Two days had passed in a flash.
It was noon on Moon Island, right at the central clearing.
Seimei was taking a short lunch break when, suddenly, a fragment of memory popped into his mind.
His eyes snapped open, then closed again as he quickly sifted through the memory.
This wasn't just any memory—it belonged to one of the shadow clones he'd left back in the village.
That's right, one of them.
To keep tabs on the fallout from the recent incident in the Hidden Leaf Village, Seimei had deliberately left two shadow clones behind before returning to Moon Island. Their job was to monitor the village's situation.
Whenever they picked up critical information, one of them would dispel the Shadow Clone Jutsu, instantly syncing the memory back to him.
Why go through all this trouble? Simple—chakra conservation.
Sure, with the Flying Thunder God Technique, zipping back to the village was no big deal and didn't take long. But the chakra cost was real.
Even though Seimei built up a decent amount of chakra daily, it wasn't something he could just burn through recklessly.
Take three days ago, for example. Traveling between three villages for important business ate up a chunk of chakra, but that was necessary. Spending a ton of chakra just to ferry a single message back and forth? That was a bit too extravagant.
So, Seimei went with the most efficient, cost-effective plan: leave two shadow clones behind. They'd share info with each other, and one would dispel to sync the memory back to him.
Like right now.
Seimei closed his eyes, carefully reviewing the clone's memory.
It didn't take long to piece it together.
From the clone's memory, he learned that this morning, Minato Namikaze had suddenly called a meeting with all the available Jonin, including him, who weren't out on missions.
In the meeting, Minato revealed that the Hidden Rock Village had been attacked by a mysterious figure.
He stressed that this was the same person who'd recently infiltrated the Hidden Leaf, urging all departments to tighten defenses and stay on high alert.
With this move, Minato was indirectly coming clean about some of the behind-the-scenes maneuvering he and the other Leaf higher-ups had been up to.
But Seimei wasn't one to take things at face value.
Sure, the meeting was meant to ramp up village security, but there was likely more to it. Minato probably wanted to use this opportunity to send a message to the Hidden Rock Village: the Leaf had nothing to do with this mysterious attacker.
And how would this news reach the Hidden Rock?
Heh. A secret's only a secret when one person knows it. When two people know, it's no secret at all.
Let alone when dozens of people—Jonin, Special Jonin, and veteran Chunin from other departments—were in the room. No way that stays under wraps.
If the Hidden Rock started digging, they'd definitely pick up this intel.
Seimei even suspected Minato might later reach out to Onoki through other channels.
This wasn't wild speculation—it was a logical conclusion based on the Leaf's collective interests.
Right now, the Leaf's strategy was to lay low, recover from the damage of the Third Great Ninja War, and rebuild strength as much as possible.
In that context, Minato would do everything to avoid conflict with other villages.
Given the skills "Uchiha Obito" (Seimei in disguise) had shown that night, no way Onoki would believe the Leaf had zero connection to him.
So, Minato's best move was to communicate openly.
That was the only way to minimize misunderstandings and prevent the Hidden Rock from making a strategic misstep that could spark conflict.
A flurry of thoughts raced through Seimei's mind as he opened his eyes again.
After a long pause, he let out a deep breath.
"Phew…"
Minato's choice was pushing things exactly in the direction Seimei wanted, saving him a lot of hassle.
He was pretty pleased with that.
Oh, and there was more good news. To keep the Hidden Rock from doing anything rash, Seimei's "vacation" had been extended.
Right after the morning meeting, Minato had pulled him aside and told him to stay in the village, ready for orders at a moment's notice.
That meant, for the foreseeable future, he was off mission duty and could focus entirely on training.
How could Seimei not be thrilled?
Snapping out of his thoughts, he stood up, formed hand signs, and unleashed the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu.
Poof! Poof! Poof!
With bursts of chakra smoke, three hundred clones appeared in the clearing.
Seimei didn't waste time. He sent 250 of them to work on developing Dust Release theory.
The remaining fifty were tasked with optimizing Body Extreme, aiming to integrate physical enhancement into the technique to break past its Level 7 limit.
It's worth noting that, thanks to the Second Tsuchikage Mu's experimental notes, his Dust Release research had made huge strides.
Two days wasn't enough to pinpoint exactly how long it'd take to fuse Wind, Fire, and Earth Releases to create Dust Release, but he was certain it'd take far less than two or three years.
With their orders, the clones dispersed. Seimei channeled chakra, activating Lightning Release Chakra Mode, forming a thin layer of lightning over his body.
Then, locking onto the Flying Thunder God marker inside the volcano, he teleported with a thought.
His vision shifted instantly.
In a blink, he went from Moon Island to the first chamber inside the volcano.
Standing on the familiar stone platform, surrounded by vibrant, toxic air and blistering heat, Seimei quietly began strengthening his body.
As he trained, the lightning membrane on his body grew thinner.
The harsh environment started pressing down on him, putting immense strain on his body.
Guided by Human Resistance, his body began to evolve rapidly under the pressure.
Time ticked by, second by second.
An hour passed in a flash.
Seimei stopped training, teleported back to the island with Flying Thunder God, and stood on the wide, bright shore.
He let out a long breath.
Only then did his lungs kick back into gear, adjusting to the outside environment.
Taking the chance, he turned his focus inward, checking his progress.
Thanks to the efficient body-strengthening techniques he'd developed and the harsh volcanic environment, even just an hour of training brought noticeable gains.
Seimei was stoked, and even the physical exhaustion felt lighter.
A few breaths later, his body was back to normal, and he shifted his attention.
He glanced at the clones training across the island, then dispelled the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu with a thought.
In an instant, the clones vanished.
They dissolved into bursts of chakra, carrying an hour's worth of training experience and memories back to him.
The familiar sensation hit, and Seimei closed his eyes, carefully sifting through the memories, absorbing and processing the training insights.
This took about fifteen minutes.
Then, he repeated the process, kicking off the next round of training.