After gathering the three enemies together, Seimei decided not to waste time. He raised his hand, preparing to use the Shadow Clone Technique to split a clone and send them back.
At that moment, a memory suddenly surfaced in his mind. It was the recollection of sending Safu into the cave space.
Clearly, this was the memory of the shadow clone he had previously sent out.
Through this memory, Seimei realized the task had been completed successfully.
This brought him a sense of relief.
He had been worried that the shadow clone might encounter some trouble along the way and feared losing Safu, who was essentially a large "Chakra battery."
Now it seemed he had worried unnecessarily; the shadow clone had completed the mission perfectly.
"Since that's done, let's keep going!"
With that thought, Seimei once again used the Shadow Clone Technique.
Fortunately, the level 1 Shadow Clone Technique allowed him to maintain up to three clones. Otherwise, it would have been difficult to send these three Sand ninja back all at once.
Poof! Poof!
Two clouds of chakra smoke dissipated, and two identical clones of Seimei appeared on the scene.
The reason he didn't summon three was that there was already a shadow clone guarding the cave space, so only two were necessary here.
Thankfully, two clones were sufficient.
Without needing Seimei's instructions, the two clones stepped forward, picked up the three unconscious Sand ninja, nodded to him, and left without saying a word.
Watching them leave, Seimei checked his chakra reserves, finding he had less than 2,000 points left, which made him feel uneasy.
Originally, he had planned to rush to E12 to see if he could take advantage of the situation and capture more Sand ninja.
But now...
He decided against it.
However, he couldn't just do nothing.
After all, he had told Kamijo Yoichi that he was going to E12 to provide support. If he didn't show up, it could raise unnecessary suspicions later.
With the many secrets he was currently hiding, it was best to avoid attracting attention.
After thinking for a while, Seimei decided to head to E12 but at a slower pace.
This way, if by the time he arrived, his shadow clones had already finished their tasks and dispelled themselves, allowing his chakra to recover, he could resume his original plan.
If not, he would just lay low and avoid unnecessary risks.
After all, Seimei wasn't one to gamble with his life.
With his decision made, Seimei wasted no more time and started heading toward E12.
Half an hour later, Seimei arrived in E12.
By this time, the two shadow clones he had sent out had already completed their task, and his chakra had recovered to over 5,000 points.
According to the original plan, he should now take advantage of the chaos and capture more Sand ninja to expand his "chakra battery" group.
However, his plan ended before it even began.
It wasn't because there were no Sand ninja left.
On the contrary, there were far more Sand ninja than he had expected.
But for that very reason, he didn't dare act recklessly.
Simply put, the scale of the Sand Village's offensive exceeded his expectations.
Even though nearby Leaf ninja reinforcements had already arrived, the Sand ninja showed no signs of retreating. In fact, the battle seemed to be intensifying.
Under such circumstances, Seimei didn't dare to act impulsively.
As soon as he appeared, he was immediately targeted by someone.
With no other option, he was forced to join the battle.
Using his sharp swordsmanship and dual-tomoe Sharingan, Seimei quickly took down nine Sand ninja within an hour, easing the pressure on the Leaf ninja in the nearby area.
However, this drew the attention of a Sand Jonin, whose strength was even greater than Safu's.
Seimei, not in the best condition and unwilling to engage in a direct confrontation, resorted to dodging and defending, refraining from further attacks.
Though the Sand Jonin was formidable, he couldn't overpower Seimei immediately and was forced to probe cautiously.
Time ticked by, and before long, another half-hour had passed.
As dusk approached and the time for the shift change drew near, Seimei realized that if things dragged on any longer, the Sand ninja wouldn't be able to leave.
Shift changes meant the arrival of fresh reinforcements.
Based on Seimei's previous experiences, each shift change would replace about half of the teams.
With so many reinforcements, Seimei doubted the Sand ninja could hold out, meaning they would most likely retreat before the shift change.
As for whether the Sand ninja knew about the shift change timing, Seimei dismissed any doubts.
Considering their offensive, it was clear that they had done detailed reconnaissance.
And besides, the shift change time wasn't exactly a secret. With so many people involved, it would have been easy to figure out.
Sure enough, not long after, sharp whistles rang out from multiple spots on the battlefield.
Upon hearing the whistles, the Sand ninja immediately abandoned their opponents and gathered swiftly around their Jonin leaders.
Then, under the Jonin's lead, they broke through the temporary Leaf defense line and escaped the encirclement.
Several Leaf leaders, unwilling to let the Sand ninja escape so easily, quickly ordered a pursuit.
Thus, the remaining Leaf ninja began chasing the fleeing Sand ninja.
Inevitably, a few Sand ninja fell behind.
Seizing the opportunity, Seimei captured two more Sand Chunin and had his shadow clones take them away without leaving any traces.
An hour later, the pursuit ended, and all the Leaf ninja returned to their respective outposts.
The newly arrived Leaf reinforcements, who had arrived an hour early, wasted no time and immediately hurried westward to the front lines, where the Sand Village forces were being resisted.
After they left, Seimei received new orders: all breaks, including his next one, were canceled.
For the next half month, everyone would continue with their current assignments, with increased patrols to guard against Sand ninja infiltrations and ensure the safety of the main base.
Additionally, understaffed teams would receive reinforcements from the main base as needed.
Seimei also learned the latest news from the frontlines from Squad Leader Tashiro Ukyo.
As he had suspected, two outposts had indeed been captured by the Sand Village forces, and other outposts were now sending reinforcements to reclaim them.
Those fresh Leaf reinforcements that had just left were heading to the frontlines to support that effort.
However, Seimei suspected that the reinforcements might not be enough.
The Sand Village would not easily give up outposts they had fought so hard to capture.
In the coming days, the main base would likely need to send more reinforcements.
"No wonder the orders mentioned that the main base would send reinforcements to each squad as needed," Seimei thought to himself.
Clearly, the Leaf's reserves were starting to get stretched thin.
At this rate, a defensive retreat seemed inevitable.
Seimei pondered how long the frontlines could hold. The outpost captures were likely just the beginning, and such occurrences would probably become routine.
In other words, the second line of defense would no longer be a true second line, as they too would frequently face large-scale enemy forces.
After some thought, Seimei shook his head.
"What's the point of thinking about all that? As long as I keep improving my strength, I'll be able to handle any danger," he muttered to himself.
With that, Seimei wasted no more time. After checking in with the night patrol team, he returned to his quarters to continue his training.
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