"Karin, I'll take you with my team and we'll get out of this forest," Naruto said, still carrying Karin in his arms.
Karin nodded in agreement, snuggling into his embrace, not wanting to be away from him.
"I don't care as long as you take me with you," she replied, her gaze fixed on his eyes.
Naruto smiled and began to move.
He wouldn't use the Flying Thunder God Technique—there was plenty of time, and Karin needed time to think.
A lot had happened in just a few minutes.
Five minutes ago, Karin was with her team.
Then they abandoned her to her fate.
She tried to hide, but a huge bear attacked her.
And then Naruto, who claimed to be her cousin, saved her.
Karin never imagined she still had family in the world—not after her mother died.
Because of all this, Naruto gave her time to think.
He activated Kagura's Mind Eye and focused on tracking Sasuke and Sakura.
It didn't take long for Naruto to locate them and change direction, heading straight toward them.
Jumping swiftly from tree to tree, Naruto sensed an enormous chakra close by.
He knew exactly whose chakra it was: Orochimaru.
For some strange reason, Orochimaru was quickly heading in his direction.
Before he even realized it, Orochimaru was already on top of them.
A giant snake lunged at Naruto and Karin, trying to swallow them whole in one bite.
Naruto scoffed in amusement at Orochimaru's poor attempt at an attack and leaped over it, pushing off the snake's head and landing on a nearby branch.
Realizing what was happening, Karin rolled up her sleeve.
"Don't hesitate—bite me if you get hurt," she said, holding out her arm.
Naruto frowned and shook his head.
"Don't even think about it," he replied. "Besides, someone like him could never hurt me."
Karin smiled at Naruto's refusal to bite her and felt happy about it.
Only then did she look away from Naruto's face and toward the attacker.
It was a woman with long, straight black hair, wearing the Sound Village ninja headband.
The woman hissed and smiled at them in a way that sent chills down Karin's spine.
"Be careful, Karin. She's clearly a pedophile. She might be after our bodies."
Karin, hearing this, covered herself and squinted at Orochimaru.
"Yeah. She's definitely a pervert," Karin agreed, seeing the woman lick her lips.
"Maybe we should call the FBI. They'll bust the door down and drag her off to a cell," Naruto kept joking.
"Yeah, maybe we should call the—wait, what's the FBI?" Karin turned from Orochimaru to look at Naruto, confused.
Naruto burst into amused laughter and ignored her question.
[Kushina Uzumaki: These two… they're dangerous. Looks like they have the same weird sense of humor.]
[Tobirama Senju: If dealing with one is hard enough, I don't even want to imagine handling two.]
[Mito Uzumaki: You need to come back to life as soon as possible, Kushina, or he'll lead that girl down a bad path.]
[Tobirama Senju: I agree with that.]
[Fugaku Uchiha: I don't like to meddle in things that don't concern me. But the girl seems to have fallen for Naruto—am I the only one noticing this?]
[Kushina Uzumaki: Isn't that… a good thing?]
[Mito Uzumaki: Certainly. Their children would be true Uzumaki.]
[Kushina Uzumaki: But doesn't my Naruto already have Hinata and Sasuke...?]
[Tobirama Senju: The brat seems to be surrounded by girls from major clans. First Hyūga, then Uchiha, now Uzumaki. I'm just glad the Senju Clan is safe.]
[Madara Uchiha: It's safe because it doesn't exist! MWAHAHAHA!]
[Hashirama Senju: Tsunade's still around.]
[Madara Uchiha: Your granddaughter must be a wrinkly old lady by now.]
[Hashirama Senju: That's true…]
[Tobirama Senju: Let's just hope the kid's not into grannies.]
[Naruto Uzumaki: The more wrinkled the peach, the sweeter the fruit! Hashirama, even your wife's not safe! If you keep neglecting her, don't be surprised if she starts looking at me instead! HAHAHA!]
[Mito Uzumaki: You heard him, Hashirama! If you keep this up, I'm leaving and not coming back.]
