The little red-haired girl had been dragged out of the cave with chains wrapped around her hands and feet. Every movement made the chains clatter!
It seemed they had locked the chains tightly to prevent her from escaping. Her wrists and ankles had already been rubbed raw, leaving rings of bloody marks!
Narak carefully looked her over!
She was wearing somewhat tattered clothes, many parts of which had already turned black. Clearly, she had not changed or washed them in a long time. He had not noticed anything earlier, but now that he was close enough to smell her, Narak caught a faint sour stench.
Narak knew that it was the smell of a body that had gone unwashed for too long. He had visited Konoha's dungeons for criminals and enemies many times, and the enemies imprisoned there had carried the same smell!
Her exposed arms and neck were covered in dense, overlapping bruises. Some of them had not even healed yet, clearly inflicted only recently!
At that moment, she was curled tightly into a ball, staring at the blood-covered Narak in terror. When she saw him look over, she hurriedly wrapped both arms around her head and buried it between her legs!
"What's your name?"
Narak asked her!
However, just like the rogue ninja leader before her, the little girl had been scared witless. She only hugged her head and trembled, not daring to say a word!
"Tsk... Am I really that scary? I'm so handsome, and all the girls in the village cling to me. You're such a clueless little brat!"
Narak curled his lips!
"Hey, are you dead? If not, answer me. What's this little girl's name? Where did you abduct her from?"
Narak kicked the rogue ninja leader!
That kick brought the rogue ninja leader, whose consciousness had been fading and who had one foot in the grave, straight back to reality!
"Mm... ah... what?"
The rogue ninja leader muttered with his eyes half closed!
"Crack!"
"Ah..."
Seeing the man half-dead and barely conscious, Narak stepped down on his leg without hesitation, crushing his lower leg into two pieces. The ear-piercing sound of breaking bones rang out!
The agony of his shattered leg instantly cleared the rogue ninja leader's mind!
The next moment, he began screaming in pain!
"Ah... You said... you said you'd let me die quickly! You don't keep your word!"
The rogue ninja leader forgot his fear and started cursing Narak!
Nearby, the huddled little girl trembled even more violently when she heard the cracking bones and screams!
"Ah... right. I did promise to give you a quick death. Sorry, I have a bad memory and forgot for a moment!"
"But since you're awake now, answer my earlier questions!"
"Who is she? How did you abduct her?"
"Can you do that?"
Narak lowered his head, wearing an apologetic smile as he spoke to the rogue ninja leader with an utterly "benevolent" expression!
The rogue ninja leader endured the pain and glanced at the little girl!
"This little girl's name is Karin. We discovered her by chance. She and her mother both possess a strange power. Whether someone is injured or lacking Chakra, all they need to do is bite them, and they'll recover!"
"Oh? Then where is her mother?" Narak asked after thinking for a moment!
"Her mother died six months ago. At the time, we had just fought a major battle with the Land of Grass, and many of our brothers were injured. So we used this little girl's mother to heal them. But we never expected to drain all her Chakra by accident. That woman couldn't hold on and died on the spot!"
"After that, only this little girl remained!"
"A few months ago, the little girl saw an opportunity and tried to escape, but we caught her and put shackles on her! After all, she was the magical medicine we used to save our lives. Unfortunately..."
The rogue ninja leader spoke at length. Perhaps he wanted to earn a quick release from his suffering, so he explained Karin's entire story in painstaking detail. This left his already feeble body even more drained, and by the end, even his voice had become broken and halting!
The "unfortunately" in his final sentence clearly expressed his belief that even with such miraculous medicine in his hands, he still could not survive Narak!
"Mm, all right. You cooperated pretty well, so I'll give you a quick death!"
"Remember, be a good person in your next life... if you have a next life!"
Narak placed the blade against the rogue ninja leader's neck!
"Wait, can I ask one question? I want to know your name!"
"I don't want to die without even knowing whose hands I died by!"
Narak thought for a moment before saying, "My name is Hyuga Naraku!"
Then he said no more. He simply put force into his hands and chopped off the rogue ninja leader's head!
Afterward, Narak took out a clean cloth, wiped the blood from his Zanpakuto, and returned it to its sheath!
Narak turned to look at Karin, who was curled tightly into a ball, and slowly walked toward her!
When she seemed to hear footsteps approaching, Karin could not help raising her head for a glance!
The instant she looked up, she saw Narak crouching in front of her!
"Wah... don't kill me..."
"Please, don't kill me! I... I can heal your injuries..."
"I can also serve tea and cook... Please let me go..."
Karin was instantly terrified and burst into uncontrollable sobs!
No matter how harmless Narak tried to appear, he had forgotten that he was currently covered in blood. Anyone would be terrified at the sight, let alone Karin, who had personally watched him slaughter so many ninjas!
At that moment, Karin had already defined Narak in her heart as a murderous demon king!
"Uh..."
Narak was speechless!
"Good girl, I won't hurt you. Don't be afraid!"
Narak could only comfort her softly!
But it was completely useless. Karin continued to cry without stopping!
The veins on Narak's forehead gradually began to throb!
"Little girl, I told you to stop crying, so stop crying. If you don't behave, I'll kill you!"
With no other choice, Narak could only put on a fierce act as he spoke!
Sure enough, this move worked wonders. Little Karin, who had been crying pitifully, finally managed to hold back her sobs!
Narak had plenty of ways to deal with disobedient children. Although he had not tried them on his two younger sisters in this life, in his previous life, he had often disciplined the disobedient children of his relatives!
Narak watched Karin bite her lip tightly, wanting to cry but not daring to, and could not help feeling sorry for her!
This little girl was probably even younger than his little sister Hinata, wasn't she? Yet she had suffered such pain since childhood. In order to survive, she had even been willing to swallow her pride and curry favor with her enemies!
In an instant, Narak could no longer bear to frighten her!
"All right, don't cry anymore. I'll take you away from here. From now on, you'll stay with me. No one will bully you again!"
"If anyone wants to bully you, they'll have to ask whether I agree first!"
Narak took a clean handkerchief from his system space and wiped Karin's dirty little face, gently comforting her!
Before you continue