In the forest.
Qingming had been training for about two more hours. Once the sky had completely darkened, he packed up his things and returned to the camp, heading back to his quarters.
However, as soon as he arrived, before he could even sit down, someone came looking for him.
Qingming looked at the Konoha Chūnin in front of him and frowned. "Do you know why Captain Heize wants to see me?"
Indeed, this man had been sent by Heize Seiju to find him.
Upon hearing this, the Konoha Chūnin shook his head. "I'm not sure, but Captain Heize told me to bring you to him immediately."
"Alright."
Qingming sighed helplessly, grabbed his Kusanagi sword from the side, and left the tent.
A few minutes later, he arrived at the command center on the northern front.
Qingming keenly noticed that there were more people here than usual for this time of day, and many of them seemed to be in a hurry.
"It seems something big really has happened," Qingming thought to himself, but quickly suppressed the thought.
Knock knock knock~
Qingming arrived at Heize Seiju's office and knocked on the door.
"Come in!"
The familiar voice came from behind the door.
Without hesitation, Qingming pushed the door open.
Creek~
The door creaked as it opened, and Qingming immediately saw Heize Seiju, who looked troubled.
"What's happened, Captain?" Qingming asked as he walked into the office.
"Heh..."
Upon hearing this, Heize Seiju sighed deeply before replying, "Just now, Captain Nara Kiyoku sent a message. Shuanghe Town has been breached."
"What?"
Qingming was startled and immediately asked, "Is this the Shuanghe Town on the battlefield in the Land of Rain?"
"Yes," Heize Seiju nodded. "You've come from there, so you should understand the importance of Shuanghe Town."
"Of course."
Qingming nodded grimly.
He certainly understood the importance of Shuanghe Town. After retreating from Fengliu Town, he had spent quite some time there.
During the several battles for control of the Xishan Outpost and two decapitation missions targeting the Iwa Shinobi forces, he had either directly or indirectly participated.
Moreover, he had faced the Four-Tails Jinchūriki, Oonoki, and the Five-Tails Jinchūriki, Han, there as well.
With so much power gathered there, its importance was undeniable.
Once the town was lost, Konoha would no longer have any important strongholds to defend. If Iwa Shinobi simply moved their forces directly, they could pose a direct threat to Konoha's base in the Land of Rain.
At that point, Konoha's defense would be reduced to a small range, severely limited in mobility and choices, while Iwa Shinobi would have a lot more options.
Combining this with his memories from his previous life, Qingming immediately deduced what Iwa Shinobi's next move would be.
They would likely send an elite unit to bypass Konoha's base in the Land of Rain and directly launch an attack on the Land of Fire.
In his past life, it was a team led by the "Eastern Dead Men."
The result of that battle was devastating—nearly the entire Konoha defense unit stationed on that border was wiped out. Only when Minato Namikaze arrived in time was the situation turned around.
Even so, Iwa Shinobi had succeeded in opening a gap. Later, to force Iwa Shinobi to pull back and to buy time for the frontline forces, Minato's team had carried out the destruction of the Kamigawa Bridge, which was later known as the Battle of Kamigawa Bridge.
This battle saw two heroes emerge from Konoha, but it also set the stage for future tragedy.
Meanwhile, Sunagakure saw an opportunity and sought a decisive battle with Konoha, offering its village hero, Jiton: Yekura, as a bargaining chip to secure a peace agreement with Kirigakure.
This allowed Kirigakure to focus its forces on Konoha, pushing forward and breaking through the border defenses into the Land of Fire.
In his past life, it was under this backdrop that Guy, in the Eighth Gate, kicked the Seven Ninja Swordsmen into submission.
However, now, two members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen had already been eliminated by him, so this incident was unlikely to happen.
Yet, it was undeniable that the breach of Shuanghe Town had set off a series of problems, highlighting its significance. It could even be considered the turning point of this war.
While Qingming was lost in thought, Heize Seiju spoke up. "Qingming, did you figure something out?"
"Huh?"
Hearing Heize Seiju's voice, Qingming was jolted out of his reverie. He paused for a moment, then shook his head. "No, nothing."
He certainly couldn't share these thoughts with Heize.
It wasn't that he didn't want to, but the situation didn't allow for it.
Leaving aside the matter of explaining where he got his information from, just getting involved in all these complications was something he wanted to avoid.
Take the Battle of Kamigawa Bridge, for example. On the surface, it seemed like Kakashi and the others were simply not strong enough and that Minato's timely intervention saved the day.
But with his memories of the past life, he knew that Uchiha Obito had been targeted by Uchiha Madara early on, so this could very well have been a deliberate scheme orchestrated by Madara.
When combined with the later incident of Madara forcing Obito to unlock the Mangekyō Sharingan through the death of Rin, it became even more apparent.
Moreover, behind Uchiha Madara was Kurozetsu, the "great son," and all these layers of manipulation were something Qingming didn't want to get involved with right now.
With these thoughts flashing through his mind, Qingming looked at Heize Seiju and asked, "When did this happen?"
"A few hours ago," Heize Seiju replied.
"What did Captain Nara arrange for us?" Qingming asked again.
"He does have something in mind!"
Upon hearing this, Heize Seiju nodded.
He then took a mission scroll out of his desk drawer and handed it to Qingming. "A new order came in just now. Captain Nara has commanded you to stay here on our line temporarily to guard against a possible attack from Kirigakure."
Indeed, it was only today that the mission orders for their unit were finally issued.
Before this, Qingming had been wondering why it had taken so long. Now, he finally understood.
Clearly, Captain Nara Kiyoku was aware of the situation in the Land of Rain and knew about the breach of Shuanghe Town.
The fall of Shuanghe Town was no unexpected event—it had likely been anticipated for some time.
So, Captain Nara had been waiting for results.
If the town could be defended, Qingming's orders would likely have been to launch a counterattack against the Land of Waves and recapture the Forward Base.
But now that Shuanghe Town had been breached by Iwa Shinobi, their side would have to stay on the defensive. Thus, their mission had changed from an offensive one to a defensive one.
It was precisely for this reason that the mission orders had been issued only today.
As for the content of the orders, Qingming was actually quite pleased.
This would give him some time to strengthen his body and push his "Physique" attribute to the next level, making the defense task ideal for his needs.
With this in mind, Qingming took the mission scroll, carefully read through it, and confirmed that there were no issues before putting it away.
The two of them discussed a few more details, then Qingming took his leave.
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