About an hour later, the sky began to darken.
Seii finally returned to the vicinity of the Black Stone base.
It wasn't really a good idea to continue flying at this point. Even though he'd completed his mission and no longer cared if others noticed he'd snuck away, it was still better to avoid unnecessary trouble.
Besides, there were quite a few Mist squads patrolling outside the base, and his chakra was at a critically low level; he saw no need to make things harder for himself.
However, while Seii wasn't looking for trouble, that didn't an trouble wouldn't find him.
As he cautiously approached the Black Stone base, a kiloter behind him, a Mist squad suddenly ca to a stop.
One of them crouched down beside a small shinobi dog and asked, "Hapi, did you catch anything?"
The dog, nad Hapi, was this Mist elite shinobi's summoned animal. It had an exceptionally sharp sense of sll, able to detect even the slightest trace in the air.
Hapi sniffed around carefully, then lifted its head and said in a deep, serious voice that belied its young appearance, "Ryū, we might have trouble."
The others tensed at its words.
Inoue Ryū, knowing Hapi wouldn't raise an alarm without reason, quickly asked, "What's going on?"
Without replying imdiately, Hapi sniffed the air again, then said, "I sll a familiar scent."
"Whose?"
"Uchiha Seii," Hapi answered.
"What?!"
"Ghost Sword Seii?"
"Impossible!"
Ryū hadn't even responded before the other three squad mbers cried out in alarm. One of them even pulled out a kunai, ready to defend against any potential threat.
Their reaction wasn't unwarranted—unlike the elite Ryū, they were only chunin level, and they knew they wouldn't stand a chance against soone like Seii.
Over the past week, Seii had shown he wouldn't hesitate to strike against chunin-level opponents, unlike other Konoha jonin who saw them as unworthy of their ti.
Seii, on the other hand, lacked chakra and needed to keep up his skills. Every ti he used his more advanced techniques, like his "Flash Sword Technique," his chakra would be heavily drained, forcing him to hunt for the chunin who offered the best returns.
On top of that, treating the wounded required a lot of chakra as well, and he needed to replenish it sohow. The Mist chunin were the perfect candidates.
This was why the re ntion of his na struck fear in them.
Just then, Hapi added, "Sothing seems off about his state."
"What do you an?" Ryū's eyes brightened, and he asked quickly, "Did you notice sothing?"
Ryū subtly glanced in the direction Hapi had indicated, as if searching for a sign of Seii.
Hapi looked exasperated. "Don't bother; he's not up in the sky."
Ryū lowered his gaze as Hapi continued, "My nose tells
he's up ahead in the forest, likely returning to the Black Stone base."
"In the forest?"
Ryū and his team all noticed the oddity. Over the past couple of weeks, Seii had always traveled openly by air, never sneaking around like this. To them, moving on the ground seed uncharacteristically furtive.
Combining that with Hapi's report of his weakened state, they couldn't help but wonder if Seii had been injured during a mission and was forced to return to base in this state.
People often convince themselves of what they want to believe, especially when their interests are involved. They let their imaginations run wild, taking any potential benefit as fact.
In their minds, the reward for capturing or even helping to kill Seii was too tempting. Inevitably, they connected his weakened state to the idea that he was injured, never considering that his low chakra might just be due to other reasons.
The four took shallow, excited breaths.
Eventually, Ryū regained his composure. After so thought, he confird with Hapi that Seii's chakra was indeed much weaker than usual, and that he was carefully moving toward the Black Stone base. Ryū finally made up his mind.
He looked at one of his team mbers and said, "Eii, go back to headquarters right now. Tell Captain Oze what's happening here and get reinforcents."
"Yes, Captain!" Although slightly disappointed, Itō Eii felt a wave of relief. Staying with Ryū might have brought greater rewards, but it would also an much greater danger.
This was Ghost Sword Seii, one of Konoha's twin stars! The bounty on him was enough to make his head spin, even if he only got a minor share.
After Eii left, Ryū looked down at Hapi and said gravely, "Hapi, find him!"
"Understood."
Hapi gave a short nod, then sniffed the air and took off in a specific direction.
Behind him, Ryū glanced at his remaining two teammates. "Follow ."
Without hesitation, he led the way, while the two Mist chunin gripped their kunai and hurried after him.
…
anwhile, Seii continued cautiously through the forest.
Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks and glanced behind him.
For so reason, he suddenly felt as if soone was watching him.
"Just my imagination?" Seii murmured. He focused but sensed nothing out of place.
Shaking his head, he was about to take another step when he paused, keeping his foot in the air.
Seii trusted his intuition, especially in this world of extraordinary powers, where instinct could often prove more reliable than sensory perception. Sotis, the subconscious picked up on subtle details the conscious mind missed, presenting them as intuition.
Deciding to investigate, Seii prepared to test his new abilities—he had just transplanted the Byakugan.
But first, he needed to make sure no one was nearby.
With that thought, he activated his Sharingan, scanning the surroundings.
Seeing nothing unusual, he jumped up onto a tree branch.
Then, he deactivated his Sharingan, lifted his headband, and focused, activating the Byakugan at his forehead.
In an instant, his Byakugan penetrated the headband's cover, allowing him to see everything within a one-kiloter radius.
(End of Chapter)
Reviews
All reviews (0)