"Alright, we should leave now."
After absorbing all the chakra from the mist ninjas, Qingming looked at the tired members of the Konoha reconnaissance team and said.
Upon hearing this, the Konoha ninjas immediately followed him and his eight shadow clones without any further words, heading toward the base.
Although a major battle was inevitable in the coming days, they first needed to return to the base, finalize their respective missions, and then set off. This way, they could maximize everyone's potential.
As expected, when Qingming returned to the base, he was immediately called by Sano Nobuhisa. However, there was no time for a meeting. After more than a week, most of the tasks had already been set, so there was no need for a formal meeting.
Upon meeting him, Sano Nobuhisa immediately assigned Qingming his task.
It was the usual assignment—besides treating the injured at night, his role as a mobile force meant he would be responsible for supporting various battlefields at any time.
That was his task for the past week as well. This assignment fully took advantage of his flying abilities.
After receiving the task, Qingming wasted no time and immediately rushed to the first battlefield.
There, several small teams were engaged in a battle. The Konoha side, caught off guard, found themselves in the same disadvantageous situation as the reconnaissance team earlier—being outnumbered and overwhelmed.
However, Qingming's appearance instantly changed the situation.
Instead of rushing into close combat like usual, he made use of his aerial advantage, continuously casting various ninjutsu to strike the mist ninjas from a distance.
Meanwhile, on the ground, his shadow clones, too, refrained from close combat and frequently used ninjutsu to attack the enemy.
His reason for this strategy was simple: to maximize his time for self-improvement.
Although he could not always use the minimum amount of chakra to cast each jutsu or genjutsu to gain proficiency (which would inevitably waste some chakra), Qingming was able to save valuable training time by doing so.
For someone like him, who could gain experience from battle, this was well worth the effort.
Therefore, Qingming did not hesitate to use his chakra liberally. Whenever a high-power ninjutsu was needed, he used it without a second thought.
Soon, the battle ended.
A portion of both mist and Konoha ninjas had perished, and the rest temporarily withdrew from combat.
Afterward, Qingming returned to the base. When he wasn't on a mission, he would train in 'Mastery of Immortality' and 'Mirror Mind Technique,' and when there were tasks, he would fly to various locations and provide support to his comrades.
In this way, Qingming followed his plan, fighting in the war while improving himself, and each day felt fulfilling.
This battle marked the beginning of another attack by the mist ninjas from Feiyu Town.
Over the next three days, they continued to launch small-scale attacks on the Black Stone Base, just like the previous week.
Sano Nobuhisa sent out team after team to face them.
On this small battlefield, the ninjas from both sides fought and consumed each other like mindless machines, following orders and clashing endlessly, as if there was no end in sight.
...
Time flew by, and it was the fourth day.
On this morning, Qingming hurriedly ate a few soldier pills to fill his stomach before heading to the conference room, expecting to see if there were any new arrangements.
He thought he would just be going through the motions.
However, to his surprise, there were indeed new orders.
At the command center, inside a small meeting room, Sano Nobuhisa looked at Qingming and Uchiha Shisui before speaking, "This is the situation. Captain Nara has just sent word. He wants both of you to head to Yotsu Port."
Yes, just a while ago, Nara Keiko, the general commander of Konoha's entire defensive line against the Mist Village, issued the latest orders. He instructed both Qingming and Uchiha Shisui to go to Yotsu Port for support.
Although Qingming had heard a rough outline of the village's plans from Sano Nobuhisa a while ago, he had not expected to be the ones selected for this mission, let alone Uchiha Shisui. With so many available jōnin, it was a bit of a surprise that they were chosen.
This made Qingming suspicious, wondering if there was some hidden agenda behind it. However, considering their remarkable strength among the jōnin, it was not entirely out of the ordinary for them to be chosen.
Still, Qingming couldn't be sure whether there was something more to it.
After thinking for a while, he came to no conclusion, and simply decided not to dwell on it.
At his current strength, even if there were any schemes, he wasn't worried.
He decided to take things step by step.
With that thought, Qingming refocused and looked back at Sano Nobuhisa. "When do we leave?"
"Right now," Sano Nobuhisa replied.
Upon hearing this, Qingming furrowed his brows and asked, "Is it really that urgent?"
"Yes," Sano Nobuhisa said seriously, nodding. After a slight pause, he lowered his voice and revealed some hidden information. "It seems the Mist Village has sensed something about the village's plans. They suddenly escalated their attacks starting yesterday, catching us off guard. We've suffered significant losses. Now, the southern defense line needs reinforcements to buy some time, which is why you two are urgently being sent there."
Upon hearing this, Qingming immediately understood.
Indeed, according to the earlier reports, the southern defense line was fierce, but it hadn't reached the point of needing reinforcements. The sudden call for help meant something had happened—this was an emergency, or Nara Keiko wouldn't have given such an order.
After all, such orders were not only directed at them; other strongholds also received similar calls to dispatch reinforcements. But the other strongholds were also under attack by the Mist ninjas. If too many of the top jōnin were moved, these strongholds could fall.
Therefore, unless absolutely necessary, Nara Keiko would never issue such an order.
Previously, Qingming was puzzled, but now everything clicked.
"It seems that intelligence leaked, and the Mist Village found out some of our plans, which led to all of this," Qingming thought to himself, his doubts now cleared.
With that, he felt a sense of clarity and comfort.
He then spoke a few more words with Sano Nobuhisa before leaving the meeting room with Uchiha Shisui, preparing to gather their things and head to Yotsu Port together.
Yotsu Port was the weak point where the southern defense line had been breached by the Mist Village.
This would be the main battleground for the Mist's assault on Konoha.
Qingming had a feeling that this battle would likely become the turning point of the war. After this, the conflict might finally start moving toward its conclusion.
plz support me if you can.
patreon.com/Mano99
all the fanfic is 30 chapter a had and you will get 1 chapter everyday.