In the blink of an eye, another hour had passed.
Seimei had finally completed the treatment.
Thanks to his efforts, all the injured ninjas—regardless of the severity of their wounds—had at least regained basic mobility.
Seimei looked up at the sky.
By now, the sun was already sinking toward the west.
Without wasting any more time, he took a brief rest before issuing a command:
"Mission complete. We're leaving!"
Hearing this, the ninjas responded in unison:
"Yes, Captain!"
Seimei nodded slightly, then took the lead, swiftly heading back in the direction they had come from.
The others followed closely behind.
On their way to the battlefield, unfamiliar terrain had slowed them down, costing them over an hour.
But now, retracing their steps—even with wounded among them—would take significantly less time.
In just about an hour, they emerged from the Ghost Wail Forest, returning to the camp just before sunset.
Nara Fufeng was visibly surprised to see them.
At the same time, an almost unbelievable realization dawned on him.
"You guys..."
He looked at Seimei with a hint of expectation in his voice.
"The mission... it's done?"
"Yeah."
Seimei gave a simple nod, not dragging things out.
"All three infiltration squads sent by Kumogakure have been eliminated. The threat has been neutralized."
"Hiss—"
Even though Nara had already suspected as much, hearing Seimei confirm it still left him momentarily dazed.
After all, those were three full squads of elite ninja—not just some nameless grunts.
And yet, Seimei had led his team to take them all down in less than three hours.
This was despite having limited intel and navigating the treacherous terrain of Ghost Wail Forest.
Nara Fufeng was certain that if it had been anyone else, completing this mission in just a few days—let alone hours—would have been impossible.
But what was even more astonishing…
He glanced at the rest of the squad.
Seimei had faced a three-to-one battle and still managed to bring so many people back alive.
That level of skill…
There was only one thing to say: A reputation well-earned!
Wait—
A sudden thought struck Nara Fufeng.
These three Kumogakure squads had been wiped out so quickly… Could it be that their frontline command hadn't even received the news yet?
After all, the enemy's offensive hadn't shown any signs of slowing down.
Even with their aggressive nature, it was hard to believe that Kumogakure wouldn't react to the loss of three elite squads.
That could mean only one thing—the enemy hadn't received the information yet.
If that was the case, then this was the perfect opportunity.
They could launch a full-scale counterattack against Kumogakure's front-line forces before the enemy even knew what had happened.
If they struck now, they could completely catch the enemy off guard.
And by the time Kumogakure realized what had happened and adjusted their strategy, the news of their squad losses would have reached them.
At that point, they'd hesitate to make any reckless moves.
That meant Kumogakure would be forced to swallow this bitter defeat.
The more he thought about it, the more Nara Fufeng saw the potential.
He turned to Seimei and asked, "Jonin Seimei, how long do you think it will take for the enemy to realize their infiltration squads have been wiped out?"
The moment he heard the question, Seimei immediately understood Nara Fufeng's plan.
Not because he was particularly cunning—he had simply already considered doing the same thing.
So as soon as Nara Fufeng spoke, he knew exactly what he was thinking.
Seimei quickly recalled the entire battle.
He was confident that even if some enemy reports had been sent, they had likely been intercepted or disrupted.
There was no way Kumogakure's command would immediately assume that their entire infiltration force had been wiped out.
After all, they weren't clairvoyant.
And with all the enemy jonin dead, even the remaining survivors wouldn't have any means of transmitting intel.
That meant Kumogakure was unlikely to realize their squads had been completely annihilated right away.
This plan was feasible.
With that in mind, Seimei spoke decisively:
"The enemy may have received bits of information, but they won't know the full extent of the situation. We still have time."
Nara blinked in surprise.
He hadn't expected Seimei to catch on so quickly.
His estimation of Seimei rose yet again.
Shaking his head slightly, he put those thoughts aside for now and turned to the squad.
"Alright, get some rest while you can. We may need your strength if the enemy launches a counterattack."
It was clear that Nara Fufeng didn't intend to send them into the offensive.
Instead, he was treating them as a trump card—just in case Kumogakure's forces, unaware of their losses, insisted on pushing forward.
Understanding his reasoning, Seimei glanced at his team before nodding in agreement.
To be honest, the previous battle hadn't been difficult for him.
In fact, during the return trip, his chakra had already fully recovered. But the others couldn't.
As for the wounded, there's nothing more to say. Although they had regained mobility thanks to his treatment, that was the extent of it. Throwing them into another intense battle now would be sending them to their deaths.
As for the rest…
They had faced two elite squads from the Hidden Cloud in succession. Even though Seimei had taken on a significant portion of the pressure, the others had still expended a great deal of energy and urgently needed rest.
At this moment, the entire squad likely only had one person still at full combat strength—him.
So, taking some time to recover was the best option.
Over the past two, almost three days, he had wasted a lot of time rushing to this location while also remaining cautious of potential enemy ambushes along the way.
Originally, today was supposed to be the day his Sharingan evolution reached (40,000/50,000).
But now…
Seimei opened his status panel and glanced at it—Mangekyō Sharingan (39,705/50,000).
At this rate, it would take him at least another day to grind it up to (40,000/50,000).
This delay had already cost him at least three days.
And that was just for his Sharingan's evolution—his other skills had fallen even further behind.
Now that he had a legitimate reason to "take it easy," he certainly wasn't going to object.
This period was the perfect opportunity to make up for his lost progress.
With that thought, Seimei didn't dwell on it any longer. He nodded toward Nara Fufeng and said, "Alright, call me if anything comes up!"
With that, he led his team away from the command center.
As soon as they stepped out, he turned to the others and said, "Alright, you all heard the conversation. Now go and get some rest while you can."
"Yes, Captain!"
Everyone responded in unison before taking their leave one by one.
Once they were gone, Seimei also returned to the quarters arranged for him in the camp.
It wasn't anything special—just a relatively spacious tent.
Upon entering, he didn't rush into training immediately. Instead, he first created a Shadow Clone to remain in the camp and stand in for him.
Then, he personally used the Flying Thunder God Technique to teleport to the dense forest outside Hidden Taki Village.
From here, he was less than a hundred kilometers away from the Shadow Clone he had stationed inside the village.
This meant he could now use the Mind Transmission Technique to communicate with it through their shared consciousness.
It had been three days—he had no idea how things were going inside Hidden Taki Village.
Three days ago, his Shadow Clone had discovered intelligence indicating that Hidden Taki Village would conduct the Seven-Tails transplantation experiment within a week.
Since the clone hadn't urgently contacted him, it meant the situation was still under control. But he couldn't help feeling a little uneasy.
So, before resuming his training, he needed to check in and assess the situation first.
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