After casually registering in the first-floor hall, Seimei led the Konoha spy straight to the third floor, where the Hokage's office was located.
Soon, the two arrived outside the Hokage's office.
Seimei glanced at the ANBU guards stationed on either side of the door.
One of them was unfamiliar, but the other was instantly recognizable—none other than the recently renowned Hatake Kakashi.
Even though Seimei didn't pay much attention to outside affairs, he had still heard vague rumors about the so-called "Cold-Blooded Kakashi."
It was said that ever since joining ANBU, Kakashi had never left a single enemy ninja alive during his missions. Sometimes, even his teammates feared him.
Through their masks, their gazes met. Seimei could clearly see the indifference toward life in Kakashi's eyes, as well as an overwhelming death wish that was almost tangible.
Only someone who didn't value their own life could exhibit such prowess in ANBU missions.
That said, it was undeniably an effective way to gain battle experience.
Looking back, without this period of experience, Kakashi might never have grown into a ninja capable of standing alone.
But then again, was this what Kakashi truly wanted?
Seimei didn't know, nor did he want to know.
Retracting his gaze, he shook his head slightly, pushed such thoughts aside, and knocked on the Hokage's office door.
Knock, knock, knock.
Soon, a gentle voice came from inside.
"Come in!"
Upon hearing this, Seimei pushed the door open and stepped inside, with the Konoha spy following closely behind.
Bang.
The door closed again behind them.
Seeing them enter, Minato Namikaze first let his gaze linger on the Konoha spy before turning to Seimei. "Seimei, you did well this time."
Seimei humbly replied, "This was my duty, Lord Fourth."
Minato smiled and didn't dwell on the subject. Instead, he spoke seriously, "Now, tell me about the mission."
Without hesitation, Seimei recounted everything he had done since setting out.
Of course, anything related to the Mangekyō Sharingan and the Byakugan was either glossed over or omitted entirely.
In short, he didn't reveal a single secret.
Minato noticed some omissions but chose not to press further.
Everyone has their secrets—especially Seimei, who had killed Danzo and numerous elite Root members. His secrets ran even deeper.
But Minato didn't mind.
His only goal was to lead Konoha and the Land of Fire forward.
As long as it didn't endanger the village or violate fundamental ethics, he could turn a blind eye.
Time passed minute by minute.
After about fifteen minutes, Seimei finished recounting the mission.
Minato took a moment to reflect before asking a few unimportant follow-up questions. Seimei answered them all without hesitation.
After that, Minato declared the mission complete, allowing Seimei to leave.
Upon hearing this, Seimei glanced at the Konoha spy, who had remained silent the entire time, then left without further concern.
What came next had little to do with him.
As for what forbidden technique prototype Kumogakure had developed…
Seimei was somewhat curious.
But when he treated and detoxified the spy, he found no relevant clues, so he dismissed the matter.
To him, a single forbidden technique wasn't particularly valuable.
Besides, from the available intelligence, the technique seemed more suited for battlefield use, which didn't interest him much in his pursuit of personal strength.
Rather than wasting time satisfying his curiosity, it was better to focus on training, ensuring that the "Eight Trigrams Sealing Technique" reached perfection so he could fully harness the power of the Seven-Tails.
After all, he still had four secret techniques waiting to be mastered!
With this thought, Seimei couldn't sit still. He quickened his pace, left the Hokage's building, and returned home.
Upon arriving, he formed hand seals and used the "Shadow Clone Technique," creating a single clone.
Leaving the clone behind to stand guard at home, Seimei then used the "Flying Thunder God Technique" to teleport to an island in the southern seas of the Land of Fire.
Even though the moon was high in the sky, he had no intention of resting.
Today's urgent mission had already cost him valuable time, and he wanted to train before sleeping to make up for the loss.
With this in mind, he formed hand seals and executed the "Multiple Shadow Clone Technique."
Boom!
With a burst of chakra smoke, nearly a hundred clones appeared around him.
This time, Seimei created several times more clones than usual.
If time wasn't enough, then quantity would have to compensate.
Of course, training with so many clones at once would inevitably waste a large amount of chakra.
But it didn't matter.
After all, he hadn't used much chakra today.
The hours of flight and battle in the forest had indeed cost him some chakra, but compared to the 1,016,000 points of chakra he could use daily, it was insignificant.
Moreover, he still had the extra 200,000 chakra provided by the Seven-Tails.
Most of that chakra remained unused.
Thus, he could afford to ignore the losses. As long as his mind could handle it, he would create as many clones as possible to maximize his training efficiency.
Could his body recover that much chakra in such a short time?
The answer was yes.
Seimei's powerful physique allowed him to forcibly extract chakra that would normally regenerate gradually.
As long as he didn't exceed his body's limits, there would be no major issues—at most, he'd feel slightly weak for a few days afterward.
This was a price he could easily bear.
Besides, having just completed an A-rank mission, the village wouldn't assign him another task anytime soon.
This way, he could avoid his weakened state interfering with his duties.
Even if he were still in his weakened state, he was confident he could defeat an elite jonin.
So, there was no need for concern.
With that in mind, Seimei stopped overthinking. He began assigning training tasks to his clones, each practicing different skills.
After finishing these arrangements, he focused his attention on alternating between "Mystical Palm Technique" and "Reflecting Mind Technique," strengthening his body while advancing the evolution of his Sharingan.
Unknowingly, a month had passed since his last Sharingan evolution milestone (40,000/50,000), and two months had passed since his "Physique" attribute increased from 21 to 22.
At his current rate, in about another month, his body would undergo another transformation, leading to a further increase in his "Physique" attribute.
This was thanks to the improvements made to the "Mystical Palm Technique," which enhanced its body-strengthening effects.
Without this, his body would have needed at least two more months to evolve again.
However, his Sharingan's evolution might reach the (50,000/50,000) threshold before then.
If that happened, his "Spirit" attribute would likely increase significantly before his body caught up.
This worried Seimei.
He had theorized that Uchiha Itachi's physical deterioration—despite being untreatable by medicine—was likely caused by his body being overwhelmed by mental strain, resulting in genetic mutation.
Although Seimei's body was far stronger than Itachi's, the burden of the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan was far greater than that of a normal Mangekyō Sharingan.
So, if possible, he wanted to delay his Mangekyō's evolution until after his next physical transformation.
The gap wasn't long, and waiting a few extra days to reduce the risk was well worth it.
Of course, the final decision would depend on how his body responded.