A few breaths later, Seimei arrived above the northern district.
At this moment, the battle here was extremely fierce.
With the majority of Kirigakure's forces redirected to the western district, Yuhi Shinku immediately launched a full-scale assault.
As the main offensive focus, the northern district had gathered the largest number of Konoha's elite jōnin.
Under their leadership, even without Seimei's involvement, Konoha forces had already breached the district.
Now, it was up to him to deliver the final blow to seal their victory.
Circling twice in the air, Seimei confirmed his target and descended directly.
As planned, he infiltrated Kirigakure's rear lines alone.
Unsurprisingly, this bold move caused immediate chaos among the Kirigakure forces.
After eliminating several enemies, a Kirigakure jōnin finally arrived—though noticeably "late"—to block his advance.
Seimei wasted no words and engaged in battle immediately.
It was clear that this lone jōnin was no match for Seimei. In mere moments, he suffered multiple injuries.
Left with no choice, Kirigakure's commander had to divert more troops to deal with him.
Eventually, four jōnin were deployed to encircle Seimei, barely managing to hold him off.
While they succeeded in restraining Seimei, this left a significant gap in the frontline defense of Kirigakure.
After all, jōnin were not an endless resource. Training even a special jōnin required time.
During the earlier clashes, Kirigakure had already lost many jōnin.
Now, with Konoha pooling the strength of several bases for this assault, their numbers exceeded the jōnin within Sand River City.
In other words, Kirigakure's jōnin were already under considerable pressure. The reassignment of four more only tipped the balance further.
On the frontline, Kirigakure's jōnin began to falter against Konoha's. Forced to retreat, they brought along the lower-ranked chūnin and genin with them.
Step by step, Konoha's forces pushed the battlefront deeper into the city.
In the blink of an eye, an hour passed.
Seizing an opportunity, Seimei eliminated a second Kirigakure jōnin.
At the same time, Kirigakure's defensive line in the northern district completely collapsed, forcing all their forces to retreat toward the central district.
There, their final line of defense awaited.
Ignoring the fleeing enemies around him, Seimei prepared to finish off the remaining two jōnin.
But just then, a voice echoed in his mind.
"Jōnin Seimei, the captain requests you immediately head to the central district. If possible, destroy the enemy's setup there."
This method of communication was familiar to Seimei—it was the Yamanaka clan's Mind Transmission Jutsu.
Hearing this, Seimei hesitated briefly. Dodging a kunai aimed at his side, he responded, "Understood."
With that, he severed the mental connection.
Glancing at the two remaining jōnin, Seimei abandoned the idea of wiping them out. After evading their attacks several times, he created distance.
Quickly forming hand seals, he activated a jutsu—Wind Style: Wings of the Wind.
Whoosh!
A pair of light blue chakra wings appeared on his back.
With a flap of his wings, Seimei soared into the sky.
Gaining altitude, he formed more seals, casting Chakra Armor and Earth Style: Earth Hardening Jutsu, layering himself with two levels of defense.
Only then did he fly toward the center of Sand River City.
The distance was short, and he arrived almost instantly.
From above, he could see that Kirigakure had already established a defensive line, ready to hold out once reinforcements arrived.
Without hesitation, Seimei descended, dodging various projectiles and jutsu before forming seals for Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!
In a flash, a massive fireball over 30 meters in diameter appeared, radiating immense heat and light like a second sun.
With a thought, Seimei directed the fireball downward, aiming for the heart of the central district.
However, Kirigakure had anticipated this move, having seen it during his actions in the western district.
Thus, the moment he launched the attack, several Kirigakure jōnin countered with their village's widely-used B-rank jutsu—Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!
Roar!
Faint dragon roars echoed as massive water dragons formed and surged upward, colliding with the enormous fireball.
As the saying goes, water and fire are inherently incompatible.
The instant the water dragons and fireball met, an intense struggle ensued.
The water dragons were suppressed, unable to advance further.
At the same time, the fireball was held back, unable to descend.
In the sky, the sound of steam hissed incessantly as thick white mist spread, obscuring the battlefield.
Seeing this, Seimei's eyes lit up. He abandoned control of the fireball, allowing it to be dissipated by the water dragons.
Using the cover of the mist, he dodged the water dragons' follow-up attacks.
He swiftly formed new seals, casting another jutsu—Water Style: Exploding Water Shock Wave!
In an instant, a massive waterfall descended, flooding the city.
The Kirigakure forces stationed here, along with those who arrived earlier, were caught off guard.
By the time they recovered and tried to resist, it was already too late.
Seimei pushed his chakra output to the limit, creating torrents of water that turned the central district into a vast lake.
Amid the chaos, the defensive arrangements within the district were utterly destroyed.
Despite their advantage in water-based combat, the Kirigakure shinobi couldn't rebuild their defenses in such conditions.
Moreover, since the water was created by Seimei, they feared he might have other tricks up his sleeve.
Unwilling to risk it, they began retreating en masse.
Seeing this, the Kirigakure reinforcements rushing toward the central district also hesitated, their expressions grim.
Realizing the situation was beyond salvaging, the Kirigakure commander hidden nearby ordered a full retreat.
What followed was simple: Kirigakure fled, and Konoha pursued!
The chase lasted nearly two hours. Once the Kirigakure forces boarded their ships and escaped, Yuhi Shinku declared victory.
Meanwhile, another base reported similarly decisive results.
Though Seimei wasn't there, Minato Namikaze was. Alone, he slew over twenty jōnin and special jōnin, breaking Kirigakure's resolve entirely.
That base was conquered even earlier than the northern district.
Reading the battle report in his hand, Seimei couldn't help but click his tongue.
It was evident that Minato wanted to end the war quickly.
Otherwise, with his temperament, he wouldn't have gone to such lengths.
Over twenty jōnin—it was likely that most of the base's jōnin had fallen by his hand.
No wonder Kirigakure collapsed!
"I wonder if suffering such heavy losses will provoke Kirigakure into fighting Konoha to the bitter end," Seimei mused.
But he quickly shook his head, dismissing the thought.
It wasn't that he underestimated Kirigakure, but the village simply lacked the strength to challenge Konoha head-on.
Konoha hadn't yet experienced the Nine-Tails attack or Orochimaru's betrayal. The village was still teeming with powerful shinobi.
Under such circumstances, if Kirigakure had any sense, they wouldn't choose to fight to the death.
In fact, this loss might even prompt Kirigakure to back down and expedite peace negotiations!
With these thoughts swirling in his mind, Seimei put away the battle report.
He formed a hand seal, creating a shadow clone to handle post-battle affairs, and left Sand River City to train.
The vastness of the world meant nothing compared to his quest for self-improvement.
He had already wasted enough time today and wasn't about to squander any more.