The Sharingan Gamer

Soon, the New Year arrived amidst the constant skirmishes between Kyosuke and the Sand ninja assault units. The year was now Konoha 41, and Kyosuke was seven years old.

Perhaps due to the approaching New Year or a lack of resources, the Sand ninja had been uncharacteristically quiet for a while. However, Kyosuke knew in his heart that once the Sand ninja made another move, it would be no small skirmish. At that time, the full-scale war between Konoha and the Sand would truly begin, and the other major powers, the Stone and the Cloud, would likely make their own moves.

Time was of the essence, and Kyosuke's strength needed to be further enhanced.

The current tacit ceasefire between the two sides had cut off Kyosuke's source of experience points, but he could still use dungeons to improve his abilities. However, the benefits from ordinary dungeons were no longer of much help to his strength progression.

What could bring about a significant change now were forbidden jutsu, other Kekkei Genkai, and abilities that could enhance his physical constitution. But the challenge difficulty of these dungeons was absurdly high, so Kyosuke could only sigh in frustration.

However, there were still some options for abilities that were a tier below Kekkei Genkai or the Sage Body.

After much thought, Kyosuke finally set his sights on a forbidden jutsu that Orochimaru had not yet begun to research.

This forbidden jutsu was the "Curse Mark," which had shone so brightly in the early stages of the original story.

The Curse Mark was a forbidden jutsu developed by Orochimaru from the bodily fluids extracted from Jugo. It usually had two states: State One and State Two.

In State One, the Curse Mark manifested as a strange pattern that spread across the skin. Depending on the extent of the pattern's coverage, the user's strength, speed, and chakra would increase to varying degrees.

In State Two, the pattern of State One expanded to cover the entire body, and the user's appearance would change dramatically, with their chakra increasing exponentially. In the original story, Sasuke's State Two transformation grew a pair of wings, while Kimimaro and the Sound Four would also gain different abilities.

To put it bluntly, Orochimaru's Curse Mark of Heaven and Curse Mark of Earth were both derived from sage chakra. He had simply simplified the process of sage training into an ability that could be directly bestowed. Even so, not everyone could withstand this curse mark, as evidenced by the large number of failed test subjects in the original story.

Of course, with the simplified training process, the final power obtained could not be compared to the "Sage Mode." Not to mention, Orochimaru's purpose in researching the Curse Mark of Heaven was merely as a preliminary preparation for his own reincarnation. The power boost it provided was just an extra bonus. Otherwise, Orochimaru and Kabuto would never have transplanted this ability into themselves.

What they pursued was the true power of a sage.

Although Orochimaru himself looked down on this curse mark, it didn't mean that the current Kyosuke didn't need it. As for the bodily corrosion caused by its use, Kyosuke felt it was nothing compared to the erosion of Hashimara's cells or the burden of using the Mangekyo Sharingan. He didn't care about the latter two, let alone the former.

In the future, as long as Kyosuke's technology and strength reached a certain level and he obtained a Sage Body, the damage caused by the curse mark would be a non-issue.

As for whether he would be put on Orochimaru's operating table after obtaining the power of the curse mark, Kyosuke wasn't particularly concerned. If Orochimaru was curious, what was the harm in letting him study it? Not to mention, even if he wanted to, he would probably have to wait until after the war. By then... Kyosuke would no longer be a pushover. Who would be on whose operating table was not yet certain.

Having weighed the pros and cons, Kyosuke began to select a suitable dungeon.

In the original story, there seemed to be many people with the curse mark, but in the dungeons, there were not many options.

Ordinary Dungeon: "Sasuke Recovery Mission."

Challenge of the Strong Dungeon: "Kimimaro."

Challenge of the Strong Dungeon: "Sound Four."

Challenge of the Strong Dungeon: "Jugo."

Challenge of the Strong Dungeon: "Cursed Seal Sasuke."

Besides these five options, dungeons such as "Orochimaru/Sage Kabuto," "Three Sannin/Akatsuki Orochimaru," "Deidara's Battle," and "Uchiha Brothers' Reunion" could also drop the "Curse Mark" ability. But these dungeons... Kyosuke could only look at them with envy. To enter them now would be to ask for a beating.

After eliminating these useless options, Kyosuke seriously looked at the dungeons he could possibly clear.

First, among the five options, the single-player challenge against Kimimaro was probably the most difficult. With Kyosuke's current strength, defeating a member of the Sound Four alone was not particularly difficult, but with Kimimaro's strength, which was enough to team up with Orochimaru to kill the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, facing him alone was basically suicide.

Kimimaro, in his prime and without his illness, probably already had the strength of a new Kage. Otherwise, he would have been useless in the battle between Orochimaru and Rasa. It was only after that battle that Kimimaro's body was on the verge of collapse, and his strength had plummeted. Even so, he could still play with a Nine-Tails chakra-wielding Naruto, and after fighting the Nine-Tails Naruto, Rock Lee, and Gaara in succession, he had only died due to his illness. It could be said that this was a typical case of being killed by the plot. So, Kyosuke first ruled out this dungeon.

Next, the Jugo dungeon was the same. A fully cursed seal Jugo, even if he was weaker than Kimimaro, was probably not much weaker. He was also not within Kyosuke's consideration at this time.

As for the remaining, the single-player challenge against the Sound Four, and the single-player challenge against a three-tomoe Sharingan, Cursed Seal State Two Sasuke, Kyosuke couldn't say which was more difficult. The former had a numerical advantage, and the abilities of the four were very tricky. It was extremely difficult for one person to deal with them. As for the latter, in Sasuke's state at that time, he could probably take out a member of the Sound Four in an instant with a full-power burst. Kyosuke, besides relying on his speed to kite him, had no good way to win.

After thinking it over, the only one he could choose was the "Sasuke Recovery Mission" dungeon.

Although in this dungeon, he might have to replace one of the "protagonists," and all the enemies mentioned above might exist, he would also have the help of his allies. The actual difficulty would depend on his specific actions. It was possible that, in the end, the actual difficulty would be greater than the previous ones, or it could be a relatively easy mission to complete.

In short, empty thoughts were useless.

Having made his decision, Kyosuke made some preparations and then directly chose the "Sasuke Recovery Mission" dungeon.

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