With Haku's support, Karin, her head wrapped in bandages, left the hospital without arousing any suspicion.
Standing at the hospital's entrance, Uchiha Shinji watched them depart, thinking to himself, It's time to start moving on Yakumo's side!
So far, his plan had gone off without a hitch!
As the last remnant of the Uzumaki clan, brought back to the village by Jiraiya himself, Karin had once been the focus of much attention in the Hidden Leaf.
But as Shinji, Sasuke, and others shone brightly at the Shinobi Academy, and with Yakumo's recent meteoric rise overshadowing everyone, the village's higher-ups gradually stopped paying attention to her.
After all, Yakumo, who wielded the Wood Release—a technique of special significance to the Hidden Leaf—was far more noteworthy than a lone Uzumaki orphan.
Especially now, with both the Akatsuki organization and the rogue shinobi Orochimaru setting their sights on Yakumo, the village's focus had shifted entirely to her.
Afternoon.
Upon receiving the news, Jiraiya hurriedly rushed to Karin's apartment.
"Jiraiya-sama!"
Karin opened the door, warmly welcoming Jiraiya inside.
Though her encounter with Jiraiya had been orchestrated by the Grass shinobi, she still felt deep gratitude toward him.
Unlike other Hidden Leaf shinobi who ignored her as an Uzumaki orphan, Jiraiya had brought her back to the village.
Jiraiya placed a basket of fruit on the table. "How could you be so careless? Is the injury serious? I heard it nearly hit your eyes."
Karin quickly shook her head. "No, no, my eyes are fine. The hospital said I just need to rest for a while until the wound fully heals."
Jiraiya closely examined the injury on Karin's head.
Karin grew tense, fearing Jiraiya might notice something amiss.
But though the wound near her eyes had already healed, it was tightly wrapped in bandages by Shinji, so even Jiraiya couldn't discern anything unusual for the moment.
"Good to know you're okay. Be more careful in the future. If you had injured your eyes, you might not even be able to continue as a shinobi."
Jiraiya offered a few words of advice.
Karin's heart warmed. "Thank you for your concern!"
After confirming that Karin's injury wasn't serious and that she only needed to rest at home to recover, Jiraiya left her some living expenses and departed as hurriedly as he had arrived.
Jiraiya's fleeting visit left Karin, who had been on edge fearing exposure, with an unexpected sense of loss.
Perhaps the greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment.
When Jiraiya first returned to the village, he frequently visited her. But after Naruto was attacked, his visits became less and less frequent.
Later, she learned that Jiraiya hadn't come to see her because he'd been busy training Naruto.
After seeing Jiraiya off, Karin closed the door.
Leaning against the apartment door, she sighed softly. "Lord Jiraiya must be rushing off to look after Naruto, right?"
She knew Naruto was the Hidden Leaf's Nine-Tails Jinchuriki and that she shouldn't compare herself to him, but the sense of loss was impossible to suppress.
Thump, thump.
At that moment, the fully damaged Mangekyo Sharingan in her eye sockets began to stir again.
Clutching her eyes, she suddenly thought, As long as the Leader still needs me, my life has meaning!
In an instant, the disappointment on her face faded.
The Grass shinobi didn't care about her? It doesn't matter!
The Hidden Leaf didn't care about her? It doesn't matter!
Even if Jiraiya didn't care about her? It doesn't matter!
As long as the Leader needed her, valued her, her existence had purpose, and her heart could find peace. So she immediately pushed aside her cluttered thoughts and lay back on the bed.
She needed to focus entirely on restoring the fully damaged Mangekyo Sharingan in her eye sockets. She had to prove her worth to the Leader.
She would show that she was no less than Naruto or Yakumo!
While Karin poured Yang Release chakra into the fully damaged Mangekyo Sharingan, Jiraiya arrived at the Hidden Leaf Hospital.
Karin's guess was correct. Jiraiya had left so hastily because, at noon, Yakumo had approached him, offering to assist in Naruto's special training.
Yakumo's reasoning was simple.
She wanted to use the opportunity of training Naruto to hone her control over Wood Release.
Faced with this reasoning, even Tsunade couldn't refuse.
As the pioneer of Hidden Leaf's medical ninjutsu, Tsunade knew better than anyone that surviving the First Hokage's cell transplant was only the first step to mastering Wood Release.
Whether Yakumo could unleash the true power of Wood Release depended on her integration with the First Hokage's cells and her mastery of the technique.
These were things Yakumo had to refine on her own—no one could do it for her.
Upon seeing Tsunade and Yakumo, Jiraiya asked Yakumo directly, "Have you thought this through? This training carries risks!"
"Yes!" Yakumo nodded, then added, "But this training can't interfere with my participation in the academy's sparring test."
Jiraiya smiled. "No need to worry about that. I'll personally oversee the training. You just need to step in at critical moments to suppress Naruto if he goes berserk. It won't take up much of your time."
Yakumo replied, "Then I'm fine with it."
Jiraiya turned to Tsunade. "Tsunade, thank you!"
"No need." Shaking her head, Tsunade said, "Given the current situation, helping Naruto master the tailed beast's power is the right choice. I'll assist you both."
"Fantastic!"
Jiraiya was overjoyed.
With Tsunade's involvement and Yakumo's mastery of Wood Release, he suddenly felt confident about training Naruto to harness the tailed beast's power.
Tsunade cautioned, "Don't get too excited. The Nine-Tails isn't so easily tamed."
Jiraiya laughed. "That kid Naruto always pulls off the unexpected. Just watch—he'll surprise you this time!"
Having grown accustomed to a disciple like the Fourth Hokage, Jiraiya had initially found Naruto somewhat difficult to handle. But Naruto always managed to create miracles, bringing him surprises. Gradually, Jiraiya realized Naruto wasn't as ignorant or naive as he seemed on the surface.
On the contrary, the more he got to know Naruto, the more he discovered that Naruto possessed the same extraordinary battle instincts as the Fourth Hokage!
Shinobi with such traits could often defeat stronger opponents, maximizing every ounce of their strength.
So, if Naruto could harness even a fraction of the tailed beast's power, he would grow into an exceptionally powerful shinobi. And if, by some stroke of luck, Naruto became a perfect Jinchuriki like the Cloud's Killer Bee, Jiraiya believed his future achievements might even surpass the Fourth Hokage's.