Chapter 91: Rendezvous
With his throat slit, the Root ninja let out a series of "heh heh heh" sounds.
However, he was truly dedicated to his duty. Even on the verge of death, he managed to force out a hand seal, transforming himself into a "Blood Demon."
After killing the entangled Blood Demon once again, Seimei witnessed this scene. It was too late to stop it now.
Fortunately, the situation wasn't too dire.
After becoming a Blood Demon, although the opponent gained "immortality," killing them a few times would completely erase their sanity.
At that point, even if two Blood Demons attacked together, Seimei wouldn't be afraid at all.
The current problem was how to break this barrier.
That's right, even though the Root ninja had "committed suicide," the barrier hadn't dissipated.
This led Seimei to have some speculations - perhaps this so-called Blood Demon's Barrier and these two Blood Demons were two sides of the same coin, and only by killing them could the barrier be broken.
This wasn't just a wild guess from Seimei. When these two Blood Demons were born, the surrounding blood-red barriers had brightened slightly.
Following this line of thought, could the death of the Blood Demons weaken the barrier?
Thinking of this, Seimei first killed the newly born Blood Demon a few times. After it lost its sanity, he sheathed his short sword.
Then, he dodged the pounces of the two Blood Demons, rapidly formed hand seals, opened his mouth, and exhaled a large burst of flames.
These flames divided and condensed in the air, ultimately forming hundreds of fist-sized fireballs.
"Go!"
Seimei shouted, controlling all the fireballs to split into two groups, each smashing into one of the Blood Demons.
The Blood Demons didn't know how to dodge and were hit on the spot by the fireballs.
Accompanied by a series of explosions, both Blood Demons fell to the ground, and then a "sizzling" sound came from the surface of their skin.
That was the sound of blood repairing their wounds.
Soon, the two Blood Demons stood up again and continued to roar as they launched attacks on Seimei, as if they hadn't been injured at all.
But Seimei keenly noticed that the light of the surrounding barrier had dimmed slightly.
In other words, his guess was correct. Killing the Blood Demons could indeed weaken the barrier.
It also proved that ninjutsu could injure these Blood Demons.
Well, it was already absurd enough that they were immune to physical attacks. If they were also immune to ninjutsu damage, even if the cost was high, they would have been famous by now.
How could it be that Seimei had never even heard of them?
However, through this incident, Seimei gained a deeper understanding of the ninja world. He realized that some memories from his past life could only serve as references and couldn't be completely trusted.
After all, those were just fragments of the real world.
A mere Root organization could come up with such a bizarre barrier ninjutsu. Who knew what other ninja villages were hiding?
'It seems I need to be more cautious in the future.'
He inwardly warned himself. Seimei no longer held back his chakra, using his three fire-style ninjutsu in rotation, quickly weakening the barrier until it was almost invisible.
Seimei flashed to one of the barriers, observed it for a moment, and then formed hand seals again, unleashing his currently strongest single-target ninjutsu - Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique.
A fireball was exhaled from his mouth, rapidly expanding before smashing into the barrier.
Crack~
A crack appeared on the barrier.
Then the second, the third...
Soon, the barrier in front of him was covered in dense cracks.
Finally, with a faint sound of shattering glass, the entire barrier turned into specks of light, disappearing into the air.
Breathing in the fresh air again, Seimei felt a sense of relief.
But just then, over ten kunai suddenly flew out from the forest, aiming at various parts of Seimei's body.
Seeing this, Seimei's pupils constricted. He instantly drew his short sword and, with a flurry of swings, deflected all the incoming kunai.
Then, with a flash, he sprinted to one side.
However, before he could run far, an Iwa-nin blocked his path.
At the same time, figures faintly appeared behind him and on both sides.
"As expected, I'm surrounded..."
Seeing these people, Seimei murmured.
Back when the two Root ninjas activated the Blood Demon's Barrier, Seimei had already guessed that he might be surrounded by Iwa-nin.
After all, such a special barrier, even with its limited coverage, was enough to attract attention.
That's why he had just used ninjutsu without holding back, breaking the barrier as quickly as possible to avoid being surrounded by Iwa-nin.
Unfortunately, he was still a step too late.
'In that case, I can only fight my way out.'
Making up his mind, Seimei didn't hesitate any longer and immediately charged towards the Iwa-nin in front with his sword.
Clang, clang, clang~
The sounds of intense fighting echoed through the forest.
Seimei fought while advancing deeper into the dense woods.
...
Two hours later.
At the second rendezvous point.
Seimei finally saw his teammates.
According to the plan, there were two designated rendezvous points after the interception mission.
However, when he managed to shake off the Iwa-nin's pursuit and arrived at the first rendezvous point, apart from two Iwa-nin corpses, there were only some traces of fighting at the scene.
As for his teammates, he didn't see any of them.
Left with no choice, he could only continue forward. On the way, he unfortunately encountered another team of Iwa-nin, consisting of four people led by a Tokubetsu Jonin.
In order to escape them, Seimei even got slashed on his side.
Fortunately, he had the Healing Technique, and this injury wasn't a problem.
After nearly another hour of rushing, he finally reached the second rendezvous point and finally saw his teammates.
However, before he could get close, a kunai was shot towards him.
Seimei's expression remained unchanged as he quietly stopped. The kunai landed warningly about half a meter in front of him.
"Password?"
A voice came from ahead.
Seimei frowned slightly and directly asked, "What password?"
However, hearing his question, that person and the others beside him seemed relieved and then said, "It's one of our own."
"Come over!"
Hearing this, Seimei hesitated for a moment and then walked over.
When he got closer, the person who had asked the question explained, "Seimei, don't mind it. Someone tried to infiltrate us at the first rendezvous point, so we temporarily arranged this test."
Hearing the explanation, Seimei finally understood where the fighting traces at the first rendezvous point came from and the purpose of their password inquiry.
Their operation this time was rushed, and they hadn't set a rendezvous password at all.
But outsiders didn't know that!
So, when asked, any hesitation or irrelevant answers would definitely be suspicious.
Whereas someone like Seimei, one of their own, would directly inquire.
In this way, they could make an initial distinction between friend and foe.
After that, further verification would be relatively simple.
After exchanging a few words and confirming their identities, Seimei went straight to Uchiha Shisui's side.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter 92: Exchange
"Seimei, is something the matter?"
Seeing Seimei walking straight towards him, seemingly having something to say, Uchiha Shisui immediately stood up and asked.
"Yes."
Seimei nodded, pointing not far away, "Over there."
Seeing Seimei's behavior, Uchiha Shisui knew that the matter he wanted to discuss must not be simple; otherwise, he wouldn't have avoided the others.
After thinking for a moment, he didn't refuse and followed Seimei.
The others, seeing this, didn't pry too much. After all, everyone had their secrets.
Moreover, both of them were from the Uchiha clan. Perhaps they wanted to discuss something related to the Sharingan. Prying rashly might lead to trouble.
However, they still kept a bit of attention on them.
Stopping beside a large tree, Seimei turned to Uchiha Shisui and asked seriously, "Did you encounter any unusual situations during the battle earlier?"
"Unusual situations?"
Uchiha Shisui's heart skipped a beat, but he still pretended to be puzzled and asked, "What kind of unusual situations?"
Seimei noticed the momentary unnaturalness in his expression and immediately understood that the other party must have also been attacked by Root ninjas.
However, although he sensed the abnormality, without knowing the underlying reason, he chose to conceal it for the time being.
It made sense. Since Danzo had made a move on him, there was no reason to let Uchiha Shisui, an Uchiha with even greater potential, go.
Unfortunately, the other party not only underestimated his strength but also underestimated Uchiha Shisui's combat power.
Shaking his head inwardly, Seimei gathered his thoughts and, without beating around the bush, asked directly, "Did someone also attack you?"
"Also?"
Uchiha Shisui noticed Seimei's wording and, after thinking for a moment, asked, "Were you attacked too?"
This statement basically confirmed Seimei's previous guess.
Understanding this, Seimei didn't waste any words and quickly recounted his previous encounter, including the incredibly strange Blood Demon's Barrier.
After finishing, he looked at Uchiha Shisui and asked again, "What about you?"
Uchiha Shisui hesitated slightly before saying, "The Blood Demon's Barrier... I didn't encounter that, but two people did attack me. Just like your situation, they were also fearless of death."
