Boom—
Boom—
Tossing the two unconscious figures onto the ground, Seimei didn't immediately cast a technique to read their memories. Instead, he kept his Byakugan activated, carefully scanning the surroundings.
Only after a long while, once he was sure that the sensory barrier in Kirigakure functioned similarly to Konoha's—meaning it couldn't detect spatial disturbances within—did he finally feel at ease.
Thinking about it, it made sense. A barrier covering such a wide range would already be impressive if it specialized in one aspect. It was impossible to make it perfect in every way.
Not to mention, the higher-ups within the village all had their own secrets. If there were a barrier capable of monitoring every movement inside at all times, it wouldn't exactly be convenient for them either.
Shaking off his thoughts, Seimei refocused on the two figures lying on the ground.
Just as before, he raised his hand and formed a seal, activating the Chakra Absorption Technique to drain their chakra first.
Only after ensuring they had no strength left to resist did he move on to the next step—preparing to extract their memories.
However, these two weren't ordinary shinobi. One was an Anbu from Kirigakure, while the other was likely a spy from another village.
Neither of them were easy targets.
That's why Seimei hesitated for a moment before deciding which one to start with. After some thought, he chose the middle-aged Kirigakure shinobi.
It wasn't for any special reason—just that this man wasn't particularly important to him.
This way, if anything went wrong during the memory extraction process, it wouldn't be a big loss.
That said, even though he thought this way, Seimei still proceeded with extreme caution.
True, if something happened to the target, it didn't matter much. But if it backfired on him, that would be a serious problem.
The shinobi world was full of secret techniques—who knew if the man's mind contained some kind of trap?
If it were just an ordinary shinobi, it wouldn't be worth the effort. But since this middle-aged man was likely a spy, that possibility couldn't be ruled out.
Better safe than sorry.
And as it turned out, his caution was justified.
Just as Seimei attempted to probe deeper into the man's memories, a sealing technique suddenly activated.
Not only did it completely lock away the man's memories, but it also sent a retaliatory force through the mental link, attempting to seal Seimei's own memories as well.
Had it succeeded, he would've been reduced to a mindless husk on the spot.
Unfortunately for the seal, Seimei had anticipated such a trick.
The moment he sensed something was off, he hesitated briefly before unleashing a surge of mental energy, forcefully flooding into the man's mind. This temporarily delayed the formation of the seal.
Watching the slowly "squirming" seal, Seimei nodded in satisfaction.
In truth, he could have withdrawn his consciousness the moment the seal appeared.
So why did he do the opposite and push forward instead?
The answer was simple—he wanted this sealing technique.
Looking ahead, whether it was capturing more Tailed Beasts or collecting more powerful techniques, he would need to plant spies in other villages.
Using Transcription Sealing to ensure their secrecy wasn't difficult.
But there was a problem—once the Transcription Seal was triggered, those spies would likely be exposed, making it impossible to keep Seimei's existence a secret.
Originally, Danzo's Curse Tongue Eradication Seal would have been perfect for this purpose.
Unfortunately, since it was one of Danzo's core methods of controlling subordinates, he hadn't stored it in the secret archives of Root.
So when Seimei raided the place, he hadn't found it.
But now, if he could master this new sealing technique and combine it with the illusionary power of his Mangekyō Sharingan, he could achieve something similar.
Suppressing his excitement, Seimei refocused and carefully observed the intricate structure of the seal before it could fully take shape.
Normally, the symbols of a sealing technique undergo various transformations—compressions, reductions, and even fusions—before the final form is complete.
For an ordinary person, deciphering the original formula from these incomplete patterns in such a short time would be virtually impossible.
But Seimei was different.
He had already mastered numerous sealing techniques to their peak and had even created an S-rank potential sealing technique on his own.
With that level of understanding, his insights into sealing arts far exceeded those of ordinary shinobi.
What others couldn't do didn't mean he couldn't either.
Moreover, while this particular sealing technique was unique, its complexity wasn't actually that high—the real challenge lay in the creator's unconventional approach.
As long as Seimei grasped the fundamental principles, learning it wouldn't be difficult at all.
Time passed second by second.
Inside the cave, an eerie silence filled the space.
Aside from the faint breathing of the three individuals, only the gentle sound of flowing water echoed from outside.
Then, in this quiet atmosphere, Seimei suddenly opened his eyes.
At the same moment, the middle-aged Kirigakure shinobi's eyes snapped open as well.
But unlike Seimei, who looked satisfied, the shinobi's expression was one of sheer horror.
Blood trickled from all seven orifices on his face, making for a truly gruesome sight.
A moment later, his body stiffened, and his life force vanished.
Seimei wasn't particularly surprised.
After all, in order to delay the formation of the Locking Heart Seal, he had poured a massive amount of mental energy into the man's mind.
Under such circumstances, it was only natural that the man's consciousness would "burst."
As for the Locking Heart Seal...
That was the name Seimei had given the technique he just learned—the one that had originally been in the spy's mind.
As the name suggested, the seal's function was to "lock" the target's heart, or rather, their memories.
Once activated, the memories would remain inaccessible unless the corresponding "key" was used.
Even someone familiar with the technique wouldn't be able to break it without the key.
That's right—Seimei hadn't managed to extract the deep-layer memories from the spy after all.
But even so, just the surface memories had already given him a wealth of information.
As he had suspected, the man really was a spy.
Of course, which village or faction he belonged to was something Seimei couldn't determine—it was hidden in the sealed portion of his mind.
But he did know why the man was out tonight.
He had been planning to meet someone and hand over intelligence he had gathered recently.
That's right—there was another infiltrator in Kirigakure tonight besides Seimei.
Or perhaps, they had already been here for some time.
Either way, they were definitely not from Kirigakure.
A brilliant idea formed in Seimei's mind.
Whoever dared to sneak into Kirigakure under such circumstances had to be quite powerful.
And if he wanted to place his own spies within the Kirigakure Anbu, he needed an opportunity.
If he could expose this infiltrator's location, it would undoubtedly draw the village's attention.
At that moment, he could take advantage of the chaos and accomplish his goal without anyone noticing.
As for verifying the intelligence...
The spy had already done that for him.
Among the intel he had planned to deliver tonight was the real reason why Yagura Karatachi had suddenly locked down the entire Land of Water.
Just as Seimei had guessed, it was related to Yagura's decision to overturn the Third Mizukage's Blood Mist Policy—though the details were far more intricate.
With this confirmation, Seimei could now move forward with his own plans.
But exactly how to proceed...
That was something he needed to carefully consider.
With that in mind, his gaze unconsciously shifted toward the still-unconscious Kirigakure Anbu.
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