East side of the city.
Seimei lifted his hand from the head of the last small gang leader.
With a soft snap of his fingers, he erased the guy's memory of the past ten or so seconds.
Then, he dropped the "Illusion: Sharingan," activated "Kamui," and vanished from the spot.
Three seconds later, the gang leader snapped out of it.
He glanced around, and thanks to Seimei's illusion nudging his mind, he just figured he'd spaced out for a moment. No big deal—he didn't give it another thought.
From the shadows, Seimei watched him for a bit. Once he was sure nothing seemed off, he slipped out of the room.
No time to waste. He reappeared in a quiet alley corner and headed straight out of the city.
Next up, he had to hit the next town—and fast.
And so, over the next day and a half, Seimei zipped across every major, minor, and in-between city in the Land of Earth, thanks to the blazing speed of "Wind Release: Wings of Wind."
Yup, every single one!
Unlike the Land of Fire, which sits on the ninja world's most fertile plains, the Land of Earth is mostly barren mountains and rocky terrain. That means fewer cities and way less people.
The only hitch? He had to dodge Iwa Village's surveillance, often detouring through remote mountain areas where no one ever goes.
Otherwise, he'd have been even quicker.
Still, weaving a massive web across the Land of Earth in just a day and a half? That's pretty damn impressive.
The only bummer was that he couldn't tell if Roshi was still holed up in Iwa Village or just chilling in some random backwater village.
After sifting through so many people's memories, he hadn't spotted anyone who even resembled the guy.
But Seimei wasn't sweating it.
Here's why: over the past day and a half, even though he'd been careful to steer clear of Iwa ninjas, some on out-of-village missions still bumped into him.
When that happened, he'd step in and turn them into his sleeper agents.
From their memories, he learned that the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, was as stubborn as ever. Iwa Village was exactly like he remembered—and matched the intel he'd gathered from Konoha. No surprises there.
With things like that, the rift between Roshi and Onoki's ideals was a done deal—irreconcilable.
In other words, Roshi would leave the village eventually.
So, no rush.
The net was set. Now, he just had to wait for the big fish to swim into it.
---
Land of Earth.
In a city not far from Iwa Village.
Seimei stood on a street, glancing back at the house behind him, then up at the sunset dipping below the horizon. "Finally done," he muttered. "Time to head back!"
With that, he ducked into a corner and activated his Byakugan.
After making sure no one was watching, he locked onto the Flying Thunder God mark he'd left outside Konoha. With a flicker of thought, he triggered "Flying Thunder God Technique."
His vision spun.
In the blink of an eye, he went from the heart of the Land of Earth to the woods just outside Konoha.
"Whew…"
Feeling a huge chunk of chakra vanish from his body, Seimei let out a slow breath.
Then he started walking forward.
After over thirty straight hours on the move, even with his mental grit and physical stamina, he couldn't help but feel worn out.
Right now, he desperately needed a break.
But he didn't head for the main gate.
When he'd left, he'd slipped out through Training Ground 78, using "Kamui" to bypass the outer barrier.
So naturally, he wasn't about to leave a record of coming back through the front door now.
Maybe before, he wouldn't have cared.
But ever since he caught Sarutobi Hiruzen spying on him from afar, he wasn't about to leave such an obvious trail.
Skirting along Konoha's sensory barrier, he moved carefully.
Soon enough, he found an unguarded spot.
With his Mangekyo Sharingan flaring, he activated "Kamui" again and strolled right through the barrier like it was nothing.
After that, he didn't stop—headed straight back to the Uchiha clan grounds and into his house.
A shadow clone approached him. Seimei raised a hand and dispelled the "Shadow Clone Technique."
Poof!
A puff of chakra smoke burst out, and the clone vanished.
At the same time, a chunk of memories popped into his head—the clone's experiences.
He hadn't been gone all that long, so there wasn't much to sift through.
It didn't take him long to skim it and confirm nothing weird had gone down while he was away. For now, he could ease up on watching out for Sarutobi.
He peeled off his gear, took a nice hot bath, and then crashed in his bedroom.
Honestly, just staying awake for thirty-plus hours wouldn't faze the current Seimei.
The real kicker? During that time, he wasn't just traveling—he was constantly casting "Ninjutsu: Mind-Reading Technique" to dig through people's heads.
On top of that, he'd been throwing out "Flying Thunder God Technique" and "Transcription Seal" to lock down his targets.
Oh, and don't forget burning through eye power with "Kamui" and illusions to dodge attention and mess with people's perceptions.
Sure, most of his targets were regular folks who couldn't put up a fight, but after doing it so many times, it still took a toll.
Especially all those messy memories. He'd forget them on purpose pretty quick, but just reading them put a strain on him.
Good thing his mental strength was top-notch—otherwise, plowing through that many minds might've scrambled his own head.
All these thoughts flickered through his mind as he drifted off to sleep.
---
A couple of hours later.
Night had fully settled in.
Suddenly, in his room, Seimei's eyes snapped open.
Bloodshot streaks lined his pupils, and he was panting hard, like he'd just woken from a nightmare.
Which, yeah, he had.
Not sure if it was all those memories messing with him or something else, but lately, he'd been dreaming—wild, chaotic dreams, mostly nightmares.
Waking up didn't leave him refreshed. If anything, he felt more exhausted.
He wanted to sleep more, but his growling stomach wouldn't let him. Groaning, he dragged himself out of bed and left the house.
After stuffing his face outside and unwinding a bit, he came back home feeling a lot better.
So, he decided to tap into the seal on his forehead, nurturing his Byakugan.
At first, he couldn't quite focus, but as he kept at it, old habits kicked in. Slowly, he pushed out the clutter in his head until all that was left was the quiet hum of training his Byakugan.
And just like that, Seimei used his practice to shake off the downsides of reading so many memories in one go.