The sun set and rose again.
In the blink of an eye, three more days had passed.
That afternoon, outside Yujin Port, in a forested area:
Seimei withdrew his hand from the body of a Mist Shinobi chūnin, letting the lifeless form collapse to the ground.
At that moment, a Konoha chūnin approached him, one arm hanging limply by his side. The man wasn't a stranger; he was Hyūga Yamacha, who had been following him for quite some time.
Yamacha glanced at the Mist Shinobi's corpse on the ground but didn't linger on it. He addressed Seimei directly: "Captain, the enemies have been eliminated!"
Hearing this, Seimei swept his gaze across the battlefield.
The scene was one of utter devastation.
Ninja tools were scattered across the ground and lodged in tree trunks. Blood was everywhere.
Amid the pools of blood lay bodies—some belonging to Konoha shinobi, but most were those of Mist Shinobi.
It was clear that a brutal battle had just taken place here.
And indeed, that was the case.
Since the skirmish three days ago, tensions between Konoha and Kirigakure had only escalated. The two sides clashed fiercely in the area around Yujin Port, shedding blood with every encounter.
In the early days, the battles were confined to small squads, but now they had escalated to engagements involving entire divisions.
Once fighting broke out, it rarely stopped, forcing both sides to send continuous reinforcements.
Just like moments ago, Seimei's patrol squad had been responding to a distress signal, moving toward a target battlefield.
Before they could reach it, however, they encountered a Mist Shinobi reinforcement squad.
The two sides clashed instantly, like mortal enemies meeting on sight. Without wasting words, they began fighting.
Fortunately, Seimei's strength was formidable. He swiftly eliminated the opposing squad's leader, a special jōnin, ending the battle quickly.
Otherwise, the commotion would have drawn even more reinforcements, prolonging the fight.
The battlefield here was now like a powder keg, ready to explode at any moment.
And when it did, it would surely lead to the final, decisive battle.
Although Seimei wished for the war to end quickly, he didn't want to be the one to light the fuse. Whenever possible, he avoided prolonged engagements.
Pulling his gaze away from the battlefield, Seimei looked at Hyūga Yamacha and said, "Clean up the battlefield immediately. We still need to provide reinforcements further ahead."
Hyūga Yamacha responded crisply and began organizing the recovery of ninja tools.
Though the village covered all expenses during wartime and their logistics were sound, it wasn't always possible to replenish ninja tools on the battlefield.
Thus, recovering tools after a battle was essential for ensuring safety in future encounters.
Soon, the battlefield was cleared.
Without delay, Seimei led his squad toward the next target battlefield.
As they traveled, Seimei suddenly halted.
At the same time, a flood of training memories and experiences surged into his mind.
"Is it time?" he murmured to himself, then diverted a portion of his focus to absorb and process the training insights gained by his shadow clones over the past hour.
Despite the escalating intensity of the conflict, Seimei had not given up on training.
This relentless pursuit of improvement had yielded substantial results.
Fifteen minutes later, after fully integrating the new training insights, Seimei found that several of his jutsu had advanced to Level 7, achieving mastery in B-rank techniques: Wind Release: Vacuum Bullets, Wind Release: Vacuum Blade, Wind Release: Wind Devour, and Water Release: Exploding Water Colliding Wave.
This signified another leap in his strength.
Although Seimei wanted to test the enhanced power of these jutsu, the timing was not ideal, so he suppressed the urge for now.
However, the chakra saved by perfecting these techniques could be redistributed.
With 180,000 chakra points at his disposal, he allocated them as follows:
60,000 points divided evenly between Guardian Seal and Sealing Array, boosting their daily proficiency growth from 150 and 140 points to 450 and 440 points, respectively. 30,000 points to Water Release: Great Shark Bullet Technique, increasing its daily proficiency gain from 380 to 580 points, significantly shortening the time required to reach Level 9 mastery.
This left 90,000 points, which Seimei divided into three equal shares, assigning them to Wind Release: Rasenshuriken, Multiple Shadow Clone Technique, and Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique.
This balanced allocation ensured steady progress and kept his training engaging.
"Captain, we're almost there!" Thɪs chapter is updated by NoveI★Fire.net
Hyūga Yamacha's voice suddenly pulled Seimei back from his thoughts.
Seimei refocused, directing his attention forward.
Although his Byakugan wasn't active, his sharp hearing picked up sounds of fighting in the distance.
Raising his right arm, Seimei signaled for the team to stop.
The squad immediately halted, each member standing alert on tree branches, watching for any signs of danger.
Turning to Hyūga Yamacha, Seimei asked, "What's the situation ahead?"
Activating his Byakugan, Yamacha observed the battlefield ahead carefully and reported the details to Seimei.
After evaluating the situation, Seimei judged it manageable. Without hesitation, he signaled the squad to advance.
This time, they moved cautiously, watching their steps and surroundings to avoid traps—an approach borne of experience.
Approaching a battlefield often meant navigating areas riddled with explosive tag traps.
Their caution proved justified, as they carefully avoided several such traps.
Finally, Seimei's squad reached the battlefield.
Wasting no time, they joined the fray.
The chūnin and genin, including Hyūga Yamacha, engaged enemy counterparts to relieve their comrades.
Meanwhile, Seimei took on two Mist jōnin, drawing their attention and giving the embattled Konoha jōnin much-needed relief.
Thus, the tide of battle shifted.