Chapter 101: Allocation
Five days later.
Afternoon.
After Seimei once again performed the Shadow Clone Technique, a sudden realization dawned upon him.
He instantly knew that his Shadow Clone Technique had leveled up.
He opened the panel and glanced at it. As expected, the proficiency behind the Shadow Clone Technique had changed from lv0 (99/100) to lv1 (1/200).
After carefully experiencing it for a moment, Seimei performed the Shadow Clone Technique again.
Poof~
A cloud of chakra smoke dispersed.
A figure identical to him appeared before his eyes.
If at lv0, the shadow clones he created were unstable and short-lived, then after reaching lv1, these shortcomings were all gone.
Seimei could clearly sense that this shadow clone in front of him could last for a long time and had a certain degree of resistance to attacks. Its stability was quite good.
Seimei looked at the Sharingan in the shadow clone's eyes and asked, "Can you use this Sharingan?"
The shadow clone carefully sensed for a moment, then looked around, and finally nodded, "Yes, I can use it, but it consumes a bit more chakra than the original body."
"Is that so..."
Seimei pondered for a moment, then drew his short sword and said, "Come, let's have a spar."
"Alright!"
The shadow clone responded and also drew the short sword from its waist.
The next moment, both of them moved simultaneously, their short swords clashing together, producing a crisp metallic sound.
Not only that, but between the blades, Seimei even saw sparks flying.
No wonder both the Sharingan and the Byakugan couldn't distinguish between the real and the fake. Even the transformed weapons were so realistic, let alone the core of ninjutsu - the person themselves?
After a brief stalemate, both of them changed their moves and began to fully utilize their swordsmanship.
The sound of metal clashing continuously rang out as the two short swords collided between them. Neither Seimei nor the shadow clone used any ninjutsu or genjutsu, purely competing in swordsmanship.
At first, the shadow clone could still hold its own against him, but as time went on, Seimei gradually gained the upper hand.
It wasn't that the shadow clone's swordsmanship was inferior to his, but as the battle progressed, his "Swordsmanship" proficiency kept increasing.
Although the shadow clone also improved, it was far slower than him.
Therefore, he naturally gained the advantage.
From this, it could be seen that the proficiency panel was likely bound to his soul; otherwise, the shadow clone's "Swordsmanship" should have also improved synchronously.
In that case, the effectiveness of using shadow clones to grind proficiency would be greatly reduced.
However, he didn't need to consider this point for now.
Currently, he was facing a lack of chakra, not a lack of time. There was no need to use shadow clones to grind proficiency.
Unless one day he could capture a tailed beast and level up his Chakra Absorption Technique to the point where he could extract tailed beast chakra, the priority of chakra would always be higher than time.
Various thoughts flashed through his mind, and Seimei focused his attention on dealing with the shadow clone in front of him.
However, even until the shadow clone dispersed, he still hadn't defeated it.
This showed that in terms of close combat ability alone, the shadow clone wasn't much weaker than him. Its only weakness was probably its average durability.
Of course, there was also the chakra consumption, which was far greater than that of the original body.
Since shadow clones were essentially physical clones made of chakra, every movement consumed chakra, especially during combat, where the consumption was enormous.
This explained why few people used this technique for frontal combat. It was simply not worth it!
Fortunately, Seimei didn't intend to use this technique for fighting either.
He practiced this technique solely for the purpose of deceiving others.
In the past few days, to avoid wasting Chiya, the chakra battery, he had to travel back and forth between the cavern and the main camp every day.
Not only was it a waste of time, but it was also very easy to attract attention.
Now, with the Shadow Clone Technique, he could completely let the shadow clone stay at the main camp while he remained at the cavern for extended periods.
This would reduce the number of trips back and forth, making it less likely to be noticed.
Furthermore, if anything happened at the main camp, the shadow clone could quickly relay the information back by dispelling the technique.
In this way, Seimei wouldn't have to worry about missing anything.
'Perhaps it's time to capture more prisoners.'
Thinking this, Seimei quickly packed up his things and then performed the Shadow Clone Technique again.
Looking at the newly appeared shadow clone, Seimei said, "You stay here from now on and inform me immediately if anything happens."
"OK!"
The shadow clone gave him an OK sign.
Seeing this, Seimei smiled and then quietly left the main camp.
Of course, he wasn't going to capture prisoners now. He would wait until his next mission. His current destination was the cavern.
He hadn't harvested chakra today, and he needed to hurry over there.
After traveling quickly, it was nearing dusk when Seimei finally reached his destination.
He carefully observed the surroundings. After confirming there were no abnormalities, Seimei cautiously cleared away the traces he had left and then entered the underground tunnel.
After a dozen or so breaths, Seimei arrived at the depths of the cavern and saw Chiya once again.
Unlike a few days ago, Chiya was much quieter now. He didn't play any tricks when he saw Seimei, but the hatred in his eyes remained.
Seimei looked at him and said, "You know, don't resist."
With that, he formed hand seals and used the Chakra Absorption Technique.
A mass of chakra enveloped his right hand, and Seimei stepped forward, pressing it directly on top of Chiya's head.
The next moment, a steady stream of chakra flowed out from Chiya's body, through Seimei's right hand, and into his own.
After more than twenty seconds, Seimei withdrew his hand.
He opened the panel and glanced at it. His chakra had increased by almost three thousand points.
Seimei nodded in satisfaction, then took out three soldier pills and stuffed them into Chiya's mouth.
Chiya didn't say anything and started chewing.
But from his expression, it looked like he wished he could eat Seimei instead.
Seimei didn't mind this too much. As long as the other party could provide him with chakra, what they thought in their heart wasn't important.
At the same time, Seimei was also glad that Chiya hadn't been spoiled by his clan. Although his personality was a bit impulsive, he wasn't someone who gave up easily.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to keep extracting chakra from him.
Of course, Seimei also knew that the reason the other party persisted in refining chakra was both to pass the time and to wait for an opportunity.
Unfortunately, he would most likely never get that opportunity.
If he hadn't learned the Shadow Clone Technique, the opponent might have had a chance to escape.
But now, with him personally guarding here, there was no way the opponent could leave.
'However, I can't completely extinguish his hope. If he gives up and stops refining chakra, I'll be the one at a loss in the end.'
With this thought, Seimei left the cavern as usual.
However, this time, he didn't return to the main camp but stayed in the underground tunnel, finding a spot to practice the Heart Reflection Technique on his own.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter 102: Setting Off Again
While practicing the Heart Reflection Technique, Seimei also began to reconsider the allocation of his chakra.
Now that he had mastered the Shadow Clone Technique, the extra two thousand chakra points needed to be reallocated.
As for why he wasn't continuing to practice the Shadow Clone Technique...
There were two reasons. First, the lv1 Shadow Clone Technique was sufficient for now, and there was no need to waste chakra upgrading it further.
Second, during missions, for his own safety, his chakra always operated at a high level. Practicing other skills was fine and wouldn't cause additional consumption.
But the Shadow Clone Technique was different. The shadow clones it created would equally divide the original body's chakra.
At that point, even if he did nothing and immediately dispelled the technique, Seimei wouldn't regain all the chakra. Instead, he would lose ten percent of the chakra from all the shadow clones.
What did this mean?
If Seimei maintained his chakra at around eight thousand points and then used the Shadow Clone Technique to create one shadow clone,
then, upon dispelling it, he would lose ten percent of the shadow clone's chakra, which was four hundred points.
And if he created two shadow clones, this number would become over five hundred.
The more shadow clones he created, the greater the loss.
Undoubtedly, this was unacceptable to Seimei.
Therefore, he could only practice this technique during his rest time when his chakra didn't need to be maintained at a high level.
And for the upcoming period, he would be on missions and definitely wouldn't have the opportunity to cultivate it.
So, these additional two thousand chakra points needed to be reallocated.
After some thought, Seimei decided to use one thousand five hundred of them for practicing the Heart Reflection Technique, which could earn him an extra nine proficiency points.
In this way, combined with the original allocation of three thousand five hundred chakra points for twenty-one proficiency points, that would be thirty proficiency points.
And every three proficiency points in the Heart Reflection Technique could increase his Sharingan's evolution progress by one point, so thirty points meant ten points.
Thus, adding the three evolution points gained from consuming six hundred chakra points to maintain the Sharingan for fifteen hours,
the evolution progress his Sharingan could gain daily would increase to thirteen points.
As for the remaining five hundred chakra points...
Seimei planned to use them on the Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique, which could earn him an extra six proficiency points.
