I, Naruto Uzumaki, don't need your approval.

This is something that the Kusagakure leadership does not allow; their dream is to make Kusagakure great again.

So after several months of observation, the higher-ups decided to imprison Karin Uzumaki, while blocking related information and announcing to the outside world that Karin had left Kusagakure, causing Karin Uzumaki to completely disappear from the ninja world and become a medical machine for Kusagakure.

After exchanging a glance, Karin sensed something was off and took a half-step back, bumping into the table.

He then took out a kunai from the drawer and aimed it at the Grass Ninja, but the Grass Ninja's higher-ups were very indifferent. They looked at Karin as if she were a piece of merchandise, and they did not think Karin would have a chance to resist.

Just as Karin was about to fight back, the Grass Ninja suddenly collapsed to the ground.

The sudden turn of events left Karin stunned. She then cautiously approached and began to examine the fallen Grass Ninja leaders.

The grass ninja was not dead, but merely unconscious, but she was carrying a mission scroll.

Karin opened the scroll and her face turned extremely ugly. She then picked up the kunai, hesitating.

Although Kusagakure is targeting him, he currently lacks the strength to resist them. After killing the higher-ups, his future fate will likely be even more tragic.

Naruto, who was using Ryuchi Cave Sage Mode to conceal his presence, also saw the contents of the scroll. His expression became subtle. He never expected that Karin's fate would be changed because of his actions in establishing Uzushio Village.

However, it is quite audacious of Kusagakure to imprison the Uzumaki clan.

Besides himself, the Akatsuki organization also has its sights set on Kusagakure. Once they become aware of Karin's existence, Nagato may not necessarily protect Karin, but he will definitely launch a heavy attack on Kusagakure, making him feel the pain that Pain suffered.

Pulling his wandering thoughts back, Naruto began to look forward to Karin's next move.

At this moment, Karin, who had hesitated for a long time, finally raised her kunai and stabbed it into the heart of the grass ninja, then dragged the body to a corner.

After completing all this, Karin cautiously spoke to the surrounding air:

"Master Ninja, Karin thanks you for your help. May I see Karin?"

Chapter 171 Kusagakure cannot escape the vortex

Naruto did not show himself, but continued to observe Karin from the shadows.

Seeing that her calls were ignored, Karin sighed inwardly and then began to consider how to avoid the Kusagakure ninja's surveillance and leave the village safely.

Firstly, forcing her way in would definitely not work; her bright red hair was her most striking feature.

As a student at the ninja academy, she was no match for any ninja.

That leaves only the option of disguising oneself and sneaking out, but then the biggest problem becomes how to sneak out of the hospital.

After a moment's hesitation, Karin looked at the corpses of the Kusagakure high-ranking officials and devised a plan to use her transformation technique to deceive them.

First, the corpse is disguised as if it is still alive, then it is transformed into the person, and then the person uses a transformation spell to disguise themselves as a high-ranking official, so that they can leave the hospital smoothly.

After spending about ten minutes preparing, Karin transformed into a high-ranking member of Kusagakure, carried a sack, and walked out of the medical room toward the hospital exit.

This attracted the attention of many Grass Ninja, who even discovered that the medical room was empty.

But upon seeing the faces of the higher-ups, the Grass Ninja seemed to understand something and all chose to back down. It was clear that the higher-ups were taking action against the red-haired brat. It was just a pity that they couldn't enjoy free medical care for the next few days.

After successfully leaving the hospital, Karin quickly arrived at a corner of Kusagakure and left the village with ease.

Setting down the heavy corpse, Karin, panting, looked back at Kusagakure, a village considered a nightmare, still feeling a sense of déjà vu.

She escaped from the village that had caused her mother and herself so much pain so easily?

However, Karin also knew that all of this was just her illusion. It was impossible that the Grass Ninja hadn't discovered her whereabouts. The only possibility was that someone was helping her from behind, and that this ninja was much stronger than all the Grass Ninja.

With that in mind, Karin activated her sensory abilities and looked around, hoping to find traces of the mysterious ninja.

Soon, Karin, following her senses, spotted Naruto on the tree trunk and said happily, "You're finally out! Karin thanks you for your help. You must be one of Mom's people."

Why do you think so?

"Because your chakra is so warm. Apart from my deceased mother, no one else in Kusagakure has chakra that can give me this feeling of warmth."

