"Not confirmation," Shikamaru said. "Confirmation of Chisen's exact location in Konoha. The Brand can only tell him a general direction-east, west, south, north. But Konoha is huge. The Medical Department, the Hokage Building, the Anbu Base, and the Sealing Squad are all in different places. He wants coordinates precise enough to pinpoint a room."
Kagura picked up the thread. "So he needs Hisai to come to Konoha. Because once Hisai gets here, she'll definitely come to the Medical Department to see Chisen.
"All Helian has to do is track Hisai's movements, and he can work backward to locate Chisen's room."
Shikamaru snapped his gaze toward Chisen.
Chisen's expression didn't change, but his right index finger tapped once more beneath the covers.
"Shikamaru."
"Go on."
"If Helian is locating me by tracking Hisai, then Hisai herself is his 'eyes.'"
Hisai frowned.
"You mean someone put a Flowing Water marker on me?"
Chisen shook his head.
"Not on you. In that tube of blood you brought back. The blood sample Helian sent you might contain more than just my blood. He might have mixed a Flowing Water Probe into his blood. You carried that tube the whole way, and the probe trailed a thread all the way from the border to Konoha. Helian doesn't need to look at the Brand. He only needs to watch that thread."
Hisai's expression finally changed.
She immediately took the tube of blood from her pocket-a small, sealed glass tube containing dark red blood that had already separated into layers. She raised it to eye level and held it against the light.
"I didn't detect anything other than Flowing Water."
Chisen said, "Press your membrane against the tube."
Hisai hesitated for a second, then complied. The instant the transparent membrane touched the glass wall, its color changed-not