In the camp's command office, inside a room, Qingming and Nara Keiko were facing each other.
This was the second time they had met. The first time was when Qingming had just arrived at this battlefield, but after that, he had been stationed at the front lines. Now, seeing each other again felt like it had only been yesterday.
After a brief silence, Nara Keiko spoke first, "I heard that you were ambushed on your way here?"
"Mm."
Qingming gave a simple reply, but didn't elaborate further. Instead, his eyes remained fixed on Nara Keiko, clearly waiting for an answer.
He didn't believe that his encounter was an isolated incident. He knew that Nara Keiko wouldn't ignore the source of the information leaking to the Hidden Mist. There was no way that they wouldn't investigate it, otherwise, there wouldn't be any way to give them an explanation.
If they couldn't ease their minds, who would dare turn their back on the village? So, no matter what, they would have to provide an explanation.
As expected, after a brief hesitation, Nara Keiko took out a document from his desk drawer, placed it on the table, and pushed it toward Qingming.
Qingming stared at the document on the table, not rushing to take it. Instead, he looked up in confusion, "What is this?"
"Open it and take a look," Nara Keiko replied, nodding toward the document.
Without any further words, Qingming immediately picked it up, opened it, and began scanning through it quickly.
The more he read, the more his expression grew grim.
There were dozens of leaks documented on the file, some significant, others minor, with damages ranging from light to severe. Yet, as of now, no case had been solved.
This was completely unbelievable to Qingming.
In such a short time, with so many leaks happening continuously, it should have been easy to trace them back, even in this world with extraordinary powers. After all, the more mistakes made, the more traces left behind. Even if the enemy's methods were refined, they would still leave clues behind, and those clues could be pieced together.
Given Nara Keiko's intelligence, there was no way he wouldn't have found something by now. But the reality was, nothing had been uncovered.
This raised a major concern for Qingming.
His brow furrowed deeply as his mind raced, trying to figure out what was going on. However, despite his best efforts, he couldn't make sense of it.
Seeing Qingming's troubled expression, Nara Keiko lightly tapped the desk, snapping Qingming out of his thoughts.
"You've seen the file. The leak of the plans that got you all summoned here most likely happened because of this. So…" Nara Keiko trailed off, leaving the rest unsaid.
Qingming immediately understood what he meant.
Clearly, Nara Keiko was trying to convey with his actions that the plan's leak wasn't intentional on their part. At the same time, he was trying to regain their trust through this approach.
Qingming had to admit, this method was effective.
While he was still somewhat worried about the intelligence system within the camp, the sense of urgency that he might be backstabbed by his own people had subsided.
As for the possibility of the leaks being from inside the village? That was nearly impossible.
Just the dozen or so cases he had seen involved significant matters, and there were certainly others he didn't have access to. A betrayal of this magnitude was something even Danzo wouldn't dare take on.
Moreover, with Nara Keiko's intellect, he had undoubtedly considered such a possibility and conducted a thorough investigation. If the leaks had been internal, Nara Keiko would have already reported it to Sarutobi Hiruzen to suppress Danzo. After all, this matter directly related to the frontlines of the war, and even someone as crafty as Nara Keiko couldn't possibly turn a blind eye to it.
'So, who exactly is behind this?' Qingming wondered as his doubts grew, causing him to be somewhat distracted during the tasks Nara Keiko assigned him.
After leaving the office, Qingming shook his head, putting the matter aside for the moment, and followed orders to head straight for the battlefield.
Indeed, they had been sent to the battlefield without any rest, and after their brief conversation, Nara Keiko had immediately dispatched him to a front-line conflict.
As for Uchiha Shisui, he had already completed his report and had been sent to another battlefield before Qingming.
This was a clear indication that the situation on this side wasn't good.
However, even though Qingming had expected it, when he actually arrived on the front lines, he couldn't help but frown.
In his mind, since they were fighting on their own turf, even if the defense line was breached because of insufficient manpower, there should be no issue with the logistics supply. But in reality, it wasn't just the defense line that was problematic—the logistical supply was also in trouble.
It wasn't that there weren't enough supplies; it was that the transport teams carrying them had been repeatedly attacked, and the goods couldn't reach the front-line ninjas.
This left Konoha's ninjas fighting on the front lines with a severe shortage of supplies.
Especially in the past two days, Konoha had been caught off guard, and the battle lines had shifted significantly, making the supply situation even worse.
Suddenly, Qingming recalled the document he had just seen, which mentioned several leaks involving the routes of the logistical teams.
"So blatant…" he muttered in astonishment.
Without dwelling on it further, Qingming shifted his focus back to getting to know his team, as he would be fighting alongside them in the upcoming battles. Though he didn't expect much help from them, he knew it was important to familiarize himself with them.
The Konoha ninjas had no qualms about his arrival. In fact, they were more than happy to have him.
Qingming's reputation as the Ghost Sword had spread, and even without actively seeking it out, the soldiers had heard of him. Having such a powerful ninja join them only boosted their morale.
Even those who might have had reservations about the Uchiha clan didn't dare voice them in this situation.
Thanks to this, Qingming was able to smoothly integrate into the team.
Days passed by quickly.
In the blink of an eye, three days had gone by.
Just three days ago, he had just arrived at the battlefield and engaged in battle that very night. Since then, he had fought in over a dozen skirmishes.
The Hidden Mist ninjas here were considerably stronger in both numbers and power compared to those from Feiyu Town.
At first, Qingming had relied on his raw power to take down two of their high-ranking ninjas.
But the next day, more Hidden Mist high-ranking ninjas arrived to target him, and they were quite formidable.
If Qingming fought with all his strength, he was confident he could inflict damage.
But the situation was delicate, and he didn't want to draw too much attention, so he didn't go all out.
Once he felt he had attracted enough attention, he began to stall, maintaining a deadlock with the enemy.
The command center had no objections to this choice. In fact, Nara Keiko had likely wanted this outcome, since what they needed most right now was time.
Thus, not only Qingming, but all the Konoha high-ranking ninjas who had arrived were trying their best to delay the Hidden Mist's progress.
They were all waiting for the long-planned counterattack from the village, which would be the decisive blow to drive back the Hidden Mist.
This time, they wouldn't have to wait much longer.
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