Combined with the original allocation of eight hundred and fifty chakra points for ten proficiency points, that would be sixteen points.
Furthermore, the chakra originally allocated to the Body Flicker Technique could also be reallocated now that it had reached perfection. There was no need to continue consuming chakra to practice it.
So, Seimei planned to allocate this chakra to the Chakra Absorption Technique, further accelerating its upgrade speed.
There was also the chakra used for Konoha-Style Kenjutsu, Uchiha-Style Kenjutsu, and Shurikenjutsu.
Seimei planned to allocate all of it to the new skill - Swordsmanship.
This way, he wouldn't have to worry about the Swordsmanship skill lacking chakra.
As for the chakra originally allocated to Genjutsu: Binding Snake Glare Technique, Genjutsu: Sharingan, and Healing Technique, Seimei didn't plan to change it.
So, to summarize...
Out of ten thousand chakra points, five thousand were used for the Heart Reflection Technique, gaining thirty proficiency points daily.
One thousand three hundred were used for the Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique, gaining sixteen proficiency points daily.
One thousand seven hundred were equally divided between Genjutsu: Binding Snake Glare Technique and Genjutsu: Sharingan, each gaining ten proficiency points daily.
That accounted for eight thousand chakra points.
Of the remaining two thousand, six hundred were consumed by the Healing Technique, which could gain seven proficiency points daily.
Another six hundred were used to maintain the Sharingan's activation, which could steadily earn him three Sharingan evolution points.
The remaining eight hundred chakra points were shared by the Chakra Absorption Technique and Swordsmanship.
Both of these didn't consume much chakra, and eight hundred chakra points were enough for them to gain twenty proficiency points.
With this, the allocation of ten thousand chakra points was complete.
But this was only one part. There was also the "chakra battery" providing him with chakra.
Seimei planned to invest all this chakra into practicing the Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique and the Heart Reflection Technique.
Only in this way could he achieve the shape and nature transformations of fire-attribute chakra in the shortest time, thereby developing his second chakra nature.
At the same time, it could also allow his Sharingan to evolve faster, reaching the Three Tomoe stage.
With this thought, Seimei turned his head towards the depths of the passage, as if seeing Chiya diligently cultivating in the cavern.
After a long while, Seimei retracted his gaze and continued his own training.
...
In the blink of an eye, two days passed.
The "vacation" was over, and it was time to carry out another mission.
This time, his task was still patrolling, and the location was the same area. Most of his teammates were also the same as last time.
This wasn't a coincidence but a deliberate arrangement from above.
The reason was simple: a familiar environment and familiar teammates could allow ninjas to exhibit stronger combat capabilities.
Therefore, generally speaking, ninjas wouldn't receive drastically different missions within a relatively fixed period.
For example, they wouldn't go from a patrol mission to an infiltration and espionage mission in the next instance.
Of course, this wasn't absolute.
Just like when he had just returned to the battlefield a month ago, his first mission was a patrol, but the second one turned into an emergency support order.
However, there were usually only two reasons for such situations to occur...
One was that there weren't enough personnel, and they urgently needed people to fill the gaps. The other was that your abilities were indeed useful, and the higher-ups needed you to solve a problem.
His emergency support mission that time fell into the first category.
At that time, Iwagakure's offensive was fierce, and the main camp couldn't spare any extra personnel for a while, so they could only urgently send him and some ninjas who were resting to the front lines.
The intensity of that battle was still fresh in Seimei's memory.
Fortunately, it only happened once!
Back to the current mission, Seimei glanced at the ninjas in the team and noticed that there were far fewer Genin.
It made sense. The war had been going on for so long; even if there were many Genin, they couldn't withstand such attrition.
And without enough Genin to serve as cannon fodder, Chunin had to fill the gap.
Therefore, it was foreseeable that the battles would become increasingly brutal, and as the backbone of the village, the casualty rate of Chunin would also reach a peak.
And when one side couldn't hold on any longer, the war would probably come to an end.
"Everyone, let's move out!"
While Seimei was pondering, the team leader in front gave the order to depart.
Then, the group started moving forward according to the predetermined route, heading towards their mission location.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter 103: Opportunity
Meanwhile.
In the cavern.
Seimei withdrew his hand from Chiya's head. As usual, he fed him three soldier pills to ensure he had enough nutrients to refine chakra, and then returned to the entrance of the tunnel.
Looking towards the main camp in the distance, Seimei murmured in a low voice, "Considering the time, the shadow clone should be setting off soon."
That's right, the Seimei who was following the main force was just one of his shadow clones.
Originally, Seimei intended to go himself, but considering that the path from the main camp to here wasn't dangerous, he decided not to waste time.
After staying outside for a while and taking in some fresh air, Seimei quietly returned to the tunnel.
He found a random spot, sat down cross-legged, and began to use the three thousand chakra points he had just obtained to practice the Heart Reflection Technique.
Originally, according to his plan, these three thousand chakra points were to be divided in half, used for practicing both the Heart Reflection Technique and the Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique.
But he was currently off the grid. Practicing the Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique here could easily attract trouble, so he had to temporarily give it up.
In fact, it wasn't just now; it had been the same for the past two days.
This led to him practicing the Heart Reflection Technique far more than planned, while the Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique remained stagnant.
However, this wasn't important.
Seimei wasn't rigid. Once his shadow clone arrived and he could appear openly, he could make up for the Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique practice.
As long as the overall progress followed the plan, there was no need to obsess over the daily chakra allocation.
The same principle applied to other skills.
...
Several hours passed in a flash.
It was nearing evening.
A figure silently appeared at the tunnel entrance, looked around, then pushed aside the grass and jumped in.
Below, Seimei suddenly opened his eyes.
The next moment, a familiar figure appeared before him.
It was none other than his shadow clone.
The two didn't speak, just exchanged a glance, and then the shadow clone dispelled the technique.
Poof~
A cloud of chakra smoke dispersed, and the shadow clone disappeared.
What followed was a small amount of chakra and the memories of the past two days.
Seimei closed his eyes for a moment. After browsing through the memories, he once again used the Shadow Clone Technique to create a shadow clone and quietly left the tunnel.
The shadow clone replaced him as the new guard.
With this, the two completed the identity swap, and Seimei could finally appear outside openly.
There was nothing much to say about the following days. Apart from eating, sleeping, and patrolling, Seimei was either cultivating or extracting Chiya's chakra once a day.
As for the enemy...
None appeared in the area he was responsible for. However, there were a few battles in the areas of other teams, and he had provided support once.
Unfortunately, there were too many people there that time, and he couldn't inconspicuously capture the enemy, so he had to reluctantly kill them.
Because of this, even though the mission was almost over, Chiya was still his only "chakra battery."
Just as he was considering whether to take advantage of his rest day tomorrow to go to the front lines and capture a few Suna-nin, an opportunity suddenly presented itself.
...
That afternoon.
In the forest.
Seimei was conducting his final patrol of the day.
Suddenly, a ninja dog rushed towards him from afar. As it approached, it skidded to a stop in front of him.
Seimei recognized it. It was the summoning animal of his squad leader, Tashiro Ukyo - Kiiba.
Its hurried arrival must mean it had orders to convey.
As expected, before Seimei could even ask, it spoke rapidly, "Squad 312, Captain Ukyo orders you to immediately head to Area E12. Squad 108 is under attack and needs your support."
Squad 312 was the internal designation of the squad led by Seimei, and Area E12 was the patrol zone of Squad 108, adjacent to their defense zone, E11.
It was normal for them to request reinforcements when under attack, and Seimei didn't waste any words, replying directly, "Alright, I understand, Kiiba. You can go back and report."
"Woof!"
Kiiba barked and said, "Hurry up, it seems there are quite a few enemies there."
With that, it swiftly ran back.
Watching its disappearing figure, Seimei murmured, "Quite a few enemies... Isn't that perfect!"
Without any hesitation, Seimei immediately took out his whistle and blew it.
In less than a minute, his three subordinates arrived.
One of them directly asked, "Captain, what happened?"
Seimei didn't waste any time and told them about Squad 108 being attacked and the squad leader's request for reinforcements.
Then, he directly ordered, "Quickly gather your equipment, let's go!"
In fact, there wasn't much to pack. Everyone was fully equipped when they went out on missions, so they quickly set off.
However, before they could reach Area E12, they were ambushed by Suna-nin.
"Wind Style: Sickle Weasel Technique!"
In the forest, as Seimei and his team were moving swiftly, a low shout suddenly came from ahead.
