In the blink of an eye, a week had passed.

After two days of peaceful training, Seimei's brief rest came to an end. He resumed leading his team to carry out missions.

However, due to the impact of the previous battle, the Yujing Port area remained somewhat calm.

As a result, Seimei's assignments weren't overly burdensome, leaving him enough time each day to continue his training.

But such days did not last long.

A week was enough time for ninjas with minor injuries to recover their mobility.

Thus, both the Konoha and Kirigakure forces became active once again.

On the battlefield outside Yujing Port, small skirmishes between patrol teams resumed.

And this was only the beginning.

It was foreseeable that it wouldn't take long for a decisive battle to erupt as both sides finalized their preparations.

That moment would determine the ultimate victor.

Even the sporadic skirmishes, however, affected Seimei's training.

Frequent missions drastically cut into his daily training time.

Fortunately, Seimei could compensate by extracting chakra during these small battles and using numerous Shadow Clones to make up for lost time.

The only cost was the immense mental strain he endured daily.

Were it not for the advanced evolution of his Mangekyō Sharingan and his strong spiritual energy, he wouldn't have been able to bear such pressure. Anyone else following the same routine might have collapsed from sheer exhaustion.

While Seimei was lost in thought, someone at the front of the team suddenly halted.

Noticing this, Seimei quickly snapped out of his reverie. His blood-red Sharingan scanned the surroundings meticulously, seeking any anomalies.

At the same time, he perked up his ears, carefully listening to the sounds in the forest.

Soon, faint explosions reached his ears. The source seemed to be in the direction of his right front.

Seimei tilted his head slightly to look in that direction.

Just then, a Chūnin who had initially stopped came forward to report.

"Captain, about 500 meters to the right, some of our comrades are engaged in battle with Kirigakure ninjas."

Hearing this, Seimei glanced at the speaker, his gaze briefly brushing past the Hyūga's white eyes. His tone was calm as he asked, "How many?"

The Hyūga Chūnin, accustomed to Seimei's succinct manner, answered directly without any superfluous words. "On our side, there are two teams. One has already suffered one casualty and one seriously injured member. Six remain combat-capable. As for the enemy…"

He paused, concentrating again and scanning the battlefield.

A few seconds later, he continued, "The enemy consists of four squads—sixteen in total, all uninjured. Two additional squads are approaching the battlefield and are about 300 meters away."

"Three hundred meters… a total of six squads."

Seimei muttered to himself, casting a glance at the four squads—sixteen men—under his command. He then asked, "What's the enemy's strength?"

If the Kirigakure ninjas weren't too formidable, he could still launch an offensive, even with fewer numbers.

In response, the Hyūga Chūnin focused intently on the battlefield again.

This time, it took him a bit longer—about ten seconds—before he reported, "Judging by chakra levels, the Kirigakure squads in combat include three standard Chūnin squads and one elite Chūnin squad. The two approaching squads are standard Jōnin squads led by two Jōnin."

A standard Chūnin squad typically comprises one Chūnin captain and three Genin.

An elite Chūnin squad consists entirely of Chūnin, including the captain.

Similarly, a standard Jōnin squad mirrors the structure of a standard Chūnin squad but with a Jōnin or Special Jōnin as captain and Chūnin as the team members.

In other words, the Kirigakure forces included two Jōnin or Special Jōnin, thirteen Chūnin, and nine Genin.

Judging by their composition and sequence of appearance, it seemed that the three standard Chūnin squads had first encountered Konoha's two squads, initiating the fight.

Subsequently, the elite Chūnin squad arrived for reinforcement.

Finally, the two Jōnin squads served as backup.

This reflected the current state of the battlefield.

With the decisive battle looming, neither Konoha nor Kirigakure could afford to show any weakness.

As a result, whenever a skirmish broke out, regardless of the enemy's strength, reinforcements were sent immediately. At a minimum, one Jōnin squad would rush to the scene.

The Jōnin squads served as the final guarantee while also aiming to end the battle swiftly.

After all, both sides could request reinforcements, and no one knew when the opposing Jōnin squad might arrive.

Thus, even these prelude skirmishes were incredibly intense.

With Jōnin potentially joining the fray at any moment, the battlefield's intensity could never remain low.

"Captain?"

A voice pulled Seimei back to reality from his wandering thoughts.

"Hmm?"

Seimei regained his focus.

The Hyūga Chūnin in front of him asked urgently, "Should we head over immediately?"

After a brief moment of consideration, Seimei nodded. "Lead the way. Squad One and Squad Two, follow me to intercept the two Jōnin squads."

"Yes, Captain!"

The eight ninjas from Squads One and Two responded promptly without hesitation.

Satisfied, Seimei nodded before turning to the remaining two squads. "You've heard what Camellia just said?"

"Yes!" The ninjas from Squads Three and Four quickly nodded.

"Good." Seimei continued, "Now, head directly to the battlefield ahead. Use your fastest speed to reinforce our comrades."

Before they could reply, he added, "Remember, you don't need to kill the Kirigakure ninjas. Just hold out until I return."

Though Seimei's tone was calm, it carried an air of absolute confidence, as if the two approaching Kirigakure Jōnin posed no threat to him.

His remark about "waiting for his return" made his meaning clear.

Surprisingly, none of the Konoha ninjas found his seemingly arrogant words unusual.

They had seen Seimei's strength during recent missions.

Two Kirigakure Jōnin? Even if two more joined them, they were confident Seimei would return unscathed.

After all, such feats had already happened before.