At the same time, somewhere in a hidden underground base.
Suigetsu was lying leisurely on the recliner, legs crossed, hands behind his head, squinting and humming an unknown ditty.
The whole person's posture was as relaxed as if he was on vacation, and there was no trace of any tasks on his shoulders.
Just when he was humming vigorously, a shadow suddenly blocked the light above his head.
Suigetsu's humming paused for a moment. He opened one eye and saw Karin standing in front of him with his hands on his hips, the red eyes behind the lenses staring at him angrily.
"Suigetsu! Why are you lazy here? Didn't Sasuke tell us to collect your whereabouts?"
Suigetsu was yelled at, so he slowly closed his eyes again and retorted lazily.
"Sasuke also said that we should wait here. Am I not fulfilling my duties?"
"You--!"
Karin was so angry that his cheeks turned red and his fists clenched loudly.
"Go to hell!"
After the words fell, she raised her fist without hesitation and hit Suigetsu hard on the head.
With a "bang" sound, Suigetsu's head exploded, scattering countless water splashes all over the floor.
But soon, those water splashes gathered together again, slowly condensing into a complete head.
Suigetsu blinked, touched his neck, and complained innocently.
"Really... can't you say hello in a different way?"
As he spoke, he slowly stood up from the recliner, moved his shoulders, and glanced at Karin.
"Jugo isn't he out there snooping now? Besides, one of us must stay here."
He pointed at the pair of Sharingan that they had soaked in the nutrient solution not far away.
"After all, your fighting power is not strong. While guarding these eyes, if an accident occurs, I can take you to escape in time."
Karin was so angry that he almost jumped up when he heard this.
"What do you mean? Do you look down on me?" She pointed at Suigetsu's nose.
"My perception ability is not a decoration! If a stranger Chakra or an enemy breaks in, I can sense it instantly, and I don't need you to guard me at all!"
"Oh--then you are quite powerful."
Suigetsu protracted the ending, with obvious perfunctoriness in his tone.
"Then when you went out to collect intelligence, why didn't you sense when Sasuke would come back?"
"You--!"
Karin was choked to the point of speechlessness, and his face turned red.
Suigetsu Seeing her look like this, he grinned, revealing his iconic row of shark teeth.
"I really don't understand why a guy like you is following Sasuke."
"Who am I to tell you?"
Karin snorted coldly, folded his arms and looked away.
"What about you? Why are you following Sasuke?"
"I have my purpose."
Suigetsu shrugged and leaned back on the recliner.
"But I think I said what my purpose is."
The two of them just started arguing with each other.
The sound echoed in the empty base, so loud that even a few mice in the corner crawled back into their holes.
After an unknown amount of time, the iron door of the base was pushed open, and Jugo walked in from the outside.
His steps were a little heavier than usual, his expression was a little solemn, and there was a trace of imperceptible fatigue in his brows and eyes.
Karin noticed his expression, stopped arguing with Suigetsu, turned around and asked.
"What happened?"
Jugo shook his head and answered briefly.
"The guys outside started fighting again."
When they heard "those guys", the three of them knew that they were referring to the three factions of Land of Grass.
Suigetsu curled his lips when he heard this, with a hint of impatience in his tone.
"I really don't know what the point of those guys outside fighting like this is?
After three years of fighting, so many people died, and no one side really gained the upper hand."
Karin heard this and rarely refuted him, but just answered it coldly.
"The guys outside have nothing to do with us. If you want to fight, just fight. It's best if we kill them all."
When she said this, her tone was cold, even with a hint of murderous intent.
Suigetsu glanced at her and raised his eyebrows in surprise, but ultimately said nothing.
As for why she would say such a thing?
The reason is that her experience at Land of Grass was not good when she was a child.
In Land of Grass, people here have never regarded her as a human being, they only regard her as a "medicine" that can heal wounds.
If it hadn't been for what those people had done to her mother and her, her mother would not have died at all.
Later, when Orochimaru learned that the civil war broke out in Land of Grass, she was even happy for a while.
In contrast, Jugo has a completely different idea.
What he saw on the way back lingered in his mind.
Those skinny children squatted next to the corpse and rummaged for everything they could use in order to survive, and even fought over half a piece of moldy cake.
"War..." Jugo whispered, as if talking to himself.
"It's a very sad thing."
Karin did not refute him, but was silent for a moment, his eyes falling on the ground, not knowing what he was thinking.
The atmosphere between the three people was silent for a long time.
At this moment, Karin's body suddenly trembled slightly. Her nose twitched slightly, then she suddenly raised her head, and her eyes behind the lenses suddenly lit up.
"Sasuke is back!"
There was unconcealable joy in her voice, and her tone was completely different from when she was arguing with Suigetsu just now.
Before she finished speaking, she was already walking quickly towards the door, her steps so brisk that she looked like a different person.
Suigetsu looked at her back and muttered in a low voice.
"Tsk, the woman who changed her face really felt it."
After a while, the iron door of the base was pushed open from the outside.
Sasuke's figure appeared at the door, still carrying the rotten smell of Land of Grass's battlefield.
His steps were still steady, and his eyes swept around the room, finally settling on Karin.
"Back."
Sasuke's voice was dull, but it made the smile on Karin's face brighter.
Ning Xue walked in behind him.
He glanced at the three people in the room and nodded slightly as a greeting.
Suigetsu sat up from the recliner, put his hands behind his head, and spoke with a bit of ridicule.
"Hey, you're finally back? How's it going? Did Ryūchi Cave's snake swallow you two?"
"No."
Ning Xue answered succinctly, sat down against the wall, and relaxed his tense shoulders after a long journey.
Karin was not in the mood to listen to their small talk. She quickly walked up to Sasuke, looked around and made sure that the other party was not obviously injured, and then felt a little relieved.
"Sasuke-kun, you have been gone for so long, how are you doing?"
Sasuke nodded, then turned his head slightly and looked at Ning Xue.
Ning Xue didn't say much, just slowly closed his eyes, and his breathing gradually became deep and even.
A wisp of pale white Chakra quietly emerged from his body surface, and two snakes also circled up from his back.
But just Setsuna, it disappeared. This was just a demonstration.
Suigetsu's eyes opened slightly and he sat up straight.
"You really learned a lot..."
As he spoke, he looked up and down, and suddenly noticed something was missing.
"Where's your mask?"
"Throw it away."
Karin looked at the two disappearing snake shadows, bit his lip with complicated eyes, and said nothing.
Jugo stood in the distance, feeling Natural Energy gathering together. His eyes stayed on Ning Xue for a moment, and he frowned slightly, but in the end he did not speak.
Sasuke did not stay on this topic for long, but walked to the center of the room and glanced at the people present.
"Since everyone is here, I will tell you directly."
His voice was not loud, but it carried an unquestionable solemnity.
"Then let's discuss the next thing."