**Chapter 574: Hidden Moves and Departure**
Just as Minato Namikaze hesitated between fulfilling his duty as a Konoha ninja by capturing Utakata or following his heart and letting him go, a faint spatial fluctuation rippled through the air.
In an instant, Seimei's gaze shifted toward the source of the disturbance from the sky.
The next moment, with a puff of chakra smoke, Utakata, who had been lying unconscious on the ground moments before, vanished without a trace.
It was clear to Seimei—this was the work of Kirigakure.
It made sense. Despite Kirigakure's aggressive stance during this ambush, as if they wouldn't rest without creating chaos, they undoubtedly had a fallback plan for their only remaining tailed beast.
And now, that fallback plan had taken effect.
The only plausible explanations for such an event were the *Summoning Technique* or its reverse variant, *Reverse Summoning Technique.* The subtle spatial fluctuation was undeniable evidence.
However...
Seimei's gaze darkened as he looked toward Minato Namikaze.
Even Seimei, observing from the sky, had noticed the spatial disturbance. He refused to believe that Minato, who had mastered the *Flying Thunder God Technique* to an extraordinary degree, would fail to sense it.
Considering the proximity between Minato and Utakata and his reaction speed, Seimei was convinced that Minato could have intercepted Utakata before he was summoned away.
If memory served correctly, Minato's *Flying Thunder God: Guiding Thunder* could seal and tear through space itself, making it highly unlikely for someone to escape his grasp.
Even if Minato had reacted too slowly to prevent the summoning, he could have at least left a *Flying Thunder God* mark on Utakata, ensuring future tracking.
Yet Minato stood there, doing nothing, allowing Utakata to leave unimpeded.
This decision was undeniably out of character for a Konoha ninja. Even the more lenient Sarutobi Hiruzen would likely disapprove upon learning of this.
As for the radicals within Konoha, they might even wish for Minato's death.
This situation could easily be exploited.
Take, for example, the case of Sakumo Hatake, the famed White Fang of Konoha, who was driven to suicide by public opinion after a single mission.
If all the subsequent casualties in the war against Kirigakure were blamed on Minato, it wouldn't take much to incite outrage among the families of the fallen, painting Minato as a pariah.
If Minato lacked the psychological fortitude, he could very well be driven to death.
Even if he survived, his reputation would be irrevocably tarnished.
Of course, all of this relied on the incident being exposed.
Fortunately, Seimei had no interest in meddling. Whether the Six-Tails Jinchuriki was captured or not didn't concern him in the slightest.
Theoretically, as long as Minato didn't reveal the truth, no one would ever find out.
Locking eyes with Minato for a few seconds, Seimei withdrew his gaze, flapped his wings, and flew off in the direction he came from.
Watching Seimei's departing silhouette, Minato let out a small sigh of relief.
Although no words were exchanged, Minato understood that Seimei would keep the matter a secret.
This spared him a lot of unnecessary trouble.
While he didn't mind the village learning about the incident, if it could be concealed, he preferred to keep it that way.
It wasn't that he cared about his reputation or others' opinions, but he needed to ensure that this incident wouldn't interfere with his ambitions.
Only then could he maximize his chances of becoming the Fourth Hokage.
And his pursuit of the Hokage position wasn't born of a desire for power but from the belief that only from that position could he enact real change.
As Jiraiya's chosen "Child of Destiny," Minato harbored his own ideals and ambitions.
He was never a dogmatic individual.
On the contrary, Minato was highly intelligent, knowing both what he wanted and what it would cost.
Watching Seimei's figure disappear into the horizon, Minato stood in place for a while longer.
Finally, he made up his mind—he would fully commit himself to the ongoing war between Konoha and Kirigakure. He would personally save as many lives as possible that might otherwise be lost due to his earlier decision.
This was Minato Namikaze. While he might make choices seemingly contrary to Konoha's interests, he would bear the consequences of his actions and strive to make amends.
Seimei had no knowledge of Minato's thoughts and decisions, nor would he have cared even if he did.
Some individuals were simply drawn to burden themselves for their ideals, burning brightly in the process.
Seimei had no intention of becoming one of those people, but he respected their resolve.
After all, history needed such individuals to lead the way.
Perhaps one day, when their paths crossed again, Seimei might lend a helping hand.
For now, though...
He had his own matters to attend to.
---
It didn't take long for Seimei to return to the battlefield.
By now, the battle there was still ongoing.
As Seimei deliberated whether to join the fray, the Kirigakure shinobi seemed to receive some kind of signal and began regrouping around their respective Jonin.
Eventually, they formed several squads and scattered in different directions to retreat.
The Konoha shinobi noticed this but didn't pursue them en masse.
The prior battles had left everyone utterly exhausted. Even with reinforcements like Shisui Uchiha joining later on, their condition was still far from ideal.
After a brief discussion, Shisui and the others decided to send only small teams to monitor and harass the fleeing enemy.
This served two purposes: preventing the Kirigakure shinobi from causing trouble behind their lines and buying time for other reinforcements to arrive and potentially encircle the fleeing enemies.
Indeed, Seimei and his team were merely the vanguard. Several other Konoha units were en route.
While their primary mission was to rebuild and garrison the Red Tree outpost, they could alter their course to attempt an encirclement.
As the only member of his team capable of flight, Seimei was naturally expected to participate in the pursuit.
However, to save time, Seimei opted to create a shadow clone for the task while he focused on training.
He needed to refine the chakra within his body.
Only by doing so could he safely recover the chakra from his shadow clones without wasting it.
Although he could allow his clones to exhaust their chakra completely and dispel them, that would be inefficient.
By converting the experience and memories gained from his clones into skill proficiency, Seimei could achieve optimal progress.
Thus, time spent training was an investment.
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