The next moment, a gust of wind abruptly appeared, approaching rapidly and blowing towards them. The trees along the way were as if attacked by sharp blades, branches breaking and leaves falling, a scene of devastation.
Seeing this, Seimei and the others quickly retreated.
Finally, when everything calmed down, Seimei saw the attacker.
This person was about twenty years old, with a thin build and triangular eyes, giving off a somewhat cold aura. He held a giant fan in his hand.
If Seimei wasn't mistaken, that should be a unique ninja tool from Sunagakure - the Sanshōuo (Three-Star Fan).
Using it to perform Wind Style ninjutsu could effectively enhance the power of the techniques.
'Just not sure how many stars he opened when he used the Wind Style: Sickle Weasel Technique just now.'
Seimei pondered while glancing at the other three people from the corner of his eye.
That's right, besides this thin man, there were three other Suna Chunin on the field.
One of them had colorful paint on his face and carried a large cylindrical object on his back, somewhat resembling Kankuro's attire from the future.
However, Seimei saw the same clan emblem on his clothes as the one on Chiya.
Clearly, these two were from the same clan.
This made Seimei's eyes light up. He had been wondering how to get Chiya to reveal the Puppet Secret Technique, and with this person, perhaps he could find a breakthrough.
However, these were matters for later. Seimei briefly observed the person and then shifted his attention to the remaining two.
Compared to the thin man and the puppeteer, these two were much more ordinary.
One was seventeen or eighteen years old, with a sturdy build, clearly well-trained in taijutsu. The other was in her early twenties, a rare female ninja in the ninja world, and it was unclear what her specialty was.
... There's another update tonight...
(End of Chapter)
Chapter 104: Clash
While Seimei was observing them, the four Suna-nin were also observing him.
There was no helping it. The Sharingan was so famous in the ninja world.
As soon as he stood there, his three teammates immediately went into hiding.
After a brief standoff, the thin man, who seemed to be the leader of the Suna-nin, spoke, "Sharingan? A ninja from the Uchiha clan?"
Hearing this, Seimei immediately put on an arrogant expression and retorted, "And who are you?"
There was no hint of respect for a Jonin in his tone.
That's right, the thin man in front of him was a Jonin. Whether he was a Tokubetsu Jonin or a full-fledged Jonin, Seimei didn't know.
"Hmph! Arrogant!"
Hearing Seimei's tone, the thin man snorted coldly and said, "Kid, let me teach you a lesson. The one who will kill you is the Suna Jonin - Sabaku no Kaze!"
As he spoke, he opened his three-star fan and simultaneously formed hand seals, once again using the ninjutsu - Wind Style: Sickle Weasel Technique!
The next moment, a chaotic storm carrying countless vacuum blades blew towards Seimei.
Seimei narrowed his eyes, and the Sharingan within them spun rapidly.
At the same time, he said without turning his head, "I'll handle the Jonin. You three deal with the others."
With that, regardless of whether his three subordinates heard him clearly, he drew the short sword from his waist and charged into the storm.
Although the vacuum blades were invisible and intangible, they always left some traces when they came into contact with the air.
Ordinary people might find it difficult to detect, but Seimei, with his Two Tomoe Sharingan, could clearly observe these traces.
With this, coupled with his lv5 Swordsmanship, even amidst the storm, Seimei could still accurately strike those vacuum blades.
Clanging sounds rang out continuously as Seimei blocked the attacks of the vacuum blades while rapidly approaching Sabaku no Kaze.
Seeing this, Sabaku no Kaze's pupils constricted. He tightened his grip on the fan, and the three-star fan opened another section, revealing a second spot.
At the same time, he quickly formed hand seals, infusing a large amount of wind-style chakra into the fan. Then, with a powerful swing, he shouted, "Wind Style: Great Sickle Weasel Technique!"
The next moment, an even fiercer storm than before swept in, and the vacuum blades within it became even denser.
However, Seimei remained fearless, advancing against the wind, his short sword dancing. Not a single vacuum blade could get within a meter of him.
Meanwhile, the battle between the other six also began.
However, because the fight here was too intense, they unconsciously shifted the battlefield further away.
Seimei glanced over there briefly and didn't see any side having an absolute advantage.
Therefore, the balance of victory ultimately depended on the battle on their side.
With this thought, Seimei focused his mind, and his forward charge accelerated.
Seeing this, Sabaku no Kaze didn't hesitate and immediately fully opened the three-star fan. Then, he started forming hand seals, seemingly preparing to use an even more powerful ninjutsu.
However, this time, Seimei didn't give him the chance.
Seeing that the distance was almost right, Seimei instantly used the Body Flicker Technique, his speed increasing dramatically.
If an ordinary person did this, it would be a suicidal act.
But Seimei was different. He possessed the Two Tomoe Sharingan and could rely on his powerful perception to dodge those rapidly approaching vacuum blades in time.
Therefore, after paying a certain price, Seimei broke through the range of the Wind Style: Great Sickle Weasel Technique and appeared before Sabaku no Kaze.
At this time, the opponent hadn't finished preparing the ninjutsu.
Facing his astonished gaze, Seimei swung his short sword.
Sabaku no Kaze reacted quickly. Seeing the incoming sword, he didn't hesitate at all, immediately stopping his technique and flashing behind the fan.
Clang~
The short sword struck the fan, producing a dull sound.
Seimei didn't relent. He quickly retracted his sword, his figure flickering, and launched another attack from a different direction.
Sensing the danger, Sabaku no Kaze immediately closed his fan and swung it forcefully, attempting to knock away both the short sword and Seimei himself.
However, Seimei's reaction was incredibly swift. As soon as the opponent made a move, he withdrew his short sword. His figure flashed again, and he thrust his sword from another angle.
Seimei originally thought that even if this move couldn't injure the opponent, it would at least force them to dodge.
Unexpectedly, Sabaku no Kaze easily resolved the crisis with a simple move.
He opened the fan he had just closed again and, using one corner as a pivot, swiftly rotated it ninety degrees, perfectly blocking the attack.
Seimei's sword pierced the fan, creating a teeth-grinding scraping sound.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Sabaku no Kaze quickly formed hand seals. Before Seimei could continue his attack, he pushed out his palm.
Although this palm strike was nearly a meter away from Seimei, he was still sent flying.
No, rather than being slapped away, it was more like being blown away.
If Seimei wasn't mistaken, this should be the C-rank ninjutsu - Wind Style: Gale Palm.
Although this technique was just a basic Wind Style ninjutsu, it had many ingenious uses. Blowing him away was just the simplest application.
Its true power lay in its ability to work in conjunction with flying ninja tools like shuriken and kunai, using wind pressure to accelerate them, thereby achieving precise hits and increasing their lethality.
Just like now, as soon as Seimei was blown away and hadn't even landed yet, he saw Sabaku no Kaze take out a kunai and form hand seals again, seemingly preparing for a follow-up attack.
Unfortunately for him, although his speed was fast, it wasn't that obvious in Seimei's eyes.
At least, he still had a chance to counterattack.
So, as soon as Seimei's feet touched the ground, he took out three shuriken from his ninja tool pouch.
Then, without even looking, he threw them.
However, this casual throw made Sabaku no Kaze's hair stand on end. Without thinking, he dodged to the side.
But the three shuriken collided in mid-air, each changing direction, perfectly blocking Sabaku no Kaze's evasion path.
"What?"
Sabaku no Kaze was startled and hurriedly raised his kunai, blocking one of the shuriken's attacks at the last moment.
However, he didn't have time to block the other two shuriken.
Helplessly, he could only twist his body as much as possible to avoid the attacks of those two shuriken.
Slash~
The sound of a blade cutting through flesh rang out.
One of the two shuriken grazed Sabaku no Kaze's shoulder, leaving an inch-long wound.
Blood oozed from it, quickly staining his clothes red.
Sabaku no Kaze glanced at the wound on his shoulder and then looked at Seimei again, his eyes filled with apprehension.
The three shuriken just now might have seemed simple, but they demonstrated a very high level of skill.
To throw those three shuriken required not only perfect timing but also precise prediction of his movements.
And Seimei had achieved both.
In other words, as long as there was enough distance, the opponent could easily toy with him to death.
However, he knew his own limitations. He didn't have much confidence in the prediction just now, as their fight had been short, and he couldn't accurately predict the opponent's actions yet.
He had just instinctively felt that that direction had the highest chance of success, so he tried it.
Unexpectedly, one of them actually hit.
To be honest, his surprise wasn't any less than the opponent's, but that didn't stop him from projecting an air of confidence to pressure the opponent.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter 105: Progress
However, Sabaku no Kaze was, after all, a Jonin. He quickly regained his composure. When he looked at Seimei again, although his gaze was still cautious, the apprehension from before was gone.
Perhaps he had also seen through it. Seimei's previous strike was most likely a fluke; otherwise, he wouldn't be putting on a show of bravado here.
Seeing that he hadn't fooled the opponent, Seimei wasn't discouraged.
It just so happened that he also wanted to test his own strength.
Thinking back to when he faced the Iwa Jonin, Kohara Shuji, the opponent had overwhelmed him without even going all out.
Now, several months had passed. His One Tomoe Sharingan had evolved into Two Tomoe, and his abilities in all aspects had greatly improved.
Ninjutsu - Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique had been upgraded from lv3 to lv4, involving shape and nature transformation, with significant improvements in flexibility and power.
Genjutsu - Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique had also risen from the early lv2 level to a level close to lv4, with both activation speed and genjutsu power significantly stronger than before.
His primary combat style, Konoha-Style Kenjutsu, had even been upgraded from lv3 to the perfected state of lv5.
And there were also Body Flicker Technique and Shurikenjutsu...
The former had risen from lv3 to the perfected state of lv4, and the latter from lv4 to the perfected state of lv5, both showing considerable improvement.
Besides the improvement of these existing skills, he had also learned a more suitable Uchiha-Style Kenjutsu for the Sharingan, which he had also diligently trained to the perfected state of lv5.
Moreover, he had merged this technique with Konoha-Style Kenjutsu, creating a new swordsmanship style that was even more suitable for him and more profound.
Furthermore, in terms of genjutsu training, besides the Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique, he had also learned another Genjutsu: Sharingan, and after reaching lv3, its effects were also quite good.
All these improvements combined meant that he had made significant progress in both close combat and long-range attacks.
Therefore, Seimei was eager to know if he could now defeat Kohara Shuji. He hadn't forgotten that Mizutani Shizuko had died at the hands of the opponent while trying to help him.
However, it was obviously unwise to directly seek out the opponent.
And now, a Suna-nin whose combat power was weaker than a true Jonin but stronger than an average Tokubetsu Jonin had appeared. Seimei naturally wouldn't miss this opportunity.
Seeing the burning fighting spirit in Seimei's eyes, Sabaku no Kaze felt a sense of being offended.
He was a Jonin, after all. Where did this mere Chunin get the guts to provoke him, just because he was from the Uchiha clan?
'Hmph, it's just a Two Tomoe Sharingan...'
With a thought, Sabaku no Kaze unleashed his full气势.
Instantly, an oppressive aura of death washed over them. Seimei's breathing hitched for a moment but quickly recovered.
If it were an ordinary low- to mid-level ninja with a weak will, facing this pressure, they might feel a sense of despair and reveal an opening.
But Seimei was different...
His ambition was beyond the comprehension of these natives of the ninja world. A mere bit of deathly pressure wasn't enough to shake his resolve.
Thus, a strange scene unfolded - Sabaku no Kaze had a serious expression, his body enveloped in an intimidating aura, while Seimei remained calm and composed, looking at him with interest.
Time passed by, and Sabaku no Kaze, seeing Seimei's unwavering demeanor, finally couldn't hold back and said, "You..."
However, as soon as he uttered a word, Seimei moved.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~
Three shuriken flew out.
Seeing this, Sabaku no Kaze quickly stopped speaking. With a thought, he infused wind-style chakra into his fan and swung it forcefully.
A gust of wind swept past, blowing all three shuriken back.
This wasn't any ninjutsu but simply the utilization of wind-style chakra.
Just like how Asuma Sarutobi infused wind-style chakra into his chakra blades to enhance their penetration, as long as one mastered the shape and nature transformation of wind-attribute chakra, they could achieve this.
Similarly, mastering the shape and nature transformation of fire-attribute chakra allowed for flexible usage as well.
Just like Seimei now. He dodged the incoming gust of wind with a flash.
Then, with a thought, a surge of fire-style chakra imbued with high temperature flowed from his palm into his short sword.
Instantly, the short sword, obtained from the Iwa Tokubetsu Jonin, Shiraishi Kurado, changed from snow-white to dark red, and faint flames flickered on its surface.
Feeling the scorching heat emanating from the sword, Seimei was overjoyed. The physical and magical dual attack he had envisioned long ago had finally been realized.
If this sword strike landed, the enemy would not only suffer flesh wounds but also endure high-temperature damage, a double blow, double the pain.
Seimei couldn't wait to test it out.
Thinking of this, he kicked off the ground with both feet, his entire body shooting out like an arrow, reaching Sabaku no Kaze's right side in the blink of an eye.
Then, he swung his short sword, aiming directly at Sabaku no Kaze's neck.
Feeling the scorching heat from the blade, Sabaku no Kaze didn't dare to be careless. He quickly moved his fan, intending to block.
But at that moment, a wave of drowsiness suddenly washed over him, making him want to close his eyes.
"Not good!"
Sabaku no Kaze was startled. He bit his tongue, and blood trickled down the corner of his mouth, bringing him back to his senses.
It had to be said that the mental fortitude of a Jonin was far stronger than that of Chunin or lower-ranked ninjas. Even with Seimei fully activating his Sharingan, he still couldn't hypnotize him.
Perhaps it was also because of the imminent danger.
In any case, before Seimei's short sword could hit him, Sabaku no Kaze had already regained his senses.
Then, he didn't bother with blocking head-on anymore and simply leaned back dramatically, avoiding Seimei's attack.
Seeing this, Seimei's expression remained unchanged. He twisted his wrist, smoothly switching the short sword from a horizontal slash to a diagonal slash, aiming at Sabaku no Kaze's chest.
The next moment, the short sword passed through Sabaku no Kaze's body, leaving behind a pile of scorching sand.
That's right, it was sand.
It turned out that just as the short sword was about to hit him, Sabaku no Kaze had timely used the Sand Substitution Technique, causing Seimei's sword to miss.
Seimei had actually seen the opponent's movement, but he had obviously experienced fighting against the Sharingan and avoided his gaze in time, leaving him no chance to stop it.
"Wind Style: Great Sickle Weasel Technique!"
As Seimei retracted his short sword, Sabaku no Kaze, having escaped the attack, launched a counterattack.
This time, he used the full power of the Wind Style: Great Sickle Weasel Technique.
In the previous two instances, Seimei had dared to face the storm head-on and charge towards the opponent, but this time, he didn't dare.
The reason was simple: this storm was simply too terrifying.
In the previous two times, the trees along the way had only lost some branches and leaves.
But this time, not to mention branches and leaves, even the trees themselves were uprooted and shredded into pieces in mid-air by countless vacuum blades.
Even the ground was scraped away by a layer.
In this situation, let alone charging in, even getting close made Seimei feel extremely dangerous.
So, without any hesitation, he immediately used the Body Flicker Technique, swiftly running to one side, away from the storm's coverage.
Not only him, but the three Suna-nin and three Konoha ninjas fighting in the outer area, seeing this terrifying scene, also fled to the periphery, not daring to stay for even a moment.
For a time, apart from the raging storm, there was no one left on the field.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter 106: Escape
Clang!
After blocking Seimei's short sword attack once again, Sabaku no Kaze opened his three-star fan and skillfully intercepted the shuriken Seimei subsequently threw.
Then, he infused wind-style chakra into it, swung it forcefully, and pushed back Seimei, who was approaching for the second time.
Seizing this opportunity, he quickly formed hand seals and once again used his three-star fan to unleash a powerful wind-style technique, covering a large area where Seimei was located.
At this point, Seimei usually had two choices. If the storm's power was average, he would directly charge through it, relying on the Sharingan's keen perception.
But if the storm was too strong, he would temporarily avoid its edge and then look for other opportunities to attack.
For the past fifteen minutes, he and Sabaku no Kaze had been engaged in this rapid exchange of offense and defense.
Both of their tactics were practically laid out in the open, testing their grasp of timing and the depth of their reserves.
In terms of combat experience, Sabaku no Kaze was indeed superior to Seimei. However, the existence of the Two Tomoe Sharingan and the fact that several of his skills had reached the perfected level evened out this gap.
In fact, Seimei even had a slight advantage over the opponent.
Because of this, Sabaku no Kaze had to frequently use some high-powered wind-style ninjutsu to create breathing room, which consumed a lot of chakra.
In contrast, the various techniques Seimei used consumed very little chakra.
