A few minutes later.
Seimei returned to his previous location.
Hiding in the shadows, he observed the battlefield before him and let out a slight sigh of relief.
The worst-case scenario hadn't happened—Kumogakure's Third Squad had indeed arrived just in time, preventing the complete annihilation of the First Squad.
However, by that point, the last remaining jōnin from the First Squad had already been taken down by a Konoha jōnin on the battlefield.
With this, neither side had an absolute advantage in terms of jōnin-level combat power.
Even though Kumogakure had slightly more chūnin in better condition, it wouldn't change the overall outcome of the battle.
Because of this, when Seimei arrived, the fight between the two sides was at a deadlock.
Seizing the opportunity, Seimei reached into his ninja tool pouch, pulled out a shuriken, and threw it.
Then, he quickly formed hand seals and unleashed an A-rank ninjutsu—Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!
In the blink of an eye, the single shuriken multiplied into hundreds in midair.
Under his control, the storm of shuriken rained down like a violent tempest, targeting a nearby Kumogakure special jōnin and several Kumogakure chūnin.
They were clearly startled by this sudden attack, scrambling in a panic—some dodging, others blocking, all struggling to defend against his assault.
The Konoha ninja, having recently seen Seimei use this technique, reacted swiftly.
Taking advantage of the opening, they launched counterattacks against their respective opponents.
Seeing this, Seimei thought to himself, As expected of elite shinobi. Their ability to seize opportunities like this is beyond the reach of ordinary ninja.
In battles between shinobi, sometimes all it took was a single opening.
Seimei had created an opportunity, and the Konoha shinobi's counterattacks, in turn, created opportunities for him.
Activating his Three-Tomoe Sharingan, Seimei focused on a Kumogakure special jōnin, who was repeatedly swinging his kunai to block the attacks of a Konoha special jōnin. Predicting his movements, Seimei swiftly formed hand seals and cast a fire-style jutsu—Fire Release: Pure Scorch Technique!
Although it takes time to describe, everything happened in an instant.
Boom!
A sudden burst of flames erupted, instantly engulfing the Kumogakure special jōnin.
"Ahhh—!"
A painful scream echoed from his mouth.
He frantically tried to tear off his burning clothes to stop the fire from spreading.
However, it was futile.
As Seimei increased his chakra output, the flames on the enemy not only failed to subside but instead burned even more fiercely.
The nearby Konoha special jōnin was momentarily startled but quickly reacted, hurling his kunai with precision.
Thud!
The sound of a blade piercing flesh rang out.
The Kumogakure special jōnin's heart was pierced. His agonized screams abruptly stopped, and after a few seconds of stiff stillness, he collapsed heavily onto the ground.
Even then, the flames on his body continued to burn.
But Seimei had already shifted his focus.
The moment his Fire Release: Pure Scorch Technique landed successfully, the enemy's fate had already been sealed.
If the Konoha special jōnin had failed to finish him off, Seimei would have seriously questioned whether he was a spy.
With that settled, he turned his attention to the remaining Kumogakure chūnin.
Though they had narrowly avoided his Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu, they were clearly in disarray. Moreover, they were still struggling against the fierce counterattacks from their previous opponents.
This was the perfect moment for Seimei to strike again.
His Sharingan spun rapidly, locking onto one of them. Without hesitation, he formed hand seals and cast another Fire Release: Pure Scorch Technique!
Boom!
Another burst of fire erupted.
"Ahhh—!"
A familiar scream rang out once more.
Seeing the enemy get hit, Seimei didn't linger. He immediately shifted his gaze to the next target.
After a brief observation, he seized the opportunity and repeated the process, launching yet another Fire Release: Pure Scorch Technique!
Another agonized scream followed—another enemy failed to escape his attack.
Indeed, these Kumogakure shinobi were elite, but in the end, they were only chūnin. Once Seimei had them in his sights, they had little chance of survival.
Like this, Seimei continued his assault, and within just a dozen breaths, he had incapacitated several Kumogakure shinobi.
Well…
It wouldn't be entirely accurate to say he finished them off.
He only severely wounded them—the actual killing blows were delivered by other Konoha ninja on the battlefield.
Regardless of who landed the final strike, the result was the same: Konoha's forces suddenly found themselves with a numerical advantage.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Seimei stepped out from his hiding spot.
Upon seeing him, the Konoha shinobi immediately greeted him with respect.
"Captain, you're back!"
"Yeah."
Seimei nodded.
Scanning the battlefield, he quickly gave an order.
"Go support the others."
"Yes, Captain!"
The ninja responded in unison.
Without hesitation, they rushed off to reinforce their comrades.
Seeing this, Seimei wasted no time and used Body Flicker Technique to dash toward the battlefield where the four remaining Kumogakure jōnin were fighting.
Earlier, when the situation here had taken a dramatic turn, those four had already taken notice of him.
Now, seeing him approach, they became fully alert, focusing all their attention on him.
Unfortunately for them, their failure to retreat earlier had already sealed their fate.
Of course, even if they had tried to escape, it wasn't certain they would have succeeded.
Regardless, their chances would have been slightly better than now.
But now…
It didn't take much effort for Seimei, working with the other Konoha jōnin, to eliminate the remaining Kumogakure jōnin.
With their leaders gone, the remaining Kumogakure chūnin lost their will to fight and scattered in all directions.
Seimei chose not to pursue them. Instead, he left the cleanup work to the others and immediately began using medical ninjutsu to treat the injured.
Yes, the injured.
Although this battle seemed overwhelmingly in Konoha's favor, that didn't mean there were no casualties.
Not only were there injuries—there were also deaths.
After all, most shinobi were high-offense, low-defense assassins. A single mistake could lead to serious injury or even death.
During most of the battle, Seimei had been present to oversee things, so major casualties had been avoided.
However, earlier, he had been occupied dealing with Kumogakure's Second Squad and hadn't been able to monitor this side.
During that time, the remaining forces of Kumogakure's First Squad and the entirety of the Third Squad had launched a desperate counterattack against the Konoha forces.
The casualties had occurred during this period.
The only silver lining was that none of Konoha's jōnin had died.
As much as no one wanted to admit it, in any ninja village, a jōnin was always considered more valuable than multiple chūnin.
Given this, Konoha's losses were still acceptable.
On the other hand, Kumogakure had suffered a devastating defeat.
They had lost the elite forces of three entire squads in a single battle—even a village as strong as Kumogakure would feel this loss deeply.
With this, their offensive on the front lines would inevitably slow down.
And just like that, Seimei's mission was complete.
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