The sun set and rose again.
In the blink of an eye, three more days had passed.
That morning, Seimei used the excuse of training three lower-ranked subordinates to leave Takigakure.
After carefully investigating for the past three days, he had more or less figured out the current state of the Seven-Tails.
Just as he had suspected, the beast had not yet been sealed into Fū's body and remained in a relatively independent state—the exact state he needed.
However, this situation wouldn't last much longer.
From the clues he had gathered, he was almost certain that Takigakure's leadership had already reached a consensus. Within a week at the latest, they would complete the necessary preparations.
By then, the Seven-Tails would be sealed inside Fū.
Once that happened, the beast would lose its independence.
If Seimei wanted to avoid unnecessary complications, he had to act within this one-week window.
This timeline was slightly ahead of what he had originally estimated.
However, it didn't really matter.
By then, he would be fully prepared, making it completely feasible to take action ahead of schedule.
Of course, before that, he needed to send his findings back.
Outside Takigakure
Seimei emerged from the massive waterfall, followed closely by the three lower-ranked ninja from Takigakure.
Without wasting any words, he glanced at them and simply said, "Keep up." Then, without hesitation, he sprinted into the depths of the forest.
The three lower-ranked ninja didn't dare to delay and immediately followed behind Seimei, dashing forward.
After about an hour of travel, they arrived at an isolated mountain forest, where Seimei finally stopped.
A few moments later, the three ninja caught up and halted as well.
Unlike Seimei, who remained calm and composed, the three immediately began gasping for breath.
It was clear that the fast-paced journey had drained them considerably.
Observing their condition, Seimei mimicked Mizutani Yuuichi's tone and said, "Your stamina is still too weak. You need to focus on improving it from now on."
"Yes, sensei!" the three responded in unison without any objections.
Seimei seemed satisfied with their attitude and nodded. "I'll go scout the area. Take this time to rest."
"Yes, sensei!"
The three sat down at once, working to regulate their breathing and recover their stamina.
Seeing this, Seimei swiftly disappeared from the area with a few flickers.
A dozen breaths later, he reappeared atop a large tree, not far from where they were resting.
Glancing around, he raised his hand to form seals, unlocking the 'Guardian Seal' on his forehead and activating his Byakugan.
That's right—ever since his body underwent a transformation, increasing his 'Constitution' attribute to 22 points, his Byakugan had fully awakened and fused with him.
Now, just like the Sharingan, his Shadow Clones could use it as well.
This was exactly why Seimei had been confident that a single Shadow Clone would be enough to locate the Seven-Tails within Takigakure.
After all, how else could he pinpoint the beast's exact location in such a large village?
If he had to search blindly, he probably wouldn't find it until it went on a rampage.
Pushing aside these unnecessary thoughts, Seimei focused his mind and used the Byakugan's vision to scan the surrounding area.
Once he confirmed that no one else was within a one-kilometer radius, he deactivated his Byakugan.
Without hesitation, he raised his hands once more and rapidly formed hand seals.
A few seconds later, he pressed his palm against a nearby tree trunk.
Immediately, densely packed black markings spread across the bark, forming what looked like a miniature sealing technique.
And in fact, that wasn't far from the truth.
These black markings were a Flying Thunder God formula—chakra marks necessary to perform the 'Flying Thunder God Technique.'
However, since his proficiency in the technique was still low, the markings were more complex than those used by Tobirama Senju or Minato Namikaze, who had managed to simplify them into a single symbol or a short inscription.
Still, Seimei was confident that if he kept practicing, he would eventually reach that level.
For now… he would have to make do.
Retracting his hand, he inspected the formula carefully. Once he confirmed that there were no issues, he immediately released his Shadow Clone.
Poof!
With a burst of chakra-infused smoke, the Seimei who had been standing on the tree branch vanished.
Meanwhile…
Fire Country, Southern Region, On a Remote Island
Seimei had been focused on refining his 'Mystical Palm Technique' when he suddenly froze, his expression stiffening. Without a word, he closed his eyes.
Seconds ticked by.
Beneath his closed eyelids, his eyeballs shifted rapidly. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead as his mind processed a flood of information at an intense speed.
And in fact, that's exactly what was happening.
He was absorbing the memories of his Shadow Clone that had infiltrated Takigakure.
Unlike training, where multiple clones might exist but only for short periods, this was several days' worth of memories being injected into his mind all at once.
Even for him, the pressure was considerable.
Fortunately, Seimei's mental strength was strong enough to withstand it. He had also grown accustomed to handling large amounts of information flooding into his mind.
In the end, he managed to endure it.
About half an hour later, he opened his eyes.
A contemplative look flashed across his gaze.
With his clone's memories, he now had a detailed understanding of the situation inside Takigakure.
At the same time, based on the intelligence his clone had gathered, he had formulated a rough plan for what needed to be done next.
However, he still needed to refine the specifics.
But as always, things never go exactly as planned.
Or rather, no plan ever keeps up with change.
Just as he was deep in thought, a piercing eagle's cry suddenly snapped him back to reality.
Seimei looked up and saw a messenger hawk, one raised by his clan, circling above the island as if searching for someone.
Moments later, it seemed to confirm its target. With a swift dive, it headed straight for him.
Seimei frowned slightly, an uneasy feeling rising in his heart.
Even so, he extended his arm, allowing the hawk to land.
The bird let out a few calls before stretching out its right talon, which bore a message tube.
Seimei wasted no time opening it and pulling out a small note.
The message was brief:
The clan has requested your immediate return. The village has a mission for you.
"A mission?"
The unease in his heart deepened.
As a Jōnin and a member of the Uchiha Clan, he wasn't like ordinary civilian ninja who had to take missions regularly for money.
In fact, he hadn't visited the mission center in quite some time.
Most of his time had been spent on training.
But now, the village was suddenly assigning him a mission.
This was surprising.
After all, unless it was something significant, the village wouldn't go out of its way to assign tasks to specific individuals.
What kind of mission could possibly require his involvement at this moment?
That said, since the clan had sent an official summons, it was clear that this mission wasn't something he could easily refuse.
So, he had no choice but to return as soon as possible.
With that in mind, Seimei recalled his nearby training clones.
After absorbing their experience, he once again formed hand seals and created a new Shadow Clone.
Glancing at it, he ordered, "You handle things in Takigakure for now. Don't act rashly."
"Understood."
The clone nodded before suddenly vanishing.
Seimei focused his senses and detected that the Flying Thunder God formula left behind by his previous clone had been activated.
Clearly, the new clone had teleported to the forest near Takigakure.
That was the convenience of the Flying Thunder God Technique!
Even though his proficiency was still low, it was already proving incredibly useful.