"Is that so..."
Seimei pondered for a moment and then continued to ask, "Anything else? Any other peculiarities? Like their aura or something."
Hearing Seimei mention the word "aura," Uchiha Shisui finally became certain that Seimei had also been attacked.
The reason was simple: those people's aura was too unique, and Seimei's ability to ask about it meant he had also noticed this.
At the same time, it indirectly proved that the enemies they faced were likely the same group.
Various thoughts flashed through his mind, and Uchiha Shisui replied seriously, "Indeed, their aura was very peculiar. It always gave me a lifeless feeling."
"As expected, it was them."
Seimei pretended that his guess had been confirmed and murmured, prompting Uchiha Shisui to ask further.
As expected, hearing his words, Uchiha Shisui hurriedly asked, "What do you mean by 'as expected, it was them'? Seimei, do you know the identities of those people?"
Hearing his question, Seimei feigned hesitation. After a moment of silence, he said, "If I'm not mistaken, those people should be Root ninjas."
"Root?"
Uchiha Shisui seemed to be hearing this name for the first time and asked with a puzzled expression, "What's that?"
"The training division of the Konoha Anbu."
Seimei replied.
"What?"
Hearing this answer, Uchiha Shisui's voice rose a few decibels in surprise, immediately attracting the attention of the few people in the distance.
Uchiha Shisui suppressed his inner shock and waved at them, signaling that everything was fine.
After they looked away, he asked in disbelief, "Why would Anbu ninjas attack us? Was it the Third Hokage's order?"
"Perhaps..."
Although Seimei knew this was absolutely Danzo's order, it didn't stop him from subtly undermining Hiruzen Sarutobi's image.
Although Hiruzen considered himself righteous, if not for his indulgence, Danzo wouldn't have been able to commit so many evil deeds.
Therefore, in Seimei's view, Danzo's blame should at least be shared equally with Hiruzen.
And there was also himself...
Seimei thought of Naruto Uzumaki's future experiences and the forced suicide of Hyuga Hizashi from the Hyuga clan and couldn't help but shake his head.
No matter what, he couldn't let Uchiha Shisui completely side with them.
Hence, his ambiguous words.
Of course, Seimei didn't forget to expose Danzo.
He said, "The direct leader of Root is Shimura Danzo. The order might have been issued by him, bypassing the Hokage."
"Shimura Danzo?"
Uchiha Shisui, hearing this unfamiliar name, directly asked, "Who is that?"
"A high-ranking elder of the village, a classmate of the Third Hokage."
Seimei replied.
Upon hearing this, Uchiha Shisui fell silent. After a while, he asked again, "Then why did they attack us?"
"Hehe~"
Seimei chuckled softly in response, not saying anything, but just pointed to his own eyes.
"Sharingan?"
Seeing Seimei's gesture, Uchiha Shisui murmured.
Seeing him lost in thought, Seimei decided not to continue the conversation further.
Finally, in a cautionary tone, he said, "In any case, be careful in the future. There are quite a few people eyeing these eyes."
With that, he walked towards the group of Konoha ninjas not far away.
"Wait..."
At this moment, Uchiha Shisui suddenly called out to him and asked seriously, "How do you know all this?"
Seimei just smiled and didn't answer his question.
Honestly, Seimei didn't know how to answer either.
In that case, it was better to let the other party imagine.
As long as he investigated in this direction, he would eventually discover that what he said was true.
At that time, how he himself knew wouldn't matter anymore.
That's right, Seimei didn't expect Uchiha Shisui to immediately believe his words.
The reason he told him all this was just to plant a seed of distrust in his heart.
This way, in the future, whether he was dealing with the village's higher-ups or encountering Danzo, he would be more cautious.
If, even then, Danzo managed to take his Sharingan, then he could only say it was his own fault.
However, Seimei estimated that Danzo wouldn't live to see that day.
Based on what he did today, he wouldn't give him that opportunity.
Seimei was always clear about gratitude and grudges. Since the other party chose to attack him, they shouldn't blame him for being impolite.
Thinking this in his heart, Seimei returned to the group.
After about another hour, with no one else arriving, Tanigawa Maki announced the mission's end and then led everyone to catch up with the main force.
With this, the interception battle officially concluded.
On Konoha's side, they had dispatched one Jonin, two Tokubetsu Jonin, and eight Chunin, a total of eleven people. In the end, six survived, with one Tokubetsu Jonin and four Chunin killed in action, a casualty rate of 45%, nearly half.
Fortunately, Seimei once again survived.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter 93: Improvement
A few days later.
Konoha.
Root's headquarters.
In Danzo's office.
A Root ninja knelt on one knee and reported, "Sir, the information has been confirmed. Two days ago, Uchiha Seimei and Uchiha Shisui arrived at the frontline camp. The 'Crying Rain' squad's mission failed."
As he spoke, he handed a mission report to Danzo.
Danzo took the report, quickly scanned it, then threw it on the ground, cursing, "Useless! They're all useless!"
For this mission to succeed, he had even used a spy who had been undercover for a long time.
He had even started planning half a month in advance, leaking information about some of the village's support teams to Iwagakure to gain their trust.
Unexpectedly, at the critical moment, his subordinates failed him.
'And those Iwa-nin are also useless. They couldn't even seize such a good opportunity. They're truly utterly useless!'
The more he thought about it, the angrier Danzo became. In the end, he slammed his fist on the table.
Bang!
A loud sound echoed from the front.
The Root ninja remained kneeling on one knee, showing no reaction.
Only after Danzo calmed down did he speak, "Sir, should we continue to send people to assassinate them?"
Hearing this, Danzo pondered for a long time and finally said, "Forget it. Let's leave them alone for now. Kumogakure has been gathering forces recently, and it seems they have some big moves planned. Your primary task now is to keep a close eye on them."
"Yes, sir!"
The Root ninja below responded.
Seimei was unaware that he had unknowingly escaped a crisis.
And by the time Danzo turned his attention back to him, he would no longer be the Chunin who could be easily dealt with by sending a few people.
...
Time flew by, and it was early September.
It had been twenty days since he left the village, and half a month since he arrived at the front lines.
During this half month, Seimei carried out one patrol mission and one reinforcement mission, encountering no significant danger.
Therefore, his training had never stopped.
And after these days of diligent practice, several of his skills had improved considerably.
First was the Body Flicker Technique. Its level directly increased from lv3 (870/1000) to lv4 (0/0), reaching the perfected state.
Now, to use the Body Flicker Technique, he only needed to form a simple "Mi" hand seal.
Moreover, after using the technique, his maximum speed was about 30% faster than at lv3.
Under these circumstances, if he launched a surprise attack on an ordinary Chunin, unless the opponent was exceptionally alert, they wouldn't be able to react at all.
In other words, he now had the ability to instantly kill some Chunin.
Next was Genjutsu: Sharingan. After these days of practice, its level had also increased from lv2 (420/500) to lv3 (120/1000).
Just like when it leveled up from lv1 to lv2, this upgrade once again improved the casting speed and genjutsu power.
This gave Seimei more opportunities to use it in battle, which was a decent improvement.
Then there were Konoha-Style Kenjutsu and Uchiha-Style Kenjutsu...
Because he couldn't practice during the days of travel, their progress was slightly slower than expected.
Nevertheless, they had also reached the brink of leveling up. The former's proficiency had reached lv4 (1910/2000), and the latter's was lv4 (1750/2000).
Seimei estimated that in about a week, they would be able to level up.
At that time, he could try to merge these two swordsmanship styles.
Furthermore, their upgrade would most likely trigger an increase in his "Physique" attribute.
And this would undoubtedly increase the amount of chakra he could use daily in the future.
In this way, he could allocate more chakra to practicing the Heart Reflection Technique, thereby further promoting the evolution of his Sharingan.
Speaking of the Sharingan's evolution, he had to mention the Chakra Absorption Technique.
After half a month of focusing resources on it, he had already raised its level from lv1 (1/200) to lv2 (105/500).
Now, when using it, he could extract two hundred chakra points per second from the enemy and convert 60% of it into his own chakra.
Utilizing this technique, during the past half month, he had extracted chakra from seven enemies in two missions, gaining a total of about eight thousand chakra points.
