*Poof~*
A Mist Hidden warship burst through the fog, as if pushing through cotton candy.
Then came the second, the third...
Finally, all of the Mist Hidden warships managed to escape the reach of the *Water Release: Hidden Mist Jutsu.*
At this moment, nearly half an hour had passed since Seimei cast his technique.
Above, in the sky...
Seimei hovered, flapping his wings gently as he looked down at the gathered Mist shinobi and finally released the *Water Release: Hidden Mist Jutsu.*
His face was as pale as if recovering from a severe illness.
The reason? His chakra had been heavily drained.
For the past half hour, he had been pushing himself to the limit to maintain the *Hidden Mist Jutsu.*
And the Mist shinobi?
They had been casting the same jutsu, fighting to take control of the fog away from him.
Thus, even though he possessed an unusually large amount of chakra, it had still been an intense struggle to counter multiple Mist Hidden jōnin and numerous chūnin and genin.
If that had been the end of it, perhaps he could have managed. But he also had to constantly adjust the fog's coverage area to keep the Mist shinobi from escaping.
Indeed, during this time, they had not only been weakening his control over the mist but were also steering their ships, under the command of Ohsawa Yuki, in an attempt to sail out of the fog.
This forced Seimei to move with them, increasing the difficulty significantly.
It was only thanks to his immense chakra reserves that he managed to hold on this long; anyone else would've been completely drained by now.
But even he was close to his limit.
Although his chakra was recovering quickly, it was far from full capacity.
In this state, it was impossible for him to keep hindering the Mist's advance.
But...
Seimei glanced at the slightly overcrowded Mist Hidden warships and thought, "Destroying those two warships ahead of time was definitely the right choice."
This time, the Mist Hidden had brought their best to capture the Black Stone stronghold.
Setting aside Ayada team, the remaining ships were packed with personnel.
And now, with two warships destroyed by Seimei, the remaining ships had become even more crowded.
This would certainly slow the progress of the Mist shinobi.
Combined with the half-hour delay he had caused, it was more than enough time for Sano Nobunaga and his team to return to the Black Stone stronghold ahead of them.
So now, there was no need to stop the Mist from advancing any longer.
Seimei took one last look at the sea in the distance. All the Konoha shinobi who had survived due to his intervention had now perished.
It was clear that the hope he had brought them was nothing more than a fleeting illusion.
"Only by being truly strong oneself can one be truly powerful; everything else is just an illusion."
With a sigh, Seimei withdrew his gaze and shook his head before flying off toward the Black Stone stronghold.
Below, the Mist shinobi watched Seimei fly away, expressions complex.
"Captain, should we continue?"
Beside Ohsawa Yuki, Sakura Mizuki asked quietly.
Seimei's departure clearly meant his goal had been achieved, and everyone knew what that goal was: simply to delay them.
In other words, Konoha had probably had enough time to prepare.
Even if they pressed on, it was unlikely they could take the Black Stone stronghold by surprise, as they had initially planned.
If they tried a direct assault, given their previous battle two days ago, if Konoha was focused on defense, their chances of success would be low.
Not to mention that their allied team had suffered heavy losses in an ambush and could provide minimal support.
Under these circumstances, completing their mission objective seemed nearly impossible. Was there any need to continue?
This wasn't only Sakura Mizuki's thought; many other Mist shinobi shared it.
But when she voiced her question, the response she received was firm.
Ohsawa Yuki replied, "Continue! Of course we continue!"
Looking at Sakura Mizuki, he said, "Deliver orders to all jōnin, instructing them to organize their squads and advance at full speed."
"Hmm?"
Sakura Mizuki was surprised, wanting to say something, but upon seeing Ohsawa Yuki's stern face, she swallowed her words.
Unlike Konoha, Mist Hidden Village's strict leadership structure, enforced by the Third Mizukage's iron rule, placed heavy emphasis on hierarchy.
