By noon, Karin understood who so much food was being prepared for.
After Kurenai Yūhi announced the details of the Chūnin Exams, she and Hinata returned to Nojuro Ryun's house, chatting and laughing.
When they saw Karin, both of them were stunned, their mouths hanging open.
Ryun then briefly explained Karin's background, telling them that he couldn't stand by and wanted to help her.
Kurenai Yūhi immediately sensed that Ryun's motives weren't that simple.
The girl's red hair was too conspicuous; she was highly likely a descendant of the Uzumaki Clan.
Taking in a girl like this meant that, in the future, she might bear children with great talent. Although Kurenai thought this reason seemed a bit far-fetched, she believed this was exactly what Ryun was thinking.
After all, Ryun was someone aiming to build a grand clan; considering things for the clan's bloodline succession was only natural, wasn't it?
Hinata, on the other hand, was much more innocent.
After hearing about Karin's experiences, she immediately transformed into Karin's caring big sister, asking Karin all sorts of questions, and even wanting to take Karin shopping to buy all her daily necessities.
In the end, it was one sentence from Kurenai that finally calmed Hinata down.
"Ryun-kun, have you considered the consequences of this? Kusagakure might come looking for trouble."
Ryun shrugged and said, "Don't worry. I used a Shadow Clone to replace Karin. Later, I'll find an opportunity for it to disappear plausibly. Then we'll change Karin's appearance a bit, and Kusagakure won't have any grounds to stand on."
"Change her appearance?"
Karin was still a bit confused, but Hinata had already grasped Ryun's meaning and said, "Why don't you grow your hair long like me? Ryun-kun likes long hair... ah no, I mean long hair is more beautiful."
Hinata had inadvertently revealed her own thoughts, and this sentence made Karin's eyes light up.
If Ryun liked long hair, she would definitely grow it long!
But what was the relationship between Hinata here and Ryun?
Karin had some vague guesses, but mostly she didn't understand, since she didn't yet know about Ryun's grand clan plan.
"Not just your hair, I'll also heal your eyes later, so you won't need to wear glasses anymore."
Ryun pointed at Karin's eyes. It was just a simple vision correction procedure, which for Ryun now was even simpler than using the Mystical Palm Technique to heal someone's internal injuries.
The reason for doing this wasn't because Ryun didn't like girls with glasses.
Rather, if Karin lost her glasses, it would greatly impact her combat ability. In Ryun's view, that was an unforgivable weakness.
As for the glasses aesthetic, once Ryun said he liked the way Karin looked wearing glasses, Karin would definitely immediately buy a pair of plain glasses to wear, thus satisfying Ryun's preference for glasses-wearing girls.
Karin nodded, deeply moved. Her trust in Ryun was already almost instinctive. Seeing how much Karin trusted Ryun, Hinata remembered the time when they had first met Ryun, and couldn't help but reveal a warm smile.
Then came the harmonious meal for the four of them. Karin was a bit reserved at first, but after seeing Hinata devour bowl after bowl of rice, her stomach completely flat, Karin, worried about going hungry, also began to eat ravenously.
In the end, Hinata, having eaten eighteen bowls of rice, calmly helped Ryun clear the dishes, while Karin, completely stuffed from her four bowls, lay motionless on the tatami, hugging her stomach, looking like she was about to burst.
"Silly child, don't compete with Hinata. She's exceptionally gifted."
Seeing this, Kurenai couldn't help but chat with Karin for the first time: "By the way, you'll see more people in a couple of days. Their appetites are pretty big too. Don't follow their example."
Kurenai naturally wouldn't mention the True Spirit Seal. If Ryun were to give Karin the True Spirit Seal in the future, she would understand it then anyway.
"Are there other people in Lord Ryun's house?"
Curious, Karin earnestly asked Kurenai for more information.
"It seems you really don't know anything. It's fine to tell you."
Then Kurenai briefly introduced the existence of Anko, Tenten, Sakura, and Ino, telling Karin that Ryun had already confessed to all of them.
Karin was thunderstruck, looking at Ryun, who was busy in the kitchen with Hinata, in disbelief. "Lord Ryun... is going to marry that many wives?"