He had used all this chakra to practice the Heart Reflection Technique, gaining forty-eight proficiency points, which resulted in an additional sixteen points in Sharingan evolution progress.
However, this speed was still too slow.
Seimei planned to find an opportunity to act alone after merging the two swordsmanship styles to obtain more chakra, thereby maximizing the acceleration of his Sharingan's evolution.
"Seimei, what are you thinking about? Let's go!"
His teammate's call woke Seimei from his daze.
He casually replied, "Nothing," and then followed the team towards the west of the main camp.
Next, he would be carrying out a week-long patrol mission, mainly to prevent infiltration from Sunagakure teams.
That's right, it was Sunagakure.
The Land of Rain was currently basically divided into four parts. Apart from Amegakure, which was huddled in the central region, Konoha occupied a large area in the south, the northeast belonged to Iwagakure, and the west was Sunagakure's territory.
Seimei hadn't forgotten his plan to obtain the Puppet Secret Technique and improve his Chakra Control level. After returning to the battlefield, he had applied for it.
Now, after going through layers of approval, he had finally been transferred to the west of the main camp.
From now on, his missions would be concentrated in this area.
This would greatly increase his chances of obtaining the Puppet Secret Technique.
However, before that, he still needed to familiarize himself with the opponents. After all, he had been fighting Iwa-nin for the past few months.
Now that he had switched, he naturally needed to get acquainted with Sunagakure's fighting style.
Because each ninja village had different geographical environments and leadership choices, there were significant differences in the ninjas' combat methods, fighting habits, and even chakra attributes.
For example, in Iwagakure, because Onoki had opened the doors of the Ninja Academy wide, setting very low entrance standards and graduation requirements, the number of Iwa-nin was almost the highest among the Five Great Ninja Villages.
But similarly, the average combat power of Iwa-nin was also the lowest among the Five Great Ninja Villages.
Therefore, to fully utilize their value, they needed to work in groups and cooperate as a team.
Hence, Iwa-nin were more skilled at group combat.
In contrast, due to its desert location and scarce resources, Sunagakure couldn't afford to train that many ninjas.
So, the number of Suna-nin was almost the lowest among the Five Great Ninja Villages.
But correspondingly, fewer people meant more concentrated resources, so the ninjas trained by Sunagakure were mostly elites.
Compared to group combat, they were more adept at one-on-one battles.
Naturally, different strategies needed to be employed against these different types of ninjas.
And this was what Seimei meant by familiarizing himself with the opponents.
Time passed by.
As it neared dusk.
Seimei and the others finally arrived at their destination.
After completing the handover with the ninjas stationed there, they officially began their patrol mission.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter 94: Discovery
Three days passed in a blink of an eye.
Seimei hadn't encountered any enemies or dangers. Besides routine patrols, he spent every day diligently training.
The two swordsmanship techniques he had been focusing on were progressing quite well, with their proficiency levels increasing significantly. Especially Konoha-Style Kenjutsu, which had almost reached the perfected state.
Now, Seimei just wanted to finish the mission quickly and go back to continue grinding his progress.
However, things often don't go according to one's subjective wishes.
Just when Seimei thought today would be as peaceful as the previous three days, he suddenly received a distress signal from one of his subordinates.
That's right, his subordinate.
Since being promoted to Chunin, he was no longer a dispensable cannon fodder. Coupled with his prestigious Uchiha clan background, he would almost always be assigned a certain role in every mission.
Just like this time, he was the captain of one of the patrol teams, leading three Chunin, and the one who sent the signal was one of them.
By the time he and the other two arrived, that person was already dead.
Instantly, all three of them became highly alert, vigilantly looking around. Seimei's Sharingan was fully activated, constantly paying attention to any movements in the surroundings.
It was no wonder they were so nervous. The enemy's strength couldn't be underestimated.
From the time they discovered the signal to when they arrived, it hadn't been more than a minute.
To be able to kill someone in such a short time, no matter how it was done, wouldn't be simple.
Therefore, they had to be cautious.
After a while, Seimei raised his right hand, signaling that the surroundings were temporarily safe.
Only then did the other two relax their guard.
Seimei directly instructed, "Teramitsu, examine the body."
"Yes, Captain!"
Upon hearing this, a Konoha ninja stepped forward and began to carefully examine the corpse on the ground.
A moment later, he stood up and said with a serious expression, "Captain, the one who killed Kuraki is most likely a puppeteer from Sunagakure."
"A puppeteer?"
Seimei's interest was piqued, and he motioned for him to continue.
Seeing this, Teramitsu immediately explained, "Captain, look, the wounds on Kuraki's body are very clean. Although a human could also do this, there's no need to."
Seimei certainly knew why there was no need.
Because it was simply a waste of effort. If someone could kill with one strike, why would they expend more energy to make the wound look like this?
Seimei nodded, indicating his understanding, and let the other person continue.
Unlike him, a newcomer, Teramitsu had already carried out several missions here and had fought against Suna-nin more than once. His understanding of them was definitely deeper than his.
In that case, Seimei naturally wouldn't act arbitrarily.
Receiving Seimei's signal, Teramitsu continued, "Such wounds are usually only caused by puppets from Sunagakure. And Captain, look here..."
As he spoke, Teramitsu pointed to the flesh around the wounds on the corpse, where faint signs of blackening could be seen.
Teramitsu said, "There are traces of poison spreading near these wounds, and puppeteers from Sunagakure like to coat their puppets' weapons with poison.
Furthermore, there are no traces of other people nearby.
Therefore, I believe the enemy is most likely a puppeteer, hiding in the shadows and controlling a puppet to attack Kuraki who was passing by."
After listening to Teramitsu's analysis, Seimei nodded, acknowledging his statement.
After a moment of thought, he ordered, "Teramitsu, continue searching the outer perimeter. Although the enemy can control puppets, they themselves shouldn't be too far away. Search carefully and see if you can find any traces of them."
"Yes, Captain!"
After responding, Teramitsu went to work.
Then, Seimei looked at the other subordinate who hadn't spoken yet and said, "Yoichi, immediately inform the nearby teams to encircle from the outside. We must not let the enemy escape."
Kamijo Yoichi, hearing Seimei's words, didn't say much but nodded silently.
Then, he bit his right thumb, letting the blood flow down his palm, and then raised his hands, rapidly forming the hand seals "Boar - Dog - Bird - Monkey - Ram," and performed the Summoning Technique.
Poof~
As a cloud of chakra smoke dispersed, a parrot-like summoning animal was summoned by him.
"Yo, Yoichi, what do you need me for this time? I'm warning you, don't expect me to run errands for free this time. Without the best..."
As soon as this parrot appeared, it started chattering non-stop until it saw Seimei's crimson Sharingan and stopped abruptly.
Yoichi Kamijo seized the opportunity to inform it about the situation here and then asked it to relay the information to the nearby teams.
As if afraid of making a mistake, Yoichi Kamijo even repeated it several times tirelessly.
However, the parrot just flapped its wings impatiently and said, "Alright, alright, stop talking. I've got it all memorized."
With that, it timidly glanced at Seimei and then flapped its wings, flying into the sky.
Watching the parrot quickly fly away, Seimei couldn't help but wonder if he should also get a summoning animal.
However, ordinary summoning animals seemed useless to him, and powerful ones weren't something he could covet at his current level.
Thinking about how summoning animals tended to run away when faced with danger, Seimei felt it was better to wait until his Sharingan's evolution progressed further and directly control one with genjutsu. It would be more convenient.
And in critical moments, it could even serve as a meat shield.
While Seimei was lost in thought, Teramitsu's voice came again.
"Captain, I've found something!"
Hearing this, Seimei used the Body Flicker Technique and instantly appeared beside Teramitsu.
Seeing Seimei suddenly appear, Teramitsu thought to himself, "The captain's Body Flicker Technique is still so fast!"
"What did you find?"
Seimei didn't care what Teramitsu was thinking and immediately started asking after arriving.
Hearing Seimei's inquiry, Teramitsu collected his thoughts and pointed to the bushes ahead, "Captain, look, these are traces of someone staying here for a long time."
Seimei looked in the direction he was pointing and indeed saw some signs of crushed grass and flowers, and beneath them, he also saw two faint footprints.
Thanks to the continuous rainy weather in the Land of Rain, the plants, trees, and soil in the forest were quite moist, which allowed these traces to be preserved intact.
