Without realizing it, a week had passed.
The day of departure had arrived.
Before dawn fully broke, Seimei and two other Konoha Jonin set off with over a hundred Konoha ninjas, escorting more than a dozen carts.
These carts were loaded entirely with strategic supplies.
During the battle at City, many items went unused. The village couldn't afford to abandon them, so it fell to this group to escort them back.
Because of this, the return journey to the village would take at least three times as long, roughly a week.
Even so, not a single person in the group complained. Every face bore expressions of joy.
After all, they had survived.
This war had lasted far too long, claiming too many lives. Everyone was yearning for peace.
In the past few days, although things had been peaceful, being on the frontlines kept everyone instinctively on edge, even if they appeared relaxed on the surface.
It was a habit formed over more than two years of battlefield life.
But now, they were finally heading back to the village.
Once there, they could truly relax.
How could they not feel happy?
Clatter, clatter
The sound of cart wheels echoed, carrying far through the forest.
Seimei sat on one of the carts, staring at the monotonous surroundings. He felt a bit bored.
An hour had passed since their departure, and nothing of note had occurred.
Under such circumstances, it was impossible for him to focus on training.
After some thought, Seimei approached the two other Jonin and said, "I'll scout from above. You stay with the convoy."
The two, aware that Seimei had mastered a flying ninjutsu, thought it over briefly before nodding in agreement.
Seeing this, Seimei immediately left the convoy, formed a seal, and activated Wind Style: Wings of the Wind, ascending into the sky.
The rest of the convoy watched his figure disappear with envious eyes.
Whether in this world or the previous one, whether ordinary or extraordinary, humans bound to the land have always yearned for the sky.
Unfortunately, they lacked the ability.
In a few moments, Seimei's figure vanished from their sight.
After flying for a while, ensuring that he was no longer visible to those below, Seimei came to a halt.
He then raised his hands and formed the Ram seal, performing the Shadow Clone Jutsu.
Poof!
With a burst of chakra smoke, an identical shadow clone appeared in midair.
Looking at the clone, Seimei said directly, "You'll accompany the convoy from here. I'm going to train."
Indeed, Seimei had no intention of continuing with the convoy.
To him, it felt like a waste of time.
Instead, he'd rather dedicate that time to training.
The shadow clone, understanding his thoughts, nodded. "Got it. Go ahead. If anything happens, I'll notify you immediately."
"Good."
With that, Seimei departed, flying away from the area.
Estimating the convoy's speed, Seimei chose a location on the map within the hundred-kilometer communication range of the Mind Link Jutsu between him and his shadow clone.
This spot lay directly ahead of the convoy's route and at the edge of the technique's range.
This way, he wouldn't need to change locations for quite some time.
Acting on his plan, Seimei formed seals, activating Chakra Cloak to shield himself, then flapped his wings, flying at top speed toward the chosen destination.
A few minutes later, Seimei arrived at his destination.
It was a forest flanked by two sizable peaks.
One lay to the south and the other to the north, both situated in the forest's center. The map labeled them as Twin Peaks.
Between the peaks ran a relatively wide road.
This road was an important trade route connecting the eastern and central regions of the Land of Fire, and it was also part of the convoy's planned path.
Seimei chose the higher northern peak as his training spot.
As usual, he didn't rush to settle. Instead, he first released the Protection Seal on his forehead, concentrated, and activated his Byakugan to survey the surroundings.
His gaze penetrated the Konoha forehead protector on his brow, encompassing everything within a one-kilometer radius.
Initially, he thought such a remote area would be devoid of people.
But unexpectedly, as he flew over the lower southern peak, he noticed human structures hidden within it.
This was a mountain stronghold built along the slope of a hill.
Immediately, Seimei's attention was drawn to it.
Then, he saw people.
And not just one or two—there were at least thirty to forty figures.
However, none of these people had any chakra within them; they were just ordinary humans.
Seimei frowned slightly. He didn't like the idea of having people near the place he used for cultivation.
After thinking it over, he lowered his altitude and landed on the mountain.
Without alarming anyone, Seimei quickly approached the group.
When he finally saw them clearly, his tightly furrowed brow relaxed.
There was no other reason—judging by their attire, these people seemed to be a group of bandits.
This made things simpler; he could resolve the problem directly.
Even so, to be sure, he decided to question one of them about their identity.
With that thought, Seimei appeared in front of a sentry guarding the mountain path.
The man was visibly startled and instinctively tried to cry out.
However, in the next moment, Seimei used "Genjutsu: Sharingan."
In an instant, the man's consciousness was drawn into an illusionary realm.
It didn't take long for Seimei to figure out the origins and identity of these people.
As he suspected, they were indeed a group of bandits.
As for why they became bandits, the reason was simple: initially, they were refugees fleeing the war. With no way to survive, they had taken refuge here.
The forest behind them was rich in resources.
However, it was also fraught with dangers.
At first, they risked their lives hunting for food.
But when they discovered they could obtain supplies from caravans passing below the mountain, fewer and fewer were willing to take the risks.
Initially, they begged for help, but once human greed is unleashed, it's hard to rein it in.
Soon, begging turned into demanding by force.
And when their demands weren't met, it naturally escalated into looting.
By now, they were nothing short of ruthless bandits, committing all kinds of atrocities.
Seimei had no intention of showing mercy to bandits, even if they were once desperate refugees.
It didn't take long for Seimei to deal with the dozens of people in and around the stronghold.
Using Fire Release Ninjutsu, he burned them to ashes. Staring at the now-empty stronghold, Seimei wondered how many more such groups existed within the Land of Fire.
"Hmm, there must be quite a few."
Soon, Seimei gave himself an answer.
The reason was simple. Although the three years of war had mostly been fought outside the Land of Fire, that didn't mean the country was unaffected.
Ninjas infiltrating from other villages wouldn't care whether someone was a civilian or not. Sometimes, to cover their tracks, they wouldn't hesitate to massacre an entire village.
Not to mention the occasional ninja battles breaking out in towns. A single jutsu could kill countless people.
Under such circumstances, how could ordinary people live peacefully?
Compared to small nations that had turned into battlefields, the civilians of the Five Great Nations were barely surviving.
But for those affected, it wasn't uncommon to end up as bandits.
Seimei could already foresee that in the coming days, missions to eliminate bandits would skyrocket.
To maintain the Land of Fire's stability, Konoha would have to deal with these lingering issues from the war.
These thoughts flashed through his mind, but Seimei shook his head to dispel them. He didn't dwell on it further.
Instead, he formed a series of hand seals and used "Wind Release: Wings of Wind" to ascend into the sky.
Once again, he activated his Byakugan and surveyed the surroundings.
This time, he didn't find anything unusual.
So, he descended onto the northern mountain and resumed his training.
Support me by leaving a comment, voting, and visiting myPatr-eon at belamy20