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)