Nonsense.
This woman was lying through her teeth.
Konome made her judgment and the tension in her chest eased by degrees.
It had been almost a week since she crossed into this world.
She was beginning to see how the real Naruto world differed from the manga, or rather, what hidden logic lay behind the panels.
Chakra was not a reservoir sitting in the dantian that one scooped from at will. In this world, a shinobi's chakra came from a "chakra seed" in the heart.
Some called it a chakra core.
Through the Byakugan's clear world, the light in Mari Kurio's heart pulsed with each beat. Mental energy gathered at the brow. Physical energy pooled low in the abdomen. The two flowed toward each other and poured into the chakra seed.
Thump.
The seed itself pulsed like a second heart. Fine threads of chakra were pumped out, ran along the meridians into every limb and bone, and then cycled back to the heart again and again.
This was a shinobi's baseline.
Shinobi were strong because they possessed an extra energy circuit that ordinary people did not.
Chakra, mental energy, and physical energy formed a triad. When one was consumed, the other two compensated.
The three transformed into one another and kept a dynamic balance.
Which meant any ninjutsu cost chakra. The inner cycle sped up, and mental and physical energy rushed toward the heart to synthesize new chakra and keep that balance.
Why did people say a shinobi without chakra would die.
Because if your chakra was gone, your mental and physical energies were also spent. With nothing left in the tank, the body failed.
Conversely, if even a wisp of chakra remained, it meant the other two energies had not run dry. There was still a chance to live.
There were exceptions. In a brutal fight your chakra could bottom out in an instant, faster than the body could convert.
At those moments shinobi used Chakra Extraction to flip defense to offense and force mental and physical energy into chakra.
From the first moment she had seen Mari, Konome had been watching with the Byakugan.
There was no fluctuation in Mari's inner cycle at all. In other words, if Mari really sensed chakra leaking off Konome, she must have a sensing art that needed no chakra whatsoever.
Really.
Even the Byakugan, born of Kaguya Otsutsuki, required chakra to function. And this jōnin of the Mist possessed a sensing technique superior to the eye.
If such a thing existed, Ao would not have schemed so hard to secure a Byakugan.
Her mother would never have fallen into Mist hands, and Konome would not exist.
A sensing technique that used no chakra might exist in theory, but Mari Kurio owning one at that level was very unlikely.
"A sensor-type shinobi. What is chakra. Big sister, what are you talking about."
Watching Mari put on her grim mask, Konome asked in innocent confusion while she flattened her heartbeat and kept her muscles at an easy slack.
Mari pinched Konome's wrist and felt the pulse.
No lie.
Konome's pulse rate was perfectly normal.
That did not just say the girl was telling the truth. It also said she was truly blind.
If someone with normal sight saw Mari radiating killing intent like this, their pulse would jitter whether they lied or not. That was survival instinct.
Konome's pulse did not budge. Which meant she was not lying and she was blind.
"Chakra is a special power only shinobi have.
"To pass an ANBU cordon you will be checked by a professional sensor to see if you have chakra in your body."
"Oh. Then let us go be checked now."
Konome nodded guilelessly. She was not afraid of any test Mari could name. She even urged it on.
She really did not seem afraid.
Mari studied the calmness on that small face. The blindfold hid the eyes, so she could not read a thing there.
Damn it. Everyone today wore a mask or a blindfold. There was nothing to read.
After several rounds of probing, Mari had not found a seam.
The childish face held only composure.
Was it really coincidence.
Was she being too jumpy.
"How many days have you waited here, little Konome."
"Since the lockdown. About three days."
Mari nodded.
Coming here had been a whim.
She had not bothered to hide her movement. If this meeting were arranged, it would have been set when she left home or while she spoke with ANBU at the gate. No one could have laid a trap three days in advance.
More importantly, this was a claim she could verify.
A blind girl with such distinctive features sitting by the road for three days would not go unnoticed. True or false, a little asking around would tell.
Even before she started, her doubts melted like frost.
The street had emptied.
Rain braided the air. Between sky and earth there were only Konome and Mari. The village gate loomed. The door was shut. The layered ANBU who watched it were nowhere to be seen.
Mari held the umbrella for them both beneath the eaves.
She looked at the beautiful blind girl before her.
Her thoughts ran.
Help her.
She knew Tanzaku Quarters.
The most decadent entertainment district in the Land of Fire, down in the southwest. Casinos, inns, amusement halls. A place famous for tempting shinobi into breaking the three taboos.
The academy teachers had mentioned it specifically when they taught those taboos.
Konome's father was a merchant. It made sense to live in a money pit like that.
From Mist to Tanzaku Quarters,
you took a ship from Peichuan Port on the Water Country coast and crossed to the Fire Country. A round trip would take over two months.
If something happened in the village while she was gone.
No.
Her brother was missing. The situation in the Mist was murky. Staying alone in the village would not help him.
Those unfamiliar ANBU at the gate left a sour taste. If someone in ANBU had betrayed her brother, her presence might become a burden.
Leave first.
Find her brother and tell him what the village had become.
Even if she could not find him, at least she would not be a shackle. With his strength and without her to protect, no one in Mist could hold him. And as long as he lived, no one would dare kill her and face Fierce Fang's revenge.
The fact that she was unharmed meant his situation was not the worst. Keeping herself safe was the greatest help she could give him.
Mari laid the logic out and made her choice.
She looked down at the blind girl waiting quietly for her answer and said gravely,
"Konome, I can help you go home. But if you go with me, you may face dangers you cannot imagine. Will you still come."
If I do not go with you, it will be worse.
Konome kept the thought to herself and nodded without a heartbeat's hesitation.
Seeing that, Mari's smile bloomed.
"Then we leave tomorrow. To the Land of Fire."
At that, Konome's mouth curved and she showed the first true smile she had worn in a long time.
The rain roared louder. Yet in the belly of the dark clouds, a faint seam of light began to show.