle was over in an instant.
Sakura Uchiha turned her head and smiled faintly at the still-stunned Karin: "Let's go, we're going to find Jugo."
"Oh... Oh!" Karin woke up as if from a dream and hurriedly followed.
"Cough, cough!" Suddenly, someone let out a weak voice. "You're looking for Ju-Jugo...?"
Sakura looked down; the one speaking was actually that leader from before. He hadn't passed out yet? Sasuke had underestimated this person's strike resistance.
"Oh?" The young girl squatted down, asking with great interest, "Do you have any advice to offer?"
"Hehe..." The leader painstakingly let out a low chuckle. "You don't need to look for him... he will naturally come looking for you..."
He panted for a good while before continuing, "Before we left... we opened that guy's cell. Calculating the time, that guy shouldn't be able to suppress his killing intent anymore... and should have run out by now, right? Haha, ha!"
"Is he very formidable?"
"He goes berserk frequently. In the past, only Kimimaro could subdue him." It was Karin who answered.
"Tch."
Sakura stood up, finding it dull and tasteless.
Kimimaro?
He was even worse than Kabuto.
"He isn't lying. I've sensed Jugo's chakra." Karin was still somewhat nervous. "Absolutely do not be careless. Even though you defeated Kimimaro, Jugo's strength now is also much greater than before, especially after Orochimaru dug deeply into his abilities—"
"We'll see when we meet him." Sakura waved her hand perfunctorily and walked toward the interior of the base. At the same time, she didn't forget to step over the leader and, acting quite angry, viciously stomped on the palm of this malice-filled man.
The group left the ruined hall.
Not walking far, Sakura indeed sensed an approaching, berserk chakra.
"Jugo? This chakra..."
The young girl's eyes lit up.
"I understand why it feels a bit familiar!"
Karin's face, however, tightened: "Careful, he's rushing over!"
Boom—!
Before Karin's words even faded, a figure brutally smashed through the wall and appeared before the three.
Calling him a "figure" was already flattering the Jugo before them. His body had already expanded and deformed until he barely looked human. Sharp horns grew on his head, several fleshy spikes towered high on his back, and his right arm had further metamorphosed into a massive cannon barrel!
The opening was eerily dark, with a wisp of blue smoke slowly dispersing from it.
"Hahahahaha, found you!" He laughed maniacally, staring at the three with pitch-black, evil eyes. "One, two, three... three people! Hit the jackpot, I can kill three people!"
Sasuke furrowed his brows.
This Jugo, calling him human, looked more like a wild beast venting its killing intent... His power was somewhat peculiar, but it couldn't be considered powerful either. If it were a few years ago, he might have been quite envious, and might even have been bewitched by Orochimaru because of it. But the Sasuke of today already looked down upon this level of power.
Why did Orochimaru value him so much?
He turned to look at Sakura.
The latter seemed to see through his doubts and explained: "You haven't undergone Sage Transformation, so you can't feel it. But I'm very certain that the power this Jugo is using is natural energy. In other words, the so-called Curse Mark is actually a certain innate—"
"Die!"
Sakura's words were cut off halfway, forcibly interrupted by the long-impatient Jugo!
His right-hand cannon barrel violently raised, aimed at the young girl, and abruptly blasted out a dangerous chakra light bullet!
Boom—!
Dust billowed, obscuring Jugo's ferocious figure within it.
"How dare you ignore me and chat casually!" From the thick dust, Jugo's crazed voice transmitted out. "Haha! One shot to blast you to pieces!"
Answering Jugo was not the scream, groan, or exclamation he imagined, but a calm female voice.
"What an impolite guy... Sasuke, it's my turn this time, right?"
The dust dispersed, and appearing before Jugo was the completely unharmed, slightly narrow-eyed pink-haired girl.
Blocked it completely with ease?
Jugo was slightly startled, but with his mind clouded by killing intent, he had no mind to care about it or to think about what this meant.
He was only stunned for a brief moment, and then frantically gathered even more chakra, condensing an even brighter, more massive chakra light bullet!
"Multiple Lotus Nonsense Continuous Cannons!"
On the other side, Sakura Uchiha simply and calmly brought her index and middle fingers together, holding them upright in front of her chest.
This wasn't even a standard hand seal gesture; it looked like half of the "Ram" seal. Many ninjas could simplify the hand seal process for ninjutsu they were particularly proficient in. Simplified to the very end, it was merely using this half-seal to cast the jutsu.
It represented the condensation of chakra.
Karin, watching from the side, felt her heart leap into her throat. Although she didn't know how Sakura-kun had blocked Jugo's cannon shot just now, the second shot Jugo was currently preparing had condensed so much chakra that it was an attack absolutely not to be underestimated!
Yet Sakura was simply using the most ordinary half-seal to respond.
Too careless!
She couldn't resist wanting to speak up to remind the young girl in front of her, but she was grabbed by the youth next to her:
"Just watch carefully, absolutely do not miss it!"
Karin turned to look; Sasuke's eyes were very serious, staring intently at the pink-haired girl before him.
In the next instant, Sakura's chakra violently poured out!
It was silent, but the shock it caused in everyone's hearts was even more massive than a thunderclap exploding right next to their ears!
