"Clang!"
Sasuke's kunai stabbed into the ground right in front of Karin's feet.
Karin jumped in shock.
At this point, she still had a bit of naïve innocence left in her, along with the submissiveness beaten into her by the Grass shinobi who constantly bullied her.
She never expected that Uchiha Sasuke—the one who had just helped her—would suddenly attack her.
Karin hurriedly waved her hands to explain. Since she couldn't speak, she could only desperately use body language to express what she meant.
"..."
Only after Sasuke saw her raise a slender arm covered in bite marks—clearly trying to prove something—did he realize he had misunderstood.
After a moment of silence, Sasuke gave a small nod. Only then did Karin dare approach Sakura again.
By now, Sakura was already weak. She had collapsed onto the grass, gasping for breath, and the blood flowing from the wound on her calf had turned an unnatural dark color.
Karin held out her arm, presenting a spot with slightly fewer bite marks near Sakura's mouth.
Of course Sakura understood what she meant, but the education she had received in Konoha made it difficult for her to accept something like that.
Thinking Sakura found it dirty, Karin lifted her clothes instead. The bite marks on the girl's torso were fewer, and patches of clean skin could still be found.
Her unconscious action made Sakura, Sasuke, and everyone watching outside—Mito Uzumaki, Tobirama Senju, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Kakashi Hatake, Iruka Umino, the three Sand siblings, and even Itachi circling in the sky—feel a pang in their hearts.
Especially the red-haired woman. The strong princess of the Uzumaki clan felt her lips trembling slightly.
In the end, Sakura reached out, grabbed Karin's arm, and gently bit down.
A large amount of chakra flowed through Karin's skin into Sakura's body, quickly restoring the stamina and vitality drained by the poison. The sensation was indescribable.
Although Sakura tried to be as gentle as possible, a bite hard enough to leave marks was bound to hurt.
Seeing the red-haired girl tightly shut her eyes and endure the pain made Sakura feel deeply guilty.
Once her strength returned, Sakura walked forward again and finished writing the remaining words—
"Question: After the destruction of the Land of Whirlpools and Uzushiogakure, what is the surname of the orphan girl who drifted to Kusagakure in the Land of Grass?"
As soon as Sakura finished writing, she noticed the subtle silence from the Second Hokage and the Third Hokage outside the barrier. Mito Uzumaki standing with them also wore a quiet, sorrowful expression.
Among everyone present, only Kakashi recognized the Land of Whirlpools. After all, his teacher's wife had been a descendant of that land.
The atmosphere suddenly became strange.
Even Sakura and Sasuke could feel it.
Everyone present inside and outside the barrier was from Konoha, except Karin, who was an outsider no matter how you looked at it.
She tried to shrink into herself, quietly glancing at the red-haired woman whose chakra and appearance somewhat resembled her mother's.
But the red-haired woman clearly had no intention of ignoring her.
She beckoned gently.
"Come here, child."
"???"
Karin looked up in confusion, glancing left and right before finally realizing the woman was calling her.
Sakura and Sasuke were also stunned.
They didn't know who this red-haired woman was—someone even the Second and Third Hokage treated with respect—nor did they understand why she had called over a Grass shinobi after seeing the question.
Sasuke read the question again and thought to himself:
Could this female shinobi also be one of the survivors of Uzushiogakure who ended up in Kusagakure?!
Seeing Karin's timid expression only made Mito's heart ache more. She crouched down and asked gently,
"Can you tell me your name?"
Karin thought for a moment, picked up a stick, and wrote on the ground—
"Karin."
"That's a lovely name. Who gave it to you?"
"Mom."
"Is your mother still in Kusagakure?" If she was, the woman would immediately assign a mission to bring her to Konoha.
"She died."
"..."
Everyone present fell silent in mourning.
Mito sighed inwardly.
"Then do you know your own surname?"
???
The question left Karin completely stunned.
Her name was Karin. As for a surname… her mother had never mentioned one.
Seeing Karin's expression, the woman immediately understood.
"Then I suppose you don't know which clan you come from either." She smiled gently and continued before Karin could write anything. "Can you feel my chakra? The chakra of someone from the same clan."
"!!!!"
Karin was completely shocked by the revelation.
She stood frozen, staring blankly at the red-haired woman outside the transparent barrier.
Mom…
Karin opened her mouth. The shape of the word could be seen on her lips, but since no sound came out, the space didn't register it as an official answer.
"Hm… if you want to call me Mom, I wouldn't really mind, but…" the woman laughed awkwardly. "My granddaughter is probably old enough to be your grandmother."
Far away, in a certain casino where she was showing off her gambling prowess, Tsunade suddenly sneezed.
"Who's talking about me? Did someone hear rumors and come to collect a debt?!!"
The Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju—who had just been called "big bro" by a certain airheaded kid earlier—fell silent.
Sakura, Sasuke, Iruka, and the others: "..."
She looks so young!!!
She's actually older than the Third Hokage?!
Well… never mind. There's also the Second Hokage over there who Naruto called "big bro"…
Tobirama Senju: "..."
Karin stared at the red-haired woman outside the barrier, confirming that she wasn't being mocked.
But then the people who didn't know the woman's identity were struck with another bombshell.
"Would you answer the question and end this round?"
The woman smiled gently as everyone remained stunned.
"As for the bloodline abilities and techniques of my clan—Uzushiogakure in the Land of Whirlpools—there are many. I'll teach them to all of you in the future."
All of you?
"Oh, speaking of which, the most talented members of my clan can even seal Tailed Beasts," the woman added playfully. "So Karin, from now on you won't have to worry about being bullied anymore."
Again—all of you? Who else was she talking about besides Karin?
Most people, however, were focused on something else—
Sealing a Tailed Beast alone?
What kind of terrifying ninja clan was that?!
And yet they were wiped out?
Most of them didn't know that it was precisely because they were so powerful that other clans feared the Uzumaki clan's sealing techniques and abilities.
In the end, many nations and clans joined forces to attack the Land of Whirlpools. After the country fell, the surviving members of Uzushiogakure scattered across the world, hiding their identities.
Karin's mother had been one of them.
"Karin, if your mother never told you your surname, then let me tell you."
The woman was about to reveal the answer.
Everyone present—including Karin, Sakura, and Sasuke—felt strangely nervous.
The red-haired woman spoke.
"Your name is Karin. Your full name should be—Karin Uzumaki."
"!!!"
Sakura and Sasuke froze.
The only Uzumaki they knew was the orphan of Konoha—
Naruto Uzumaki.
Their teammate from Team 7.