Time flies, and days pass like a blur.
In the blink of an eye, a week had gone by.
Seimei was on the verge of leveling up his "Natural Energy Sensing" and "Natural Energy Control," but it was time for his scheduled break.
He didn't let that derail his training plans or extend this round of intense practice, though.
After all, based on the current situation, the "Nine-Tails Incident" wasn't going to erupt anytime soon. There was no need to rush.
Plus, he had another reason for sticking to the break: he wanted to use this chance to sync up with the wooden clones he'd left in the other three villages to exchange intel.
Sure, in his memories, during the "Nine-Tails Incident," the Hidden Stone, Hidden Mist, and Hidden Cloud Villages didn't make any big moves. But those were memories from his past life, from a different timeline.
Now, with his involvement, who knew how things might play out?
On top of that, he wasn't sure if Uchiha Obito might deliberately leak news of the incident to stir up chaos and give himself an edge.
So, he had to get a read on what the other villages were up to.
With his spies in place, he wasn't worried about missing any key information.
No time to waste. Seimei quickly packed his gear, cast "Wind Release: Wings of Wind" and cloaked himself in a "Chakra Mantle," then used "Earth Release: Ultra-Lightweight Rock Technique" to lighten his weight. He took off, flying straight toward the Hidden Mist Village.
As the first village he'd infiltrated, Hidden Mist was the one he'd penetrated the deepest.
Heck, he'd even used his Mangekyō Sharingan to control the village elder, Genshi.
If he was going to get solid intel from any of the villages, Hidden Mist was his best bet.
So, it was his first stop.
And just as he'd expected, everything went smoothly. After sneaking back into Hidden Mist and syncing memories with the wooden clone he'd left there, he got a detailed rundown of the village's movements.
According to Genshi's intel, Hidden Mist had noticed the heightened alert in the Hidden Leaf Village and sent out some people to gather information. But they had no plans for a large-scale invasion.
The operatives they sent were mostly spies, focused on figuring out what the Leaf was up to.
Unfortunately for them, Uzumaki Kushina's childbirth was top-secret. Those spies couldn't dig up anything useful.
So, as long as no one deliberately leaked the news, the chances of Hidden Mist getting involved in the chaos were slim to none.
With that confirmed, Seimei didn't linger.
He cast "Wood Clone Technique" and the "All-Encompassing Seal," leaving behind a new wooden clone infused with a million points of chakra to keep tabs on Hidden Mist, then slipped out of the village.
Next stop: Hidden Cloud Village.
Unlike the isolated Hidden Mist, which was slower to react to the outside world, the ambitious Hidden Cloud had picked up on the Leaf's unusual behavior early on.
They'd taken it seriously, sending not only spies but also several elite squads into the Land of Fire to gather intel.
Too bad for them, the Leaf and Cloud hadn't signed a peace treaty yet, and border skirmishes were common.
The Leaf was especially wary of Cloud, so the moment Cloud made a move, the Leaf got wind of it and started counter-infiltration operations.
Behind the scenes, both sides were going at it like cats and dogs, but Cloud still had no clue what the Leaf was planning.
That let Seimei breathe a sigh of relief.
He left another wooden clone behind and moved on from Hidden Cloud to his final stop: Hidden Stone Village.
Considering the damage he'd caused last time he infiltrated Hidden Stone, Seimei was extra cautious this time, careful not to draw the attention of the Stone ninja.
And his caution paid off.
Along the way, he spotted plenty of decoys and traps.
Clearly, Onoki was still sore about Seimei—or rather, the Uchiha Obito he'd impersonated—slipping through his fingers. The old man had put in serious effort to set up an ambush.
Too bad for him, Seimei wasn't falling for it.
With the stealth of his "Heaven's Command," he slipped through the layers of defenses and reached the underground hideout where his wooden clone was stashed.
He dispelled the "Wood Clone Technique" and absorbed its memories.
It took a while to skim through them.
The intel showed that while Onoki was curious about the Leaf's odd behavior, his main focus was on tracking down Uchiha Obito.
So, his attention to the Leaf was only slightly more than Hidden Mist's. He'd sent some spies to gather intel, but that was it.
Naturally, they came up empty-handed.
With that confirmed, Seimei didn't waste any more time. He left a new wooden clone behind and slipped out of Hidden Stone.
From there, he made his way back to the Land of Fire, entered the Hidden Leaf Village, and returned home.
Since his goal was clear, the trip didn't take long. It was just past midnight when he got back.
Seimei quickly washed up, headed to his bedroom, and crashed.
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The night passed quietly.
The next day.
Morning.
Seimei slept in until he woke naturally.
Then it was the usual routine: he hit up the "Food Street" to satisfy his cravings, relaxed at the hot springs, and wandered the village to get a feel for any changes.
Just like that, the day flew by.
After leaving a shadow clone in the village, Seimei returned to Moon Island and kicked off a new round of intense training.
Barely into this round, he reaped his first reward.
That noon, in a clearing at the center of Moon Island, Seimei's figure appeared out of nowhere.
He took a moment to cool off, letting his skin—red and overheated from the volcano's heat—return to normal. Then he dispelled the "Multiple Shadow Clone Technique."
In an instant, all the shadow clones, both on and off the island—including the fifty he'd sent an hour earlier to the primeval forest in the northeast of the Land of Fire to absorb natural energy—dissolved.
A flood of memories rushed into his mind. Seimei pushed them aside for a moment, first channeling the natural energy that returned with them into the sealing space created by his "Three Elements Sealing Technique."
Only then did he start absorbing and digesting the memories.
Time ticked by, second by second.
About twenty minutes later, Seimei's eyes snapped open.
A sharp glint flashed in his gaze.
A faint smile spread across his face.
At that moment, a spark of understanding bloomed in his heart—a deeper grasp of "Natural Energy Sensing" and "Natural Energy Control."
He knew it: both skills had just leveled up.
Immediately, he closed his eyes again, diving deep into the new knowledge to fully process it.
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