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)