The sun rises and sets.

In the blink of an eye, another week has passed.

This evening.

To the west of Youjin Harbor.

On a battlefield.

Seimei faced an encirclement by three Mist Village Jonin, holding a long sword. Occasionally, a greenish glow flashed around him, and his body moved rapidly.

He walked between the three, seemingly at ease, as though strolling through a garden.

In fact, it was true.

With his body undergoing another transformation, his reaction speed had been further enhanced.

With the powerful insight provided by his Three-Tomoe Sharingan, these three enemies posed no pressure on him, even though they were genuine Jonin.

Just by using the "Instant Sword Technique," Seimei was more than capable of handling them.

Why was he here, facing off against these three?

It's simple—he had been requisitioned.

As he had previously speculated, Nara Keiko did not give them much time to rest.

Almost immediately after he developed the "Shadow Sword Technique," personnel from their base began to be gradually deployed.

He was part of the first group to be sent out.

And the battlefield he was headed to was the most intense—Youjin Harbor.

As a crucial stronghold for the Mist Village's invasion of the Fire Country, Youjin Harbor, although forced to retreat into the harbor two months ago after being pressed by Seimei and other Konoha ninja, was now the Mist's main base in the Fire Country after abandoning other occupied regions and gathering forces at four key points.

As a result, the battle here was fierce.

This intense situation led to the dispatch of Seimei and other elite ninja.

For the past five days, Seimei had been fighting Mist ninja here.

As a well-known ninja, he was treated with special attention by the Mist Village, with at least three to four Jonin attacking him every time he appeared.

However, since the situation here had already been thoroughly understood by the Konoha command, and there were reconnaissance teams among them, Nara Keiko did not assign him any reconnaissance tasks. Instead, he fully leveraged Seimei's combat strength, using him to hold back these Mist Jonin.

Seimei was pleased with this arrangement, as he needed strong opponents to refine his "Shadow Sword Technique."

Since then, he had faced off against these Mist Jonin, as well as others who rotated in, using their hands to improve his technique.

At the same time, he worked on developing combinations between his "Instant Sword Technique" and "Illusion Sword Technique."

Like now, he dodged an attack from one Mist Jonin and immediately used the "Instant Sword Technique" to close in on another.

In the next moment, he gripped his sword with both hands and swung it fiercely.

The Mist Jonin before him slightly changed expression.

In his field of vision, Seimei's sword split into three, striking towards his neck, torso, and shoulder.

Had it been five days ago, he would have thought it was an illusion, with only one real sword.

Back then, Seimei had just begun practicing this technique, and without real opponents, his technique was still underdeveloped. It was easy to recognize and differentiate it from "Illusion Sword Technique."

But now, after a week of practice, Seimei had already managed to fuse it with the "Illusion Sword Technique," making it impossible for an ordinary person to tell which sword was real.

At the very least, this Mist Jonin could not discern it.

Thus, he dared not receive the blow and was forced to retreat.

Seimei chose not to pursue.

No, the other Mist Jonin had already launched their attack.

He caught sight of a shuriken coming from his right and leaned back slightly, narrowly avoiding the attack.

Before the enemy could launch another follow-up, Seimei turned to face them.

In an instant, a pair of blood-red Sharingan eyes filled the vision of the Mist Jonin, emitting subtle mental waves.

"Genjutsu?!"

The Mist Jonin was startled and quickly shut his eyes, retreating further.

Without hesitation, Seimei used the "Instant Sword Technique" to close the distance.

Crack~

The Mist Jonin suddenly stopped, planted his foot on the ground, and swung his shuriken in a flash towards Seimei's carotid artery.

It was clear that if the attack landed, even Seimei would not survive.

However, Seimei's face showed no signs of panic.

His pupils contracted, and with the enhanced insight of his Three-Tomoe Sharingan, the Jonin's every move seemed to slow down, posing no threat.

Seimei tilted his body slightly, avoiding the attack and simultaneously sidestepping, positioning himself to the side of the Jonin.

In the next moment, the "Shadow Sword Technique" was unleashed.

Swish~ Swish~ Swish~

Once again, three sword strikes flew out from Seimei's hands, each coming from a different direction, aiming at the Mist Jonin.

Realizing the danger, the Mist Jonin immediately swung his shuriken, blocking two of the sword strikes, but the third...

Ding~

The clear sound of metal colliding rang out.

The first Mist Jonin who had been forced to retreat quickly returned, wielding his shuriken to precisely block the attack.

Then, the Mist Jonin who had retreated earlier found an opening and threw several shuriken at Seimei's vital points.

Noticing the incoming shuriken from the corner of his eye, Seimei had no time to block and could only dodge.

Taking advantage of the moment, the three Mist Jonin once again split and half-surrounded Seimei.

Thus, the battle entered another cycle.

It was as if nothing had happened, and Seimei and the three continued to fight.

The Jonin worked together with great coordination. Even though Seimei could suppress them temporarily, the outcome would be the same as before—he would be forced to retreat without serious harm.

Of course, this was because Seimei was not using his full strength.

And he had no intention of doing so.

Since he needed to improve and experiment with the various applications of the "Shadow Sword Technique," he couldn't finish them off too easily.

That would only bring him more trouble without any real benefit.

It was fine to continue like this!

After all, Seimei was not in a hurry to end this drawn-out fight.

However, just because he wasn't in a rush didn't mean the Mist ninja weren't.

It was difficult for the Mist command to accept having Seimei tie down several of their Jonin every day.

Although these Jonin seemed lackluster against Seimei, that was only because Seimei's strength was strong enough to suppress them, limiting their effectiveness.

On other battlefields, these Jonin would be able to influence small regions significantly.

As Konoha's reinforcements grew in number, the pressure on Mist Village increased, and high-level combatants became scarce.

Now, Mist's command desperately wished to use these ninja more efficiently, each one being worth two.

In this situation, Seimei's ability to hold back multiple enemies had become quite an obstruction.

But Seimei was a problem that couldn't be ignored.

Thus, after careful consideration, Mist's command decided to mobilize a sufficient number of ninja to take Seimei down once and for all. This would not only eliminate the problem but also free up more combat power.

However, gathering enough manpower required meticulous planning.

After all, Seimei was no fool and wouldn't let himself be surrounded.

Moreover, Seimei had the Flight Technique, and if they weren't careful, he could easily escape.

So, it had to be done cautiously.

Finally, after much deliberation, Mist's command decided to create a time gap.

As Seimei continued his battle with the three Jonin, battles elsewhere began to stop earlier than usual.

To avoid detection, the early ceasefires were minimal.

To confuse Seimei, the battlefield near him remained as intense as before.

During this time, the Mist Jonin who had retreated due to the early ceasefire began to quickly regroup, splitting into several teams, and moving stealthily towards Seimei's location.

It must be said that although the Mist's plan was simple, it was effective.

Once they completed their setup, even Seimei would face some difficulties.

But his sharp senses soon detected something unusual.

For instance, the three Mist Jonin before him seemed to be deliberately stalling.

Realizing this, Seimei wasted no time and immediately searched for an opening. He released the "Guardian Seal" from his forehead and activated the Byakugan.

In an instant, everything within a kilometer came into his view.

At the same time, the Mist ninja's plan was laid bare before him.

There was no hiding the large chakra signatures closing in from all directions.

With only a moment's thought, Seimei understood Mist's intentions.