On Moon Island, inside a wooden cabin, Seimei was fast asleep.
Suddenly, his brow furrowed, as if caught in a nightmare.
But that wasn't it. His mind, in a rare moment of blankness, was suddenly flooded with a rush of memories, and it took him a second to adjust.
His eyes snapped open, a brief haze of confusion giving way to clarity.
"These are… the memories from my Wood Clone in Iwagakure," he muttered, focusing to sift through the flood of information in his head.
A few moments later, his expression turned… weird.
Something unexpected had happened in Iwagakure, but not in a bad way—quite the opposite.
From his Wood Clone's memories, he learned that Iwagakure had fully pinned the mysterious intruder from that night on Obito Uchiha. They were now scouring the world for him.
This was great news for Seimei.
But, like… how?
It happened way too fast.
Including the day he took to rest, it had only been five days since he infiltrated Iwagakure.
In that short time, even if Minato Namikaze had deliberately leaked intel, Iwagakure shouldn't have shifted their focus so quickly. They should've still been zeroed in on Konoha.
After all, communication between two ninja villages isn't as simple as two people chatting. No matter how legit the intel, the other side would go through a whole mess of strategizing and verification.
That process could take anywhere from a week or two to a full month.
No way Iwagakure would just buy Konoha's story right off the bat.
Seimei had been ready to keep nudging them in the right direction.
But who could've guessed? In just five days, they'd locked onto Obito Uchiha.
Talk about saving him a ton of hassle.
No wonder his face looked so weird!
Still, everything happens for a reason.
If Iwagakure bought Konoha's intel so fast, they had to have a good reason.
Seimei closed his eyes again, diving deeper into his Wood Clone's memories.
His clone thought just like him, so it would've dug deeper into this intel.
Sure enough, he found something.
According to memories his clone extracted from an Iwagakure ANBU operative under his control, Obito Uchiha had snuck into Iwagakure a month ago.
Yup, a whole month before Seimei's stunt, Obito had secretly infiltrated the village.
That break-in was why Onoki had beefed up the village's defenses, personally ordering a second chakra-sensing barrier—the one Seimei had been dodging so carefully this past month.
At the time, he couldn't figure out why Onoki issued that order. He even thought his Shadow Clone had been compromised and had it lay low for a while.
Now it all clicked.
Onoki wasn't guarding against him—it was Obito all along.
That prior preparation was exactly why Onoki bought Konoha's intel so quickly.
He'd already been secretly investigating Konoha's direction for a while. The signs pointed to someone tied to Konoha, but not directly controlled by them.
"Talk about a lucky break," Seimei chuckled to himself.
He hadn't expected this plot twist.
It also proved that a single Shadow Clone and a few informants weren't enough to uncover all of a major village's secrets, especially one like Iwagakure.
He hadn't heard a peep about something that happened a month ago.
It was only because his recent break-in made Onoki loosen security on certain classified info that an ANBU operative—under Seimei's control—caught wind of it during a mission. That's how he finally pieced it together.
Otherwise, he'd still be in the dark.
But now, a new question popped up. "Why did Obito sneak into Iwagakure?"
Seimei kept digging through his clone's memories, but Onoki had kept that detail locked down tight.
Still, Seimei could make an educated guess.
Right now, the only things Obito cared about in the ninja world were getting revenge on Konoha and collecting Tailed Beasts.
The first? That'd wait until Kushina Uzumaki went into labor, and it'd only involve Konoha.
The second? Well, Iwagakure just so happened to have one Tailed Beast left.
Obito's secret break-in was probably about that beast.
Whether he was scoping out Han, the Five-Tails Jinchuriki, or planning to snatch him, it all boiled down to spying on Iwagakure's secrets.
No surprise that triggered a big reaction from the village. Knowing Onoki, that crafty old fox probably connected a ton of dots the moment it happened.
Honestly, Seimei was shocked Onoki didn't flip out immediately and instead investigated quietly for a month.
