By the time Naruto returned home, he saw the lights in the living room were on.
Pushing open the courtyard gate, he saw Karin sitting at the table in the living room, resting her chin in her hands.
Hearing the courtyard gate move, she stood up and ran to the door. The moment she saw Naruto, the tense lines on her face instantly relaxed.
"Naruto, did something happen? Tsunade-sensei told me to stay at the Hokage Building and not leave, and when I asked her why, she wouldn't explain."
Naruto changed his shoes and briefly recounted what happened.
To deal with him, Danzo had sent people to capture Iruka and Ino. He had originally wanted to capture her, Hinata, and Sakura as well, but the latter three targets didn't succeed.
After hearing this, Karin clenched her fists. "This Danzo is too evil. How could Konoha have someone like this as an Elder?"
Naruto patted her shoulder. "It's already resolved. Danzo is now being held in the interrogation department by Granny Tsunade, and he will be publicly executed after the investigation is complete."
"You haven't eaten yet, right? Come on, I'll take you out to eat."
Karin nodded, following Naruto out the door.
The two arrived at Konoha's Food Street and found a barbecue restaurant to sit down.
Because of the identity announcement on the bulletin board, many ninjas eating in the restaurant saw Naruto enter and took the initiative to nod and greet him.
"Jonin Naruto."
"Naruto-kun."
...
Their attitudes were completely different from before.
Naruto nodded slightly to those greeting him without saying much. He led Karin to the innermost seat and ordered a few dishes.
From the moment she sat down, Karin kept stuffing meat into her mouth, her cheeks bulging.
On the way back after eating, they saw a figure lingering at their front door from afar. She was walking back and forth with her head down, her fingers twisted in front of her.
Hearing footsteps, Hinata looked up. Seeing Naruto and Karin, her body relaxed almost imperceptibly.
"Hinata, you're here. Have you eaten? We just came back from the barbecue restaurant. If we had known you were coming, we would have waited for you." Naruto stood in front of Hinata.
"Yeah..."
"Hinata, it's a pity, the barbecue tonight was especially delicious." Karin chimed in.
"Karin..."
Hinata greeted her softly, then turned to Naruto, her cheeks slightly flushed. "Naruto-kun, I have already eaten. I heard about what happened earlier from my father. Are you both okay?"
Naruto explained, "We're fine. Ino and Iruka were captured by Danzo because of me, but they have already been rescued and have returned home safely."
"Danzo has also been taken to the interrogation department by Granny Tsunade, and he will be publicly executed once the investigation is finished."
"That's good." Hinata replied in a low voice.
"Hinata, since you're here, don't be in such a hurry to leave. Come inside and sit for a while." Naruto gestured towards the gate.
"Ah... I don't think so, Naruto-kun, it's already..."
Hinata waved her hands hurriedly, but Naruto had already grabbed her wrist and, without taking no for an answer, led her into the courtyard.
"Naruto... kun..."
Being pulled by Naruto, steam began to rise from Hinata's head.
Entering the courtyard, Naruto asked Karin and Hinata to sit down first, then went inside to brew tea and brought it out.
Karin held her teacup and recounted what happened at the Hokage Building tonight to Hinata. When she reached the part where Danzo sent people to capture her and was caught on the spot by Tsunade, she slapped the table.
After finishing the conversation, Naruto put down his teacup and walked to the open space in the middle of the courtyard.
"Karin, since you want to be a ninja, knowing Medical Ninjutsu isn't enough, your combat skills also need to keep up."
"Hinata, let me see the progress of your training during this period."
What Danzo did served as a reminder to Naruto. Their abilities were fine, but in terms of strength, they were still a distance away from facing a Jonin.
Karin and Hinata exchanged a look and stood up.
In Kusagakure, besides being locked up to provide medical aid, Karin had hardly received any formal combat training. Her foundation in Taijutsu was basically zero. What she had learned in Kusagakure was just from occasionally peeking while acting as bait.
When she stood in front of Naruto, she wasn't afraid at all, clenching her fists and striking a not-so-standard starting stance.
Naruto walked around Karin and reached out to press down on her shoulder. He adjusted her center of gravity to the right position and then nudged her elbow with his fingertips to correct the angle of her defensive stance.
After being adjusted by Naruto for a long time, Karin finally managed to stand in a decent taijutsu starting stance and smiled proudly at Hinata.
"Alright, Karin, don't get cocky. Try two moves with me first. Use your full strength, don't hold back."
"Hinata, you take a look and see where Karin's problems are."
Naruto stepped back two paces and beckoned to Karin.
Karin took a deep breath and pushed off with her feet, charging straight at Naruto. She threw her right fist with full force, holding nothing back.
Naruto shifted his body to the side, effortlessly avoiding the trajectory of Karin's attack, while simultaneously tapping his finger on her elbow joint as her arm swung through the air.
Karin's arm was pulled downward by a precise force, causing her center of gravity to shift forward. She nearly fell face-first and had to stagger a few steps to barely steady herself.
She shook her arm and turned around, lunging at Naruto again. This time, she first feinted a step toward Naruto's left, then changed direction to attack from the right.
Naruto remained standing in place without moving an inch, only using his toe to hook her ankle as she planted her foot during the change of direction.
Thud!
Karin fell to the ground, her face buried in the grass. When she climbed back up, a piece of grass was stuck to the tip of her nose.
Hinata watched the battle between Karin and Naruto intently from the side, then analyzed, "After Karin takes her first step, her eyes stay fixed on where she wants to attack, making it very easy for the opponent to guess the direction of her next move."
"Also, after throwing a punch, her center of gravity habitually leans toward her toes. If the opponent slightly deflects her, she will lose her balance."
Naruto nodded. "Did you hear that, Karin? Hinata understands your problems better than you do yourself."
"Don't keep your eyes fixed on where you want to hit, look at the opponent's shoulders and waist."
"When throwing a punch, shift your center of gravity half an inch back toward your rear foot. Even if you miss, you'll be able to recover your stance."
Karin sat on the ground, rubbing her chin and looked at Naruto with a wronged expression, then glanced at Hinata, muttering, "Hinata, how can you even tell that?"
Then she climbed up from the ground and reset her stance.
"Alright, it's Hinata's turn next." Naruto turned to look at Hinata.
When Hinata saw Naruto stepping toward her, the tips of her ears uncontrollably turned red.
She could spar with Neji expressionlessly for an entire afternoon at the Hyuga Clan training ground, but when standing opposite Naruto, her fist-clenching posture involuntarily became stiff.
"Hinata, relax. Show me the aura you had when you spoke to me at the Chunin Exams preliminaries." Naruto smiled.
Hinata took a deep breath and assumed the starting stance of the Eight Trigrams Palm. Her palms were positioned one in front of the other and her center of gravity sank. Her left foot slid forward half a step, her footwork steady.
She pushed out a palm, which was covered in a thin layer of Chakra.
This was the standard opening of the Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist, with a tricky attacking angle aimed straight at the acupuncture points on Naruto's shoulder.
Naruto dodged sideways and flicked the inside of her wrist. Hinata felt her wrist go numb, but she didn't pause. She smoothly turned and pivoted, her other palm moving from below, aiming for Naruto's waist.
Naruto slid back half a step, just barely letting the edge of Hinata's palm graze his clothing, and commented, "That was a good strike; the angle and timing were both excellent. A half-beat faster and you would have hit me."
Hinata bit her lip, her cheeks burning red. Her footwork remained steady as she continued to pursue Naruto's movement, striking continuously.