As she followed Hayato Ren who was leading the way, Karura had no intention of escaping whatsoever.
For one, her Chakra had already been sealed, and there was no way she could outrun Hayato Ren with just her long legs.
Secondly, her three disciples were still sleeping back at the spot. If she escaped, Hayato Ren might vent his anger on them in a fit of rage.
Thus, with the resolve of someone marching to a heroic sacrifice, Karura followed behind Hayato Ren as they headed toward the Leaf camp.
She knew that in any village, Jonin were considered top-tier forces.
This meant that the intelligence that could be extracted from a Jonin was often the most valuable.
This also made it difficult for ordinary Jonin to be captured. If there was truly no hope of breaking through, most Jonin would choose to end their own lives.
Because even from a corpse, certain things could be extracted from their head.
So it was better to end it all directly, lest classified information be leaked.
If not for her concern for her teammates, Karura might have chosen this path as well.
After all, sometimes death might be easier than living.
Every village had specialized interrogation departments, and the methods used there could only be described as horrifying.
Karura had once visited the interrogation division of the Sand Hidden Village.
That single visit had left a deep shadow on her.
And the Leaf's interrogation institutions certainly wouldn't be any gentler than the Sand Hidden Village's.
Not to mention there were Ninja who could directly extract information from the brain.
Of course, after extraction, the lightest consequence was becoming a drooling fool, while the most severe was direct brain death, turning into a vegetable.
Karura didn't know what treatment awaited her, and could only follow behind Hayato Ren with an uneasy heart.
"Good afternoon, Lord Ren."
A passing Leaf Ninja stopped and greeted Hayato Ren.
Hayato Ren nodded calmly and continued forward.
This Ninja didn't harbor any suspicion about Karura following behind Hayato Ren.
After all, as the deputy commander, there was no way Hayato Ren would boldly bring an enemy back to headquarters.
Moreover, Karura's forehead protector had already been confiscated by Hayato Ren.
Thus, there was nothing on Karura that could identify her as a Sand Ninja.
Besides, due to the ongoing war, new Ninja arrived at the camp every day.
So one unfamiliar face didn't attract much attention.
Hayato Ren thus brought Karura unimpeded to his quarters.
Although from his first night at the camp until now, Hayato Ren had been staying at Tsunade's place, his own room was spotlessly clean, as if someone cleaned it daily.
Just as Hayato Ren was marveling at the Leaf's excellent service, his nose suddenly caught a faint, somewhat familiar fragrance.
If he remembered correctly, this fragrance should be Nohara Rin's unique natural scent.
In other words, it had been Nohara Rin who had been cleaning this room for Hayato Ren all these days.
Speak of the devil, just as Hayato Ren was about to speak with Karura.
The door was opened from outside once again.
There stood Nohara Rin holding a cleaning cloth, entering the room quietly.
"Teacher, you're back?"
Upon seeing Hayato Ren, Nohara Rin's face immediately broke into a radiant smile.
"Lady Tsunade mentioned you've been on a top-secret mission these days. Is that mission completed now?"
Rin looked up, asking with clear admiration in her expression.
Hearing this, Ren's expression turned somewhat peculiar.
He had been staying at Tsunade's place all these days - when would he have had time for any top-secret mission?
However, to maintain his dignified teacher image, Hayato Ren still nodded.
Then, he reached out to pat Rin's head.
"You've worked hard during this time, always cleaning for me."
Under Ren's skilled head-patting technique, Rin comfortably narrowed her eyes and softly responded:
"This is what I should do, nothing worth praising."
"By the way, I heard you're helping at the temporary hospital recently. How's that going?"
"The seniors there are all so kind, I've learned many new things. Given time, my Medical Ninjutsu will surely surprise you, teacher."
"Then I'll be looking forward to it."
...
Karura, watching from the side as the two displayed such deep teacher-student affection, fell into contemplation.
Were Team Leaders and their students always this close?
Or was it that Leaf and Sand had their own respective national customs?
In Karura's eyes, no matter how she looked at it, the two before her didn't seem to share a purely teacher-student relationship.
At this moment, Nohara Rin finally noticed Karura standing nearby.
"This is..."
Hayato Ren pulled Karura to his side and introduced:
"This is Karura, she'll be serving as my assistant from now on."
"This is Nohara Rin, one of my most outstanding disciples."
Hearing Ren introduce her this way, Rin couldn't help but feel a surge of joy in her heart.
After Rin and Karura briefly introduced themselves to each other, Rin turned back to look at Hayato Ren.
"Rin, I have some matters I need to discuss with Karura."
Hayato Ren spoke up, intending to send Rin away.
Hearing this, Rin didn't press for details, simply nodding and advising "Then please take care of your health, teacher, I'll head back first" before leaving the room with light, cheerful steps.
Now the entire space contained only Hayato Ren and Karura - a lone man and woman alone together.
At this moment, Karura's heart was filled with confusion.
She had originally thought Hayato Ren would turn her over to Leaf, or personally interrogate her for information.
But she never expected this guy to suddenly give her the inexplicable identity of an assistant.
Just what were Hayato Ren's intentions?
Despite becoming a Jonin at such a young age as a woman, and possessing the Bloodline Limit to control sand.
Karura could truly be called heaven's favored daughter.
However, apart from some information about the Sand Hidden Village, there shouldn't be anything about her worth Hayato Ren's attention.
Just then, Karura seemed to recall something. Her face instantly darkened.
If he wasn't interested in her identity or abilities, then he must be interested in her as a person.
Combined with Hayato Ren's previous behavior, this guy was clearly a lecherous scoundrel.
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