Prolonging the fight was obviously advantageous for Seimei, and that's exactly what he was doing.
He didn't even care when one of his subordinates was killed by the puppeteer who seemed to be from the same clan as Chiya.
Furthermore, as the battle progressed, he also figured out the specialty of the female Suna-nin in her early twenties - she was a rare genjutsu-type ninja in Sunagakure.
Her sound-based genjutsu was quite impressive, even forcing one of Seimei's subordinates to voluntarily damage his own hearing.
But this also greatly reduced his combat effectiveness, and for a time, he was being suppressed by the female ninja who wasn't good at close combat, completely on the defensive.
The only one with an advantage was probably Kamijo Yoichi.
That's right, he was still his subordinate this time, and his opponent was the seventeen or eighteen-year-old, muscular Suna-nin.
As Seimei had expected, the opponent was indeed skilled in taijutsu.
However, it wasn't to an astonishing degree.
Therefore, he was being suppressed throughout the fight by Kamijo Yoichi, who had more well-rounded abilities.
However, this advantage instantly vanished with the puppeteer joining the fray.
If Seimei couldn't provide assistance, it was foreseeable that his two remaining subordinates would likely be killed soon.
However, Seimei only glanced at their predicament and then paid no further attention.
The strongest Jonin on the enemy side was already being held back by him, and the remaining three, like them, were all Chunin.
If they couldn't handle it under these circumstances, they could only blame their own lack of strength. Seimei wouldn't act like a babysitter, constantly looking after their safety.
Moreover, although he seemed to have the upper hand here, any lapse in concentration could instantly turn the tide. After all, the enemy was a Jonin, and he couldn't afford to be careless.
So, they could only rely on themselves.
Of course, Seimei couldn't drag this on for too long either. If all his teammates died and those Suna Chunin surrounded him, it would also be troublesome.
With a thought, Seimei once again increased the tempo of his attacks.
At the same time, he no longer worried about chakra consumption and started frequently using ninjutsu, forcing Sabaku no Kaze to expend more chakra to cope.
Furthermore, he was also actively looking for opportunities to use genjutsu.
Unfortunately, Sabaku no Kaze would rather suffer some minor losses than give him such a chance, making it impossible for him to successfully cast genjutsu.
Halfway through forming hand seals, after Sabaku no Kaze once again averted his gaze, Seimei sighed inwardly, "As expected, the levels of both genjutsu are still too low!"
If his Genjutsu: Sharingan had already reached lv5, he could cast genjutsu effortlessly.
In a one-on-one duel like this, he could easily control the opponent with a simple gesture. Why would it be so troublesome now?
The saying circulating in the ninja world about dealing with the Sharingan - "One on one, flee without hesitation; two on one, attack from behind" - wasn't an exaggeration.
That reputation was earned through real battles fought by Uchiha Jonin with Three Tomoe Sharingan.
Unfortunately, he hadn't reached that level of mastery yet and couldn't achieve such feats, so he could only slowly wear down the opponent's chakra.
However, while he found it troublesome, Sabaku no Kaze was already lamenting inwardly.
Feeling that more than half of his chakra had been depleted, and seeing Seimei still looking calm and composed, Sabaku no Kaze felt that the hope of victory was slim.
"Should I continue?"
Sabaku no Kaze asked himself inwardly.
The mission assigned by the village this time was to eliminate as many enemy forces as possible; there was no specific target.
Therefore, retreating now wouldn't incur any responsibility.
Seemingly convincing himself, Sabaku no Kaze no longer hesitated. After blocking Seimei's attack once again and pushing him back with a counterattack.
Sabaku no Kaze seized the opportunity and immediately fled into the distance.
Seeing this, Seimei's eyes lit up, and he thought to himself, "Finally, he's made a move!"
That's right, he had been waiting for Sabaku no Kaze to take action. Whether it was attacking or retreating, as long as the opponent didn't stubbornly continue the battle of attrition with him, it was acceptable.
As for why?
Naturally, it was because only when the opponent moved would he have an opportunity.
What opportunity?
The opportunity to capture the opponent, of course!
That's right, after realizing he could defeat the opponent, he had been thinking about how to capture them alive and turn them into his second "chakra battery."
He definitely couldn't do it here!
Although those Suna and Konoha ninjas had moved their battlefield to the outer perimeter due to the intensity of the fight here, they could still observe this area.
Under the watchful eyes of everyone, he definitely couldn't beat the opponent half to death and then capture them.
In that case, unless he silenced them, he would have to hand them over.
Although Seimei's sense of belonging to Konoha was average, and he wouldn't act as a babysitter for his teammates, he also wouldn't slaughter them.
One still had to have some principles; otherwise, they would eventually be consumed by power. Seimei didn't want to become a monster who only pursued strength.
Therefore, the best way was to avoid the eyes of others.
And to achieve this, Sabaku no Kaze had to leave this place and shift the final battlefield elsewhere.
That way, no one else would know what he did behind the scenes, and he wouldn't have to consider killing to silence them.
This was the reason he was waiting for the opponent to make a move.
Therefore, seeing the opponent flee, Seimei didn't try to stop him but simply chased after him closely.
And as the situation on their side changed, the two battlefields in the outer area also shifted. The two Konoha ninjas were clearly fighting more confidently, while the three Suna-nin started considering retreat.
After all, the Jonin on their side had been defeated. If Seimei freed himself, they definitely wouldn't be a match for him.
Therefore, escaping was the logical course of action.
However, this decision wasn't easy to make.
The outcome of the Jonin's battle was still unknown. If they retreated rashly, they might face punishment.
Moreover, they still had the upper hand in the battlefield situation. They were reluctant to simply abandon the merits they were about to gain.
And there was also the puppeteer. His goal wasn't just to earn merits but also to inquire about the situation of his clan's junior.
Whether alive or dead, there had to be an outcome.
Chapter 107: Successful Capture
Fifteen minutes later.
Somewhere in the forest.
Sabaku no Kaze's low shout suddenly echoed.
"Wind Style: Great Sickle Weasel Technique!"
A violent wind swept through, uprooting the surrounding trees, and dense vacuum blades scattered in all directions, carving deep furrows in the ground.
Amidst the storm, a figure flickered rapidly, constantly dodging the vacuum blades coming from all sides.
This person was none other than Seimei.
Earlier, due to his recklessness, he had inadvertently fallen into Sabaku no Kaze's trap and was caught in his ninjutsu.
Now, he could only look for an opportunity to escape.
However, before he could run far, Sabaku no Kaze's familiar voice came again, "I finally managed to trap you; how could I let you leave so easily? Fire Style: Exploding Flame Technique, burn him!"
"What? Fire Style!?"
Hearing the opponent's words, Seimei's expression changed drastically. He immediately activated his Sharingan to its fullest and ran towards the outside.
However, no matter how fast he was, he couldn't outrun the spreading flames.
As the saying goes, fire borrows the power of the wind, and wind aids the might of fire.
When the Wind Style: Great Sickle Weasel Technique and the Fire Style: Exploding Flame Technique were combined, their power far surpassed that of a single technique alone.
Clearly, this was Sabaku no Kaze's trump card.
And once this trump card was unleashed, it achieved good results.
"No--"
Within the storm, Seimei let out an unwilling roar, and then his entire being was engulfed in flames.
"Huff~ Huff~"
Outside the range of the techniques, Sabaku no Kaze leaned on his three-star fan, panting heavily. His eyes were fixed on the spot where Seimei had been swallowed by the flames, and he murmured, "Did it work?"
"Work? Hehe~"
As soon as Sabaku no Kaze finished speaking, Seimei's cold laughter reached his ears, along with the sound of a blade piercing through the air.
An extreme sense of crisis surged into his heart. Sabaku no Kaze didn't have time to think and instinctively leaned to his right.
Pierce~
The sound of a blade entering flesh rang out.
Seimei's short sword pierced through Sabaku no Kaze's left arm.
Then, with a thought, he infused fire-style chakra into the short sword and flicked it upwards, directly slicing off half of Sabaku no Kaze's arm.
The smell of burnt flesh filled the air, making Seimei frown.
Sabaku no Kaze clutched his severed arm and retreated rapidly in pain. He didn't stop until he was three or four meters away.
Then, he looked at Seimei and asked through gritted teeth, "Was that a shadow clone just now? When?"
Clearly, he wanted to know when Seimei had used a shadow clone to replace his real body.
However, Seimei didn't want to waste words with him. With a flash, he appeared directly in front of him.
Having lost half an arm, Sabaku no Kaze's combat power was greatly reduced.
