Suguru's smile widened as his Shinrakugan's range slowly swept across the area he was in. With several squads approaching him from different directions, he felt an odd sense of amusement.
'Although I can't kill them all, I can still make their lives difficult.'
After all, everyone was walking straight into his trap.
Willingly, at that.
Thus, Suguru's gaze fell upon a few individuals. Red dust swirled, fuelled by the pouring of chakra into his eyes.
The sphere of blood floating just above his hand was a telltale sign of what was happening.
The emanating ripples.
The sudden spike in disturbances.
"Hm," Suguru even had to make a pair of clones to distribute the workload. Both of whom also wielded the Shinrakugan to heighten their analytical abilities.
The Mark of the Mirage was in full use, blanketing the area in the mysterious Genjutsu that Sunagakure had once displayed. With the flames that danced here and there, the whole formation was completed.
Then, upon his already subtle illusory formation, Suguru layered another lie upon it.
He set the stage by fabricating several chakra signatures and spreading them throughout the forest.
"Hehehe,"
Suguru's giggles were a faint echo in the layered illusions. His eyes flashed in a malevolent light, seeking the final pieces of his self-made quest.
"What a beautiful gift."
A whole collection of paper seals was lying dormant in his pouch, awaiting his command.
***
A few days ago. Right after Suguru realized that Danzo was planning something, he started preparing for the inevitable.
His laboratory was filled with an array of papers and files, each sorted according to their respective theoretical functions.
Instead of holding the scalpel, he held the brush.
Instead of the blood of all the corpses in his storage, he used his own.
He furthered his studies in Fuinjutsu and Juinjutsu, all in the hopes of breaking the [Cursed Seal: Caged Bird] that the Hyuga Clan used.
Riding on the exhilarating high of being able to complete his desired collection of doujutsu, Suguru didn't stop working his brain. He tried replicating the Caged Bird Seal and even devised his own versions that could seal away someone's eyes.
Unfortunately, without the original at his disposal, he could only come up with something similar.
'Had Orochimaru-sensei not left that behind...'
Suguru sighed, still thankful for the guidance that the snake had brought him. Having a teacher truly made a world of difference.
Laid out on his desk was a scroll that he had been struggling with for a long time. Even with the guidance of Shukaku, he still had difficulties dealing with dismantling the tomoe-shaped cursed mark that kept the scroll locked away from his grasp.
Now, however... He made a breakthrough.
'Although it isn't the best possible outcome...'
It was enough.
Instead of completely dismantling the curse mark, Suguru had devised a way to bypass and divert the effects of some set of Juinjutsu seals. Thus, by creating a situation where the curse mark lost its effects, he was effectively able to unfurl the scroll without any drawbacks.
However, such a technique was not a universal key — he had to manually craft the bypass through rigorous analysis, hoping that he could somehow lockpick the Juinjutsu mark without giving himself more problems to deal with.
"But that's enough,"
After absorbing the information left to him — a documentation of Orochimaru's research into Juinjutsu — Suguru proceeded to make a lockpicking set for Juinjutsu marks and Fuinjutsu formations.
A set of tools that could help him break into a variety of theorized seals.
From Naruto's Four Symbols Seal to the Cursed Seal of Heaven that Sasuke would have received in the future had he not intervened, Suguru was confident in hacking into their functions and changing their properties.
'Even if I can't remove them in their entirety...'
Thus, while looking at the many pieces of paper lying peacefully on his desk...
"...These will be my [Cards of Cursing]." Suguru dubbed his creation.
His cards against the world's sealing practices.
***
Sano Sayuri pushed away the eerie atmosphere she had suddenly found herself in. The invasion of chakra that jarred her senses was dissipated within a few breaths. Her companions had done the same.
"Hm,"
Nodding to her three squadmates, she tapped on her earpiece. It was a signal to the Hyuga.
"Reporting," Hyuga Rao spoke into his earpiece, "I have a visual on the target. Due one-hundred and eighty meters South-West from Squad G's location."
"...Roger," A reply promptly arrived. "Squad Z, Squad J, and Squad Alpha. You may proceed to engage the target with Squad G. Meanwhile, Squad H and Squad I will disengage. The Nibi's jinchuriki is proving to be more of a challenge than anticipated. Reinforcements are needed to complete our original mission."
As if on cue, another Tailed Beast Bomb shook the forest, blanketing Konoha's army with a sense of dread.
"Tsk," Sayuri clicked her tongue. Looking at her squadmates' darkened expressions, she felt a sense of disdain.
They were not shinobi of Root. Having trained under different teachers and a very different curriculum, they did not have the same ruthless and cold-blooded nature that she had honed.
"We'll have to make do with what we have." She spoke and increased her speed. "Let's go."
***
Suguru noticed the approach of four shinobi Squads, and upon observing the three pairs of Byakugan among the sixteen shinobi, he licked his lips.
'Lucky,' A laugh nearly escaped him, 'With my odds, three pairs should be enough.'
Since he had no test subjects at hand, his Cards of Cursing hadn't seen any real-world successes. Expecting failure on his first try, Suguru was satisfied with how badly he was wanted dead.
'However...'
There was one more squad of shinobi that had fallen into his domain. Suguru couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, questioning fate itself.
"I've sent decoys everywhere... Why are they heading straight for me?"
Hiruzen, Sasuke, Mitsuko, and Sakura were all making a beeline towards the area he was hiding in. He couldn't help but wonder why—
"—Ah,"
Right.
Suguru belatedly realized the situation at hand.
"Team 7 isn't privy to Danzo's plans, it seems."
Instead of targeting Iwa and Kumo, Hiruzen's Team 7 was forced to flee from the shinobi of their own village without knowing why. That meant that they had no reason to hunt him down.
Suddenly, the situation shifted. Suguru fell into thought.
Should he meet with Hiruzen now, since the opportunity had presented itself? However, if he did so and ended up plucking the eyes of the Hyuga shinobi chasing after him...
'I don't know how Hiruzen will react.'
Furthermore, his old classmate, Mitsuko, was present. Given that she was a pleasant friend back in the day, he did not want to sour his relationship with her.
'...Especially since she's a Hyuga herself.'
A small dilemma was at hand, prompting Suguru to narrow his eyes in deep thought.
"Hmmmmmm,"
[]=[]=[]=[]
I appreciate your support on P@treon! Hehe~
Link: pa treon.com/ubemantou
(No space.)
You can read up to 35 chapters ahead!
[]=[]=[]=[]