"The bandits were very fast! If I kept running, they would have caught up!"
Mentioning the recent event, Karin was still traumatized, and her voice trembled slightly.
"I sensed chakra in this direction, so I thought I'd try my luck. If they were also bandits, then I would just die a few minutes earlier. But if I was lucky enough to meet good people, I could live!"
After saying this, Karin bowed deeply to Seiya again, her gratitude beyond words.
Even now, her mind was still racing, caught in the excitement of surviving the ordeal.
Her small face was alternately red and pale.
Seiya considered this again, feeling suspicious once more. "Since you can sense chakra, why didn't you avoid the bandits beforehand?"
"..."
Karin froze slightly, then looked distressed and wronged.
"There is Shinobi everywhere in the world! I can't tell which chakra belongs to a good person and which belongs to a bad person."
"Besides, I never thought that bandits would be so audacious as to dare kill us within our own country!"
Speaking of this, Karin felt a sense of disillusionment with life, her expression a mix of confusion, shock, and fear.
Seiya nodded slightly, quite understanding of her feelings.
Before executing this mission, he also never imagined there would be so many Shinobi rushing to their deaths.
After Karin calmed down, Seiya gave her a kind smile.
"You said you were going to represent Kusagakure in the Konoha Chunin Exams. Now that your captain and teammates are all dead, what are you going to do? Continue to Konoha or return to your Village?"
"..."
Karin remained silent for a long moment.
She cautiously glanced at the two adult women beside her, then looked at the boy her age.
Her words tumbled around in her chest a few times, and the timid-looking girl finally gathered her courage to ask, "I want to go to Kumogakure with you. Can I?"
"Huh?"
Seiya was slightly surprised. He asked, "Are you going to become a missing-nin?"
"Yes!"
Karin nodded seriously, quietly explaining, "The Village elders told us before we left, 'Succeed or die trying.' If we can't bring honor to the Village, we shouldn't go back."
"Now that everyone is dead, and I'm just a Sensor-type Shinobi with very little combat ability, I won't get good results in the exams. The Village won't want me, a disgraceful genin."
"I'm also an orphan and have no relatives in the Village..."
As she spoke, Karin felt utterly homeless and life seemed too difficult.
Years of accumulated bitterness suddenly burst forth.
Tears welled up and streamed down her face.
Despite her deep sadness, she dared not cry out loud, trying her best to sob softly, fearing that her noise would annoy her saviors.
Seiya had never seen such a scene.
He didn't know how to comfort her and could only look to Instructor Yugito for help.
Yugito Nii's expression was calm, and she spoke mildly.
"Kumogakure is not a charity. To join, you must have a special skill."
Karin immediately stopped crying, hastily wiped her tears, sniffled, and said.
"I have especially good stamina! I can do heavy work! I won't get tired even after eighteen hours a day!"
As she spoke, she strained, trying to lift the ice bucket in the corner of the carriage, her face turning red.
The naive girl tried desperately to demonstrate her value.
Yugito Nii's expression remained neutral, unmoved.
Karin had a flash of inspiration and quickly added, "I can sense chakra! My range of perception is super huge! When I was a child, my sensing radius was four or five kilometers, and now it's about ten kilometers. It will get even bigger in the future!"
Yugito Nii's expression slightly changed. She confirmed, "Is that true? You are not exaggerating?"
"It's true!"
Karin nodded rapidly, eager to prove it, but unable to self-validate.
After all, even if she sensed ten kilometers away right now, her benefactors couldn't verify it.
In her anxiety, Karin found another way.
She blurted out, "Onee-chan, you have a very powerful chakra inside you, burning fiercely like a ball of fire!"
"..."
Yugito Nii's expression froze slightly.
She clearly had not released the seal to use the Two-Tails' chakra, yet the girl in front of her could bypass the seal and detect it precisely!
"Remarkable sensory ability!" Yugito Nii exclaimed softly.
Seeing the look of admiration on Yugito Nii's face, Karin breathed a sigh of relief and quickly added, "I ran in this direction because I sensed this powerful chakra!"
Only a significantly stronger chakra could possibly defeat fierce bandits.
In her moment of life and death, Karin chose the direction where the strongest chakra was located.
That was how she encountered the caravan with Yugito Nii, fighting for a chance to survive.
"Amazing!"
Yugito Nii praised her again.
Seeing this, Seiya extended his hand to Karin.
"Hello. I'm Genin Seiya, and I warmly welcome you to Kumogakure!"
Karin was overjoyed, as if she had heard a sound from heaven. Her heart practically leaped out of her chest.
She tightly grasped Seiya's hand, feeling as if she had found the support for the rest of her life, and her light body finally touched the ground.
The girl cried tears of joy, thanking him repeatedly, her voice trembling with excitement.
For a moment, all was happiness.
Kumogakure gained a long-range Sensor Shinobi of great strategic significance.
Karin joined a stable and reliable Great Hidden Village.
Seiya, with one accidental act of kindness, introduced important talent to the Village.
As for Kusagakure, who cared about a small, weak Hidden Village?
The caravan bypassed the valley blocked by mud and sand, took a different route, and continued toward the city of Suigyoku.
Inside the carriage, Yugito Nii made a cup of tea for Karin.
The young girl was flattered.
She took the cup with both hands and sipped it slowly, gradually calming her excitement.
Seiya and Samui gave her simple introductions.
Karin looked at the handsome Seiya, her sparkling eyes full of admiration.
"You're the same age as me, but a hundred times stronger! You easily dealt with four adult bandits!"
Seiya shook his head, feeling ashamed.
"Actually, I'm not as strong as you think."
If it weren't for the protection of [Purification] earlier, he would have been trapped by the bandits' combined Water Prison Technique and Earth-Style Wall, completely unable to escape and certain to die.
The victory over the bandits was due to [Purification], not something to be proud of.
I must not blindly indulge in false victories, or I will surely die when [Purification] is gone!
Seiya secretly warned and reflected on himself.
Then, he suddenly recalled the comment he had shared with Instructor Yugito not long ago-that the bandits were too weak and not challenging enough.
Seiya's cheeks felt hot.
He hadn't even achieved any notable battle accomplishments, yet he had developed arrogance.
That was truly inappropriate!
Yugito Nii's expression was serene, and she watched the young man with a slight smile in her eyes.
As an experienced person, she understood what Seiya was thinking.
⚔️ Level Up This Fanfic! ⚔️
Every 500 Power Stones = 2 BONUS CHAPTERS! 🚀
Want faster releases? Show your support—drop those Power Stones, leave a review, and light up the comments! Your engagement keeps this story going strong!
Let's make this novel unstoppable—Power Stones, comments, and reviews are the ultimate power-up! 💥