Time passed uneventfully, and in the blink of an eye, another half month had gone by.
The battlefield remained as "calm" as ever, until the arrival of the first wave of reinforcements from the Hidden Leaf Village!
Yes, after over twenty days of logistical coordination, the first batch of support troops withdrawn from the Rain Country battlefield had finally reached this front.
The village also issued new orders.
At the Blackstone Outpost
Inside the meeting room, Sano Nobuhisa wore a stern expression as he addressed everyone.
"The latest orders from headquarters…"
At his words, everyone sat up straight, their ears pricked to listen attentively.
Sano Nobuhisa continued, "Effective immediately, all outposts are to switch from defense to offense. We must drive the Mist Ninja out of the Land of Fire and reclaim our territory in the shortest time possible."
"Counterattack?" Nᴇw novel chapters are publɪshed on novel·fire.net
The crowd reacted with a mix of excitement and concern.
The excitement came from finally launching a counteroffensive. Their original objective for being stationed here was to recapture Flying Fish Town. However, due to the Mist Village's unexpected reinforcements, that plan was completely derailed, forcing them into a defensive position.
Now, they finally had the chance to regain their honor.
But their concerns were equally valid. A counterattack meant breaking the stalemate.
Over the past few months, this battlefield had remained in a strange state of "peace," mainly because neither side had made any drastic moves.
However, attempting to retake Flying Fish Town would undoubtedly provoke the Mist Ninja.
What happens next would be uncertain.
If the Mist Ninja maintained their current state and allowed themselves to be worn down, things might proceed smoothly. But if they resisted fiercely, casualties would be inevitable.
Because of this, the group's excitement was tinged with apprehension.
Overall, though, they were optimistic.
After all, the end of the war was finally in sight.
For the past two or three years, the Hidden Leaf Village had been primarily battling three opponents: the Hidden Sand, Hidden Stone, and Hidden Mist Villages.
Now, the first two had already retreated, leaving only the Mist Village. If they could drive the Mist Ninja out of the Land of Fire, this war would be over.
Peace would naturally follow.
As for smaller conflicts, like the one with the Hidden Cloud Village, those battles were minor and had not affected the Land of Fire's territory—so they were of little concern.
Seimei observed everyone's expressions without showing any reaction, as though the situation had nothing to do with him.
And indeed, it didn't—at least not directly.
The Seimei present here was merely a shadow clone.
His true self had rarely appeared at the outpost in a long time. Most of his time was spent training or traveling to train, leaving little attention for the happenings here.
But now, that was no longer the case.
When the meeting ended, the shadow clone relayed its content to Seimei's main body, who immediately became fully alert.
Without a doubt, Seimei intended to participate in the counterattack. It wasn't just Sano Nobuhisa's expectation—it was also his own decision.
Five days ago, his Water Release: Water Severing Wave had reached Level 7 (0/0), its maximum potential. The 30,000 chakra points he had saved were redistributed according to his plan, split evenly between Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu and Chakra Cloak.
This adjustment increased their daily proficiency growth from 200 and 300 points to 300 and 450 points, respectively.
This was as much chakra as he could spare for now.
While this rate of improvement was decent for most jutsu, Seimei wasn't satisfied.
The first jutsu was an A-rank technique with a maximum level of 9, requiring immense proficiency to reach its peak. Progressing at just 300 points a day was painfully slow.
The second jutsu had become even more potent after his recent refinements, especially following close contact with the Six-Tails. This deeper understanding of the Tailed Beast Cloak raised its potential to A-rank, further increasing its chakra demands.
Simply put, both jutsu required an enormous amount of chakra to reach their full potential.
The 90,000 chakra points he allocated daily were starting to feel insufficient.
At times , the quickest solution was to find additional resources.
And the upcoming counterattack presented the perfect opportunity.
If Seimei could amass enough chakra during the operation, he could significantly boost the progress of these two jutsu.
With that in mind, Seimei left several shadow clones to continue training while his main body headed toward the Blackstone Outpost to join the counterattack.
South of the Blackstone Outpost, in a dense forest not far from Flying Fish Town, Seimei withdrew his hand from the body of a Mist Ninja special jonin.
The corpse collapsed heavily to the ground, completely drained of chakra, spiritual energy, and physical energy.
Nearby, several other Mist Ninja shared the same fate.
Raising his hand, Seimei used a fire jutsu—Fire Release: Pure Combustion Technique!
Flames ignited and quickly engulfed the bodies, reducing them to ashes.
After finishing, Seimei turned to a spot in the forest and spoke calmly, "Since you're here, you might as well show yourself."
Soft footsteps echoed as a figure stepped out from behind a tree.
The individual was cloaked in black and wore a mask adorned with four wavy lines—a clear symbol of the Mist Village.
It was evident this was a Hidden Mist Anbu.
Sensing the figure's chakra, Seimei's eyes lit up. "It's you?"
Under the mask, Kisame Hoshigaki's expression shifted subtly before he replied indifferently, "You know me?"
Indeed, this Mist Anbu was none other than Kisame Hoshigaki, the "Tailed Beast Without a Tail," whom Seimei had encountered once before.
Clearly, Seimei's relentless slaughter had alarmed the Mist Village, prompting them to send an elite Anbu member to investigate.
Kisame had intended to extract information from Seimei. Unfortunately for him, Seimei had no intention of cooperating.
Shaking his head in disappointment, Seimei remarked, "So it's just a shadow clone."
Yes, the Kisame before him was merely a clone. Despite his formidable strength, Kisame was cautious by nature. Even after tracking Seimei, he didn't approach recklessly, opting instead to send a clone.
Had Seimei not encountered Kisame before and recognized his unusually large chakra reserves, he might not have noticed the truth.
As for why Seimei continued draining chakra from the Mist Ninja despite Kisame's presence?
It was simple—he no longer cared.
With the war nearing its conclusion, this was his last chance to collect chakra. Naturally, he intended to take as much as he could.
Moreover, as his body approached its next evolution, his chakra reserves would expand further, reducing his dependence on external sources.
Even if others discovered his actions, it didn't matter. He could always stop absorbing chakra in the future.