Bang, bang, bang!
The explosive tags detonated at close range, instantly sending those Jashin cult members flying through the air.
However, since these explosive tags were "common goods" that Naruto had picked up from bounty hunters, their effects were far inferior to those of a certain paper jutsu user.
But Karin's purpose wasn't just to injure them.
The explosive sound echoed throughout the entire street. Even though this area was remote, people could still hear it clearly.
Most importantly, Karin believed Naruto-san would definitely notice.
Those cultists were injured by the sudden explosion, but several quick-reacting ones managed to dodge in time.
After throwing the explosive tag kunai, Karin immediately started running for her life, constantly adjusting her breathing as she fled.
Don't rush, watch your footing.
Don't panic.
Karin kept "hypnotizing" herself mentally.
Thanks to this method, despite wearing clothes that hindered movement, she didn't trip and fall like female characters in movies and TV shows.
Don't underestimate this little girl. Despite her short stature, her legs moved quite fast.
Although her abdomen was sending waves of pain, there was no time to worry about that in this critical moment.
While running, Karin scattered caltrops behind her.
The few uninjured Jashin cult members couldn't see the road clearly due to the darkness and immediately stepped on them, crying out in pain.
However, this tactic could only slow them down temporarily and couldn't cause any real damage.
One cultist directly formed hand seals and used a Water Release jutsu, washing everything on the road ahead to the side.
After clearing the obstacles, the group resumed their pursuit at a speed faster than Karin's, rapidly closing the distance.
Karin could naturally sense the dangerous aura approaching from behind, but she seemed to have run out of options.
When she was in the hands of the Grass ninja, she had only been treated as a healing tool. To prevent her from resisting, the Grass ninja had never taught her any ninjutsu-related knowledge.
This even included the Three Basic Techniques taught at Konoha's Ninja Academy.
Even the method of releasing chakra to trigger explosive tags had been taught to her by Naruto on the boat.
My talent is really poor. Even after Naruto-san taught me like that, I still can't learn.
Karin gritted her teeth, and the despair in her heart was beginning to weaken her limbs.
During his time with Karin, Naruto had tried to teach her some simple jutsu.
But compared to the gifted Konohamaru or the class-topping Sasuke, Karin's progress in learning ninjutsu could be called "turtle-speed."
Only in the Uzumaki clan's exclusive secret techniques did she show some talent.
"Haha! Got you!"
The cultist closest to Karin suddenly reached out and grabbed her sleeve.
Fortunately, Karin was decisive enough to directly cut the sleeve with the kunai in her other hand.
But in that moment of delay, the other cultists had surrounded her.
No.
I don't want to die here.
I was just rescued from that hopeless hell.
I refuse to die here like this!
At the critical moment, scenes from the past flashed rapidly through Karin's mind.
The collapse when witnessing her mother's death, the numbness of being treated as a tool by village ninja, and also the liberation after being saved by Naruto.
I could have endured the darkness if I had never seen the sun.
Having experienced the dignity of "being human," Karin's resistance to being captured again had reached its peak.
She would rather die here than be imprisoned again.
It was this intense emotion that triggered the Uzumaki clan bloodline within Karin.
In an instant, four semi-transparent chains emanating golden light shot out from behind her, coiling in the air like serpents.
These chains quickly bound the Jashin cult members in mid-air.
"Damn it! What is this?"
"I can't break free!"
No matter how they struggled, they couldn't escape those thin golden chains.
Karin recognized it. This was the "Adamantine Sealing Chains" recorded in the Uzumaki clan secret techniques that Naruto had given her.
But before Karin could be happy for more than two seconds, an even more dangerous chakra presence appeared within her sensing range.
"You guys! How haven't you captured a living sacrifice yet! How can you expect to receive the evil god's favor like this?"
An arrogant voice rang out from nearby.
Some cultists showed joy upon hearing this voice, but one or two veteran cultists' faces immediately turned terrified.
Hidan walked over, wearing leather clothes, long boots, and a metal necklace around his neck.
He carried a three-bladed scythe in his hand, its crimson blade slowly scraping against the alley wall, producing crisp sounds.
"Help us quickly, Hidan!"
One bound cultist shouted somewhat impatiently.
"Hah?"
What answered him was a bloody scythe slashing horizontally at high speed.
"You incompetent waste! Failed to offer a sacrifice to the evil god! And you dare order me around?"
That cultist was directly cut in half at the waist, his upper and lower body falling from the Adamantine Sealing Chains.
"Hidan! Wait!"
An experienced cultist tried to say something but was interrupted by the cold blade.
Hidan had never considered other Jashin cult members as his own kind.
Rather, having gained the evil god's favor and obtained an immortal body, he was essentially a new "species."
"Next, I'll offer you to the evil god!"
"Ha!"
Hidan's physical abilities were quite good, at least much stronger than Karin's.
His scythe slashed rapidly, trying to cut through those strange chains.
But the Adamantine Sealing Chains were secret techniques capable of restraining tailed beasts. Even the "youth version" that Karin had hastily deployed in an emergency had a strength that this brute-force-only guy couldn't break.
Seeing he couldn't cut them, Hidan simply ignored the chains and rapidly approached Karin.
At this time, Karin still couldn't freely control the chains created by the Adamantine Sealing Chains.
Even when one or two blocked Hidan, he would nimbly dodge around them.
Seeing the scythe blade getting closer and closer to her, Karin's pupils gradually dilated.
I'm sorry, Naruto-san.
It seems I'm going to die here.
In the final moment, Karin's only thought was that she hadn't been able to help Naruto at all and was dying so hastily.
The blade stopped just less than ten centimeters from Karin's head.
Looking up, a tall man was pinching that section of blade between his thumb and index finger. No matter how hard Hidan tried, the scythe wouldn't budge.
Hidan simply released his grip and pulled out a short rod from his pocket. With a flick, it became a sharp metal spike, and then he quickly lunged at Naruto.
Doesn't matter who you are. Once I wound you, you're dead!
But Naruto seemed to completely ignore him, instead looking down at Karin in front of him.
"Well done, Karin."
Naruto's voice seemed to bring Karin back to her senses, and she looked up incredulously.
"Now let me teach you."
"Chains should be used like this."
As his words fell, dozens of brilliant golden chains shot out from Naruto's body.