From a distance, Seimei watched the scene unfold and nodded with satisfaction.
Without pausing, he immediately set out to find his next target.
Just as he'd anticipated, the Hidden Cloud Village's reliance on heavy manpower for intense surveillance, while a decent substitute for a sensory barrier to prevent outsiders from sneaking in, also gave him a golden opportunity.
In the hours that followed, he tracked down two more Hidden Cloud Anbu members on secret sentry duty. Using the same method as before, he subdued them and turned them into his spies.
During his search for targets, his Byakugan also picked up on some defensive weaknesses in the Hidden Cloud Village's setup. Seizing the chance, Seimei slipped through one of these gaps and entered the village itself.
But the moment he did, he regretted it.
The problem? The village's buildings were far too spread out. Moving through them meant constantly crossing suspension bridges, walkways, and iron cables, making it easy for patrolling Cloud ninja to spot him.
To avoid detection, he had to waste a ton of time dodging these patrols.
In the end, it took him over an hour to locate and turn ten targets into his spies.
By then, dawn was approaching.
Deciding not to press his luck, Seimei stopped searching for more targets. Instead, he carefully avoided the village's patrols and used his Byakugan to find a safe spot for his shadow clone to hide.
It seemed every ninja village had a thing for shady, behind-the-scenes activities. Just like in the Hidden Rock Village, where he'd easily found an abandoned underground lab, he had little trouble locating a similar spot here.
This one was also underground, tucked beneath a waterfall's pool. From its structure, it looked like a lab converted from a natural cave.
Like the other, it was abandoned.
Standing before the waterfall, Seimei eyed the deep, dark pool. Taking a deep breath, he dove straight in.
Thanks to his years of training underwater, holding his breath was second nature. He swam straight to the bottom of the pool in one go.
Standing on the slimy mud, he activated his Byakugan again to pinpoint the lab's exact location.
Without hesitation, he cast Earth Release: Dragon Vein Jutsu. In an instant, he melded into the mud and vanished.
About a minute later, inside the underground lab, Seimei emerged silently from the ceiling. With a graceful 180-degree flip in midair, he landed steadily on the ground.
But the moment his feet touched down, clouds of dust billowed up, choking him into a coughing fit.
Covering his mouth and nose, Seimei couldn't help but roll his eyes in frustration.
He pulled a sealing scroll from his ninja pouch, unsealed it, and took out a flashlight.
Click.
The flashlight snapped on, its beam cutting through the darkness.
Looking at the mess around him—scattered debris and swirling dust—Seimei raised his left hand, swiftly formed hand signs, and cast Wind Release: Great Breakthrough.
A gust of wind roared through the lab, sweeping all the trash, dust, and debris into a distant passage leading to another room.
Satisfied with the now spotless lab, Seimei nodded approvingly.
Wasting no time, he tapped into the chakra stored in his interdimensional space at his forehead, fully restoring his condition.
Then, he cast Shadow Clone Jutsu.
Poof!
A cloud of chakra smoke erupted, and a clone appeared.
Seimei handed the flashlight to the shadow clone and said, "This place is yours."
"Got it," the clone replied simply, taking the flashlight without further comment.
Seimei moved to the side, leaving Flying Thunder God seals on the floor and a nearby stone wall. Then, with a quick cast of Flying Thunder God Jutsu, he teleported out.
---
At the same time, on a mountainside just outside the Hidden Cloud Village, Seimei's figure appeared out of thin air.
Phew.
Exhaling lightly, he cast Wind Release: Wings of Wind and soared into the sky, gazing at the distant Hidden Cloud Village.
Time ticked by.
After a full half-hour, the village remained quiet.
Clearly, his use of Flying Thunder God Jutsu hadn't alerted anyone.
From this, he deduced that under normal circumstances, the Hidden Cloud Village didn't constantly monitor spatial fluctuations within its borders.
This meant that next time, he wouldn't need to go through all this hassle. A single Flying Thunder God Jutsu would get him straight into the village.
A faint smile crept onto his face at the thought.
With no reason to linger, Seimei stifled a yawn, formed hand signs, and cast Chakra Cloak. A faint cyan glow enveloped him, forming a long robe that shielded his body.
Next, he cast Earth Release: Ultra-Lightweight Rock Jutsu to reduce his weight.
This time, he didn't activate his Mangekyo Sharingan to boost his reflexes. Instead, he maintained a steady speed of one kilometer per second and flew toward the Land of Fire.
Why not use Flying Thunder God Jutsu to teleport back directly? Simple—it saved chakra.
Plus, his flight speed was fast enough, and he had no training scheduled for tomorrow, so there was no need to rush and save a few minutes.
Otherwise, he would've teleported back in an instant.
Half an hour later, a faint white glow appeared on the horizon.
Seimei had entered the Land of Fire.
Speeding up, he made it back to the Hidden Leaf Village just before dozing off.
Back home, too exhausted to bother dispelling the shadow clone stationed there, he headed straight for his bedroom to sleep.
But just as he was about to step inside, he froze. He suddenly remembered he hadn't nurtured his Byakugan the previous night.
Standing there, he hesitated for several seconds.
In the end, he decided to push through. He'd complete the Byakugan nurturing before resting.
He'd never skipped a session in all this time, and he wasn't about to start now. It wasn't that missing one session would ruin anything, but Seimei didn't want to break his routine.
His Byakugan's evolution was already slow. If he started skipping sessions, who knew how long it would take to progress?
What? Just skip this one time?
Please. Once a habit's broken, it's all too easy to find excuses to slack off again.
Sure, Seimei was confident in his self-discipline—mostly because of the proficiency panel that tracked his efforts in real time. He trusted he wouldn't keep slacking.
But still, habits were better left unbroken.
With that in mind, he turned and headed to the bathroom.
Splashing cold water on his face to stay alert, he walked straight to the training room.
From there, it was simple. Drawing on his chakra, with the aid of All-Encompassing Seal, he began nurturing his Byakugan.
The process took two and a half hours.
By the time he finished, the sun was up.
Leaving the training room, Seimei squinted at the harsh sunlight streaming through the hallway window. Then, he headed to his bedroom.
The moment he saw his bed, he collapsed onto it.
Within seconds, loud snoring echoed through the room.
The shadow clone, silent until now, grabbed a chair and a book. Sitting by the bedroom door, it began to read.
(End of Chapter)