Cursed Seal of Heaven

The Cursed Seal of Heaven is one of the strongest of Orochimaru's Cursed Seals, the other being its counterpart, the Cursed Seal of Earth. The seal consists of three tomoe, similar to the Sharingan, which, when activated, spread like flames across the user's body. When Sasuke activated the second level of the seal, his skin turned dark-gray and his hair grew and turned dark blue. His eyes also turned dark gray. Additionally, he grew webbed-claw-shaped wings from his back which he could use to glide, and a dark, star-shaped mark appeared across the bridge of his nose. Like all Cursed Seals, the user receives increased chakra levels and physical capabilities when the seal is active. The seal was applied at the left side of the back of both Sasuke's and Anko's necks.

For Orochimaru to use this technique on someone, he had to perform the tiger hand seal while placing his two middle fingers pressed together, facing towards his face. He then had to extend his neck towards the target, and to bite him/her. He would then release the bite, and three tomoes would appear on the victim's neck.

Anko received her Cursed Seal when she was a student of Orochimaru. She, along with nine others, were the first people to receive a Cursed Seal. She was the only one to survive the application, establishing the one-in-ten success rate for the procedure. Because she lacked the will to use it, her seal receded, and Orochimaru wiped her memory. Orochimaru was able to briefly reactivate the seal when they fought in the Forest of Death before the Third Hokage sealed it off again.

Orochimaru branded Sasuke with the Cursed Seal in the second phase of the Chūnin Exams, which took place in the Forest of Death. Orochimaru intended to have the seal corrode Sasuke's mind so that he could become his next body. Kakashi Hatake used the Evil Sealing Method to try and prevent this, but its effectiveness relied on Sasuke's choosing not to use his Cursed Seal. Sasuke ultimately chose to advance his seal to its second level, and went to Orochimaru with the help of the Sound Four. During Sasuke's battle in Part II with Itachi Uchiha, the Cursed Seal, along with Orochimaru (having earlier been absorbed into Sasuke's body), were removed with Susanoo.