Before long, the voices that seemed to be chasing the girl burst out of the bushes and entered Akashō's field of vision—it was over a dozen shinobi, all wearing headbands from the Hidden Grass Village.
What were they gathering here for, and what did they have to do with that girl who seemed to be from the Uzumaki clan?
"W-What is going on here?"
Seeing the corpses on the ground, the pursuing Hidden Grass shinobi all showed confused expressions.
They exchanged glances, all frowning. "That Karin definitely doesn't have this kind of ability. Someone must have helped her."
"Could it be that Karin's special traits were exposed and attracted the attention of other villages?"
"Maybe."
One of the Grass shinobi crouched down, feeling around the ground, then looked toward the direction the girl named Karin had fled.
"It's this way. Do we keep chasing?"
"Of course!"
Without hesitation, the dozen or so Grass shinobi continued pursuing in the direction they had identified.
Akashō followed behind them, watching as they caught up to Karin, pinned her to the ground amid her despairing cries, and tied her up.
"There's no one else around. Something's wrong. Take Karin back and notify everyone to stay alert."
After a brief exchange, several of the Grass shinobi immediately hoisted the unconscious Karin onto their shoulders and began retreating the way they came.
Akashō stepped out from behind a tree, stroking his chin as he watched their backs with interest.
He was curious why these Grass shinobi were so fixated on Karin. Were they researching some secret Uzumaki techniques or bloodline?
Then again, whether Karin was truly from the Uzumaki clan wasn't even certain. Red hair could also result from genetic mutation. Or maybe they abducted her out of some twisted, pent-up desire?
Tsk, tsk… no way. Karin looked so young. Beasts, absolute beasts.
Akashō curled his lips and followed them again, intending to find out what was really going on.
Sure, he could just cripple them and interrogate them, but that would be too boring. Rare entertainment like this—why would he let it go so easily?
Before long, Akashō followed the group of Hidden Grass shinobi to a remote village. Aside from the civilian houses on the outer edges, the interior was filled with large tents like those in a battlefield encampment. As he passed by, he could clearly hear weak groans and sobs coming from within.
Through a gap in the curtain, Akashō could see that inside were all injured people. After Karin was dragged into one of the tents, she was slapped awake with several loud smacks.
What followed was nothing like the crude fantasy Akashō had imagined. Instead, Karin cried and screamed as a Grass shinobi forced her in front of a wounded man and shoved her arm into his mouth. The injured man immediately bit down on her forearm.
Then something astonishing happened—the man's injuries began healing at a speed visible to the naked eye. In just a few minutes, his complexion had already returned to a healthy flush.
This…
Akashō raised a brow, surprise flickering in his eyes.
A kekkei genkai?
In the entire shinobi world, only the Hidden Leaf Village—where the concept was first developed—truly excelled in medical ninjutsu. The other four great villages had tried to imitate it, but the results were mediocre at best. The gap between them and the Hidden Leaf Village was like heaven and earth.
Because of this, during the Third Shinobi World War—and even in skirmishes outside of wartime—medical ninja from the Hidden Leaf Village were often treated very well even if captured.
If even the four great villages struggled like this, then smaller villages like the Hidden Grass Village were even worse off. The big villages at least had medical ninja, but small villages like this barely even had ordinary doctors.
But now, the Hidden Grass Village had clearly found something far more effective than medical ninjutsu. With that, everything made sense.
Driven by their desire to possess a rare treasure—and fear that such inhumane practices would be exposed—they had brought Karin and these injured people to such a remote place.
Akashō suppressed his presence completely, even his breathing becoming nearly imperceptible. He stood just outside the curtain among the Grass shinobi, yet not a single one noticed him.
Inside the tent, Karin was forced to let one injured shinobi after another bite her. Both of her arms were covered in bite marks, torn flesh and blood everywhere. The pain and despair on her face had turned into numbness, like a puppet controlled by strings.
When her arms were too mangled, they bit her legs. When her legs were too mangled, they bit her neck. When her neck was too mangled, they bit her back.
Aside from her face, nearly all of Karin's clothes had been stripped away. Her entire body was covered in bite marks.
A completely bare, living tool.