Chapter 623 : Karin's Death... (Patreon)

“Does such a place truly exist? Or do you want me just for my ability?”

Fujin's clone could feel the tiredness in Karin's voice as she asked that question. He could feel that she had grown to resent the power that she had. Knowing her past, he could understand her emotions.

Fujin's clone shook his head and sighed. He stopped ruffling her hair and pointed his palm at her, confusing her. A green chakra appeared from his hand and entered Karin's body. It healed the injuries caused by the lion's slap and crashing into the tree. Even the bite marks on her forearms began fading away. Her chakra recovered as well.

Karin was surprised by what she was experiencing. Fujin's clone said, “Though the ability to heal others by letting them bite you is quite remarkable, any Medical ninja can do the same. Even transferring chakra isn't that difficult.

So, I don't particularly care about your ability. What I do care about is whether you are willing to work hard to ensure that others don't suffer in the same way you did. So, are you interested?”

His words surprised her once again. Realizing that she had an opportunity to escape her hell and find a new home, she couldn't help but break into tears as she answered, “Yes. Thank you.”

Fujin's clone didn't disturb her this time and allowed her to let her emotions out. Karin took a couple of minutes to control herself. She said, “Even though I'm willing to follow you, I'm afraid that my village would make Konoha give me back.”

Fujin's clone asked in amusement, “Who said you'll become one of Konoha's ninjas?”

He chuckled and continued, “Even though Konoha isn't as bad as Kusagakure and they have many good medical ninjas, your life in Konoha wouldn't be much different than in Kusagakure.”

He didn't say the following words out loud, ‘The only difference would be that instead of being forced to let others bite you, you'll do that willingly and feel pride in sacrificing your life in the same way as your mother instead of resentment.’

Karin was surprised to hear his words. She wondered, ‘Where will he take me then?’

Fujin's clone continued, “You'll be joining an organization I created to help the weak people who can't defend themselves against the bandits and the rogue ninjas. It is called the Phantom Haven Society.”

Karin was surprised once again. She thought, ‘Is there really such an organization?’

Fujin's clone could understand her thoughts from her expression and added, “Almost everyone in this world wishes for peace. Yet, almost no one does anything to bring about that peace. That is why we call such wishful thinking the Phantom Will. Every person in my organization believes in the Phantom Will. Unlike others who merely wish it, we will put it into action. That is the goal of our Society.

Perhaps someday we'll succeed and ensure that most of the people in this world live without the fear of being attacked. Or perhaps we might fall trying. Regardless, it is the goal of our lives.

Though I don't need your healing ability, I need your commitment to this goal if you want to come with me.”

Those words immediately created an impression on Karin's young and innocent mind. She began dreaming about such a future. A future where no one would be forced like her and her mother. She quickly replied, “I want such a world too.”

In a gentle tone, Fujin's clone said, “Good. I didn't make the wrong judgment. Don't resist. I'll apply the Phantom Seal on you. It's the seal that every Phantom Haven member has.”

Karin nodded and didn't resist, allowing Fujin's clone to apply the seal on her. A smile appeared on the clone's lips as he thought, ‘Another promising ninja recruited. Making her rank S in 4 years shouldn't be an issue. She'll develop good managerial skills as well and could become the leader of this branch.

It's a shame that Haku and Kimimaro were recruited long before I graduated. Otherwise, I'd have raised a fearsome team. Oh well, there are still other promising candidates.’

Fujin's clone said, “I'll take you to the base now, but first we need to do something. We need to fake your death.”

Karin asked, “Why's that?”

Fujin's clone answered, “If you go missing, Kusagakure will try to search for you. Since you will go missing in Konoha, they might also influence Konoha to search for you. Though they won't be able to find our base, they might spot you when you are outside the base for any reason. By faking your death, we'll avoid that headache.”

Karin understood and nodded. She asked, “What should I do?”

Fujin asked, “Do you have another set of clothes and glasses?”

Karin nodded. Fujin said, “Good. Change into them. Give me your current clothes, your headband and your glasses. In addition, cut some of your hair and hand it to me. Give me a bit of your blood as well.”

Fujin's clone handed her a syringe to draw out her blood. Karin didn't expect such a command but followed his words. She went slightly away from his sight and changed her clothes quickly after confirming with her chakra field that there was no one around her.

After getting the items, Fujin's clone created another Shadow Clone and handed those things to him.

The first Shadow clone looked at Karin and said, “Relax, we'll reach our base soon.”

Karin was confused but soon very dizzy. Within seconds, she fell asleep. It was due to a Genjutsu the clone cast with the help of the chakra he inserted into her body when he healed her. As a result, she didn't suspect anything. Fujin's clone picked her up and disappeared from the Forest of Death!

The other clone immediately got to work with the items he had taken. During his time in the Anbu, Fujin had done things like these numerous times. So, it wasn't anything new for him. Not to mention, he had a massive beast lying very close to help him out.

The clone immediately got to work and began planting some evidence to make it seem like Karin died in the forest. He healed the lion and removed the traces of the Lightning shocks it experienced earlier. Even though the lion was unconscious, it hadn't taken much damage as Fujin's clone intended to use him for this purpose.

He woke the lion up and placed it under a Genjutsu. The lion immediately saw ‘Karin’ lying on the ground, jumped on ‘her’ and began eating her. Of course, what he did in actuality was just rip her clothes, crush her glasses, send her headband flying and eat some of her clothes and hair before walking away.

It left behind some bloodied clothes, hair, the shards of glasses and her headband, creating an excellent scene to explain her death. Of course, it wasn't the perfect scene by any means. He could have created a more convincing scene by planting her bones in the forest. However, he had no intention of maiming Karin. What he had planted was enough to dismiss anyone who raised suspicions.

Fujin's clone inspected the ‘evidence’ a couple of times before getting rid of all the seals he had used to create the Stealth Battlefield and dispelling himself.

In the tower, Fujin received the memories of his clone and thought, ‘Hmm, so Karin has been successfully recruited. Good, everything went as planned. If things still happen as in canon, I wonder who Sasuke would recruit in his team now…’

He thought for a bit before concluding, ‘It doesn't matter. Orochimaru should have several talented underlings for Sasuke to choose from. Itachi will still give up his life. So, that battle won't have a different result. It'll be against Killer Bee that this move of mine might have some grave consequences for him…’

Fujin remembered Sasuke being injured critically by Bee. Without a healer like Karin, he couldn't say for sure whether Sasuke would get out alive or not. However, considering that he was Indra's reincarnation, Fujin doubted that he'd be killed that easily. Regardless, he had no reason to worry about it right now.

While Fujin's other clone planted the evidence, Fujin's clone and Karin appeared around a hundred kilometers away in the vast forests of the Land of Fire. They disappeared almost instantly before appearing another hundred kilometers away. In less than a minute, Fujin's clone teleported over a dozen times and carried Karin from Konoha to the Phantom Haven Base in the Land of Rivers!

He stayed slightly away from the base and laid Karin down while thinking, ‘She might get suspicious if she learnt that we just reached here in the blink of an eye. I'll let her sleep for a few hours before waking her up.’

While Karin slept in the Land of Rivers, the shockwaves of the battle on the previous day were being felt in faraway places!

Sitting in his chair, Ay loudly exclaimed, “What did you say?”