(After a reader pointed it out in the previous chapter, and after giving it some thought myself, I realized it was inappropriate for Naruto to hide in the bushes and watch Karin get bitten. So I made a slight revision: Naruto appears before Karin gets bitten.)
The two young Kusagakure ninja were startled by the sudden voice and sharply turned toward its source.
When they saw a blond, blue-eyed boy stepping out of the shadows—and that he was alone—the tension on their faces instantly turned into contempt and impatience.
"Huh? Where did this Konoha brat come from? Mind your own business!" one of them snarled, releasing his grip on Karin at the same time.
He seemed intent on teaching this show-off who didn't know his place a lesson.
The other boy sneered as well. "Just you? You think you can play the hero and save the damsel? Get lost already, and stop getting in our way!"
Karin, trapped between them, lifted her head through tear-blurred eyes.
What she saw was a blond boy with clear features and calm eyes.
He looked about her age, yet he carried an indescribably steady air about him.
For some reason, a faint sliver of hope arose within Karin's once-despairing heart—so unbelievable that even she found it hard to accept.
Naruto paid no attention to the two Kusagakure ninja's arrogance. His gaze passed over them and landed directly on Karin. When he saw the dense bite marks on her arm that had yet to heal, along with the tear streaks on her face, his eyes turned cold.
"Looking to die!"
One of the Kusagakure boys was enraged by Naruto's dismissive attitude. Pulling out a kunai, he charged forward.
Yet in Naruto's eyes, his movements were so slow they might as well have been frozen.