Does Karin possess such sensory abilities at such a young age?

Naruto was slightly surprised, but he didn't show it. He chuckled and said, "I am indeed a ninja of the Uzumaki clan. I sensed the presence of my clan members while passing through Kusagakure and came here. Would you like to stay in Kusagakure or come with me?"

"I want to leave with you!"

Karin didn't hesitate, but at the same time she thought to herself that she had no choice. After killing the high-ranking members of Kusagakure, should she stay here and wait to die?

The process of recruiting Karin was easy. After realizing that Naruto was a powerful figure, Karin quickly chose to join Uzushio Village and also learned Naruto's name along the way, calling him "Menma-sama" repeatedly.

Naruto was already used to being called Menma-sama.

He was really looking forward to seeing how interesting Karin's expression would be when she found out they were about the same age.

Filled with longing for a new life, Karin asked Naruto, "Menma-sama, shall we return to the Land of Whirlpools immediately, or travel to other countries?"

Naruto shook his head slightly: "Go to Kusagakure first, retrieve what belongs to you, and watch a good show while you're at it."

Hearing this, Karin was a little confused. It was normal for her to go back and pack her things; she also wanted to take her mother's belongings with her. But what did "a good show" mean? Was a battle going to break out in Kusagakure?

Seeing Karin's confusion, Naruto didn't offer much explanation, but instead looked towards the Kusagakure building in the distance.

……

Inside the Kusagakure Building, the leader of Kusagakure Village and elders from various factions gathered together.

Like most villages, Kusagakure is divided into a pro-war faction and an anti-war faction, named Kusanagi no Mi and Kusanagi no Hana. The former is dedicated to making Kusagakure rule the ninja world, while the latter tries its best to maintain the status quo.

But whether they are pro-war or anti-war, they cannot do without Karin Uzumaki's help.

After waiting patiently for a while, the leader of Kusagakure looked at the pro-war elders, frowned and said, "Why haven't you brought Karin Uzumaki over yet? Don't tell me you want to monopolize her abilities?"

The elder from the pro-war faction had a somewhat gloomy expression, but still said:

"Something may have held us up. Chief, let's discuss how to deal with the pressure from Iwagakure. They've deployed too many ninjas along the border recently. We must strike first and prepare for a counterattack."

At this moment, an anti-war elder stepped forward and said, "The strength of Iwagakure is more than ten times that of us. We must seek help from other ninja villages. We cannot resist the attack of Iwagakure on our own. The last Shinobi World War is the best proof. We drove away the Iwagakure ninja with the help of Konoha."

The elder who advocated war sneered and said, "Yes, in the war that took place on our territory, we won but gained nothing except a third of our land area in scorched earth."

"Besides, does Konoha really have the ability to protect our Kusagakure now?"

"Then we should definitely not start a war..."

The anti-war elder's momentum has clearly weakened considerably. Although he is currently living a good life in Kusagakure, his good days will soon come if Iwagakure really launches an attack.

Seeing this, the pro-war elder pressed his advantage, saying, "I have secretly contacted the mercenary organization Akatsuki. As long as Iwagakure launches an attack, Akatsuki will join the war to stop Iwagakure's advance. The leader of Akatsuki has the strength of the Five Kage!"

"What if the Akatsuki organization turns against us at the last minute?" an elder asked, raising this hypothetical question.

The elders who advocated war said dismissively, "Have you all forgotten about the Box of Bliss? As long as we inject enough chakra, we can make a wish on the Box of Bliss. That brat Uzumaki is one of the best sacrifices. We can even use members of the Akatsuki organization as sacrifices."

The speech by the elder who advocated for war caused an uproar in the meeting room.

His proposed plan was like dancing on a knife's edge; a slight misstep could bring about the annihilation of Kusagakure, making its disappearance from the ninja world entirely possible.

At that moment, a member of the Kusagakure ANBU entered and whispered a few words to the Kusagakure leader.

The leader of Kusagakure looked rather grim, and then addressed the elders, saying, "The meeting is adjourned for now. The ninja responsible for capturing Karin Uzumaki has disappeared along with Karin herself. Someone in the village has targeted Karin Uzumaki."

Upon hearing this news, the elders exchanged glances, all revealing suspicious looks.

