The moon set and the sun rose.
In the blink of an eye, several hours had passed.
It was now the early morning of the second day.
As the first rays of sunlight broke through, Qingming was leading the team forward.
Suddenly, he seemed to sense something and quickly raised his right arm, signaling the others to stop.
In no time, everyone halted in their tracks, becoming alert.
A moment later, Uchiha Shisui, who was in charge of the rear guard, crossed the entire group and came to Qingming's side, asking, "What's wrong, Qingming?"
Qingming shook his head and replied, "It seems there are people ahead."
His tone was uncertain.
Although Qingming's mental strength had surged significantly since activating his Mangekyō Sharingan, he hadn't trained in sensory ninjutsu, which limited his effectiveness.
It was manageable at close range; he could even detect hidden enemies like Oil Girl Ryoma, but at a distance, he struggled to sense much.
Right now, he could only vaguely perceive that a ninja was approaching them, but he couldn't discern more details.
At that moment, he greatly missed the special jōnin from the Hyuga clan who had been in their group; if that person were here, they could have seen through the haze instantly.
Unfortunately, during the initial ambush, Hinata Hika, being a Hyuga, had been specifically targeted by the enemies and was surrounded and killed by several elite mist ninjas.
Now, the only sensory-type ninja left in the team had a range even smaller than his own, which made Qingming shake his head in disappointment.
However, Uchiha Shisui didn't know what Qingming was thinking. Upon hearing his words, he was startled and quickly asked, "Is it the mist ninjas? Or..."
He didn't finish his sentence, as there were others nearby.
But Qingming understood what he wanted to ask.
Previously, Qingming had mentioned the existence of Oil Girl Ryoma and others to him.
Of course, he hadn't gone into detail, only saying that he had discovered a few ninjas suspected to be from the Root organization monitoring them, which he had already eliminated.
Clearly, Uchiha Shisui was hesitant because he wanted to know whether those individuals were remnants of the Root organization.
However, Qingming felt that was unlikely.
Having read Oil Girl Ryoma's memories, he was well aware that only their small team was involved in this mission.
Besides the spy hidden in the Village Hidden in the Mist—Wumei—everyone else had been killed by him, leaving no remaining enemies.
As for sending someone else...
The Root organization wouldn't react that quickly.
Moreover, even if they had received news, it would take time to mobilize reinforcements—unless...
Danzo had sent another team from the very beginning.
But that was almost impossible.
Given Oil Girl Ryoma's status under Danzo, if such arrangements had been made, Danzo wouldn't have kept it a secret from him.
So, Qingming leaned towards the idea that these people were from another faction.
But identifying which faction it was and whether they were friend or foe would require careful scrutiny.
After a brief moment of contemplation, Qingming decided to take the initiative.
With this thought, he directly told Uchiha Shisui, "You and the others stay alert here; I'll be back shortly."
Uchiha Shisui opened his mouth as if to insist on accompanying him, but when he considered the gap between him and Qingming, he couldn't bring himself to say it.
Ultimately, he could only nod and say, "Be careful!"
"Yeah."
Qingming simply acknowledged him before darting forward, swiftly disappearing into the dense forest.
Watching Qingming's vanishing figure, Uchiha Shisui turned back to the others and instructed, "Spread out and remain vigilant!"
"Yes, Captain!"
The twenty Leaf ninjas replied in unison, then scattered in all directions, leaving the area seemingly deserted.
At least, that's how it appeared.
Meanwhile, on the other side.
After Qingming separated from the group, he immediately accelerated, heading straight towards the sensed direction.
Given his current strength, although he needed to proceed with caution, there was no need for undue fear.
In less than two minutes, he discovered his target.
However, to his surprise, these individuals were Leaf ninjas, led by a jōnin from the Uchiha clan.
Though they wore standard vests, the Uchiha clan emblem was clearly visible on their shoulders.
"Who?"
It seemed the unexpected result led Qingming to inadvertently release a bit of his chakra, causing the leading Uchiha jōnin to detect his presence.
The jōnin quickly activated his Sharingan and threw several shuriken at Qingming.
In response, Qingming swiftly drew his short sword, deflecting the incoming shuriken with a series of clangs while activating his own Sharingan to reveal himself.
Proving one's identity among Uchiha ninjas was straightforward; one just had to activate their Sharingan.
Sure enough, upon seeing his Sharingan, the jōnin immediately raised a hand, signaling the others behind him to stand down.
At this, Qingming quickly shifted to the front of the group.
The leading Uchiha jōnin scrutinized him for a moment before saying, "You are... Uchiha Qingming?"
Hearing this, Qingming was slightly taken aback, thinking to himself that his reputation was quite considerable if he could be recognized so easily.
Seeming to sense Qingming's thoughts, the Uchiha jōnin smiled and said, "Kid, I'm Uchiha Hachidai. By generation, I should be your clan uncle. Not long ago, Elder Hiayoi sent word that you would be coming, asking us to provide support."
Upon hearing this, Qingming recalled that Elder Hiayoi had indeed mentioned something similar, assuring him that there would be someone to look out for him when he arrived at the battlefield in the Mist.
It seemed those words were not merely lip service.
However, for the moment, Qingming put that aside and looked at the jōnin and the others behind him, asking, "Uncle, what brings you here?"
Upon hearing this, Uchiha Hachidai's expression immediately turned grim as he said with anger, "Not long ago, I received news that an elite unit of mist ninjas managed to breach the northern defensive line.
And given their direction of travel, it intersects with your route, so I brought people to reinforce you.
But seeing that you're unharmed, I'm relieved. