About an hour later, the sky began to darken.
Seimei finally returned to the vicinity of the Black Stone base.
It wasn't really a good idea to continue flying at this point. Even though he'd completed his mission and no longer cared if others noticed he'd snuck away, it was still better to avoid unnecessary trouble.
Besides, there were quite a few Mist squads patrolling outside the base, and his chakra was at a critically low level; he saw no need to make things harder for himself.
However, while Seimei wasn't looking for trouble, that didn't mean trouble wouldn't find him.
As he cautiously approached the Black Stone base, a kilometer behind him, a Mist squad suddenly came to a stop.
One of them crouched down beside a small shinobi dog and asked, "Hapi, did you catch anything?"
The dog, named Hapi, was this Mist elite shinobi's summoned animal. It had an exceptionally sharp sense of smell, able to detect even the slightest trace in the air.
Hapi sniffed around carefully, then lifted its head and said in a deep, serious voice that belied its young appearance, "Ryū, we might have trouble."
The others tensed at its words.
Inoue Ryū, knowing Hapi wouldn't raise an alarm without reason, quickly asked, "What's going on?"
Without replying immediately, Hapi sniffed the air again, then said, "I smell a familiar scent."
"Uchiha Seimei," Hapi answered. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ novel⁂fire.net
"Ghost Sword Seimei?"
Ryū hadn't even responded before the other three squad members cried out in alarm. One of them even pulled out a kunai, ready to defend against any potential threat.
Their reaction wasn't unwarranted—unlike the elite Ryū, they were only chunin level, and they knew they wouldn't stand a chance against someone like Seimei.
Over the past week, Seimei had shown he wouldn't hesitate to strike against chunin-level opponents, unlike other Konoha jonin who saw them as unworthy of their time.
Seimei, on the other hand, lacked chakra and needed to keep up his skills. Every time he used his more advanced techniques, like his "Flash Sword Technique," his chakra would be heavily drained, forcing him to hunt for the chunin who offered the best returns.
On top of that, treating the wounded required a lot of chakra as well, and he needed to replenish it somehow. The Mist chunin were the perfect candidates.
This was why the mere mention of his name struck fear in them.
Just then, Hapi added, "Something seems off about his state."
"What do you mean?" Ryū's eyes brightened, and he asked quickly, "Did you notice something?"
Ryū subtly glanced in the direction Hapi had indicated, as if searching for a sign of Seimei.
Hapi looked exasperated. "Don't bother; he's not up in the sky."
Ryū lowered his gaze as Hapi continued, "My nose tells me he's up ahead in the forest, likely returning to the Black Stone base."
Ryū and his team all noticed the oddity. Over the past couple of weeks, Seimei had always traveled openly by air, never sneaking around . To them, moving on the ground seemed uncharacteristically furtive.
Combining that with Hapi's report of his weakened state, they couldn't help but wonder if Seimei had been injured during a mission and was forced to return to base in this state.
People often convince themselves of what they want to believe, especially when their interests are involved. They let their imaginations run wild, taking any potential benefit as fact.
In their minds, the reward for capturing or even helping to kill Seimei was too tempting. Inevitably, they connected his weakened state to the idea that he was injured, never considering that his low chakra might just be due to other reasons.
The four took shallow, excited breaths.
Eventually, Ryū regained his composure. After some thought, he confirmed with Hapi that Seimei's chakra was indeed much weaker than usual, and that he was carefully moving toward the Black Stone base. Ryū finally made up his mind.
He looked at one of his team members and said, "Eimei, go back to headquarters right now. Tell Captain Oze what's happening here and get reinforcements."
"Yes, Captain!" Although slightly disappointed, Itō Eimei felt a wave of relief. Staying with Ryū might have brought greater rewards, but it would also mean much greater danger.
This was Ghost Sword Seimei, one of Konoha's twin stars! The bounty on him was enough to make his head spin, even if he only got a minor share.
After Eimei left, Ryū looked down at Hapi and said gravely, "Hapi, find him!"
Hapi gave a short nod, then sniffed the air and took off in a specific direction.
Behind him, Ryū glanced at his remaining two teammates. "Follow me."
Without hesitation, he led the way, while the two Mist chunin gripped their kunai and hurried after him.
Meanwhile, Seimei continued cautiously through the forest.
Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks and glanced behind him.
For some reason, he suddenly felt as if someone was watching him.
"Just my imagination?" Seimei murmured. He focused but sensed nothing out of place.
Shaking his head, he was about to take another step when he paused, keeping his foot in the air.
Seimei trusted his intuition, especially in this world of extraordinary powers, where instinct could often prove more reliable than sensory perception. Sometimes, the subconscious picked up on subtle details the conscious mind missed, presenting them as intuition.
Deciding to investigate, Seimei prepared to test his new abilities—he had just transplanted the Byakugan.
But first, he needed to make sure no one was nearby.
With that thought, he activated his Sharingan, scanning the surroundings.
Seeing nothing unusual, he jumped up onto a tree branch.
Then, he deactivated his Sharingan, lifted his headband, and focused, activating the Byakugan at his forehead.
In an instant, his Byakugan penetrated the headband's cover, allowing him to see everything within a one-kilometer radius.