Karin was drowning in despair.
Her arms and legs were already covered with ugly bite marks, and even the delicate skin of her neck bore similar wounds. The perpetrators were several other ninja who, like her, supposedly belonged to Kusagakure.
If she could even be considered a ninja at all.
This wasn't an exaggeration.
In Kusagakure, Karin and her mother existed more as healing tools than human beings. Due to their special Uzumaki clan constitution, both possessed the ability to help others recover from injuries through direct contact.
The price was having their chakra drained through those horrible bite marks covering her body.
"Really, I didn't expect we'd encounter something like this."
"Hmph, Konoha calls itself a great ninja village, but enemies still reached their doorstep."
"So what should we do next?"
"Let's return to the village first."
Hearing the conversation between the two Grass ninja walking ahead of her, Karin felt her life might already be over.
She knew very well what fate awaited her back in Kusagakure. It would be identical to her mother's tragic end: being used as a living blood bag to drain chakra until death.
But Karin was powerless to change anything. She had no strength to resist, and even the courage to fight back seemed to have died along with her mother.
Karin had become nothing more than a puppet, manipulated by others.
Bang!
Suddenly, a hard object plummeted from the sky, striking the head of the lead Grass ninja with perfect accuracy.
Blood immediately flowed from his scalp as he staggered and collapsed to the ground.
An ambush?!
The other two genin immediately panicked, drawing their weapons while scanning their surroundings warily.
The struck Kusagakure jonin covered his bleeding forehead with one hand while gripping the "projectile" that had attacked him in the other as he struggled to his feet.
"Who! Who threw this shoe?!"
What he held was clearly a wooden clog.
It had to be said that Kusagakure's jonin were completely different from those of the Five Great Nations. Except for a very few elite ninja, their strength was generally inferior to ninja from major villages.
This wasn't just because smaller villages lacked sufficient resources, but more because these villages didn't possess complete training systems, making their ninja more like "self-taught" fighters.
"Sorry, sorry..."
The nearby bushes suddenly rustled, and a tall figure in a pristine white suit emerged from the foliage.
He had an elongated face topped with an impressive afro, and strangely, despite wearing formal suit pants, one foot was still wearing a wooden clog.
This guy stood over two meters tall, his towering presence immediately radiating intimidating pressure toward the Grass ninja.
But this imposing middle-aged man with the distinctive hairstyle didn't immediately attack them. Instead, he offered an apology first.
Seeing this uninvited guest's seemingly apologetic attitude and noting that he bore no ninja markings anywhere on his body, the two genin immediately became aggressive.
"Bastard! How dare you ambush us!"
"Do you want to die?!"
The jonin, however, remained silent, studying the newcomer intently.
He sensed this guy wasn't as simple as he appeared.
Meanwhile, the "not that simple" Naruto also felt somewhat embarrassed about the situation.
After leaving the village and walking a considerable distance, he suddenly realized he lacked a clear destination.
But for someone who had spent years randomly wandering the seas, this was already routine.
So he had lifted his leg high and flung off one of his wooden clogs, planning to decide his next destination based on which direction the shoe pointed when it landed.
To prevent "spoiling" the randomness, he had deliberately suppressed his Observation Haki.
But shortly after the shoe flew out, he heard a cry of pain.
Obviously someone had been struck.
When you're wandering around, keeping a low profile is important.
Naruto almost instinctively used a transformation jutsu, taking on the appearance of a "shorter version" of Admiral Aokiji. There was no help for it; that old guy was nearly three meters tall, which would be far too conspicuous.
From his practiced manner, this apparently wasn't the first time he'd employed this disguise.
When he emerged through the forest and bushes onto the main road, he encountered several ninjas glaring at him with distinctly unfriendly expressions.
Since he was clearly in the wrong, Naruto apologized first.
But seeing their hostile attitude, this matter didn't seem like it would be easily resolved...
Just as Naruto was scratching his head in confusion, he witnessed the ninja whose skull he'd struck suddenly grab the red-haired girl nearby.
Then, as if handling an object, he casually pulled open her clothes and bit down viciously.
The red-haired girl's eyes remained completely vacant, and even the pain from being bitten couldn't cause the slightest ripple in her lifeless gaze.
This scene made Naruto quite displeased.
"Hey! What are you doing?"
Along with his sharp voice came Naruto's massive hand.
Before anyone could react, he was already among them.
One hand gripped the jonin's head while the other gently moved the little girl aside, helping adjust her clothing.
Naruto was simply this type of person who acted on impulse, or rather, acted recklessly.
Whenever there was something he couldn't tolerate, his actions often arrived before he could consider the consequences.
This was perhaps the origin of his "Great Hero" reputation.
"It's an enemy!"
Although they couldn't detect any chakra presence, the opponent's speed obviously couldn't belong to an ordinary person.
The two hot-headed Grass ninja directly hurled shuriken at Naruto.
But perhaps their aim was terrible. Half of those shuriken veered toward Karin and their own jonin.
Karin neither dodged nor moved, seeming not to react at all.
Naruto simply extended his fingers to deflect the wayward projectiles.
As for the jonin, he was extremely unlucky.
Caught by Naruto's iron grip on his head, he lost his field of vision and couldn't break free despite desperate struggling.
Before he could execute any jutsu, he was struck by his own subordinates' shuriken, blood flowing freely.
"Ah... sorry, I forgot about you."
Naruto's apology this time lacked any sincerity. He casually dropped the jonin, then released a focused burst of Conqueror's Haki, directly knocking out the remaining ninja.
The precisely controlled Conqueror's Haki impact didn't affect Karin.
Therefore, she witnessed firsthand how those people she thought were impossible to escape from simply collapsed so effortlessly.
Only after handling the situation did Naruto turn to observe Karin properly.
The wounds exposed on her body were shocking to behold, making Naruto's brow furrow deeply.
"Why did they treat you like this?"
Faced with Naruto's gentle question, Karin remained silent for a long moment, unsure whether she should trust this stranger and reveal her special talent for healing others.
If she spoke up, would this powerful ninja in front of her also capture her and continue using her as a living blood bag?
Seeing the little girl wouldn't speak for the time being, Naruto assumed she had become withdrawn due to prolonged oppression.
He had rescued many slaves with similar conditions and was already accustomed to such reactions.
A soothing blue-green light emanated from Naruto's hands as medical ninjutsu, supported by massive amounts of chakra, quickly took effect, helping heal the external injuries covering Karin's body.
However, the chakra that had been drained from her couldn't be recovered immediately.
So warm...
Feeling the gentle waves of healing warmth flowing through her wounds, several tears unconsciously slid down Karin's cheeks.