However...
Seimei looked back and found that this place was nearly twenty meters away from where Kuraki had died, and there were no obvious traces in between.
This indicated that the enemy's puppet control range was at least twenty meters or more.
To be able to skillfully control a puppet from such a distance and kill Kuraki, a Chunin, in a short time, showed their considerable skill.
Involuntarily, Seimei once again became highly focused.
However, he didn't give up.
Not to mention that as a member of the patrol team, his duty was to prevent the enemy from infiltrating towards the main camp. The fact that the opponent was a puppeteer alone was enough reason for him to pursue them relentlessly.
Seimei opened his panel and glanced at his lv3 (530/1000) Chakra Control, thinking that if he could obtain the Puppet Secret Technique in advance, it wouldn't be a bad thing.
Originally, he had planned to take it slow.
But unexpectedly, the first Suna-nin he encountered after being transferred here turned out to be a puppeteer, and it seemed their skill level wasn't low.
Naturally, he had to seize this opportunity.
"Captain, there's more over here."
While Seimei was lost in thought, Teramitsu's voice came again.
Seimei walked over quickly and indeed discovered new traces.
After careful examination, he could confirm that these were left by the person who had just left.
In that case, Seimei didn't hesitate any longer and immediately ordered Teramitsu and Kamijo Yoichi to continue searching forward.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter 95: Instant Kill
"Stop!"
In the forest, Teramitsu and Kamijo Yoichi were moving swiftly when they suddenly heard Seimei's warning. They immediately halted their steps.
Seimei scanned the surroundings, his Sharingan becoming increasingly crimson.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~
Suddenly, a faint sound of something piercing through the air reached their ears.
Seimei's ears twitched, and he abruptly turned his head towards the dense forest on his right front.
The next moment, countless tiny steel needles flew out from the forest, their speed so fast that it was impossible for any human to achieve.
"Watch out!"
Seimei shouted, swiftly drawing his short sword. The Sharingan in his pupils spun rapidly, allowing him to see the incoming needles clearly.
Clang, clang, clang~
A series of crisp metal clashing sounds rang out as Seimei wielded his short sword, blocking all the flying needles in front of him.
Such an extreme maneuver was a bit taxing even for Seimei. He started to breathe slightly heavily, and the light in his Sharingan seemed to dim a little.
Clap~ Clap~ Clap~
Just then, a round of applause approached from afar.
Following that, a slightly playful voice sounded, "As expected of the renowned Sharingan, capable of blocking such an attack completely. It's truly enviable!"
Seimei looked towards the source of the sound and saw a giant spider, at least two meters long, carrying a young Suna-nin around fifteen or sixteen years old, walking out.
Seimei's gaze swept over the young Suna-nin, then glanced at the spider below, and finally returned to the Suna-nin.
He calmly said, "Since you've heard of the Sharingan's reputation, you should know that such simple tricks can't fool these eyes of mine."
Hearing this, Chiya's expression couldn't help but freeze. The playful look on his face vanished, and he stammered, "What do you mean?"
"Hehe~"
Seimei chuckled softly, ignoring him, and instead spoke directly to Teramitsu and Kamijo Yoichi behind him, "Be careful, both of these are puppets."
That's right, both the giant spider in front of them and the young Suna-nin on its back were puppet creations.
The reason the other party made such an entrance was probably to deceive them.
When ordinary people saw this combination and discovered that the giant spider was a puppet, they might instinctively assume that the person on top was the puppeteer.
But Seimei was different. With the Sharingan, he could tell at a glance that the guy didn't have any chakra within him.
Therefore, he naturally couldn't be a real person.
"What?" x2
At this moment, Teramitsu and Kamijo Yoichi were still shocked by Seimei's words. They looked Chiya up and down, and he looked like a real person no matter how they looked at it.
However, after carefully sensing, they could indeed perceive some abnormalities, such as the aura of a living person being too weak.
Being treated as goods and scrutinized, Chiya could no longer maintain his composure as a master and immediately wanted to control the puppet to attack.
But someone was faster than him.
'Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique~'
Seimei formed hand seals at a speed invisible to the naked eye, opened his mouth, and exhaled a large burst of flames. These flames quickly divided and condensed, transforming into hundreds of small fireballs.
Then, according to Seimei's will, these fireballs split into several streams, each smashing towards the eight legs of the giant spider puppet and Chiya on top of it.
However, although Seimei's movements were fast, Chiya's reaction wasn't slow either.
Upon seeing the incoming fireballs, he immediately controlled the spider puppet to dodge to the side.
What could he say?
As expected of something with eight legs, it was fast.
Even though Seimei was using his most proficient ninjutsu and had the Sharingan's assistance, more than half of the fireballs still missed.
And those that did hit didn't strike vital points, causing very limited damage.
Seeing this, Seimei was about to call on Teramitsu and Kamijo Yoichi to join the attack.
Unexpectedly, over ten kunai suddenly shot out from the surrounding forest.
After they dodged, they saw three Suna Chunin emerge from the trees, faintly encircling them along with the spider puppet.
"Captain?"
Teramitsu cautiously spoke.
Seimei knew what he wanted to ask. He glanced around and replied, "They're all real people!"
With that, he made a hand gesture towards the two.
Before they could react, he used the Body Flicker Technique, instantly appearing in front of one of the Suna Chunin, his short sword slashing towards the opponent's neck.
If it were an ordinary Chunin facing Seimei's sudden attack, they would either be killed on the spot or at least severely injured.
But this Suna Chunin reacted at the critical moment, slightly leaning back to avoid the fatal blow.
Then, without hesitation, he counterattacked, thrusting his kunai directly at Seimei's heart.
Unfortunately, Seimei saw it all clearly with his Sharingan.
He even predicted the opponent's movement before they even raised their arm, just by seeing the muscles in their arm tensing up.
Therefore, with a simple sidestep, he evaded the counterattack.
Not only that, because he had anticipated it in advance, Seimei had the opportunity to use Genjutsu: Sharingan while dodging.
The opponent couldn't react in time and fell under the genjutsu, momentarily losing focus.
Seizing this opportunity, Seimei swung his short sword, instantly slitting the opponent's throat.
All of this happened in the blink of an eye. By the time the others reacted, Seimei had already eliminated his opponent.
"Suna!"
Seeing this, a Suna Chunin cried out in pain, seemingly having a close relationship with the fallen ninja.
But Seimei didn't care about that.
He formed the "Mi" seal again, activating the Body Flicker Technique and appearing before the Suna-nin who had cried out at an incredibly fast speed.
However, having learned from the previous lesson, the opponent was now fully alert.
Although Seimei's Body Flicker Technique was fast, it was far from reaching the level of teleportation.
Therefore, when he arrived in front of the opponent and swung his short sword, the opponent had already raised their kunai.
Clang~
The kunai and the short sword clashed, producing a crisp metallic sound.
And this sound seemed to be a switch, awakening everyone present.
Immediately, everyone sprang into action.
First were Teramitsu and Kamijo Yoichi. Without saying a word, they directly charged towards the giant spider puppet, following Seimei's instructions from before he made his move.
The hand gesture Seimei had made earlier was simple: he wanted them to hold off the puppeteer first.
It was just that everything had happened too quickly, and the two hadn't reacted yet when Seimei had already taken action.
Not to mention them, even Chiya in the distance hadn't expected Seimei to be so decisive and possess such strength.
In the blink of an eye, he had killed one of his subordinates, which was quite astonishing.
He had only heard that the Sharingan was powerful before but had never fought against an Uchiha clan ninja. Now it seemed the rumors were indeed true.
In reality, the opponent had overestimated the power of the Sharingan, or at least overestimated the effects of the Two Tomoe Sharingan.
Not every Uchiha ninja who awakened the Two Tomoe Sharingan could master the Body Flicker Technique to his level during the Chunin stage and possess such rich combat experience.
If they couldn't achieve these two points, even with a pair of Two Tomoe Sharingan, it would be difficult to replicate his actions from just now.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter 96: Escape
Clang~
After one attack was blocked, Seimei swung his sword again. The Suna-nin in front of him blocked a second time, and Seimei continued to attack, with the Suna-nin continuing to block.
For a time, the sound of metal clashing filled the air. Seimei's attacks were like a violent storm, swift and fierce.
