Chapter 72: Karin Uzumaki

Naruto said to Karin, "Go take a shower first and change your clothes."

"But..."

Karin glanced at the bodies of the Grass Nin.

She seemed a little worried.

Uchiha Izumi spoke up. "Don’t worry. Go ahead."

It was only the Grass Ninja Village. There was nothing to be concerned about.

"I understand."

Afraid of upsetting Naruto and the others, Karin didn’t say anything more. She nodded and hurried back into the house.

Naruto and Uchiha Izumi followed her inside, only to see Karin standing there blankly, staring at her mother’s corpse.

Naruto said, "We’ll take her with us later."

"Thank you, sir!"

Karin’s eyes reddened as she bowed deeply before quickly running into the bathroom.

Naruto looked at Karin’s mother’s body and silently said:

"System, analyze."

Ding! Congratulations, Host. You have obtained the Uzumaki physique.

As the system notification sounded, Naruto could immediately feel the vitality within his body becoming even more immense.

Karin’s mother’s physique was merely one form of the Uzumaki physique.

Her vitality was simply so tremendous that it produced a healing effect.

Using her by absorbing her vitality was truly the lowest and most wasteful method.

If she were trained in the direction of medical ninjutsu, the effect of a single Mystical Palm Technique would probably surpass even Tsunade’s.

Of course, outside the Five Great Shinobi Villages, the smaller villages didn’t have a proper system for cultivating medical ninjas.

Konoha’s system was the most mature.

The smaller ninja villages simply didn’t have the ability to train medical ninjas.

Karin, being a naturally gifted medical ninja with an additional aptitude for learning sealing techniques, would undoubtedly achieve great things in the future.

Naruto could even consider capturing a Tailed Beast and testing whether Kotoamatsukami could alter its will.

Shisui’s Mangekyo Sharingan had been perfectly integrated into Naruto’s body and had subsequently evolved into the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. The cooldown of Kotoamatsukami was now only around two years.

Of course, capturing a Tailed Beast was merely an idea.

No matter what, Naruto still had to take Kurama’s feelings into consideration.

The relationship between the Tailed Beasts might appear poor on the surface, but that was merely their own peculiar way of interacting with one another.

Not long afterward, Karin came out after washing away the blood and changing her clothes.

She was thin and frail, her face pale.

She looked severely malnourished, as though a strong gust of wind could knock her over.

When she noticed that Naruto and Uchiha Izumi were both looking at her, she immediately became flustered and said quietly,

"I’ll pack my things."

Naruto said, "Just pack a few things that have sentimental value. You don’t need to bring clothes or anything like that."

He wasn’t completely heartless. Some memories were still worth letting her take with her.

"Yes, sir!"

Karin adapted to her new role surprisingly quickly, making Naruto shake his head with a helpless smile.

Before long, Karin came out carrying only a few photo frames.

There wasn’t anything valuable in the house.

The only things worth keeping were a few photographs.

"Let’s go. Come here."

Uchiha Izumi beckoned her over. She took Karin’s hand with one hand and Naruto’s with the other.

Naruto gently touched Karin’s mother’s corpse and immediately activated the Flying Thunder God Technique.

Although the Flying Thunder God Technique didn’t require physical contact to transport something—as Minato had demonstrated during the Fourth Great Ninja War when he transported Madara’s Truth-Seeking Orb—it was safer to make contact when transporting a large number of objects.

It also made mistakes less likely.

The scene shifted.

The group had already appeared inside the room Orochimaru had prepared for Naruto.

"This..."

Looking at the luxuriously furnished room, Karin was completely stunned.

Yakushi Kabuto, who had been quietly waiting outside the door, said,

"Orochimaru-sama was worried that you wouldn’t know your way around, so he arranged for me to wait here and guide you."

"Thanks, Kabuto. Then help me prepare a coffin and a burial site first."

This wasn’t simply Orochimaru trying to curry favor with Naruto.

Under normal circumstances, he was actually a refined and considerate gentleman who thought things through carefully.

In the original story, he had been willing to fulfill Sasuke’s requests and provide him with advice whenever necessary.

"Of course. Please wait a moment."

Yakushi Kabuto nodded before turning around to make the arrangements.

Naruto placed a sealing formula on Karin’s mother’s body to prevent it from decomposing.

