Below him.
The ground rushed by in a blur.
Seimei soared through the air, watching it all unfold, but a wave of dizziness hit him hard.
Clearly, his visual nerves couldn't keep up with his flight speed.
Without a second thought, he activated his Sharingan.
In an instant, his pupils turned blood-red, with three pitch-black tomoe spinning into view.
The next moment, everything snapped into sharp clarity.
And just like that, he felt a whole lot better.
"Phew~~~"
Letting out a long breath, Seimei muttered under his breath, "No wonder the Hidden Stone Village keeps this under wraps—it's seriously impressive!"
Just moments ago, mid-flight, he'd had a sudden whim and used "Earth Release: Light-Weighted Rock Technique."
After two days of grinding, the technique had broken through Level 5 and hit Level 6.
With its weight reduction, his max flight speed—originally 300 meters per second—had doubled to a blistering 600 meters per second.
That insane boost was exactly why his visual nerves had struggled, leaving him dizzy and disoriented.
And this was just the "Light-Weighted Rock Technique" not even fully leveled up! If he could max it out or master its advanced version—"Earth Release: Super Light-Weighted Rock Technique"—his flight speed might double again!
And that was just for flight techniques. If he could apply it elsewhere and refine it well, the results…
Tsk tsk~
Seimei didn't dare let his imagination run too wild and shook his head.
No surprise the Hidden Stone Village guarded a technique this versatile and powerful as a top secret!
That said, making good use of it wasn't exactly a walk in the park.
Lucky for him, he had the Sharingan, which jacked up his neural reaction speed big time.
Without it, even if he mastered pairing it with flight techniques, he wouldn't dare use it so casually.
As for other applications?
He didn't have any solid ideas yet.
Thoughts swirled through his mind, but Seimei quickly reined them in.
Then, he kept tinkering with the combo of "Light-Weighted Rock Technique" and "Wind Release: Wings of Wind," locked onto his target direction, and flew toward the mission site.
Honestly, if he wanted, he could just lock onto the Flying Thunder God mark at that location and teleport there with "Flying Thunder God Technique."
But he couldn't.
This mission wasn't exactly under the village's full surveillance, but it was close enough.
If he zipped over with "Flying Thunder God," anyone with half a brain could do the math and realize the timing didn't add up.
That'd stir up a mess of trouble.
Plus, even without knowing the Hidden Stone Village's exact plans, Seimei could guess they'd dig into the "Flying Thunder God" angle.
Back when he'd left with Old Purple, he hadn't bothered hiding that he'd mastered a space-time ninjutsu.
And in the ninja world, there were only so many space-time techniques. As long as the Hidden Stone's intel crew weren't total idiots, they'd zero in on "Flying Thunder God."
From there, turning their sights on the Hidden Leaf would be the obvious next step.
Using it recklessly now would just be asking for problems.
Seimei wasn't that dumb!
Besides, his job was to team up with that Anbu squad to monitor and track these Stone ninja—not to pull off some urgent rescue.
No need to rush.
So, after about 20 minutes, Seimei finally reached the mission site.
But by then, the place was deserted.
He scanned the area, picked a spot, and landed.
Soon enough, he spotted a hidden mark left by the Leaf Anbu on a big tree.
It matched the one mentioned in their distress message.
Following the mark, Seimei quickly figured out which way they'd gone.
No time to waste—he took off, chasing after the direction the mark pointed.
This time, he didn't fly.
He was already close to those Stone ninja. Going airborne again risked getting spotted.
Spooking them would ruin everything.
So, cutting through the forest was the smarter move.
…
Time ticked by, second by second.
About half an hour later.
Seimei finally caught up to the Stone ninja—and the Anbu squad.
But things had taken an unexpected turn.
Boom!
An explosion roared from up ahead.
Then came a huge burst of firelight.
Someone was clearly throwing around a Fire Release technique.
It was a bit too far to make out what was happening.
So, with a quick thought, Seimei slightly unsealed the "All-Encompassing Seal" at his forehead, revealing the Byakugan hidden there.
Focusing his mind, he activated it.
In an instant, his vision pierced through the Leaf headband on his brow and the forest ahead, locking onto the scene in the distance.
There, four Leaf Anbu ninja were boxed in by a Stone Anbu squad plus six other Stone ninja. The explosion and fighting noises from earlier? All their doing.
Seimei's gaze pushed further, and sure enough, he spotted more Stone ninja.
But these ones were hightailing it away from the fight, picking up speed.
It wasn't hard to piece together—chances were, the Leaf Anbu squad tailing them had been exposed.
The Stone ninja had split up: one group stayed to take out the Leaf Anbu and silence them, while the others made a break for it.
Seimei glanced at the fleeing Stone ninja in the distance, then at the four Leaf Anbu up ahead, holding their own against twice their number.
In the end, he decided to skirt the battlefield and chase the ones running off.
Not that he didn't want to save the four Anbu—it just wasn't worth it.
They looked like they could hold out for a bit.
And the Stone ninja left to cover the retreat? Probably small fry.
Sticking around to deal with them alongside the four Anbu would be a waste of time when he could go after the main group that bolted first.
Seimei figured if he attacked the escapees, the Stone ninja pinning down the Leaf Anbu would have to send some backup.
That'd ease the pressure on the four Anbu—assuming they were still alive—and effectively save them.
And if they died before he made his move?
Well, what could he do?
All he could say was sorry.
He wasn't their babysitter, and he had no duty to keep them safe.
Plus, compared to hovering over those four, he'd rather take out the Stone ninja up ahead.
Those guys were likely after him, anyway. Letting them escape—or worse, get nabbed by the Leaf—would just mean headaches later.
So, Seimei's plan was simple: go all in and wipe them out.
On the way here, he'd been mulling over how to pull that off.
Now, the chance was right in front of him—no way he'd let it slip.
With that thought, his feet pounded the ground even faster.