A Tragic Fate (Continued)

Including her clones, the four Narutos formed hand seals and used the Body Flicker Technique, instantly appearing before the Kusagakure ninja.

"Wind Release: Finger Gun!"

The bullets that exploded inside their bodies instantly tore them apart, their blood staining Naruto's cherry-blossom dress red.

"Nonō, protect Karin!"

Mikoto Uchiha noticed the Grass Ninja approaching to take Karin away and activated her Sharingan.

"How? My body won't move!"

The Grass Ninja who had come to take Karin away suddenly discovered that they could no longer move their bodies.

"This is a binding genjutsu!"

Just as the Grass Ninja who realized he had fallen under an illusion was about to dispel it, a kunai pierced his neck.

"Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"

Her hands rapidly formed seals. After taking a breath, Mikoto Uchiha transformed her Fire Release Chakra into flames and sent them toward the ninja immobilized by the illusion. Facing the roaring flames, those caught in Mikoto Uchiha's binding genjutsu had no way to evade. They could only watch helplessly as the fire drew closer and closer, trembling as they widened their eyes before being swallowed by the flames.

"Aaaah—!!!"

"Wind Style: Gale Palm!"

The fierce wind blasting outward sent the ninja near Naruto flying. Naruto raised his hands and crossed them.

"Wind Release: Finger Bullet Barrage!"

Bullets compressed from Wind Release Chakra shot continuously from the fingertips of Naruto's ten fingers in a short span of time, like a machine gun.

After striking their enemies, the bullets scattered. Countless tiny wind blades formed from Wind Release Chakra sliced through their bodies, and mangled corpses, their features unrecognizable, fell to the ground.

"And you thought you could take Karin back like this?"

Naruto walked toward the ninja who had bitten Karin. Naruto had deliberately not killed him, saving him for last. Naruto stomped on his hand and ground down hard.

"Didn't you want to take Karin back? You know perfectly well what you did to her. You caused the wounds on her wrists, didn't you?"

Listening to his agonized screams, Naruto tilted his head and chuckled pleasantly.

"Their deaths are all your fault!"

Naruto pointed at the Kusagakure ninja who had been killed by Wind Release and Fire Release.

"If you hadn't meddled, if you hadn't been greedy for Karin's ability, none of this would have happened. Unfortunately, there's no medicine for regret in this world. You have to bear the consequences of what you've done..."

"Wind Release: Finger Gun!"

Naruto's deep azure eyes became the last sight he saw before his death.

Seeing Naruto, who was not much older than herself, capable of killing the ninja who had killed her mother, Karin thought of how she had been unable to do anything when her mother was nearing death, able only to passively accept her mother's protection. She shut her eyes tightly, tears of pain and sorrow streaming down her face.

"Are you willing to come with me?"

Naruto looked at the crying Karin and tenderly stroked her head. To Naruto's surprise, Karin suddenly threw herself into his arms and held him tightly as she burst into tears, sobbing with heartbreaking despair. It was the pain and grief she had suppressed for who knew how long.

The image of her mother dying miserably before her, covered in bite marks, could never be driven from her mind. Like a nightmare, it haunted her, appearing in her dreams every night and reminding her that her future would be just like her mother's—that she too would die covered in bite marks.

Still sobbing, Karin lowered her flushed face and tugged at Naruto's sleeve, carefully watching his expression.

"Can we take my mother with us? I don't want to leave her in this terrifying place."

"What happened?"

Naruto did not remember much about Karin's story. With more than seven hundred episodes of Naruto, there was no way he could remember everything, only the general outline.

"Wait, your mother had the same ability as you?" Naruto touched Karin's wrist. The place that had previously been bitten had already healed after Yakushi Nonō's treatment, leaving not even a trace of a scar.

"Yes. My mother was bitten to death by the ninja of this village..." Karin bit her lip, trying not to cry, but tears still flowed down her face despite herself.

"Take me to your mother's grave." Naruto lowered his head and spoke in a low voice. Anyone could feel the anger he was suppressing in his heart.

They arrived at an inconspicuous mound of earth in a corner of Kusagakure. Karin pointed at it.

"They told me my mother was buried here."

"Wind Style: Gale Palm!"

The gale swept away the dirt, quickly exposing what had been buried beneath the mound. It was merely the corpse of a dead Ninja Hound. Karin's mother had not been buried there at all.

"This is too much..." When Mikoto Uchiha saw that a dog's corpse had actually been buried in the grave, an indescribable rage surged through her heart, and her Sharingan activated on its own.

"They... they lied to me! They said that if I behaved, they would give my mother a proper burial!" Overwhelmed by emotion, Karin could not believe what she was seeing. She collapsed onto the ground and stared blankly at the Ninja Hound's corpse.

Could her mother's body have been... Realizing what might have happened to Karin's mother's corpse, Yakushi Nonō covered her mouth and looked at the devastated Karin with heartache.

Naruto's teeth ground together. Looking at Karin sitting on the ground with despair written across her face, he had never been so furious. His extreme rage weakened the seal on the Nine-Tails.

The Nine-Tails suppressed its Chakra, preventing too much Chakra from leaking out as the seal weakened.

"Naruto! Control your emotions!"

"Sorry, Nine-Tails, but anger isn't something you can just control because you want to. I never thought something like this had happened to Karin. I thought her fate was tragic enough, but I never imagined her mother was... bitten to death alive by the ninja of Kusagakure!"

"I think they must have done something to your mother's remains. Come on, let's go take your mother back, Karin!"

Naruto pulled Karin, who had been sitting on the ground staring blankly at the grave, to her feet.

"Take her back?"

Karin turned her head and looked at Naruto blankly, her childish face revealing an expression of utter fragility.

"That's right. Take her back."

"But how can we fight an entire ninja village by ourselves?" Karin gave a self-mocking laugh.

"Slap—!"

"Look at you, like some stray dog! What do you think is happening to your mother's remains right now? Think about it! Even after she died, they still wouldn't leave her body alone, and you're just going to accept your fate?"

Naruto raised his hand and slapped Karin. In his extreme fury, Naruto's eyes turned blood-red, his pupils becoming vertical slits like those of a beast.

Frightened by those eyes, Karin pushed Naruto away and fell onto the ground on her butt.