Chapter 565: Stalling  

A few minutes later. 

Seimei returned to the battlefield. 

This time, he didn't bother to conceal himself and instead flew directly into the sky above the battleground. 

"Someone's in the sky!" 

Almost immediately, a Mist ninja spotted his figure and sounded the alarm. 

"Careful, it's the Ghost Blade Seimei!" 

Another voice shouted, clearly recognizing him. 

Hearing this name, the Mist ninjas on the battlefield looked up at him. Their gazes ranged from wary to curious, with some even showing open defiance. 

Their reactions quickly caught the attention of the Konoha ninjas, who also turned their eyes upward. 

Unlike the Mist ninjas, who were alarmed by Seimei's identity, the Konoha ninjas were visibly excited. 

After all, the fame of the "Twin Stars of Konoha" was well-known. Both were said to be highly skilled Jonin. At this critical juncture, they wouldn't even complain about getting a Genin as reinforcements, let alone a powerful Jonin. 

The pressure on them had been immense. If not for sheer determination, they might have crumbled already. 

Now, with Seimei's arrival, they could finally feel some relief. 

Moreover, if Seimei was here, could other reinforcements also be close behind? 

The mere thought rekindled their hope, strengthening their resolve and pulling their shattered spirits back together. 

This was the impact of Seimei's presence. Even without taking action yet, his appearance alone gave the Konoha ninjas a few more minutes of resilience. 

Seimei scanned the crowd below, taking in their varied expressions. Then, without a word, he dived lower and hurled a single shuriken. 

The Mist ninjas were stunned for a moment. Seeing Seimei charging in so aggressively, they had expected a powerful ninjutsu or a direct confrontation. 

But this? 

A single shuriken? 

They had gotten worked up for nothing! 

The Konoha ninjas were equally confused. If you're going to throw a shuriken, at least throw a few more. What's the point of just one? 

But before their thoughts could settle, Seimei suddenly raised his hands and quickly formed the seals: Ox → Dog → Dragon → Rat → Dog → Boar → Snake → Tiger. 

"Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!" 

In an instant, the single shuriken he had thrown split into shadows—one became two, two became four, four became eight... 

In mere moments, the sky was filled with dozens, if not hundreds, of shuriken. 

This was Seimei's first time using this technique in front of so many people, but he didn't worry about Hiruzen Sarutobi finding out. 

Yes, this jutsu was originally developed by Sarutobi, but it was based on the Shadow Clone Jutsu. 

Since Seimei had already mastered the Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu, borrowing inspiration to create a similar technique wasn't a big deal. 

At most, others would marvel at his genius, not jump to wild conclusions. Besides, Sarutobi was generally kind and supportive toward younger ninja. Even if he found out, he likely wouldn't mind. 

Thus, Seimei executed the technique without hesitation. 

Below, both allies and enemies were stunned as the sky darkened with countless shuriken. For a moment, every ninja, whether Konoha or Mist, felt the instinct to dodge. 

However, the Konoha ninjas quickly realized something: none of the shuriken were aimed at them. The targets were exclusively the Mist ninjas. 

Indeed, three days ago, Seimei couldn't have achieved such precision. But in the last three days, he had gained an additional 600,000 chakra points. 

He allocated 300,000 points each to "Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu" and "Chakra Cloak," leveling both skills up once again. 

The Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu advanced from Lv4 (625/2000) to Lv5 (625/5000), while Chakra Cloak progressed from Lv4 (1330/2000) to Lv5 (2330/5000). 

Crossing the threshold from Lv4 to Lv5 marked a significant transformation, giving Seimei much greater control over the cloned shuriken. 

From his elevated vantage point, he could see everyone's positions clearly, enabling him to avoid harming allies while targeting enemies. 

Even so, the attack, while impressive, didn't cause much damage. After all, the Mist ninjas below were at least Chunin level, and a few shuriken alone weren't enough to take them down. 

However, his assault disrupted their rhythm, giving the Konoha ninjas a much-needed breather. 

This was just the beginning. 

After executing the Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu, Seimei swiftly ascended to avoid retaliatory attacks from the Mist ninjas. 

He then found another opening, dived again—this time even faster—and launched another jutsu: 

"Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" 

Flames erupted like seeds from a phoenix flower, each fireball shooting down like a bullet toward the Mist ninjas. 

If the shuriken barrage had been something they could block, these fireballs forced them to dodge. Deflecting every fireball with jutsu would waste far too much chakra. 

Their evasive maneuvers gave the Konoha ninjas a critical opportunity. Some used it to recover chakra, while others launched counterattacks. 

Either way, the Konoha ninjas were no longer entirely on the defensive. 

And that was Seimei's goal all along. 

He had no intention of defeating all the Mist ninjas—his objective was to stall for time. 

Though some clever Mist ninjas quickly realized his strategy, knowing the problem didn't mean they could solve it. 

They tried attacking Seimei to neutralize his influence, but with his maxed-out "Wind Release: Wind Wings," his speed and aerial agility far exceeded their expectations. 

As such, they couldn't lay a finger on him. 

Still, Seimei didn't push them too hard. Whenever he saw that the Konoha ninjas had regained some ground, he would shift to another part of the battlefield and repeat the process. 

His tactics were simple but effective: drag it out.