Chapter 627 : Subtle Manipulation (Patreon)

While Team Kakashi was watching the destruction in disbelief, another squad was in panic mode. Karin's teammates returned after an unfruitful day. Both had several injuries and wanted to bite Karin to heal. To their shock, they couldn't find her. They quickly tried to look for her and found her ‘remains’.

Both looked at each other and said, “Crap! Did that useless bitch die?”
“Shit, if she is dead, then we won't be able to pass this round!”
“Why couldn't that dumb bitch just stay hidden here? How hard is that?”
“That's true. I didn't think she'd be so pathetic. We shouldn't have split up. Now Sensei will scold us due to her incompetence!”

With Karin dead, the two of them immediately began cursing her, completely unaware of the fact that she was safe and healthy at a place that was very far away from them. Meanwhile, Fujin would be quite happy that they collected ‘evidence’ of her death themselves.


In the Land of Rivers, Karin finally woke up. She saw that the Sun was about to set. Her eyes landed on Fujin's clone sitting some distance away from her and the memories of their meeting quickly appeared in her mind. Karin quickly gathered herself and asked, “Did I fall asleep?”

Fujin's clone nodded and said, “Yes. I'd have woken you up, but it seemed like you were very tired. I guess you didn't sleep much last night.”

Karin nodded. The clone continued, “Anyway, we are almost at our base. I just stopped here because there is something I need to tell you first. It is related to your ability.”

Karin immediately became alert and asked, “What about my ability?”

Fujin's clone said, “Even though I said that I don't need your ability, your ability is very convenient to use. So, if others knew about it, they would definitely ask you to use it to heal them. Of course, no one will force you and no one will keep using it to the extent that you would end up like your mother, but they'll still want to use it if only for the convenience.”

Karin became slightly dejected on hearing that. She thought, ‘I can't escape this curse. Still, at least I'll have a say here. I can accept that.’

To her surprise, Fujin's clone continued, “However, I can understand that you wouldn't want to use this ability. In fact, I don't want to see you use this ability either. So, you won't be telling anyone about this ability of yours. Is that understood?”

To say Karin was shocked was an understatement. Even though Fujin had claimed that he didn't want her for her ability, she didn't entirely believe him and just felt that she wouldn't suffer as much as she did in Kusagakure.

There wasn't any way for her to guess that the reason why Fujin recruited her didn't have much to do with her healing ability. It had more to do with her Uzumaki blood and her future potential.

While he would use her healing ability if need be, he didn't intend to make her the ‘healer’ of the Phantom Haven Society. If anything, making her do that would be counterintuitive to his goal of creating top-quality medical ninjas in the Phantom Haven. It would also make her hate him. Hence, forcing her into that role would be extremely short-sighted.

On the contrary, what he did will ensure that Karin becomes very loyal to him. She could become as loyal to him as Kimimaro was to Orochimaru. Since he couldn't keep an eye on the base all the time, this aspect was way more important for Fujin as compared to Orochimaru and Danzo.

As Fujin had expected, his words had a massive impact on Karin. Fujin's impression in her mind became very good and she felt safe with him. She hadn't felt this safe with anyone else, not even with her mother as she was helpless herself. Karin thought, ‘He's being so kind to me. I can't be so ungrateful.’

She said, “I can use my ability if our organization needs it. As long as it is with my permission, I don't mind it.”

However, Fujin's clone shook his head and said, “No, my reason for doing so isn't entirely for you. As I said earlier, your ability is too convenient. If you use it freely, everyone will become dependent on you and others will be reluctant to become medical ninjas because you can handle it.

While it'll be fine for now since our organization is small, it'll become stressful for you as we grow bigger. That won't be good for your health. So, unless there is no other choice and you need to save someone, don't tell anyone about your ability.

If you want to help others out, then learn Medical Ninjutsu and become a proper Medical Ninja instead of someone who just uses her natural ability. You'll be able to help out a lot more in that way, understood?”

With a smile on her face, Karin said, “I understand.”

She thought, ‘I guess I'll really be finding a good home now. I wish my mother was still alive. Perhaps she could have lived in peace here as well.’

Fujin's clone got up and said, “Good. I believe that even without this ability, you'll become an excellent Medical Ninja. Of course, don't be limited by your ability. You can do a lot more than just heal others. I hope to see you become a very strong ninja in the future. Let's go.”

His words increased Karin's confidence a lot. Ever since a young age, she had been just used by others for this ability of hers. Other than her mother, no one showed her love. No one showed her compassion. No one believed in her worth. Yet, Fujin's clone had spoken so highly of her and made her optimistic about her future.

Karin quickly followed Fujin's clone as he moved towards the base. As he moved, Fujin's clone thought, ‘Hmm, not bad. I can sense various batches of ninjas training in this valley. It looks like Shigeki has finally become confident enough to start training openly in the valley. Of course, with my seals, it'll still be difficult for anyone to detect them as long as they don't go in the outer parts.’

He avoided those ninjas and rushed straight to the center of the valley. Karin reached it a second later and looked around in confusion. There was no sign of any base around her. Instead, it just looked like a normal valley with no signs of civilization.

She asked, “Is the base here? I can't see anything.”

Fujin's clone looked at her and said, “Try sensing, but only in this area. Don't extend your chakra field beyond it.”

Karin followed his instructions while wondering, ‘What does he want me to detect?’

As she expected, she couldn't sense anything and said, “I can't sense anything here.”

Fujin's clone muttered, “So, you can't sense anything. Hmm… Well, it's fine. It would be too much to expect you to sense it just because you are an Uzumaki.”

Karin asked, “What does being an Uzumaki have to do with this?”

Fujin's clone made a hand seal while saying, “Even though your ability to heal others and transfer chakra is neat, that isn't what the Uzumaki clan was known for. I guess you don't know much about the original Uzumaki clan because it was destroyed long before your birth.”

Hearing about her clan, Karin became very curious. Her mother didn't tell her much due to her young age. So Karin was always curious about her clan and wondered frequently how her life would be if her clan still existed.

Fujin's clone continued, “I'll tell you a few things about the Uzumaki clan. They were known for two things. The first was their vast chakra reserves. It made them quite a menace on the battlefield as they almost always outlasted their enemies. Your ability to heal others should be an added effect due to this aspect of Uzumaki ninjas.

The second thing that they were known for was Fuinjutsu. This was even more dangerous. It was so dangerous that even the major villages were afraid of their seals. That fear made several major villages align together and attack Uzushiogakure which ended up destroying the village and forcing some survivors like your mother to flee.

Watch carefully. I'll show you what seals can do.”

Karin paid full attention to his words. For the first time, she had gotten a reason for her having that ability. She had also heard that the Uzumaki clan excelled in Fuinjutsu for the first time.

She was very curious to see what the seals could do. Her eyes widened as the scenery around her changed. She saw the ground under her feet disappearing. Instead, a barrier appeared under her feet! Under the barrier, she saw several buildings and ninjas who were looking at the two of them. She realized that it was the Phantom Haven base.

She couldn't help but wonder, ‘Was that Genjutsu? No, my chakra isn't influenced. Can seals do something so extraordinary? I couldn't sense them despite them being so close to me!’

Fujin's clone said, “This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Fuinjutsu. If you are interested in it, then I'll provide you with the materials needed to learn it. Of course, you'll need to work with a lot of dedication for decades to actually become a Fuinjutsu Grandmaster. So don't think about it for the time being. I'll teach you more tricks once you become stronger if you develop an interest towards it.”

Karin just nodded obediently. The barrier under their feet suddenly disappeared and the two entered the base.

[A/N: Great to be back guys. Hope you guys had a great weekend as well :)]