Long Live The Hokage - Chapter 224

Chapter 224: The Curse
“Sure enough, the reason behind his immortality isn’t a human experiment. Is it the effect of a certain technique?” Masahiko was slightly surprised.

Such altars generally have two effects. Like the one in the Land of Wind or the other in Roran, altars usually sealed with Fuinjutsu. And breaking the seal amplifies the effect of a specific technique.

“If it’s really a technique, it’s probably stronger than the Edo Tensei.” Masahiko frowned.

The other two with Masahiko had already stepped forward, inspecting every corner in the venue, and Masahiko could tell that there was a strange green light reflecting in Orochimaru’s eyes.

“Damn it, I knew it, it was awkward that Orochimaru took the initiative to participate in this mission. He turned out to be interested in Jashin’s immortality.”

Masahiko stepped forward, “Orochimaru, did you figure out anything?” Masahiko was anxious that Orochimaru will create an undead army in the future. Turning Naruto to the Dark Souls’ world would be really terrible…

Orochimaru shook his head, “There’s nothing to gain.”

Masahiko glanced at him for a while, then sighed helplessly. He really couldn’t tell if Orochimaru was telling the truth.

“The Undead Legion… I still remember that boss, but I have Optimus Prime now, and I’m fearless!”
(T/N: Farron’s Undead Legion in Dark Souls 3 is a boss comprised of three separate Abyss Watchers.)

After checking every corner of the venue, there was nothing special except the status of Jashin that was much larger than the previous ones.

In the end, the eyes of the three of them fell on the altar.

Masahiko looked around, then smirked, “Jiraiya, you go.”

Jiraiya rolled his eyes, he knew that Masahiko was trying to use him as a dummy, but he wasn’t that stupid.

After hesitating, he sat down cross-legged, and then Masahiko could feel the natural energy converging toward him at high speed.

“So, he’s using the Sage Mode to perceive the place?” Masahiko’s heart moved. Initially, he was just teasing Jiraiya. Masahiko should be the one exploring the way since he’s a perceptual Shinobi and also the strongest. Unexpectedly, after he turned 30 years old, Jiraiya started to respect the elderly more.

“Well, he’s only trying to protect his best friend.” Masahiko smiled and looked at Orochimaru.

Unexpectedly, Orochimaru did the same thing and started gathering Natural Energy.

“Wow, these two are really interesting.” Masahiko immediately sat down too, eager to see their sage modes’ transformation.

About two minutes later, Orochimaru took the lead to enter the Sage Mode.

In addition to the pale skin that has initially been pale, some white scales grew on Orochimaru’s face.

“Hakuja Sennin?” Masahiko was surprised; the scales on Orochimaru’s face looked the same as the Immortal Snake.

Masahiko didn’t know if it was his imagination, but the moment he entered his Sage Mode, Orochimaru looked at Jiraiya, who was still cross-legged and seemed to have shown a little “contempt” in his eyes.

“That idiot, he started learning Sage Mode earlier than Orochimaru, yet he’s taking more time to enter the mode. He deserves it.”

But that’s okay. Since Jiraiya looked the most bothered about the dead people outside, he probably was uneasy and couldn’t focus on gathering the Natural Energy…

Therefore, Masahiko watched Orochimaru walk in, after which the scales on his face began to fall off.

After about two minutes, Orochimaru came out. The scales on his face had fallen clear, and he released the Sage Mode.

“There’s weird energy inside that is blocking the Natural Energy… or maybe the Natural Energy is the one resisting that energy, I’m not sure.”

At this time, Jiraiya’s face also turned into a frog, and his face became really ugly.

“Orochimaru, how can you enter Sage Mode that fast?”

“Stupid.”

“You…”

“Hey, stop it. And you, Jiraiya, how can you call yourself a sage when it’s taking you that long to enter the Sage Mode? You should practice more and should also work on the duration. How are you planning to use it in actual battle if you can’t keep it more than five minutes?” Masahiko said helplessly.

“How did you know that?” Jiraiya was shocked.

Talent isn’t the problem; Jiraiya might be even more talented than Orochimaru, but sometimes he’s just lazy…

After that, Jiraiya walked into the altar, and the patterns on his face quickly faded away, just like Orochimaru, but…

Even after his Sage Mode was released, Jiraiya didn’t come out, and he wanted to try gathering that energy within his body.

But in just two seconds, he showed a slightly uncomfortable expression and got pulled out by Masahiko’s gravity.

“What’s the matter?” Masahiko looked confused.

Jiraiya took a few breaths, then showed a puzzled expression, “It’s a weird feeling. I felt some kind of a pressure that seems to be directly acting on the soul.”

“A technique that affects the soul?”

Masahiko stood up, sure enough, he had to go and try it himself.

He didn’t activate his Sage Mode. Masahiko didn’t believe that anything would affect his body or soul with his Yin and Yang Releases at LV9.

Sure enough, after he walked up, he only sensed some kind of energy trying to connect to his soul, but it couldn’t shake it at all.

“Sure enough, my soul and the body are completely oppressed together. As long as the body doesn’t rot, the soul will never leave the body… Wait, so this is the truth of immortality?” Masahiko suddenly realized how simple the truth is.

“It’s a pity, even though I’m not trying to resist it, this energy will couldn’t connect to my soul. Therefore, I will never learn this technique of immortality. This kind of weak energy can’t shake my soul… but I think if I control my power a bit, there’s a small possibility that it will get completely attached to my body…”

“Wait… technique?” Thinking of this, Masahiko’s expression suddenly changed. Even though he was standing at the altar’s center, he couldn’t sense the slightest Chakra fluctuation.

“It’s not a Ninjutsu, it’s not Fuinjutsu. What is this?” A trace of interest showed up on Masahiko’s face; thinking that he had discovered another power system in Naruto World, he couldn’t help but smile excitedly.

“Impossible is this… Immortal Cultivation?” Masahiko muttered and hurriedly opened his status bar, looking for a “QI Training” skill.

However, the result was disappointing; nothing changed on his status bar.

“Yeah, keep on dreaming…” Masahiko sighed, “Let’s just solve this problem with some scientific methods.”

Masahiko walked down a few steps then glanced at Orochimaru and Jiraiya.

“Step back, you guys.”

“Earth Release: Raising Rocks!”

The ground below the altar rose up, and the altar fell apart.

“Elder, we haven’t…” Jiraiya tried to explain, but Masahiko waved his hand while he watched the land rising in front of him, and the altar getting destroyed.

Suddenly a few pieces of mud flew over here and there, and when one was about to hit him, Masahiko it with one hand, then suddenly frowned.

“Isn’t this?” He thought he figured it out before, but it seems that the source of that strange energy is the radiation of a particular metal element under the alter.

Masahiko’s mouth twitched as he looked at the shattered altar, and felt a little regretful. However, when he turned over and saw how Orochimaru was looking at him, he sighed and said secretly, “It’s okay. Let’s hope he didn’t figure out anything…”

“Let’s go back.” Just when Masahiko said that, he felt as if he had “learned” something new.

“Come out! My Qi Cultivation Skill!”

Masahiko hurriedly searched his skill bar back and forth and finally found a new unique ability, “Curse Breaker.”

“Curse?”