"Hmph, acting all mysterious. You have to at least tell me where your destination is, right?"
"Kusagakure (The Village Hidden in the Grass)!"
At the same time, in the Grass Ninja Village.
Crash!
A red-haired girl dropped the oil lamp in her hand and covered her mouth tightly. Her body trembled as tears streamed down her eyes.
An extremely terrifying sight was reflected in her pearl-like eyes. Several ninjas from the same village were lying in her mother's arms. They were all biting her arms, thighs, and shoulders like evil ghosts, sucking the life force out of her body.
The way they looked at the woman was like she was nothing but an object in their eyes. Despite the loud noise caused by the lamp, they did not stop their actions.
Fear!
Intense fear invaded the little girl's heart, making her body become as stiff as if she had been petrified. Seeing her mother in such a state was never something she could have expected.
But after the fear settled in, a wave of extreme anger coursed through her blood! She wanted to rush forward to save her mother, even if she would have to face a group of terrifying evil spirits!
She wanted to kill them all!
But just when the girl was about to take a step forward to save her mother, a tall and strong figure blocked her path.
"Is it you?" The red-haired girl's body was trembling, her eyes once again filled with fear.
Zosui, the director of the Operation Department of Kusagakure. There was no doubt that he was a jounin, and he had experienced hundreds of battles.
"Back off, kid." The man looked down at Uzumaki Karin and said expressionlessly, "Keeping you alive is your mother's last wish. Don't let her down. Don't force me to take action against you as well."
"Why?" Tears welled up in Karin's red eyes, and she exclaimed loudly, "Why must my mother be sacrificed?"
"This is for the future of the Village Hidden in the Grass," Koishikawa Liuyun said calmly and unhurriedly. "You should know that we are fighting against the villains of the Land of Earth. If the main ninjas on our side can recover as soon as possible, the balance of victory will tilt to our side. We cannot let any opportunity slip through our hands."
"No, I don't want it!" The small Karin shook her head crazily and roared with anger on her face, "I don't care about the victory of the country! I only want my mother to be safe! Get out of my way!"
Even though she was usually afraid of the scary man in front of her, at this moment, the little girl bravely raised her fist at him for the sake of her mother.
"Hmph, you stubborn brat." Zosui's lips curled into a sneer at the corner of his mouth. He also punched back to meet the attack head-on.
He had no intention of killing the disobedient child in front of him. After all, Karin's bloodline was still of great use to the Grass Ninja Village. All he needed to do was punish her a little to let her know the consequences of defying the village's order and knock her out.
However, just as his fist was about to touch Uzumaki Karin's forehead, a slightly short figure appeared between the two of them and stopped the attacks effortlessly.
**Boom.**
There was a muffled sound in the air, and the jounin Zosui's body was sent hurling backward in the next moment.
Before he could land, the short figure suddenly appeared by his side as if teleporting instantly. The boy raised his hand and punched down on the man's abdomen.
**Boom.**
The jounin's body bent as it struck the ground with a loud bang. The boy used enough force that the collision created a crater with a diameter of several meters.
After being struck, the jounin coughed up a mouthful of blood, only for it to land back on his face. His consciousness started to blur as the man lay motionless on the ground.
With a strong flow of wind, the dust started to disperse, clearing the area.
The moonlight shone brightly on the young man's face. At this moment, he was like a god who had descended from heaven, holding power that people could only look up to!
Witnessing this scene, Karin was left stunned, her face full of shock.
As if sensing her gaze, the young man turned his head and glanced at her, asking softly, "Are you okay?"
"Well, I'm fine." Little Karin nodded blankly, then she suddenly recalled and said worriedly, "But my mother..."
Before she could complete her words, the 'ghosts' who were latched on her mother finally snapped out of their daze and rushed toward the three of them.
"Minister Zosui?"
"What's going on?"
"Who are you, little brat?"
Hearing the loud noise from earlier, all the people in the Hidden Grass Ninja Village emerged from the hut one after another, looks of surprise on their faces at the sight of the village chief lying on the ground.
Arata didn't waste time with words and just slapped his hands on the ground in a hand seal. "Earth Release: Earth Pierce!"
"Not good!"
"Get out of the way!"
Several earth spikes suddenly appeared from the ground, first penetrating the two nearby ninjas who were unable to dodge.
The other Grass Ninja, who were a little farther away, reacted quickly and dodged the first wave of ground spike attacks by creating distance between themselves and the caster.
But they underestimated the range of Arata's ninjutsu. Even if they were far from the center of the operation, they still could not escape the fate of death.
Splash!
Pfft!
Like evil spirits, this group of people had sucked up the life force from Karin's mother, and now tthey were pierced by the bloodied spikes one by one. No one had the chance to defend themselves at all.
The horrifying sight was like a scene from hell!