Time crawled by, second by agonizing second.
About half an hour later, Seimei finally pulled his hand off Danzō's cracked skull. Memory rip was done.
He leaned back, letting the flood of fresh intel wash over him. Just like he figured, the old war-hawk knew a shit-ton about Orochimaru. Too bad there wasn't a single damn clue about that "Northern Base." Makes sense, though. Back then the snake was still Konoha's golden boy, getting fat off Danzō and Root's black-budget cash. No reason to build some off-the-grid mad-science lair when the village itself was his playground.
Only after he ditched the Leaf and had to fend for himself did he bother carving out secret labs in the middle of nowhere.
Still, it wasn't a total bust. Seimei dug up a bunch of back-channel contacts Danzō used to reach Orochimaru—drop points, dead drops, coded messages, the works. Most of 'em were probably burned the second Danzō ate dirt and Root got disbanded… but a couple might still work.
Good enough. Backup plan acquired. Seimei let out a slow breath, tension easing off his shoulders.
On top of that, he now had a VIP tour of every dirty little secret the Leaf's higher-ups ever tried to bury. His past-life memories gave him the big picture, sure, but this was the real world—those memories were just the tip of the goddamn iceberg. Now? He had the whole filthy glacier. Next time some elder tried to pull a fast one, he'd see that shit coming from a mile away.
Root's files on the other villages were the cherry on top. Not urgent right now, but when he needed to know exactly how many jonin Kumo had stationed on the border or which clan in Mist was itching for a coup… yeah, that intel was gonna save his ass someday.
Overall? Best brain-raid ever. Ten outta ten, would violate Danzō's soul again.
"You're Uchiha Seimei?"
A raspy voice snapped him out of his thoughts.
Seimei glanced up. Yep. Shimura Danzō, the corpse himself, was staring him down like he'd just seen a ghost. Technically accurate.
Before Seimei could answer, the old bastard kept going, voice dripping with envy and straight-up hate. "Those eyes… how the hell do you have those eyes?!"
Seimei's brow twitched. He could hear the jealousy loud and clear. Talking to this fossil was about as fun as gargling kunai, so he reached to slap the seal back on.
Danzō must've felt it coming. The old man lunged, right arm morphing into a wind-charged blade sharp enough to split atoms, aiming straight for Seimei's heart.
Cute. Real cute.
The second that hand got close, Seimei narrowed his eyes.
Shinra Tensei.
An invisible wall of pure repulsion exploded from his pupils and smashed into Danzō like a freight train. The geezer flew backward, cratering into the ground hard enough to cough up blood—if Edo Tensei bodies still had blood to cough.
"Yep… that power," Danzō muttered, dragging himself upright, greed practically oozing from his one visible eye. But underneath the greed was fear. Dude was flashing back to that rainy night in Amegakure when a pair of very similar eyes turned half his squad into red mist and almost ended him too.
He knew he was outclassed. Realization hit like a Rasengan to the nuts.
Danzō spun on his heel and bolted.
Seimei just smirked, flashed a single hand sign, and Danzō's body locked up mid-stride like someone hit the pause button. Black seal formulas crawled all over his skin—the exact same "Heart-Sealing Soul-Lock: Instant Contract Mark" Seimei had branded into him earlier.
Danzō's furious glare could've melted steel, but he couldn't even open his mouth to curse.
Seimei strolled over, hands in his pockets. "Dead guys should stay dead and stop hogging the spotlight, old man."
He raised his hand to re-seal the bastard into the scroll.
Then, out of nowhere, a weird chakra pulse rippled out of Danzō's body—like someone on the other end was yanking the Edo Tensei leash.
Seimei's eyes narrowed. Orochimaru trying to yoink his toy back home.
Nah. Not today.
One step forward, hand clamped around Danzō's throat. Silver light flared in Seimei's Rinnegan as he slammed a top-tier genjutsu straight into the link, overwriting Orochimaru's control signal. Same principle Itachi used with Kotoamatsukami against Kabuto during the war—can't fully sever the Edo contract, but you can hijack the driver's seat for a while.
Rinnegan-tier illusions > snake-man's half-baked control any day.
A few seconds passed. No second tug. Orochimaru must've realized he got out-bitched and gave up.
Still, Seimei wasn't taking chances. He slapped his palm back on Danzō's head and switched to soul-vision.
Three marks on the guy's spirit:
1. Deepest layer: the Pure Land's ownership tag. Dude was still legally dead.
2. Surface layer: Orochimaru's shaky Edo Tensei seal—now flickering like a bad wifi signal after the little genjutsu tussle. Orochimaru's mastery over the jutsu was still dogshit compared to later years. Good to know.
3. Smack in the middle: Seimei's own rock-solid contract seal. Even if the snake had managed to summon him away, Danzō still wouldn't have spilled a single bean.
Perfect.
Seimei almost pulled out of the vision… then paused.
Hey, now that I've got Rinnegan, do I really have to keep baby-sipping only 1.5 million chakra points a day? I was playing it safe before because I didn't want the Sage of Six Paths knocking on my door.
But now? Let the old man try. I'd like to see him step out of the Pure Land and do something about it.
Unlimited chakra battery, baby.
Time to turn the tap up.