The Suna-nin he was attacking was like a lone boat in the vast ocean, struggling in the storm, in danger of capsizing at any moment.
Seeing his teammate in peril, another Suna Chunin immediately rushed to help.
However, even facing two opponents, Seimei remained calm.
With his masterful Konoha-Style Kenjutsu, he regained the upper hand in just a moment.
And as the two opponents gradually became familiar with his attack rhythm, Seimei suddenly changed his tactics.
The hypnotic power of the Sharingan was fully activated, and his style shifted from Konoha-Style Kenjutsu to the more compatible Uchiha-Style Kenjutsu.
Immediately, one of them fell under the genjutsu, and Seimei's short sword flashed, leaving a deep wound on the person's left arm, exposing the bone.
It wasn't that Seimei didn't want to aim for their vital points, but his attack was blocked by the other person, resulting in only injuring their arm.
Nevertheless, this injury was still severe.
Suffering such a heavy blow, the Suna-nin cried out in pain and snapped out of the hypnosis. He then quickly retreated.
But while he wanted to retreat, Seimei wouldn't allow it. With a sword strike, he forced back the Suna-nin blocking his way and lunged forward, instantly reaching the retreating Suna-nin.
His short sword swung consecutively, leaving several wounds of varying depths on the opponent's body in the blink of an eye.
Seeing this, the other Suna-nin quickly stepped forward to help.
Sensing the kunai thrust from the Suna-nin behind him, Seimei flashed aside, dodging the attack.
Then, with a few backward leaps, he slightly increased the distance and raised his hands. Before the two Suna-nin could react, he completed the hand seals at an extremely fast speed.
Subsequently, he opened his mouth and exhaled a large burst of flames. These flames divided and condensed, forming hundreds of fireballs that simultaneously smashed towards the two Suna Chunin.
It was the ninjutsu - Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique.
The two Suna Chunin were caught off guard. Although they tried their best to dodge, several fireballs still hit their bodies.
The fireballs exploded, instantly inflicting heavy injuries on both of them.
Seeing this, Seimei was about to move in for the finishing blow.
But just then, a scream suddenly came from not far away.
Seimei looked towards the sound and saw Teramitsu, who had gone to intercept the Suna puppeteer, being caught by the giant pincers extending from the giant spider puppet's mouth. His body was severed, his upper and lower halves separated, blood and internal organs spilled all over the ground, and he was wailing in agony.
Even though Seimei was used to seeing life and death, he was still shocked by this scene.
Fortunately, Teramitsu didn't suffer for long. Within moments, he completely lost his life.
At the same time, the situation on Kamijo Yoichi's side wasn't looking good either.
His opponent was the humanoid puppet.
Although, for the sake of greater realism, it had sacrificed many mechanisms and structures, the puppet's inherent characteristics of fearlessness towards death and threats still gave Kamijo Yoichi a hard time.
Seimei silently assessed the combat strength of both sides. There were two people left on their side. He himself still maintained his full combat power, while Kamijo Yoichi probably had about seventy to eighty percent.
Although there were three people on the Suna side, two of them had already been severely injured by him, and Kamijo Yoichi should be able to handle them.
'Perhaps, it's time to start the plan.'
With this thought, Seimei used the Body Flicker Technique and arrived in front of Kamijo Yoichi, blocking an attack from the humanoid puppet for him.
Then, without looking back, he said, "Leave this to me. You go deal with those two."
Hearing this, Kamijo Yoichi glanced at the two Suna Chunin struggling to get up and, unusually, said, "Captain, be careful."
"Mm."
Seimei responded and then charged towards the humanoid puppet.
But before he could get close, the humanoid puppet suddenly opened its mouth, and hundreds of steel needles shot out from within.
These needles, fired by mechanisms, lacked variation but their speed was beyond what any human could achieve.
Fortunately, Seimei possessed the Sharingan and could clearly see the trajectories of these needles.
Therefore, dodging them wasn't too difficult.
Chiya, not giving up, once again controlled the humanoid puppet to fire several waves of needles, but Seimei dodged them all.
Not only that, but Seimei also took the opportunity to close in on it. His short sword thrust forward, seemingly intending to engage in close combat with the humanoid puppet.
Seeing this, Chiya, hiding in the shadows, immediately laughed, "Close combat with a puppet, hehe... truly..."
However, before he could finish his sentence, Seimei's sword tip pierced through the humanoid puppet's protective layer and precisely inserted itself into the gap at its left shoulder joint.
Click, clack~
Accompanied by the sound of gears grinding, the humanoid puppet's left shoulder suddenly fell to the ground.
At this moment, he couldn't laugh anymore.
On the contrary, a smile appeared on Seimei's face.
When he was planning to seize the Puppet Secret Technique, he had been thinking about how to deal with puppeteers.
Conventionally, to deal with a puppeteer, one needed to avoid direct confrontation with their puppets as much as possible and then find a way to locate the puppeteer themselves, ultimately achieving a decapitation strike.
But Seimei felt this method was too passive.
Although puppets weren't afraid of death or threats, they weren't invincible either. They also had weaknesses, such as the joints between their various components.
Ordinary people might find it difficult to target these areas during intense battles, but Seimei was different.
Not only did he possess the Two Tomoe Sharingan with its amazing observation skills, but he had also trained two advanced swordsmanship styles to near perfection, allowing him to achieve precise strikes.
In this way, dealing with these ordinary puppet mechanisms wasn't too difficult.
And as long as he kept dismantling these puppets, no matter how well the puppeteer behind the scenes hid, they would eventually reveal themselves.
This was his strategy - turning passivity into initiative. As long as he kept attacking the puppets, he would eventually find the puppeteer hiding in the shadows.
At that time, without the puppets, the opponent would be at his mercy.
If the opponent didn't want to end up in such a situation, they only had two choices: either kill him before he dismantled the puppets or flee immediately.
Chiya initially chose the former, but when Seimei dodged the joint attack of the two puppets and consecutively dismantled one arm and one leg of the humanoid puppet and three legs of the spider puppet, he wisely chose the latter - escape!
But would Seimei let him escape?
The answer was obviously no.
The opponent's combat experience was average, and coupled with their behavior before revealing themselves, Seimei felt that their actual age shouldn't be too old, and they were likely a sheltered individual.
Considering the humanoid puppet's appearance of being around fifteen or sixteen years old, Seimei had reason to suspect that it was crafted in their own image.
In that case, as long as he captured them, with some interrogation, he could most likely obtain the Puppet Secret Technique.
How could Seimei miss such an opportunity?
Seeing the spider puppet and the humanoid puppet suddenly retreat, Seimei didn't hesitate at all and immediately gave chase.
In the blink of an eye, one person and two puppets disappeared from everyone's sight.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter 97: Explosion
"Alright, let's end this!"
In the forest, Chiya, who was fleeing, suddenly heard this sentence. His expression changed abruptly, and he stopped, staring intently at the figure that suddenly appeared in front of him.
This person was none other than Seimei.
"It's you! You discovered me long ago?"
Looking at the familiar face and those familiar eyes, Chiya gritted his teeth.
"Hehe~"
Seimei chuckled softly and said, "If I couldn't even discover your traces like this, then these eyes of mine would be useless."
Hiding in place to conceal one's whereabouts and moving without being detected were two entirely different concepts.
Seimei had only chased for a short while before discovering the traces left by Chiya's main body through the Sharingan's powerful perception.
He hadn't stopped him immediately only to ensure the battlefield was as far away from the previous location as possible.
Now...
It was about time!
Any further delay, and the other teams might encircle them. He had to finish the battle quickly.
Moreover, there was another reason for choosing this location as the battlefield: there was a hidden spot nearby suitable for confinement.
It was an underground space, seemingly created by someone using Earth Style ninjutsu during the last Great Ninja War. Seimei had accidentally discovered it while patrolling two days ago.
He hadn't paid much attention to it at the time, but now it could be used to imprison this puppeteer.
However, before that, he still had to capture the opponent first.
With this thought, Seimei abruptly threw several shuriken.
"Hmph!"
Seeing this, Chiya didn't dodge or evade. He snorted coldly, and with a slight flick of his fingers, two dark shadows darted out from the forest behind him, directly blocking his front.
These shadows were none other than the spider puppet, missing three legs, and the humanoid puppet, left with only its head, torso, and one leg.
