Chapter 611: Karin
"Karin?"
Sakura Uchiha quickly searched her memories, certain that she did not know such a person.
Glancing at Sasuke, the latter's slightly confused look also indicated that he similarly did not know this girl.
"I don't know you." Sakura narrowed her eyes, slowly looking her up and down.
"But I know you two." The red-haired girl laughed brightly with her hands on her hips, covertly glancing at Sasuke, and said, "You are Sasuke Uchiha, and you are Haruno—huh?"
Karin suddenly leaned close to Sakura, frowning as she examined her. A look of confusion surfaced in her eyes behind her glasses: "This feeling of chakra... are you really Haruno Sakura?"
Is she this sensitive even to the chakra of strangers?
What a troublesome woman.
Sakura Uchiha rolled her eyes inwardly and said in an annoyed tone: "If you are referring to the Sakura who just defeated Orochimaru, then that is me."
She disdained lying, but there was no need to tell the truth either.
"Alright." Karin pursed her lips, reluctantly accepting this explanation; or rather, she also knew she didn't have the qualifications to cross-examine the person in front of her.
"After saying all this, who are you exactly?" Sasuke interrupted impatiently, "What exactly is your identity?"
Karin looked toward Sasuke, a smile floating onto her face again: "Me? I suppose I'm Orochimaru's subordinate, but I was kidnapped to work for him. Before that, I was a Genin of the Hidden Grass Village."
She threw her hands up, making a helpless expression: "Of course, because staying here is much more pleasant than my days in the Hidden Grass Village, I've never thought about running away either."
"Then what are you staying here for now?"
"I said it already, I am waiting for you." The young girl said calmly, "I haven't been brainwashed by Orochimaru to sacrifice everything for him, nor do I want to be like some others—escaping from here to become a wandering ninja, living a life of wandering and never knowing if I'll live to see another day."
"Are you trying to... join Konoha?"
Karin nodded, calmly analyzing: "I need a place that can shelter me. I participated in the Chunin Exams in your village, and my impression of you guys isn't bad. Your tolerance is very high, so you should be able to accommodate my joining. After all, you guys didn't even kill Orochimaru back then; you merely exiled him."
"Besides..." At the end, she stealthily peeked at Sasuke.
Sakura finally realized who Karin's sneaky little glances were aimed at this time. She felt a wave of speechlessness. Could this girl, despite appearing calm and intelligent on the surface, actually just be a boy-crazy fangirl on the inside!
"What makes you think the village will accept you?" Sakura interrupted the young girl's daydreams with an annoyed tone.
"Based on the fact that I know many of Orochimaru's secrets. And that I've never participated in any actions hostile to Konoha." Karin snapped back to reality, her gaze returning to Sakura. With a confident smile, she said, "And, more importantly, based on my special talent."
"I am a sensory ninja. The moment you stepped into Orochimaru's base, I sensed your presence. Although you hid it well, in my perception, your chakra was like a sun suddenly rising in the night sky—blazing and dazzling, absolutely impossible to ignore. From that moment on, I've been waiting for you, waiting for you to defeat Orochimaru and come here."
The young girl took off her glasses, looking at the two with a burning gaze, and asked: "Well? Do you accept my surrender?"
Sakura looked at her seriously. After a long while, she suddenly gave a beautiful smile and said, "I believe you."
Karin's taut heartstrings instantly relaxed.
With Haruno Sakura's weight in the village, a single sentence like this was enough for Konoha to accommodate her joining.
She turned and walked toward the depths of the base, smiling: "Then, please allow me to lead the way and introduce this base to you two..."
Behind her, the Konoha ninjas exchanged a look.
Sasuke: "Do you really believe her?"
Sakura: "Why wouldn't I?"
Sasuke: "I just feel like she's acting weird."
"Hehe." Sakura smiled without saying a word, thinking to herself: I know exactly what's weird about her, but I'm not telling you. Moreover, it's precisely because I know this that I believe her.
Up ahead, Karin was still speaking: "The base over here researches a special type of Curse Mark. Previously, Orochimaru didn't put too much thought into the experiments here. Starting from the beginning of the year, Orochimaru seemed to encounter a major setback in a certain experiment, coupled with obtaining some intelligence a few months ago, he suddenly paid extra attention to this place, and even transferred me over."
"Curse Mark?"
Sasuke suddenly remembered something and couldn't help but touch his neck.
Karin suddenly turned her head: "You have one on your body too, right, Sasuke-kun?"
That weird feeling in Sasuke's heart instantly rose again: "There is one... but it's been suppressed."
"That's good." Karin turned back and continued to lead the way. "Orochimaru will plant a Curse Mark on everyone he favors, claiming it can provide powerful strength (Hearing this, Sasuke snorted disdainfully)... Hehe, Sasuke-kun probably looks down on that level of power, right? But for many people, even if it's a poison pill wrapped in honey, they will gladly swallow it. Unfortunately, most people are completely unable to withstand the power of the Curse Mark and ultimately die from their bodies exploding."
"Speaking of the Curse Mark, one cannot avoid mentioning a person: Jugo..."
Jugo, yet another special test subject of Orochimaru. (Hearing this, Sakura complained frantically in her heart: Where on earth did Orochimaru find so many weirdos with bizarre constitutions!)
He can absorb a certain type of energy to transform, greatly increasing his strength and entering a berserk mode where he cannot control his murderous desires.
Orochimaru researched and copied this form, thereby creating the special jutsu formula known as the Curse Mark.
