Seeing this, Seimei dialed back his aura.
At that moment, Uchiha Obito's disguised, raspy voice came from behind his mask. "Why did you give the Nine-Tails back?"
"Hm?" Seimei's expression froze for a moment, his brow raising slightly.
Obito, thinking Seimei might deny it, pressed further. "Don't tell me the one who took the Nine-Tails wasn't you."
Hearing this, Seimei finally understood why Obito had asked. So that's what he was hung up on.
It made sense. From Obito's perspective, Seimei's attitude toward tailed beasts had always been ruthless—grab them at all costs, no exceptions. Yet this time, after successfully capturing the Nine-Tails, he let it go. That didn't align with his usual style at all.
No wonder Obito was suspicious enough to question him.
Realizing this, Seimei felt a spark of satisfaction. His deception had worked. Obito clearly had no idea that Seimei still held half of the Nine-Tails' power. This gave him a hidden trump card, something to keep Obito in check if they continued their uneasy alliance. It made Seimei feel more confident in his moves going forward.
But now wasn't the time to dwell on that. He needed to figure out how to explain himself to Obito.
After thinking it over for a bit, he came up empty on good excuses. So, he decided to skip the explanation entirely. "What I do is none of your business," he said bluntly.
"You—" Obito's voice bristled with irritation, but before he could snap back, Seimei cut in again. "Besides, I never promised you anything, did I?"
Obito froze. He realized Seimei was right. When he'd shared his plans with Seimei, there had been no explicit agreement. Everything Obito assumed was based on Seimei's past behavior.
"This…" Obito was at a loss for words. He'd been so confident back then, but now he felt cornered.
Still, he quickly regained his composure. "Don't change the subject. Why did you give the Nine-Tails back to Konoha?"
Seeing Obito latch onto the topic, Seimei didn't bother with more excuses. "Couldn't handle it. Had to let it go," he said dismissively.
"What?" Obito couldn't believe his ears. He knew Seimei's strength better than most. Sure, Seimei might've been limited if he was avoiding exposing his identity, but to say he couldn't even escape with the Nine-Tails? Obito wasn't buying it.
But with Seimei brushing him off like that, what could he do? Pick a fight? Even if he could win—and that was a big if—what would he gain? The tailed beasts Seimei had? Obito wasn't confident he could take Seimei down.
Starting a fight now would only make Seimei wary, making it harder to get his hands on those tailed beasts later. Plus, in Obito's eyes, Seimei still had value as an ally. There was no need to eliminate him just yet.
Noticing Obito's silence, Seimei glanced toward the sounds of battle in the distance and changed the subject. "Those guys under your control?"
Obito instantly grew cautious. He wasn't surprised Seimei had figured out he was controlling the Mist Village's Anbu. While a regular Sharingan might not pick up subtle chakra flows, a Mangekyo Sharingan like Seimei's could easily spot the traces of genjutsu—especially since Obito was using a classic Uchiha clan illusion technique. It was only natural Seimei would notice.
What Obito didn't realize, though, was that Seimei had spotted it instantly with his Byakugan.
But that didn't matter.
After asking the question, Seimei quietly activated his three-tomoe Sharingan, carefully observing Obito's eyes behind the mask. At the same time, he glanced at Zetsu, who stood silently nearby. He wanted to gauge their reactions to see if his suspicion—that Obito was planning to manipulate the Cloud Village next—was correct.
And it seemed he was onto something. Obito's wary gaze alone told Seimei that he was worried about him connecting the dots.
They locked eyes in silence for about ten seconds before Seimei spoke again. "I don't care what you're planning, but you'd better not mess with me."
With that, he turned and dashed toward the camp, where the battle was still raging.
Thanks to Seimei's intel, Nara Mitsuhiko and the others hadn't been caught off guard by the dozen or so Mist Anbu. But their attempt to ambush the attackers had failed too.
The lead Mist Anbu, under Obito's control, was a bit slow to react, but the rest were unaffected. They were only following orders, and with their combat experience, they easily avoided the traps Mitsuhiko's team had hastily set up.
As a result, the fight had turned into a straight-up brawl from the start.
In theory, Konoha's side should've had the advantage with their numbers. But of their hundred shinobi, twenty were injured—some so badly they needed urgent treatment back in the village, leaving them with little to no fighting ability. Of the rest, more than half were genin. Including Seimei, they only had seven jonin, three of whom were specialized in sensing and tracking.
In contrast, the Mist's group was small—just a seventeen-man squad—but they were all elite Anbu. Five were full-fledged jonin, three were special jonin skilled in assassination, and the rest were top-tier chunin.
Konoha's side was at a clear disadvantage. Their uneven strength led to several casualties early on.
Seimei rushed back to minimize the losses. He wasn't worried about Obito and Zetsu jumping into the fight. Even if they teamed up, they couldn't beat him. And even if they could hold him off long enough for the Mist Anbu to wipe out Mitsuhiko's team, it wouldn't matter. As long as Seimei survived to report their schemes back to Konoha, the village wouldn't blame the Cloud Village. The peace talks would go on, and their plans would fall apart.
So, the chances of them making a move were slim.