In the blink of an eye, nearly two more hours passed, and now it was mid-afternoon.
Just as Seimei had used up about two-thirds of his chakra, he finally finished treating the wounded on the southern battlefield.
Watching as the last injured person was carried away, Seimei stretched deeply and, after a long moment, straightened his body again.
With a thought, he opened the proficiency panel.
There it was—his skill "Fine Illness Extraction Technique" had successfully leveled up to LV6, making the ninjutsu even more powerful.
Now, aside from some extremely troublesome toxins and pathogens, Seimei could handle most of them, though it depended on how much chakra he had to use.
Once he mastered the technique at level 7, even those difficult toxins and pathogens would no longer pose a threat.
However, that would still take a considerable amount of time.
After all, advancing from LV6 to LV7 required a full 10,000 points of proficiency—a hefty number.
Shifting his gaze away from the "Fine Illness Extraction Technique," Seimei looked at two other medical ninjutsu: "Chakra Scalpel" and "Mystical Palm Technique."
Though both had increased in proficiency, they were still lagging behind compared to the "Fine Illness Extraction Technique."
One of them, "Mystical Palm Technique," had already reached LV8 some time ago, and advancing it further required 50,000 proficiency points. Right now, it was barely halfway there, and the additional 1,000 points from today hardly made a dent.
As for the "Chakra Scalpel," its level wasn't as high as the "Mystical Palm Technique," but it had already reached LV6.
The thousand points of proficiency improved its progress somewhat, but it was still far from leveling up, leaving Seimei a bit disappointed.
However, continuing to waste chakra to advance this skill wasn't an option.
After all, in this world, strength is the most important thing. Without sufficient power, even the highest level of medical skill is meaningless.
So, increasing his combat abilities was the priority.
The quickest way to enhance his strength, as Seimei saw it, was to develop his Earth-style chakra to compensate for his weaknesses.
Coincidentally, last night, he successfully imprinted the "Earth Release: Earth Spear" on his panel.
Now, all he had to do was grind it until he got the hang of it, and learning the other two Earth Release ninjutsu wouldn't be a problem.
With all three working together, his progress in developing Earth-style chakra would be greatly accelerated.
Then, that would, in turn, promote the improvement of the three Earth Release techniques, creating a perfect feedback loop.
"Earth Release: Earth Spear" and "Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall" weren't too noteworthy since he had other ninjutsu for attack and defense.
But "Earth Release: Hardening Technique" was different. Once he mastered this, his safety would greatly increase.
For example, the next time he encountered a situation like today's, being attacked by senbon and kunai mid-air, he could use this technique to defend himself.
It was incredibly practical.
But for that to happen, he needed to raise its proficiency.
With that in mind, Seimei decided to pause his practice of "Wind Release: Rasenshuriken" and redirect the 70,000 points of chakra he spent on it each day towards developing his Earth-style chakra and increasing the proficiency of the corresponding Earth Release techniques.
This way, he would make rapid progress in a short amount of time.
As Seimei was contemplating this, a familiar voice reached his ears.
"Jonin Seimei, Captain Sano asks that you return to the base as soon as possible. In about two hours, the base will launch a counterattack, and your participation is required."
The person speaking was none other than Yamanaka Aoi, who had been in contact with him throughout.
Hearing this, Seimei remembered that the battle wasn't over yet.
But it seemed to be nearing its end.
Still, the idea of participating in the final counterattack made Seimei furrow his brow. After a long pause, he sighed and said, "Alright, I understand."
With that, he dispelled the chakra and mental energy Yamanaka had used to contact him, not giving the other party a chance to continue talking.
After standing in place for a while, Seimei made a hand seal, activating "Wind Release: Wind Wings" and flew toward the northern base.
At his current chakra recovery rate, both actively and passively, he could restore about 12,000 points of chakra per hour, which would be 25,000 points over the next two hours.
Including the 30,000 points of chakra he still had, by the time the counterattack began, he would have over 50,000 points of chakra.
That amount would be enough to ensure his survival in the upcoming battle.
Although he didn't plan to exert too much effort in the counterattack, his reputation would undoubtedly draw significant attention from the Kirigakure forces.
Plus, not long ago, he had just killed Ao and taken the Byakugan that Kirigakure had worked so hard to acquire.
Even though the village might not know this yet, they would definitely blame him for it.
So, being targeted was almost inevitable.
He had to be cautious.
As for not participating in the battle—well, that was almost impossible.
Not only did he have no excuse to stay back, but even if he did, Captain Sano wouldn't let a high-level combatant like him remain on the sidelines.
Likewise, the other Konoha ninja would want a strong protector by their side.
This was public sentiment; it was the way of things.
As long as Seimei had no plans to leave the village, being swept along by the tide of events was inevitable.
Fortunately, his strength was more than sufficient, so even if he got caught up in the tide, he was confident he could protect himself.
Though it was frustrating, for now, this was how things had to be.
Clearing his mind, Seimei continued flying toward the Black Stone Base.
In less than a minute, he arrived at the base.
Although most of the Konoha ninja had already gone to fight, the base was still bustling.
The reason was simple: most of the wounded from the frontlines were being brought back here for treatment by the medical ninja.
However, Seimei didn't plan to help this time.
After a quick glance, he paid no further attention and quickly returned to his quarters to rest.
Even though he had the "Chakra Absorption Technique" and didn't need to worry about running out of chakra in the heat of battle, the previous fights against the Kirigakure forces and healing the Konoha ninja had drained a lot of his energy, leaving him mentally exhausted.
So, despite not being short on chakra, he still needed rest.
That was why he wasn't helping this time.
(End of Chapter)