Sure, the Anbu ninjas are the ones Yagura trusts most. In Seimei's head, there's a solid chance he'd hand the job of finding and capturing the tailed beast to them.
But that's just a guess—nothing's 100% certain.
Plus, no matter which village you're in, Anbu missions are risky as hell.
And that means they're way more likely to bite the dust than your average ninja.
Now, the odds of all seven of his sleeper agents getting wiped out over the next year or so? Not super high. But if even half of them go down, he might miss the memo about the Three-Tails waking up.
So, yeah, he can't put all his eggs in one basket.
With that in mind, Seimei ignored the Kiri Anbu still chasing after that Iwa Anbu in the distance. A few quick flickers later, he was perched on a big tree, peering toward the Mizukage's building.
Thanks to his Byakugan, he could clearly spot a dozen or so Kiri squads gathering in that direction.
And nope, these weren't Anbu.
But the fact that Yagura sent them out right now? That alone proves he trusts them plenty.
So, next up, they're his targets.
Decision made, Seimei hopped off the branch, raised his hands, and weaved some signs. Shadow Clone Technique—bam, a handful of clones popped out.
Then he had them transform—some into Kiri Anbu, some into Iwa Anbu—and sent them scattering toward the village's outer edges, playing a game of cat and mouse.
He wasn't banking on totally fooling the incoming Kiri ninjas, but if he could muddy their judgment and split their forces, that'd be enough.
That's when his chance would come.
And wouldn't you know it—things went pretty much like he'd planned.
The arriving Kiri ninjas knew there's no way that many enemies could sneak into the village under full lockdown without a sound.
But with "Iwa Anbu" right in front of them, they couldn't just ignore it either.
You know, just in case.
Good thing they had the numbers—they weren't scared to split up.
So, naturally, they walked right into Seimei's trap.
After that, it was smooth sailing.
First, he scanned the crowd with his Byakugan, ruling out the obvious tough nuts to crack. Then he locked onto the weaker links—your average Joes.
Using his shadow clones to set up distractions, he let his real self swoop in and "adjust" these guys.
No way those Kiri ninjas could've guessed that in just ten-odd seconds apart, their buddies got turned into sleeper agents—spies who don't even know they're spies! 😏
Of course, it wasn't all perfect.
With so many Kiri ninjas around, sometimes one he'd just tweaked ran into another too soon.
They'd chat, and boom—timelines didn't match up.
When that happened, Seimei had to roll the dice: tweak the second guy too and wipe both their short-term memories again.
Risky as hell—his odds of getting caught shot way up.
Other times, he didn't even get the chance to mess with the suspicious ones. In those cases, he had to go hard—take 'em both out.
To keep his identity under wraps, he couldn't use his usual ninjutsu tricks.
That put some pressure on him, no doubt.
Lucky for him, his raw stats were insane, and with the Mangekyo Sharingan and Byakugan backing him up, he dodged any major screw-ups.
Of course, those eyes were the biggest giveaway.
To stop anyone from digging memories out of the bodies later, he hit each corpse with a Fire Style: Plain Roast Technique—poof, no evidence left! 🔥
Some Kiri ninjas tried to protect their buddies' bodies, but Seimei's massive chakra pool shut that down hard.
About half an hour later, after planting a dozen or so sleeper agents in the reinforcements, he finally started dropping his Shadow Clone Technique and peeled out of the fight.
The Kiri ninjas weren't ready to let it go, though. They called in more backup and combed the area, hoping to sniff him out.
Too bad for them—they didn't find a single hair.
With Heaven's Guard, Seimei strolled right past their search like it was nothing, leaving their encirclement in the dust.
Once he was clear of the battlefield, he hopped onto another tree, watching the still-busy Kiri ninjas. He shook his head, ready to bounce.
But just as he jumped down and took two steps, he froze.
Not because he'd spotted something off, but because even after all that, it still didn't feel airtight.
Standing there, mulling it over, he suddenly muttered, "I need one last insurance policy!"
Yup, that's right. Whether it's the Anbu from before or these new Kiri ninjas Yagura trusts, they're all just pawns in the mission—none of them have any say in hunting down or catching the Three-Tails.
That means there's still a chance he could miss the intel.
To make it foolproof, he's gotta grab the reins himself.
Now, that doesn't mean he's about to take over Yagura.
With his current skills, controlling the guy wouldn't be an issue. But Yagura's the Mizukage—tons of eyes are on him every day, analyzing his every move.
Especially right now, with everything on high alert.
To pull off a perfect takeover, Seimei couldn't leave his side.
Heck, he'd have to pull an Obito-from-another-timeline move—maybe not kick off the full Blood Mist era, but at least stir up some chaos in the village so no one's got time to notice him.
And that? No way Seimei's signing up for that.
He's not about to chain himself here, and he sure as hell isn't crazy enough to mess with people's lives just for his own gain.
Yeah, he can drop anyone blocking his path without a second thought, but that doesn't mean he's cool with throwing lives away left and right.
Do too much of that, and you're begging for a mental breakdown.
So, he needs a different target.
Who else in Kirigakure would get the scoop on the Three-Tails right away, besides Yagura?
Easy answer: the Elder!
Yup, that Elder—the one who stepped in as acting Mizukage after Yagura got ousted, holding the hat until the Fourth Five Kage Summit rolled around and he handed it off to Terumi Mei.
From the memories Seimei pulled from that Kiri Anbu earlier, he knew this guy keeps a low profile but wields power second only to the current Fourth Mizukage, Yagura.
Even back in the Third Mizukage's day, his influence and rep were no joke.
So, no doubt—he'd get the Three-Tails news the second it dropped.
If Seimei could control him, even if all his earlier setups flopped, he'd still hear about the Three-Tails waking up right away.
Bonus: that Anbu's memory even had the guy's address. He could head there now and turn him into "one of his own."
No time to waste—Seimei didn't hesitate. He turned on his heel and bolted back into the heart of Kirigakure.