Chapter 216: Evolution and the Ghost Corpse Clan

One day later.

The rest period ended.

Seimei began to lead the team on missions under Omura Tadahito's arrangements.

The Kaze willow Town stronghold was located at the foot of a mountain. To the west and north, less than two hundred meters away, were mountains, which were extremely important strategic high grounds. To the south was a plain leading to the rear headquarters, and to the east was the main Iwa ninja force.

Therefore, they had three main external missions. The first was to meet the support troops coming from the south.

The second was to monitor the movements of the main Iwa force in the east, ensuring that they received news the moment an attack was launched.

As for the third...

It was to fight against small Iwa units in the mountains to the west and north, preventing them from seizing these two strategic high grounds.

To ensure he could obtain enough chakra every day, Seimei didn't hesitate and directly requested to carry out the third mission.

Omura Tadahito didn't have any objections and readily agreed.

It wasn't that he was easy to talk to, but over the past day, he had carefully learned about the relevant circumstances of Seimei and the others' journey.

He knew that Seimei's combat power far exceeded that of an average Jonin, and their group was able to escape here successfully thanks to Seimei's extraordinary combat strength.

Therefore, upon hearing Seimei's request, he agreed without any hesitation.

Thus, Seimei naturally became a member stationed at the western mountain stronghold and, as he wished, encountered a small Iwa infiltration unit.

There's no need to elaborate on the battle process. With Seimei's current strength, even if he wanted to fail, it would be difficult.

In this way, he smoothly obtained the chakra he wanted.

And with ample chakra, Seimei didn't waste any time, using Yang Release chakra to strengthen his body almost every minute and second.

Fortunately, practicing the 'Mystical Palm Technique' didn't require a quiet environment, allowing him to continue strengthening even during missions.

Although this might seem a bit strange, Seimei didn't care.

After all, not many of these people would survive this great war, so there was no need to worry about his strange behavior spreading.

Moreover, even if it did spread, it wouldn't matter much. Ninja training was a relatively private matter, and no one would be so foolish as to inquire about it directly.

As for secret investigations...

Once he awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan, his strength would directly soar to the Kage level. At that time, who would care about such trivial matters?

In the end, in the ninja world, strength spoke the loudest. As long as he was powerful enough, he wouldn't have to worry about others having ill intentions.

It was with these considerations in mind that Seimei hardly avoided his squad members while practicing the 'Mystical Palm Technique' to strengthen his body.

Only when absorbing chakra would he be slightly more discreet.

After all, chakra was the most fundamental thing for every ninja.

If someone knew that he could absorb chakra, and even more so, forcefully extract it by efficiently squeezing the body...

Even if they didn't say anything, they would instinctively be wary in their hearts.

Seimei didn't want any unnecessary complications, so it was better not to let them know.

Fortunately, his 'Chakra Absorption Technique' had already reached level 5, capable of extracting a thousand chakra points from the target per second. It only took seven or eight seconds to drain a Chunin's chakra.

Therefore, concealing it wasn't too troublesome.

In this way, Seimei overcame various difficulties and began strengthening his body according to plan.

...

Time flew by, and seven days passed.

This afternoon.

When Seimei once again performed the 'Mystical Palm Technique' and the Yang Release chakra within his body began to circulate, strengthening his cells, an indescribable power suddenly erupted.

It was as if a volcano that had been accumulating for a long time suddenly erupted, surging within him, pushing his body to rapidly strengthen.

Seimei's expression changed slightly, and he suddenly stopped in his tracks.

On the side, several Konoha Chunin, seeing this, thought he had discovered something and quickly became alert.

After a while, someone cautiously asked, "Captain, what happened?"

Hearing this, Seimei, enduring the discomfort in his body, waved his hand and said, "Stop here for a moment, stay alert!"

With that, regardless of what his subordinates thought, he flashed to a nearby boulder, sat down cross-legged, and slowly closed his eyes.

Instantly, everything around him seemed to fade away from Seimei.

He began to focus most of his mind on his body, sorting out that power and making it gentler.

Seimei hadn't expected this evolution to be so intense, catching him a bit off guard.

Fortunately, this power originated from his own foundation, otherwise, with it rampaging within his body, he might have actually gotten injured.

As his mind joined in and began to sort it out, the changes became less drastic.

Seimei once again felt the pleasant sensation he had experienced during his previous bodily evolutions.

...

Time passed by.

In the blink of an eye, an hour had gone by.

Just as the Konoha Chunin outside were getting a bit impatient, Seimei finally opened his eyes.

"Captain?"

Seeing this, they quickly spoke up, wanting to ask something, but Seimei raised his hand to interrupt them.

Then, he looked towards a certain spot in the forest and said calmly, "Since you all are here, why not show yourselves?"

"What?"

Hearing this, the Chunin subordinates were shocked and quickly took out their kunai, all looking in the direction Seimei was gazing at.

However, there was no movement there.

The subordinates couldn't help but have some doubts about Seimei's judgment. Although they were concerned about Seimei just now, their vigilance hadn't weakened at all.

If enemies had approached, they should have at least sensed something.

But in reality, they hadn't noticed anything.

Just as they were feeling puzzled, a round of applause came.

"Clap, clap, clap~"

Following that was a creepy laugh and a series of footsteps.

"Hahaha~ As expected of the Ghost Sword, Seimei. Your perception is truly sharp!"

As the voice spoke, a figure appeared in the clearing.

Its body was withered, its clothes tattered. Although it was laughing, the expression on its face was exceptionally strange, like a corpse.

That's right, it was a corpse.

Not only him, but the few people behind him were the same, their bodies devoid of any life force that living people should have.

It was precisely because of this that the Konoha Chunin under Seimei hadn't noticed these people approaching.

Only Seimei had sensed a slight spiritual fluctuation, which led him to discover the anomaly.

Looking at these people, Seimei frowned and asked, "Who are you? Why are you looking for me?"

That's right, these people weren't Iwa ninjas. They didn't have the Iwagakure symbol on them, or rather, they didn't have the symbol of any ninja village.

So, most likely, they weren't ninjas from any of the major villages.

Connecting this to Onoki and Iwagakure's style of doing things, Seimei already had some guesses in his mind.

And just as he was lost in thought, the withered figure spoke.

"Hehe, who are we? Hahaha~ I don't mind telling you. We are the great Ghost Corpse Clan, hahaha~"

The first half of the sentence was spoken by one person, but the latter half was said in unison with the others behind him.

Even their laughter erupted simultaneously.

Suddenly, the clearing was filled with creepy laughter.

Suddenly, as if sensing something, Seimei shouted, "Be careful, everyone! Seal your hearing immediately. This is genjutsu!"

"What?"

Hearing this, the Konoha Chunin's expressions changed drastically. They realized that they had unconsciously started to smile slightly.

They were horrified and quickly covered their ears.

(End of Chapter)