With a decision made, Seimei wasted no time. He immediately raised his hand to form seals, using the ninjutsu — Communication Technique!
While it's true that one should always hold something in reserve, this wasn't the time to keep secrets.
Sure, he could fly back to the base in under two minutes, but the Mist Ninja squad below wasn't far from the base either.
At that distance, two minutes could change a lot of things.
So, after a brief thought, he decided to reveal the "Communication Technique."
Of course, he was only able to do this because his skill had been promoted to level 3 after practicing it for two days, allowing him to communicate freely with anyone, not just his shadow clones, within a five-kilometer radius.
Otherwise, even if he wanted to reveal it, he wouldn't have had the chance.
These thoughts flashed through his mind as Seimei contacted Sano Nobuhisa.
"Seimei?"
On the other side, Sano Nobuhisa spoke with hesitation.
Clearly, he didn't expect Seimei to also know the Yamanaka clan's secret technique.
Seimei didn't bother to explain, instead saying, "A team of Mist Ninjas is approaching from the south side of the base. Their number is roughly—"
Seimei glanced down at the Mist Ninjas below and quickly estimated, "About 260 of them."
Upon hearing this, Sano Nobuhisa stopped worrying about how Seimei suddenly learned the "Communication Technique" and quickly asked, "How strong are they? What's their exact position?"
In response, Seimei focused his Sharingan on the Mist Ninjas below. After a moment, he said, "About ten Jonin, 170 Chunin, the rest are Genin. As for their position—"
"They're about four kilometers from the base now."
"Four kilometers…"
Sano Nobuhisa murmured, paused briefly, and then directly ordered, "Seimei, delay their advance as much as possible. I'll send reinforcements immediately."
"As expected…"
Seimei had already known that as long as he didn't return to the base, he would inevitably be asked to intercept the enemy.
In fact, even if he had just flown back, they would probably have asked him to fly back out to continue blocking the enemy's advance.
After all, with his flight ability, he was the ideal candidate for this task.
He had also considered this before deciding not to fly back to report.
Fortunately, as he had just reported, the overall strength of the Mist Ninjas below wasn't overwhelming — they were still within his capability.
So, he did not refuse and agreed readily.
After cutting the connection, Seimei focused and shifted his full attention to the Mist Ninjas below.
By now, those Mist Ninjas had already spotted him.
Unfortunately for them, he was flying too high for their attacks to reach.
Thus, for now, no one attempted to attack him.
Seimei looked at the Mist Ninja formation below, which had slowed its pace. Several Mist Jonin gathered together, discussing something while glancing up at him.
There was no need to guess; Seimei knew they were discussing how to deal with him.
However, Seimei wasn't worried. As long as he didn't lower his altitude, there was nothing they could do.
This was the beauty of flight-based ninjutsu.
However, to his surprise, after a short discussion, the Mist Jonin ignored him and resumed leading their troops forward.
The pace they had just slowed down now sped up again.
Seeing this, Seimei frowned slightly. This move had presented him with a dilemma.
Sure, he was safe up in the air, out of their range, but at the same time, the ninjutsu he currently had couldn't affect them from that height.
This meant that they could completely ignore his threat and keep moving.
Conversely, if he chose to lower his altitude, he would undoubtedly face numerous attacks.
His risks would increase significantly.
After following them for several hundred meters, Seimei finally sighed and said, "Fine, sooner or later I have to take this step, might as well start now!"
With this thought, Seimei's expression hardened. He locked onto the densest group of Mist Ninjas below, and the chakra wings on his back flapped gently.
Then, like a missile, he dove straight down.
Sure enough, seeing him make a move, one of the Mist Jonin immediately ordered the troops to stop and prepare to attack.
The distance between them kept closing, and Seimei was about to enter their attack range.
However, just then, he suddenly pulled up sharply.
He traced a beautiful "U" shape in the sky.
Seimei was indeed planning to strike, but that didn't mean he wanted a head-on clash.
With full control over the situation, he could easily harass them repeatedly, playing a game of "crying wolf." As long as he slowed down their advance, it didn't matter if he actually attacked or not.
*Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh~*
Seeing Seimei leave their attack range once again, some of the Mist Ninjas, unwilling to let it go, threw their kunai.
But Seimei was simply too fast and agile in the air. None of the kunai even got close.
After climbing back to a higher altitude, Seimei didn't immediately dive again. Instead, he circled above, quietly observing the Mist Ninjas' reactions.
Below, the Mist Ninjas paused for a moment. Realizing they couldn't do anything to Seimei, they continued to advance.
However, they hadn't gone far before Seimei once again lowered his altitude, assuming an attack stance.
Seeing this, the Mist Ninjas didn't dare to take any chances and halted to prepare for defense once more.
Yet again, Seimei only feigned an attack. He climbed back up just before reaching critical altitude.
Immediately, the Mist Ninjas below were thrown into disarray.
Back at high altitude, Seimei observed all of this through his Sharingan and nodded in satisfaction. This was exactly the effect he wanted.
"Hmm?"
Suddenly, Seimei noticed that the Mist Jonin were gathering again.
He had no idea what they were discussing, but less than a minute later, they split up once more.
Next, they led half of the troops each, moving in two different directions — east and west.
"What are they doing?"
Seeing this, Seimei felt a mix of surprise and uncertainty.
But he quickly understood their plan.
After splitting up about 100 meters, the two groups stopped moving, then both resumed heading towards the Black Stone base.
It was obvious they were trying to spread the risk.
By splitting into two teams, regardless of which one he attacked, the other could continue advancing.
This way, at least half of them would be guaranteed to reach the target on time.
Furthermore, since the two teams were still close to each other, if one got caught up with him, the other could quickly provide support.
Similarly, if one team struggled, the other could decide whether or not to assist.
They had considered every angle.
Seimei had to admit he was impressed that they came up with such a plan in such a short time.
"Unfortunately, even the most brilliant plan means nothing in the face of overwhelming strength."
With a murmur, Seimei's wings flapped, and he dived directly toward the eastern group.
(End of Chapter)