Mmm~"
A soft murmur escaped from the lips of the Konoha spy.
In the next moment, he suddenly opened his eyes, his entire body tensing up as his chakra began to surge violently, as if ready to explode at any moment.
However, just then, a voice came from the side. "Relax."
Hearing this, the Konoha spy turned his head to the left.
When he saw the familiar face of Seimei, he finally relaxed.
Then, as if realizing something, he quickly checked his internal state.
Seimei, with his sharp perception, immediately understood what the spy was worried about just from his reaction.
So, he reassured him, "Don't worry, I've already removed the poison from your body. Your other injuries have also been stabilized, so there's no need to be concerned for now."
Upon hearing this, the Konoha spy withdrew his chakra perception and sincerely said, "Thank you."
"No need to thank me. This is part of my mission."
Seimei responded calmly to the gratitude.
Neither of them asked for each other's names.
Seimei's name was already well-known. As a professional intelligence-gathering spy, the man—although from Kumo—had likely heard of Seimei's reputation. Even if he hadn't, after their previous battle, he must have recognized him.
Thus, asking or not asking made little difference.
However, it was different for the spy.
Until it was confirmed that he had withdrawn from his role as a spy and left the intelligence field, Seimei couldn't ask for any of his personal information, including his name.
Even if the spy retired in the future, his identity would still need to remain confidential.
To avoid unnecessary complications, Seimei chose not to ask anything at all.
At this moment, he treated himself purely as a mission tool, focused solely on escorting the spy back.
Everything else was irrelevant.
Seeing that Seimei had no intention of continuing the conversation, the Konoha spy let out a small breath of relief.
He then shifted his gaze downward.
Under the pale moonlight, the earth, mountains, rivers, grass, and stones all rapidly receded beneath them.
That's right—their entire conversation had taken place in the air.
After stabilizing the spy's condition, Seimei hadn't lingered in the forest but had instead chosen to move forward immediately.
Although he no longer needed to worry about alarming Kumo, as they were no longer a threat to him, and he could ignore their border lockdowns, he still wouldn't be completely safe until he returned to the Land of Fire and reached Konoha.
To avoid further trouble, he chose to travel through the night.
...
Time passed second by second.
Before long, Seimei reached the border of the Land of Lightning, which he had crossed earlier that day.
Since he had company, he refrained from using his Byakugan to scout the area.
Instead, he simply increased his altitude. After confirming that no one below could reach him, he proceeded toward the border blockade.
Everything went smoothly.
Soon, he crossed the blockade and entered the airspace of a neighboring small nation.
From there, things became even easier.
Seimei flew nonstop for over three hours, finally arriving safely outside Konoha in the middle of the night.
As they landed, Seimei noticed that the Konoha spy's steps were a little unsteady. Clearly, after spending so long in the air, he wasn't used to having solid ground beneath him again.
Thankfully, ninja in this world were accustomed to moving at great heights, so at least he didn't have a fear of heights. Otherwise, things would have been even more troublesome.
After a brief pause, Seimei looked at the spy and asked, "How are you holding up?"
Shivering slightly, the Konoha spy replied, "I'm... I'm okay."
Seimei was a little surprised.
He then took a closer look at the man's face.
To his surprise, the spy looked just as pale as when he had been poisoned.
For a moment, Seimei was startled, thinking something had gone wrong. But upon closer inspection, he realized the truth—the spy was simply frozen.
Yes, frozen.
After crossing the border of the Land of Lightning, Seimei had been wary of potential trouble, so he had maintained their altitude the entire way back.
Even though it was already June and the temperatures were rising, flying at several thousand meters in the middle of the night was still quite cold.
Seimei had his chakra cloak protecting him, so he barely felt the chill. But the spy? He had been enduring the freezing cold with no protection at all.
"Well..." Seimei felt a bit speechless.
It was his first time carrying someone while flying, and he hadn't considered this issue.
Moreover, since the long journey had been somewhat dull, he had been preoccupied with reviewing his training insights and hadn't paid attention to such details.
As a result, the spy had endured the freezing cold for several hours without saying a word.
Still, Seimei had to respect the man's toughness.
Shaking off his thoughts, he pretended not to notice and said, "Since you're fine, let's go."
"Alright."
The Konoha spy nodded.
Then, the two of them headed toward Konoha's main gate.
Before long, they arrived at the entrance.
At that moment, a figure suddenly appeared, blocking their path.
The person eyed them warily and asked, "Who are you?"
Without wasting any words, Seimei reached into his pouch and pulled out a sealed letter personally signed by Minato Namikaze. He tossed it over.
The Konoha ninja cautiously caught the letter and carefully checked the date and mission status. Once he confirmed everything was in order, he quickly formed a series of hand seals.
A moment later, a line of hidden text emerged on the paper.
Upon reading it, the Konoha ninja visibly relaxed.
Then, a burst of flames suddenly ignited, reducing the letter to ashes.
The ninja shook the ashes from his hand, stepped aside, and announced loudly, "Identity confirmed!"
It was obvious that this message wasn't meant for Seimei and the spy.
After his announcement, the massive Konoha gate creaked open just enough for one person to pass through at a time.
Seimei exchanged a glance with the Konoha spy before they both stepped through the entrance and entered the village.
It was clear that, despite the war being over, Konoha's security remained extremely tight.
The identity verification process, the number of stationed guards, and their skill levels had all increased significantly compared to peacetime.
Indeed, apart from the guard who had checked their identity, there were multiple hidden Konoha teams stationed nearby, all composed of at least Chunin-level ninja, with even two Jonin among them.
With such a force, they could buy time for the village to respond to any sudden threats.
As for sneaking into Konoha another way?
That was nearly impossible.
The entire village was covered by a sensory barrier, and unless a high-ranking Konoha official gave you the latest security codes, entering undetected was out of the question.
That was why Seimei always used the main gate.
Even with the Flying Thunder God Technique, he only dared to teleport within the less-monitored Uchiha district.
Of course, he could also use his 'Heavenly Dominion' ability to bypass the sensory barrier entirely.
But there was no need to waste his ocular power.
After all, he wasn't doing anything secretive. It was better to enter openly and put certain people in the village at ease.
Lost in thought, Seimei soon found himself standing in front of the Hokage's office alongside the Konoha spy.
They straightened their clothing before stepping inside.