Uzumaki Karin

Kusagakure was unlucky.

A total of two groups, six people, participated in the Chunin Exams. They had all passed the first round, which was worth celebrating.

However, before the strongest group could even enter the Forest of Death, they were captured and killed by Orochimaru, who stole their faces.

The second group barely scraped by. Before the finals could begin, they were buried alive by Gaara's Sand Burial, leaving only the red-haired girl as the sole survivor.

At this moment, the supervising Chunin held a chain, the end of which was fastened to a collar around the girl's neck. He led her out of Konohagakure and into the forest.

"You little brat! Do you think I don't know what you're thinking? You want that kid with the same surname to take you away?"

The girl obediently lowered her head and remained silent.

"Speak!" The Chunin yanked the chain hard, causing the girl to choke painfully.

Calling the girl a ninja was a stretch; she couldn't even beat a bear. She was only brought along to be a blood pack for the team.

The girl asked blankly, "What same surname?"

"Still pretending!" The Chunin yanked again. "I'm a Chunin! You think you can fool me? Do you want to go to the interrogation room?"

The girl coughed from the pain, tears streaming from her eyes, but she still shook her head. "Teacher Ito... I really don't know what you're talking about."

The Chunin grabbed her jaw, glaring fiercely. After staring for over ten seconds, he suddenly smiled and stroked the girl's short red hair, saying, "I misunderstood you."

The girl showed a relieved smile.

The two continued their journey back to the Land of Grass. As they emerged from the forest on the outskirts of Konohagakure and saw the rolling mountains, the Chunin let out a long sigh, his last breath.

A fierce brown shadow swooped down from the treetops, and an arm thrust forward, piercing his neck.

Before a cry of pain could escape, another heavy punch smashed his entire mouth, sending teeth and flesh into his throat, blood trickling all over him.

The girl showed no discomfort at the sight of blood. She stared straight ahead, and after a few seconds, tears welled up. She whispered as if in a dream, "Uzumaki... Naruto?"

Naruto smiled at the girl and grabbed the corpse, walking into the forest. "Wait for me here, I'll dispose of him cleanly."

The girl didn't want to wait and followed Naruto. She watched as Naruto stuffed the corpse into a bear's mouth with his bare hands, smiling happily.

When Naruto turned back, before he could ask, she introduced herself, "My surname is Uzumaki, and my name is Karin."

Naruto immediately reacted, "No wonder."

Karin saw Naruto's brilliant, sun-like smile, his golden hair shining in the light filtering through the leaves. A gentle breeze rustled, and he spoke the most beautiful words in the world to her.

"Congratulations, you are free."

Karin didn't know what her expression looked like, but she imagined it was terrible. She took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes, repeatedly saying thank you.

Naruto waved. "I'm going back. Be careful, goodbye."

Karin quickly caught up, grabbing the hem of his windbreaker. "Can I... follow you?"

"You are free, you can go anywhere." Naruto didn't believe in possessing someone just because he saved them; that wasn't saving someone, it was a disguised form of greed.

"If you want to repay me, you can find me when you are capable in the future."

Karin had grown up under the confinement of Kusagakure. All her memories were of watching her mother being bled dry every day. The war was brutal, and there were too many wounded. One day, she went out and never saw her mother again, only a corpse covered in a white cloth, full of bite marks, her chakra drained.

She thought her mother's fate would be her own. The village had even arranged a mate for her, preparing to have her give birth when her period arrived, to inherit the Uzumaki bloodline.

She wanted to escape but was powerless and had no opportunity. Not even a single thought could be expressed.

Now, hearing the word "freedom," after extreme mental elation, emptiness and panic enveloped her.

She said timidly, "I can't do anything. This is my first time leaving the village. They only taught me how to cultivate chakra; they never taught me any ninjutsu."

Naruto then noticed the collar and chain still around Karin's neck and reached out to break it.

"Living is simple. Being a ninja is easy to get by anywhere. If you have nowhere else to go, you can go to the Land of Waves. There are no ninja villages there; it's all ordinary people, and they definitely won't bully you."

Karin listened and believed him completely. After Naruto described the location and direction in detail and told her to go to Tazuna's house, she heard Naruto's farewell again.

"Will you always be in Konohagakure? When can I come to see you?"

Naruto pondered for a moment and said, "Not necessarily. In a few years, when Konoha is under my control, then come. By then, my reputation will be huge, and I won't be hard to find."

As he spoke, he took out five thousand Ryo from his pocket and handed the Chunin's ninja tool bag to Karin. "One thing for another. I'm lending you this money, and you have to return it when we meet again."

"Okay." Karin took it, clutching it tightly. She watched Naruto's back disappear before leaving the forest, looking up at the vast blue sky, and started running.

For a month, all the participants intensified their training.

Sasuke trained with Kakashi every day, preparing to face the veteran seven-year participant, Yakushi Kabuto.

Naruto's opponent was Rock Lee, who enthusiastically challenged him to a fight, saying he would give it his all for his teammate Neji and for the girl he liked, Haruno Sakura.

Naruto admired such courage and steadily practiced his sword skills and chakra.

His strength had reached its pushing limit. Only by breaking through the body with chakra and influencing the outside world could he reach a level comparable to magnetic field rotation.

However, achieving this was not easy, as it was equivalent to releasing ninjutsu without hand seals.

For example, with a mere thought, Chakra could leave the body as electricity, even affecting external electromagnetism.

Naruto could feel a thick barrier blocking him, but he had no way to deal with it, nor a teacher to guide him.

Perhaps fighting would provide an answer.

At this moment, he was shirtless, practicing his sword upstream from a waterfall. While it wasn't exactly high pressure, the advantage was its ceaseless nature.

Suddenly, a lewd, greasy laugh echoed from the bushes to his left.

What kind of laugh was that? It was filled with the purest lust, making Naruto's hair stand on end. He charged towards the bushes with his sword.

He saw a very burly man with spiky white hair, wearing wooden sandals, crouching at the edge of the cliff and looking down at the river branching below the waterfall.

Seeing Naruto approach, he quickly raised his index finger to his lips, gesturing towards the river, "Don't talk, come look."

Naruto followed his gaze and saw four girls in swimsuits splashing and playing in the river, their bodies swaying like waves.

If they weren't smiling at him, it wasn't his business.

"Go down and look, why are you hiding?"

The man's forehead protector bore a large character for "oil," and each of his eyes had a red line extending from the corner down to his jawline.

He looked at Naruto in surprise, "This... is it okay?"

"What's not okay? In broad daylight, if they're playing there, they've naturally prepared to be seen," Naruto retorted, "Can't you go just because they're there? Let's play together."

The man's eyes widened, "Play together?"

"Hurry up and go while they're still there." Naruto waved his hand and turned to resume his sword practice.

The man stood up, his tall frame exceeding 1.9 meters, like a door panel. "Wait! Kid! Do you know who I am?"

Naruto paused. So, it was him he was after. After all, how could a man with such a powerful aura come to this desolate place just to peek?

Where couldn't he find women?

He asked seriously, "Who are you?"

The man threw his spiky white hair back, spread his arms wide, and declared in a booming voice, "Good question! I am the Toad Spirit Sage Fukasaku of Mount Myōboku, commonly known as the Sage of the Toads, reporting for duty!"