July….

Chuunin Exams Period...

Surveillance Room….

???: Elder, Over here…

Shang follows the ninja who guides him to a room where he sees Hiruzen and Anko.

Hiruzen: Shang, sorry to trouble you at this moment. Could you take a look at this?

Hiruzen points at the Cursed Seal of Heaven (Ten no Juin) which is placed by Orochimaru on the left shoulder of Anko.

Shang: Let me see…

Anko winches in pain when Shang touches it.

Shang: Sorry, try to bear with it for a moment.

Anko nods.

As Shang checks the cursed seal, he recalls the information on Orochimaru’s Juinjutsu.

Shang’s thoughts: A living cursed seal that has a part of Orochimaru’s consciousness. The only way that is known to remove Orochimaru’s Juinjutsu is to use the Totsuka no Tsurugi from Uchiha Clan’s Susanoo. It is an ethereal weapon where its blade is the liquid that pours out from the gourd. Anything which is stabbed by the blade could be drawn into the gourd and trapped in an illusory world for eternity.

Hiruzen: How is it? Can your acupuncture do something about it?

Hiruzen asks with concern as he had personally seen how Shang’s acupuncture prevent cursed seals from activating.

Shang: I don’t think my needles can do any good… However…

Shang’s thoughts: Hiruzen must have thought it was my acupuncture method can deactivate cursed seals. That was not true. I only replaced the cursed seal’s resonating chakra with my own. My method will not work on Orochimaru’s cursed seals as it also has the ability to convert any chakra into Orochimaru's senjutsu chakra.

Shang shakes his head and taps Anko’s pressure points around the cursed seals with his fingers.

Anko: Eh? The pain is gone.

Anko touches the back of the shoulder.

Shang: You will not feel pain temporarily for an hour or two. That’s all I can do.

Hiruzen: This cursed seal is different from the others you have seen?

Hiruzen questions.

Shang nods with confirmation.

Hiruzen: I see… Anko, continue the exam as planned. We will keep a lookout for Orochimaru. Shang, follow me outside. We need to talk.

Hiruzen walks out of the room, followed by Shang.

Hiruzen: Shang, about Orochimaru’s actions, what do you think of them?

After a few hundred steps from the Surveillance Room, Hiruzen starts to speak up.

Shang: You mean his actions of branding Anko with a cursed seal?

Hiruzen: Not only Anko. Uchiha Sasuke was branded by Orochimaru with the same cursed seal.

Shang: Sasuke too!? Hmm.…

Hiruzen: Any ideas?

Shang: Orochimaru’s actions do not tell me much but the cursed seal…

Hiruzen: What of his cursed seal?

Shang: Unlike other cursed seals I have seen, this one seems to have a life of its own.

Hiruzen: A cursed seal that is alive…. What are the consequences if we try to remove it by force?

Shang’s thoughts: Removing them is not a problem. The real problem is separating the branded user chakra from Orochimaru's senjutsu chakra. Plus, I am not sure if the cursed seal would re-brand itself once it is removed.

Shang: Since it has a life of its own, there is a high chance it would reappear after being removed.

Hiruzen sighs after hearing it from Shang.

Hiruzen: ….then we will have no choice but to use the Evil Sealing Method.

Hiruzen then walks off without Shang following.