Exploded

Uzumaki Reikawa watched Karin cry her eyes out, snot and tears everywhere. Having never encountered anything like this before, he felt awkward and helpless, not knowing where to put his hands. But if Karin kept crying like this, she would probably draw even more people over.

Instinctively taking a deep breath, though he did not need to, Uzumaki Reikawa slowly crouched down, raised a hand, and placed it on Karin's head, gently rubbing it. "You're safe now. Everything will get better."

Karin had clearly thought of that as well. "Mm-hm!" She nodded hard and hurriedly wiped away her tears with her sleeve.

But after venting her emotions, even though she wanted to stop crying, hiccups kept catching in her throat. Her cheeks flushed slightly, and she looked embarrassed.

Uzumaki Reikawa showed no impatience at all. He merely watched quietly as she calmed herself down.

Until...

"Where is she? Why hasn't that damn woman been brought over yet? There are still so many warriors here who need treatment. What if we delay too long? I say we never should've let her rest. If she dies, she dies. Isn't she just a 'medical pack'?"

Hearing that, Uzumaki Reikawa narrowed his eyes and looked toward the ninja who had spoken.

Karin looked utterly panicked. She did not know how strong Uzumaki Reikawa was. If things got out of hand, then even if the person before her was powerful, she did not think he could withstand an attack from so many ninja. She grabbed Uzumaki Reikawa's hand, wanting to pull him into the house to hide.

Uzumaki Reikawa let Karin hold his hand, but he did not move. He simply stared steadily into her eyes and asked seriously, "Do you want revenge?"

While searching, Kakashi suddenly spotted the signal Uzumaki Reikawa had left behind. The tense look on his face immediately eased. Next, they just had to figure out how to secretly take her away.

The Land of Grass was practically a vassal state of the Land of Fire. Taking action against them would involve too much. As Hokage, Tsunade had many concerns, and in a situation like this, it was hard to say who was right or wrong. After all, the fact that a descendant of the Uzumaki Clan would rather go to Kusagakure than return to Konoha was already a major issue.

The best way to handle it was to quietly take Karin away. Even if Kusagakure later learned that Konoha had taken Karin, they would have no evidence, much less any way to force Konoha to return her.

When he arrived at the meeting point, Kakashi saw that Uzumaki Reikawa had already brought Karin out. He nodded. "Since we have the target, let's head back."

When Karin saw Kakashi suddenly appear, she immediately shrank back and timidly hid behind Uzumaki Reikawa, clutching the hem of his clothes as she secretly studied Kakashi. Uzumaki Reikawa patted her head, signaling that she did not need to be afraid.

Kakashi: "..." Their relationship had gotten this close in such a short time?

On the road, Kakashi suddenly thought of something and frowned. "No one saw you when you brought her out, right?"

"Mm... Someone did see us, but everyone who saw us is dead." Uzumaki Reikawa smiled brightly, wearing an expression that practically said, Praise me already.

Kakashi felt a headache coming on. He could understand it, but if any traces of ninjutsu had been left behind, there would probably be plenty of arguing later.

"And also..."

"?" Kakashi had a bad feeling about this.

"Boom~!" Uzumaki Reikawa made the sound effect with a mysterious look on his face.

The next moment, a series of explosions suddenly erupted at the Kusagakure outpost! Cries and wails sounded amid the blasts, while the intense heat from the explosions set the buildings ablaze.

Seeing that Kakashi did not look too pleased, Uzumaki Reikawa had already thought through the follow-up. He comforted Kakashi, "Don't worry. Orochimaru attacked this place and took Karin away. We just happened to pass by and rescued her. And as allies, we'll take care of Karin."

Kakashi looked dazed. If that was the case, then what had he infiltrated the place for earlier? Wait! "Orochimaru is here?!" Kakashi suddenly caught the important point.

Uzumaki Reikawa nodded. "I don't know what he came here for, but his timing was perfect."

Thinking of how Orochimaru had originally come to snatch a child, only to fail to find anyone and probably get caught up in the explosions instead, Uzumaki Reikawa could not help wanting to laugh.

Yet in Kakashi's eyes, that smile carried an inexplicably unsettling feeling, as though Uzumaki Reikawa had changed somehow. "Lingchuan, something seems off about you."

"Hm?" Uzumaki Reikawa frowned at that. Then, as if he suddenly understood, he scratched his head. "Sorry. Maybe I was just too angry."

After he said that, Kakashi immediately felt as though the Uzumaki Reikawa from before had returned, and he inexplicably breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that Uzumaki Reikawa's days wandering outside had not been as simple as they appeared.

As for Uzumaki Reikawa, he truly did feel that something was off with his emotions. After killing those people, he had actually felt an immense thrill of vengeance...

After returning to Konoha, Uzumaki Reikawa created Shadow Clone Techniques and sent them out, passing the memories from this period to his original body. About ten minutes later, he quickly received a message from the original body as well. Progress was going well on both sides.

It was just that his chakra was running low. He needed to find an opportunity to switch places with the original body.

Kakashi, meanwhile, reported the mission summary to Tsunade. He explained that Uzumaki Reikawa had blown up an entire outpost, and also told her about Orochimaru.

Tsunade pressed a hand to her forehead. Though she had warned them, trouble had happened after all? Pinning the blame on Orochimaru seemed—actually, it really was feasible.

Still, this incident confirmed that Uzumaki Reikawa truly had not known about Karin's situation. After all, if he had known earlier, he probably would have started blowing things up long ago.

On the other side, after little Karin arrived in Konoha, Naruto immediately began circling around her to inspect her. After making a full round, Naruto looked dejected. "Ahh~ So she really does have red hair?"

Seeing Naruto act like that, a vein bulged on Sakura's forehead, and she delivered a loving blow to his head. "Naruto! Be polite to girls!"

Karin, who had originally been open and forthright in the original story, was still somewhat shy now. When she saw Uzumaki Naruto examining her, she had been a little nervous at first, but seeing this scene, she could not help laughing.

"Huh? You're actually pretty cute when you smile." Naruto held his head and said blankly.

Having suddenly been complimented, Karin's face immediately reddened again. Sakura liked her too, and she volunteered to show Karin around Konoha.

After several days of rest, Sasuke had fully recovered. When he heard that Kakashi had returned to the village, he immediately went looking for him, intending to have Kakashi continue guiding his training.

On his way to find Kakashi, Sasuke suddenly caught sight of a flash of red hair. It seemed to be talking to Sakura.

Seeing this, Sasuke frowned. Uzumaki Reikawa? He had actually become a girl this time? For some reason, the more Sasuke thought about it, the more uncomfortable it felt.

Only when Karin sensed his gaze and turned around did she see Sasuke. Her voice, which had already returned to normal, suddenly caught in her throat. "Sa... Sasuke?"