Sakura, who had been lost in her own thoughts, suddenly noticed Karin ducking behind Sasuke's back with a fearful expression. Instantly puzzled, she followed Karin's gaze upward.
"Karin, is that the chaperone from the Grass Village this time?" Sakura asked, noticing the identical forehead protector worn by the man standing afar.
"Yeah," Karin muttered, clutching at Sasuke's sleeve until her knuckles went white. She'd lived through enough to be terrified of anyone from the Grass Village.
"So it's those bastards from the Grass Village again, huh? Should we go beat them up?" Hinata clenched her fists, her knuckles cracking loudly.
"Damn right we should! Let's knock some sense into 'em early!" A malicious smile curled on Sakura's lips. "Naruto, use your Multiple Shadow Clones to create a wall of bodies and block everyone else's view. Tenten, bring out our special baseball bats—it's time they tasted some blood!"
"Got it!" Naruto grinned viciously. In an instant, countless puffs of smoke erupted around him. Hundreds of Shadow Clones surrounded the few Grass Ninja so completely that not even the hem of their clothes could be seen from outside.
Chapter One Hundred and Eighty-Seven: The Grass Ninjas Are Just a Bunch of Cowards [Part 2]
"What are you trying to do?!"
Inside the circle formed by the wall of clones, two Grass ninjas nervously eyed Sakura and her group, but their unease quickly turned into arrogance when they saw Karin hiding behind Sasuke.
"Karin, why did you bring so many people here? Also, where are your former teammates? Did you conspire with outsiders to kill them?"
"I—I didn't," Karin stammered, desperately gripping Sasuke's sleeve, her face filled with fear.
"Why are you standing with them? Hurry up and come over here!" Seeing this, the two Grass ninjas became even more audacious. "What?! You wanna betray the Grass Village?!"
"I—" Karin shivered involuntarily and instinctively started stepping forward, but in the next moment, Sasuke quickly caught her wrist.
"Calm down. You don't need to be scared of them," Sasuke said coldly. "Right now, the ones who should truly be afraid aren't you—it's them."
"What the hell do you mean? Let me tell you, we're here for the Chunin Exams. Don't think Konoha can just bully us just because you have more power!" The Grass ninja shouted, attempting to draw attention from other nearby ninja villages passing by.
"I've got a question for your Grass Village before we get into anything with Konoha," Kakashi said calmly, his eyes flashing coldly. "If I recall correctly, years ago when the Uzumaki Clan was annihilated, Konoha issued an order stating that if any subordinate village discovered traces of the Uzumaki, they must report it immediately. Now, not only has your Grass Village imprisoned an Uzumaki orphan, but you've killed another one too. I think you'd better think carefully about how to explain this matter first!"
"The relationship between Konoha and the Uzumaki Clan has always been extremely close. The First Hokage's wife and the Fourth Hokage's wife were both members of the Uzumaki Clan. After the Uzumaki Clan was annihilated, Konoha immediately issued orders stating that any village under Konoha's jurisdiction must immediately report any discovered Uzumaki Clan members to Konoha headquarters. And no one was allowed to harm any members of the Uzumaki Clan. Grass Village happens to be one of Konoha's subordinate villages. By concealing information and causing Karin's mother's death, Grass Village is practically provoking Konoha's authority. Even if Konoha launches an attack on Grass Village, no one would claim it was Konoha's fault."
"We..."
The Grass Village ninjas suddenly panicked. They weren't ignorant about this matter, but had secretly harbored hope, believing that as long as they kept Karin under control, Konoha wouldn't discover their secret. However, they never expected everything would unravel because of these Chunin Exams.
"Don't bother arguing. You should just play nice and let us have a go at you, then go explain yourselves properly to Gramps Third!"
Sakura swung her baseball bat in her hand, giving Naruto and the others a knowing glance. Everyone exchanged wicked grins, then quickly surrounded the two Grass Village ninjas and attacked without hesitation.
"Ahhh! Help! Don't hit me! Please stop!"
Piercing screams rang out from inside the circle. Although many surrounding ninja felt curious, none dared interfere. In the ninja world, sticking your nose where it didn't belong often resulted in paying with your life. Therefore, despite their curiosity, everyone simply glanced once before leaving.
When the screaming finally stopped, the two Grass Village ninjas were unrecognizable—so badly beaten that even their closest relatives probably wouldn't recognize them.
"Let's go! Take these two bastards and find Gramps Third!"
At Sakura's command, Naruto dispelled most of his Shadow Clones, leaving just two behind. Each clone grabbed one Grass ninja by the scruff of the neck, dragging them along behind the group toward Gramps Third.
The Third, who'd been preparing to exit and officiate the preliminary third round of the Chunin Exams, looked at the two barely discernible creatures on the ground with nothing but exasperation on his face.
"What mess have you gotten into this time?!"
"Gramps Third, this time we're definitely not the ones causing trouble—it's those Grass Village ninjas!" Sakura said pitifully, pulling Karin out from hiding behind Sasuke. "Gramps Third, this is Karin, Uzumaki Karin—a pureblood descendant of the Uzumaki Clan."
"That red hair, and this chakra..." The Third carefully sensed her chakra and his eyes immediately lit up. "Where exactly did you find her?"
"In the Forest of Death. Karin participated in these Chunin Exams as a Grass Village ninja," Sakura explained briefly, recounting Karin's background. Seeing the darkening expression appearing on The Third's face, she knew Grass Village was essentially finished.
"Karin, huh?" suppressing his rising anger, The Third offered Karin a friendly smile and gently asked, "Would you mind telling Gramps Third a bit about your mother?"
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