"So, are you surprised?"
Kurenai's lips curled into a teasing smile. "If you want to run away now, it's still not too late."
To her dismay, Karin clenched her fists, psyching herself up, and murmured to herself, "It seems I have hope of becoming Lord Ryun's wife too... I definitely have to eat more and grow more from now on, so Lord Ryun will have a better... experience."
"Ah..."
Kurenai held her forehead, feeling this world was hopeless.
It wasn't just the girls around Ryun that made her despair, but also the fact that she was about to witness Hinata receiving the True Spirit Seal.
She had a premonition that her own fall was not far off.
Yet even with this premonition, she still couldn't bear to leave. This was also why Kurenai felt despair towards herself.
After lunch, Hinata again asked Karin to tell her stories from Karin's childhood.
At first, Hinata was all smiles, but slowly her smile faded, and a glint of anger shone in her eyes.
Hinata thought being mocked as a "freak with those eyes" was a terrible suffering, but compared to Karin's pain, what was her childhood experience?
Thinking this, Hinata felt fortunate that she had been able to meet Ryun earlier.
At the same time, she became even more determined to make herself stronger, because in the future she might face more tragedies like this.
She would use her own hands to protect those dear to her.
"Um, Ryun-kun."
Having thought this through, Hinata suddenly spoke. Though her cheeks were flushed, her eyes were very firm. "When should we start?"
Karin looked curiously at Hinata. What was she going to start with Ryun?
"Whenever you're ready."
"Then I'll go prepare."
Hinata bowed to Ryun, turned, and trotted away.
Ryun looked at Hinata's retreating figure. He had just been about to ask Hinata which room she wanted to lie down in, but now why was she running towards the bathhouse?
Soon, Ryun understood.
Half an hour later, Hinata, wearing a bathrobe with her hair wet and loose, said, "Um, Ryun-kun, we can start now."
"Uh... here?"
Hinata blushed, realizing she hadn't explained clearly, and quickly clarified, "I mean, let's go into the bathhouse. Because Tenten and the others said it might accidentally dirty the bed."
"So, to avoid causing trouble for you, Ryun-kun, doing it in the bathhouse should be okay, right?"
Ryun didn't answer, but Kurenai's face reddened as she said, "Hinata, I don't remember you mentioning this yesterday! Doing that kind of thing in the bathhouse, do I have to come along too?"
"Ah... sorry, Kurenai-sensei, I just changed my mind and forgot you were supposed to observe too. Then—"
Hinata thought hard. Seeing that Kurenai was already embarrassed, Ryun naturally couldn't let Hinata change her mind.
So he simply lifted her in a princess carry and said, "In that case, the bathhouse it is. I can't waste Hinata's thoughtful consideration for me."
"Also, Sister Kurenai, you can totally go into the bathhouse to observe dressed like that. It's not like I'm asking you to change into a yukata or soak in the hot spring with us, right?"
Kurenai looked at Ryun, both embarrassed and annoyed. At that moment, Karin weakly raised her hand and asked, "Um, can I come too? Even though I don't know what Lord Ryun is going to do... maybe I can help?"
Ryun didn't agree immediately but looked at Hinata instead. "What do you think?"
The act of applying the True Spirit Seal itself was unobjectionable, but the process would inevitably make someone like Hinata, the one involved, feel shy.
Hinata was already familiar with Kurenai and the others, so being watched by them was fine, but Karin had only just arrived at Ryun's house.
Hinata hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Ryun-kun will do this with Karin later too, right?"
Ryun nodded. He had no reason to hide that.
"In that case, Karin should come too. This way, I can give you a demonstration."
Hinata put on the air of an older sister. For an instant, Ryun thought Hinata was about to become the big sister figure.
Then, carrying Hinata in his arms, Ryun walked towards the bathhouse, chatting and laughing with the shy Hinata.
Karin quickly followed, leaving only Kurenai, who hadn't received an answer, unable to advance or retreat.
Finally, Kurenai gritted her teeth and decided to go for it.
She was genuinely curious about the True Spirit Seal and desperately wanted to return to that state of a youthful body.
As for what would happen later... could Ryun really force her?