Having grown used to flying at a speed of one or two kilometers per second, suddenly slowing down to his old pace of 300 meters per second honestly made Seimei feel a bit out of sorts.
But today was meant to be a day of rest for him anyway, so flying at this "slow" speed just became a chance to enjoy the scenery.
With that in mind, Seimei wasn't in a rush. He leisurely followed the route shown on the map, flying toward a small town in the central-northern region of the Land of Fire.
Time ticked by, second by second.
About thirty minutes later—
Up in the sky, Seimei spotted a small town nestled at the foot of a mountain.
To be honest, towns in such locations weren't all that common in the Land of Fire. Typically, towns were built near rivers or across open plains. River towns could thrive on trade, while plains allowed for large-scale crop cultivation.
Mountain-foot settlements were usually no more than small villages.
But this town was different.
According to intel from the Anbu, the mountain nearby was no ordinary one. It was massive and rich in rare medicinal herbs.
These herbs had attracted a huge number of people over time, transforming what was once a small village into a thriving town centered around herbal processing and trade.
That information flashed through Seimei's mind but was soon brushed aside. He wasn't here to study the town's economy.
His gaze swept across the town and the mountain behind it.
From what he could tell, Orochimaru and Jiraiya were either hiding in the town or somewhere in that mountain. Either way, they wouldn't be far.
If he used the Byakugan from above and expanded his search outward from the town's center, Seimei was confident he could pinpoint their exact location within thirty minutes to an hour.
But he couldn't do that.
The main reason for this trip was to witness Jiraiya's Sennin Mode firsthand.
If he started scanning the area with the Byakugan, it would alert both Orochimaru and Jiraiya, throwing everything off balance. If that happened, they probably wouldn't fight at all—or if they did, it wouldn't be with their full power.
And for Jiraiya to activate Sennin Mode, things had to unfold just like in the alternate timeline: he needed to make up his mind to try and save Orochimaru with his own strength.
Only then would he go all out.
That meant Seimei absolutely could not interfere—not even a little. If he did, Jiraiya might hesitate, and then who knows how things would turn out.
So unless he had no other choice, Seimei wasn't going to get involved.
In fact, he'd go as far as stopping any other Konoha Anbu from interfering in this battle between Jiraiya and Orochimaru.
With that decided, Seimei landed far from the town and activated mangekyo to stealthily approach the area.
However, he didn't enter the town. Instead, he headed into the mountain behind it, picked a good hiding spot, suppressed his chakra completely, and concealed himself there.
Since both Orochimaru and Jiraiya were already here, he just had to wait patiently for them to clash. Once the battle began, he could easily locate them.
There was no need to search blindly.
As for his mission?
That wasn't nearly as important as his own goals.
Besides, Minato had instructed him to focus on surveillance and only intervene after Jiraiya failed to convince Orochimaru.
So technically, he wasn't slacking off.
...
Time continued to pass.
The sun gradually began to dip below the horizon.
Seimei had originally expected the fight to break out quickly. According to the Anbu, both Orochimaru and Jiraiya had already arrived in this area the day before.
And given how precious time was to Orochimaru now, it didn't make sense for him to linger.
Yet nothing happened.
Night fell—and still, the battle he had anticipated never came.
Orochimaru had been in the area for two days, yet hadn't made a move. And strangely enough, Jiraiya was just as quiet, as if the two were deliberately stalling each other.
Seimei couldn't make sense of it.
"What's going on?"
That night, standing atop a large tree deep in the mountain forest, Seimei looked down at the now mostly darkened town. The forest behind him still echoed with the sounds of insects and birds, but his heart was full of doubt.
If this intel hadn't come directly from Minato himself, Seimei would've thought it was flawed—that Orochimaru and Jiraiya weren't even here.
Still, the eerie calm reminded him of the quiet before a storm.
If that was true, then there was only one explanation: both Orochimaru and Jiraiya were preparing, building up strength.
That thought made Seimei's heart race.
Why? Because it meant the coming battle would be intense—making it all the more likely he'd get to witness Jiraiya's Sennin Mode.
"Inhale... exhale..."
Taking a deep breath to calm himself down, Seimei reminded himself that while things were going according to plan, it was getting late. His rest day was almost over.
He debated whether to delay his next round of harsh training by a day or two.
But after thinking it through, he decided against it.
Sure, watching Jiraiya enter Sennin Mode was important—but not as important as his own growth.
Besides, with the Hiraishin no Jutsu as his trump card, he didn't need to hang around in person. Leaving behind a shadow clone would be enough to monitor the situation.
With that, Seimei quickly formed hand seals and used the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, creating a clone.
This time, the clone looked normal—still colder than him, but not as unmotivated as the one he had left at home previously.
Seimei placed a Hiraishin marker on the clone's body.
That way, once the fight started, the clone could trigger the marker and instantly summon Seimei.
To be extra cautious, he also marked a few spots in the surrounding mountains.
That way, even if the clone got taken out instantly, he'd still be able to teleport over.
Once everything was in place, Seimei was ready to leave.
But just as he locked onto the island in the southern sea of the Land of Fire to teleport to it, something made him stop.
He had just remembered the special kunai Minato had given him.
Had he activated the teleportation technique while carrying that kunai, it would've exposed his use of Hiraishin no Jutsu.
After all, just like Seimei could sense his own markers, Minato could sense his as well.
And there weren't many jutsu in the entire ninja world that could teleport someone across hundreds of kilometers instantly.
Minato would immediately suspect Hiraishin.
And that would trigger a whole chain of problems.
"Whew\... that was close."
Seimei patted his chest in relief, carefully took the kunai out of his pouch, and handed it to his shadow clone.
The clone blinked in surprise—he'd clearly overlooked that detail as well.
Seeing the reaction, Seimei shook his head silently.
Of course, we think the same. Whatever I forget, the clone will probably forget too.
"All right, I'm leaving this to you. I'm off."
With that, Seimei gave his final instructions and activated the Hiraishin no Jutsu.
In an instant, his figure vanished without a trace.
(End of Chapter)