On one side, Seimei had just whisked Imamura Tsukiko away.
On the other, the Stone ninja quickly caught on to something fishy.
It wasn't that they saw her get nabbed by the real Seimei—they just noticed he'd zeroed in on her with pinpoint accuracy and got worried about her safety.
Every Stone ninja present, whether they knew Tsukiko's full deal or not, understood one thing: they'd only tracked this far thanks to her unique sensory skills.
If Seimei killed her, their mission would grind to a halt.
This time, the village had paid a steep price to sneak them into the Land of Fire. Coming back empty-handed? That'd be a tough sell.
So, the moment the Thunder Prison faded, they lunged forward to save her.
But Seimei wasn't about to let them get close.
With no sign of Tsukiko's body among the three charred corpses left in the field, he had to cover up the fact that his real self had taken her.
Sure, the Stone ninja might spot holes in the story later, but it was better than them knowing for sure he'd captured her.
With that in mind, the shadow clone Seimei left behind didn't skip a beat. The instant the Thunder Prison vanished, it unleashed another terrain-altering jutsu—Water Release: Great Explosive Water Collision!
In a flash, an uncountable torrent of water surged into existence.
Within moments, it flooded a kilometer-wide radius, turning the forest into a sprawling lake.
Trees toppled under the deluge—some sank, others floated.
Finding Tsukiko's "body" in this mess? Good luck with that.
Better yet, the massive lake dragged everyone out into the open.
In just that short span, five or six Stone ninja had died, with about as many wounded.
They'd started with two squads—over thirty in total.
Now, after losing more than a dozen, only about twenty were still fit to fight.
Sure, they still outnumbered Seimei and the four Leaf Anbu by a wide margin, but Seimei's raw power gave them serious pause.
If it came to a real slugfest, they weren't confident they could take him and his team down completely.
Plus, they were deep in Fire Country territory. Since the Leaf Anbu had already clocked them, more Leaf ninja were probably converging on their position as they spoke.
Drag this out too long, and they'd be surrounded on all sides.
Their numbers advantage would mean squat then.
Worse, they risked getting wiped out entirely.
And another thing—
The Stone ninja leader scanned the area. No sign of Tsukiko. Given Seimei's moves and that Lightning Release jutsu, her odds of surviving seemed slim.
Without her as their link to track the Four-Tails' chakra traces, they couldn't keep chasing anyway.
After weighing it all, the leader decided fighting on wasn't worth it.
With a quick order, he split the team: one group stayed to hold off Seimei and the four Leaf Anbu, while the other took the wounded and bolted.
Seimei saw their play but didn't rush to chase. After a moment's thought, he teamed up with the Leaf Anbu squad to tackle the Stone ninja left blocking their path.
Why? Simple. His goal was already in the bag—the Stone ninja wouldn't be tracking him anymore. The messier the situation got, the better.
Chaos was the perfect smokescreen for what he'd pulled.
Letting some of these Stone ninja escape was the best way to muddy the waters.
Even if the Leaf hunted them down later, a few would slip through the net.
That'd leave Tsukiko's fate a big question mark.
The Leaf might assume she'd fled Fire Country, while the Hidden Stone would figure she died in the fight.
As long as neither side fully trusted the other enough to compare notes, it'd stay a tangled mess.
Sure, someone might suspect him after a debrief.
But like he'd figured—no one catches him red-handed, no hard proof, no problem. Neither friend nor foe could touch him.
More likely, the Hidden Stone would have their doubts, while the Leaf wouldn't even clock Tsukiko's oddity.
That'd make things even easier to smooth over.
Thoughts buzzing, the shadow clone Seimei had left behind sent the other clones on a token chase before focusing entirely on the Stone ninja holding them back.
The enemy had numbers and solid skills, but as a shadow clone, he couldn't take heavy hits. It tied his hands in the fight.
Even with four Leaf Anbu backing him up, they couldn't break through the blockade right away.
Time ticked by.
Once the Stone ninja figured they'd stalled enough, they pulled back on their own. Only then did Seimei and the Anbu shake free.
Whoosh!
A Leaf Anbu with a short sword and a mask stepped up to Seimei. Through the mask's eyeholes, Seimei could see the guy's gaze—he clearly wanted to say something but couldn't find the words.
That look told Seimei his performance had raised some eyebrows.
Fair enough—his strength had swung wildly from start to finish, almost like he'd let those Stone ninja slip away on purpose.
Didn't matter, though.
This mess was on them, when you got down to it.
Seimei's orders were to team up with the four Anbu, track the Stone ninja, and wait for backup to encircle them.
But reality? He'd shown up to find the fight already kicked off.
If they hadn't jumped the gun and exposed themselves, none of this would've spiraled out of control.
So, yeah, their screw-up.
As for him?
He'd cook up a decent excuse later and call it a day.
And that excuse?
He'd already hashed it out: before this emergency gig, he'd burned through too much chakra training. All bark, no bite.
Had to bluff his way through and scare the Stone ninja off.
Whether the village bought it or not, he was sold on it.
Still, he'd put on a good show first.
With that in mind, Seimei ignored the Anbu captain's hesitant vibe. "I'll tail them and check it out," he said, then cast Wind Release: Wings of Wind and his Chakra Cloak, soaring off toward where the Stone ninja had fled.
Seeing him go, the other three Anbu—nursing injuries of varying degrees—approached their captain. "Captain…"
Before they could finish, he waved them off.
"Don't say a word," he said. "Let's just finish the mission."
"Yes, Captain!"
The three nodded, then took off together, tracking the Stone ninja's trail on foot.
Just like that, the mission seemed to loop back to square one.
Only this time, the Stone ninja weren't pressing deeper into Fire Country—they were hightailing it toward the border.
(End of Chapter)