The moment we stepped inside, the light vanished. The canopy was so thick it felt like twilight. The sounds of the outside world were replaced by the buzzing of insects and the distant screams of other Genin dying.
"AAAAAHHH!"
A scream echoed from the east.
"Someone's out," Sasuke muttered, keeping low.
We moved through the giant roots. Everything was oversized. Mushrooms the size of umbrellas. Ferns that could hide a bear.
"It's quiet," Sakura whispered. "Too quiet."
[Observation Haki: Active]
Ping.
Three signatures ahead. Hiding in the canopy.
"Contact," I whispered. "Twelve o'clock. High."
Sasuke stopped instantly. He signaled for a halt.
"Naruto," I whispered. "You really need to go now, don't you?"
"I'm gonna explode!" Naruto danced in place.
"Fine," I pointed to a massive tree with thick roots about fifty meters away—away from the enemy ambush point. "Go behind that tree. Be quick. Don't write your name."
"Thanks, Kenji!" Naruto unzipped his pants and sprinted for the tree.
Sasuke looked at me. "Is that wise? Splitting up?"
"It's bait," I murmured, watching the chakra signatures in the trees shift. They were tracking Naruto. "They think he's isolated. When they strike..."
I pulled out a kunai.
"...we strike."
But as I watched Naruto disappear behind the tree, I felt a second ping.
A different signature. Further north.
It was frantic. Panicked. And it felt... spicy. Like pepper.
[System Notification] [Nearby Event Detected.] [Target: Karin Uzumaki.] [Status: Being hunted by a giant bear.]
I frowned. Karin is already in trouble? That was fast. Even for a plot device.
"Sasuke, Sakura," I kept my voice low. "Change of plans. Naruto can handle himself for two minutes. He has clones. I'm going to check the right flank. I smell... ginger."
"Ginger?" Sakura asked.
"Just stay hidden," I ordered. "If Naruto screams like a girl, help him. If he screams like a fox, run."
I didn't wait for an answer. I activated [Silent Tread] and vanished into the foliage, heading not toward the enemy ambush, but toward the spicy chakra signature.
****
I moved through the canopy like a phantom. [Silent Tread] was doing its job; not even the leaves rustled under my sandals.
I closed in on the chakra signature. It was erratic, terrified, and painfully familiar.
Karin Uzumaki.
In the original timeline, she was pathetic. A sensory ninja reduced to a walking med-kit and a fangirl for the Uchiha edge-lord. She took abuse, bit her arm raw, and swooned over the guy who literally tried to kill her.
Wasted potential, I thought, leaping over a massive root. She has the Uzumaki longevity. The Adamantine Chains. And a sensory ability that rivals the Byakugan. Giving her to Sasuke is like giving a Ferrari to a toddler who only likes crash test dummies.
"Not in my timeline," I grinned. "Daddy needs a radar."
I reached the clearing.
It was a mess. Trees were snapped like twigs.
In the center, backed against a rock wall, was a girl.
She wore the standard Grass Village flak jacket, her red hair messy and unkempt. She was trembling, clutching a scroll to her chest. Her glasses were cracked, hanging crookedly on her nose.
Looming over her was a Giant Tiger-Bear.
(Yes, a tiger mixed with a bear. Nature in this forest was drunk).
It stood twelve feet tall on its hind legs, drool dripping from jaws that could crush a boulder. It roared, a sound that shook the ground and sent birds scattering.
"ROAAAAAR!"
"P-Please..." Karin whimpered, shrinking back against the cold stone. "Someone... anyone..."
Her teammates were nowhere to be seen. Grass Ninja doctrine: If the weak link falls, leave them.
The Tiger-Bear raised a massive paw, claws extending like butcher knives. It swiped down.
This was the moment.
I immediately formed the seal with my hands.
Intercept.
[Ninjutsu: Body Flicker (Shunshin)]
BOOM.
I didn't just step in front of her. I landed on the bear's head mid-swipe.
My chakra-enhanced sandals connected with the beast's skull with the force of a falling anvil.
CRACK.
The sound of bone splintering echoed through the clearing. The bear's head slammed into the dirt, burying its snout in the mud. Its body went limp instantly, the massive paw stopping inches from Karin's face, dust billowing up around her.
Silence returned to the forest.
I stood on the unconscious (or dead, I didn't check; the XP notification would tell me later) bear, looking down at the girl.
