Seimei heard Katui's shout, withdrew his long blade, and let Ikezuko's lifeless body collapse to the ground. Then, he turned to look at his opponent.
Seeing Seimei's gaze, Katui's face was filled with fury and hatred. However, reason ultimately won out—he knew he wasn't Seimei's match alone.
So, after shouting a single word—"Retreat!"—to the surrounding Hidden Cloud Chunin, he turned and sprinted deeper into the forest.
Upon hearing his command, the other Hidden Cloud Chunin snapped out of their shock. Fear etched across their faces, they quickly followed him into the woods.
Seeing this, Seimei chose not to pursue them.
It wasn't out of mercy—since they were already enemies, such sentiments were meaningless.
The real reason he remained still was that other Konoha shinobi had arrived.
Indeed, though he had pushed himself to travel at full speed earlier, arriving before the others despite setting out later, his brief skirmish had allowed them to catch up.
Now, he could leave the rest of the battle to them.
As for himself...
He had more important matters to attend to.
Seimei lifted his gaze toward the direction in which Katui and his men had fled. That path led straight toward another Hidden Cloud squad's position.
Since Katui's group had already detected his surveillance, they had likely communicated with the other two squads.
Considering their escape route, it wasn't hard to deduce that they had already sent a distress signal.
And since the three Cloud squads weren't far apart, if the nearby squad had responded immediately, they were probably very close by now.
The battle here was still ongoing—he couldn't allow the enemy's two squads to join forces.
Thus, he had to intervene.
With that in mind, Seimei formed a hand seal and used the Mind Transmission Jutsu to relay his plan to several Konoha Jonin.
Then, he swiftly performed the Body Flicker Jutsu, dashing at full speed toward the most likely direction from which the Cloud reinforcements would arrive.
---
Time passed second by second.
Before long, Seimei had left the battlefield far behind.
Once he was certain that the Hyuga Clan Jonin wouldn't detect him, he immediately lifted the Guardian Seal on his forehead.
Then, he focused his mind and activated the Byakugan, using its x-ray vision to search for the Hidden Cloud shinobi.
Admittedly, such a large-scale scan could alert an enemy sensor ninja, just as it had with Ikezuko earlier.
But then again, if they had such a ninja, they would have already sensed him during his initial search.
Thus, there was no real risk of "startling the snake in the grass."
Besides, Seimei was confident in his strength. Even if something went wrong, he could simply overpower his enemies.
So there was nothing to worry about.
In fact, he secretly hoped they would come to him—saving him the trouble of finding them.
With that thought in mind, he searched more recklessly than before.
This time, luck seemed to be on his side.
Though he was prepared for discovery, he found that this Hidden Cloud squad lacked a sensor ninja of Ikezuko's caliber.
When he finally spotted the approaching Cloud shinobi, they remained completely unaware of his presence.
Seimei smirked.
Perched atop a large tree, he watched the enemy forces move below and formed a hand seal.
Genjutsu—Temple of Nirvana Technique!
A moment later, white feathers—like falling snow—descended from the sky, filling the Cloud shinobi's vision.
As the feathers drifted down, drowsiness overcame them.
However, they were elite warriors. Though the Temple of Nirvana was an A-rank genjutsu and Seimei had mastered it to level six, it was primarily effective against ordinary people and lower-ranked shinobi unfamiliar with genjutsu.
Against these skilled Chunin—and especially the Jonin—its effects were limited.
Thus, the moment the genjutsu took hold, several Jonin reacted instantly.
They quickly formed hand seals, disrupting their chakra flow to break the illusion. At the same time, one of them shouted a warning:
"Stay alert! It's a genjutsu!"
Upon hearing this, the already cautious Cloud Chunin immediately followed suit, channeling their chakra to dispel the illusion within moments.
Then, they swiftly formed a defensive formation, spreading their senses to scan their surroundings, trying to locate the hidden caster.
But upon seeing their response, Seimei merely sneered.
He had never intended to control them.
He was well aware of the Temple of Nirvana's limitations—it was impossible to completely ensnare them.
His only goal was to make them stop.
And now that they had...
It was time for his real trump card.
Crackle!
Blinding lightning suddenly erupted.
Countless arcs of electricity surged from Seimei's body.
Like a spreading barrier, they expanded rapidly in all directions.
In the blink of an eye, they engulfed a hundred-meter radius.
Within the zone, violet-black lightning rained down like a storm.
Wherever the bolts struck, they left deep craters in the ground.
Where they hit trees, the trunks instantly charred to ash, igniting into roaring flames.
Yes—this was none other than the perfected version of his jutsu:
Lightning Release—Thunder Prison!
Although this was technically a B-rank jutsu, in Seimei's hands, its power rivaled even typical A-rank techniques—especially when used in a surprise attack.
The first time he had deployed Thunder Prison, it had wiped out more than ten Root ANBU in an instant.
And now was no different.
Moments later, the lightning storm dissipated.
Activating his Byakugan, Seimei scanned the area where the Cloud shinobi had stood.
There, fourteen lifeless bodies lay sprawled in various positions.
Their skin was charred black, emitting a nauseating stench of burnt flesh mixed with something sickeningly sweet.
They were unmistakably dead.
Examining the corpses, Seimei identified twelve Cloud Chunin and two relatively weak Special Jonin.
He hadn't completely wiped out the squad, but this outcome was more than satisfactory.
As for the survivors...
Seimei turned his gaze toward a nearby spot.
There, three Cloud shinobi staggered forward, battered and wary.
They were the only ones who had escaped the Thunder Prison.
Judging by their chakra levels, Seimei immediately knew—these three were true Jonin.
It was only because of their superior skill that they had managed to react in time and barely escape his deadly attack.
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