They didn't believe that outsiders had kidnapped Karin Uzumaki. After all, compared to outsiders, it was more likely that rival faction Jonin would do it, as this would be the best way to strike at their political enemies.

Chapter 172 I Want to Invite You to Fight the Hokage

After taking a change of clothes and her mother's belongings, Karin followed Naruto to an izakaya (Japanese pub) in Kusagakure. She sat by the window on the second floor, looking down at the crowds coming and going below.

Seeing this, Karin, who was eating pork cutlet rice, became even more curious about Naruto.

This important figure from her clan not only used a transformation technique to change her hair color and figure, but also adjusted her chakra aura, turning her into a completely different person.

Just how strong must one be to master such powerful ninjutsu?

Seemingly guessing Karin's thoughts, Naruto said with a smile, "This is just some application of sealing techniques. After we return to Uzushio Village in a while, an old man will teach you sealing techniques."

Karin nodded, then asked, "Lady Menma, how many people are left in our Uzumaki clan?"

Naruto pondered for a moment, then said, "Currently, we have no more than five clansmen whose whereabouts we have ascertained. However, as time goes by, our Uzumaki clan will eventually be able to develop."

"Only less than five people?" Karin's expression darkened, but she was already very happy to see her clansmen.

Just then, a large group of tense-looking grass ninjas appeared on the street, searching house to house. One of the teams even went up to the second floor, making Karin's heart jump into her throat.

But after being glanced at by Naruto, the team left the second floor and headed to the next shop.

"Are they looking for me?" Karin asked, trembling, hugging her shoulders tightly as if recalling past memories.

Naruto glanced at Karin and nodded slightly, saying, "They are looking for you. Your ability to heal injuries is too important for a ninja, so of course the Hidden Grass Village will not let you go easily."

Karin suddenly remembered something, as if she had made up her mind, and quickly said, "Did Menma-sama take me in because of my special constitution? I can only be bitten three times a day at most, and any more than that will affect my life force."

Naruto looked at Karin as if she were an idiot and said calmly, "Do you think I don't have that kind of constitution? If I were really in mortal danger, I could devour most of your life force in one bite."

"Don't do such foolish things in the future. Unless it's someone very important, there's no need to risk your life."

"What does Lord Naruto want me to do?" After being treated as a tool by Kusagakure for several years, Karin felt that she should also work under Naruto, otherwise she always had a sense of unease.

“You are very interested in medical ninjutsu. Why don’t you specialize in medical ninjutsu in the future? Our Uzushio Village lacks medical ninjas, and you can fill this gap perfectly.”

In just a few words, Naruto decided on Karin's future arrangements.

Then, Naruto looked into the distance and said with some emotion, "In this era where all the major ninja villages are competing to see who is the worst, even Kusagakure is no exception. Just because Karin disappeared, they started fighting amongst themselves."

"No, even without Karin's presence, the internal conflicts within Kusagakure are enough to trigger a civil war."

In the original story, Konoha had experienced the mission incident and the Uchiha clan massacre, which caused it to become estranged from the Konoha ninja clan and its strength to decline significantly. Why didn't the other ninja villages take the opportunity to launch a large-scale attack?

One reason is that the Third Shinobi World War was too large in scale, and none of the major ninja villages emerged as winners.

On the other hand, the internal affairs of all the major ninja villages have become problematic. Some have closed themselves off from the world, while others have suppressed the second and third forces. Even the most harmonious village, Kumogakure, has experienced the problem of its jinchūriki leaving.

The only event that could be called the Konoha Collapse Plan ended in a comedic way.

Naruto didn't want to get involved in the internal strife of Kusagakure. Even if he helped a major faction within Kusagakure, he couldn't control the village by supporting proxies. Controlling the Land of Waves and influencing Kirigakure at the same time was already the limit for Uzushio Village.

However, it's worth collecting the ninjutsu of Kusagakure, even though these ninjutsu all originated from imitation.

However, this can make up for the limited number of ninjutsu in Uzushio Village, and also saves time in collecting them.

Pulling his wandering thoughts back, Naruto seemed to sense something, and a meaningful smile appeared on his face. He sensed a familiar chakra not far away.

This familiar chakra does not belong to the Akatsuki, but to Konoha.

The sage Jiraiya, who was diligently searching for the prophesied child, has also arrived near Kusagakure, which means that the situation in Kusagakure will become even more chaotic.