If Jugo's chakra was a surging, roaring, danger-filled river, then the feeling the young girl gave off was that of a vast, boundless, unfathomable ocean.
Beneath the calm surface hid surging undercurrents.
It was as if with just a twitch of her finger, she could stir up terrifying waves, incite a towering tsunami, and force the great river to pour backward and reverse its flow!
Sakura Uchiha didn't even mobilize her chakra to cast any jutsu.
She simply circulated her chakra, driving the latent power within her body to leak its aura outward.
Like a Tyrannosaurus rex letting out a low, powerful roar.
It was enough to make everyone who heard the roar tremble all over, their bodies going stiff.
Jugo's power was, after all, a certain degree of Sage Transformation. Perhaps he could be called a ferocious male lion, but in front of Sakura, what could he possibly do?
He was completely frozen in place, the cannon barrel in his hand suddenly feeling as heavy as a thousand pounds, too heavy to lift.
Intense killing intent originally occupied his entire mind, but at this moment, an even stronger desire to survive drove that killing intent away completely!
Under the violent conflict and heavy pressure, Jugo's brain let out a buzzing sound, and he actually fainted.
At the same moment, the gray Curse Mark traces dissipated from his skin like a retreating tide.
Thud!
In the blink of an eye, the terrifyingly shaped monster from just a moment ago turned into a tall, orange-haired man, collapsing to the ground with a muffled sound.
Sakura Uchiha dispersed the terrifying chakra on her body back inside. She waved her hand to create a sheet of ice to hold Jugo up, looking at him and clicking her tongue in wonder: "I suppose it's some sort of degraded version of Sage Transformation, hmm... Although it's weaker than true Sage Mode, it's precisely because of this that it's more beneficial for ordinary ninjas to learn and master, right, Sasuke, Karin?"
She turned her head.
Sasuke shook his head thoughtfully: "Orochimaru wouldn't be kind enough to promote the Curse Mark on a large scale... Even if he gifts the Curse Mark to others, he probably harbors ill intentions, and there are mostly likely traps hidden within the Curse Marks."
Karin, however, was in a daze for a while before snapping back to reality.
The expression on her face looked like someone who had been rescued from drowning and was just taking their first breath of air.
As a sensory ninja, Karin was particularly sensitive to chakra. Sakura Uchiha's tsunami-like explosion of chakra just now caused an impact on her that was no less than what Jugo experienced!
For a few seconds, she even forgot to breathe.
It took a good while for Karin to recover. Steadying her nerves, she said: "Jugo's abilities, aside from Curse Mark transformation... or what you call Sage Transformation, also include two abilities named 'Cellular Secretion' and 'Cellular Absorption.' One can heal others, and the other can heal himself..."
"And... he can also communicate with animals, so he is very useful in intelligence gathering. In short, although he is unstable and frequently falls into a berserk state, he is a very valuable research subject."
After finishing, she carefully observed Sakura and Sasuke's expressions.
She was a bit frightened.
Sasuke didn't think too much of it, but Sakura saw through her thoughts and smiled: "Don't worry... I have no intention of killing Jugo. Additionally, the village currently doesn't allow human experiments on living people. Relax, we aren't Orochimaru. If you pass the review and join Konoha, we'll be comrades of the same village from now on. There's no need to be so cautious."
Karin managed a forced smile.
She pondered for a moment, as if having made up her mind, and added: "Actually, there is one more piece of intelligence I haven't told you..."
"Admittedly, currently, the Curse Mark base is one of the bases Orochimaru values most. It preserves many precious experimental materials and data, including those unique test subjects... but Orochimaru's most precious things are never kept in his bases. Instead, they are stored in an absolutely safe location, which is—"
"Ryuchi Cave."
"The inherited holy ground of the snake tribe?" Sakura's expression turned solemn.
"That's right, it is a truly foolproof place. It is said that inside the cave, there are a massive number of summoned beasts far stronger than Manda! Although one can forcefully enter Ryuchi Cave using reverse summoning by signing a contract to summon the snake tribe, all those who did so died... Only Orochimaru obtained the recognition of the snake tribe and was allowed to enter. I didn't say it before because I was worried you would forcefully barge in and lose your lives. But now, I feel that with your strength, you are completely capable of safely entering and exiting Ryuchi Cave!"
Having experienced Sakura and Sasuke's power at close range, Karin was completely won over, which was why she fully disclosed this trump-card-like intelligence.
"Wait! Are you implying that Orochimaru might be hiding there too?" Sasuke interjected.
"It's highly likely." Karin nodded.
Sasuke made his choice almost without thinking: "Where is the summoning contract scroll? I am going to pursue him to Ryuchi Cave to complete our mission, and my battle with him!"
Karin looked toward Sakura again.
The young girl smiled faintly, saying with absolute confidence: "Ryuchi Cave... sounds like some dangerous territory; it sounds very interesting! Let's go, Karin, take us to find the summoning contract scroll."
"I really want to see just what kind of dragon's pool or tiger's den this so-called Ryuchi Cave is!"
Even if it were a dragon's pool or a tiger's den, she had the ability to brave it.