After a few hours of travel, Seimei, Reina, and their supervising instructor from the Aburame clan finally reached the gates of Konoha.
The return journey had no suspense. They faced nothing particularly troublesome, except for a group of bandits led by a middle-aged bandit leader who had the combat power of a Genin.
They came hollering while Seimei and his group rested for a while, trying to kill and rob them.
Unfortunately for them, they ended up kicking the iron plate.
Seimei felt bad seeing the poor bandits living a tough life. So, he freed them from their mortal coils, respectfully sent their souls to rest in peace in the Pure Land, and cast Earth Release ninjutsu to bury their bodies in the middle of the forest with beautiful scenery.
Seimei had developed such expertise in burying people and chakra beasts that he sometimes wondered how he would become an excellent funeral service business owner if he returned to Earth with his current powers.
He also wondered if the planet Earth from his previous life actually existed somewhere in this current universe.
But that was just a fleeting thought.
The universe was big as hell. And compared to the Otsutsuki clan members, his current strength was as weak as hell as ever.
Forget about checking out the universe; he couldn't even leave the current Shinobi continent safely, probably.
Beyond the sea existed many different continents. Once he was strong enough, he planned to travel to those distant lands.
But that could wait for now.
The moment Seimei, Reina, and their supervising instructor entered Konoha, the Aburame clan ninja spoke up.
"You two can head home for now. I will deliver the practical exam's report to the Academy and the corpse of the unknown ninja to the Hokage."
"Please visit the Academy on Friday next week. Your final scores and ninja registration IDs will be ready."
"As for the details about squad formation…you will learn about that in the Academy as well."
Then his gaze shifted to Uchiha Reina as he continued, "Of course, if you want to join the Uchiha patrol unit, you must inform the Academy within the next two days."
Uchiha Reina nodded. But thinking about the Uchiha patrol unit, also known as the Uchiha Police Force, her lips couldn't help but twitch in exasperation.
Join the Uchiha Police Force? Like hell I will. It's so boring that even my young bones will rot. It's better to form an official ninja squad and do missions all over the continent.
This way, I can resolve a lot of troubles that threaten Konoha in the future before they can even ferment.
Uchiha Reina thought inwardly. As for whether her team members would be competent enough to keep up with her…come on.
Who was she?
The greatest Uchiha prodigy of this generation. The Uchiha clan could always pull some strings behind the scenes to make sure she got the teammates she desired, as long as she didn't outright break the rules.
The Aburame clan ninja talked to them for a while before departing, leaving Seimei and Reina alone.
Seimei cocked his head at Reina and asked, "Really? Will you join the patrol group and stroll around Konoha all day?"
Reina raised an eyebrow. "Who said I would? It's a waste of time. I'd rather train and brawl with some chakra beast."
A violent woman, indeed. Seimei thought inwardly.
Reina seemed to sense his thoughts.
She closed the gap between them until her face was just a few centimeters away from him and asked with a smile that didn't reach her eyes, "Are you thinking about something bad again, Seimei?"
Seimei secretly sweated bullets, but he kept his expression flawlessly neutral.
He immediately changed the subject, "Anyway, how about we have some good food? My treat."
Reina narrowed her eyes. But she let it slide and smiled, "Okay. Be ready to bleed money then."
With that, Reina grabbed his hand and dragged him to the Yakiniku Q, the best and most expensive BBQ shop in Konoha.
Today, she planned to make his wallet cry.
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One day later, in the Hokage Office…
Senju Tobirama sat at the table, looking at the Yamanaka clan ninja, who was in charge of gathering intelligence from Echo's corpse.
This was Yamanaka Inosuke, one of the Elite Jonin of the Yamanaka clan who possessed superior mastery of Yin Release and mind-related ninjutsu. His direct attack power was nothing to scoff at, either.
He spent an entire day trying to retrieve as much information from the Echo's corpse as possible. And after trying every trick in his arsenal, he finally created a report and came to the Hokage's office to hand it over to Tobirama.
Tobirama had already read the report. And now, he was looking at Inosuke while the gears of his mind were turning at full speed.
After a few seconds, Tobirama frowned.
His red eyes bore down on Inosuke and asked, "So, you are saying that you are unable to extract any information from his mind, except for his mundane life details, is that right?"
Yamanaka Inosuke was equally troubled and nodded solemnly, "Yes, Hokage-sama…"
"There is a rather tricky seal in his mind—a fuinjutsu seal, unlike anything we have ever encountered. The sealing corps ninjas had tried to decode it, but they couldn't even understand where to begin."
