In a clearing near the woods outside Kusagakure (Hidden Grass Village).
By the flickering campfire, a lanky teen with messy dark hair that stubbornly refuses to stay tame, bright green eyes that glint like jade in the firelight, and pale skin that practically glows under the moon. His baggy green-and-white outfit hangs off his frame, giving him the vibe of a disheveled but oddly charismatic heron. Next to him a short-haired girl with ash-brown hair channeled a faint glow from her hands, desperately trying to heal Karin's mother.
Only when her strength was completely spent, her forehead drenched in sweat, did she finally withdraw her hands.
"Maemi, how is she?" Yuto asked in a low voice, turning to the girl.
Maemi didn't answer, just shook her head regretfully. "Sorry."
"You did your best," Yuto said, patting her shoulder.
"If only I'd sent you the signal sooner" Maemi muttered, guilt written all over her face.
She and Yuto had grown up together in the Konoha Orphanage.
Unlike his distinctly average existence, Maemi had a real talent for medical ninjutsu. She'd been personally trained by Nonō Yakushi for two years before being adopted by a wealthy merchant at age eight.
That merchant later bought an entire street in the Land of Grass and settled there, making Maemi an honorary Grass citizen by default.
Despite the distance, the two had stayed close.
Maemi's adoptive mother was in the food business, with trade routes spanning half the shinobi world. Maemi often traveled with her, occasionally swinging by Konoha to catch up with Yuto.
It was Yuto who'd told Maemi about Karin and her mother's plight. Being the kind soul she was, Maemi had been quietly looking out for them.
But Maemi and her adoptive mother were just merchants; they couldn't exactly strong-arm Kusagakure's higher ups.
And when war came, Karin's mother ended up exactly like in the original story designated as the village's walking blood pack.
Realizing how bad things had gotten, Maemi had her merchant caravan leave a coded signal only Yuto would understand hoping he could think of something.
She never expected her childhood friend to personally storm Kusagakure and kidnap the patient!
He got them out, sure but it was already too late.
"Even if you'd sent the signal earlier, it wouldn't have mattered. Just bad luck," Yuto sighed, glancing at the hollow-eyed little Karin.
An earlier signal would've been useless; he wasn't strong enough back then to pull this off.
"Sorry, Mrs. Uzumaki," Yuto crouched in front of Karin's mother, looking at the emaciated redhead with genuine remorse. 'I wanted to surprise you.'
"This isn't your fault, kid." Kushina's voice was oddly gentle, like a quiet stream. "The surprise… I already got it."
Now she finally understood why Yuto had demanded to leave the village freely as his reward from the Third Hokage. It wasn't for himself it was for her.
Faced with such sincerity, Kushina would be lying if she said she wasn't moved.
If she were still a young, unmarried girl instead of a married woman, she might've done more than just feel touched; she might've actually fallen for him right then and there.
'Kushina … I hate this world.'
Yuto's desire to change everything burned even fiercer. Seeing Karin's mother in this state lit a fire in his chest.
"What do you plan to do?" Kushina could practically feel the heat radiating from him so intense it almost seemed like it could ignite the world itself if unleashed.
'I'm gonna remake it!' Yuto declared dead serious.
Turn this bloody, filthy world into the paradise he envisioned not just for Karin's mother, but for everyone suffering in it.
He took a deep breath and started to stand only to freeze mid-motion.
"Remake?"
Kushina, oblivious to his sudden pause, was still mulling over the word. After a long moment of confusion, she gave up.
"Explain. What do you mean by 'remake'?"
No response.
"Hey, kid?" She frowned.
"Shush, old lady. I'm thinking."
A familiar selection screen materialized before Yuto, glowing with golden radiance.
[Choose.]
[1. Use the "Elixir of Life" from your mouth to save Karin's mother via "mana transfer."]
[2. Summon Karin's mother's spirit via Edo Tensei so she can keep Kushina company.]
[3. F**c* While she's still warm.]
'Wh—WHILE SHE'S STILL WARM?! This godforsaken system was as shameless as ever!'
First off, Option 3 was *immediately* out of the question.
Between the remaining two, the choice wasn't that hard. A living human was still better than an undead ghost. If she could live, why would anyone choose death?
But the real issue was where the hell was he supposed to get "Elixir of Life" from his mouth?! Was this system just trying to trick him into taking advantage of a corpse?!
'…Wait. Maybe not.'
Back when he didn't know Edo Tensei, the system had just handed him the technique after he made his choice.
Maybe this was the same deal?
Taking a deep breath, Yuto decided to go for it.
He shifted from crouching to kneeling, slowly leaning in toward Karin's mother.
"Kid, what the HELL are you doing?!"Kushina's voice shrieked in disbelief. "STOP! Have you lost your MIND?!"
"Curse technique," Yuto muttered.
"CURSE TECHNIQUE MY ASS!" Kushina was livid. "Since when does a curse technique involve defiling a corpse?! If you're gonna try something taboo, at least pick a LIVING person! And you two are you just gonna STAND THERE?!"
She meant Maemi and Karin.
Both girls were completely shell-shocked, eyes wide, mouths slightly agape.
'This made no sense.'
Yuto's actions were so far beyond logic that their brains short-circuited, leaving them frozen in total system failure.
"STOP! You can still stop this!"
Kushina's yelling wasn't reaching their fried neurons, so she switched back to desperate bargaining. "You're walking into the abyss, kid!"
Yuto ignored her, fully committed to the "mana transfer," silently explaining: "Shut up, Kushina. I can save her."
"IF THIS WORKS, I'LL CHANGE MY LAST NAME TO YOURS! She's already DEAD, you…" Kushina's rant cut off mid-sentence.
Because Karin's mother was previously skeletal, her skin stretched over bone was visibly plumping back up. The bite marks covering her shoulders, arms, and calves vanished, and her dull, lifeless hair regained its vibrant hue.
Inside the Spirit Pearl, Kushina's jaw dropped.
'This… this was a miracle. A straight-up resurrection!'
"H-how…? Yuto, what did you just DO?"
Yuto couldn't answer Karin's mother had woken up, and her very enthusiastic lips showed no intention of letting him go, voraciously demanding more.
[Congratulations! Your "Elixir of Life" has been enhanced. All bodily fluids now possess life-restoring properties.]
Yuto ignored the system message for now, trying to pull away but Karin's mother wasn't just using her mouth anymore. Her arms locked around his head in a vice grip.
"Mama!" Karin's cry finally loosened her hold.
Yuto scrambled back, wiping his mouth. "My apologies, ma'am. Desperate times."
He assumed Karin's mother had been unconscious and wanted to clear the air.
"My name is Rina. Uzumaki Rina."
Hugging her daughter tightly, Rina knelt and bowed deeply. "You owe me no apologies. It is I who must thank you for your mercy. If you'll have me, I pledge my life to you from this day forward."