Unable to form hand seals, he could only use taijutsu and rely on his three-star fan to crudely release wind-style chakra's power.
Unfortunately, none of these were effective against Seimei.
In less than two minutes, Seimei found an opportunity and used Genjutsu: Sharingan for the first time, successfully controlling the opponent.
What followed was simple. Seimei knocked him unconscious, then used the Chakra Absorption Technique to drain all the remaining chakra from his body.
Next, he used the Healing Technique to treat the wound on his severed arm.
Although the wound had been cauterized by the high temperature and was no longer bleeding, to ensure his survival, he still used chakra to heal it.
After all this was done, Seimei formed hand seals again and used the Shadow Clone Technique to create a shadow clone.
Today, he had really gone all out, using the Shadow Clone Technique consecutively, consuming a considerable amount of chakra.
Fortunately, it was all worth it. As long as he safely delivered Sabaku no Kaze to the cavern and extracted his chakra once, he could easily replenish today's losses.
According to his Sharingan's observation, the opponent had at least eight thousand chakra points when at full strength. With a 60% conversion rate, that was nearly five thousand chakra points.
Such a large amount of chakra made Seimei's heart skip a beat.
Forcefully suppressing his excitement, Seimei said to the shadow clone beside him, "You set off now and quickly take him back."
"Mm."
The shadow clone responded softly without saying much, then carried the unconscious Sabaku no Kaze and left.
Seimei began to clean up the battlefield, erasing any traces that might arouse suspicion, ensuring that Sabaku no Kaze's whereabouts wouldn't be discovered.
After finishing this, Seimei didn't linger and immediately rushed towards the previous battlefield.
If possible, he wanted to capture a few more Suna-nin.
For him, the more "chakra batteries," the better.
And if he could capture that puppeteer, it would be even better.
Thinking of this, Seimei couldn't help but quicken his pace.
However, when he returned to the previous battlefield, there was no one there except for another Konoha ninja's corpse.
Seimei glanced at the corpse. It was his subordinate who had voluntarily damaged his hearing.
Clearly, he hadn't survived in the end.
Just as Seimei was examining the corpse, a faint sound suddenly came from the nearby woods.
Seimei abruptly stood up and shouted, "Who's there?"
"Captain, it's me!"
Kamijo Yoichi's somewhat weak voice replied.
Then, the woods rustled, and Kamijo Yoichi walked out, his face pale.
He was clutching his abdomen, and blood could be seen seeping through his fingers, indicating a serious injury.
The Sharingan in Seimei's pupils dilated slightly. He carefully examined Kamijo Yoichi from head to toe, and after confirming that he wasn't an enemy in disguise, he stepped forward and asked, "How are you? Where are the enemies?"
"Cough, cough, cough~"
Kamijo Yoichi coughed a few times and replied with some difficulty, "They suddenly retreated a few minutes ago. I don't know why."
"Retreated..."
Seimei pondered for a moment and then continued to ask, "Do you know which direction they went?"
Kamijo Yoichi pointed towards the northwest.
"Area E12?"
Seimei frowned.
"Mm."
Kamijo Yoichi nodded and said, "It's very likely."
Hearing this, Seimei fell silent.
At this time, Kamijo Yoichi suddenly asked, "By the way, Captain, what about Sabaku no Kaze?"
"Don't mention it, he escaped."
Seimei replied with a frustrated expression.
Kamijo Yoichi didn't doubt his words.
Because he also didn't think Seimei could kill a Jonin. Or rather, the fact that Seimei could force the opponent to flee was already beyond his expectations.
As for going any further, he didn't even dare to imagine it.
On the other hand, after Seimei answered the question, although he didn't say anything on the surface, he was paying attention to Kamijo Yoichi's expression from the corner of his eye.
If the other party had any doubts about his words, he might have to silence him.
Although he wouldn't kill indiscriminately, if the other party touched his core interests, he wouldn't show mercy either.
Fortunately, Kamijo Yoichi's reaction was normal.
Seimei glanced at the wound on his abdomen and, after confirming it wasn't fatal for the time being, didn't waste chakra healing him.
Instead, he said directly, "You stay here for now and report our encounter. I'll go to Area E12 to check it out."
"Yes, Captain!"
Kamijo Yoichi replied crisply.
"Alright, take care of yourself."
Seimei gave him one last reminder and then disappeared into the dense forest, following the direction in which the Suna Chunin had left.
After he left, Kamijo Yoichi raised his blood-stained hands, performed the Summoning Technique, and once again summoned the parrot, starting to give his report.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter 108: Speculations
After parting ways with Kamijo Hiroshi, Seimei began to search for the three Sunagakure Chunin in the direction he had indicated.
Thanks to his familiarity with the terrain and the powerful insight of the Sharingan, he quickly found relevant clues.
Following these clues, he finally caught up with them half an hour later.
At this time, these people were still heading towards the E12 area.
Combined with the words of the squad leader, Tashiro Ukyo, and his ninja dog, Kiva - "There are many enemies in the E12 area", Seimei figured out that the E12 area was the focus of this Sunagakure attack.
"But why are there so many Sunagakure ninja suddenly appearing?"
Seimei couldn't figure out the answer to this question.
You know, whether it's the neighboring E12 area, their E11 area, or even the entire surrounding area, strictly speaking, they all belong to the second line.
It's understandable that some infiltration units occasionally appear, but it's basically impossible for the enemy to invade on a large scale like now.
Unless...
"The front line has collapsed!"
Seimei was startled by the thought that suddenly popped into his head, but he quickly calmed down.
If the entire line collapsed, then the enemies appearing here wouldn't be just these.
At that time, let alone the E12 area, I'm afraid the entire area they were defending would be impacted.
But he hasn't seen any signs of that yet.
In other words, the front line has not completely collapsed.
But the number of enemies did exceed the scale that an infiltration unit should have.
So, there is only one explanation, that is, several strongholds on the front line were breached, resulting in a gap in the defense line, and some Sunagakure ninja took advantage of the opportunity to launch a surprise attack.
"Hmm, that should be it!"
Although he hadn't received any definite news yet, Seimei felt that his guess should be correct.
If that's the case, then these Sunagakure ninja can't stay for long.
After all, as long as the entire line doesn't collapse, Konoha still has the ability to recapture those strongholds.
At that time, it will be like closing the door and beating the dog.
If these Sunagakure ninja don't want to be left here, they must retreat before Konoha retakes those strongholds.
After figuring this out, Seimei felt the haze in his heart dissipate, and the expression on his face couldn't help but relax a bit.
For him, maintaining stability was the best outcome, because time was on his side. As long as he dragged on long enough, his strength would continue to grow.
Various thoughts flashed through his mind.
Looking at the three figures below, Seimei suddenly raised his hands and completed the hand seals for the 'Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique' at an extremely fast speed.
Then he opened his mouth and spewed out a large amount of high-temperature flames. These flames almost turned into dozens or hundreds of fireballs the moment they appeared.
Obviously, as the proficiency of the 'Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique' continued to improve, the time for the flames to differentiate into fireballs was rapidly shortening.
Now, there was almost no gap between them, as if the flames had turned into fireballs as soon as they left his mouth.
This seemed similar to when he first learned the 'Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique'.
But don't forget that when he first learned the 'Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique', those fireballs appeared one by one.
And now, his enemies had to face the siege of dozens or hundreds of fireballs at the same time.
Don't underestimate this small difference, the difficulty for the enemy to dodge has increased exponentially.
Just like now, if the three Sunagakure Chunin were facing a sneak attack from the 'Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique' before lv2, they might still be able to dodge safely.
Now...
They couldn't avoid Seimei's attack without paying some price.
Sensing the danger, the three Sunagakure ninja immediately became alert: "Who?"
However, before they could find Seimei's trace, hundreds of fireballs had already smashed towards them.
The speed was so fast, and the angle was so tricky that they had no choice but to dodge.
But their movements, in Seimei's eyes, were full of flaws. Seimei didn't even think about it and controlled the fireballs to surround the three of them.
The first one to be hit was the seventeen or eighteen-year-old Taijutsu ninja. Although he was fast, he wasn't fast enough.
In the end, his retreat was blocked by more than a dozen fireballs, and he was forced to endure the attacks of two fireballs, his chest and right arm were scorched black.
He fell to the ground on the spot and lost his combat ability.
The second one to be hit was the female ninja in her early twenties who was good at sound wave genjutsu.
However, she used the Body Replacement Technique at the critical moment and escaped.
As for the puppeteer...
