"Izayoi-kun, you’re here!"
Izayoi arrived at the villa’s front entrance with Hanabi in tow. Before they could even step inside, a girl’s voice reached their ears. In a blur, Karin appeared before Izayoi and Hanabi.
Her red eyes (matching her hair) were fixed on Izayoi. Catching sight of sothing, her face lit up with joy.
"Mhm, this ti it’s really ."
Izayoi nodded, smiling. "You’ve worked hard these past few weeks, Karin."
"Not at all! It wasn’t tough in the slightest."
Karin shook her head fervently, expression filled with gratitude. "Compared to life in Grass Village, this place is like heaven. All I did was run errands to Sand Village for you—yet I get to stay in a villa this nice and even receive such hefty compensation. I feel I don’t deserve it."
"No, you’ve helped a lot."
Under Hanabi’s pouting gaze, Izayoi reached out and gave Karin a gentle head-pat. Unlike her once-dry hair, her bright red locks were now soft and glossy. "In this world, there are very few people I can truly trust. You’re one of them. I’m grateful that Grass Village was so short-sighted—if not for their foolishness, I wouldn’t have found my clanmate during the Chūnin Exams."
"Heh heh... I’m the one who’s grateful I got to et you, Izayoi-kun. I promise I won’t let you down."
Karin basked in his affectionate "head-pat," giggling while promising him with a resolute look.
Watching Karin all but wear a headband with the words "Devoted Loyalty" on it, Hanabi silently pondered.
So this woman is Onii-chan’s clanmate... So Onii-chan wasn’t cheating on Hinata after all.
Of course, if he were two-timing, he wouldn’t have brought Hanabi along in the first place. Realizing that, Hanabi’s initial hostility vanished.
After chatting a bit by the doorway, Izayoi and Hanabi followed Karin into the villa. On the way, Izayoi made sure Hanabi and Karin properly introduced themselves. Once Karin realized Hanabi was the younger sister of Hinata—the girl who’d taken such good care of her in the Forest of Death—her favor toward Hanabi soared, and she treated her like a little sister.
"Hanabi, you can hang out in the villa with Karin. If you get bored, you’re free to roam around outside," Izayoi said, patting Hanabi’s head. "Onii-chan has so business to attend to right now, but I’ll catch up with you both when I’m done."
"Mm-hmm..."
Accustod to adult responsibilities despite her age, Hanabi nodded understandingly.
"Onii-chan’s work is more important. I can just stick with Karin-nee."
"Then I’ll leave Hanabi in your care, Karin."
Izayoi turned and smiled at Karin.
"Don’t worry, Izayoi-kun. I’ll look after her for sure."
Karin assured him with a serious expression.
Thus, Izayoi left Hanabi with Karin and headed alone to a locked door. Opening it revealed a staircase leading downward to a spacious basent—spacious yet currently jam-packed.
Rows upon rows of figures stood there in neat formation, numbering close to triple digits—and that wasn’t all of them. In one corner sat a desk with several large sealing scrolls perched atop it.
Each figure wore the sa uniform: a black cloak embroidered with red clouds. Most had bandages covering their faces, their eyes vacant. They were ordinary puppets, and a few were human puppets crafted from actual corpses—so from the Kurosuki Clan, others from rogue ninjas Izayoi’s shadow clones had hunted down recently.
Gazing over these puppets, Izayoi activated his Tenseigan and walked among them, feeding chakra into each puppet’s "chakra core" like recharging a battery. He muttered under his breath, "We’ll see whether the system has any hidden chanics. Whether trait upgrades are a hellish grind or a breeze...depends on you guys!"
"In any case, I have a big gift in store. I’m sure the Akatsuki—and ’Lord Danzo’—will love it."
Once he finished "recharging" the puppets in the basent and those within the scrolls, Izayoi returned above ground, and the three of them—Izayoi, Hanabi, and Karin—went touring around Sakura Street.
As they strolled, Izayoi asked about Karin’s condition:
"Karin, how’s your health?"
