The 58th year of Konoha, Summer.
August in the Land of Fire was no place for the living.
At high noon, a faint breeze brushed the treetops, but the branches swayed listlessly. The scorching air had baked the emerald leaves until they were wilted and dull, looking as though they might skip autumn entirely and crumble into yellow dust.
At the main gate of Konoha Hidden Village, two heavy, military-green iron doors stood wide open. On the dirt road stretching from the depths of the forest, not a single soul could be seen.
Kotetsu Hagane and Izumo Kamizuki, clad in their green flak jackets, sat on stools tucked into the sliver of shade cast by the gate.
"So bored!"
Kotetsu, bandages wrapped across his cheeks and the bridge of his nose, slumped against his chair. His usually spiky hair hung limp, looking like grass that had lost all its moisture to the fierce sun.
"In this hellish weather, even a spy wouldn't want to leave the house."
Faced with his friend's grumbling, Izumo narrowed his visible left eye but remained silent. As Special Jonin of the village, spending every day guarding the front gate was indeed a hard pill to swallow.
Yet, someone had to man the first line of defense.
He still remembered the words of the toothless old man who had guarded this gate for nearly twenty years.
"The Will of Fire lies in sacrificing oneself to illuminate the new buds. Until they blossom and grow into another towering tree, the legacy continues from generation to generation.
Now—it's your turn to burn. As for me, I've got a date for drinks with a beautiful lady. I won't be joining you. Farewell!"
The sixty-something-year-old man, whose heart remained young despite his age, had walked away and never looked back. He left the stunned duo to garrison the village entrance. Two years had passed since then, and their initial ambition had long since wilted into their current lethargy.
The Arrival of a Wanderer
As Izumo stared blankly into the distance, a small figure appeared on the dirt road.
A white cloak enveloped her entire body, revealing only a delicate, pale face. A mysterious black blindfold wrapped around her eyes, covering most of her features. With a cane tapping lightly against the ground and a heavy rucksack on her back, Hinami—formerly of the Kaguya clan—had finally arrived from the Mist.
As she walked, Hinami tilted her head up.
Behind the blindfold and beneath her hood, her exquisite face turned toward the sky. Beneath the jade-like, translucent periosteum of her skull, the ashen light in the center of her milky-white irises flared with life.
Shing!
A visible sensory barrier, shaped like an inverted jade bowl, blanketed the entire village. Red chakra flowed across its surface, occasionally rippling with shimmering waves.
Is this the Konoha Sensory Barrier?
Maintaining such a massive barrier must consume an incredible amount of chakra every day. The sheer manpower and resources required are immeasurable.
The "country bumpkin" Hinami, having fled from the impoverished Mist, couldn't help but marvel internally.
After tearing up her ticket for the SS Hope, she had bribed the Churyu Hotel owner to secure another passage. She had used money to clear her path and traveled at breakneck speed, finally reaching Konoha after a month. Along the way, aside from slaughtering a few bands of pirates and highwaymen—and grinding a few would-be human traffickers into meat paste—the journey had been relatively uneventful.
She gazed up at the massive chakra barrier.
The intricate three-dimensional circuits of chakra within were a dazzling sight. It felt as though it contained countless principles of ninjutsu, yet the patterns remained elusive. She could only watch with itching curiosity.
In just one glance, her estimation of Konoha's strength jumped several levels. The thought of the boundless ninjutsu resources hidden within the village made her thirst for power burn hotter than the August sun.
Reluctantly, she deactivated her Byakugan. The chakra in her heart decomposed, cutting off the circulation.
Her world plunged into total darkness.
Thump... thump-thump.
Testing the sandy ground with her cane and hoisting her heavy bag filled with gambling winnings, Hinami marched toward the gates. She had no intention of revealing her Byakugan or even her ability to use chakra. Her flight from the Mist had dialed her caution up to the maximum.
Who knew what the situation in Konoha was truly like?
She would first slip into the village, reunite with the Hyuga Main House, and solidify her identity. Only once she had a reliable backer would she begin to reveal her talents step by step.
Having completely left the reach of Kirigakure's influence, she was in no rush.
The Gatekeepers' Test
"Hey, hey! Little sister, stop right there. You're poking my foot."
Kotetsu stopped the little blind girl who was about to charge straight through the gates. Her brown cane had been tapping the ground and landed right on his toes.
"Oh, I'm sorry."
Having lost her vision after cutting her chakra, Hinami apologized awkwardly and retracted her cane.
Kotetsu winced, rotating his ankle.
This little thing isn't big, but she's got quite a grip.
"Little sister, you have to register before entering the village. Here, careful now..." Kotetsu took hold of Hinami's cane and guided her to the registration desk.
Izumo laid out a thick ledger on the desk.
"Name?"
"Hinami."
"Purpose for coming to Konoha?"
"Looking for relatives."
"Are you alone?"
"Yes."
Question by question, Izumo wrote in the ledger, occasionally looking up to note her physical features.
"Are you a ninja?" Izumo asked, sounding casual.
Hinami tilted her head in confusion. "...What's a ninja?"
"Oh, nothing. What's in the bag on your back?"
"Clothes and some dry rations."
"Alright, you're good to go. Don't wander off once you're inside."
The sightless Hinami answered naturally, adjusted her heavy pack, and walked through the gates of Konoha. In the darkness, her first instinct had been to say "no," but she had caught herself just in time.
She thought to herself: Getting in was so easy. Konoha's defenses don't seem nearly as tight as I imagined.
The Professional's Eye
Outside the gate, the atmosphere shifted.
"Did you see that?" Izumo watched the receding figure, his expression dead serious.
Kotetsu grinned, his white teeth biting down on a senbon needle.
"Yeah. Carrying a massive rucksack in this heat and not a single drop of sweat on her face? She's treating us like idiots."
"How was her strength?"
"Her build doesn't look like she's undergone formal training, but I purposely put my foot in the way of her cane. That force was no joke."
Izumo nodded. "Looking at the skin details, she hasn't used a Transformation Jutsu. Her fingernails are clean. Either she has accomplices nearby, or she's faking the blindness. I'm leaning toward the latter."
"Either way, it means she's a problem. I'll go notify the Uchiha Police Force." Kotetsu began to form the seal for the Body Flicker Technique.
"Wait."
Izumo reached out to stop his partner. He watched the spot where Hinami had disappeared, a strange arc curling onto his lips. "Go to the Barrier Team first."
"What do you mean?" Kotetsu paused, then quickly realized. "If the Barrier Team sensed any abnormal chakra fluctuations, they should have notified us by now."
Izumo narrowed his left eye. "And if the barrier didn't detect any chakra?"
Kotetsu frowned.
If it didn't detect anything, it meant either she truly wasn't a ninja and just happened to be strong...
Or she had used an unknown method to bypass Konoha's sensory barrier entirely.
Anyone who could fool the Konoha Barrier was no small fry.
"Go," Izumo decided. "If the Barrier Team sensed chakra, tell the Uchiha to make an arrest. If they sensed nothing... then we'll have to notify the Third Hokage and let the ANBU handle it."
Kotetsu nodded in agreement. "Looks like we really caught a big fish. I told you spies only come out when it's hot."
"Wait... is that what you said?" Izumo looked puzzled.
"Of course it is!"