Uzumaki Kana: "Karin!?"
In the Pure Land, Karin's mother let out an incredulous cry as she watched Karin, who wore glasses and was focused intently on a scroll. She never expected her daughter to appear on the Sky Screen, which immediately gave her an ominous premonition.
Uzumaki Kushina: "Don't worry, we will protect Karin. With us here, she will be fine."
Minato Namikaze: "That's right, we will protect this child."
Senju Hashirama: "Hahaha~ Rest assured, with me here, nothing will happen to this child!"
Watching a young red-haired girl draw out so many prominent figures on the Sky Screen, the ninjas of various villages remained speechless for a long time. More importantly, through several months of testing, they had confirmed that these people had truly been resurrected through some means.
Good grief, the First, Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Hokage were all gathered in New Konoha. Such a scene was unsettling not only for ninjas from other villages but even for the people of New Konoha themselves.
Fortunately, the Third Hokage was strictly controlled as a puppet without self-awareness, and the other three stayed out of administrative affairs, leaving only the Fifth Hokage—Tsunade Hime—to scratch her head in frustration while facing the mess of New Konoha.
The people of Kusagakure were beyond furious seeing Karin appear on the Sky Screen. It was because of her that almost everyone in the Hidden Grass Village had been killed by those damned Konoha ninjas; they felt they should never have taken in that mother and daughter in the first place.
They hadn't expected that instead of being grateful, the pair would bring disaster to the village—what a pair of jinxes! The people of the Hidden Grass Village vividly illustrated how some people will never look for faults within themselves even until the day they die.
At that time, everyone who had fled from Konoha harbored a deep-seated rage, and now you people of the Hidden Grass Village dared to harbor and abuse the orphan of a Konoha ally? Especially in front of the First and Second Hokage—you were truly tired of living!
Under their silent approval, it was no surprise that Kusagakure was used as a target to vent their frustrations.
["Who are you?"
The moment Uzumaki Karin heard the unfamiliar voice, she became wary. She immediately spotted a pitch-black crow standing on the window frame.
"A crow?"
Upon seeing the crow, Karin instantly realized it might be someone's summoning beast.
"Sneaking around and coming to the door in the middle of the night, aren't you afraid of being discovered by Konoha? Don't think that just because Konoha took a heavy blow, anyone can bully us. I'm not afraid to tell you, the First Hokage is in New Konoha right now and can drag the person behind you out at any time!"
Karin was wary of this crow, but she wasn't particularly afraid. Just as she said, the First Hokage Senju Hashirama was the legendary God of Shinobi; why would she be afraid of a mere ninja beast?
"Senju Hashirama? The power of the God of Shinobi is indeed worthy of its reputation. That forest outside New Konoha and the buildings within were all created by his hand, weren't they?"
The crow's beak opened and closed as a gentle voice drifted out. Its spirited eyes made Karin feel she wasn't facing a ninja beast, but a living human being. This placed a great deal of pressure on Karin.
She began to feel that the crow before her was a bit strange.
"It's... it's good that you know. If you leave now, I'll pretend I never saw you."
"Regrettably, while many might fear the power of the legendary God of Shinobi, clearly, that does not include us."
"Bluffing."
"I think it's necessary for me to first explain what the transaction is."
The crow's eyes calmly watched Uzumaki Karin, making her skin crawl under its gaze.
"We can resurrect your mother. Not like Senju Hashirama and the others—who are merely clay puppets molded from earth—but a true, living body of flesh and blood!"
"That's impossible!" Hearing the crow's words, Karin's first reaction was disbelief!
Although the First Hokage and the others had been resurrected over the past few years—after all, by watching Old Konoha, one could always find a chance to rob graves and obtain the biological tissues of the deceased—and with the help of Uzumaki Mito, they had even rescued Minato Namikaze and the other half of the Nine-Tails, Karin knew it couldn't be that simple. Even if she didn't know the exact trick, she knew resurrecting a person couldn't be that easy.
"Allow me to introduce myself." The crow flew from the window to Karin's desk. Karin instinctively stood up and took two steps back.
"You can call me Mr. Crow. I come from Old Konoha and am a vassal of the First Herrscher - Uchiha Hoshi."]
Senju Hashirama: "What? Does this mean the First Herrscher is finally going to move against New Konoha?"
Senju Tobirama: "Very likely. Judging by Karin's age, the time this occurs on the Sky Screen is likely several years after the appearance of the Second Herrscher. It seems we must prepare early."
Uzumaki Kana: "Karin, Karin, my poor child."
Uzumaki Karin: "Mama, I'm fine, you don't need to worry about me."
A: "Oho~ Now this is getting entertaining."
Onoki: "Truly terrifying. So this is Konoha's ninjutsu for resurrecting the dead?"
["The First Herrscher?" Uzumaki Karin's eyes widened, a trace of fear flashing through them.
She had grown up listening to the stories other ninja told about the First Herrscher, so she naturally carried a sliver of dread toward her. This was despite the fact that she had never even seen Uchiha Hoshi. If someone who had seen her heard her name and didn't run away immediately, they would already be considered exceptionally brave.
"You must believe that with the authority of the Herrscher of Reason, anything Konoha can do, the Herrscher of Reason can do as well. And things Konoha cannot do, the Herrscher of Reason can. For example, resurrecting a person."
"For the Herrscher of Reason, pulling the soul of the deceased from the Pure Land, severing its connection to the Pure Land, and crafting a body capable of carrying that consciousness... is incredibly simple."
Gradually, Uzumaki Karin wavered. It wasn't that her will was weak, but the temptation of resurrecting her mother was simply too great—so great that even if she knew it might be false, she couldn't help but want to believe.
Actually, when she heard that Senju Hashirama and the others had been resurrected, she had thought about begging them to resurrect her mother as well. However, because she was living under someone else's roof, combined with her previous experiences in Kusagakure and the anger and resentment her mother felt when mentioning Konoha, she had never been able to speak up.
But now... could she trust the Herrscher of Reason? Or was this a trap? A trap to use her against New Konoha?
"Then, what is the price?"
Uzumaki Karin admitted that even if this were a trap, she would step right into it.
"The price? Only a strand of your hair and a drop of your blood."
"It's that simple?"
"It's that simple."]