He was taken care of by Seimei. Even with the protection of the puppet, he was still hit by a fireball and suffered serious injuries.
Even the puppet was bombarded and its body was damaged.
A few breaths later, the fireballs disappeared, and the field fell silent again.
The female ninja and the puppeteer stood side by side, looking in the direction where the fireballs had come from, but they saw nothing.
This made their faces quite ugly.
After a moment of silence, the female ninja suddenly nodded at the puppeteer, seemingly hinting at something.
Seeing this, the puppeteer immediately returned a knowing look, then quickly took out two earplugs and plugged his ears.
The next moment, the female ninja raised her hands and quickly formed hand seals.
At the same time, her mouth opened slightly, clearly preparing to cast some kind of sound wave genjutsu, attempting to force the attacker in the dark to reveal himself in this way.
However, before she could finish casting, a figure suddenly appeared in front of her, followed by a pair of blood-red Sharingan that occupied her entire vision.
'Sharingan? Genjutsu?'
Otoha was terrified and immediately tried to dispel the genjutsu.
But as soon as she moved, she felt the chakra in her body rapidly drain away, then the back of her neck ached, and she fainted.
The person who made the move was none other than Seimei, who had been watching in the dark for a long time.
Because he didn't know how much resistance the Sharingan had to sound wave genjutsu, he took the initiative to attack before the opponent made a move.
The process went very smoothly. With the perfect 'Body Flicker Technique' and superb concealment skills, he arrived in front of the opponent in the blink of an eye.
Because she was distracted by casting genjutsu, she had no time to react and was directly controlled by his 'Genjutsu: Sharingan'.
Then he extracted her chakra, knocked her unconscious, and took her away in one go.
During this time, the puppeteer only cared about escaping and had no intention of stopping him.
It wasn't that he didn't want to, but he didn't dare. He had already recognized Seimei's identity and knew his strength, so he didn't dare to linger.
Unfortunately, he didn't want to provoke Seimei, but it didn't mean that Seimei would let him go.
After dealing with Otoha, Seimei did the same, extracting all the chakra from the Taijutsu ninja and knocking him unconscious, then immediately chased after the puppeteer.
The process needn't be elaborated. Even though the opponent had a trick up his sleeve and suddenly summoned a decent puppet, he still couldn't hold on for long in Seimei's hands and soon followed in the footsteps of his two teammates.
Seimei looked at the three unconscious people on the ground and knew that the main reason why these people performed so poorly in front of him was that his preemptive sneak attack was successful.
If he hadn't caught them off guard at the beginning, these three wouldn't have been defeated so quickly and so thoroughly.
Of course, there was also the reason that they had just fought fiercely with three Konoha ninja and their strength was not at its peak.
But in general, it was still because Seimei's strength far exceeded theirs, which made them unable to even put up a decent struggle.
However, they were enemies, and Seimei wouldn't pity them.
(End of this chapter)
Chapter 109: Conclusion
Gathering the three together, Seimei wasted no time and raised his hand to perform the "Shadow Clone Technique" to create shadow clones to take them back.
Just then, a memory suddenly surfaced in his mind, it was the process of Sakaze being sent to the cave space.
Obviously, this was the memory of the previous shadow clone.
Through the memory, Seimei already knew that the other party had successfully completed the task.
This made him secretly relieved.
Previously, he was worried that the shadow clone would encounter some trouble on the way, fearing that he would lose Sakaze, the large "chakra battery".
Now it seemed that he was overthinking it, the shadow clone perfectly completed his task.
'In that case, let's continue!'
With a thought, Seimei once again performed the "Shadow Clone Technique".
Fortunately, the limit of the lv1 "Shadow Clone Technique" could maintain three shadow clones, otherwise, it would be really difficult for him to send back the three Sunagakure ninja in front of him at once.
Poof~ Poof~
Two chakra smoke clouds dispersed, and two shadow clones that looked exactly like Seimei appeared on the field.
The reason why he didn't create three was that there was still a shadow clone guarding the cave space, so he could only create two here.
Fortunately, two shadow clones were enough.
Without Seimei's instructions, the two shadow clones stepped forward, carried the three people on the ground, nodded at him, and then left without saying a word.
Watching the two leave, Seimei felt the chakra in his body, there were less than two thousand points left, which made him feel very insecure.
Originally, he planned to rush to the E12 area as soon as possible to see if he could fish in troubled waters and capture a few more Sunagakure ninja.
Now...
Forget it!
However, he couldn't do nothing.
He had told Kamijo Hiroshi that he was going to the E12 area for support. If he didn't arrive, it might cause unnecessary suspicion afterward.
Now he had many secrets, it was better not to arouse suspicion if he could.
After thinking for a while, Seimei finally decided to continue heading to the E12 area.
However, he could slow down appropriately.
In this way, when he arrived, if the shadow clone had already finished, he could dispel the technique and let his chakra recover, then continue with the previous plan.
If there was no time, then he could only paddle.
Anyway, Seimei wouldn't joke about his own life.
With the decision made, Seimei didn't delay any longer and immediately rushed towards the E12 area.
...
Half an hour later.
Seimei arrived at the E12 area.
At this time, the two shadow clones he had sent out had completed their tasks, and his chakra had once again recovered to more than five thousand points.
According to the original plan, he should fish in troubled waters and capture more Sunagakure ninja to expand the "chakra battery" group.
However, his plan ended before it even began.
It wasn't that there were no Sunagakure ninja on the field.
On the contrary, the number of Sunagakure ninja here far exceeded his expectations.
But precisely because of this, he didn't dare to act rashly.
No other reason, the intensity of Sunagakure's attack this time clearly exceeded his plan.
Now, even though the Konoha ninja from the surrounding areas had already come to support, the Sunagakure ninja still had no intention of retreating, and the battle on the field even had a tendency to intensify.
Under such circumstances, how could Seimei dare to fish in troubled waters?
Even as soon as he showed up, he was immediately targeted.
Helplessly, he could only join the battle.
With his sharp swordsmanship and a pair of two-tomoe Sharingan, Seimei killed nine Sunagakure ninja in one hour, greatly relieving the pressure on the Konoha ninja in the nearby area.
But precisely because of this, he was targeted by a Sunagakure Jonin, whose strength was even higher than Sakaze's.
Seimei was in an average state and didn't want to fight head-on with the opponent, so he simply started to conserve his energy, no longer attacking, only defending and dodging.
Although the Jonin on the opposite side was powerful, he couldn't do anything to him for a while and could only keep probing.
Just like that, time passed by.
In the blink of an eye, more than half an hour passed.
The sky gradually darkened, and it was almost time for the shift change. Seimei felt that if he continued to delay, these Sunagakure ninja wouldn't need to leave.
You know, the shift change meant the arrival of fresh troops.
And according to Seimei's previous two experiences, each shift change would replace about half of the squads.
With so many fresh troops, Seimei didn't think the Sunagakure ninja on the field could withstand it, so they would most likely retreat before that.
As for the possibility that the opponent didn't know their shift change time, he directly ruled it out.
With their offensive like this, how could they easily launch it without conducting a detailed investigation of their side?
What's more, this shift change time was not a secret, with so many people every time, it was too easy to find out.
Sure enough, not long after, sharp whistles suddenly sounded in multiple places on the field.
And hearing these whistles, the Sunagakure ninja on the field immediately abandoned their opponents and gathered to the nearby Jonin at the fastest speed.
Then, under the leadership of a group of Sunagakure Jonin, they directly charged outwards.
In a short while, they broke through the temporary defense line organized by Konoha and rushed out of the encirclement.
Several leaders on the Konoha side obviously didn't want to let the opponent leave so easily and quickly issued the order to pursue.
So, the Konoha ninja who could still move started chasing the Sunagakure ninja again.
Under such circumstances, some Sunagakure ninja inevitably fell behind.
Taking this opportunity, Seimei once again captured two Sunagakure Chunin alive and let his shadow clones take them away. The whole process was extremely careful, without revealing any flaws.
...
Time flew by, and an hour later.
The pursuit was temporarily suspended, and all the Konoha ninja returned to their respective stations.
And the Konoha battalion that came to relieve them, after arriving an hour earlier, didn't stay long and hurriedly headed further west.
That was the front line of resistance against Sunagakure.
And after they left, Seimei received an order that this and the next "vacation" were all canceled.
For the next half month, everyone had to continue the tasks of the past week, strengthen patrols, strictly prevent Sunagakure's infiltration, and ensure the safety of the base camp.
As for the understaffed squads, the base camp would make appropriate additions later.
