Swoosh~
A pair of light blue chakra wings unfurled from Seimei's back. With a mere thought, he controlled these wings and flew into the sky.
Seeing him attempt to leave their attack range, the two Mist Village Jonin, who had just been performing ninjutsu, immediately ceased their actions.
Next, they each pulled out several shurikens from their pouches and hurled them toward Seimei in the air.
From their angles, it was clear that these shurikens were aimed to block all his possible escape routes.
However, Seimei had no intention of dodging.
Almost as soon as the shurikens were thrown, he locked onto their flight paths.
Then, with a sharp "clang," he drew his long sword from its sheath at his waist.
Swish, swish, swish~
His sword danced through the air.
After a series of rapid "ding, ding, ding" sounds, every shuriken hurled at him was sliced down, one by one.
Seeing this, the two Mist Jonin, though disappointed, weren't too surprised.
Given the extraordinary swordsmanship Seimei had displayed earlier, combined with his Sharingan, it wasn't difficult for him to achieve this.
They hadn't expected mere shurikens to kill him.
Their goal was singular: to slow his flight speed, buying time for their companions.
Moments later, they both shouted in unison, "Shimi!"
Almost as soon as they spoke, a soft, melodic voice drifted into Seimei's ears, as if it were a lullaby or someone's dreamy whisper.
The moment it reached him, it penetrated his mind, filling him with an overwhelming urge to sleep.
"Hypnosis? Genjutsu?"
Seimei's mind stirred. He quickly summoned his vast mental energy, easily dispelling the spiritual force and chakra invading his brain.
"Hmph~"
Below, Kimura Shimi, who had been standing next to Mori Shita Sevens, let out a stifled grunt as her genjutsu was broken.
Yes, Seimei had indeed been under a genjutsu attack, one cast by the Mist ninja who had rushed to Mori Shita's aid.
Before, Seimei thought she had acted out of concern for her companion.
But now, it seemed there was some deliberate intent behind it.
She was probably trying to cover any possible weaknesses.
This wasn't some paranoid conspiracy; her lack of genjutsu use during their earlier encounters made this clear.
From the timing and skill with which she cast her genjutsu, it was evident that she excelled in this technique.
So why hadn't she used it earlier?
There could be only one reason: she had been hiding her strength, waiting for the perfect opportunity to deliver a fatal blow.
But despite all her calculations, she couldn't overcome his sheer power.
Indeed, she had chosen an effective sonic genjutsu to target him based on his previous battles.
But against his enormous mental energy, this level of genjutsu was easily shattered.
If Seimei had already mastered the Sharingan's exclusive genjutsu—**Demonic Illusion: Mirror Heaven and Earth Change**—he could have effortlessly reflected the genjutsu back at her with his current ocular power.
These thoughts flashed through Seimei's mind as he looked down.
By now, the other three Mist ninjas had only just begun forming seals.
But it was too late.
Freed from the genjutsu, Seimei swiftly flew even higher, completely out of their attack range.
Seeing this, Izumi Junichi halted his hand seals and muttered, "How is this possible?"
Seimei had broken free from the genjutsu much faster than they had anticipated.
This completely derailed their original plan.
Frustrated, Izumi Junichi shot a glance at Kimura Shimi, as if asking, "Why did he break free so quickly?"
In the past, they had fought Uchiha clan ninjas, and even those with the Three Tomoe Sharingan needed a few seconds to escape the effects of **Illusion: Phantom Sound**.
And those few seconds were usually enough to secure control.
But this time?
Before they could act, Seimei had already regained his freedom.
All their careful planning had crumbled in an instant, leaving Junichi angry and confused.
Had it not been for his trust in Kimura Shimi, he might've thought she was deliberately going easy on him.
Under Junichi's questioning gaze, Kimura Shimi explained, "His mental strength is far too powerful, much stronger than a typical Uchiha Jonin. I can't affect him!"
Upon hearing this, Junichi's expression darkened. He silently looked back up at Seimei, now flying high above, his face even more grim.
Their mission had been to stall Seimei.
But now that Seimei was out of their attack range, if he didn't want to engage, they had no chance of pinning him down again.
In other words, their mission was likely to fail.
"Damn it!"
Junichi cursed under his breath and angrily threw a kunai toward Seimei.
But from such a low position and at such a distance, the kunai's speed quickly slowed, and there was no chance it would hit him.
With just a gentle flap of his wings, Seimei easily avoided the attack.
However, he didn't immediately retaliate.
Instead, he flew another ten meters higher.
Once he was certain he was safe, he formed seals and used **Mystical Palm Technique**.
A dense ball of Yang Release chakra appeared, which he promptly directed into the wound on his abdomen.
Although the shuriken's hit wasn't lethal, the injury was still on his abdomen, and despite his best efforts, he had lost quite a bit of blood.
He needed to heal quickly.
As for the wound on his left arm?
Seimei simply gathered some chakra to stimulate his body's natural healing abilities and then left it be.
After taking care of his injuries, he refocused on the four Mist ninjas below. Seeing they hadn't retreated yet, he decided to finally launch a counterattack.
But just then, something caught his eye.
"What's that?"
Seimei turned and looked to the south.
A few kilometers from the Black Stone Outpost, a group of around 200 to 300 people was quickly approaching.
A thought crossed his mind, and Seimei swiftly abandoned his attack on the Mist Jonin, instead flying towards the group.
With a speed of 40 meters per second, it took him less than two minutes to reach the group.
And as he got closer, he identified them.
"As I thought, Mist ninjas!"
Seimei whispered to himself as he looked at the group below.
In truth, when he saw the direction they were coming from, he had already guessed their identity.
Only Mist ninjas from Fish Town would approach the Black Stone Outpost from the south.
If they were Leaf Village reinforcements, they would've come from the west or north, closer to the heart of the Land of Fire.
"I just don't understand—why are they only coming now?"
Though puzzled, Seimei didn't dwell on it. The most pressing issue was to deliver the news to the outpost. Everything else could wait.
(End of Chapter)