Thump, thump, thump~
The shuriken hit the puppets, producing a series of dull sounds, failing to cause any damage to them.
Immediately afterward, Chiya's counterattack came.
His ten fingers moved rapidly, controlling the spider puppet to release a large number of hidden weapons while also manipulating the humanoid puppet to engage in close combat with Seimei, attempting to disrupt his movements.
But Seimei wasn't easily disturbed. He dodged the incoming hidden weapons while wielding his short sword, blocking the attacks from the humanoid puppet.
Then, he even took advantage of a gap in the spider puppet's attack to rush towards Chiya.
Yes, Seimei had only been targeting the puppets before, but that was because he hadn't discovered Chiya's main body!
Now that the opponent had appeared before him, he naturally wouldn't stubbornly fight the puppets. Instead, like others, he chose to attack the puppeteer himself.
Unfortunately, although Chiya lacked combat experience, he had received formal puppeteer training and knew that he himself was the biggest weakness, so he had always been on guard.
Therefore, Seimei's assault was unsuccessful, and his sword strike was blocked by the spider puppet.
Not only that, but two tubes extended from the spider puppet's abdomen, spraying two streams of yellow-green poisonous mist towards Seimei.
Fortunately, Seimei possessed the Sharingan and had already retreated vigilantly the moment those tubes appeared.
Before the poisonous mist could spread, Seimei, relying on his memory, threw three kunai towards where Chiya was standing.
The kunai pierced through the poisonous mist and attacked Chiya, but once again, they were blocked by the spider puppet.
However, before Chiya could breathe a sigh of relief, a "sizzling" sound suddenly came. He looked closely and saw three explosive tags fiercely burning behind the three deflected kunai.
"Not good!"
Chiya was terrified. He retreated while controlling the spider puppet to shield him.
Boom~ Boom~ Boom~
A blinding flash of light appeared, followed by deafening explosions. Three crimson fireballs rose, instantly engulfing the spider puppet.
However, to Seimei's surprise, even after being hit by three explosive tags, the spider puppet didn't seem to have any major problems.
"As expected, there's something special about it!"
Mumbling to himself, Seimei leaped forward again, charging towards Chiya.
Seeing this, Chiya immediately controlled the two puppets to intercept him.
Seimei used the same tactic, once again starting to dismantle the two puppets.
In just a moment, the severely damaged humanoid puppet was disassembled into parts, completely immobilized.
Additionally, the spider puppet had another leg removed by Seimei.
During this time, Chiya naturally tried to resist, but it was futile.
Even when hiding in the shadows earlier, he couldn't stop Seimei from dismantling the puppets.
Now, with his main body exposed and such a big weakness, he naturally couldn't stop him even more.
Seeing that the spider puppet, in order to protect him, was already in tatters.
Finally, Chiya, in desperation, resorted to his last resort.
The spider puppet, which was grappling with Seimei, suddenly froze.
Then, accompanied by a "click, clack, clack" sound, it abruptly scattered into parts all over the ground.
Wait!
They weren't parts, but rather spider puppets of varying sizes.
Chiya's ten fingers moved slightly, and the chakra threads he shot out split into two, then four, then eight...
In an instant, they connected to all the puppets.
If Seimei couldn't observe the chakra threads before because they were too thin, now he could faintly see them even without activating his Sharingan.
But...
'So many chakra threads, can he, a mere Chunin, really control them all?'
One had to know that Chiyo was already hailed as a top-notch puppeteer for controlling one puppet with a single finger. This...
Seimei roughly counted the number of spider puppets. There were at least a hundred of them.
Controlling such a scale of puppets in battle, perhaps only Sasori, after transforming himself into a human puppet, could achieve that.
Seimei didn't believe this "unknown person" could do it.
'There must be something fishy going on here.'
Seimei pondered inwardly, unconsciously taking half a step back.
However, as soon as he retreated, it was like poking a hornet's nest. The spider puppets on the ground jumped up one after another, pouncing towards him.
With a flash of cold light, Seimei swung his short sword, instantly splitting the spider puppet at the forefront in half.
However, at that moment, alarm bells rang in his heart. His Sharingan spun rapidly, and everything in front of him seemed to slow down.
Finally, within the spider puppet that had been split in two, he saw a familiar piece of paper. It was undoubtedly an explosive tag, and it was still burning.
"Damn it!"
Seimei cursed, his figure abruptly retreating.
If it were just one explosive tag, it wouldn't be a big deal. But he was afraid that all those spider puppets contained explosive tags.
Once surrounded by them, with hundreds of explosive tags detonating simultaneously, Seimei didn't know how to defend against that without Susanoo.
So, to be safe, it was better to retreat first.
Facts proved that his decision was correct. As soon as he left, two spider puppets jumped to the spot where he had just stood.
Then, along with the spider puppet he had split, three explosions sounded almost simultaneously. Raging flames instantly engulfed an area of several meters around them.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter 98: Captive
"As expected..."
Looking at the three fireballs rising simultaneously behind him, Seimei's heart tightened, and he couldn't help but say, "They really all have explosive tags!"
As he finished speaking, he saw more spider puppets leaping towards him.
Seimei didn't dare to face them head-on and quickly retreated.
Boom, boom, boom~
Several more explosions rang out in succession.
Amidst the smoke, Seimei dashed out, followed by dozens of spider puppets of varying sizes.
At this moment, Seimei wished he could instantly learn the Wind Style: Great Breakthrough technique and unleash it on them, scattering those spider puppets.
Unfortunately, he hadn't practiced it since obtaining this ninjutsu.
It wasn't that he didn't want to, but he hadn't fully mastered the shape and nature transformations of fire-attribute chakra yet. Rashly developing wind-attribute chakra would only be counterproductive.
Even with the assistance of the proficiency panel, forcibly learning this ninjutsu and grinding its proficiency would consume more unnecessary chakra.
It was completely not worth it, so he hadn't practiced it yet.
However, after this incident, Seimei planned to allocate more chakra to the Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique to quickly master the shape and nature transformations of fire-attribute chakra.
Then, he could start developing wind-attribute chakra.
By then, if he encountered a situation like this again, he wouldn't be so passive.
Thinking this, Seimei leaped once more, dodging the sneak attacks of several spider puppets.
Boom, boom, boom~
The familiar sound of explosions rang out again, still not causing any harm to Seimei.
Not only that, but as time went on, Seimei gradually discovered the weaknesses of these spider puppets.
The most fatal one was that they couldn't stray too far apart. Seimei guessed this was a drawback of the opponent's clever method of controlling so many puppets.
That's right, it was clever.
Seimei had already figured out that the opponent wasn't directly controlling so many puppets. Instead, they were using an indirect control method, spreading their control from a few key points to the entire group.
This resulted in most of the puppets having to stay close to the few puppets acting as the central control points.
As a result, they couldn't effectively encircle Seimei.
And Seimei wasn't too afraid of individual pursuits or self-destructions.
After all, these puppets were limited in number. Once they were exhausted, it would be his chance to counterattack.
To speed up this process, Seimei would occasionally use the Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique while dodging.
Although this technique's power was slightly lacking against the giant puppet, it was more than enough to deal with these small spider puppets with their "crude" craftsmanship.
'Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique~'
Hundreds of fist-sized fireballs were controlled by Seimei, smashing into the group of spider puppets.
Unfortunately, the spider puppets were too small and agile, so most of the fireballs missed, with only about ten hitting their targets.
However, that was enough.
Accompanied by a series of explosions, those few puppets were all destroyed.
In this way, Seimei continuously reduced the number of spider puppets.
A few minutes later, there wasn't a single spider puppet left on the field.
Chiya walked out from behind the tree with a gloomy expression, looking at Seimei, seemingly wanting to say something.
But at that moment, Seimei's expression suddenly changed. With a flash, he instantly appeared in front of Chiya, his short sword slashing diagonally towards his neck.
Chiya didn't expect Seimei to attack without saying a word and hurriedly raised his kunai to block.
Clang~
The kunai and the short sword clashed, producing a crisp sound.
Seimei continued to exert force, pressing down until Chiya had to retreat.
Seimei pressed his advantage, using both Konoha-Style Kenjutsu and Uchiha-Style Kenjutsu, coupled with his fully activated Sharingan. In just a few breaths, he left a deep wound on Chiya's body, exposing the bone.