In addition, Seimei also learned the latest situation on the front line from the squad leader, Tashiro Ukyo.
Just as he had guessed, two strongholds on the front line were indeed breached by Sunagakure. Now other strongholds were dispatching personnel to fight for those two strongholds.
And the fresh troops that had just left without staying were going to the front line for support.
However, Seimei estimated that these people might not be enough.
Sunagakure wouldn't easily give up the strongholds they had finally captured.
So, in the next few days, the base camp should continue to send more people.
'No wonder the order said that the base camp would make appropriate additions to the personnel of each squad, it turned out that there was a shortage of manpower...'
From this, it could be seen that Konoha's reserve forces were actually somewhat insufficient.
If this continued, shrinking the defense line was almost inevitable.
'Just not sure how long the front line can hold on, this stronghold being breached is probably just the beginning, later on, this kind of thing is estimated to become the norm.'
In other words, the second line in the future would no longer be a simple second line, because they would also encounter a large number of enemies at any time.
After pondering for a long time, Seimei shook his head.
He thought to himself: "Why think so much, as long as I maintain the rapid growth of my strength, then no matter what danger I encounter, I can easily deal with it."
With this in mind, Seimei didn't waste any more time. After greeting the squad on duty at night, he returned to his residence and started cultivating on his own.
(End of this chapter)
Chapter 110: Two Levels Up
The next day.
Afternoon.
Seimei finished his routine patrol and found an opportunity to enter the cave space.
"You're here."
Seeing Seimei approaching, the shadow clone stationed here spoke.
"Yes."
Seimei nodded, casually responding, and then let the shadow clone dispel itself.
The next moment, a surge of chakra flowed into his body along the ethereal connection.
Along with it came the memories of the shadow clone from this period.
Seimei quickly read through the memories and, finding no problems, once again performed the Shadow Clone Technique, creating a new shadow clone.
Without his command, this shadow clone left the cave space and headed directly to the team's base.
From now on, it would replace him and stay there.
With everything ready, Seimei didn't waste any time and turned to enter the depths of the cave to complete his first harvest.
But after taking just two steps, he seemed to remember something and suddenly muttered, "Panel!"
The next moment, the familiar light blue screen appeared.
[Name: Uchiha Seimei
Age: 11 years old
Physique: 10
Spirit: 11
Chakra: 4120 (11201→12497)
Bloodline: Sharingan - Two Tomoe (652/5000)→(799/5000)
Skills: Chakra Extraction Technique: lv4 (1008/2000)→lv4 (1089/2000)
Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique: lv2 (125/500)
Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique: lv4 (381/2000)→lv4 (621/2000)
Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique: lv2 (118/500)
Shadow Clone Technique: lv1 (1/200)→lv1 (15/200)
Chakra Absorption Technique: lv2 (250/500)→lv2 (435/500)
Healing Technique: lv2 (161/500)→lv2 (224/500)
Illusion: Binding Technique: lv3 (625/1000)→lv3 (715/1000)
Illusion: Sharingan: lv3 (190/1000)→lv3 (280/1000)
Mind Reflection Technique: Lv5 (1832/5000)→Lv5 (2192/5000)
Swordsmanship: Lv5 (1/5000)→lv5 (190/5000)
Chakra Control: lv3 (602/1000)→lv3 (685/1000)
Three Body Technique: lv3 (0/0)
Body Flicker Technique: lv4 (0/0)
Shurikenjutsu: lv5 (0/0)]
Skipping the previous sections, Seimei focused his attention on the 'Chakra Absorption Technique'.
As he remembered, after nearly ten days of practice, its proficiency had reached lv2 (435/500), only sixty-five points away from lv3.
Considering the massive amount of chakra he would be harvesting next, every increase in conversion rate could yield a significant amount of extra chakra.
Therefore, Seimei decided to invest some chakra first to upgrade this technique to lv3.
Thinking this, Seimei didn't waste any time and turned to return to the room his shadow clone had prepared for him, starting to cultivate on his own.
An hour passed in the blink of an eye.
After completing the 'Chakra Absorption Technique' once again, a new insight suddenly dawned on Seimei.
A moment later, Seimei opened his eyes, a flash of understanding in them.
He glanced at the panel, and as expected, his 'Chakra Absorption Technique' had been upgraded from lv2 (435/500) to lv3 (1/1000)!
"I wonder how effective it is?"
Mumbling to himself, Seimei stood up and left the room, heading to the depths of the cave.
At this time, it was no longer just Chiya alone.
Besides him, there were six others: Safo and his three Chunin subordinates, as well as two unlucky individuals who had been left behind when Suna retreated.
Facing these gazes filled with hatred, fear, or curiosity, Seimei walked directly to Chiya's side.
Then, under the cannibalistic gaze of Safo's puppeteer subordinate, he completed the hand seals for the 'Chakra Absorption Technique' and placed his hand on Chiya's head.
A suction force emanated from his palm, rapidly extracting the chakra from Chiya's body.
After carefully sensing for a moment, Seimei had estimated the effect of the lv3 'Chakra Absorption Technique'.
It could absorb approximately three hundred chakra points per second, an improvement compared to the two hundred points of lv2, but not a qualitative leap.
However, the conversion rate had once again increased by ten percentage points, from the previous 60% to the current 70%.
Not to mention anything else, just this 10% increase alone made the consumption of his nearly fifteen hundred chakra points worthwhile.
Seimei even had an urge to upgrade this technique by another level to further enhance its effects.
However, when he saw the one thousand proficiency points required, he calmed down.
Based on the previous calculation of needing fifteen hundred chakra points to increase proficiency by sixty-five points, one thousand proficiency points would require twenty-three thousand chakra points.
This was indeed not a small number.
But at the same time, it wasn't an unattainable goal either.
In fact, it could be said to be very easy to achieve.
Thinking this, Seimei turned his gaze to the other six Suna shinobi, three tomoe slowly rotating in his crimson pupils.
A moment later, he withdrew his gaze.
According to his estimation, the chakra of these people combined was about twenty-eight thousand points, plus Chiya's five thousand, that was thirty-three thousand points.
So, with a 70% conversion rate, that was twenty-three thousand one hundred points, just enough for him to upgrade the 'Chakra Absorption Technique' from lv3 to lv4.
Of course, there would definitely be some errors in this.
However, with his current chakra reserves, he had enough to compensate for any slight errors.
The only thing to consider was that doing so would delay the evolution of his Sharingan and his mastery of the Fire Release's Shape and Nature Transformations.
After all, he had originally planned to use this chakra for practicing the 'Mind Reflection Technique' and the 'Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique'.
If he diverted it, it would inevitably slow down their progress.
However, as the saying goes, sharpening the axe won't delay the chopping of firewood.
If he could upgrade the 'Chakra Absorption Technique' from lv3 to lv4, based on previous experience, its chakra conversion rate was very likely to improve further.
In that case, the chakra he harvested in the future would definitely increase, more than making up for today's losses.
Moreover, if he only diverted twenty-three thousand chakra points, it wouldn't cause much delay.
With this thought, Seimei no longer hesitated and immediately went to Safo's side.
He once again performed the 'Chakra Absorption Technique', absorbing all the chakra that Safo had managed to recover into his own body.
Instantly, the chakra within Seimei surged to over eleven thousand points, almost reaching the limit his chakra pathways could handle.
Enduring the discomfort in his body, Seimei tore off the tape covering Chiya's and Safo's faces.
Before they could speak, he stuffed a few soldier pills into their mouths and quickly reapplied the tape.
After doing this, he immediately returned to the room his shadow clone had prepared and once again started grinding the proficiency of the 'Chakra Absorption Technique'.
Two hours later, his 'Chakra Absorption Technique' reached lv3 (350/1000), and the chakra within his body decreased to the warning line of four thousand points.
After a short rest, Seimei reappeared in the depths of the cave.
This time, without anywaste, he captured the three Suna Chunin and drained their chakra.
Consequently, his chakra once again recovered to a near-full state.
After routinely feeding them a few soldier pills, Seimei returned to the room and continued to grind the proficiency of the 'Chakra Absorption Technique'.
In this way, after spending a total of six hours and draining the chakra of all seven Suna shinobi, he finally reached lv4 (1/2000) for the 'Chakra Absorption Technique' in the late hours of the night!
Ignoring testing its effects, Seimei practically collapsed into sleep.
Repeating the same action a thousand times, even with strong positive feedback, Seimei couldn't hold on any longer.
Soon, snoring sounds filled the room.
(End of Chapter)