At noon,
Seisui walked with Uchiha Haru and Minato, Nawaki trailing behind, until they reached the village gate.
"Why are you just arriving now?" Tsunade crossed her arms, clearly having waited for a while.
"Wasn't it supposed to be a noon departure?" Seisui looked at the fully assembled group, calm and unhurried. "This is perfect timing."
He adjusted his glasses, the sunlight glinting off the lenses.
"All right, let's move," Tsunade said, barely glancing at Seisui before turning to lead the team.
The medical ninja squad was enormous, numbering several hundred.
It accounted for half of Konoha's medical ninja, all assigned to the Sand battlefield.
The battlefield was divided into four sections: Sand, Cloud, Rock, and Mist.
Half of the medical ninja were sent to the Sand battlefield, with the remaining half evenly distributed among the other three.
Although Seisui had slain the Third Kazekage and would be heading to the Sand battlefield, neither Sarutobi Hiruzen nor Tsunade treated him as a main force.
Especially Hiruzen—he believed Seisui's eyes and vision were severely damaged after fighting the Third Kazekage, making him unsuitable for prolonged combat.
Still, the Sunagakure might deploy the One-Tail, which was why Seisui was sent alongside Tsunade.
With the Third Kazekage gone, Sand's top strength was reduced, and the risk of deploying a tailed beast on the battlefield was very real.
Although in the original Fourth Great Ninja War the tailed beasts were mostly obedient, in reality, a tailed beast was catastrophic for ordinary ninja.
Even with Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru present, they would still be slightly underpowered against a tailed beast.
Seisui thought this through and saw Minato stepping closer to Tsunade, curious.
"Tsunade, how are Jiraiya-sensei and Orochimaru-sama doing?"
"Huh?" Tsunade paused, puzzled. "Orochimaru?"
"Yes," Minato nodded.
"Who told you Orochimaru would be at the Sand battlefield?" Tsunade frowned, still looking puzzled.
"Huh? He isn't there?" Minato blinked. "But last time it was said Orochimaru would be the commander and Jiraiya the deputy."
"That was the last time," Tsunade said, crossing her arms. "Back then only the Sunagakure attacked Konoha. The Kirigakure was just lurking nearby. This time it's four against one. The situation is different, naturally plans change."
"So, it's just me and that Jiraiya guy at the Sand battlefield."
Seisui moved closer, curious. "Then where is Orochimaru?"
"That guy is at the Cloud battlefield."
Tsunade walked forward as the team began their advance.
"I see you three…" Tsunade glanced at Nawaki, then corrected herself, "…actually, you four really don't understand anything."
"Jiraiya and I guard the Sunagakure. Orochimaru and Sakumo guard the Kumogakure. Danzo, that old man, leads ROOT with a team to block Onoki," she said, shaking her head. "Apparently he volunteered. Said he wanted to teach that naturally evil Onoki a lesson."
"And the Kirigakure?" Seisui asked.
Tsunade glanced at him before continuing. "The Mist battlefield is handled by the Uchiha and Hyuga main forces. Many from the Senju clan also volunteered."
"Honestly, I understand why the old man placed you with us," she said. "Kirigakure has a vendetta against the Uzumaki clan. Your current state isn't suited for intense combat."
Heh, Seisui smiled wryly, saying nothing. Intense combat, my foot. My eyes and vision are practically back to normal.
If needed, he could replicate Susanoo's strike against a ninja army—but the cost was high. The blurred vision during the attack was not something he wanted to experience again.
Patrolling the Sand battlefield leisurely suited him better.
At critical moments, stepping in to turn the tide benefited him most.
The Kirigakure could be dealt with later.
Though they had destroyed the Uzumaki clan, it ironically helped him. The world is unpredictable—because they annihilated the Uzumaki, he became the clan leader. That gave him the responsibility to exact revenge.
"Be careful on the road. There might be ambushes," Tsunade called from the front.
The squad responded in unison, "Yes! Tsunade-sama!"
"By Tsunade's side are Seisui-sama and his two teammates, right?"
"Seems so. I heard one has yellow spiky hair," said a medical chunin, pointing at Minato. "That must be the yellow-haired one. Lucky to be on Seisui's team."
"Don't you think he's handsome?"
A nearby medical jonin explained, "Don't underestimate Seisui's teammates—they're geniuses too. That yellow-haired boy is Seisui's junior, both disciples of Jiraiya-sensei. And that Uchiha girl is the granddaughter of the clan's elder. Her strength reportedly surpasses her grandfather. Seisui's team is an elite jonin squad—capable of wiping out a small country."
"Hiss!"
"Suck!"
Gasps filled the air.
"That yellow-haired one is Minato, right?"
"Handsome for his age, though a bit young."
"I like this type of younger boy."
"I still think Seisui-sama is handsome; the yellow-haired one is just mischievous."
"Do I have to—"
"Shut up, you yuri!"
The chatter behind them continued, but Seisui and Tsunade paid no mind. Such things were routine.
==========
A day later, they traveled, Tsunade sitting atop the supply cart, Minato in the middle keeping watch, and Seisui, Nawaki, and Haru trailing behind, mimicking her defensive posture on the cart.
"Nawaki, aren't you going to pick a girl you like?" Seisui elbowed him.
Most medical ninja were girls, hundreds of them—a real garden of blossoms.
During wartime, seeing this many medical ninja was possible; in peacetime, not even at the hospital.
Girls, being more delicate, often controlled chakra more precisely—a basic requirement for medical ninjutsu.
Most boys preferred combat and jutsu application. Among hundreds of medical ninjas, a few dozen were male.
Nawaki immediately waved him off. "No thanks." His face turned red.
"Hmm?" Seisui had spoken casually, but now he was intrigued.
"You've got someone you like, huh?"
"I don't! No way! Don't talk nonsense!" Nawaki denied, but the reaction only deepened Seisui's interest.
He scooted closer, lowering his voice. "Tell me… you might not know. I'm a master of love."
Nawaki frowned, unconvinced.
Noticing Nawaki's distrust, Seisui looked at Haru, who had been watching them. "Haru, you know Minato and Nawaki call me the master of love, right?"
Haru was speechless. From the moment Seisui got close to Nawaki, she had been monitoring them, ready to intervene.
Nawaki glanced at her, trusting her more than Seisui.
Haru nodded. "According to Yamanaka Inoichi, he wrote a Love Manual."
She pulled out a small teal booklet. Four bold characters on the cover read: Love Manual.
"It seems to be selling quite well." She handed it to Nawaki.
He opened it, eyes lighting up. The first line instantly made him understand.
"Brilliant… truly brilliant!"
"No wonder he's a master of love!" Nawaki was captivated, only reading the first sentence.
Seisui, curious, took a peek. The first line stopped him in his tracks:
The Master says: Only by experiencing seven layers of loneliness can one truly understand the essence of love and become a genuine master of romance, a true strong one.
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100 Power Stones = Bonus Chapter
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