Chapter 628: A New Home


    Among the Genin squads Kusagakure sent to participate in the Chunin Exam, only two managed to qualify for the second round. Unfortunately for Kusagakure, one of them was the disguised Orochimaru''s squad and the second squad was being watched like a hawk by Fujin''s clone!


    The second squad was nning what to do to get the other scroll. After nning for a bit, the two boys decided that they would go together to find other squads. They bit Karin''s forearm to recover their chakra and left her alone in the deadly forest.


    Fujin''s clone watched the scene and analyzed, ''Hmm, from what I remember, she was attacked by a bear before being saved by Sasuke. However, Sasuke is injured right now. Those events probably happened on the third or the fourth day. It looks like these two leave her like this daily. So, I suppose that no one will attack her today. Hmm…''


    He activated his Space Time Sensing Technique. As he guessed, there wasn''t anyone nearby to threaten her. He muttered to himself, ''Oh well, I''ll have to wait for a ''natural'' event.''


    Alone in the deadly forest, Karin couldn''t help but feel fear. She thought, ''What should I do if someone finds and attacks me? What if I get attacked by dangerous wild animals? Or what if those awful chakras reappear? I need to hide!''


    Karin quickly began to look for a ce to hide in. After searching for a bit, she found arge tree with a hole in its trunk at the base. She quickly entered inside and hid in it, making her feel safer. She closed her eyes and waited patiently for her teammates to return.


    It had only been around half an hour when she suddenly sensed some tremors. She opened her eyes and activated her chakra field while wondering, ''Who is it?''


    As she sensed, her eyes widened. She quickly jumped out of the tree. Half a secondter, arge paw hit the tree and destroyed it! Karin looked at the figure in fear and muttered, "A lion? How did it find me?"


    In front of her was a 5-meter-tall lion. It stared at her ferociously, fully disying its hunger. Karin immediately threw a few shurikens at it, but her shurikens couldn''t pierce through its thick hide and only left a few scratches. Even though the lion wasn''t injured, the scratches annoyed it and it rushed towards Karin. While Karin was being attacked by the lion, Yamanaka Fumito passed very close to that ce. He was on patrol and had his chakra field active in order to sense any suspicious activities. While he wasn''t the best sensor by any means, he was a very good one.


    Yet, despite being only 50 meters away from Karin and the lion, Fumito couldn''t sense either of them! In fact, even Karin failed to sense him. It was as if she was in an alternate dimension where no one could detect her! If either of them knew that they were just 50 meters from each other, they would be shocked.


    As for the reason why they couldn''t sense each other? It was quite simple. In order to not be disturbed, Fujin''s clone had used the Stealth Battlefield that he had developed a few months ago. Unless a Fuinjutsu Grandmaster were to arrive, no one would be able to sense its existence!


    As the lion charged at Karin, she threw a few more kunai and shuriken while attempting to run. Unfortunately, her weapons barely affected the wild beast. And her speed was much slower than it. As his paw came crashing down on her, she jumped out of its way, barely dodging it.


    However, there was no relief on her face as another paw pped her like a fly and sent her crashing into a tree. The impact injured her back and arms, making her unable to move for some time. She opened her eyes and saw the ferocious beast running towards her. A few tear drops ran down her cheeks as she thought, ''Am I going to die here?''


    The memories of her dead mother appeared in her mind as she tried her best to get up. She barely managed to stand up by the time the lion reached her. However, she knew that it was toote. She resigned to her fate when she suddenly heard a crackling sound.


    A sh of light appeared in her eyes as a Lightning spear hit the lion! The Lightning spear hit the left side of its neck and electrocuted it. It made the lion move to its right and barely avoided hitting Karin. It crashed into another tree and fell unconscious due to the electric shocks.


    Karin was surprised by the sudden change. She immediately felt relief as she was still alive. However, she quickly became vignt and watched from where the Lightning had appeared. Her eyes quickly found a masked ninja wearing a ck cloak and sitting on a branch. His eyes were staring right at her.


    Before she could think what to say or do, that figure disappeared and appeared right in front of her in the blink of an eye and looked at her with curiosity. Karin could only think of one thing, ''Fast! He is very fast!''


    Karin had never seen anyone move like that. She couldn''t even follow his movements. What surprised her the most was that she couldn''t sense him even though he was standing right in front of her. It was as if he wasn''t there!


    Realizing that the ninja in front of her was an expert, she quickly said, "Thank you for saving me, Sir."


    Fujin''s clone nonchntly replied, "Oh, it was nothing. That said, you are a Uzumaki, right? Why are you wearing the Kusagakure headband? And, why are you alone in this deadly forest?"


    His words surprised Karin. She wondered, ''How did he know that I''m an Uzumaki? And, why is he asking me this?''


    She quickly answered, "Yes, I''m from the Uzumaki n. My mother and I migrated to Kusagakure a few years ago."


    Fujin''s clone replied, "Hmm, migrated to Kusagakure? That was an odd choice. Anyway, you didn''t answer my second question."


    Karin became dejected on thinking about it and answered, "My teammates left me here and went to get another scroll for passing the Chunin Exam."


    Fujin''s clone thought for a bit and said, "That''s rather irresponsible. You should look for good teammates. Anyway, is your mother still in Kusagakure?"


    Sadness appeared on Karin''s face as the question brought back her saddest memories. She barely controlled her tears and answered, "My mother died."


    Fujin''s clone immediately asked, "How?"


    Karin could sense that the masked person wasn''t happy on hearing the news. It made her feel slightly better. She was about to answer but suddenly stopped thinking, ''If I tell him, would he exploit my ability as well?''


    As she thought about it, she realized, ''Why does it matter? I''m already being used for my cursed ability…''


    Seeing her silent, Fujin''s clone asked, "Does it have anything to do with the bite marks on your arm?"


    Sadness could be heard in Fujin''s voice as he spoke. It lowered Karin''s guard considerably. Her eyes became wet as she answered, "My mother had the ability to heal others if they bit her. I have the same ability to. My vige is at war. They bit my mother too many times and she passed away…"


    As she spoke, she couldn''t control her tears and a few drops rolled down her cheeks. She quickly wiped them and controlled herself as much as she could.


    Fujin''s clone stayed silent for a few seconds before releasing a long sigh. He muttered in a sorrowful tone, "A Shinobi without a homnd is quite tragic. What happened to your mother is an unfortunate tragedy. If you continue living there, then you might share the same fate…"


    Hearing his words, Karin shivered. What he said was her worst nightmare. She lost control of her tears once again. Fujin''s clone ced his hand on her head and ruffled her hair gently to calm her down.


    He said, "You have a choice to make. Do you want to continue living in a ce that killed your mother and is mistreating you? Or do you want to move to a ce where people will value you for who you are? A ce where you can change your destiny. A ce where you can ensure that no one else suffers the tragedy that you and your mother did?"


    His words surprised her. She wondered, ''Does such a ce truly exist? Or…''


    Sadness appeared in her mind once again as she asked, "Does such a ce truly exist? Or do you want me just for my ability?"


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