Karin remained beneath the tree for several minutes, silently studying the river.
Reaching the Land of Fire was only the beginning. Walking directly into Konoha and announcing that she was an Uzumaki would be foolish.
She knew almost nothing about the village beyond its military strength and its supposed connection to her clan. For all she knew, they might treat her no differently than the Hidden Grass had.
"No. Depending upon the kindness of strangers is the behavior of a fool."
In the Jianghu, righteous sects often spoke of honor while committing acts more despicable than those of the Demonic Cult.
Smiling faces, noble titles and promises of protection meant nothing.
Only actions revealed a person's true intentions.
She needed information first.
And strength.
Karin glanced toward the stream.
Her earlier attempts at manipulating the water had been crude, but the principle behind chakra was becoming clearer. It was different from the internal energy she had cultivated in her previous life, yet not entirely unfamiliar.
Internal energy had flowed through meridians and gathered within the dantian.
Chakra was created through the mixture of physical and spiritual energies before circulating through a separate network inside the body.
Karin's crimson eyes narrowed.
Now, in a relaxed environment surrounded by nature, she finally noticed it.
"There is something horribly wrong with this world."
Something existed in the air.
A subtle pressure of an invisible Energy surrounding every living creature. It drifted through the forest, gathered beneath the earth and flowed through the river. Trees absorbed it through their roots. Animals unconsciously breathed it into their flesh. Even the river carried traces of it downstream.
It was rather faint compared to the sacred mountains of her previous world, yet Karin would never mistake it.
The natural qi of heaven and earth.
The very foundation upon which the martial arts of her former world had been built.
Karin raised one hand and slowly spread her fingers.
"Yet the shinobi of this world dont seem to use it?"
They created chakra by combining physical energy with spiritual energy. Their techniques were ingenious, yet felt deeply flawed.
They relied entirely upon themselves.
Body and spirit.
Man without Heaven and Earth.
Heaven and Earth Qi flowed through everything.
Her previous body had possessed the internal structures required to cultivate it.
This one did not.
There was no dantian in which to gather qi.
There were no meridians through which to circulate it.
Karin Uzumaki's body possessed an entirely different energy system.
The anatomy was different.
Therefore, the method had to be different as well.
Attempting to force Heaven-and-Earth Qi into her chakra pathways without understanding the correct process could cripple her or kill her outright.
Her knowledge from her previous life could not simply be copied.
It had to be translated.
Karin closed her eyes.
Fragments of knowledge inherited from the original Karin Uzumaki surfaced in her mind.
Whispers spoken by Grass shinobi.
Stories concerning legendary ninja who could draw natural energy into themselves and somehow entered an enhanced state known as Sage Mode.
Karin's expression became peculiar.
"Sages?"
"Natural Energy ? Is that what they call Heaven and Earth Qi here ?"
It was not identical to the system of her previous life. Their bodies lacked the internal structures that her former world considered essential.
All known practitioners learned their methods from strange and ancient Animals.
Toads.
Snakes.
Slugs.
Their techniques reflected the bodies and instincts of those creatures. A human practitioner did not merely absorb natural energy. They followed a pre-existing framework developed by nonhuman species.
Her Face twisted with sligth distain and disgust.
Rather than discovering a path that belonged entirely to humanity, they inherited specialized traditions from beasts.
Karin turned her awareness inward.
Physical energy existed within every cell of her body.
Spiritual energy arose from the mind, experiences and will.
The chakra network combined them and circulated the result.
Two forces.
Body and spirit.
But the world surrounding her contained a third.