Thirty minutes later, Seimei met with the other 27 ninjas, including the two S-rank ninjas from the Uchiha and Senju clans and the ANBU operatives.
The team had been divided into three groups.
The S-rank ninjas from the Uchiha and the Senju clans will command two teams, each containing ten ninjas, including them.
Meanwhile, the other team consisted of eight ANBU operatives.
The whole team was assembled.
And then, they dashed out of the gates of Konoha and moved toward their marked location: the valley where Uchiha Natsu fought against the five enemy Jonin-level ninja.
But the distance wasn't short.
It was eight hundred miles.
The entire journey took them nearly seven hours.
They stopped their journey every two hours and took a ten to twenty-minute break to rest and replenish their stamina naturally.
They could have rushed faster and reached their destination within six hours.
But human bodies had limits.
If they did that, they would have been forced to deplete a lot of their stamina. In that case, if they were suddenly ambushed, they could have been in serious trouble.
This was especially true for the ninjas who were still Chunin.
After all, their physical prowess, stamina, and chakra capacity were considerably lower than their Jonin counterparts.
What? You said they could have used stamina-replenishing potions?
Please. Those potions were expensive as hell. No one wanted to use them when resting for ten minutes every two hours could help them replenish their stamina naturally.
By the time Seimei and his group reached their destination, the rain had already stopped, and the sky had brightened.
Of course, they couldn't see the sun because the sky was covered in clouds. But they knew that it was already dawn.
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"I see. An intense battle must have taken place here last night. The marks are still very fresh. Even the heavy rain last night couldn't wash the traces of the battle away."
Senju Tatsuya, the S-rank ninja leading one of the ten-man groups, gave his assessment after checking the destruction the battle between the hunter ninjas, sensor ninjas, the five enemy Jonin, and Uchiha Natsu had left behind.
Naturally, Seimei was also in his ten-man group, and he, too, was surveying the aftermath of the battle.
The ANBU ninjas were running left and right, checking every scorched tree, every charred corpse, and every damaged weapon scattered across the valley.
They attempted to analyze the terrain and the battle's traces to simulate how the battle had unfolded.
The ANBU ninjas checked the whole battle range before moving toward the edge of a cliff.
And Seimei, who kept his Tenseigan active, read their lips from afar to understand what they were saying.
"I am 90% sure that this cliff is the last place where they engaged in a battle," said the leader of the ANBU squad to his subordinate.
"But, leader, we didn't find any trace of our comrades. Do you think they have taken their bodies after killing them?"
One of the ANBU ninjas with a bird mask asked.
The ANBU leader shook his head. "I don't know. I can't be sure."
"Maybe they had escaped somehow. Maybe they had been captured. They could also be dead by jumping off the cliff. Anything is possible."
"Without relevant clues, there is no way to verify our doubts."
The bird-masked ANBU ninja asked, "Then, what's your order?"
The ANBU leader replied, "Searching for them now will take a long time. We don't know our ninjas' fate. We can only search for them after finishing the main mission."
"The main mission can't wait."
"There's a traitor in the Land of Fire. We must exterminate them and catch the foreign ninjas."
"Only after that will we have enough time to search for our fellow ninjas."
"I see." The bird-masked ANBU ninja nodded and said with a grave tone.
The ANBU leader sighed.
He didn't like this situation. Not one bit. But what could he do?
Their manpower was already limited. And they probably didn't have much time to execute their main mission.
If they took more time to find their fellow Konoha ninjas first, they might end up giving their enemies and the traitors of the Fire Country enough time to move and hide themselves.
They had to strike first.
Letting them get away meant more trouble and potentially more casualties among the Konoha ninjas in the future.
So, if they couldn't find the missing Konoha ninjas within an hour or two, they had to postpone the rescue operation and prioritize the mission to exterminate the traitorous independent ninja clan.
Seimei, who figured out the content of their conversation through lip reading and Tenseigan's farsight ability, rubbed his chin and fell into deep thought.
Then, he looked at the edge of the cliff.
The cliff is at least 450 meters high.
If someone did fall from there while fighting enemies in heavy rain, the chances of them being alive are slim—almost non-existent.
Still, I am sensing several chakra signatures in the valley, which lies beneath the foot of the cliff.
Just in case…
As the thought crossed Seimei's mind, he instantly expanded his Tenseigan's detection range and looked under the cliff.
Every rock, every tree, and every obstacle that obscured his vision faded away as his vision traveled to the bottom of the cliff, searching every nook and cranny.
"Hmm?"
Seimei paused for a bit.
And then, he immediately activated the Body Flicker Technique and arrived at the edge of the cliff.
Seeing him appear so suddenly out of nowhere, the two ANBU ninjas were instantly jerked in surprise.
What the fuck, man? X2
They both screamed in their mind. They almost drew blades and stabbed Seimei, their companion.
But Seimei didn't bother reacting to them.
Instead, pointed at a location below the cliff and said with certainty, "There, I can sense a weak chakra signature of a Shinobi. He doesn't seem to be in good condition, though."
The ANBU leader furrowed his brows behind the mask and asked, "Are you sure?"
Seimei nodded and confirmed, "Yes. I am a sensor ninja. My chakra field's range is slightly larger, and its accuracy is slightly better than the other sensor ninjas."
"Oh!"
The ANBU leader replied with a deadpan tone.
Why didn't I know that he was a sensor ninja? The ANBU leader inwardly complained about the lack of information about the squad that could have come in handy in many situations.
After all, their current team didn't have a Hyuga ninja, who were famous for their reconnaissance capabilities, thanks to their Byakugan.
So, a sensor ninja was a valuable asset.
But then, he shook his head lightly.
Of course, I wouldn't know. He is the son of the Second Hokage. If everyone knew about all his capabilities, that would have been a disaster.
The ANBU leader cleared up his random thoughts and looked at Seimei.
"If what you said is true, then we must get down and see it for ourselves."
"If it's one of our own, we will rescue them. Otherwise, we will capture them and interrogate them."
Seimei nodded. Their team had a ninja from the Yamanaka clan and several ninjas from the Uchiha clan. So, extracting information wouldn't be an issue.
But there was no need for that.
Seimei knew exactly who that ninja was.
It was one of their own, a ninja from Konoha. However, his injuries were serious.
One of his arms was missing. And there were several deep wounds in his body.
As for the exact situation, he could only be sure after arriving in front of him and diagnosing him.
No matter what, if he had survived until now, I should be able to treat him well enough to have him transported to Konoha without making his condition deteriorate further.
With one arm gone, he may not be able to work as an official ninja again, but…
He will be alive and live well.
Seimei looked toward the injured Konoha ninja through his Tenseigan.
He turned his head toward the ANBU captain and said, "Okay. Let me come with you guys. I know a few medical Ninjutsu that may come in handy, in case we need them."
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