The lead ninja looked at little Karin, who was trembling with fear, and spoke as casually as if he were discussing something utterly trivial. "Your mother is dead."
Boom.
Those words exploded in Karin's mind like a thunderclap.
She froze in place. The blood in her body turned to ice, and her mind went blank. Every sound around her vanished, leaving only a buzzing in her ears.
"No... you're lying..." Her lips trembled as she murmured brokenly, her voice so faint it was almost inaudible. "Mom promised she'd come back... she'll definitely come back..."
No one cared about her breakdown or her disbelief.
The ninja coldly pronounced her mother's final fate. "That was her destiny."
Someone snapped in irritation, "That woman was useless. She died just like that! What are we supposed to do now?"
"It's fine," someone else sneered. "Didn't she leave a daughter behind?"
"What an idiot. She actually believed we'd treat her daughter well."
The images on the Sky Screen were cold and cruel, displaying that moment of utter despair clearly before the entire shinobi world.
Even after her mother's death, young Karin still could not escape the same fate.
She had inherited her mother's pure Uzumaki bloodline, along with the same extraordinary ability to heal others and transfer chakra.
Her mother's tragedy had ended, but the very same life of despair was about to descend on Karin all over again.
Everyone across the shinobi world watched with heavy hearts and a chilling, indescribable sense of oppression.
Far away in the Land of Rain, Nagato quietly looked up at the Sky Screen, towering fury churning in his Rinnegan eyes.
The air around him grew suffocating, his once-calm presence turning utterly savage.
Beside him, Konan keenly sensed Nagato losing control of his emotions. Her delicate brows knitted tightly,