Time slipped by, and before long, it was the dead of night.
Seimei finished his final round of training and returned to the surface of Moon Island. Sensing his current state, he immediately began assessing the changes brought by the advancement of his Dust Release.
Based on the results of his training, this upgrade in his abilities would allow his body to reach the critical point for transformation about half a month earlier than expected.
In other words, instead of mid-July, he could complete his physical transformation by the end of June at the latest.
When that happened, his Constitution stat would increase by one point, allowing his Mental stat to continue improving as well.
Consequently, his Sharingan would no longer be restricted and could continue evolving.
After three more cycles like this, his Sharingan's evolution progress would hit (100,000/100,000). Once it broke through, it would become the Rinnegan.
And with one more step beyond that, it would evolve into the Rinne-Sharingan.
At that point, he'd gain early access to some of the abilities of the Bloodline Network.
This thought brought a faint smile to Seimei's face.
But he quickly reined in his excitement.
He checked his body, confirming that the damage caused by the harsh volcanic environment had healed, then dispelled the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique, recalling all his shadow clones.
Instantly, a flood of memories rushed into his mind.
Focusing intently, Seimei spent about fifteen minutes absorbing and processing the training experiences of his shadow clones from the past hour.
Once that was done, he returned to the cabin to rest.
The next day, training resumed!
Just like that, days passed one after another.
In the blink of an eye, it was the end of June.
That evening, inside the volcano beneath Moon Island, Seimei completed another round of Limit of the Body training and began sensing his condition.
In the next moment, an invisible shackle appeared in his mind.
This was the barrier restricting his physical growth.
He'd been able to sense it clearly for several days now.
However, even now, his body could still grow, albeit at a much slower rate. This meant he hadn't truly reached the critical point for transformation yet.
So, he couldn't begin the breakthrough just yet.
Based on Seimei's experience, he estimated it would take another three to four days.
"Three to four days, huh?" Seimei murmured to himself.
With that, he activated the Flying Thunder God Technique and teleported back to the surface of Moon Island.
Gazing at the setting sun on the horizon, he exited Sage Mode and quietly waited for his body to heal naturally.
Once his body had recovered, he immediately dispelled the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique again, recalling all his shadow clones and absorbing their training experiences from the past hour.
After finishing this step, he didn't start a new round of training. Instead, he quickly packed his things, activated Wind Release: Wings of Wind and his Chakra Cloak, and took to the skies, heading toward the Hidden Leaf Village.
That's right—he was returning to the village.
It wasn't because something major had happened in the Leaf that required his immediate return. It was simply that his ten-day training stint was over, and it was time for a break.
If it had been just a day or half a day short, he might've extended his training to push his body to the transformation's critical point in one go. But three or four days? Nah, better head back.
So, Seimei leisurely flew through the sky, taking in the beauty of the sunset along the way.
By the time he reached the village, the sun had already set.
…
Under the cover of night, Seimei walked through the village streets, clearly feeling the lively atmosphere.
But he didn't linger. Instead, he headed straight home.
After syncing with the memories of the shadow clone he'd left at home and getting a rough idea of the events in the Leaf over the past ten days, he changed into fresh clothes and returned to the streets.
He didn't wander aimlessly, though. His first stop was the "Food Street."
It wasn't just because he was craving something tasty. During his intense training, he burned through massive amounts of chakra every day.
Sure, his body's recovery was strong, but it needed a ton of external energy to keep up—in other words, food!
On Moon Island, he didn't have time to cook or prepare meals.
So, he'd been relying on soldier pills to get by.
As his chakra consumption grew, so did the number of soldier pills he had to choke down.
After ten days of that, just the sight of a soldier pill made him want to gag.
So, every time he returned to the village, the first thing he did was satisfy his cravings to wash away the negative effects of those soldier pills.
"Hey, Seimei, my man! You're back?"
As Seimei was lost in thought, the owner of a nearby meatball stall called out to him.
Clearly, the guy knew him well.
And that made sense. Seimei stopped by this stall almost every time he was in the village, grabbing some meatballs to eat. Over time, they'd gotten familiar.
Hearing the greeting, Seimei walked over and said, "Hey, Uncle, give me twenty skewers."
"You got it!" the stall owner replied with a grin. "The usual mix of flavors?"
"Yup," Seimei nodded. "Go ahead and get started. I'm gonna grab some other stuff in the meantime."
"Sure thing, kid. Off you go!" the owner said without looking up.
With that, Seimei left the stall and headed toward a shop selling cold drinks not far away.
It was only late June, so the weather wasn't too hot yet, but cold drinks were already hitting the market.
It had been a while since Seimei had one, so he figured he'd treat himself.
But just as he reached the shop's entrance, a kid came barreling out, crashing right into him.
Seimei could've dodged, but when he saw who the kid was, he froze for a split second, letting the collision happen.
The kid looked about three or four years old, with distinctive blonde hair and a red cape draped over his back.
It was none other than Naruto Uzumaki.
Er… actually, he should be called Naruto Namikaze in this timeline.
Unlike the Naruto from another timeline, this Naruto had both his parents, and his dad was the Fourth Hokage, so there was no need to hide his identity.
Still, whether it was the influence of Asura's reincarnated chakra, some kind of inevitability, or the impact of Kushina Uzumaki, Naruto's personality wasn't all that different from Seimei's memories. He was still the same loud, brash kid.
At that moment, Naruto let out an "Ouch!" as he fell to the ground, clutching his nose and rolling around. "Who's that?! Which jerk ambushed me?!"
Uh…
Hearing Naruto's words, Seimei blinked, then thought to himself, Well, maybe he's not exactly the same.
Just as he was about to help the kid up, two familiar presences entered his sensory range.
Seimei paused and looked toward the source.
There, walking arm in arm, were Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki, heading his way.
And it seemed they'd noticed him too, as both turned their gazes toward him.