Time ticked by, second by second.
In just five or six minutes, the tension reached its peak.
Seeing that Seimei still hadn't shown any flaws, the Root ninja exchanged glances. Without a word, they all understood—they couldn't wait any longer!
At the moment, they were merely pretending to struggle against him, but if they allowed Seimei to continue his relentless bombardment, their act would soon turn into reality—they'd be outmatched.
Thus, they had to make their move while they were still in decent condition.
That's right, it was time for an all-or-nothing gamble.
Having lost the advantage of the first strike and with three of their comrades already dead, many of the tactics they had prepared were now unusable. While they still had backup measures, given the current situation, they could only take a desperate shot in the dark.
"Plan C!" shouted one of the Root ninjas, seemingly the leader.
At his command, the four remaining Root ninjas immediately stopped in their tracks. Taking positions at precise intervals, they formed a perfect formation and swiftly executed three hand seals in unison.
In the next moment, dense black markings emerged from their bodies and shot skyward, transforming into four towering beams of light.
Upon closer inspection, one could see intricate sealing techniques flowing within the beams, which soon began to spread outward. The seals seemed to be forming a cube-like barrier, aiming to trap Seimei inside.
However, Seimei had already been wary of their movements.
For the past few minutes, he had been deliberately targeting these individuals with his attacks.
Despite the increasing danger, they stubbornly held their positions, never abandoning their assigned spots.
The others seemed to be subtly protecting these four, which only heightened Seimei's suspicions.
As expected, they suddenly unleashed a bizarre sealing barrier. Even though it hadn't fully closed yet, Seimei could feel an invisible pressure weighing on both his body and mind.
Without hesitation, he flapped his wings, intending to escape the area before the barrier could take shape.
But the Root ninjas wouldn't act without confidence.
Just as Seimei turned to flee, several vacuum bullets were launched at him, their speed so fast even he couldn't help but be impressed.
Indeed, it was the B-rank Wind Release technique—**Vacuum Bullets**!
In Danzo's hands, this technique was powerful enough to injure Sasuke, even with his Mangekyō Sharingan active.
Currently, Seimei was only maintaining his three-tomoe Sharingan, so evading the attack wasn't easy. Thankfully, the user this time was merely a Root special jonin; otherwise, avoiding the attack unscathed would've been unlikely.
*Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!*
Several vacuum bullets whizzed past his ears.
Seimei breathed a slight sigh of relief and prepared to continue his escape.
But then, a spindle-shaped bird appeared out of nowhere, diving at him like lightning, its sharp beak aiming to pierce his heart from behind.
The bird's approach was nearly silent, its timing impeccable.
Against anyone else, this might have been a fatal strike.
But Seimei was different.
The moment it appeared, Seimei's Byakugan caught sight of it.
With a swift turn, he activated **Chakra Scalpel**, slicing off the bird's head in one clean strike.
*Squawk!*
The bird let out a mournful cry.
Simultaneously, a pained scream came from within the forest below, where the lone remaining Root chunin clutched his chest in agony.
Seimei's peripheral vision caught sight of the ninja.
With his Byakugan, he had already noticed that this peculiar summoned bird was being controlled by the ninja who had just summoned it. Judging by the situation, the ninja had likely used some kind of secret technique to temporarily manipulate the bird's movements.
It made sense—such a precise and deadly attack could only have been possible under direct control.
But because of this connection, the ninja suffered severe backlash when the bird was decapitated.
For the Root ninjas, though, such sacrifices were acceptable.
Seimei surveyed his surroundings and saw that in the time he had been delayed, the light beams from the four Root ninjas had merged to form a complete barrier.
Just as he had sensed earlier, the moment the barrier closed, an inexplicable pressure descended upon his body and mind.
In the shinobi world, the body and mind are the foundation of chakra, the very source of a ninja's extraordinary abilities.
Once the body and mind are suppressed, and chakra flow is disrupted, even the most skilled ninja would find themselves powerless.
Seimei quickly realized that using any jutsu now would be at least ten times harder than before. His chakra felt as though it was being forcibly restrained, making it difficult to control.
It was evident—the Root had specifically prepared this obscure sealing technique to deal with him, knowing that ordinary barriers wouldn't suffice.
"As expected, sealing techniques are the pinnacle of power in this world," Seimei murmured to himself as four transparent chains, inscribed with sealing formulas, shot out from the four Root ninjas maintaining the barrier and pierced into his body.
"Urgh…"
Seimei let out a muffled grunt, feeling the restrictions on his chakra grow even stronger.
*Inhale… Exhale…*
Taking a deep breath, Seimei ignored the chains binding him and glanced toward a distant tree. There, a sloth-like creature—another peculiar summon—was silently observing the battlefield.
If his guess was correct, this was how the Root had been remotely monitoring the main battle earlier.
Now, it was being used to oversee this fight.
Clearly, this was their contingency plan.
If they failed, this creature would record everything Seimei revealed during the battle and deliver it back to Root's headquarters.
This was why Seimei hadn't resisted earlier.
If he wanted to, his reflexes were sharp enough to activate his Mangekyō Sharingan and use the **Heavenly Transport** technique to escape the barrier before the chains reached him.
But he chose not to.
One reason was to prevent sensitive information from being leaked. Seimei didn't want to expose his trump cards unnecessarily and give Danzo any reason to become more vigilant.
More importantly, Seimei had already figured out some aspects of the sealing barrier. He was confident he could survive the upcoming confrontation.
If he hadn't been confident, he wouldn't have hesitated to use his Mangekyō Sharingan, even at the cost of revealing his cards.
After all, survival always came first.
Resolving himself, Seimei turned his attention back to the four Root ninjas maintaining the barrier.
With his Byakugan, he could see their life force rapidly draining away as they aged visibly by the second.
It was clear that sustaining such a unique barrier came at a steep cost.
Yet, from their subtle expressions, Seimei deduced that even they hadn't anticipated such a severe toll.
He closed his eyes momentarily, focusing on the chains connecting to him.
A few breaths later, his eyes snapped open, a glint of understanding flashing within them.