"You're right."
Karin, now in combat gear, looked at Kakashi and pressed her lips.
"But I've already erased everything about Konoha. If you still don't trust me, you can kill me right here."
"I can't return to Sengoku Village anyway—my dignity was forfeited the moment I let personal feelings override intel."
Kakashi narrowed his eyes.
Honesty?
A trap?
Or genuine… surrender?
Karin stood there, waiting for Kakashi's final verdict.
"Go."
Kakashi's voice regained its usual flatness, laced with almost imperceptible weariness.
"I don't kill those who've already lost their Ninja dignity."
In her world, a Ninja who failed her mission, betrayed her Village, and gave up resistance no longer had dignity.
Karin's body trembled almost imperceptibly; she hadn't expected this answer.
She watched Kakashi lower his forehead protector, the motion that hid the Sharingan also sealing away the last threat of death.
A flicker of disbelief crossed her eyes.
Yet as her lips parted to speak—
"Walk away?!"
Naruto stood behind Kakashi, right hand on his sword hilt, blond hair whipping in the wind, face grave with an "I've seen through it all" expression.
"This foreign spy gave up Konoha intel because of you, and now you're letting her walk, Kakashi?!"
Naruto's lips curled.
With a sharp "clang," he drew his blade; the cold steel flashed, catching the dull light and aiming straight at Karin.
"Kakashi Hatake, are you planning to defect from Konoha?"
Karin's pupils shrank; instinctively she stepped forward.
Kakashi's brows snapped together, eyes suddenly sharp. "Naruto! What do you think you're doing?"
Naruto's grin widened, bright and malicious.
"What? Just giving the tragic lovebirds a happy ending."
Before the words finished, while Kakashi stared and Karin stood dumbstruck, Naruto's free left hand pulled two sheets from his Ninja pouch.
Both sheets bore the Konoha emblem and a glaring red header:
Konohagakure Civilian Marriage Registration Form
Even the mountain wind seemed to scatter in confusion.
Karin: "???"
Kakashi: "???"
——————————
Inoichi Yamanaka stood at his desk, utterly stunned.
His eyes wid, body leaning forward, fingers drumming the desk as if to confirm he'd heard correctly: "You… you actually stamped those two marriage certificates for Naruto?"
His voice brimmed with disbelief, as though the Sandaime had been drugged by Naruto.
Had the kid duped the Hokage for some nefarious scheme?
But judging by Naruto's past, probably not.
Behind the desk, Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded slowly.
This time, he wasn't puffing his pipe; his hands were folded on the table, unusually solemn.
"Mm."
The Sandaime's voice was low and certain.
"I've thought this through carefully."
He lifted his gaze, sweeping over Inoichi and the equally stunned Mori Ibi-ki.
"That kunoichi—Karin."
The Sandaime spoke slowly.
"Her espionage skills are extraordinary. You two should know better than anyone."
"Ibiki's torture is unquestionable, yet she endured and still strolled around Konoha with Kakashi as if nothing happened."
Ibiki's scarred face tensed, brows knitting.
"Indeed, her willpower is formidable."
The Sandaime turned to Inoichi, eyes sharp. "Inoichi, your intel is the finest in Konoha, plus your clan's secret art that plumbs the deepest mind."
"Yet against her, your probe was reversed—she used it to siphon Konoha's core secrets."
Inoichi's expression darkened; he recalled the odd, mirror-like resistance when he'd probed Karin's memories. No illusion after all.
He muttered, "Her technique… is uncanny."
"Exactly."
The Sandaime inclined his head.
"A unique ability to steal intel right under the noses of the Yamanaka Clan head and torture master—across the entire Ninja World, possibly unmatched."
He leaned forward slightly, voice carrying strategic weight: "Konoha needs such power."
The old man looked at his two aides, voice steady: "Killing or exiling her is simple."
"But making her one of ours, turning her singular talent to Konoha's defense and intel network—this maximizes profit."
The office fell silent.
Inoichi and Ibiki pondered the profound implications for Konoha's long-term interests.
After a moment, Ibiki raised his head, his usually murderous face wearing an oddly comical expression.
He spoke gruffly, but his words nearly made Inoichi crack:
"Besides… she's beautiful; Kakashi doesn't lose out."
He struggled for the right word, finally settling on the most straightforward.
"The spy's gorgeous; Kakashi isn't at a disadvantage."
Inoichi: "…"
He stared at Ibiki.
Then his tense face relaxed, lips twitching into a helpless chuckle.
He adjusted his glasses to hide his mirth and nodded.
"Ahem… Ibiki's right—he speaks the truth."
"If she refuses, I've ordered Naruto to kill her—she must not leave alive."
"A kunoichi of this caliber—does Sengoku Village train them routinely, or is Karin uniquely gifted?"
The small nation of Kagi had kept quiet; Sengoku Village rarely made news, always docile.
Its first appearance in the Sandaime's sight was through a single spy.
The Sandaime admitted he'd underestimated the heroes of the world.
Kagi's Sengoku Village could capture Konoha's Jonin and cultivate spies like Karin—perhaps it was time to infiltrate Sengoku Village for investigation.