Thus, once Ohsawa Yuki had made a decision, every unit under his command, even those led by jōnin, had no choice but to obey.
So Sakura Mizuki dared not question his orders. She immediately began relaying Ohsawa Yuki's commands to the jōnin in charge of each ship.
Quickly, the entire Mist fleet sprang into action.
Standing on the deck of a ship in the center, watching the fleet around him, Ohsawa Yuki was momentarily lost in thought.
The reason he ordered the advance was threefold. First, he was unwilling to give up the opportunity, still holding onto some hope.
Hope that Konoha hadn't had enough time to prepare, allowing them to seize their chance.
Second, Sakura team was already on its way to the Black Stone stronghold. If they retreated now, they would likely be surrounded.
Survival would be left up to luck.
Osawa Yuki did not want to bear such losses.
Third...
The village's orders.
While others might not be aware, Osawa Yuki knew the village's operations near Konoha's southern defensive gap were not going smoothly.
Though they had expanded some territory in recent days, Konoha's resistance had been fierce.
Furthermore, intelligence suggested that Konoha seemed to be planning something to counter them.
Therefore, the village could not afford any slip-ups elsewhere and had ordered these teams to make sure Konoha reinforcements didn't interfere.
Thus, even if they couldn't take their objective, they were to continue advancing.
This was also why he had attacked again after just two days.
Initially, after hearing of Ayada ambush, he had intended to outmaneuver Konoha's Black Stone stronghold and secure a victory.
But now, the situation had reached this point.
All he could do was take it one step at a time.
"Sigh..."
With a quiet sigh, Osawa Yuki murmured to himself, "What a pity."
---
Meanwhile...
Elsewhere...
After flying several kilometers, Seimei was about to continue onward when a sudden sensation struck him, flooding his mind.
"This is...?"
Seimei paused in surprise, then broke into a smile, quickly descending to land on the sea's surface.
Standing on the water, he closed his eyes, focusing on the insight that had emerged in his mind.
Moments later, he opened his eyes.
"Status."
With a thought, Seimei brought up his proficiency panel.
To his delight, his *Wind Release: Wings of Wind* had silently advanced from level 4 to level 5.
It turned out that during his recent flight, *Wings of Wind* had accumulated enough proficiency to break into level 5.
And the insight he just felt was precisely related to the techniques of level 5 *Wings of Wind.*
With a thought, Seimei formed hand seals, instantly casting *Wind Release: Wings of Wind.*
*Whoosh~*
A pair of pale blue chakra wings appeared.
Glancing back at them, Seimei noted that these chakra wings hadn't changed much in appearance from level 4.
But inside...
He focused, and with a gentle flap of his wings, he shot high into the air.
Then came a dizzying series of aerial maneuvers.
Compared to level 4, he was noticeably more agile, his turns sharp and precise.
And his speed...
Level 5 represented a transformation for any technique, and *Wings of Wind* was no exception.
With the promotion to level 5, his flight speed had more than doubled.
He could now reach a speed of 100 meters per second—though still shy of supersonic speed, it was indeed impressive.
At 100 meters per second, he could cover 360 kilometers an hour.
That's faster than a car!
At this speed, only the *Flying Thunder God Technique* of Namikaze Minato and the *Heaven's Gift Technique* of Cloud Hidden Village could match him.
As for the others...
Techniques like Rasa's *Magnet Release: Gold Sand,* Onoki's *Super Lightened Boulder Jutsu,* the *Peacock Secret Technique* of Hoshigakure, the *Bubble Technique* of the Six-Tails of Mist Hidden, and the wings of the Seven-Tails of Takigakure couldn't come close to catching him.
And this was only his level 5 state. As his *Wings of Wind* leveled up further, he would become even faster.
Eventually, he would be nearly untouchable.
And he would gain even more freedom.
"Looks like hard work does pay off!"
With a final mutter, Seimei flapped his wings and once again flew in the direction of the Black Stone stronghold.
**(End of Chapter)**