He knew Onoki wasn't exactly Mr. Easygoing.
But based on Iwagakure's actions over the past month—and what his clones in both villages had picked up—Onoki hadn't done anything too drastic.
Still, whatever twists and turns led to this, things were moving exactly as Seimei wanted.
And that was enough.
Clearing his mind, he stopped overthinking.
He glanced out the window at the sky.
His Wood Clone had finished its investigation at dawn, and processing those memories had taken more time. Now, the sky was starting to brighten.
Seimei decided to get up. After a quick wash, he geared up and activated the Flying Thunder God Technique.
In a flash, he went from Moon Island to a hill outside Iwagakure.
Yup, he wasn't training today—he was back near Iwagakure.
His Wood Clone there had dispelled itself, so he needed to make a new one.
Why not just create it on Moon Island and send it over?
Simple. With Iwagakure's current alert level, a Wood Clone couldn't sneak in without drawing attention.
With a thought, Seimei activated his Byakugan.
Instantly, the two chakra-sensing barriers around Iwagakure came into view.
He studied them carefully, ensuring there were no traps, then used his Ama no Miya ability to slip inside.
Dodging the village's patrol teams, he made his way to an underground hideout.
Wood Clone Technique!
Silently, a new Wood Clone split off from him.
"Stay here and keep watch," Seimei instructed.
The clone nodded without a word.
Seimei didn't stick around. He retraced his steps, slipping through the village's barriers and back to the hill outside Iwagakure.
Standing there, gazing at the village below, he didn't leave right away.
Sure, he came to replace the Wood Clone, but he also wanted to confirm if the Five-Tails was still in the village.
Judging by Iwagakure and Onoki's reactions, Obito probably hadn't nabbed Han, but Seimei wanted to be sure.
It'd also confirm his theory about why Obito infiltrated.
With that in mind, Seimei moved a bit farther from the village, found a secluded cave, and set up protective measures. Then he used the Spiritualization Technique.
Yup, the S-rank forbidden jutsu—Spiritualization Technique!
He planned to use its insane sensory boost to locate his target from a distance.
Having captured two Tailed Beasts, he was attuned to both their chakra and their Jinchuriki's.
With the Spiritualization Technique, finding them would be a breeze.
And it was.
The moment his soul left his body, his senses amplified thousands of times over.
In just a few seconds, he locked onto the Five-Tails Jinchuriki.
As expected, Iwagakure hadn't lost their last Tailed Beast.
Seimei let out a small sigh of relief.
He had no plans to become the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, but a chakra source that massive? He'd rather keep tabs on it.
The Five-Tails staying put would save him a lot of trouble down the line.
Also, Onoki—true to form—only trusted himself. Even after two break-ins, he stubbornly kept Han in the village instead of hiding him elsewhere.
That made it easy for Seimei to pinpoint him.
But it worked out. With a heavyweight like Onoki watching over, even Obito would think twice.
From Obito's unexpected move, Seimei was starting to realize his influence on this world was growing.
In his past-life memories, he had no clue Obito had pulled this stunt.
Clearly, Obito's decision to infiltrate Iwagakure was likely because Seimei had already snatched the Four-Tails.
Maybe Obito was checking on the Five-Tails' status.
Either way, Obito's behavior was shifting.
It wasn't hard to see that every choice Seimei made could spark a chain reaction, potentially reshaping the entire ninja world.
With Onoki guarding the Five-Tails, Seimei could rest a bit easier.
As for changes? With his strength, he wasn't scared of any shifts in the world.
Those thoughts flickered through his mind, but he didn't dwell on them.
After one last check on the Five-Tails, Seimei recalled his senses and released the jutsu.
His soul snapped back into his body, and he opened his eyes.
"Phew."
Exhaling softly, he adjusted, erased any traces of his presence, and used the Flying Thunder God Technique to return to Moon Island.