After subduing the chameleon, Seimei pulled his gaze back and refocused on the Iwa ninja standing in front of him.
This time, he didn't hesitate. He immediately raised his hands to form seals and unleashed the "Ninjutsu: Mind-Reading Technique."
Seimei placed his palm on the Iwa ninja's head and closed his eyes.
Instantly, a flood of memories poured into his mind.
Frowning slightly, Seimei ignored the jumble of irrelevant thoughts and zeroed in on any information about Roshi.
Sure enough, this guy knew quite a bit about Roshi—including the fact that he was a jinchuriki.
However, there was nothing in his memories about Roshi leaving the village recently.
On top of that, he had no idea where Roshi was right now.
Seimei's brow furrowed a little more. Clearly, he wasn't thrilled with this outcome.
But after thinking it over, it made sense.
Sure, Iwa Village wasn't exactly strict about controlling info on jinchuriki and tailed beasts, but it wasn't a free-for-all either.
Something like a jinchuriki leaving the village? The fewer people who knew, the better.
So, it wasn't surprising this guy was out of the loop.
Of course, there was also the chance Roshi hadn't left Iwa at all.
That said, Seimei hadn't come here planning to nab the Four-Tails right away. His goal this time was simpler: set things up and wait for Roshi to take the bait.
Whether Roshi had already left the village or not didn't really matter all that much.
If he had, great—Seimei might bump into him while setting things up, saving himself a ton of hassle.
If he hadn't, no big deal either.
Once Seimei's plan was in place, he'd get word the moment Roshi stepped out of the village.
Then, he'd have his chance to make a move.
All these thoughts flashed through his mind, but Seimei didn't bother digging deeper into the Iwa ninja's memories.
He had plans for this guy—he was about to turn him into a sleeper agent. No point wasting too much time!
Sure, his Sharingan illusions could erase chunks of memory, but the longer it took, the more gaps there'd be.
Best to wrap this up quick.
Plus, digging too deep might fry the guy's brain, and Seimei didn't want a perfectly good pawn getting sniffed out because of some glitch.
So, he cut the memory-reading short.
Next, he flashed through hand signs, pulling off the "Flying Thunder God Technique" and "Transcription Seal." He left a Flying Thunder God mark on the ninja while fully turning him into his puppet.
Unlike the sleeper agents he'd planted in the Mist Village, though, the seal he left on this guy had a specific trigger: keep an eye on the jinchuriki's movements and activate the mark the second there's any sign of them leaving the village, alerting Seimei.
Oh, and he didn't specify which jinchuriki—Four-Tails or Five-Tails.
Why? Simple. He wasn't just after the Four-Tails. He had his sights on the Five-Tails too.
Yeah, aiming for the Five-Tails before even bagging the Four-Tails might sound a bit ambitious.
But Seimei figured he had the skills to back it up.
Once his setup was complete, he was dead certain the Four-Tails was as good as his.
So, planning ahead for the Five-Tails? Totally reasonable.
Shaking off those thoughts, Seimei refocused. He locked eyes with the Iwa ninja, his Mangekyo Sharingan flaring as he unleashed "Illusion: Sharingan" once more.
In no time, he wiped out the last few minutes of the guy's memory.
But to make sure nothing seemed off, he threw in a vague, fake memory—making it feel like the ninja had just zoned out for a bit.
Once that was done, he slipped the chameleon back under the guy's shirt and stepped behind him.
Snap!
Seimei snapped his fingers.
Right after, he triggered "Kamui," slipping into another dimension to hide.
Three seconds later, Chiiwa woke up.
"Huh?"
His consciousness snapped back, and Chiiwa blinked at the familiar scene in front of him. "Why'd I space out like that?" he muttered.
Everyone knows time gets fuzzy when you zone out.
A little gap in your memory? Pretty normal.
Still, as a ninja, Chiiwa stayed cautious. He carefully scanned his surroundings, checking for anything weird.
Then he checked himself, making sure he hadn't been hit with some illusion.
Once he was sure everything was fine—no oddities detected—he let out a long breath. Guess I overthought it, he told himself.
But right then, the chameleon on his chest squirmed a little, looking restless.
Chiiwa just figured it picked up on his brief tension, so he didn't dwell on it.
He even gave it a light pat and murmured, "It's okay, Hana. Don't worry."
Hearing his voice, the chameleon—Hana—settled down.
With that, Chiiwa shifted his focus back to keeping watch over the area.
It was his job, after all.
What he didn't know, though, was that Seimei was nearby, cloaked in "Kamui," silently watching him from the shadows.
Why stick around? Seimei wanted to see if the guy would notice anything off.
This was his first time wiping several minutes of someone's memory—there could be hiccups.
He had to stick around and check, just to be sure.
Funny thing, though: Chiiwa didn't catch anything, but that low-IQ lizard did pick up on something weird.
What can you say? Animals like that have a knack for sensing danger better than humans.
Good thing Seimei had wiped its memory too when he put it back. Sure, it felt something was off, but it had no clue why.
That threw Chiiwa off the scent, so he didn't dig deeper.
All in all, this little operation went off pretty damn well!
Summing up the results in his head, Seimei kept an eye on Chiiwa a bit longer. When his Sharingan started feeling the strain, he finally took off.
Half an hour later, he'd crossed the barren hills and slipped out of the Iwa ninja patrol zone.
After that, he scoped out some hidden spots nearby and left a few Flying Thunder God marks as backups.
Then, with another set of hand signs, he cast "Wind Release: Wings of Wind" and "Chakra Cloak," taking to the sky and heading for the nearest city.
He hadn't dug too deep into Chiiwa's memories, but he'd caught a glimpse of a map of the area.
No worries about getting lost.