As this wound appeared, Chiya's figure suddenly collapsed, turning into a cloud of chakra smoke and dissipating.
Clearly, this was just a shadow clone.
Seeing this, Seimei's face turned slightly unsightly, but he didn't show any surprise.
The reason was that the moment the opponent appeared, Seimei had keenly observed that there was something wrong with the amount of chakra in their body.
Although the Sharingan couldn't directly see the chakra pathways and acupoints in a ninja's body like the Byakugan, it could still roughly discern the amount of chakra.
Therefore, Seimei could tell at a glance that the opponent's chakra was much less than expected.
You know, because of the Chakra Absorption Technique, Seimei paid close attention to the amount of chakra his enemies possessed.
Not long ago, the last time he saw the opponent, they still had quite a bit of chakra.
But after he dealt with the last few spider puppets, the opponent's chakra suddenly decreased by almost half.
In this situation, the opponent either used some powerful ninjutsu or used the Shadow Clone Technique to divide their chakra equally.
For the former, Seimei hadn't seen any major movements or sensed any fatal danger, so he ruled it out directly.
That left only the latter possibility.
That's why he attacked without saying a word, to quickly confirm his guess.
If his guess was wrong, he would take the opportunity to capture the opponent. If his guess was correct, he would have to hurry up and search for the opponent's real body.
Facts proved that his guess was right.
So, the next step was to find the opponent's real body.
Seimei had put in so much effort; he didn't want to let the opponent escape.
With a thought, Seimei began to recall the entire battle process, analyzing when and where the opponent had used the Shadow Clone Technique to escape.
A few moments later, Seimei arrived behind a large tree. It wasn't the same tree where Chiya's shadow clone had hidden earlier but another one not far away.
Seimei remembered that the last time the opponent disappeared from his sight was here.
After carefully examining the area, he indeed found some traces.
Once he confirmed the direction the opponent had left in, Seimei didn't hesitate and immediately gave chase.
Half an hour passed in a flash.
Finally, Seimei cornered Chiya in a clearing in the forest.
"You're really persistent!"
Chiya looked at Seimei, who had appeared before him once again, his face quite unsightly.
Although the moment he merged with the shadow clone's memories, he understood that Seimei had discovered his trick and knew that the opponent would definitely pursue him.
But he truly hadn't expected Seimei to arrive so quickly, even though he had been very careful.
He could only say that he had underestimated the Sharingan's perception abilities.
Once the direction was determined, with Seimei's experience and the Sharingan's assistance, it was impossible for him to escape his pursuit.
Seimei didn't have the mood to waste words with the opponent. This battle had dragged on long enough, and he didn't want to waste any more time.
So, with a Body Flicker Technique, he directly appeared in front of the opponent.
The battle instantly began!
As a puppeteer, Chiya's main methods were focused on controlling puppets. Without his puppets, it was like a tiger without its claws and teeth.
Such a tiger, although it could scare people, couldn't hurt them.
Therefore, Seimei didn't expend much effort to subdue him.
Looking at Chiya, who had fainted on the ground, Seimei thought for a moment, then used the Chakra Absorption Technique to absorb all the chakra from his body.
Then, after carefully handling the traces around the area, he carried the opponent and headed towards the underground space.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter 99: The Chakra Battery
Three days passed in a blink of an eye.
The commotion caused by Chiya, the Suna puppeteer, had subsided. The mission report, concluding with the enemy's escape, was submitted by Seimei and passed the review.
From now on, unless someone paid special attention to this person or Sunagakure made a big fuss about finding him, this person would be considered vanished from the face of the earth.
And this was all too common in times of war.
No one would waste energy on such an "unknown person." Perhaps only his family would search for him.
That's right, from Chiya's own words, Seimei had confirmed his guess - the other party wasn't some ordinary ninja but came from a declining clan within Sunagakure.
It was said that the head of their clan was once a disciple of the Second Kazekage, Shamon, and inherited his techniques for creating and controlling puppet mechanisms.
Unfortunately, the two Great Ninja Wars had caused heavy losses to their clan, leading to their gradual decline.
It wasn't until recent years, with the emergence of Chiya, a somewhat talented individual, that they showed signs of revival.
But because of this, Chiya had never had freedom.
No matter what he did, someone would follow him, and most of the time, he was confined within the clan, learning puppet techniques.
Chiya was also quite capable, able to create puppets at a young age. The giant spider puppet and the humanoid puppet were his proudest creations.
It was precisely because of these two puppets that he was allowed to act freely.
Perhaps because he had been suppressed for too long, he tended to be a bit impulsive when carrying out missions, liking to take risks to prove himself.
Just like this time, he could have let Kuraki go, but seeing that he was alone, he acted without thinking, ultimately attracting Seimei and the others.
Later, he even tried to ambush and eliminate Seimei's entire team.
Unfortunately, if you walk in the night long enough, you're bound to encounter a ghost.
With the configuration of his team, if it were any other Konoha Chunin leading the team, he might have succeeded.
Unfortunately for him, he had bad luck and ran into Seimei.
And Seimei's strength, let alone Chunin, even Jonin wouldn't be able to easily defeat him. Clearly, Chiya didn't possess the strength of a Jonin.
Therefore, it was only natural that he ended up being captured after failing.
"Captain, should we split up here again?"
While he was thinking, Kamijo Yoichi's voice suddenly came from the side.
Seimei glanced around and nodded, "Yes, right here!"
As he spoke, he looked at Kamijo Yoichi and another Chunin who had been transferred from another team for support.
He instructed, "Next, you two proceed according to the plan, checking the markers and traps along the way. Report any issues immediately."
"Yes, Captain!"
After responding, the two left.
Seimei also pretended to inspect the area he was responsible for.
But soon, he detoured to a secluded corner and stopped under a short tree.
He looked left and right, making sure no one was around, and then pulled away the weeds on the ground, revealing a dark hole.
Then, he leaped into it, falling for three or four meters before landing on solid ground.
Seimei didn't linger. He found his way in the darkness and continued forward, eventually arriving at a spacious underground cavern.
This was the place Seimei had accidentally discovered during his patrol earlier. The cavern was naturally formed, but the passage was artificially created.
Inside the cave, he had also found some supplies, probably from about ten years ago.
That's why he concluded that this place was specifically dug out by someone during the last Great Ninja War as a hiding place.
"I wonder if that guy is dead yet?"
Seimei thought to himself.
However, even if the other party wasn't dead, as long as they didn't need to use this place, they probably wouldn't come here. They might have even forgotten about it.
In that case, it wouldn't hurt for him to use it temporarily.
Arriving at the deepest part of the cavern, looking at Chiya, who was tied to a pillar with his hands severed, Seimei said, "Alright, stop pretending to sleep. You should know the abilities of these eyes of mine."
As soon as he finished speaking, Chiya opened his eyes, filled with resentment.
"Don't even dream about it. I won't tell you anything."
Chiya gritted his teeth and said.
Seimei calmly replied, "I know."
With that, he raised his hands, formed hand seals, and activated the Chakra Absorption Technique.
His palms enveloped in chakra, Seimei pressed them against the top of Chiya's head.
Immediately, the opponent's chakra gushed out like a flood, pouring into his body.
At first, Chiya struggled fiercely, but as his chakra was gradually drained, his entire body became limp.
It had to be said that Chiya, being seen as the hope of his clan, indeed had extraordinary talent.
The chakra of an ordinary Chunin was only around two to three thousand points, but he had a full five thousand points, and this was before his body had fully matured.
If he were given a few more years, after his body developed further, his clan might have gained a new Jonin.
Unfortunately, all of that now benefited Seimei.
After draining the opponent's chakra, with a 60% conversion rate, Seimei obtained three thousand points.
Just like two days ago, Seimei divided these three thousand chakra points into two parts.
Two thousand points were used to practice the Heart Reflection Technique, and one thousand points were used to increase the level of the Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique.
In this way, both the Heart Reflection Technique and the Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique could gain an additional twelve proficiency points.
The former could boost the Sharingan's evolution progress by four points. Combined with the ten points gained from his own chakra supply, that was fourteen points.
The overall speed was 40% faster than before.
Undoubtedly, this was a significant improvement.
As for the latter, it more than doubled the speed of accumulating proficiency for the Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique, which was an even greater improvement.