Karin slowly opened her eyes. She expected to be dead. Instead, she saw a figure standing atop her nightmare, bathed in the shafts of sunlight piercing the canopy.
I adjusted my headband, looking cool.
"Yo," I said casually, hands in my pockets. "You okay, Four-Eyes?"
Karin stared up at me. She pushed her broken glasses up her nose with trembling fingers.
[Passive Skill: Anatomy Scan - Active] [Target: Karin Uzumaki] [Status: Terrified / Adrenaline Spiking.] [Chakra: Distinctly Uzumaki (High Vitality).] [Affection: 0 (Stranger).]
"W-Who..." Karin stammered. Her sensory abilities kicked in instinctively.
She didn't just see me. She felt me.
To a sensor, chakra has a "flavor" or "color." Sasuke's was cold and purple. Naruto's was bright and warm (or hateful red).
I wonder how my chakra tastes to her?
I hopped down from the bear, landing softly in front of her.
"You're separated from your team," I stated, not asking. "Grass Ninja usually abandon the bait. I assume that's you?"
Karin flinched. The truth hurt. She looked at her arms, covered in bite marks—scars from being used as a human potion.
"I... I got lost. They left me."
"Typical," I scoffed. "Wasteful."
I reached out a hand.
"Stand up."
Karin looked at my hand. Then at my face. She blushed, a deep crimson that matched her hair. She took my hand.
I pulled her up. But I didn't let go. I pulled her a little too close, invading her personal space.
"You have red hair," I noted, lifting a hand to touch a messy strand near her ear. "Like the Uzumaki clan. Rare."
"I... yes..." she breathed, unable to look away. My presence was overwhelming her senses.
"My name is Kenji," I whispered, leaning down. "And you look like you need a new team. Or at least... a new owner."
Karin's breath hitched. "Owner?"
"Someone who won't leave you as bear food," I clarified, though my eyes said otherwise. "Someone who knows the value of a good sensor."
I let go of her hair and stepped back, giving her room to breathe.
"We're heading to the Tower. You can tag along. But if you slow me down..."
I leaned in, my voice dropping to a dangerous growl.
"...I'll leave you for the next bear. Understand?"
It was a lie, of course. I needed her. But Karin responded to dominance. She craved structure because she had lived her whole life as a tool to be used and discarded.
Karin nodded frantically. "I... I understand! I can sense enemies! I can be useful! I promise!"
"Good girl," I smirked.
[System Notification] [Relationship Update: Karin Uzumaki] [Status: Imprinted.] [Thought Process: "He saved me... and his chakra is intoxicating..."] [Capture Progress: 70%.]
Damn, she is too easy, I thought. We have just met and her favorability is already at 70%. She is too submissive. But that works for me.
I glanced at the bite marks on her forearm again.
The Grass Ninja won't just let her go. Even though they left her to die, if they find out she is alive, they would clamor to have her back. Who would leave a walking, talking healing potion in the woods?
But I don't have to worry about that. It's for the Hokage to worry about.
She is an Uzumaki. And the Uzumaki clan is the oldest, most loyal ally of Konoha. The swirl on our flak jackets proves it. Konoha will never allow a strong bloodline like the Uzumaki to go to another village if they can help it.
It was another matter if her lineage was unknown. But if she reveals her identity—which I will ensure she does—Konoha will take her in. "Refugee Status" is a convenient political tool.
What about retaliation from the Grass Village?
Ninja, please.
Who is Konoha? The strongest village in the Five Great Nations.
Even after the "efforts" made by the Konoha F4 (Hiruzen, Danzo, Koharu, and Homura) to hollow out the village from the inside—driving the White Fang to suicide, sending the Senju to the frontlines until only Tsunade was left, and annihilating the strongest bloodline, the Uchiha—Konoha is still the strongest.
It speaks volumes about the baseline power of the Leaf that the leadership can actively sabotage their own military assets for decades and still be the apex predator.
I sometimes pity the other villages. They try so hard, while Konoha just accidentally produces gods like Minato and Itachi every generation.
"Then let's go," I turned around, snapping out of my political monologue. "My teammates are idiots. One is a brooding avenger and the other is loud. Don't look at them. Look at me."
"Y-Yes, Kenji-kun!" Karin scrambled to follow, clutching her scroll like a lifeline.
I grinned as I walked back toward the ambush point.
Sasuke saved her life in canon? Please. He just kicked a bear. I crushed its skull and gave her a complex.