"Phew~~~"
Letting out a soft breath, Seimei reined in his wandering thoughts, deciding not to dwell on things any longer.
Even if there was an opportunity, it was a matter for a few days from now.
For now…
He'd freshen up a bit and head out to hunt for some good eats! After ten straight days of scarfing down hyōrōgan—and in huge handfuls, no less—he was feeling pretty rough. He needed a few solid meals to treat himself.
No sooner thought than done. Seimei stepped into the bathroom, quickly washed up, and slipped into some casual clothes. He left the house and made a beeline for the "Gourmet Street."
As night approached, the atmosphere here was getting livelier by the minute.
Seimei could clearly sense it—even the shinobi who passed by occasionally seemed to loosen up a bit once they got here. The anxious vibes he'd picked up earlier were nowhere to be found.
"Guess it doesn't matter if it's my past life or this one—good food's always the best way to soothe the soul," Seimei muttered to himself with a small shake of his head.
He stepped up to a stall selling dango and said, "Oi, boss, gimme ten skewers of dango, spicy flavor."
Hearing his voice, the middle-aged vendor turned around, his face lighting up. "Yo, it's you! Eating here as usual?"
Clearly, the vendor had Seimei's face memorized by now. No surprise there—Seimei hit up Gourmet Street so often that whenever this guy was around, he'd grab a few skewers. The vendor wasn't about to forget a regular like him.
Seimei just nodded.
"Alrighty, hang tight, I'll whip 'em up for ya," the vendor said with a grin, getting to work.
Seimei didn't chat much. While waiting for his dango, he scoped out the other stalls, mentally picking out his next snacks.
Soon enough, the vendor handed over ten skewers of freshly made dango. Seimei took them, paid up, and turned to leave.
"Hey, come back next time, yeah?" the vendor called after him.
Without looking back, Seimei waved a hand over his shoulder, signaling he'd heard.
Then, he dug into the dango. Gotta say, this vendor's skills—or maybe his secret sauce—were top-notch. Seimei could eat these forever and never get bored.
Munching away, he weaved through the stalls lining the street, grabbing all sorts of snacks and popping them into his mouth. Once he'd tried everything that caught his eye, he finally strolled into a yakiniku restaurant and settled in for his main course.
Yup, yakiniku was tonight's main event.
This meal stretched on for nearly an hour. Only when Seimei felt his digestive system begging for a break did he finally stop.
After a quick rest, he paid the bill and left.
With that, he didn't linger. He headed straight out of Gourmet Street and back home.
By now, night had fully settled in.
Wasting no time, Seimei went to his training room and picked up where he'd left off with his daily practice—nurturing his Byakugan!
Two hours flew by.
Byakugan nurturing complete!
Out of habit, Seimei pulled up his status panel for a quick glance. Seeing his Byakugan's evolution progress tick up by ten points, he gave a satisfied nod.
Worth noting: just a week ago, his Byakugan's evolution had crossed the 20% mark, hitting (1000/5000)! At the time, he'd wondered if that milestone might boost his "mental" stat.
But, to his disappointment, it didn't. His "mental" stat stayed rock-steady at 26, not budging an inch.
Well… not entirely unchanged.
Crossing the (1000/5000) threshold did give his mental energy a slight boost, but it wasn't nearly enough to push his "mental" stat up by even a single point.
So, his stats remained the same.
But thinking about it, it made sense. His "mental" stat was already at 26. Every single point from here on out was a massive leap. There was no way a Byakugan that had only hit a minor evolution milestone could trigger that kind of growth.
Right now, his Byakugan was roughly on par with a two-tomoe Sharingan. Back when his Sharingan was at the two-tomoe stage, its proficiency gains hadn't boosted his "mental" stat either. It wasn't until it fully evolved into three tomoe that his "mental" stat jumped by two points.
And back then, his "mental" stat was only 12.
Now? It was 26.
At this level, even if his Byakugan's proficiency hit (5000/5000) and triggered a full evolution someday, it still might not be enough to nudge his "mental" stat up by even one point.
Shaking his head, Seimei pushed the thought aside. He closed the panel, left the training room, and headed straight to his bedroom.
Soon, the faint sound of snoring drifted out.
Clearly, Seimei had slipped into dreamland.
The night passed quietly.
---
The next day.
Seimei slept in until he woke up naturally.
After grabbing a quick bite, he didn't do what he'd done during his last two breaks—flipping through books about combining different chakra nature transformations to develop kekkei genkai. Instead, he performed Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, creating a shadow clone.
Leaving the clone to hold down the fort at home, Seimei's real body used Ten no Miya and slipped out of the house stealthily.
He moved forward, passing through the village's sensory barrier and leaving Konoha behind.
Outside the village, Seimei activated his Byakugan to scan the surroundings.
Confirming no one was within a kilometer, he quickly formed hand seals, casting Fūton: Kaze no Tsubasa (Wind Release: Wings of Wind) and cloaking himself in a Chakra Hagoromo (Chakra Cloak).
Once airborne, he used Doton: Chōkeijūgan no Jutsu (Earth Release: Ultra-Lightweight Rock Technique) to reduce his weight.
Then, maintaining a speed of one kilometer per second, he soared toward Kirigakure.
Yup, next up, he was sticking to his plan: head to Kirigakure to swap out the kage bunshin stationed there. After that, he'd hit Iwagakure to do the same.
Since it was just swapping kage bunshin, Seimei wasn't worried about moving during the day and attracting attention. With Hiraishin no Jutsu, Ten no Miya, his Mangekyō Sharingan, and Byakugan, avoiding others was child's play.
And things went pretty much as he'd expected—smooth as silk.
Using Ten no Miya's power, he easily infiltrated Kirigakure and Iwagakure. Then, he used Hiraishin no Jutsu to link up with his kage bunshin.
Next, he tapped into the chakra stored in the otherworldly space at his forehead, topping off his condition. He performed Kage Bunshin no Jutsu again, swapping out the stationed clones.
It was all so quiet, Kirigakure and Iwagakure would never suspect someone had snuck into their villages in broad daylight.
With that done, Seimei didn't stick around. He headed straight back to Konoha.
And get this: less than two hours had passed since he left the village. He was back in time for lunch.
After eating, he rested for a bit, then went back to his usual routine, flipping through his books.
The afternoon passed in a flash.
As dusk barely settled in, Seimei went out for dinner.
After that, he wasted no time and dove right back into nurturing his Byakugan.
Two hours later, Byakugan nurturing done.
It was only eight or nine in the evening.
Seimei didn't do anything else. He went straight to his bedroom and hit the sack.
Why so early? Simple. The next ten days were packed with stuff to do, so he had to seize every chance to recharge.
Only by staying sharp could he stick to his plan and nail all his training goals.
(Chapter End)