"Souma… no—Souma-sama, th-this… this is… what exactly am I seeing?"
Mitarashi Anko was completely incoherent.
Her mind had shut down.
She stared at the crystal ball, then at Souma, then back at the crystal ball again, as if hoping reality would correct itself.
An Orochimaru—the Orochimaru she regarded as invincible—
had just been beaten back by Souma's shadow clone.
No.
That couldn't be right.
She had to be seeing things.
"I must be hallucinating… right…?"
Souma sighed lightly.
"Anko-senpai, don't overthink it. What you saw wasn't my shadow clone alone. It was a coordinated ambush between my clone and the Aburame Insect King."
He paused, then added honestly,
"Unfortunately, Orochimaru's escape skills and survivability are… excessive."
Anko stood frozen in the wind.
That wasn't what shocked her.
What shattered her wasn't why Orochimaru escaped—
It was the realization that he could be forced to retreat at all.
For years, Orochimaru had been an untouchable nightmare engraved into her psyche.
And just now—
That image had been smashed into fragments.
She stared at Souma for a long time, unable to speak.
"…What's wrong?" Souma asked.
"N-nothing. I just… think you're incredible."
The honorific slipped out unconsciously.
Despite the boy in front of her being barely fifteen, age meant nothing in the shinobi world. She despised the village's stubborn old fossils—but toward Souma, she felt only admiration.
Souma laughed softly.
"Don't put me on a pedestal. My clone didn't defeat him—Orochimaru simply didn't want to drag things out."
He hadn't used Edo Tensei.
No Manda.
No Triple Rashōmon.
It was obvious Orochimaru's true target wasn't him.
The research institute was merely a probe—
Success was a bonus, failure cost nothing.
For the moment, the crisis had passed.
Anko finally exhaled.
"Souma-sama… then I'll return to the exam site. I'm in charge of guiding the second stage."
She bowed, hesitated, then added carefully,
"After the Chūnin Exams… may I ask you for a favor?"
"…The curse mark?"
Souma's gaze shifted to her neck.
Anko nodded.
"The Heaven Curse Mark was left behind before Orochimaru defected. Over the years, the Third Hokage helped suppress it, but…"
She clenched her fist.
"It still takes advantage of me."
Like this time.
Even without direct contact, the pain nearly crippled her. And if Souma was right—if Orochimaru could sense or even manipulate the curse mark—
Then it was a lethal weakness.
Because her goal had never changed.
She wanted to kill Orochimaru.
"The curse mark is similar to senjutsu," Souma said thoughtfully.
"It contains Orochimaru's… personal modifications. Completely removing it is difficult."
"Ah—no, I just need help sealing it!"
Anko wiped sweat from her forehead.
Even the Third Hokage had never promised a cure. She hadn't expected Souma to immediately consider eradication.
That level of thinking was terrifying.
"…Alright. That's easy."
Souma raised his hands.
"I'll add another seal for now. In small amounts, that power isn't inherently harmful."
"This one."
Before Anko could react, his hands blurred through seals—
And his palm pressed against her neck.
In an instant, sealing formulas spread outward like living ink, wrapping tightly around the curse mark.
Four Symbols Seal.
But—
"Wait. Not done yet."
Souma formed another sequence.
This seal wasn't fully perfected yet, but when integrated into an Eight Trigrams framework, it fit perfectly.
A new layer manifested.
A purification-type seal, derived from the Iron Wall concept.
Its ultimate purpose was to filter foreign will and energy, leaving behind only pure chakra.
Originally designed for tailed-beast chakra refinement.
At present, it could only filter energy—not consciousness.
But that was enough.
The curse mark's power was primarily chakra. Once impurities were filtered, its danger dropped drastically.
Layer after layer locked into place.
One minute later—
"Done."
"…That fast?"
Anko focused inward.
The curse mark—
which had always needed constant suppression—
Was quiet.
Not gone.
But—
"Souma-kun… it's still there, but…"
"Yes. It isn't completely sealed. Chakra will still leak out, but now it's filtered and slowly absorbed into your body."
Souma thought, then added,
"If you don't like it, I can fully seal it later."
"No—no, I'll try this first."
Anko wasn't ignorant.
She'd studied sealing techniques herself, desperately seeking relief—even if she never succeeded.
She touched her neck, staring at the impossibly complex formula.
This was tailed-beast-level sealing.
She bowed deeply, thanked him repeatedly, and hurried off—
The second exam awaited.
Souma watched her go, thoughtful.
Orochimaru's real body had been northwest.
Would the Grass shinobi still be replaced and killed like before?
Hard to say.
After falling into the same pit twice, Orochimaru wouldn't fail to adapt—
If he did, Souma would suspect body theft.
Which meant—
"Anko."
"Yes, Souma-sama?"
"Pay special attention to foreign shinobi. One of them may be Orochimaru in disguise."
"…You mean—"
"His real body is elsewhere. He's likely using a special shadow clone. I can't confirm yet."
Anko nodded solemnly.
"Thank you for the warning."
She left.
Souma returned to the backstage area instead of Daimyō's room.
Yamanaka Inoichi was coordinating the projection.
He looked up.
"That was Anko?"
"Yes. Orochimaru infiltrated Konoha. His possible target was my institute."
Souma answered casually.
Inoichi nearly sent the wrong feed to Daimyō.
"You're saying Orochimaru?! Then we should deploy support—Genma—"
"Senpai, calm down!"
Souma quickly waved his hands.
"He ran. My shadow clone drove him off. No immediate threat."
The words hit like a thunderbolt.
Inoichi froze.
It took a full minute for his brain to reboot.
"…So now?"
"Orochimaru escaped via reverse summoning. He likely has clones or subordinates elsewhere—possibly even inside the exam site or ANBU."
Inoichi frowned.
"That many shadow clones—is that feasible?"
"Not normal ones. But if they're parasitic, or modified bodies, or embedded in summons…"
Souma smiled faintly.
"Orochimaru isn't called a genius for nothing."
"…Then you're heading to the exam site?"
"No."
Souma shook his head.
"I'll stay here."
Inoichi immediately understood.
Orochimaru wanted them to move.
So they wouldn't.
Everything else was already covered.
Just then—
"Souma-sama. Advisor Homura requests an audience."
Souma smiled.
Here it comes.
Homura Mitokado wouldn't come without reason.
He was here to sound things out for Danzō.
Homura wasn't evil—
just naïve, and easily manipulated.
"I'll go."
"Inoichi-senpai."
"Yes?"
Souma raised a finger to his lips.
"Shh."
Then—
another shadow clone appeared.
The clone exited through the front door.
The real Souma slipped toward the window.
Inoichi's brows furrowed.
Then his instincts screamed.
Enemy?
He activated perception—
Nothing.
No threat.
Then—
Whoosh.
Souma vanished through the window, faster than the eye could follow.
Inoichi inhaled sharply.
"…We wait."
He trusted it.
That speed—
No wonder Orochimaru ran.
It was beyond anything Inoichi thought possible.
Advance Chapters available on Patreon
patreon.com/pikachu614