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Not long after Seimei had settled into bed, a sudden knock echoed from the courtyard gate.
On the bed, Seimei's eyes snapped open.
He acted as if he'd just woken up, listening carefully for a moment before getting out of bed. He threw on some clothes, walked out of his bedroom, crossed the courtyard, and opened the gate.
Creak~
The gate swung open.
Outside stood two groups of people.
On the left were members of the village's patrol team, and on the right were members of the security force—Uchiha ninja, to be precise.
Seimei's gaze subtly scanned them. The patrol team seemed tense, likely under some kind of orders. Every now and then, one of them would glance into his courtyard, as if searching for something.
In contrast, the Uchiha security team appeared more relaxed.
Seimei figured they'd probably tagged along because they saw the patrol team entering Uchiha clan territory in the middle of the night.
"What's going on?" he asked, his expression calm as the thoughts raced through his mind.
The leader of the group, Uchiha Shisui, spoke up. "The barrier team just reported that someone infiltrated the village, and the location is somewhere around here. Seimei, have you noticed anything unusual?"
That's right—the one leading both teams was none other than Uchiha Shisui.
Even though relations between Konoha and the Uchiha clan had improved, as the saying goes, a broken mirror is hard to mend. Once trust is fractured, restoring it to what it once was is no easy task. Time is the only thing that can slowly heal such wounds—there are no shortcuts.
In situations like this, only someone like Shisui, who was respected by both sides, could act as a leader for both groups.
Over the past while, Shisui had been the one handling matters involving both the village and the Uchiha.
It was clear that the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, was deliberately grooming Shisui to serve as a bridge to fully mend the relationship between Konoha and the Uchiha clan.
Whoops, getting off track!
Back to the moment.
Seimei looked at Shisui, then glanced at the others, frowning. "Someone was around here just now?"
"Yeah," Shisui nodded seriously, pressing further. "You didn't notice anything?"
"Nope," Seimei shook his head. "I was asleep. Trained all day, so I was out cold. Didn't hear a thing."
His response was airtight, impossible to poke holes in.
Shisui paused for a moment, his peripheral vision catching someone to his left.
Seimei, sharp as ever, followed his glance. He spotted an Inuzuka clan ninja standing there, holding a waist-high ninja hound.
The dog was sniffing the air intently.
A moment later, it let out a single "Woof!"
The Inuzuka ninja gave Shisui a slight shake of his head.
Seeing this, Shisui turned his attention back to Seimei. "Alright, Seimei, just keep an eye out. A few days ago, this guy clashed with the Anbu. He might be plotting something. If you notice anything, come find me right away."
"No problem," Seimei nodded.
With that, Shisui led the two teams to the next house, questioning each household one by one.
At the same time, Seimei's gaze subtly flicked toward the rooftop of a distant building.
There, he could just make out a few figures wearing masks and black cloaks—Anbu ninja, no doubt.
They were stationed on the perimeter, perched in high vantage points, keeping a close watch on the entire area. The slightest movement would set them off.
But their behavior gave Seimei a sense of relief.
If they were still surrounding the area like this, it meant Konoha's newly deployed sensory barrier couldn't precisely pinpoint spatial fluctuations.
That meant he didn't have to worry about anyone discovering his meeting with Obito Uchiha tonight.
It would save him a lot of trouble.
Still, he couldn't let Obito think he had the upper hand.
Maybe this is a chance to hit him hard, Seimei thought, but he quickly pushed the idea aside.
For now, his main goal was to collect some of the Nine-Tails' chakra, maybe even create a mini Nine-Tails.
That would make things a lot easier down the line, whether it was fusing the Ten-Tails or something else.
Of course, getting his hands on the entire Nine-Tails would be ideal.
But that wasn't very likely.
"Whatever, I'll take it one step at a time," Seimei muttered to himself, shaking off the thoughts.
He turned back, closed the gate, returned to his bedroom, and flopped onto the bed.
Today was his day to rest, and he wasn't about to let a bunch of nonsense distract him.
---
The Next Day
Noon
Seimei woke from his sleep.
At first, he was a bit groggy, but when he saw the familiar ceiling above him, he remembered he was back in Konoha.
Along with that came the memories of everything that happened last night.
Thinking back to Shisui's final words, Seimei suddenly realized the guy might've been hinting at something.
After mulling it over, Seimei chuckled. "Heh, pretty sharp, huh?"
He wasn't sure if Shisui had picked up on something through intuition or some other clue, but the guy had sensed something off about him and was subtly offering help if he needed it.
At the same time, Shisui had pointed out that Obito was up to some kind of scheme.
But Seimei wasn't about to go running to him.
Not only was he part of this "scheme" himself, but even if he wasn't, he wouldn't dump his problems on someone else.
He'd always preferred handling his own messes with his own strength.
With those thoughts swirling in his mind, Seimei pushed them aside and got up. He stretched, hopped out of bed, and took a few minutes to wash up.
After that, he geared up and left the courtyard, heading straight for the "Food Street."
It was noon—time for lunch.
Seimei spent over an hour eating, hopping from shop to shop, satisfying his hunger completely before finally stopping.
It's worth noting that after his body's latest transformation, his digestion had gotten even stronger.
He wasn't quite at the level of instantly digesting food the moment it hit his stomach, but with a bit of chakra to boost his stomach's digestion, he could eat enough for dozens of people in a short time without any issue.
Full and satisfied, Seimei left the Food Street.
He subtly activated his Byakugan to scan his surroundings, confirming no one was tailing him. Then, he found a spot, used the Transformation Technique, and turned himself into Obito Uchiha.
With that, he changed direction and headed straight for Minato Namikaze's house.
It was time to "place a marker."