A figure shot forth like a venomous arrow from the shadows—swift as a phantom, wrapped in chilling chakra and razor-sharp killing intent—striking without warning at Uchiha Sasuke, who had just endured a brutal battle and whose mind was still shaken by the miracle of resurrection.
It was Kabuto Yakushi.
He had waited far too long for this moment—when the snipe and the clam exhausted each other, and the fisherman reaped the reward.
If not for curiosity over a few secrets, he would have struck sooner.
"What?!"
Sasuke had maintained a basic level of vigilance. But witnessing the miracle of the Outer Path — Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique had shaken him, and his fierce battle against the Six Paths of Pain had drained him. His reaction was half a beat too slow.
Relying purely on honed combat instinct, he twisted sharply backward.
—Slash!
He avoided a fatal blow, but the edge of the attack—sharp as a serpent's fang and precise as a chakra scalpel—ripped through his sleeve. A deep gash tore across his arm, nearly to the bone.
Sasuke grunted and staggered back, Sharingan blazing crimson as he locked onto the assailant.
"Who?!" Naruto snapped back to awareness, sensing a new threat.
Suppressing his exhaustion and pain, he surged forward—chakra gathering—to intercept Kabuto.
But in that split second—
Another presence slipped silently into Naruto's blind spot as he turned.
Karin.
Her eyes gleamed with the mania of someone who had discovered a priceless treasure. A dangerous smile curved her lips.
She extended her pale hand—no weapon in sight—but a warped, murky energy coiled around her fingertips, as though it could grasp the very soul.
"Got you~ little sun~"
She lunged for the back of Naruto's neck.
At the instant her hand neared him, Naruto's battle instincts—honed through life and death—and the Nine-Tails' warning flared simultaneously.
A feral roar echoed faintly within him.
Crimson chakra erupted from his pores like a volcanic blast. The Nine-Tails' chakra cloak enveloped him, flaring violently to repel her and fortify his defense.
Such a sudden surge would have blown most ambushers away.
But Karin didn't retreat.
Instead, her smile widened.
"Oh? Naughty little fox~"
Her hand plunged directly into the raging chakra.
Upon contact, the Nine-Tails' chakra—feared across the shinobi world—hissed like melting snow. It dissolved where her warped energy touched it.
Naruto's eyes widened in shock.
The Nine-Tails' roar in his mind shifted into confusion.
In that instant of delay, Karin's fingers pierced through the thinning cloak and clamped onto the back of his neck.
"Ghh—!"
A freezing, chaotic sensation pierced straight into his consciousness.
Naruto felt his control slipping—body and mind locking up.
He tried to move—his limbs felt like stone.
He tried to gather chakra—only turbulence answered.
His vision doubled. Sound warped.
He stood paralyzed.
"Naruto—!!"
Sasuke's eyes widened in fury.
Already burning from Karin's betrayal, the sight of Naruto subdued so easily ignited something primal within him.
"Susano'o!"
Ignoring his injuries, Sasuke forced his Mangekyō Sharingan to activate again.
But Kabuto had no intention of clashing head-on with an enraged Sasuke.
He laughed eerily and retreated with serpentine grace, evading the unstable blow of Susano'o and landing beside Karin, who held Naruto immobilized.
"Heh… pity we couldn't take both. But Naruto alone is… quite the prize."
His altered face twisted with greedy fascination.
Then he murmured to Karin, "The opportunity is rare… shall we?"
Karin let out a light, unsettling giggle.
She gazed at Naruto—so close, eyes blazing with fury yet unable to resist—like a child admiring her newest toy.
"Of course~ I've been waiting forever."
"Karinnn—!!" Sasuke's Susano'o flickered as he glared at her. "What are you doing?! Let him go—now!"
Beyond anger, there was betrayal in his voice.
Karin's eyes spun mischievously. In an instant, her manic excitement vanished—replaced by solemn righteousness.
"Sasuke! You've got it all wrong! I'm helping Naruto!"
"Helping?" Sasuke spat.
"Yes! Exactly!" She nodded earnestly.
"Don't you see? Naruto's being controlled! His thoughts, his choices—they aren't truly his!"
"Otherwise, how could someone who loves his village and friends not feel hatred toward the man who nearly destroyed it? Who killed so many?"
"Talking about 'understanding'? Is that normal?!"
Sasuke faltered.
He didn't fully trust her—but Naruto's earlier response had unsettled him deeply. That utter absence of hatred had felt… alien.
Kabuto, quick as ever, picked up on Karin's sudden performance.
"Uchiha Sasuke… think carefully. If Naruto is not being influenced by some external force…"
He tilted his head, voice smooth and probing.
"Then what could possibly allow a man who cherishes his comrades so deeply… to feel no hatred after such devastation?"
The question hung in the air—sharp as a blade.
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