Deadly poison

Haku, Karin, and Hinata were looking around everywhere; they were pretty much expecting Orochimaru to pop out of nowhere.

Orochimaru had so many weird jutsus that they weren't confident Sato had actually beaten him. 

"Don't bother; he's dead. At least his body is dead; that snake was his real body, and I killed it."

Sato dropped the crushed snake head and took a deep breath. Making a hand sign, he created a funnel shape with his fingers. 

"Fire style: Fireball jutsu."

*Sizzle*

With this, Sato burned Orochimaru's body into ash. He was holding a big grudge against Orochimaru. 

"From now on every time I see you, I will kill you and destroy your body."

"You think you are smart for destroying Neji, Karui, and Omoi's bodies. You are about to have a rude awakening."

"Immortality isn't going to save you from my constant abuse. I will hunt you down Orochimaru."

Sato no longer had any interest in working with Orochimaru. And that man wasn't going to bother with him either.

Orochimaru was not a politically driven man; he was a very direct man; they cannot become allies under these circumstances.

"What should we do now, Sato Sama?"

Haku finally asked in a low tone. Sato sighed and looked up at the sky. He was no longer in the mood to hunt down players.

"Haku, find a random matching scroll from someone; we will meet again at the finish line."

"Let's get this exam over with. If we are lucky, Orochimaru might still attack Konoha, maybe in a new body."

"I will kill him if he shows up again. I really hope he shows up."

Sato clenched his fists and then slowly relaxed. He had to get over his friend's deaths. Moping won't do any good.

'Sorry guys, Orochimaru will follow you soon; I will make sure of it.'

Sato thought and shook his head, grabbing Hinata's hand Sato walked away. Karin carefully followed the two.

Haku pursed his lips and rushed in another direction. He also wanted to finish this exam quickly. 

Sato, Hinata, and Karin travelled through the forest; occasionally meeting a few ninja teams. Sato scared most of them away with a glance. 

They walked and walked for hours this way; normally, this was nothing for ninjas, but Hinata seemed to be having trouble keeping up.

"Huff huff"

Hinata was panting for some time, although she didn't say anything, Sato, who was deep in thought, seemed to notice her slowing down.

"Are you still feeling sad, Hinata? You look awfully tired. Please try to control your emotions."

"Neji and Karui wouldn't want you to act like this."

Sato stopped and gently held Hinata's cheek, but he soon frowned; her face was hot. She was having a fever. 

"Sato kun, it's nothing; before we began fighting, I was bitten by a snake."

"I had taken the universal antidote, so I didn't care about it. But I may have been poisoned."

Hinata said that as she panted harder, she sat down and removed her sandals, exposing her bare ankles.

Showing the spot where the snake had bit her.

"The wound has turned black; what a weird bite mark; it looks like three tomoes."

Karin crouched down and commented on the snake bite. Meanwhile, Sato was desperately pulling his hair from the side.

"Are you kidding me? That's the curse mark; Orochimaru gave you the curse mark using his snakes!"

Sato was now starting to understand what Fugaku meant when he said that Orochimaru would come prepared. 

Sato had taken multiple losses since his clash with Orochimaru. Sure, he also heavily wounded Orochimaru, but that wouldn't bring the dead back to life.

"Curse mark? What is that, Sato... huff.. kun?"

Hinata's panting got much worse as time passed; her temperature was increasing steadily.

Hinata could see that some weird energy was drilling into her body; some of her organs were starting to malfunction.

Especially her heart; it was beating in a weird way, as if it was going to stop anytime.

"It's a sealing justu, a curse seal. It's main problem is only a few people can survive having the seal."

"I won't lie, Hinata; very, very few live after getting the curse seal. You should know your body the best."

"Tell me, do you think you are compatible with the curse mark? Are you going to make it, tell me the truth."

Sato asked in a low voice. The worse the situation got, the more Sato's mind was starting to calm down.

Hinata wanted to speak but suddenly started coughing. Sato quickly patted her back. That's when he saw blood spilling out of her lips.

Sato closed his eyes. He got his answer. Hinata was not compatible with the curse mark.

"Sorry, Sato Kun. I don't think I'll be able to follow you anymore."

"After I am gone, please don't be sad. Fu is a good girl; you should talk to her more."

Hinata smiled and held Sato's hand; she took a deep breath, she had accepted that she was going to die today along with her brother Neji.

She cheerfully gave her last words before her heart stops beating completely. 

"Hinata, is there anything that can save you? Anything at all, tell me, and I'll get it for you."

But Sato didn't give up hope; he asked in a very soft tone.

Sato felt like a statue with how eerily calm he had become. His eyes were dilated, showing how hyper-focused he was right now.

His mind was analyzing every single detail he could find, trying to find a solution. 

"It's okay, Sato Kun. Thank you; marrying you was the best decision of my life."

Hinata happily smiled and closed her eyes tiredly. She had accepted her end, and she wanted Sato to do the same.

She had the Byakugan, she could tell that her organs were failing; her liver, left kidney, stomach, and right lung had all stopped working. 

*Bump*

And finally, so did her heart. Hinata's heart had stopped beating, her eyes became empty. 

She was dead.

*Bzzzt*

But Sato's emotionless eyes didn't change. A spark of electricity lit up in his hand, and he shocked her heart. 

*Bump*

Hinata's heart shook a bit but refused to beat again. Hinata did not wake up.

"Her heart has stopped, but brain death takes a few more minutes. I can still save her."

Sato kept muttering in a distracted way. He picked up her body and stared walking away in a daze, when Karin finally couldn't take it anymore. 

"Sato, what are you doing?"

Sato turned to her and said it lightly.

"I am going to find a medical ninja."

Karin opened her mouth to say that medical ninjas can't treat corpses. But she wisely shut her mouth. 

But, she couldn't watch Sato struggle hopelessly! So she raised her arm.

"If you want a medical ninja, make her bite me. If someone bites me, all their injuries are healed."

"I didn't suggest anything because I cannot cure poison, but let's give it a try anyway. My ability is better than any medical ninja out there."

Karin decided to give her ability a try, but internally, she was sure this was hopeless. She had tried to cure poison before, but she couldn't do it, and Hinata was poisoned!

Yet she wanted to do it for Sato, when she looked at him again, his emotionless eyes were gone. In their place, he had eyes filled with amazement. 

"Of course! How could I forget?!"

"If anything can fight the nature energy of the curse mark, it's the sage body of the Uzumaki clan."

"Quick, Karin, do it. Hinata isn't poisoned; she is simply not compatible with sage energy; that's why she is dying."

"But you are compatible! Uzumaki's have the sage body, and you have the best Uzumaki physique out there."

If anything could stop the curse mark from killing Hinata, it was Karin's sage body chakra.

Hinata's brain death hasn't happened yet. There was still a chance to save her. Yes, it must be possible.

"Okay!"

Karin quickly nodded and brought her arm to Hinata's mouth. Holding Hinata's teeth, she made her jaw bite down.

*Whoosh*

Karin felt her vitality-filled chakra leaving her body; Hinata was like a dry well, she kept absorbing Karin's chakra. 

But Karin had so much chakra that she didn't seem to care at all. She was much more surprised to see Hinata almost immediately start breathing again. 

The second her chakra entered Hinata's body, the nature energy instantly calmed down.

"Sato kun..?"

Hinata opened her eyes in confusion. What happened? She was in limbo just now, speaking with Neji, Karui, and Omoi, when she suddenly felt a pull.

And now she was alive again? This was a miracle! It must be her and Sato's love that made such a miracle happen!

Advanced chapters ahead on patréon

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