Knock knock knock~
Suddenly, a knock at the door broke the awkward atmosphere in the room.
Minato Namikaze stood up from the sofa and said, "Come in!"
The door to the office opened, and three figures walked in one after another.
Seimei also rose and looked toward the entrance.
It was none other than the Sandaime Hokage—Hiruzen Sarutobi—accompanied by the two elder advisors, Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado.
As Seimei saw the trio, they naturally saw him as well.
For a moment, their steps paused.
But these three were seasoned veterans. Although they had resolved last night to reinvestigate the true cause of Danzō's death, they showed no change in expression when facing Seimei.
Seimei nodded slightly at them in greeting.
Then he turned to Minato and said, "Lord Fourth, if there's nothing else, I'll go get ready."
"Alright, go ahead," Minato replied.
"Yes, Lord Fourth."
With a respectful nod, Seimei turned and headed for the office door. As he brushed past Sarutobi and the others, he suddenly paused mid-step.
He had sensed a faint trace of malice from the three of them.
Even though they concealed it well, Seimei's sensory abilities had far surpassed that of the average shinobi, so he still caught the subtle hostility.
He glanced sideways at them, but their expressions were completely neutral. He couldn't spot any flaws.
Shaking his head inwardly, Seimei resumed walking and soon exited the Hokage's office.
The two Anbu guarding the door promptly shut it behind him.
Seimei looked back once, then descended the stairs without hesitation and walked out of the Hokage building.
He wasn't entirely sure why Hiruzen and the others harbored such hostility, but it could only be for one of two reasons.
Either they had somehow learned of Danzō's death being connected to him and wanted to avenge their old friend… or they simply didn't want to see the Uchiha clan rise again, and saw him—their "rising star"—as a threat to be removed.
But whatever the reason, and whatever means they intended to use, Seimei wasn't afraid.
That confidence came from his absolute strength.
As the saying goes: "When soldiers come, send generals; when water floods, use earth to block it."
As long as he kept growing stronger, whatever plans they had wouldn't matter. And if they pushed him too far, he'd just flip the table.
Outside the Hokage building, Seimei paused and suddenly muttered, "No… I can't be that violent yet. I'll wait and watch for now."
Muttering to himself, he picked up his pace and quickly made his way home.
---
Uchiha Clan District – At Home
Seimei sat on a chair in the living room, eyes closed in contemplation.
Even though he told Minato he was going back to "prepare," he obviously wasn't going to waste all his time here.
After all, who knew when the Anbu would finally locate Orochimaru?
He couldn't just sit around waiting for ten days or even weeks.
His time was far too valuable to be idled away.
So...
"I'll just focus on my own things."
With that thought, Seimei stood up, packed some gear, and left the house, heading straight for a training ground on the village outskirts.
Interestingly, the four Anbu who had been secretly monitoring him were now gone.
Clearly, Minato understood the principle of "don't doubt the people you trust, and don't use those you doubt," and had dismissed the Anbu early.
This didn't make a huge difference to Seimei, but it did make his movements more convenient.
And for that, he was fairly satisfied.
Leaving the house, he moved swiftly. It didn't take long to reach a secluded training field near the village perimeter.
Standing at the center of the field, he closed his eyes and sensed the surrounding chakra signatures. After confirming that there were no surveillance presences nearby, he activated his Byakugan.
Instantly, everything within a one-kilometer radius appeared clearly in his field of vision.
A moment later, he withdrew his gaze and muttered, "Good. No one's here."
He formed a hand seal and used the Shadow Clone Technique.
Poof—
A cloud of chakra smoke burst, and another figure appeared next to him.
Looking at his clone, Seimei said directly, "You're in charge here for now."
"Yeah, yeah…"
The shadow clone lazily waved him off and grumbled, "Got it, got it. Just go already…"
Seeing how sluggish and unmotivated the clone looked, Seimei almost said something—but then reconsidered.
Even if the clone seemed half-hearted, it carried his memories and wouldn't mess anything up.
So, he let it be.
Clearing his mind, Seimei gave a final nod and quickly left the area, heading straight toward the village wall.
As always, once he got close to the wall, he activated Ten no Mitama—his unique ocular technique—and under the watchful eyes of the Konoha shinobi, boldly stepped up onto the wall.
Then he passed through the barrier and exited the village.
Once he had gotten far enough, he locked onto a Flying Thunder God seal carved on a massive stone in the center of a remote island.
In the next instant, he used the Flying Thunder God Technique to teleport.
---
Land of Fire – Southern Sea
On that remote island—
Seimei suddenly appeared.
Gazing at the rising sun on the horizon, he wasted no time. Immediately, he formed hand seals and unleashed the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique.
In a flash, 150 shadow clones appeared around him.
Instead of rushing to train the newly acquired Spirit Transformation Technique, he followed his usual routine and divided the clones into five teams.
Three of them were assigned to train the techniques:
- Wind Release: Wings of Wind
- Izanagi
- Izanami
The remaining two teams had different goals—one continued refining the Eikyō no Jutsu (Mental Projection Technique), while the other focused on developing Mokuton, the Wood Release Kekkei Genkai.
As for Seimei himself—
After yesterday's forced evolution, the efficiency of his "skin breathing" had drastically improved—he could now stay underwater for up to an hour and a half.
So he no longer needed to focus too much on evolving that aspect.
Instead, he planned to use the crushing pressure of the deep sea to create a harsh training environment. While underwater, he would activate the Mystic Palm Technique and use Hito no Mitama to strengthen his body—and hopefully, turn this reinforcement into a passive ability over time.
Of course, he wouldn't give up on the Lightning Release Chakra Mode either. Only by strengthening both inside and out could he maximize his growth.
However, since seawater conducts electricity, he couldn't use that technique underwater just yet.
So whenever he needed to use it for body enhancement, he would return to the surface.
Thankfully, he couldn't stay underwater forever anyway—surfacing for air occasionally was just part of the routine.
And with that, Seimei's training was once again back on track.
(End of Chapter)