The Box of Ultimate Bliss wasn't fully charged, either.
Kusagakure had no other means of dealing with a tailed beast.
Unsurprisingly, Kusagakure surrendered.
Naruto sealed the chakra of every ninja in Kusagakure with Sealing Jutsu, then threw them into the village prison.
Trembling all over, Karin placed the bloodstained kunai on the desk in front of Naruto.
The Kusagakure Leader's office now had a new occupant.
The furnishings that had belonged to the elders with beast heads, reeking of age and decay, had been cleared into a corner. The windows stood wide open in an attempt to dispel the lingering air of conspiracy and decline.
Sunlight streamed through the latticed windows onto mountainous piles of archives.
Naruto Uzumaki sat working at the desk, rapidly leafing through and sorting Kusagakure's accumulated mission records, supply inventories, copies of secret correspondence with other villages, and scattered research notes on the Box of Ultimate Bliss.
He needed to keep Kusagakure stable until Konoha's army arrived, and secure the household registry, account books, and other such records first.
"You're back?"
Naruto smiled at Karin, then rose and walked over to her.
"How did revenge feel?"
"I... don't know..."
In the past, Karin would have thought it would feel wonderful. But after she actually killed a few people, the satisfaction in her heart vanished.
By the time she had killed all the people she hated most in her memories, all she felt was numbness.
The thing that had kept her going was gone.
The hatred that had sustained her for so many years had suddenly found its release.
The pleasure of revenge was like strong liquor, intoxicating but fleeting. Once she sobered up, all that remained was an aimless sense of loss.
She watched Naruto approach and looked into his calm blue eyes, which seemed able