"That… that couldn't be the Daimyo of the Land of Grass, could it?"
Sweat dripped from Kakashi's forehead. He knew that he couldn't have changed anything even if he hadn't been a step late. In all his years in the ninja world, even participating in the Third Great Ninja War, he had never seen anyone kill a noble, let alone a Daimyo!
In the ninja world, there was a huge difference between ordinary nobles and a Daimyo. While ordinary nobles could be a hassle, they were numerous within a country, somewhat like the various clans in Konoha but without the ninja heritage.
A Daimyo, however, was different. Each country had only one Daimyo, who was equivalent to the Hokage in Konoha.
What Whitebeard had done was akin to... killing a Hokage!
"Dad!!" Like an unrestrained fox, Naruto rushed away from Kakashi and ran towards Whitebeard, excitedly shouting, "Dad! Uncle Kakashi and I just teamed up and defeated a Kusagakure ninja!"
Naruto's arrival dispersed the dark clouds in Whitebeard's mood. His smile, now genuine and hearty, replaced the earlier anger.
Whitebeard laughed heartily, "Gurararara! Stupid son, making some progress, huh! What level of ninja did you defeat?"
"Uncle Kakashi said it was a Chunin!"
Naruto had already reached Whitebeard. The bloody scene around him barely fazed him anymore. Following Whitebeard for this long, Naruto had witnessed many shocking sights. He had initially turned pale and even vomited, but now, he was mostly desensitized.
"Eh?" Naruto suddenly noticed a red-haired child sitting on Whitebeard's shoulder, seemingly a girl. "Dad, who's she?" Naruto scratched his head, puzzled.
"Stupid son, she's Karin," Whitebeard introduced. "From today on, she is my daughter! She's also your new family member, Uzumaki Naruto!"
"Family?"
"Daughter?"
Two shocked voices echoed, one from Naruto and the other from Uzumaki Kushina.
"She's your daughter? She's about my age! Karin, that's a tongue-twister of a name!" Naruto exclaimed, his eyes wide.
At this moment, Karin, sitting on Whitebeard's shoulder, cautiously opened her eyes. Though she hadn't seen anything earlier, she now heard Whitebeard talking with someone else.
When Karin saw the bodies on the ground, her face turned as pale as paper. But upon seeing her mother, she relaxed a bit, then looked at Naruto with a confused and shy expression.
"Hi!" Naruto suddenly gave her a thumbs-up, his smile as bright as it could be.
In the dark, bloody Kusagakure, his smile was particularly striking.
"I'm Uzumaki Naruto!" Naruto's smile was genuine; he was truly happy. "I'm also Whitebeard's son, his first son in the ninja world! Since you're Dad's daughter, we're family now!"
"Uzumaki Naruto... family..." Karin was momentarily stunned. Perhaps Naruto's infectious smile gave her courage.
"I'm Karin!"
"We are... family!"
She spoke earnestly, though her serious tone sounded cute for her age.
At that moment, the most bewildered person was Kushina. She hadn't expected that after surviving a "doomed" mission and returning to the village, her daughter Karin would suddenly gain a "father."
Karin had accepted this Whitebeard as her father!
This... might actually be a good thing. Kushina knew she couldn't provide Karin with a nurturing environment. Finding a place like Kusagakure had already been her limit. She knew she had failed as a mother.
"Mom is family too!" Karin suddenly added, trying to speak seriously, though her tone sounded endearing for her age.
"Mom? Oh!" Naruto clapped his hands together in realization. "You're the lady mentioned before with a daughter! Oh, I remember now!"
Whitebeard looked at Kushina. She was only in her twenties, likely having given birth to Karin before she turned twenty. Karin and Naruto were about the same age, around five or six.
Kushina was very thin, malnourished, with little will to live. If not for Karin, she might have taken her own life in the dark hell of Kusagakure.
"Red-haired girl," Whitebeard addressed Kushina. "Besides Karin, do you have any other family in the ninja world? What about the man who fathered Karin with you?"
Kushina hesitated, then replied, "My husband was also a survivor of the Uzumaki clan, but he abandoned us."
"What an irresponsible guy," Whitebeard frowned.
"Red-haired girl," to Kushina's surprise, Whitebeard extended his hand to her. "From today on, be my daughter."
"Ah?" Kushina was nearly stunned. She looked up at Whitebeard, seeing the sincerity in his expression. He seemed genuine.
"I... but I..." Kushina hadn't expected anyone to want her as a daughter, especially a stranger like Whitebeard.
Kushina hadn't felt a shred of warmth since arriving in Kusagakure with Karin and every day had been filled with suffering. When Whitebeard accepted Karin as his daughter, she felt happiness for Karin but also a pang of envy she couldn't understand.
As an orphan, "family" was a luxury for Kushina. But now, a man named Whitebeard was offering to be her family, to recognize her as his own.
"Mom is crying," Karin said, seeing tears in her mother's eyes. She sensed that her mother wasn't sad but experiencing a unique joy, a joy that turned into tears.
Karin was right. Kushina felt an overwhelming sense of joy, forgetting that accepting would mean her daughter would be her sister in family terms.
She spoke.
"Dad!"
...
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