"Orochimaru should be finished by now, right?"
Bounding swiftly across the treetops, Haruma turned his gaze toward the direction where Naruto and Sasuke were located. Through his sensory perception, he could tell that the distinctive chakra presence belonging to Orochimaru had already moved away from the area where Naruto and Sasuke's chakra lingered.
However, Orochimaru's chakra had not yet departed from the Forest of Death. Most likely, he intended to rendezvous with his disciple Anko Mitarashi, sending a signal back to the Third Hokage to announce his return before finally leaving the area.
Meanwhile, over on Team 7's side, they would soon face the trial set by the trio from the Sound Village. It was during this trial, after all, that Sakura cut her long hair, marking her very first transformation. Of course, had it not been for the timely intervention of Rock Lee and the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, Sakura would never have lasted until Sasuke awoke, she would have been beaten to death or crippled long before.
In this lifetime, however, since Ino and Sakura's bond had not fractured, Haruma suspected that, unsurprisingly, Team 7's crisis would once again be resolved by the Ino–Shika–Cho trio. Thus, he had no interest in interfering.
Once he located Hinata and Shino, Haruma flickered away, heading toward Team 8.
Before long, his shadow clone sensed his true body's return. Making up an excuse, the clone withdrew, dispersing into smoke.
It was worth mentioning that, while Haruma had been charming Karin, his clone had already led Hinata and Shino to acquire both their Heaven and Earth scrolls.
As a result, Haruma did not linger further in the Forest of Death. He made no attempt to devour other candidates. Instead, with Hinata and Shino at his side, he sped toward the central tower.
Since he had devoured Zabuza and Haku, Haruma's chakra reserves had swelled to the level of a Kage. With such a foundation, his mentality had shifted. No longer did he consider every small fry worth his effort, as the saying went, "even a mosquito is still meat." Unless someone possessed mastery over chakra nature transformation or bore a formidable kekkei genkai, Haruma no longer wished to waste his time on them.
In another month, when the Konoha Crush plan was set into motion and his own "Leap of the Carp, Dragon Gate" plan was flawlessly executed, Haruma would ascend from being a cautious pawn to a player capable of stirring the very tides of the shinobi world.
With Hinata's Byakugan guiding the way, Team 8 soon reached the central tower, but they were not the first.
Gaara and his siblings had arrived nearly half an hour earlier.
Haruma, however, was utterly unconcerned. Compared to Karin, the true treasure he had just discovered, mere rankings were worthless. Not only rankings, even if he never became a chunin at all, it would matter little to him. After all, both of this world's prophesied saviors had once been nothing more than genin. In fact, the famous Valley of the End battle was often joked about as merely "a fight between two genin."
Since the second exam was designed to last five days, those who reached the central tower early enjoyed a privilege denied to others: temporary leave from the tower.
Outside the Forty-Fourth Training Ground, proctors prepared scrolls inscribed with summoning arrays similar to Reverse Summoning. Any team that arrived at the tower ahead of schedule would be escorted to a chamber bearing the array and transported outside the forest. Later, when the time for the third exam approached, they would simply be summoned back into the tower.
This, too, was one of Haruma's reasons for arriving so swiftly. He had gone to such lengths, step by step, to win Karin's trust, how could he possibly allow her to follow canon, defecting from Grass to Sound and becoming Sasuke's tool?
If she were to be anyone's tool, then she would be Haruma's.
And so, once Team 8 had been summoned outside the forest, Haruma parted ways with Hinata and Shino. Instead of returning home, he expanded his sensory net, located Karin's chakra, and flashed in her direction.
"Karin!"
Lost in thought about how she would explain the death of her comrades to the Grass Village superiors, Karin suddenly heard a voice which hung softly in the air.
Looking up, her crimson eyes behind her glasses lit up with delight. "Haruma-kun, You haven't left yet, that's wonderful!"
Feigning a sigh of relief, Haruma continued, "I couldn't let you travel back alone so I'll escort you."
"Really?" Karin's eyes sparkled, though her expression grew hesitant as she considered something. "But… what about your exam?"
"Don't worry." Haruma patted his chest and smiled. "There are still over four days until the second exam ends. Grass Village is right next to the Land of Fire, there's plenty of time to go and return."
"That's great!" Karin cheered, her gaze glittering as it fixed upon Haruma. "Thank you, Haruma-kun."
"You don't need to thank me…" Just as he had when they parted before, Haruma reached out to ruffle her hair. slowly, he added, "We're friends, aren't we?"
"Mm, mm!" Karin nodded vigorously.
"By the way, have you filed your exit papers?"
"I have. I was just worrying about how I'm going to explain to our supervising jōnin why I came back alone," Karin admitted with a troubled expression.
"Oh? Your jonin supervisor didn't accompany you to Konoha?"
"Heehee… no. I think he was too afraid to come."
"…"
Haruma fell silent, speechless.
Good grief. How little did Grass Village value Karin that they wouldn't even send her jōnin leader along? Even if her only ability was bodily healing, its worth far surpassed so-called medical ninjutsu like the Mystical Palm Technique. Were they not afraid that she might never return?
And Konoha too, how could they fail to investigate? Even if not all red-haired shinobi belonged to the Uzumaki, such hair was still among the rarest and most significant in the shinobi world.
Truly, only Orochimaru understood how to treasure talent.
Haruma could not help but sigh inwardly.
While they chatted, Haruma escorted Karin all the way to the gates of the village.
Chime… chime… chime…
The delicate ringing of wind chimes accompanied them as two chunin guards waved the pair through, just as they had done some days earlier. Their attention fixed on Haruma, Karin failed to notice the flicker of dazed confusion that passed across both men's faces. She simply assumed that shinobi of Konoha were free to come and go as they pleased.
"…Wait, your hand! What happened to it?"
Once they had left the village, Haruma finally revealed his true purpose. As Karin stretched in a lazy yawn, he suddenly seized her arm, pulling back her sleeve. His brows furrowed deeply as his eyes fell upon her forearm. "Karin, why are there so many bite marks here?"
"T-this…"
To have the boy she admired most discover the ugliest truth about her body, Karin's mind went blank, panic welling as she floundered for words.
Haruma's fingertips brushed gently across the scars, his voice firm. "The sizes and shapes of these marks are all different. Clearly they aren't from the same person… Karin, can you tell me what this means?"
Lowering her head, Karin dared not meet his eyes. Inside, however, her heart twisted in turmoil.
After a few long seconds, her voice cracked with a choked sob. "This… this is my ability. It's the role I play in the Grass Village."
Haruma used his thumbs to wipe away her tears. His gaze was soft, his tone gentle. "Will you tell me more?"
"…Yes."
Looking up into Haruma's kind expression, Karin felt her whole being melt.