Three days had passed in a flash.
It had been four days since Seimei returned to the island.
However, during those four full days, there hadn't been a single word from Namikaze Minato's side—almost as if he had completely forgotten about the interception plan they had carefully laid out together.
Seimei couldn't make sense of it.
He didn't believe for a second that Konoha's Anbu couldn't find even the slightest trace of Orochimaru in four whole days.
Sure, Orochimaru was incredibly powerful and skilled at concealing himself…
But he was just one man. It's nearly impossible to go up against an entire village—especially one like Konohagakure, a major hidden village with deep resources.
At the very least, during his escape, Orochimaru couldn't possibly survive without eating, drinking, or resting.
And that—those moments of rest—would be the village's chance.
Besides, they were still within the borders of the Land of Fire, right in Konoha's territory. There was no way Orochimaru could leave without leaving any traces behind.
At best, Seimei figured things must have played out like in his previous life: after a fierce battle, Orochimaru managed to escape the Land of Fire.
Back then, Orochimaru had only escaped thanks to the Iburi clan's smoke transformation technique, which helped him slip through the Anbu's pursuit.
It just goes to show—never underestimate the power and foundation of a major village.
And yet, despite all this, Minato still hadn't sent any updates. That was strange. Very strange.
Because of this, Seimei decided to return to Konoha and find out what was going on.
Of course, he wasn't rushing back because he was desperate to carry out Minato's mission or go head-to-head with Orochimaru.
The real reason was that he'd been in this intense training cycle for nearly half a month now, and after constantly scheming against and being schemed against by Minato, he was mentally and physically exhausted.
This trip back would be a good chance to rest.
With that thought, Seimei quickly packed up, and as the sun set, he activated three jutsu in succession: Fūton: Wings of Wind, Chakra Cloak, and Doton: Ultra Light-Weight Rock Technique.
He then activated his Mangekyō Sharingan, heightening his neural response speed.
With a powerful flap of his wings, he took to the sky, flying toward Konoha at two kilometers per second—his current maximum sustainable speed.
While that still fell short of his theoretical limit of three kilometers per second, it was double the one kilometer per second he used to manage.
Looking down at the forests, lakes, and landscapes speeding by beneath him, Seimei felt like a bird soaring freely through the sky—utterly unburdened, at ease.
He flew for over half an hour, even detouring through other parts of the Land of Fire to take in the scenery, before finally arriving in the skies above the forest outside Konoha.
Using his Byakugan, he scanned the surroundings. Seeing no threats, he landed deep in the woods.
Without wasting a second, he dashed toward the village.
From a distance, he could already see two squads of Konoha shinobi patrolling the village walls.
At the watchtowers, the usual number of four shinobi were on duty—still heightened from the typical two during peacetime.
Clearly, even though several days had passed since Orochimaru defected, the village was still on high alert.
Seimei wasn't surprised.
After all, Orochimaru was one of the Sannin—a former student of the Third Hokage. His defection had far-reaching consequences, both within the village and beyond.
Internally, the storm could be managed, especially with prior preparation.
Externally, it was another matter.
For one, Minato had recently used this incident to purge foreign spies hiding within Konoha, which meant other villages would now be scrambling to refill their networks. On top of that, Orochimaru's defection itself was a treasure trove of intelligence for rival villages.
Under those conditions, Konoha remaining under lockdown was only natural.
Still, Seimei figured it wouldn't last long.
The Third Great Ninja War had just ended not long ago—the village needed to recover. Maintaining this kind of high-alert status for too long wasn't sustainable.
Not to mention, shinobi still needed to earn missions to feed their families.
So eventually, the lockdown would be lifted.
But that didn't matter to Seimei for now. A mere lockdown wasn't enough to stop him from moving in and out of the village.
With that thought, he activated Amenotejikara, teleporting toward the village wall.
Just like before, no one noticed his presence.
Scaling the wall and slipping through the sensory barrier, Seimei re-entered Konoha without a hitch.
He headed straight home.
Once inside, the first thing he did was dispel the Shadow Clone he had left behind.
The memories of the clone instantly flooded his mind.
Seimei closed his eyes and began sorting through them.
After a moment, he reopened his eyes, a puzzled look flashing across them.
Apparently, while he was gone, Minato never publicly announced Orochimaru's defection. The whole thing had been kept under wraps.
That was very different from what they had discussed in the Hokage's office.
Clearly, something had changed.
But what exactly had changed, the clone didn't know—it hadn't tried asking Minato directly.
After all, it was just a basic Shadow Clone, without any extra chakra reinforcement. Fooling regular people might work, but deceiving someone like Minato would be tough.
And since the clone figured the matter didn't affect Seimei too much, it chose to let it go.
Upon receiving the intel, Seimei frowned slightly, but quickly let it go too.
The clone was right—this didn't affect him much, so there was no need to overthink it.
Still, there was another reason the clone had avoided approaching Minato—the past few days, it had sensed several instances of being watched.
It reminded Seimei of that time at the training ground, when Sarutobi Hiruzen had used the Telescope Technique to spy on him remotely.
So the clone chose not to act recklessly or destroy itself to send back a message.
"...Sarutobi Hiruzen, huh…"
Seimei recalled how, several days ago, when he left the Hokage's office and passed by Sarutobi and the others, he had felt a faint but unmistakable malice from them.
His gut told him that this surveillance was connected to that encounter.
Digging deeper, it probably had something to do with his recent actions.
Thinking back, he suddenly remembered Uchiha Obito, and then connected the dots to his Mangekyō Sharingan.
It dawned on him: Hiruzen and the others had likely confirmed from some source that he had most likely awakened his Mangekyō Sharingan.
And from there, they linked him to Danzō, who had died mysteriously—sparking their hostility.
Of course, it probably wasn't just personal feelings.
More likely, it was also the deep-rooted fear they had toward the Uchiha clan—a fear engraved in their very minds. That fear, combined with their suspicions, had magnified their hostility and driven them to take action.
The recent surveillance was just one clear sign.
Seimei didn't yet know what they were planning—but honestly, he didn't really care.
Like he always believed: in the face of overwhelming strength, all schemes are pointless.
If they dared to bare their claws, he'd have no problem cutting them off.
So for now, he'd just stick to his own plans. The rest? Not worth the effort to worry about.