"The seal locks the critical memories away, giving us access to only useless day-to-day memories."
While listening to Yamanaka Inosuke's words, Tobirama checked the scroll containing the fuinjutsu seal's information.
After studying it for a while, he rubbed the bridge of his nose and said, "They are not wrong."
Tobirama put the scroll down and continued, "I have studied Uzumaki Sealing Techniques deeply. But even I can't find a clue to decode it, and probably can't in a short time."
"However, I do have some clues about the true purpose of the seal."
Yamanaka Inosuke's ears perked up.
Tobirama's tone was calm as he stated, "The sealing corps is wrong about one thing."
"The seal doesn't show his day-to-day life."
"In truth, it locks away all his memories. And when third-party channels Yin-natured chakra into his brain to read his memories, the seal automatically devours a portion of that chakra to project useless, false memories."
"And I suspect that if Echo were alive, he could have manipulated the projected memories while hiding the presence of the seal to misdirect us effortlessly."
"In that case, you would have never discovered the seal in his mind. Naturally, you would have never sought the Fuinjutsu experts either. He could have completely bluffed everyone, unless the one trying to access his memories was also a Grandmaster-level Fuinjutsu expert."
Hearing this, Inosuke was stunned.
What kind of absurd sealing technique was that?
It was one thing to seal memories away or lock them. But a seal that projects false memories? And on top of that, if the person were alive, he could have fooled him with such a trick, too?
Now, that was new.
No, that wasn't important. The main issue was that even a Fuinjutsu Grandmaster like the Second Hokage couldn't find any clue to decode and dismantle the seal.
If even a Grandmaster like him needed time to understand the seal, then what kind of person created and engraved it in the first place?
It should be mentioned that the Second Hokage's mastery over sealing techniques was second only to the First Hokage's wife, Uzumaki Mito, in the entire Konoha.
Watching Inosuke's changing expression, Tobirama chuckled helplessly in his mind.
But soon his expression turned grave.
This was no joking matter.
This was an S-rank ninja with the Swift Release Kekkei Genkai. According to the report, he had even mastered his bloodline powers to the point that his forbidden technique directly affected the spatial fabric.
And now this sealing technique.
One look at the technique and he understood that it wasn't something Echo had engraved into his mind himself.
Someone else had done it.
And the seal had a specific trigger that would destroy his mind and spirit if someone tried to break it with force. Plus, the seal's engraver could also trigger it manually if he/she wished.
There was no way an S-rank ninja would accept something like that willingly.
Echo wasn't fodder. He was someone with the power of an S-rank Shinobi who could have achieved the Kage-level within a few years.
It meant whatever force he belonged to had ninjas so powerful that even Echo feared deeply enough to accept the seal.
A secret force with powerhouses of such caliber lurking in the dark was no laughing matter.
Not to mention, they had targeted his son.
Tobirama said, "The longer we wait, the more of his memories will be erased. When that happens, even if we successfully dismantle the seal, it will be in vain."
"Tell the sealing corps to add more personnel to decode the seal."
Meanwhile, I will see what I can do. I will take this seal to my sister-in-law, too. Her fuinjutsu mastery surpasses mine. Maybe she could figure something out faster.
Tobirama added mentally.
Then he commanded Inosuke, "Thank you for the report. If something comes up, update me immediately. Dismissed."
Yamanaka Inosuke bowed slightly and said respectfully, "Understood, Hokage-sama."
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Time passed, and soon, the Friday of the next week arrived.
Today, many fifth-year S-class students would need to go to the Academy to check their final exam scores, receive their ninja registration IDs, and form squads.
At the Senju compound, morning sun rays traversed through the windows and brightened the rooms of many sleeping Senju clan members.
Seimei was one of them.
His snow-white hair glittered with a pale orange hue as the rays of the early sun fell on his face. His eyebrows furrowed for a moment before he opened his ocean-blue eyes that shone like the most precious gem.
He stared at the ceiling blankly for a moment before pulling his body up.
He yawned and stretched his arms.
Then, his eyes sharpened at the calendar's direction.
A surge of excitement bubbled inside him.
He smiled involuntarily and mused, "Friday. Finally, I will become an official Konoha ninja today."
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A/N: If you like my story and want to read ahead, you can check out my P@treon page and get access to the 14 Advanced chapters!
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