Chapter 54: Konoha, The Sasuke's Profit  

The three Rain ninjas fell to the ground one after another, as if they were under a spell, sleeping peacefully. Sasuke's figure appeared in front of Karin like a ghost.

"Huh... That was a close call. It almost happened," Sasuke said with lingering fear, touching his forehead, though it wasn't sweating.

Indeed, if he had arrived any later, he might have had to collect Karin's body. Fortunately, he arrived in time and prevented a tragedy.

"What happened?" Karin, who had her eyes closed, opened them in confusion when she heard Sasuke's voice. When she saw a handsome man standing before her and the bodies of the three Rain ninjas behind him, she was stunned.

Then, Karin looked at Sasuke nervously, her eyes full of fear and uneasiness. Trembling slightly, she asked, "You... are you here to kill me too? Please don't kill me, I'm really useful! If you take a bite of me, you can quickly replenish the chakra you've used."

Sasuke silently looked at Karin, who was trying to demonstrate her usefulness to him. His heart was filled with sorrow and pity. He slowly stepped forward, extended his arms without hesitation, and hugged Karin tightly.

Karin hadn't fully grasped what was happening and suddenly found herself embraced by a pair of strong arms. Her face pressed against Sasuke's warm, broad chest, and she felt lost for a moment.

Sasuke gently stroked Karin's soft red hair and whispered, "It's okay. From now on, let me protect you. I won't let anyone harm you, not even a little."

Hearing Sasuke's firm and affectionate words, Karin's heart was overwhelmed by a surge of warmth. She was so moved that tears welled up in her eyes, streaming down her cheeks and soaking Sasuke's chest.

Sasuke didn't say much as he saw this; he simply patted Karin's back silently, using this gesture to calm her down. However, deep in his heart, he had already sentenced the beasts of Kusagakure Village to death.

After Karin's emotions gradually stabilized, she slowly raised her head, looked at Sasuke with shyness, her cheeks flushed like the sunset, and softly said, "Um... I don't know your name yet! My name is Karin."

Sasuke smiled slightly and responded, "My name is Uchiha Sasuke, and I am a ninja from Konoha Village. Would you like to join our Konoha Village?"

Hearing this, Karin couldn't help but show a look of surprise. She hurriedly asked, "Really? Am I qualified?"

Sasuke nodded and answered firmly, "Of course. After all, the Uzumaki clan and Konoha Village have always had a close relationship and can be called allies."

Looking back on history, Hashirama Senju and Mito Uzumaki were married, and since then, the Land of Whirlpools and Konoha Village naturally formed an alliance and became friends.

However, it was regrettable that when the Land of Whirlpools was besieged by Kumogakure and the Hidden Mist Village due to its unique sealing techniques, Konoha Village chose to stand by and watch.

Some might argue that the situation was urgent, and they were unable to lend aid, but that was not the case. At the time, there was no intense war like the Third Shinobi World War, where Konoha had to deal with attacks from all four major ninja villages simultaneously. There was no valid reason not to help the Land of Whirlpools. The so-called "too late" or "unable to assist" was merely an excuse.

Instead, they waited until the Land of Whirlpools was destroyed before swooping in to collect its legacy, easily obtaining the Uzumaki clan's sealing techniques, as well as a container for sealing the Nine-Tails—Uzumaki Kushina. It could be said that Konoha Village was the biggest beneficiary in this struggle, reaping all the rewards.

Hearing Sasuke's words, Karin nodded without hesitation and agreed, "Great, I am willing to join Konoha!"

Then, Sasuke took Karin to the tower. When they arrived, they found that other groups had already made it there.

"Hey, Sasuke, you're finally here," Shikamaru greeted Sasuke first.

Since their two teams were working together, and they had been fortunate enough to collect the required scrolls smoothly, they had arrived at the tower early.

"Yeah, we encountered a very difficult enemy along the way," Sasuke replied with a relaxed expression.

"Even you found it difficult? It seems this competition isn't easy at all," Shikamaru said thoughtfully. Unfortunately, before he could finish speaking, he was pushed aside by Ino and Sakura.

Ino rushed to Sasuke and hugged him tightly. "Sasuke! Woohoo, I missed you so much!" Then she noticed Karin standing beside Sasuke. She let go of Sasuke and asked with a smile, "Sasuke, who is this beautiful lady? Why don't you introduce her to us?" As she said this, Ino also winked playfully at Sasuke.

In fact, she had already noticed the scent of another woman on Sasuke, and when she saw Karin standing next to him, she roughly understood what was going on. So, before Sasuke could speak, she introduced herself first. "Hi, Karin! My name is Ino, and I'm Sasuke's girlfriend. The one next to her is Sakura, who is also Sasuke's... um... girlfriend! Hey, welcome to our big family!"

Karin was a little overwhelmed by Ino's sudden enthusiasm. She looked around nervously and said, "Hello... everyone, my name is Karin. I'm... glad to meet you all!" She then bowed slightly to show her friendliness and respect.

"Okay, Ino, you're being too enthusiastic. Don't scare Karin," Sasuke said with a sigh, feeling helpless in the face of Ino's exuberance.

He really didn't expect Ino to take such a liking to Karin, a new friend. However, Sasuke also understood that Ino was just more outgoing and had no ill intentions.

"Hi!" Ino replied with a mischievous smile and continued chatting with Karin.

Sasuke couldn't help but smile as he saw them talking happily.

Then, the group waited there for the second test to end. While they were waiting, Sasuke thought about it and decided that Kakashi-sensei should take Karin to meet the Third Hokage. After all, Karin's current identity was still that of a Kusagakure ninja.

So, Sasuke found Kakashi and explained the situation to him. After listening to Sasuke's request, Kakashi nodded and agreed. He took Karin to Hiruzen Sarutobi's office and told him about her identity.

After hearing Kakashi's explanation, Hiruzen was silent for a while, as if contemplating something. Finally, he said a few words to Kakashi, and Kakashi took Karin away.

Sasuke didn't know exactly what Kakashi and Hiruzen had discussed, but when he returned home, he found a "big surprise!"

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