In this way, even if Chiya didn't reveal any knowledge related to the Puppet Secret Technique, Seimei wouldn't be at a loss.
Having such a chakra battery could save him a lot of time.
However, just one "battery" was too few. Seimei had already planned that after he learned the Shadow Clone Technique, he would go capture more prisoners.
That's right, Seimei was already preparing to learn the Shadow Clone Technique.
Only by mastering this technique could he avoid the eyes and ears of other Konoha ninjas and stay here for a long time.
And only by being here himself could he dare to imprison more ninjas.
Otherwise, if one of them escaped accidentally, it would be a big problem.
Just like now, to prevent Chiya from escaping while he was away, he had ruthlessly cut off his hands, disabling his ability to form hand seals and condense chakra threads.
Even then, Seimei still had to come and check on him from time to time, fearing that he might escape using other methods.
In the future, if he imprisoned more people, he couldn't chop off all their hands, could he?
Even if he did, it wouldn't be foolproof!
The ninja world was full of various secret techniques. Who knew if the opponent might, like Jiraiya, perform hand seals with their feet.
Therefore, only by personally keeping an eye on them could Seimei feel at ease.
After checking the ropes again and making sure there were no problems, Seimei quickly left the cavern.
He hadn't forgotten his mission. If something happened above while he was away, it would be difficult to explain.
(End of Chapter)
*Chapter 100: Fusion*
In the blink of an eye, it was already evening.
After completing the final round of patrols, Seimei and the others returned to the base.
Once the handover with the incoming team was completed, they followed the main group eastward, heading straight to the headquarters.
Thus, the week-long patrol mission came to a successful end.
Including the previous two missions, Seimei had completed three assignments since returning to the frontlines over twenty days ago.
Now, he would have roughly a week to rest.
Well...
Resting was out of the question; he had a lot to do.
On the second day after returning to the base:
Early in the morning, Seimei rushed to the training ground located on the northwest side of the camp.
Finding an empty corner, Seimei began practicing the "Uchiha Sword Technique."
During the last seven days, between the patrol missions, he had pushed the "Konoha Sword Technique" to level 5 (0/0), reaching its peak.
Next, all he needed to do was bring the "Uchiha Sword Technique" to its peak as well, and then attempt to fuse the two.
This wouldn't take long, since his "Uchiha Sword Technique" was already at level 4 (1985/2000), just one step away from perfection.
Seimei practiced the "Uchiha Sword Technique" over and over again, with various insights surfacing in his mind as his proficiency kept increasing.
This was his motivation, the reason he could tirelessly repeat the same practice again and again.
Time passed minute by minute.
Gradually, Seimei entered a state of deep focus, forgetting everything except the "Uchiha Sword Technique."
In the blink of an eye, several hours had gone by.
As noon approached, after Seimei completed yet another round of the "Uchiha Sword Technique," a new insight suddenly struck him.
At that moment, Seimei felt a deeper understanding of the "Uchiha Sword Technique."
*"I've mastered it!"*
The thought flashed in his mind, but he quickly pushed it aside.
Why? Because at this moment, insights about the "Konoha Sword Technique" also surfaced in his mind.
The two sword techniques began to intertwine, fusing together, eventually breaking through their respective limits and forming a brand-new sword style.
This new sword technique combined the strengths of the "Konoha Sword Technique" with the Uchiha Sword Technique's coordination with the Sharingan, making it feel tailor-made for Seimei.
No, it wasn't just tailor-made—it was created by him, the perfect sword technique that suited him best.
Suddenly, Seimei opened his eyes, filled with excitement.
*"Status!"*
With a thought, Seimei brought up his proficiency panel.
In the next moment, a familiar light blue screen appeared.
**[Name: Uchiha Seimei]
[Age: 11]
[Physical Constitution: 9 → 10]
[Mental Strength: 11]
[Chakra: 7800 (10621 → 11201)]
[Bloodline: Sharingan (Two Tomoe) (354/5000) → (652/5000)]**
**[Skills:
Chakra Refining Technique: lv4 (792/2000) → lv4 (1008/2000)
Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique: lv2 (110/500)
Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Technique: lv4 (75/2000) → lv4 (381/2000)
Fire Style: Dragon Fire Technique: lv2 (100/500)
Shadow Clone Technique: lv0 (5/100)
Chakra Absorption Technique: lv2 (105/500) → lv2 (250/500)
Healing Technique: lv2 (10/500) → lv2 (161/500)
Genjutsu: Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes: lv3 (355/1000) → lv3 (625/1000)
Illusion: Sharingan: lv3 (120/1000) → lv3 (190/1000)
Mind Projection Technique: Lv5 (1181/5000) → Lv5 (1832/5000)]**
*[Swordsmanship: lv5 (1/5000)]*
**[Chakra Control: lv3 (405/1000) → lv3 (602/1000)
Clone Technique: lv3 (0/0)
Body Flicker Technique: lv4 (0/0)
Weapon Throwing: lv5 (0/0)]**
As he looked at the panel, both the "Konoha Sword Technique" and "Uchiha Sword Technique" had disappeared, replaced by a new skill called "Swordsmanship."
Additionally, the level cap, which had been stuck at Lv5 (0/0), had now broken through to Lv5 (1/5000).
This meant he could continue grinding his proficiency.
Moreover, the fusion of the two sword techniques had also tapped into the foundations he had built over two months of rigorous training, causing his physical constitution to increase by one point, from 9 to 10.
Seimei took a moment to sense his body and could clearly feel that another limit had been broken.
In other words, his potential had once again been unlocked.
Sitting cross-legged, Seimei began circulating the "Chakra Refining Technique," analyzing the changes in his body and calculating the benefits brought by his improved physical constitution.
After about an hour, Seimei opened his eyes.
A smile spread across his face.
Why? Because this increase in physical constitution had brought him more benefits than he had expected.
First of all, his chakra capacity had increased significantly.
According to Seimei's estimation, his chakra capacity had increased by at least 3,000 points this time.
For reference, the last time his Sharingan evolved—when his physical constitution increased by 1 and mental strength by 2—his chakra capacity had only increased by just over 5,000 points.
But this time, with just a 1-point increase in physical constitution, his chakra capacity had increased by 3,000 points, which seemed a bit unusual.
However, after thinking it over briefly, Seimei understood why.
It was simple: the reason his chakra had only increased by around 5,000 last time was because his lower physical constitution had limited his chakra growth.
Now, with his physical constitution increasing by one point, part of that limitation was lifted, resulting in more chakra than expected.
Previously, this discrepancy wasn't noticeable because both attributes were low.
But as his physical and mental attributes continued to improve, the difference between each point became more pronounced.
This means that, in order to maximize chakra growth in the future, he would need to keep his physical and mental attributes as balanced as possible.
After noting this down mentally, Seimei considered the second surprise: his chakra recovery speed.
Based on his calculations, with the increase in physical constitution, his daily chakra recovery should improve by about 2,000 points.
In other words, from now on, he would be able to use up to 10,000 chakra points each day, up from 8,000.
Seimei planned to use this extra 2,000 chakra to practice the Shadow Clone Technique.
It was perfect timing since he had no tasks this week, so he could maintain his chakra at a lower level.
That way, when practicing the Shadow Clone Technique, he wouldn't exhaust too much chakra, and the 2,000 points would be enough to accumulate 10 to 20 proficiency points.
This way, it should be no problem to reach a basic level of mastery within a week.
Determined, Seimei put away his short sword and started by practicing the Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Technique ten times, consuming 850 chakra points and increasing its proficiency by 10 points.
Next, he followed the same process to boost the Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes and Illusion: Sharingan techniques by 10 points each.
At this point, he had around 5,200 chakra points remaining.
Using half of it to perform the Mind Projection Technique, he then began practicing the Shadow Clone Technique with the rest.
Each time he practiced, he only needed to use about 100 chakra points to earn one proficiency point.
After a few rounds, his chakra dropped below 2,000, no longer enough to practice the Shadow Clone Technique.
Seimei then began circulating the Chakra Refining Technique.
In no time, his chakra was back above 2,000 points.
At that moment, Seimei resumed his practice of the Shadow Clone Technique.
In this way, his chakra hovered around 2,000 points while his proficiency in the Shadow Clone Technique steadily increased.
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