Though they had no grudges between them and were fellow Konoha shinobi, Seimei chose not to kill the two ANBU outside.
Of course, that was only because they hadn't posed any real threat to his mission. If they had, he wouldn't have shown them any mercy.
As for the risk of being exposed—
Seimei had already transformed into Uchiha Obito's appearance before the operation, even disguising the specific pattern of his Mangekyō Sharingan using genjutsu.
In that form, even if someone later tried to extract their memories, they wouldn't get any valuable intel. Worse yet, they might even be misled by the false clues Seimei had deliberately left behind.
This way, any fallout would be diverted away from him.
Also, he had no intention of leaving any hidden marks on the two of them.
He knew full well these two would become a major focus of Konoha's investigation. And while his "Heartlock Soulbind: Contracted Shunshin Seal" was indeed subtle, it wasn't completely untraceable.
The embedded Flying Thunder God mark alone would be a massive red flag.
If Namikaze Minato were to spot it, his suspicions would definitely fall on those within the village.
And considering Seimei was already on Konoha's watchlist, he'd be the first one suspected.
So, in the end, doing nothing was the wisest choice.
With that thought, Seimei looked at the two ANBU, unleashing a wave of genjutsu. Their consciousness instantly faded, and they fell into a deep sleep.
He stepped forward and caught them before they collapsed.
Then, raising a hand, he performed the Shadow Clone Technique, producing two clones.
At his nod, both shadow clones cast Transformation Jutsu, morphing into the likeness of the two ANBU.
Just like the real guards, the two clones stood silently on either side of the door, assuming their roles as sentries.
Satisfied, Seimei gave a small nod.
With a hand on each of the unconscious ANBU, he activated the ability of Ame no Miwa—and the three of them vanished without a trace.
That's right—his Ame no Miwa could also transport others with him, though it consumed significantly more chakra.
But right now…
That didn't matter anymore!
Just in case, he brought the two into his hidden chamber.
After dropping them to the ground, Seimei's gaze swept across the room.
He glanced briefly at the scrolls and books lining the shelves before his eyes locked onto a single scroll resting on a central table.
Nearly a meter long and over thirty centimeters in diameter—this was a full-on giant scroll.
There was no doubt about it.
This was the infamous Scroll of Seals.
He stepped closer but didn't touch it immediately. First, he scanned the surroundings for traps. Only after confirming it was safe did he finally open the scroll.
He had considered taking it with him.
But after weighing the consequences, he gave up on that idea.
Learning a jutsu or two from it was one thing—even if he were discovered, he could still escape. But outright stealing the whole scroll? That would be unforgivable.
Konoha would flip the entire village upside down searching for the culprit, and this time, they wouldn't let suspects off easily.
They might even resort to drastic measures.
Never underestimate Konoha's resolve. This scroll was one of the village's deepest secrets—if it were stolen, they'd stop at nothing to get it back.
Hell, it could even trigger another Great Ninja War.
So, after considering everything, Seimei ultimately chose not to take it.
Besides, with his current strength, most of the jutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu recorded in the Scroll of Seals weren't very useful to him.
He had his own training plan. He couldn't just randomly learn every forbidden jutsu out there—even if he could master them thanks to his proficiency system. That would just be a waste of time.
And Seimei wasn't that foolish.
Letting these thoughts pass through his mind, he quickly flipped open the scroll and searched for the record of the Spirit Transformation Technique (Reika no Jutsu).
Fortunately, the worst-case scenario—that the technique wasn't included—didn't happen. He found it easily.
Without any hesitation, he focused and began reading.
With his current 26 points in Spirit, it only took a few readings to fully memorize the entire technique.
No need to copy it down.
Time passed by quietly.
Soon, he had memorized the full training process for the Spirit Transformation Technique.
"Phew\~\~\~"
Seimei let out a slow breath, his entire body relaxing.
With this, his mission was complete. Even if he found nothing else of value, it didn't matter.
That said, it didn't hurt to look a little more.
He flipped further through the scroll.
One forbidden technique after another appeared before him.
For the most part, he only skimmed them—getting a general idea before moving on.
Sure, most of these jutsu would be impressive to others, but to Seimei, they held little value.
Right now, what he truly sought were two techniques: Hachimon Tonkō (Eight Gates) and Shiki Fūjin (Dead Demon Consuming Seal).
The first could break the body's natural limits, increasing chakra flow and circulation. Used properly, it might help him improve his physical reinforcement training.
The second summoned the Shinigami (Death God)—which Seimei found deeply intriguing.
Why?
Because in his eyes, this so-called Death God resembled a manifestation of the raw supernatural essence of the shinobi world—a byproduct of someone going berserk in Sennin Mode (Sage Mode).
Not just the Death God. Even the Jashin—the twisted deity that Hidan served—shared similar traits.
These undying beings didn't mesh at all with the chakra-based system that defined modern ninjutsu. Their power and how it worked were fundamentally different.
Interestingly, the markings on their bodies looked a lot like those found on Susanoo when infused with Sage Chakra.
Combine that with the known side effect of absorbing too much natural energy… and it made you think.
Why didn't these people turn into stone toads or the like?
Simple—the current methods of Sage Mode training all originated from the Three Great Sacred Grounds. These were made for toads, snakes, and slugs—not humans.
But humans, being the pinnacle of life, shouldn't be excluded from achieving Sagehood.
Seimei suspected that, long ago, a disaster occurred in the shinobi world—one that left the original human sages either dead, crippled, or missing.
The so-called sacred grounds were just the remnants of other species that managed to survive.
So maybe the Shinigami and Jashin were failed—or corrupted—versions of what once was humanity's own Sage path.
They lost control… just like those who failed to master Myōbokuzan's sage arts and turned into stone.
With that in mind, could Seimei reverse-engineer a new Sage Mode for humans, starting from the Shinigami or Jashin?
He didn't have a clear answer.
But that wouldn't stop him from trying.
And the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, which summoned the Shinigami, was the perfect place to start.
Unfortunately, there were no such records in the Scroll of Seals.
Not surprising, though. Orochimaru, one of the Sannin, had definitely read the scroll…
Yet during the Konoha Crush, he had no idea about the Dead Demon Consuming Seal used by Sarutobi Hiruzen.
That said enough.
Same with the Eight Gates.
If that taijutsu were recorded here, Might Duy wouldn't have lived such a pitiful life.
Knowing how the Konoha elders operated, they would've squeezed every ounce of value out of him—instead of letting him go out in a blaze of glory to take down a few enemy Jōnin, like a disposable weapon.
With all this in mind, Seimei shook his head and stopped thinking about it.
He continued flipping through the scroll, determined to finish reading every last bit before he left.
But just as he reached the final section of the scroll—
His hand paused.
His whole body tensed up.
Why?
Because there were no jutsu recorded in the last section.
Only a single technique…
One that Seimei knew very, very well.