Half an hour later.
Dawn was approaching.
Above the small town where Seimei had been earlier, a figure drifted into view.
This was none other than Ohnoki, hurrying to the scene.
However, despite flying at full speed, he couldn't match Seimei's "Wind Release: Wings of Wind" enhanced by various boosts, let alone compete with the instantaneous "Flying Thunder God Technique."
By the time Ohnoki arrived, Seimei was long gone.
Hovering above the town with a stern expression, Ohnoki extended his senses fully, scouring every corner of the town in search of Seimei's traces.
But after a thorough search, he found nothing.
He then tried sensing the seals he'd left in the books and scrolls, but those yielded no results either.
Ohnoki felt a pang of frustration.
Truth be told, half an hour ago, when the seal was deliberately triggered, he'd already realized the enemy likely figured out the trick. Catching up was a long shot.
Still, he couldn't just let it go without coming to check for himself.
Now, he was thoroughly convinced it was hopeless.
Ohnoki turned his head, glancing far off toward the Land of Fire, then prepared to retract his senses.
But at that moment, a strange feeling of being watched crept over him.
Ohnoki's spirit jolted, and he quickly scanned his surroundings, trying to pinpoint whoever was spying on him.
At this time of day, the only one who'd be watching him was that little thief—nobody else came to mind.
If he could trace this feeling back to its source, it'd be like finding a hidden path in a dead-end village.
Yet, no matter how hard he searched, he found no clues.
Moments later, the sensation of being watched vanished.
Disappointed, Ohnoki withdrew his gaze.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Seimei's soul returned to his body.
The next moment, his eyes snapped open, a trace of relief crossing his face.
That's right—the one spying on Ohnoki was Seimei.
The technique he'd used was the "Spirit Transformation Technique."
During their earlier encounter, he'd quietly memorized Ohnoki's chakra signature.
With that, in his soul-out-of-body state, he could sense Ohnoki's location from a range ten thousand times greater than normal.
Even from across a town, he'd locked onto Ohnoki's position.
And judging by Ohnoki's reaction, it was clear he'd lost his target.
This meant the books and scrolls no longer held any of Ohnoki's contingencies.
With that confirmed, Seimei could return to the village.
At the thought, Seimei let out a big yawn.
From yesterday morning until now, he'd been awake for nearly twenty-four hours straight. It was time for a good rest.
With that in mind, Seimei first replenished his chakra, then sensed the Flying Thunder God seal he'd left in the forest outside Konoha. With a thought, he activated the "Flying Thunder God Technique."
His vision shifted instantly.
In a flash, Seimei went from the border town in the Land of Earth to just outside Konoha.
He stood still for a moment, waiting for his heavily depleted chakra to recover. Then, activating his Byakugan, he scanned the surroundings.
Confirming nothing was amiss, he used the "Tenshi no Go" ability to slip through Konoha's sensory barrier with ease, entering the village and heading home.
Instead of immediately dispelling the shadow clone he'd left to guard the house, he let it keep watch for the night. Seimei headed to his bedroom and settled in to rest.
---
The sun rose and set.
In the blink of an eye, it was evening.
In the bedroom, Seimei stirred awake.
He'd slept for over ten hours straight.
"Mmm~"
Sitting up in bed, Seimei stretched deeply, feeling refreshed all over.
Stepping out of the bedroom, he saw his shadow clone quietly reading a book by the door. Seimei nodded and said, "Good work!"
The shadow clone stood, handed him the book, and replied flatly, "No need to thank me. We're one and the same."
With that, it dispelled itself with the "Shadow Clone Technique."
Instantly, a flood of memories poured into Seimei's mind.
He closed his eyes, carefully reviewing the clone's memories of the past ten days.
According to the memories, nothing major had happened in the village. Everything was calm and uneventful.
Well, almost.
Two days ago, on July 3rd, Sasuke was born.
That was about twenty days earlier than Seimei remembered, clear evidence of his influence on the timeline.
This suggested Naruto's birth might not be on October 10th either.
But Seimei was prepared for this.
It didn't faze him.
As long as he had a rough idea of the timing, that was enough.
Pushing those thoughts aside, Seimei shifted his focus.
He checked the memories from last night—or rather, this morning—to see if the effects of his actions in the Hidden Stone Village had reached Konoha.
But there was no news in the village.
Seimei was briefly surprised but quickly understood.
Right now, the Hidden Stone Village was likely still conducting an internal investigation.
After all, his mission had been too precise, too smooth. It screamed of an inside job.
In this situation, they'd prioritize investigating potential traitors before hunting for him.
Of course, they might be doing both at once.
But even so, in just a dozen hours, the ripple effects wouldn't have reached Konoha yet.
Seimei decided to check back in a couple of days to see how things developed before deciding his next move.
For now, though…
Grrrowl~
A rumble came from his stomach.
Seimei rubbed his belly, set the book aside, and headed to the bathroom to freshen up.
A few minutes later, he was done.
Then, he strode out of the courtyard to find some food.
That's right—right now, filling his stomach was the top priority.
He hit up "Food Street" and, as usual, stuffed himself silly.
Afterward, he soaked for an hour at the open-air bathhouse.
Fully relaxed, he returned home.
By now, night had fallen.
Seimei didn't waste time. He went straight to the training room and began practicing the "Limit of the Body" technique.
Two hours later, he stopped.
With a thought, he opened his status panel.
As expected, the progress bar for his Byakugan's evolution had increased by twenty points.
Satisfied, Seimei nodded, then headed to the bathroom for a quick wash before returning to the bedroom. He forced himself back to sleep.
Tomorrow, he'd head back to Moon Island to start another round of intense training.
He needed to be in top shape.
Truth be told, Seimei had considered taking an extra day to rest.
Last night's mission had taken a lot out of him.
But after some thought, he decided against it.
Time was too precious right now. He had to complete his physical transformation before his "mental" attribute spiked.
Only then could he ensure his mind and body stayed in balance.
Not a single day could be wasted.