The pure-blooded members of the Uzumaki Clan all shared a distinct trait: their hair was always a vibrant red. Only after extreme chakra depletion would that red fade into white.
In fact, nearly every red-haired character who appeared in the world of shinobi could be traced back to the Uzumaki bloodline.
And right now, the young girl crying out desperately before Haruto bore that very same trait. Her features were still childish, but even so, Haruto could clearly see her resemblance to Karin.
"…This is almost too much of a coincidence."
Senju Haruto couldn't help muttering inwardly. He had just arrived in Kusagakure, and here he was—face-to-face with the very person he had been looking for. He could only admit: his luck was unbelievably good.
But Karin's situation was dire.
Three burly adult men were savagely kicking and punching her. Standing nearby, with an impatient look plastered across his face, was a Kusagakure shinobi.
Karin's body was already covered in bruises of blue and purple, evidence that the beating had been going on for some time.
By now she had completely given up resisting. Like a stray dog, she lay crumpled on the ground, too weak even to raise her arms to shield her head. Her voice was fading to a weak murmur, whispering over and over: Please… stop hitting me…
The passersby on the street acted as though this kind of scene was perfectly ordinary. Not a single one stepped forward to intervene.
Many even quickened their pace as they passed, deliberately avoiding the sight, as though nothing were happening at all.
The truth was, Kusagakure might have been a shinobi village, but it was nothing like the stability and order of the Five Great Villages.
Combined with the corruption rotting the Land of Grass from the inside, all sorts of black-market trades flourished.
Human trafficking was one of them.
Haruto remembered clearly: Karin and her mother had been sold back and forth like commodities from the very start.
When Kusagakure eventually collapsed, she had once again been traded away like an object—only then did she encounter Orochimaru.
If Haruto wasn't mistaken, this moment should be Karin's first time being trafficked into Kusagakure, where she was intended to be used as a disposable medical tool for shinobi.
When she resisted, this was the result.
These traffickers had no pity, no conscience.
"…Stop."
With a cold edge in his voice, Senju Haruto strode forward.
It wasn't just disgust for the traffickers that drove him—he also knew how valuable Karin was.
Brought back to the village and trained properly, she could become another Uzumaki Kushina.
Now that fate had brought them together, how could he possibly let this chance slip away?
The men beating Karin froze when they heard his voice.
They turned their heads, looking at Haruto in disbelief, as if they doubted their ears.
"Where the hell did this brat crawl out from? Go home to your mom."
The one who spoke was a scar-faced thug, a jagged mark running down his cheek like a centipede.
He had originally planned to sell Karin to a Kusagakure ninja for a high price. But the girl had kept trying to escape. When she'd been caught, she had even bitten him viciously.
Combined with the pressure from the Kusagakure ninja standing nearby, his temper had grown violent and unstable.
Now, with Haruto interfering, all that pent-up rage ignited into fury.
Karin, on the other hand, forced her swollen eyes open. She had lost teeth, her face battered beyond recognition—but in the depths of despair, she heard Haruto's voice.
For someone like her, such a fragile glimmer of hope was something she knew better than to trust.
And yet, in this moment, she wanted desperately to cling to it.
"…Help… me…"
But the plea had barely escaped her lips when the scar-faced man lifted his leg and aimed a brutal kick straight at her head.
At that instant, a sharp kunai whistled through the air and drove itself into the man's calf.
"AAAAH!"
The scar-faced thug screamed in agony, collapsing to the ground with a heavy thud.
For Senju Haruto, killing him would have been effortless.
But death would have been far too merciful.
"…A ninja?"
The Kusagakure shinobi, who had been silently watching from the side, suddenly narrowed his eyes.
The angle, the precision, the force of that kunai throw—only a trained shinobi could manage such a strike.
So this wasn't just some meddling kid.
His gaze shifted, and only then did he notice Haruto clearly—and Kakashi crouched weakly behind him.
At that moment, Kakashi was pale and half-squatting, trying to suppress the waves of pain crashing through his battered body.
"…Konoha shinobi."
The Kusagakure ninja frowned as soon as he saw Kakashi's forehead protector.
He didn't know why Leaf shinobi would suddenly appear here, but it was obvious Kakashi was injured.
The traffickers also stiffened at the word ninja.
They were large men, but mere thugs. Against true shinobi, they were at a disadvantage—and now one of them was writhing on the ground, calf impaled.
The scar-faced man glared at Haruto with pure hatred through the haze of pain.
"As shinobi from an allied village, I suggest you leave at once and don't meddle where you shouldn't."
The Kusagakure ninja spoke coldly, but inwardly he wasn't worried.
They were on his turf.
Kakashi was badly wounded.
And by the looks of it, Haruto was probably Kakashi's subordinate. They'd likely been ambushed on some mission, barely escaping with their lives before stumbling here.
A shinobi's ability to analyze was one of his sharpest weapons.
And this Kusagakure shinobi believed he'd already seen through everything.
Which meant there was nothing to fear.
In fact, he could kill them both right here and frame the situation however he liked.
Not even Konoha could easily hold Kusagakure accountable.
His words seemed to rekindle the scar-faced thug's courage.
Clenching his teeth, he yanked the kunai out of his calf, staggered over to Karin, and roughly grabbed her arm.
Then—he bit down hard.
As he sucked in chakra, his mangled calf began to heal rapidly, the torn flesh knitting back together before their very eyes.
Kakashi's single visible eye widened in shock.
So it was true.
The rumor Haruto had mentioned… was real.
And the red-haired girl before them was the very person they had been searching for.
"Get them!"
The scar-faced thug tossed Karin aside like garbage.
Clutching the kunai in his hand, he roared, charging forward with his two remaining companions.
The Kusagakure shinobi didn't even move, choosing instead to observe.
In his estimation, Haruto was at best a genin.
Fending off three grown men at once wouldn't be so simple.
But before the thugs could even reach him—
Senju Haruto vanished.
Right in front of their eyes.