The Sound Village was merely one part of Orochimaru’s plan. It would eventually be abandoned, and Naruto didn’t want Karin to have to move her mother’s grave later.

Not long afterward, Orochimaru arrived.

"The Land of Grass and the Land of Sound are only half an hour apart. Naruto-kun’s Flying Thunder God is indeed incredibly fast!"

"The Land of Sound!"

Hearing Orochimaru mention the Land of Sound, Karin was completely stunned.

Even if she walked for several days, she probably wouldn’t be able to reach the Land of Sound!

Orochimaru turned his gaze toward Karin.

"Red hair. It seems this girl is a member of the Uzumaki Clan."

He then looked toward Karin’s mother’s corpse, a trace of disappointment appearing in his eyes.

Naruto nodded slightly.

"That’s right. Orochimaru, I’ll leave her in your care."

With that, a notebook appeared in Naruto’s hand.

He opened it to the pages containing sealing techniques and tore them all out.

Then he handed the pages to Orochimaru.

"Help her master these as much as possible."

Orochimaru accepted them and glanced through the pages.

They were all sealing techniques.

Orochimaru had already mastered some of them, but there were also quite a few that he hadn’t.

Orochimaru was delighted.

"Of course. I’ll take good care of her."

He had quite a few ninjas under his command, so guiding Karin naturally wouldn’t be a problem.

Even if he had to create a Shadow Clone to personally guide her, it would only be a minor inconvenience.

What truly interested Orochimaru was the notebook in Naruto’s hand.

His eyes practically lit up.

Seeing this, Naruto directly handed the notebook to him.

"Then make a copy of it for me using a ninjutsu scroll."

For his future chief scientist, biologist, and great professor, Naruto naturally wasn’t stingy with a few ninjutsu.

The more Orochimaru mastered, the happier Naruto would be.

Ideally, he wanted things to reach the point where, whenever a problem arose, the first thought would be:

When in doubt, ask Orochimaru.

That would be even better!

"Of course!"

Orochimaru was even more delighted.

He accepted the notebook and glanced at the table of contents.

There were quite a few ninjutsu worth researching.

Moreover, he could tell that the handwriting belonged to Minato Namikaze.

At this moment, realizing that Naruto was about to leave her behind, Karin hesitantly said,

"I..."

Naruto rubbed her head.

"Don’t worry. I’ll come here often. Just stay here and train hard."

"If you need anything, just ask Orochimaru. He’ll provide whatever you need."

Orochimaru gave a slight nod from the side.

"Mm."

Karin nodded firmly.

She knew that she was weak.

She couldn’t help Naruto at all.

If she followed him, she would only become a burden.

She secretly resolved to train as hard as she could.

Then, as though she had suddenly remembered something, Karin said,

"Sir, my name is Karin."

After saying that, she looked at Naruto expectantly.

Naruto couldn’t help shaking his head with a laugh.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto. You don’t need to call me ’sir’ either. We’re around the same age. Just call me Naruto."

He had nearly forgotten to tell anyone his name.

Karin’s pupils contracted slightly.

"Uzumaki?"

When she was young, her mother had told her that they were members of the Uzumaki Clan.

That was why Karin hadn’t objected when Orochimaru had just identified her as a member of the Uzumaki Clan.

But she had never imagined that the person who had saved her would actually bear the Uzumaki name!

Could he really be a member of the Uzumaki Clan?

He had to be!

Naruto rubbed Karin’s head again and smiled.

"That’s right. We’re members of the same clan. Perhaps we’re even distantly related by blood."

"From now on, your name will be Uzumaki Karin."

"Uzumaki Karin..."

Karin softly repeated the name.

And then she understood.

Naruto had specifically come to the Grass Ninja Village to save her!

He was such a powerful shinobi. That was why he had become angry after seeing her weak side, wasn’t it?

So what had happened earlier had merely been a test of her weakness, right?

And she had passed.

That was why Naruto was now willing to accept her and become closer to her.

Giving her the Uzumaki surname meant that he acknowledged her as one of his own, didn’t it?

"Uzumaki Karin..."

She whispered the name again.

Her wandering, uneasy heart seemed to have finally found something to rely on—a place she could call home.

Her eyes turned slightly red as tears began to well up.

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