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Though they were three idiots, they had brought something good to Team 8.
"Ryūsei-kun, their scroll is the Heaven Scroll."
Hinata searched one of them and pulled out a scroll, its seal clearly marked with the character for "Heaven."
"Good. Now that we have everything we need, let's go find Ino and Sakura," Ryūsei said with a satisfied nod.
Meanwhile, the three shadow clones had activated their Byakugan and were scouring the Forest of Death for Karin's traces.
The Forest of Death was not small—each entrance was ten kilometers away from the central tower. Traveling from east to west would mean covering a full twenty kilometers.
This distance was nothing for the Body Flicker Technique, but for Ryūsei, enhanced long-range vision, it was quite a challenge.
At first, Ryūsei thought finding Karin would be easy.
After all, aside from Naruto and Gaara, Karin and Orochimaru had the most substantial chakra reserves.
He didn't need to search for Karin specifically in the red-tinted world of The Red Eye—just locating an immense chakra source would suffice.
But soon, Ryūsei realized he was wrong.
Karin did indeed possess astonishing chakra reserves—but not right now.
At this point, Karin was nothing more than a living first-aid kit for Kusagakure. She had been brought along to the Chunin Exams solely to serve as a blood supply for her teammates.
Every time her teammates got injured, they would bite her to heal themselves. Combined with the horrific treatment she endured in Kusagakure, Karin's current chakra levels were nowhere near what they should be for someone of the Uzumaki clan.
Perhaps that was why her bright red hair hadn't drawn any attention.
After all, aside from the Uzumaki, there were plenty of people in the shinobi world with red hair.
With the Uzumaki clan's extinction, those with red hair were now the least likely to be considered their descendants—unless they possessed massive chakra reserves.
Thinking this, the three shadow clones stopped skimming through their vision and began carefully examining every kunoichi they saw.
After over an hour, one of the shadow clones finally found Karin.
Immediately, the clone dispersed into a puff of white smoke, its memories returning to the original.
Once he confirmed Karin's location, Ryūsei quickly gathered Shino and Hinata and headed in that direction.
Soon, dusk arrived.
"It's getting dark. Let's stop for today and continue tomorrow," Ryūsei said to Shino and Hinata. "I'll go look for food. You two gather some firewood nearby."
Without waiting for their response, Ryūsei vanished with a Body Flicker.
Darting through the trees, Ryūsei formed hand signs and created another shadow clone.
While the clone went hunting, Ryūsei activated his Byakugan's long-range vision to search for Karin's location.
Before long, he moved beyond the range of Hinata's Byakugan and found Karin about two kilometers away.
Coincidentally, night was falling, and Karin had just been sent out by her teammates to scavenge for food.
Seizing the opportunity, Ryūsei increased his speed, first appearing before Karin's teammates.
"Who—?"
The two Kusagakure shinobi immediately recognized Ryūsei as he materialized before them.
Their eyes widened in shock, mouths opening to speak—
But in an instant, the world around them twisted violently.
One second, they were in the forest. The next, they found themselves in a blood-red void.
Above them loomed a pair of crimson eyes, massive as the moon, their three black tomoe spinning slowly like a windmill.
Black iron spikes impaled their bodies, sending waves of excruciating pain through them.
They wanted to scream—but their bodies were no longer under their control. They couldn't even open their mouths.
To avoid any mishaps, Ryūsei had immediately cast a combined genjutsu—Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique + Paralysis Technique!
Crack!
The sound of snapping necks echoed alongside the shattering of the illusionary space.
Before their consciousnesses could even return to reality, darkness consumed them entirely.
Back in the real world, Ryūsei calmly stowed the two lifeless bodies—shorter and lighter than his own—into his storage scroll.
Then, he flickered away, reappearing near Karin.
At this point, Karin clearly hadn't awakened her Mind's Eye of the Kagura. She was also extremely timid, too afraid to hunt, so she could only gather edible plants.
Had Ryūsei not intervened, Karin would have returned with these meager offerings, only to face more scolding and beatings.
'But starting today, your fate changes.' Ryūsei thought to himself.
With another Body Flicker, he vanished, soon locating a massive black bear nearby.
Using his Sharingan, Ryūsei hypnotized the beast, directing it toward Karin.
He didn't wait for the beast to attack her before stepping in—that would waste time and risk someone like Sasuke swooping in instead.
No, Ryūsei would personally orchestrate this "heroic rescue."
It might have been underhanded, but the outcome would be infinitely better than what Karin endured in the original timeline.
"ROAR—!"
The bear quickly found Karin.
Its thunderous growl sent the girl tumbling backward in terror, her legs giving out as she scrambled to pick mushrooms.
Staring at the beast charging toward her with its maw wide open, Karin's face drained of color. She trembled violently, trying to force herself to run—but her body refused to obey.
"H-Help… HELP!!"
As the bear closed in, Karin mustered all her strength and screamed, praying for a miracle.
WHOOSH—!
Perhaps the heavens heard her plea, because a miracle did arrive.
A sharp whistling cut through the air as a kunai shot forth like lightning, embedding itself deep into the bear's skull.
The poor beast collapsed mid-stride, crashing to the ground with a heavy thud—never to rise again.
"Are you alright?"
A voice as warm and bright as the morning sun gently reached Karin's ears.
Looking up toward the sound, she saw a tall figure descending gracefully from above, landing before her with a kind smile.
Though the sun had already set, plunging the forest into twilight, to Karin, Ryūsei seemed to glow even brighter than daylight.
His handsome face, gentle smile, and imposing stature—
In that moment, Karin felt as though she had stumbled upon the living embodiment of the heroes and princes from fairy tales and plays. It was like her wildest fantasies had materialized before her.
Gradually, her gaze grew dazed.
"…?"
Seeing her staring blankly at him, Ryūsei tilted his head slightly. 'I didn't even use a genjutsu… Why is she so out of it?'
Waving a hand in front of her face, he asked again, "Hey, are you okay?"
Karin finally snapped back to reality—
But the moment she registered Ryūsei's face so close to hers, her breath hitched. Her cheeks burned crimson, and she immediately lowered her head, fingers twisting nervously.
"I-I'm… fine…"
Drip—
A drop of bright red liquid suddenly fell onto the back of her hand.
Seeing this, Ryūsei's eyes widened. "You're bleeding from your nose! How is that fine?"
"PFFFFFFFF—!!"
The moment those words left his mouth, steam practically erupted from Karin's head like a boiling kettle.
Already overwhelmed from the shock, the girl's vision darkened—
And she collapsed right onto the ground.