"Watch out!"
As Seii flew in, one of the Mist ninjas, who were surrounding and attacking a group of Leaf ninjas, suddenly shouted out.
In the next mont, the group swiftly scattered in all directions.
Seeing this, Seii smirked and muttered to himself, "Bad luck!"
By now, these Mist ninjas had gained experience from being attacked. They understood that his aerial advantage gave him a significant upper hand, so as soon as they saw him approaching, they imdiately spread out.
Because of this, it was no longer easy for him to attack multiple targets at once.
Even the 'Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu,' which could target several enemies at once, wasn't as effective now that the enemies had distanced themselves from each other.
It just proved how adaptable ninjas truly are.
Fortunately, the Mist ninjas weren't prepared for aerial assaults this ti; otherwise, Seii wouldn't have dared to fly around so boldly.
Still, this gave the Leaf ninjas so breathing room, even without Seii directly intervening.
Not only that, but they could also use his arrival as an opportunity to counterattack.
Like now, when the Leaf ninjas noticed him flying in, they exchanged glances and imdiately started pursuing the scattered Mist ninjas.
Those Mist ninjas, cautious of Seii's presence, didn't dare to attack with full force.
As a result, the Mist ninjas found themselves at a disadvantage.
Seeing this, Seii was more than happy to continue circling the battlefield, applying pressure to the Mist ninjas.
Of course, whenever a good opportunity arose, he wouldn't hesitate to strike.
In a short amount of ti, he had already killed one Mist ninja and injured three others.
But that was the limit.
The reason? The Mist Jonin pursuing him had finally arrived.
Seeing them approaching, Seii flapped his chakra wings and flew off to another part of the battlefield.
The Mist Jonin glanced at the bodies on the ground and, in frustration, threw several shuriken at the remaining Leaf ninjas.
Then, they hurriedly chased after Seii again.
It wasn't that they didn't want to stay and kill the remaining Leaf ninjas, but if they did, Seii would devastate the next battlefield they left him at.
Though it was a mutual struggle, and Seii was only one person, his aerial advantage made his attacks more devastating than theirs on the Leaf ninjas.
Thus, it wasn't worth the trade.
So, they had no choice but to pursue him relentlessly. Even if they couldn't kill Seii, they couldn't afford to let him stay in one place for long.
As for the Leaf ninjas, well, since the Mist had the advantage in numbers, they left them to the others.
It was simply a matter of necessity.
---
Ti continued to pass.
In the blink of an eye, another hour had gone by.
On the horizon, over the sea, the sun began to rise, painting the sky with the soft hues of dawn.
As the first rays of sunlight hit the cliffside known as Hawk's Beak, the battlefield's oppressive atmosphere seed to lighten just a bit.
Unknowingly, more than five hours had passed.
By now, both sides were exhausted, but with no orders to retreat, neither dared to leave the battlefield.
So, they continued to endure.
Thanks to his 'Chakra Absorption Technique,' Seii's chakra levels remained high. anwhile, the Mist Jonin chasing him were clearly running low on chakra.
This made Seii's delay tactics even easier.
In fact, he even managed to take advantage of this situation to kill one Mist Jonin and one Special Jonin, further weakening the enemy's elite forces.
If Seii weren't concerned about provoking Mist Village too much, he might have gone on a full killing spree by now.
Don't doubt his power; over the past few hours, he'd been holding back, focusing on flight maneuvers to protect the overall situation.
If he were to truly go all out, even if he were surrounded, killing a few of them would be no problem.
But doing so would harm the overall plan, and it wouldn't benefit him either, so he wasn't interested.
However, if this dragged on much longer and the enemy's state worsened, he might actually make a move.
Yet, it seed fate had other plans.
Fifteen minutes later, just as Seii was about to act, the sharp cry of an eagle suddenly echoed from the distance.
Looking over, Seii saw that it was a ssenger hawk from Mist Village.
"Caw~"
Another cry rang out.
Down below, i Terumi and the other Jonin listened closely.
After a mont, their expressions changed slightly.
They exchanged glances.
Then, one of the Mist Jonin, skilled in ntal techniques, cast a jutsu to communicate with the other Mist ninjas, passing along the retreat order.
That's right—retreat!
The eagle's cries had carried the upper command's order: they were to return to the forward base as quickly as possible.
Up in the sky, thanks to his high vantage point, Seii imdiately recognized the Mist ninjas' intentions, but he didn't interfere.
For one, he couldn't stop them.
These Mist ninjas were clearly prepared. As soon as they received the order, they split into several groups and fled toward the sea from different directions.
There was no way he could stop them all.
Secondly, the surviving Leaf ninjas at the base were few and in terrible condition. Even if he stopped one or two groups, they wouldn't have the strength to eliminate them.
Lastly, and most importantly, i Terumi and the others were still watching him. If he acted, it could easily lead to another battle.
While he didn't fear them, he wasn't interested in wasting energy unnecessarily.
So, after so thought, he decided to let them go.
Seeing that he wasn't moving, i Terumi and the others also breathed a sigh of relief.
If, before the battle, they had been confident, now, after hours of tornt, they were thoroughly worn down.
At this point, avoiding a fight was the best outco for them.
Ti ticked by, and the two sides silently watched each other, letting their ninjas retreat from the battlefield without further conflict.
Soon, the Mist ninjas had completely disappeared, and the remaining Leaf ninjas gathered together.
With a light flap of his chakra wings, Seii flew to the edge of Hawk's Beak Cliff.
Facing the rising sun, Seii gazed out at the sea.
In the distance, several Mist warships were quickly sailing away.
He could faintly make out so familiar faces at the back of the ships—Mist Jonin who had clashed with him the previous night.
Strangely, he suddenly had a feeling that they would et again soon.
It wasn't just intuition.
Mist Village had clearly put a lot of effort into launching this battle and had held out until the end. There was no way they wouldn't have gained so ground.
Seii could easily imagine that Mist Village had likely captured so strongholds along the border—perhaps even more than one.
In the coming days, both sides would undoubtedly fight over these strongholds.
When that ti ca, he would most likely be called to action, and the Mist Jonin would likely participate as well, increasing the chances of another confrontation.
So, Seii's feeling wasn't just a hunch.
But this wasn't good news.
Though his current strength, especially with his ability to fly, made it unlikely for these battles to pose a serious threat to his life, he had no interest in wasting ti and energy if he could avoid it.
Unfortunately, he didn't have the luxury of ignoring the rules just yet.
"Sigh."
With a light sigh, Seii stopped thinking about it and flew back toward the Leaf stronghold.
(End of Chapter)
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