Chapter 346: Survivors of a Fallen Nation

Chapter 346: Chapter 346: Survivors of a Fallen Nation

Hearing this, Hyuga Kagami’s gaze sharpened. He carefully examined the Kusa ninja who had just walked out of the small house and discovered that there was indeed a small amount of chakra within the man’s body that did not belong to him.

And that chakra was one of the two chakra signatures Kagami had previously detected that he suspected belonged to the Uzumaki Clan.

After the Kusa ninja had gone some distance away, Hyuga Kagami quietly entered the house.

Inside, a frail little red-haired girl, no more than five or six years old, was trembling as she held a bowl in her hands, feeding a middle-aged red-haired woman lying on the sickbed one spoonful at a time.

At the sight of this, Hyuga Kagami’s expression darkened.

The middle-aged woman’s clothes were disheveled, and the exposed parts of her body were covered in bite marks of all sizes, overlapping one another layer upon layer. Fresh crimson blood still seeped from many of the wounds.

The woman herself looked deathly ill. Her eyes were deeply sunken, and her breathing was so faint that she seemed to be hanging on by a thread. Even her red hair, the unmistakable hallmark of the Uzumaki Clan, seemed to have lost its color, fading into a dull, pale red.

Beside her, the little girl continued feeding her.

The porridge in the bowl was so thin and watery that it could practically reflect a person’s face. There were barely even a few grains of rice in it.

At that moment, Hyuga Kagami suddenly realized what was going on.

Earlier, he had wondered how Kusagakure could afford to compete with the Five Great Shinobi Villages for missions while charging such low prices. But now, looking at the woman on the sickbed—barely clinging to life, her chakra almost completely exhausted—he finally understood where Kusagakure’s confidence came from.

If Hyuga Kagami’s guess was correct, the middle-aged woman lying on the bed should be Karin’s mother. Karin’s unusual healing ability had most likely been inherited from her.

And it was precisely because Kusagakure had obtained Karin’s mother and drastically reduced its medical costs that it dared to compete with the Five Great Shinobi Villages by offering missions at lower prices.

"Even someone from the Uzumaki Clan, with their enormous chakra reserves, has been drained to this extent... Just what the hell do these Kusa ninja think this woman is?"

Even Hyuga Kagami, who had grown accustomed to life and death and whose heart had long since hardened, couldn’t help but feel disturbed by the sight before him.

Judging from the condition of Karin’s mother’s body, these Kusa ninja had never treated her as a medical ninja.

Or, to put it more accurately, they had never treated Karin’s mother as a human being at all.

Perhaps, in the eyes of these Kusa ninja, Karin’s mother was nothing more than a useful tool.

Neither the middle-aged woman on the bed nor the young Karin beside her showed much of a reaction to the sudden appearance of a complete stranger like Hyuga Kagami.

On their faces, Hyuga Kagami saw only one thing—

Numbness.

Hyuga Kagami walked over to the bedside, gently patted Karin on the shoulder, and said softly, "Let me take a look at your mother."

Karin seemed surprised. Her eyes widened as she looked up at Hyuga Kagami.

Hyuga Kagami paid no attention to Karin’s reaction. Instead, he activated his Byakugan and carefully examined her mother’s body. A moment later, he let out a soft sigh and shook his head.

Karin’s mother wasn’t suffering from ordinary chakra exhaustion. If anything, it would be more accurate to say that she had exhausted her very life force.

Clearly, the unique healing ability possessed by Karin and her mother did not come without a price. Whenever they healed another person’s injuries, they not only consumed their own chakra but also sacrificed a portion of their life force.

If this healing ability were only used in moderation, then with the Uzumaki Clan’s powerful constitution, there wouldn’t have been much of a problem.

But Karin’s mother had obviously been forced to use this healing ability far beyond what her body could endure. Her life force had been depleted far faster than it could naturally recover, eventually leaving her in this state—like a lamp whose oil was nearly spent.

By Hyuga Kagami’s estimation, Karin’s mother had only one or two days left at best, perhaps three or four if she was fortunate. After that, she would die from the excessive depletion of her life force.

And that was assuming no Kusa ninja came to drain her chakra during that time and that her body received sufficient nourishment.

If injured Grass ninja continued coming here to drain her chakra, then she might not even live to see tomorrow.

Just then, another injured Kusa ninja walked into the house.

Upon seeing Hyuga Kagami, who was clearly not dressed as a Kusa ninja, the man immediately became wary and demanded, "Hey! Who are you? What are you doing here?"

Hyuga Kagami gave the Kusa ninja a cold glance.

Then he raised one hand.

Activating Wheel of Will, he instantly dragged the Kusa ninja into his grasp.

Crack!

With a squeeze, Hyuga Kagami snapped the man’s neck.

Thud...

Casually tossing the Kusa ninja’s corpse aside, Hyuga Kagami turned toward the terrified Karin and said,

"Don’t be afraid. I’m here to save you!"

At this moment, Karin’s mother forced her weakened body upright and sat up on the bed. In a feeble voice, she asked Hyuga Kagami, "What... what do you intend to do with Karin?"

Hyuga Kagami replied, "You should know better than anyone that if she stays here, she’ll only end up just like you."

Karin’s mother looked dazed as she murmured, "No... She has far more talent as a ninja than I do. The village promised me that they would let her become a real ninja. She won’t end up like me."

For Karin’s mother, who had already lost both her homeland and her country, becoming part of Kusagakure was her greatest wish.

She simply wanted a place she could call home.

That was also why, despite knowing full well that she would die, Karin’s mother had continued sacrificing herself without hesitation.

She wanted to use her own death—everything she had contributed Kusagakure—as the price for allowing her daughter, Karin, to truly become part of the village and finally be accepted as one of its ninja.

Hyuga Kagami let out a long, quiet sigh.

From a certain perspective, Karin’s mother had indeed achieved what she wanted.

In the original timeline, Karin eventually did become a Kusa ninja.

But her circumstances never changed in the slightest.

She was still subjected to endless abuse and mistreatment.

Kusagakure had never been their home.

Turning toward Karin, who stood beside him, Hyuga Kagami asked, "Do you want to stay here, or do you want to come with me?"

Karin wasn’t particularly wary of strangers. Instead, she immediately asked, "Can you take my mom with us too?"

Hyuga Kagami nodded.

"Of course!"

Karin immediately turned toward her mother on the bed and said, "Mom, let’s go together. I don’t like it here."

Karin’s mother stared at her daughter in shock.

She had never imagined that Karin hated Kusagakure this much—

the very village that she herself had exhausted her life trying desperately to become a part of.

Hyuga Kagami turned to Karin’s mother and said, "I promise you, I’ll treat her well. At the very least, as long as she’s with me, she’ll be able to live like a human being!"

Karin’s mother remained lost in thought for a long while before finally giving a dull nod.

At the very end of her life, after realizing that everything she had sacrificed herself for had ultimately been meaningless, Karin’s mother no longer had any reason to keep struggling.

And now, the daughter who had been her only remaining concern had someone she could entrust her to.

For the first time, she felt completely relieved.

By this point, she had already entered her final moments. Hyuga Kagami wasn’t skilled in Medical Ninjutsu to begin with, but even if he had been, there was nothing he could have done to save her now.

Watching the light gradually fade from her mother’s eyes, Karin realized what was happening.

Silently, she began to cry.

She had known for a long time that this day would eventually come.

She just hadn’t expected it to come so soon...

So suddenly...