Tsunade leaned forward slightly, intrigued. "Anyone you'd personally recommend must be someone special. Tell me, who is it?"
Toru Kujyo looked straight into Tsunade's eyes and slowly spoke, each word striking her heart like a heavy hammer.
"Her name is Karin. She's... a descendant of the Uzumaki Clan."
"What?!" Tsunade shot to her feet, bracing both hands on the desk. Her gaze sharpened instantly, and her powerful presence filled the entire office. "The Uzumaki Clan? Are you sure?!"
The Uzumaki Clan was her grandmother's clan, Konoha's staunchest ally, yet it had long since perished in the flames of war. For a descendant to suddenly appear now-the news was simply too staggering!
Shizune gasped as well. Tonton, the little pig in her arms, seemed to sense the tension and let out an uneasy grunt.
Facing Tsunade's oppressive presence, Toru Kujyo remained unruffled. Instead, a mysterious smile curled his lips. "I'm certain. Because I am one, too."
A deathly silence fell over the office.
Tsunade's and Shizune's eyes widened in unison as they stared at him in disbelief. How could this boy with black hair and black eyes belong to the Uzumaki Clan, known for its red hair?
"Nonsense!" Tsunade snapped. "What proof do you have?"
"Proof?" Toru Kujyo chuckled and drew a kunai from his ninja tool pouch.
As Hinata cried out in alarm, he unhesitatingly drew the kunai's sharp edge across his left palm, opening a deep cut. Blood immediately welled out.
Then something uncanny happened. Under everyone's horrified gaze, the gruesome wound healed at a speed visible to the naked eye. Within a few breaths, only a faint red mark remained, and then even that vanished, leaving his skin as smooth as before.
"This is..." Tsunade's pupils contracted sharply. She thought of the Uzumaki Clan's legendary vitality and self-healing