Chapter 127: Karin

Chapter 127: Karin

The giant bear, charging like a small mountain, suddenly came to a halt. A torrent of blood gushed from its neck, and its massive head thudded to the ground.

Seeing the bear fall, Karin was utterly stunned. Her mind went blank, completely devoid of thought.

Ino walked over from the side, first glancing at Karin's forehead protector out of habit, then asking with a hint of annoyance, "A ninja from Kusagakure? Where's your scroll? Hand it over."

Karin didn't dare move, nor did she dare pick up her glasses. Her vision was blurry, and she instinctively shook her head. "Scroll? Ah... right, the scroll. It's not on me. My teammates have it. I got separated from them."

Ino didn't believe her. "You, stand up."

Karin trembled like a quail as she stood up.

Ino took a moment to examine her. The girl was dirty and scrawny, but her features weren't bad.

Noticing her red hair, Ino asked, "Are you Karin from Kusagakure?"

"...You know me?"

"No. Stand straight. Stop shaking."

The more Ino said this, the more Karin trembled.

Ino began patting her down. She checked her hair—nothing. Her clothes—nothing. Her pants—still nothing.

Karin had been feeling a restless heat in her body, a side effect of her unusually strong life force. But as Ino searched her, a coolness seemed to counteract the heat, calming her down.

Karin closed her eyes. The girl's hands felt almost magical as they brushed over her face. They were so cool, so soothing...

She couldn't help but open her eyes. Even with her nearsightedness, she could see Ino's slender, flawless fingers up close. They were like works of art, pale as jade.

Ino's skin was immaculate, her face, chin, collarbone, and arms all exquisitely refined. Every expression and movement carried an air of authority. Karin felt ashamed of her own disheveled appearance and couldn't help but lower her head again.

After thoroughly searching Karin, Ino sighed softly. "Guess I'm out of luck. I'm not unreasonable, though. You can go."

Karin picked up her glasses and scurried away in a panic.

About ten seconds later, Choji and Shikamaru caught up.

The three of them began examining the bear.

"I heard bear paws are a rare delicacy. Choji, can you cook them?" Ino asked.

Choji was here for the Chunin Exams, not a cooking competition. Even if he knew how to prepare bear paws, this bear was far too massive. Its head, severed by a water-style jutsu, was taller than all three of them, and its paws were the size of small houses. Normal cooking skills were useless here.

Shikamaru suggested, "Let's just roast them. It might not taste the best, but it'll fill our stomachs."

Ino had no objections, so the three of them began roasting the bear paws in the forest.

Karin ran several hundred meters away, then, for some reason, went to the river to wash her face and tidy her messy hair. With a mix of nervousness and hope, she circled back.

Ino noticed her standing at a distance and waved her over to join them. The bear was so large that even a month wouldn't be enough for the three of them to finish it. One more mouth wouldn't make a difference.

"No... no need," Karin stammered, hiding behind a tree and waving her hands.

"Do you know her?" Shikamaru asked.

Ino shook her head. "No, don't worry about her."

The three of them continued eating the roasted bear paws, ignoring Karin.

Halfway through their meal, Sasuke appeared, fetching water.

"What scrolls do you have?" both sides asked simultaneously.

Shikamaru laid out six Earth Scrolls in a row. Sasuke's expression turned odd.

"You have Earth Scrolls too?" Shikamaru asked, his tone questioning. Sasuke nodded slightly.

All four of them looked frustrated. What kind of luck was this? It wasn't just bad luck—it felt like someone was deliberately preventing the top teams from facing each other in the second exam. The idea that there was no behind-the-scenes manipulation was hard to believe.

With both sides holding Earth Scrolls, there was no reason to fight.

Sasuke declined Shikamaru's offer to join them for bear paw and went to fetch water from a nearby stream before leaving alone.

Team 10 continued eating. Seeing that Karin meant no harm, Ino called her over again. This time, Karin, likely starving, hesitated but eventually grabbed a piece of meat and sat three meters away, devouring it ravenously.

As they ate, the ground suddenly shook violently. In the distance, a cloud of dust rose from the trees, accompanied by the sound of falling timber.

This was clearly a large-scale, high-level jutsu.

Shikamaru climbed to a higher vantage point to get a better look.

He turned to Ino, the team's resident jutsu expert, unofficial scout, and unofficial medic. "Something's happening over there. Is that a Wind Style jutsu?"

Ino studied the scene carefully. She also knew Wind Style, but her level was relatively low, having only recently reached Level 2. Even with chakra enhancement, she couldn't achieve such an effect. "It must be. Judging by the scale, it's at least a B-rank jutsu. And the user's Wind Style is far superior to mine. It looks like something a jonin would use."

Shikamaru pondered. "That much stronger than you? Could it be someone from Sunagakure? That guy with the gourd?"

Ino answered cautiously, "Probably not. Sunagakure is in the Land of Wind, but not many of their ninjas use Wind Style. Only that 'plain-looking' blonde girl uses it. It's likely someone else."

Shikamaru's expression turned serious. "That direction... isn't that where Sasuke went?"

Though usually laid-back, Shikamaru deeply cared about his village and comrades. In the original timeline, when Ino went to save Sakura, he had dragged Choji along by his scarf, forcing his friend to join the effort. The Sasuke Retrieval Mission was another example—Shikamaru had pushed himself to his limits.

When it came to the Will of Fire, the Yamanaka clan had always lagged behind the Nara clan. After the death of Akimichi Chōza, the Akimichi clan had also abandoned the Will of Fire.

Shikamaru's loyalty to his comrades and village surpassed that of Ino and Choji.

Ino used her sensory abilities to scan the area. Her sensing wasn't as precise as the Byakugan, so she could only make a rough estimate.

About three kilometers southeast of their position, she detected the chakra signatures of Team 7, along with a slightly unusual one.

Was it Orochimaru?

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