[Naruto Uzumaki: But seriously, your granddaughter Tsunade is still an absolute beauty…]
Despite facing Orochimaru, Naruto couldn't help but reply and send a message in the group chat.
He just couldn't resist making that joke.
Though not everyone took it as one—especially one person in particular.
[Dan Katō: You're talking about the woman who would've been my wife if I hadn't died! Show some respect!]
[Hashirama Senju: Your wife? Who gave you permission to be with MY granddaughter?]
[Tobirama Senju: Hashirama's just joking.]
[Dan Katō: Thank goodness haha]
[Hashirama Senju: I WASN'T JOKING! If you want her hand, you must kneel and beg for 7 days and 7 nights! And I still don't know if I'll accept you! You must be at least as strong as me to even consider taking my precious granddaughter as your wife!]
[Tobirama Senju: No. He wasn't joking.]
[Dan Katō: I-I'll do everything I can, First Hokage.]
[Hashirama Senju: FIRST MISTAKE! Don't call me by my title! Right now, I'm the grandfather of little Tsuna, not the First Hokage!]
[Tobirama Senju: OHHH, I GET IT! YOU'RE PLAYING THE OVERPROTECTIVE GRANDPA ROLE! I LOVE IT, COUNT ME IN!]
[Dan Katō: I-I thought you'd at least support me, Second Hokage…]
[Tobirama Senju: SECOND MISTAKE! Don't call me by my title either! I'm her great-uncle right now, not the Second Hokage!]
Naruto closed the group chat and focused on Orochimaru.
He didn't have time to deal with Hashirama and Tobirama's nonsense.
Though, he did find it funny how they were messing with Dan.
Naruto also made a note to tease him more when the time came to bring Tsunade back to Konoha.
Orochimaru, standing on the head of the giant snake, quickly approached them.
When he was just a few meters away, he stopped.
"What exactly are you doing here, Orochimaru?" Naruto asked bluntly.
Naruto was surprised Orochimaru had attacked him and not Sasuke, which was what he was supposed to do.
Orochimaru was surprised to hear him say his name. "I'm surprised you recognized me, boy."
Let's not forget, Orochimaru managed to kill the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, without Sunagakure realizing it.
He also posed as Rasa for months without being discovered, standing in front of hundreds of Jōnin-ranked ninjas who didn't suspect a thing.
He even infiltrated Konoha and passed as a Chūnin Exam participant.
All of this without anyone realizing or uncovering his true identity.
Naruto shouldn't have recognized him—he'd never been near him before.
Even if Naruto, as Orochimaru suspected, truly had the Eye of Kagura's Mind, he still shouldn't have been able to identify him.
Orochimaru was intensely curious about this.
"How did you know it was me…?" Orochimaru asked.
"None of your damn business," Naruto replied curtly.
Orochimaru had just attacked him, and now he wanted to have a chat to satisfy his curiosity? No way!
If he weren't holding Karin in his arms, Naruto wouldn't even have responded—he would've gone straight for the attack.
What's the point in talking when you're enemies?
Orochimaru frowned in displeasure at the reply, then let out a laugh.
"Kukuku~ You're a very amusing boy..."
"Did you get heatstroke or something?" Naruto asked, feigning concern. "You look really pale." He continued mocking Orochimaru.
Karin giggled in his arms and pointed a finger at Orochimaru.
"Also! What's up with this guy's tongue?! It's disgusting!" Karin joined in, mocking Orochimaru alongside Naruto.
Soon, both Uzumaki were laughing right in Orochimaru's face.
Orochimaru felt completely humiliated.
Where had all the respect that Konoha's people once had for him gone?
HE WAS ONE OF THE THREE LEGENDARY SANNIN!
"BRAT, I'M OROCHIMARU, ONE OF THE THREE LEGENDARY SANNIN! I'M KNOWN AS THE WHITE SNAKE! SHOW SOME DAMN RESPECT!"
Hearing his outburst, Naruto and Karin locked eyes for a few seconds.
Then both smiled—and burst into loud, shameless laughter.
Turning to face Orochimaru, still laughing, they said in unison: