Time passed by slowly, minute by minute.
Gradually, Seimei entered a strange state.
In this moment, his perception of the outside world dropped to its lowest point, while the various experiences and memories gathered from his past shadow clones floated continuously through his mind.
This made developing new ninjutsu almost effortless for him, as if he were divinely guided, unable to stop.
Originally, he was just one step away from success.
Now, it felt as if one foot had already crossed the threshold.
...
It was unclear how much time had passed.
Suddenly, Seimei opened his eyes.
A flash of light gleamed in his gaze.
Seimei stood there, frozen for a moment.
Then, he slowly raised his hands, forming hand seals, channeling his chakra, and following the mysterious sensation he felt. He performed the ninjutsu—**The Technique of Mind Communication**!
In the next moment, a voice echoed in his mind.
"Did it work?"
The voice was none other than his own.
However, the speaker was not him, but one of his shadow clones located dozens of kilometers away.
Hearing this inquiry, Seimei nodded and responded in his mind, "Yes, I've successfully developed the 'Technique of Mind Communication.'"
"Too bad you're telling me now. I won't be able to learn it until we merge next time."
The shadow clone replied.
"Yeah," Seimei responded briefly, then asked, "How are things on your end? Have you found any traces of the Mist ninjas?"
"No."
The shadow clone answered succinctly.
"Alright, keep watching."
After giving these final instructions, Seimei cut the connection.
Opening his eyes, Seimei reflected on the feeling he had just experienced, finding it incredibly novel.
Then, with a thought, he opened the proficiency panel.
He saw that a new skill had appeared in the skills section—**Technique of Mind Communication: Lv0 (1/100)!**
Looking at the Lv0 (1/100) proficiency, Seimei knew that while he had technically developed the technique, he hadn't truly mastered it yet.
The reason he could communicate over dozens of kilometers now, even before fully mastering the technique, was due to the innate connection between himself and his shadow clones.
Using this as a medium saved him a lot of effort.
Moreover, the primary purpose of developing this ninjutsu was to strengthen communication between his main body and his shadow clones.
Now that it had succeeded, this aspect of the ability was particularly strong.
On the other hand, if he were to try using this technique to contact someone entirely unrelated to him, it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, even if he poured all his strength into it.
Only after leveling up to Lv1 and truly mastering the technique would his **Mind Communication Technique** function more like the Yamanaka Clan's secret mind-linking techniques.
With this thought, Seimei promptly created another shadow clone to help the other two clones grind the proficiency of the **Mind Communication Technique**.
As for himself, he continued practicing **Reflection Technique** and **Palm Healing Technique**.
There was nothing much to say about **Reflection Technique**. Given the current progress, his Mangekyō Sharingan wouldn't evolve to the next stage for at least another two or three months.
On the other hand, his **Palm Healing Technique**...
With days of relentless practice, his proficiency had increased significantly.
As a result, his body had reached a critical point of transformation.
Seimei estimated that it would only take another day or two before he could attempt to activate his Mangekyō Sharingan and use the **Command of Humanity** ability to guide his body's evolution.
With that in mind, Seimei gradually immersed himself deeper into his training.
...
In the blink of an eye, it was late into the night.
Near the second sea route, one of Seimei's shadow clones was flying, both keeping an eye on the activity below and grinding the proficiency of **Wind Release: Wind Wings**.
Just like the **Rasengan**, proficiency for **Wind Release: Wind Wings** could be increased in two ways:
First, by continuous repetition of the technique.
Second, by maintaining the effect of the ninjutsu.
Since flying was a direct effect of **Wind Release: Wind Wings**, simply staying airborne allowed his proficiency to steadily increase. If he also performed other maneuvers, the proficiency would rise even faster.
Because of this, his **Wind Release: Wind Wings** had improved rapidly over the past two days.
Similarly, this method prevented his chakra from being wasted.
After all, whether it was practicing **Reflection Technique** to evolve his Sharingan, performing **Palm Healing Technique** to strengthen his body, or developing new ninjutsu, none of these consumed much chakra.
Without **Wind Release: Wind Wings** to drain his chakra, at least half of his daily chakra recovery would have been wasted.
Now, it was a different story!
All of this chakra could be channeled into improving **Wind Release: Wind Wings**.
Of course, there was still some chakra waste, but it was much better than doing nothing.
While Seimei's shadow clone was flying and keeping watch below, four large ships suddenly appeared at the edge of his vision.
Seimei's shadow clone abruptly stopped in mid-air, activating his Sharingan, staring intently at the ships.
"There's no doubt, those are Mist Village warships."
He muttered to himself, noticing the emblem of the Mist Hidden Village on the vessels.
Upon confirming this, Seimei's clone prepared to notify the main body.
However, just as he was about to dispel the **Shadow Clone Technique**, an invisible connection appeared between him and his other clone.
Only then did Seimei remember that another shadow clone was busy grinding the proficiency of **Mind Communication Technique** with him and the third clone!
For some time now, he had been ignoring the occasional sensations from that connection to focus on practicing **Wind Release: Wind Wings**.
He had almost forgotten about it.
Now, with the other clone linking up, it saved him quite a bit of trouble.
But he had to be quick!
With that in mind, Seimei's clone hurriedly shouted in his mind, "Wait!"
The connection that was about to be severed abruptly halted.
Then, a familiar voice came through.
"What's going on?"
"I've spotted Mist ninja activity."
Seimei's clone immediately replied.
"Got it, I'll inform the main body right away."
The voice replied again.
"Good!"
Seimei's clone acknowledged, feeling the mysterious connection disappear.
Moments later, another connection was established.
This time, it was the main body using the **Mind Communication Technique**.
"What's the situation?"
Seimei directly asked.
"I see four Mist Village warships in my line of sight. They haven't noticed me yet. Should I get closer to observe?"
The shadow clone replied.
Hearing this, Seimei thought for a moment before saying, "Go ahead. Fly a bit higher and stay hidden. I'm on my way."
"Understood."
The shadow clone responded before flying toward the Mist Village warships.
At the same time, Seimei himself rushed over as fast as he could.
(End of Chapter)