In the blink of an eye, night had fallen.
The Cloud ninja team, weighed down by a bunch of chunin, wasn't exactly speeding along. After hours of travel, they'd barely covered a fifth of the journey back.
Their pace was sluggish—about half as fast as when Seimei and Kakashi had made the trip. At this rate, they wouldn't reach the Hidden Leaf Village until the morning after next.
Luckily, the official negotiations weren't for another seven—well, now six—days. So, Seimei wasn't in a huge rush.
Still, it was cutting into his training time.
He shook his head, brushing the thought aside.
Perched on a tree not far from the Cloud ninja's camp, Seimei silently watched as they slowly set up their tents and settled in.
Time ticked by, second by second.
Before long, the night deepened.
Down below, the Cloud ninja—except for a few keeping watch—had all drifted off to sleep. The forest was quiet, save for the occasional chirp of insects or call of a night bird.
The hours slipped away, the darkness growing thicker.
At some point, a faint white mist began to creep through the surrounding woods. It wasn't thick enough to block anyone's view, but it subtly dulled the senses. It made people sluggish, lulling them into a drowsy haze.
Even Seimei, sitting cross-legged on a tree branch, had closed his eyes at some point, looking for all the world like he'd dozed off.
Then, out of nowhere, a figure appeared behind him.
The guy looked young—early twenties, maybe—lean, with a wild afro and a tattoo on his left cheek that resembled the Hidden Cloud Village's symbol. His eyes glinted with malice, and he clutched a kunai, creeping closer to Seimei with silent, practiced steps.
No question about it—this was a ninja skilled in stealth and assassination.
Too bad for him, his skills were decent for most targets, but against Seimei? Not quite enough.
As the ninja got close, Seimei calmly turned his head, his three-tomoe Sharingan locking onto the guy's gaze.
The ninja froze, clearly spooked by Seimei's sudden move. He stood there, stiff as a board, not daring to twitch.
Seimei's presence pressed down on him, and the hatred in the ninja's eyes slowly melted into fear. The snarl on his face vanished, replaced by a slight tremble in his body.
He was about to crack under the pressure.
Suddenly, another figure appeared beside him, breaking the weight of Seimei's aura.
"Huff… huff…"
The young ninja gasped for air, finally free. A look of relief washed over his face, like he'd just escaped death.
After that encounter, it was safe to say he wouldn't have the guts to face Seimei again.
After catching his breath, he glanced nervously at the newcomer and stammered, "Captain, I…"
Before he could finish, the figure—a middle-aged Cloud ninja—raised a hand to cut him off.
Looking at Seimei, the captain said, "Sorry about that. I haven't disciplined my team well enough."
Seimei didn't bother with small talk. "This is the last time," he replied coolly.
With that, he turned away, closing his eyes again, completely unbothered by the possibility of another sneak attack.
The young ninja's expression flickered, but he stayed silent. The captain, calm as ever, looked at him and said, "Come with me."
His voice was low, but it made the younger ninja flinch. Head down, he followed the captain as they left.
Meanwhile, down in the camp, the Cloud ninja—who'd apparently woken up at some point—noticed the situation hadn't escalated. With that, they returned to their tents to rest.
Seimei cracked his eyes open slightly.
He glanced at the Cloud Village's lead jonin and the young ninja trailing behind him, then at the now-quiet camp below. With a soft chuckle, he closed his eyes again.
After tonight's lesson, he figured the Cloud ninja wouldn't stir up any more trouble for the next day or two.
And he was right. After that night, the Cloud ninja kept their heads down and didn't cause any more issues.
By the morning of the third day, they arrived smoothly at the Hidden Leaf Village.
Handing the delegation over to the Konoha Police Force, Seimei recognized the person in charge—Uchiha Zo, a fellow Uchiha and the deputy head of the police force.
Once the handover was done, Seimei headed to the Hokage Tower.
In just a few minutes, he briefed the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, on the mission's details.
Minato didn't seem too concerned about the Cloud ninja's little stunt on the road. He asked Seimei to write a detailed mission report and then dismissed him to rest.
Leaving the Hokage Tower, Seimei didn't waste a second. He headed straight home.
Once there, he used the Shadow Clone Jutsu, creating a clone to handle the report-writing.
As for himself? He was out the door.
The mission had eaten up three days, and Seimei was itching to get back to training.
Activating Heaven's Command, he slipped out of the village without a sound.
After making sure no one was around, he used Wind Release: Wings of Wind and cloaked himself in a Chakra Mantle, taking to the skies.
Then, with Earth Release: Ultra-Lightweight Rock Technique to lighten his body, he tapped into the evolved Byakugan's unique ability, using gravitational pull to propel himself at breakneck speed toward Moon Island.
Soon enough, he reached his destination.
As usual, he circled the island a few times, confirming nothing was off within a ten-kilometer radius. Then, he got to work.
And that training session? It lasted three days.
Three days later, at noon, Seimei wrapped up another round of training. He dispelled his Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu, reabsorbing the clones he'd sent out to train. As their experiences and memories from the past hour flooded into him, his Dust Release: Atomic Dismantling Jutsu leveled up.
This time, it hit Level 10 (0/0)—the pinnacle of mastery.
Standing in the clearing at the center of Moon Island, Seimei closed his eyes, carefully processing the sudden insights that surged through his mind.
When he opened them again, he felt his understanding of Dust Release: Atomic Dismantling Jutsu had skyrocketed.
Now, if he used the technique, he was confident he could match the level of Onoki's performance against Madara Uchiha in his memories—maybe even surpass it.
After all, compared to Onoki, he was younger, with more stamina and vitality.
Add in his massive chakra reserves, and he could push it even further.
As for the gap in experience between him and Onoki when it came to developing Dust Release…
First, he could keep improving. With Atomic Dismantling Jutsu now perfected, he'd catch up to Onoki's level in no time.
Second, he could always fall back on brute force—overwhelming power to elevate his attacks.
In short, mastering this technique gave him a powerful new trump card.
Plus, with his deeper understanding, he'd be able to level up Dust Release: Original World Dismantling Jutsu even faster now.
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