Grind is My Ninja Way

Time flies like a fleeting horse.

In the blink of an eye, a week had passed.

Konohagakure.

At the headquarters of the Root organization.

Inside an office.

Danzo sat behind his desk, carefully reviewing the surveillance reports in his hand.

After a while, he placed the report back on the desk.

Then, he looked up at the Root ninja standing before him and asked, "Have you pinpointed the location yet?"

"Yes, sir!"

The ninja, codenamed "Beta," nodded and said, "The Red Shadow Squad and the Gray Hawk Squad have roughly determined the target's area of activity. Within one or two more days at most, we'll be able to pinpoint the exact location."

Hearing this affirmative response, a rare smile appeared on Danzo's grim face.

Although it was merely a faint smirk, it was enough to reveal his satisfaction.

After a brief moment of thought, he instructed, "Beta, go make preparations immediately. Follow the plan we've outlined over the past few days. Send personnel out of the village in batches. Once the target's location is confirmed, act without delay."

"Understood, sir!"

Beta had no objections and immediately responded with a firm salute.

"Good."

Danzo, pleased with his subordinate's attitude, nodded and waved his hand. "You're dismissed."

"Yes."

Beta responded one final time and then disappeared in a flash.

Click—

The door to the office closed.

Danzo picked up the surveillance report on his desk again and reviewed it for a while longer.

After a moment, he tossed the report back onto the desk.

Leaning back in his chair, he closed his eyes slightly, lost in thought.

The room fell silent except for the rhythmic tapping of Danzo's fingers on the desk.

At the same time.

Far from Konohagakure, in a distant location.

Seimei soared through the sky, his Byakugan-enabled vision piercing through the foliage below. He could clearly see the Root ninjas hidden in the forest beneath him.

Throughout his journey, he had spotted several such squads.

It was obvious that his plan had worked; the Root ninjas had indeed kept up with his movements through their persistent efforts.

However, the timing was less than ideal.

According to his calculations, he still needed three more days for his "Chakra Cloak" to advance to the next level.

Yet, these pursuers would likely lock onto his exact location within one or two days at most.

By then, to avoid further complications, they would likely take immediate action.

This would leave Seimei with significantly less security.

After some thought, Seimei decided to stick to his plan but with a minor adjustment to buy himself more time.

With this in mind, he suddenly veered off course, heading in a different direction instead of continuing straight ahead as he usually would.

Within moments, as he flew further away, several Root ninjas emerged from the forest below.

They stared intently at Seimei's departing figure. Behind their masks, their expressions were grim. One of them asked, "Do you think he's noticed us?"

It wasn't an unreasonable assumption. Seimei's sudden change in direction was highly unusual.

Over the past week, while they had only managed to track him this far, they were fairly certain of the general direction he was heading.

Previously, they had used this information to narrow down the monitoring area step by step.

But now, Seimei's abrupt change in flight direction naturally raised their suspicions.

Regardless of their doubts, they ultimately chose not to act rashly.

At this point, there was no room for carelessness.

Danzo's orders were clear: they were to prioritize avoiding detection by Seimei, even if it meant losing track of the target.

They had no choice; Seimei's flight techniques were far too agile.

If he became aware of their presence, all their efforts over the past week would be wasted.

Thus, they adopted the most cautious approach for this mission.

Meanwhile, Seimei didn't make things overly difficult for them. To avoid spooking the "fish," he merely stepped out of their surveillance range briefly before circling around to a forest in the south.

This way, a simple investigation by the Root ninjas would reveal his trail, confirming that he hadn't gone far.

As a result, the Root ninjas would likely dismiss this as a mere coincidence.

When he resumes his normal routine tomorrow, everything will return to how it was before.

The Root ninjas wouldn't grow overly suspicious. At most, they would spend an extra day reestablishing his whereabouts.

Compared to the deadline Danzo set for this mission, that is practically negligible.

For Seimei, however, it means an extra day for training.

By the time the Root ninjas pinpoint his exact location, he would nearly complete his training for the "Chakra Cloak."

Of course, such a delay could only happen once.

Otherwise, it would definitely arouse suspicion from both the Root ninjas and Danzo.

After all, if it happens only once, they might assume something unknown caused Seimei to deviate from his usual activity pattern.

But if it happens repeatedly, even a fool would know something is wrong.

Fortunately, Seimei only needed this one chance.

Back in the forest.

Seimei wasted no time. He immediately raised his hand, formed seals, and performed the "Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu."

As five clones appeared around him, Seimei skillfully assigned each of them specific jutsus to train, then sent them off.

Meanwhile, Seimei also began his own training.

Every hour, he would dispel the shadow clones, absorb and process their training experiences and memories, and convert them into proficiency for his respective skills.

Afterward, he would create new clones and assign them further training tasks.

This cycle repeated endlessly, constantly improving the proficiency of his skills.

Time passed in a blur, and three days went by.

On the morning of the third day...

When Seimei absorbed the training experiences and memories of his shadow clones once again, his "Chakra Cloak" advanced to the next level.

As he had hoped, reaching the perfected stage of Lv9 (0/0) brought a qualitative transformation in its effects.

Previously, at Lv8, besides the "Endless Vitality" trait, the cloak could at most endure two C-rank ninjutsu or ten D-rank ninjutsu attacks within a single second.

However, it would collapse immediately when faced with B-rank ninjutsu.

Now...

Seimei could clearly feel its "durability."

Thinking of this, he raised his hand, formed seals, and used the "Shadow Clone Jutsu" to create a single shadow clone.

He began testing immediately.

Casting various ninjutsu, he attacked the shadow clone cloaked in the "Chakra Cloak."

Seconds turned into minutes.

About ten minutes later, Seimei stopped his actions.

At this point, he had drawn a conclusion: against D-rank and lower ninjutsu, the enhanced "Endless Vitality" allowed him to practically ignore attacks as long as his chakra didn't run out.

For C-rank ninjutsu, he could endure seven or eight attacks within a single second without issue.

Even against B-rank ninjutsu, he could withstand two attacks without the cloak breaking.

In short, its effect had become incredibly powerful.

This newfound strength gave Seimei even more confidence in the upcoming battle.

With this in mind, Seimei dispelled the "Guardian Seal" on his forehead, activated his Byakugan, and scanned the area within a kilometer radius for the hidden Root ninjas.

Sure enough, the Root ninjas were already closing in on him.

And he, too, was waiting for someone to arrive.

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