Two hours later.
It was late at night.
Seimei finally stirred from nurturing his Byakugan.
A faint swelling sensation pulsed at his brow, a clear sign that his Byakugan had reached the limit of what it could handle at this stage.
With a thought, Seimei opened his proficiency panel, eyeing the bloodline section where the Byakugan now showed an additional ten points of evolution progress. Satisfied, he nodded to himself.
Closing the panel, Seimei stretched lazily.
Then, he opened his ninja pouch, popped a few enhanced Hyōrōgan (soldier pills) to replenish his energy, and headed back to the wooden cabin to rest.
For the next few days, nothing noteworthy happened. Seimei lived like an ascetic monk on the island, his days filled with nothing but eating, sleeping, and training.
The outside world seemed to have no connection to him, its concerns left far behind.
…
Time flew by.
In the blink of an eye, it was time for a break.
Returning to the village, Seimei could immediately sense a tenser atmosphere.
He didn't know what had happened.
So, carefully avoiding the ninjas along the way, he headed straight home.
The first thing he did upon arriving was dispel his Kage Bunshin no Jutsu and sift through the memories of the shadow clone he'd left in the village.
Time ticked by.
It took a full half-hour for Seimei to process the clone's memories from the past ten days. When he opened his eyes again, a thoughtful glint flickered in them.
From the clone's memories, he understood why the village felt so tense. The reason was simple: Orochimaru was officially under investigation.
That's right—Namikaze Minato had personally ordered the Anbu to investigate whether Orochimaru had violated village regulations by conducting secret human experiments.
Seimei wasn't sure how Minato had convinced Sarutobi Hiruzen and the other older Konoha higher-ups to approve the order, but he was certain it had something to do with the dirt he'd thrown on Orochimaru's name.
It was likely his mention of Zetsu, who could use Mokuton, that had rattled Sarutobi and the others, prompting them to back Minato's proposal.
After all, Mokuton—the signature ability of the First Hokage—wasn't just about power. Its symbolic weight alone made it unthinkable for Sarutobi and the others to let it appear outside Konoha's control.
So, sacrificing Orochimaru made sense.
Plus, with the recent disappearances of ninjas and civilians stirring up a storm, the village needed to give the public an explanation to quell their anger.
Investigating Orochimaru was the perfect move—a classic case of killing two birds with one stone.
But investigating Orochimaru and gathering evidence of his crimes wasn't going to be easy.
As one of the Sannin, Orochimaru might not be universally liked, but his battlefield feats had earned him a loyal following.
And now, those followers were obstacles to the investigation.
This was exactly why Seimei sensed the tense atmosphere in the village.
But…
"What's that got to do with me?" Seimei muttered under his breath.
He'd returned to relax and rest. The power struggles between the village's factions didn't concern him, and he had no intention of getting involved.
Besides, even if he wanted to, he couldn't. With his current restriction on leaving the village and being under surveillance, there was no way he'd be assigned such a sensitive mission.
Shaking his head, Seimei pushed the thoughts aside.
Back in his bedroom, he shed his gear, slipped into comfortable casual clothes, and left the house, heading for a corner of the village.
According to his clone's memories, a new hot spring bathhouse had opened there.
Seimei decided to check it out and see what it was like.
Half an hour later.
Seimei leisurely arrived at a place called "Konoha no Yu" (Konoha's Hot Spring).
After buying a ticket and entering, he changed into a bathrobe and stepped into the bath.
The warm spring water enveloped his body, and Seimei felt utterly relaxed.
Unable to help himself, he closed his eyes.
With each breath, his mind emptied, his consciousness seeming to drift free from his body.
A deep sense of ease washed over him from the inside out.
Moments later, soft snores escaped his lips.
Clearly, Seimei had fallen asleep.
Time continued to slip by.
At some point, the sound of footsteps approached, growing closer to Seimei.
When they were about two or three meters away, Seimei's eyes snapped open, his gaze locking onto the source.
Perhaps because he'd been disturbed, a hint of menace flashed in his eyes.
Well… maybe it was just a bit of waking-up irritability!
The approaching person froze under his sharp aura, stopping in their tracks and looking flustered.
Seeing it was a bathhouse employee, Seimei reined in his killing intent and asked coldly, "What's up?"
Hearing his question, the nervous employee stammered, "Uh, s-sir, ninja-sama… the bathhouse is closing. Could you, um…"
Seimei glanced at the sky above.
The moon shone brightly, stars scattered across the night sky. It was clearly late.
Nodding to the employee, Seimei said, "Sorry, lost track of time. I'll head out now."
As he spoke, he stood, left the bath, wrapped his robe tightly around himself, and headed to the washing area.
Behind him, the employee let out a small sigh of relief.
In Konoha, ninjas held high status, but they weren't allowed to harm civilians without reason.
Still, with the recent rumors of civilian disappearances—most of them exaggerated gossip—the ordinary folk couldn't help but worry.
As a result, they'd become extra cautious, terrified of accidentally offending a short-tempered ninja and ending up as another "missing person."
There'd be no place to cry if that happened.
So, lately, they'd been treading carefully.
Seimei's sharp senses picked up on the employee's shifting emotions. At first, he didn't get it, but after a moment's thought, he pieced it together.
A glimpse of the bigger picture told him that most of the village's civilians were probably in a similar state as this employee.
That was likely why Sarutobi and the others had agreed to Minato's investigation of Orochimaru—the situation had reached a point where it had to be addressed.
Brushing the thoughts aside, Seimei let them fade.
In the bathroom, he took a quick few-minute shower, changed back into his clothes, and left the bathhouse, heading for the "Food Street."
The night market there was still bustling.
Seimei blended into the crowd, buying all sorts of food and stuffing his face. His stomach was like a bottomless pit, never seeming to fill.
This was thanks to his 26-point physique stat, enhanced by partially assimilating Hashirama's cells, giving him superhuman digestion. If he wanted, he could eat dozens of times more than an average person.
And so, Seimei gorged for over an hour, only heading home when the crowd started to thin.
But instead of going straight to bed, he entered his training room to begin nurturing his Byakugan.
On the last day of every training cycle, he saved this task for after returning to the village, and today was no exception.
Inhale… Exhale…
Taking a deep breath and slowly letting it out, Seimei calmed his mind and body.
With a thought, he activated the Senrō Banshō Fūjin (All-Covering Seal) at his brow, linking it to his Byakugan.
Once that was done, he channeled chakra from the alternate space at his brow, compressing it through the seal into a higher-energy state before injecting it into his Byakugan.
A tingling, electric sensation spread through him.
Seimei knew this meant his Byakugan was evolving.
Splitting his focus, he maintained the steady flow of chakra while closely monitoring the process.
Time passed, second by second.
Two hours later, he stopped training.
By then, his Byakugan had reached its limit for the session.
With a thought, Seimei opened his proficiency panel.
Seeing the bloodline section, where the Byakugan had, as expected, gained another ten points of evolution progress, he nodded in satisfaction.
Closing the panel, Seimei rested briefly before heading to his bedroom to sleep.
The night passed quietly.
(End of Chapter)