"I’m fine now. I feel great," she said with gratitude in her eyes. "It’s all thanks to your healing and the dicinal als your shadow clone prepared."
"So... what are your plans from here on out?" Izayoi continued. "We have enough supplies that we won’t need to restock for a long while. Would you prefer to keep living here, managing my assets? Or do you want to keep following the ninja path? Either way, I’ll teach you ninjutsu and make you stronger."
"Whatever you want to do, I’ll do," Karin answered firmly. "You just tell what you need, and I’ll get it done."
"I do appreciate that answer," Izayoi said, patting her head again with a smile. "But I’d also like to know what you really want. You’re not just my subordinate, you’re my clanmate—my family. No matter what path you choose, I’ll help you see it through."
Hearing his sincerity, Karin’s eyes grew misty all over again.
One can tell how genuine soone’s kindness is not by their words or promises, but by their actions. In Grass Village, she’d witnessed only cruelty. She’d believed her future there would end like her mother’s—dying from an exhausted body one day. If life in Grass was "hell," then these past few weeks had felt like "heaven."
Izayoi’s shadow clone whisked Karin out of Konoha to Sakura Street, gave her a luxurious mansion to live in, handed her the keys to a vault holding billions in funds, and let her spend freely.
Seeing she didn’t know how to use money, the clone proactively bought her high-quality ingredients and dicinal herbs, even hired a chef to cook nourishing als to repair her depleted health.
Then, once she recovered, the clone taught her ninja basics more comprehensive than anything she’d learned in Grass, including water-walking and tree-climbing. It even let her borrow Kiba the Thunder Sword—taken from Raiga Kurosuki—so she could practice Lightning Release nature transformation.
After that, once she mastered Lightning Release, the plan was to teach her the cell-stimulation thod with lightning chakra.
He’d gone above and beyond, asking only that she occasionally travel to Sand Village to buy materials. He didn’t even tail her or worry she’d run off with the money.
That level of trust and care often brought Karin to tears—happy tears. ntally, she was already "captured" by Izayoi, sharing the sa devoted spirit as Haku or Kimimaro. If doing sothing would help him, she’d do it—even if it cost her life.
Izayoi is her sky, her god, her everything.
So after wiping her tears, Karin looked up and grinned.
"Izayoi-kun, I want to be a ninja."
Because by becoming an all-round ninja, I can be even more useful to you!
Izayoi, oblivious to the deeper aning, simply bead.
"Alright, then I’ll help you beco one of the strongest kunoichi out there."
At that mont, Hanabi abruptly chid in, refusing to be forgotten.
"What about , Onii-chan?"
Izayoi turned to his adorable little sister-in-law, pinching her cheek fondly.
"Hanabi, you’re guaranteed to be one of the strongest kunoichi soday, too."
"Heehee... Perfect! I’ll rember that. I’ll tell Onee-chan that Onii-chan said I’m even better!" Hanabi stuck out her tongue, giggling mischievously.
Izayoi snorted in amusent. "I said in the future. For now, your big sister’s still the strongest."
"Aww, not fair!"
Suddenly, Izayoi mimicked Hanabi’s own dramatics from a few days prior, covering his heart with a feigned wounded look.
"My precious Hanabi is trying to set up... Oh, the heartbreak! I’ll need ten—no, a hundred massages to soothe my poor, fragile soul."
"Onii-chan, I’m sorry!"
Hanabi threw herself at him, rubbing her head against his chest. Looking up at him with big, pleading eyes, she spoke in her cutesiest tone,
"I promise I won’t tell on you. Please forgive ?"
"I was only joking. Co on, let’s go see the cherry blossoms!"
Izayoi, once again won over by his little sister-in-law’s charm, brushed her nose lightly and pinched her chubby cheeks.
Then he slipped his hands under her arms, lifted her onto his shoulders, and slipped easily into "piggyback mode," leading both Hanabi and Karin off to enjoy the cherry blossoms.
~~~
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