"In the current base, aside from Jugo, there are also over a hundred test subjects. Although it's pitiful, they are all ninjas who have already mastered the first stage of the Curse Mark. Some can even undergo the second stage of Curse Mark transformation; they are extremely formidable..." Karin said seriously.
"I understand what you mean." Sakura smiled, "However, I've also seen the stage two Curse Mark... it's nothing spectacular. Of course, it is somewhat of a safety hazard, so we won't rashly release these people. Screening and containment work will be followed up by someone later. Just take us to see Jugo; there's no need to waste time on the other test subjects."
Karin nodded: "I understand. Then please follow me. The core laboratory and data are all on this side, and the cell holding Jugo is in the deepest part of the laboratory—"
Suddenly, the young girl's voice paused. She turned her head to look the other way, her face half angry and half panicked: "You—how dare they!"
"What's wrong?" Sakura tilted her head slightly.
"The test subjects are rioting..." Karin gritted her teeth and said angrily, "It seems there are sensory ninjas among them as well. Knowing that Orochimaru was defeated and retreated, they want to take the opportunity to start a riot and escape from here!"
"Oh?" The pink-haired girl raised an eyebrow and said, "That won't do! Letting these people escape recklessly will get a lot of people killed."
Karin turned her head, looking at her in disbelief: "Are you serious? That's a hundred or so people! Everyone can at least activate the first stage of the Curse Mark, and there are many powerhouses who are no weaker than the Sound Four you defeated in the past!"
"It doesn't matter." Sakura Uchiha was still smiling calmly and unhurriedly, "Because I am also much stronger than I was back then."
"And me." Sasuke, who had been listening silently on the side, also stepped forward and said flatly, "Since we could defeat Orochimaru, cleaning up some of Orochimaru's lackeys is a piece of cake. So, you just need to tell us..."
"Where are the enemies."
Karin stared blankly at Sasuke. It was unknown if she was hesitating, but she surprisingly didn't say a word for quite a while.
The one who broke the silence was Sakura Uchiha: "Ah, no need... They are already here."
They were already so close that even Sakura, who was not a sensory ninja, could feel their chakra.
Bang!
Accompanied by a loud crash, a thick iron door not far away was blasted away with a boom, landing at the young girl's feet with a clang.
Figures with ferocious faces, their flesh and blood bulging out like jagged rocks, completely unhuman in appearance, filed out from the breach. In the blink of an eye, they filled up a small half of the hall in front of the three.
Is this Curse Mark Stage Two?
Sakura examined the variously bizarre monsters before her with great interest.
Their chakra was not weak, reaching close to the Jonin level, but... that was all there was to it.
Strangely, she had an inexplicable sense of familiarity toward these auras.
Facing the incoming people, Karin questioned angrily: "What do you want to do?!"
The rioting test subjects simultaneously let out a burst of malicious, low chuckles.
The one in the lead raised his blood-covered hands and said mockingly: "To escape from here, of course... Orochimaru failed, didn't he? Karin, to think you actually kept such great news hidden from us; were you afraid we would take the opportunity to riot and kill you? Hehe, you guessed right, we killed all those people... Karin, you are indeed very smart, knowing you couldn't stay in the base just now, knowing you had to cling to a new backer. But you aren't smart enough; you shouldn't have come back here! I will tear you to pieces!"
Karin was trembling all over, half in anger, half in fear!
Just a moment ago, these people launched a massacre in the base... If she hadn't gone out to welcome Sakura Uchiha and Sasuke, she would probably be dead underground as well!
That half-beast, half-human leader ignored Karin and turned his head toward Sasuke and Sakura, his gaze sweeping over the Konoha symbol on their forehead protectors: "Konoha ninjas... are you going to stand in our way too?"
Sakura Uchiha chuckled lightly: "Hehe, what if I say no? If we move aside, will you not attack us?"
That leader also laughed. His severely deformed face looked exceptionally ferocious and terrifying as he smiled, forming a stark contrast with the young girl's pretty smile.
"Haha! The answer... is naturally no! Any living creature that appears before us will be torn to shreds and tortured to death!"
As he spoke, the leader's killing intent leaked out madly. Those crimson eyes, carrying incomparable malice and nearly tangible killing intent, sized up the young girl in front of him, as if imagining how tragically the young girl would cry and scream after he tore off those fair, slender limbs!
The young girl, however, turned her head completely uncaringly and teased Sasuke: "Is this the side effect of that Curse Mark of yours? Making people berserk, cruel, and brainless?"
Calling them brainless was because—
If they still had some sanity, they should have had the sensory ninjas among them sense Sakura Uchiha and Sasuke's chakra to see if they were opponents they could afford to provoke.
However, maybe they dared to mess with anyone, relying on their sheer numbers?
Sasuke snorted in annoyance, emphasizing: "How would I know, I've never even used the Curse Mark!"
Looking at this group of ugly monsters before him, he grew even more angry at the possibility that he could have become a similar existence—wait, could that alternate timeline version of himself have also transformed into this kind of form?
"Don't intervene, I'll deal with them!" The youth revealed a cold glint in his eyes, staring coldly at the enemies in sight, and gritted his teeth, "I will 'clean' them up."
Sakura simply stepped aside: "Don't go for the kill."
Karin, however, was extremely anxious: "Sasuke-kun, don't be reckless! There are over a hundred of them, and none of them are weak. We should attack together—"
"How annoying." Sasuke coldly interrupted her words, "Open your eyes wide and watch closely, it will only take an instant!"
He spread his hands and slowly walked toward the rioting test subjects.