Can I Keep Following You?

On the hillside, a red-haired girl was being chased by a black bear. She clutched an injured little rabbit in her arms as she moved with agility, while the bear behind her charged through trees like a bulldozer.

The girl was Karin Uzumaki, a ninja from the Hidden Grass Village participating in the Chunin Exams. Unlike other ninjas, however, Karin was not particularly strong in combat. She mostly served as a medical ninja within her team.

In the Forest of Death, she had been separated from her teammates. She found an injured little white rabbit, and while treating it, she was chased by a man-eating bear...

The bears in the Forest of Death were far more vicious than ordinary wild beasts. Normal ninjutsu could not even hurt them.

"Ah!" Karin Uzumaki stepped into empty air in her haste to flee and rolled down the hillside before crashing into a tree.

When she looked up again, the bear had already reached her and raised its massive paw, slamming it down viciously.

Karin Uzumaki closed her eyes and waited for death to come!

Yet the expected crushing blow never arrived. When she opened her beautiful eyes, she saw a tall figure standing in front of her.

"So there really are savage beasts in the Forest of Death." Tianming had just crossed the hillside when he saw the bear attacking someone.

As the bear's paw came down, Tianming arrived in time and drew a kunai, thrusting it straight into the paw!

The bear's paw froze. Only when it saw the blood spurting from where the kunai had pierced its palm did it react, howling in pain!

The crazed bear swung another paw, the force of the wind making faces sting.

Boom!!

With one strike, the thick trees around them were snapped in half at the waist. Tianming, however, had already shot away with Karin Uzumaki in his arms.

"Close one." Having escaped disaster, Tianming set Karin Uzumaki down and casually glanced at her.

That one look nearly blinded him! It was not because Karin Uzumaki was ugly, but because Tianming had never expected to run into Karin.

"Th-thank you!" Saved by Tianming at such a critical moment and then stared at so directly, even someone as aloof as Karin Uzumaki could not help blushing.

"It was nothing." Realizing that he had been staring at her, Tianming gave an awkward laugh.

"Why are you here?" Tianming asked.

"My name is Karin Uzumaki. I'm from the Hidden Grass Village. I got separated from my companions, then ran into it." As Karin Uzumaki spoke, she raised the little rabbit in her arms.

"My name is Qingchuan Tianming, a ninja from Konoha Village. Since you've been separated from your companions, why not come with me?" Tianming said.

It was not that he did not know Karin. He simply had to pretend they were meeting for the first time. More accurately, Tianming had to maintain the feeling of a first meeting with everyone in the Naruto World. Otherwise, the consequences would be severe.

As for Karin Uzumaki, she could be considered quite a tragic character. Her tragedy was not in her background, but in what she went through.

Karin Uzumaki—the mobile blood pack, one of the few surviving members of the Uzumaki Clan. Her chakra was among the most special, and she had the potential to become the pinnacle of medical ninjas.

In the original story, Karin was recruited by Orochimaru during the Chunin Exams because of her exceptionally keen sensory abilities!

But that was not even the worst part. The worst part was that she became Sasuke Uchiha's number one fangirl! Unable to win his love, she supported every decision Sasuke made. In the end, when he tried to kill Danzo, she was stabbed straight through the heart alongside him.

What a tragedy!

"Is there something on my face?" Seeing Tianming staring at her again, Karin Uzumaki asked softly, lowering her head shyly.

"Ah... I... I was thinking about how to butcher this bear!" Embarrassed beyond measure, Tianming instantly shifted the topic to the bear.

The bear???

I may not be human, but you're really a bastard!

Of course, the bear's thoughts were not important. Tianming had already approached it, and as the enraged bear swung its paw at him, the kunai in Tianming's hand pierced its throat first.

A one-hit kill. Flawless.

"So amazing." Karin Uzumaki could not help praising him.

"Not just amazing. Tasty, too." As Tianming spoke, he pulled out the kunai and began expertly preparing the massive bear carcass.

After removing the unusable parts, Tianming quickly filled a large bag with bear meat.

By then, the sky had gradually darkened.

Tianming looked up at the sky, considered the distance back, and decisively chose to spend the night before returning to Team 7.

Using chakra to create a fire, Tianming began grilling the meat! In no time, the meat was done, golden-brown and giving off an enticing aroma.

"Here!" Tianming handed the first skewer of grilled meat to Karin Uzumaki.

"I can eat this?" Karin Uzumaki froze. This was the first time she had ever been treated like this.

The Hidden Grass Village was far from Konoha. While traveling, she could only eat the leftovers after the men had finished all the food they brought.

"Eat more." Tianming took Karin Uzumaki's hand and placed the skewer in her palm.

Knowing Karin's past, Tianming said nothing more and simply grilled the meat in silence.

Karin Uzumaki wolfed down the meat while tears streamed down her face, yet she made no sound.

After a while, full and satisfied, Karin Uzumaki lay on the grass and gazed at the night sky before suddenly asking, "Qingchuan Tianming, can I follow you?"

"Sure."

"I mean, follow you forever!"