In the blink of an eye, a few more hours slipped by.
It was almost evening.
Thanks to Seimei pushing himself hard, today's training—aside from nurturing his Byakugan—had wrapped up ahead of schedule.
On top of the giant rock, Seimei opened his eyes, reflecting on the insights that had just surfaced in his mind after absorbing the training experiences and memories of his shadow clones.
A moment later, he snapped out of it completely.
"Phew…"
Letting out a long breath, Seimei lifted his head and gazed at the sun, nearly vanishing below the horizon over the sea. "Time to head back," he muttered.
Ten days of intense training had left him piled up with exhaustion.
Now, it was time to return to the village and take a well-deserved break.
With that thought in mind, Seimei stood up quickly, packed his gear, and cast "Wind Release: Wings of Wind" along with "Chakra Cloak." Then, he took off into the sky, heading north toward the Hidden Leaf Village.
Why not just use the "Flying Thunder God Technique" to zip back instantly?
Simple answer:
For one, it'd take a bigger chunk of chakra. Sure, the amount he'd save wouldn't fix his current chakra shortage entirely, but every little bit helped—he wasn't about to waste it.
Second, the scenery along the way was a nice way to unwind mentally.
He usually didn't fly too fast on trips like this, giving himself time to enjoy the view and ease his mental fatigue.
And third, he needed to leave some traces of his movements.
It was partly a baiting tactic and partly a signal to anyone paying attention—showing what he was up to so they wouldn't overthink things and stir up unnecessary trouble for him.
…
Time ticked by, minute by minute.
Before long, a little over half an hour had passed.
Seimei was back near the Hidden Leaf.
After circling the sky a few times, he found a quiet, empty spot and touched down.
Then, he strolled through the village gates without a hitch, stepping back into the Hidden Leaf.
Like every other time he took a break, he first headed home and merged with the shadow clone he'd left behind, absorbing its memories.
That gave him a decent rundown of what had happened in the village over the past ten days.
Once he was sure nothing major was up, Seimei made his way to the bathroom for a shower.
Sure, he could wash up on that island, but with limited conditions and time being so precious, it was always a rushed job.
Now, back home, he could finally enjoy a long, hot shower.
It took him nearly half an hour before he stepped out of the bathroom.
Afterward, he rested for a bit, then headed to the village's "Food Street."
For the past ten days of hardcore training, he'd been choking down dozens—sometimes hundreds—of enhanced soldier pills every day. The taste?
He was practically sick of it!
So, it was high time to treat himself.
Stepping onto the familiar street, Seimei took a deep breath.
Instantly, all sorts of delicious smells hit his nose, making his mouth water uncontrollably.
Wiping the corner of his mouth, he didn't waste another second and dove right in, eating and drinking like there was no tomorrow.
Thanks to his insane physical stamina, he could eat enough for a dozen people in one go.
And that was with a short meal—if he stretched it out, scarfing down food for几十 (dozens of) people wouldn't even be a challenge.
So there he was, a blur tearing through the street, chowing down like he was making up for every meal he'd skimped on over the past ten days.
Two hours later, night started creeping in.
Seimei finally called it quits on his food binge.
After letting out a satisfied burp in front of the last shop, he wobbled off "Food Street" and headed toward the Uchiha clan's district.
But before he could fully leave the street, a commotion broke out ahead, mixed with faint, chaotic noise.
Seimei paused, tilting his head to listen.
Soon, he picked out arguing and slurred shouting from the racket.
It was clear a few of the noisy ones were drunk—their words barely coherent.
Given the surroundings, Seimei quickly pieced it together.
Stepping closer, sure enough, he spotted two Uchiha ninja in Leaf Police Force uniforms dragging a few stumbling drunks through the crowd.
The arguing and cursing he'd heard was coming straight from them.
Watching the Uchiha ninja enforce things rougher than necessary, and the crowd quietly egging it on, Seimei shook his head.
Whether in his past life or this one, dealing with regular civilians was always a messy hassle—no one could ever sort it out cleanly.
Do a good job, and hardly anyone praises you. Screw it up, and everyone's ready to jump down your throat.
When Tobirama Senju handed the Leaf Police Force over to the Uchiha clan back in the day, who knows what he was thinking?
Petty stuff like this could've been handled by any random civilian.
Yet he stuck the Uchiha ninja with it—and slapped a big title like "Leaf Police Force" on top.
With such a grand name, but stuck handling trivial nonsense all day, the typically proud Uchiha ninja were bound to get frustrated.
And when they're frustrated, how could they enforce things by the book every time?
Then, with a little nudge from someone with an agenda, the Uchiha clan's image among the villagers pretty much got locked in.
That made it way harder for them to run for Hokage or grab any real power.
But give up the Police Force?
No way.
Forget the perks that came with it—the Uchiha's position in the Leaf meant they couldn't afford to let it go.
If they ditched it, they'd lose their slice of the power pie entirely.
Keeping it, though, just cemented their reputation more.
And that cemented reputation made it tougher to gain any other rights, which in turn made them cling to the power they had even harder.
It was a vicious cycle—a death spiral they couldn't break.
"Heh, what a clever setup," Seimei thought with a cold smirk.
All these ideas flashed through his head, but he didn't dwell on them. He turned and walked away.
Power struggles? He couldn't care less.
To him, the Uchiha clan—and even the Hidden Leaf—were just a place to crash.
As an outsider in this warped world, he didn't feel much attachment to it.
At most, he'd make sure the Uchiha didn't get wiped out—for the sake of his original body's bloodline and the help some of them had given him.
Beyond that, he'd just do whatever he felt like.
The arguing faded into the distance behind him.
Soon, Seimei was back home.
After a short rest, he kicked off his final task of the day—nurturing his Byakugan!
With that in mind, he stepped into his training room, focused his mind, and activated the "All-Encompassing Seal" at his forehead, linking it to his Byakugan.
Then, he started pulling a steady stream of chakra from the pocket dimension in his brow. After the seal compressed it a second time, it turned into a higher-energy state and flowed into his Byakugan.
Right away, that familiar tingling sensation hit.
Seimei let out a soft hum, slipping into a half-awake, half-dreaming state.
During this, the Byakugan's evolution progress on his panel began creeping up bit by bit.
About two hours later, when he felt a swelling sensation from his Byakugan, Seimei finally came to.
"Hit the limit, huh?" he murmured.
He casually pulled up his panel, glanced at it, and confirmed the Byakugan's evolution had gone up by ten points. Satisfied, he didn't waste any more time.
"Yawn…"
Standing up in the training room, Seimei let out a big yawn, stretched his arms high, and gave a good, hard stretch before heading back to his bedroom to rest.
Next up, he'd recharge his energy for the upcoming round of training.