Walking along the street leading from the village to the Hokage's office, Seimei observed his surroundings while deep in thought.
Soon, he arrived at the entrance of the Hokage building.
After adjusting his attire slightly, Seimei stepped inside without hesitation.
First, he led his team to the mission hall on the first floor, where they completed the mission handover.
Then, he proceeded alone to the second floor and entered the Hokage's office.
For important missions like this, it was customary for the mission leader to personally report to the Hokage, detailing various aspects of the mission.
This practice not only strengthened the relationship between the Hokage and the village's elite jōnin but also provided valuable insights for assessing the overall situation in the ninja world.
The conversation between them proceeded smoothly. Minato Namikaze did not bring up anything about Danzo; he merely inquired about certain details of the mission.
Once the main discussion was concluded, Minato began asking about unrelated matters, such as Seimei's views on certain village policies and whether he had any suggestions.
It was clear that Minato had strong intentions to reform the village.
However, Seimei had no interest in getting involved.
It was well known that, throughout history and across all worlds, reform was always the most difficult endeavor.
It was said that shaking the soul was easy, but shaking vested interests was difficult.
Reform inevitably meant infringing upon the interests of the old guard to redistribute benefits to a new group.
This would undoubtedly provoke resistance from those whose interests were threatened.
Indeed, Minato Namikaze had the support of most of the village's younger generation.
However, as long as the old generation remained alive, his reforms would not proceed smoothly.
Seimei had no intention of plunging into such a deep and unpredictable vortex.
Certainly, with his current strength, he had little to fear from conspiracies or revenge.
But if he could cultivate in peace, why invite unnecessary trouble?
Thus, when Minato subtly hinted at his hopes, Seimei decisively declined.
After chatting for a little while longer, Seimei took his leave.
He first visited a familiar shop, enjoyed a satisfying meal, and then returned to the Uchiha clan grounds.
However, just as he was about to enter his home, someone intercepted him, informing him that Uchiha Fugaku was looking for him.
With no other choice, Seimei headed toward Fugaku's residence.
On the way, he speculated about the reason for the summons.
After careful thought, he concluded that it was likely related to Minato's reforms.
Given the current relationship between the Uchiha clan and the village, only through reform could things truly change.
As a leader who constantly wavered between conservatism and radicalism, Uchiha Fugaku, upon seeing a peaceful resolution as a possibility, would naturally want to seize the opportunity.
Unfortunately, approaching Seimei was a mistake.
He had already made it clear that he would not get involved in this turmoil.
As expected, his guess was correct.
Upon entering Fugaku's residence and exchanging some pleasantries, Fugaku began subtly probing whether Minato had consulted him on the matter.
His words also contained a veiled request for Seimei to advocate for the Uchiha clan's interests.
Seimei had no interest in engaging in empty pleasantries, so he directly conveyed his decision.
Fugaku's expression fluctuated, clearly displeased with Seimei's refusal to seize the opportunity.
However, in the end, he said nothing more.
After some small talk, Seimei excused himself and left.
Leaving Fugaku's residence, Seimei originally intended to go straight home. However, after some thought, he changed direction and headed toward the Uchiha clan's secret archive.
With a pass personally signed by the Grand Elder, he had unrestricted access to study and learn from the clan's vast collection.
Since obtaining the pass, he had never used it once.
At the time, he had too many skills to practice, and having just acquired Danzo's collection, there was no urgency.
But now, with most of his skills maxed out and the additional chakra reserves provided by the Seven-Tails, it was time for him to study the Uchiha clan's secret techniques.
The first priority was the life-saving technique—Izanagi.
Indeed, he possessed the ability of 'Heaven's Mandate,' which greatly reduced the risk of life-threatening situations.
However, it was not absolute. There was always the possibility of encountering a jutsu or technique that countered it.
Thus, learning Izanagi was essential.
At the very least, it would give him another way to survive.
And when it came to survival techniques, he welcomed them all without hesitation.
As for the cost of using Izanagi…
Logically speaking, if one's life was at stake, why worry about losing an eye?
Moreover, the blindness it caused was not necessarily permanent.
Based on Uchiha Madara's later recovery, it was evident that upgrading the Sharingan to the Rinnegan could negate this drawback.
And was he capable of achieving this?
With his proficiency system, Seimei had absolute confidence that he could!
Aside from Izanagi, he also intended to learn its counterpart—Izanami.
It was foreseeable that, in this timeline, with his presence, the Uchiha clan was unlikely to be exterminated.
This meant that Izanagi could become widely known.
Thus, he needed a way to counter it, even if it came at the cost of another Sharingan.
Having a sword and not using it was vastly different from not having a sword at all.
Seimei refused to find himself unprepared when the moment of crisis arrived.
He always preferred to plan ahead.
That way, he would never be caught off guard.
Gathering his thoughts, Seimei turned his attention to the third target—Transcription Seal!
This powerful sealing technique required the ocular power of the Mangekyō Sharingan to be cast.
It allowed a specific technique or dōjutsu to be preemptively sealed within one's own or another's body and triggered under set conditions.
This technique paired exceptionally well with Izanagi, making it a must-learn skill.
However, mastering it required repeatedly consuming ocular power. While recoverable, it meant he couldn't simply brute-force his way through with chakra.
Instead, its growth would be tied to the steady enhancement of his ocular power.
After securing this technique, Seimei moved on to another secret technique.
It was none other than the A-rank genjutsu—Demonic Illusion: Mirror Heaven and Earth Change!
This technique allowed the user to instantly reflect an enemy's genjutsu back at them upon seeing through it.
His Sharingan had long since gained the ability to see through illusions, but he had lacked a high-level countermeasure.
Now that he had learned it, once mastered, it would allow him to nullify almost all genjutsu.
Looking at the four newly acquired secret techniques, Seimei couldn't help but sigh inwardly: "It's truly a blessing that the Uchiha clan hasn't been wiped out!"
Otherwise, gathering these secret techniques would have taken an immense amount of effort. The heritage of a millennium-old clan was indeed formidable!
And this was even after Uchiha Madara had looted much of it. Otherwise, the Uchiha archives would have been even more extensive.
Thinking about Madara's fire-style jutsu and other skills, Seimei made up his mind—if given the chance, he would definitely dig up Madara's grave in the future.