One month later, when Seimei returned to Kaze no Sato, he only had one feeling: the place had become much more desolate.
In the past, although there were no civilians here, because many Konoha ninjas gathered here, it was still relatively lively.
But now, even though ninjas from many outer strongholds had retreated here, there was still not much of a bustling atmosphere.
From this, one could see how great their losses had been in the past month.
'No wonder the headquarters is shrinking the front line!'
In this situation, if they stubbornly held on, they would eventually lose. It was better to concentrate their forces and defend the lines further back!
It's just that...
Seimei looked at the surrounding teams with a depressed atmosphere and felt that the rear defense line might not last long either.
The war that had lasted for over two years had almost exhausted Konoha's potential. If they continued fighting like this, they might end up with a lack of successors.
Whether you say Hiruzen Sarutobi was indecisive or hypocritical, you couldn't deny his political vision.
Whether it was selecting a successor for the Hokage position or balancing the interests of various factions within the village, he did a good job.
Therefore, Seimei could easily spot such a simple problem, so there was no reason why Hiruzen couldn't.
And this was probably the main reason why he later forcefully ended the war, despite the pressure from Danzo Shimura.
Shaking his head, Seimei stopped thinking about these things. He turned and returned to his residence, starting to seize the time to cultivate.
In the evening, he had another meeting to attend.
However, Seimei estimated that it was most likely to allocate tasks.
With so many people transferring together, protection was an issue, and as a relatively strong Jonin, he would definitely be assigned many tasks.
By then, there wouldn't be many opportunities for him to cultivate.
So, it was better to seize the time to train now!
...
In a blink of an eye, an afternoon passed.
Night fell.
Seimei walked into the meeting room.
There were fewer familiar faces and more unfamiliar ones. These Jonin he had never seen before were most likely the ones who had been stationed at the outer strongholds.
And the familiar faces that had disappeared were basically all those who had died in battle.
Seimei paused slightly and then naturally walked towards his seat.
During this time, some Jonin nodded at him, and he responded to each one. Some also cast curious glances at him, which Seimei chose to ignore.
After he sat down, more people arrived one after another.
And when almost everyone was present, Omura Yuino also arrived.
He didn't exchange pleasantries or waste any words. As soon as he opened his mouth, he directly assigned tasks to everyone.
Without any surprise, Seimei was assigned to the highly dangerous reconnaissance team.
Of course, Omura Yuino's arrangement wasn't because he valued Seimei's reconnaissance abilities but because he wanted him to protect the accompanying Hyuga clan ninja. The main responsibility for reconnaissance lay with them; he was just a bodyguard.
Seimei was very satisfied with this.
Although this mission was somewhat 'dangerous,' he didn't have to worry about too many things, so he agreed on the spot.
Soon, everyone's tasks were assigned. After confirming that there were no problems, Omura Yuino directly announced the end of the meeting.
This meeting was almost the shortest one Seimei had ever attended. He had to give credit to the ninjas' efficiency.
Leaving the meeting room, Seimei directly approached a Hyuga clan Tokubetsu Jonin. This person was his partner for the next mission and also an acquaintance of his.
"Ringo!"
That's right, this person was Hinata Ringo. They had been partners under Nara Shikaku before, and now they were going to carry out a mission together again.
"Seimei!"
Hearing Seimei's call, Hinata Ringo also raised his hand in greeting.
It had to be said that this guy's life was truly tenacious. It had been several months, and he was still alive.
This wasn't him cursing the other party or looking down on him, but as he had just said, reconnaissance missions were relatively high-risk tasks.
Hinata Ringo had been performing such missions for years, and it was truly not easy for him to have survived until now.
The two briefly chatted about their recent situations and then packed their belongings, leaving Kaze no Sato together and heading towards the rear stronghold.
As a reconnaissance team, they naturally had to set off earlier than the main force so that they could scout the situation along the way and report back to the main force in time.
However, to Seimei's surprise, the Iwa ninjas still didn't choose to intercept them this time.
When the various outer strongholds gathered towards Kaze no Sato, the Iwa ninjas didn't stop them. Now that they were all retreating, the Iwa ninjas still didn't stop them.
At this point, Seimei understood why Omura Yuino had arranged such a tight schedule. He was trying to make the Iwa ninjas give up on pursuing them!
Indeed, in just one day, it was already good enough for the Iwa ninjas to clean up the mess left by the Four-Tails' rampage. How could they have the time and energy to organize people to stop their retreat?
Moreover, even if they wanted to stop them, they had to be capable of doing so.
Their operation could be so swift because Omura Yuino had prepared everything in advance.
And it was simply impossible for the Iwa ninjas to suddenly organize a comparable force for interception.
As for sending out small units to delay them...
That was even more ridiculous!
Not to mention Namikaze Minato, who could fight a hundred alone, even Seimei himself could wreak havoc in such small-scale battles.
And information about them must have already been on the Iwa commander's desk.
Therefore, unless the Iwa commander had lost his mind, he would never do such a thing.
After figuring this out, Seimei felt relieved. He even had the spare time to use the Mystical Palm Technique during the journey to strengthen his body.
Although Hinata Ringo was curious about his actions, out of respect, he didn't ask.
However, when he occasionally activated his Byakugan to observe the surroundings, he was still amazed by Seimei's growth.
Four months ago, Seimei was strong, but his strength was still within the realm of ordinary people.
But now, his chakra alone had almost doubled compared to back then, not to mention the oppressive aura faintly emanating from him.
Hinata Ringo felt that in the entire Kaze no Sato stronghold, perhaps only the Yellow Flash, Namikaze Minato, could surpass Seimei in terms of strength.
It had to be said that his intuition was quite accurate.
Not to mention the Kaze no Sato stronghold, even in the entire Konohagakure, the only ones Seimei currently considered noteworthy were Hiruzen Sarutobi, Namikaze Minato, and the Sannin.
As for the others, including Danzo, they were all insignificant.
In fact, even those people might not be able to guarantee a victory against him.
At least, before his left eye went blind, with 'Amenominaka,' no one could be sure of winning against him.
Compared to these people, what Seimei currently lacked was foundation, which meant the accumulation of various ninjutsu and the development of other chakra natures.
Once he filled these gaps, he could basically be considered a true Kage-level powerhouse.
And once he upgraded his Mangekyo Sharingan to the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan level and developed Susanoo to its complete body state, even the combined Five Kage might not be his match.
And this time wouldn't be too long!
"Seimei, we've arrived."
Just as Seimei was lost in his thoughts, Hinata Ringo's voice suddenly came.
(End of this chapter)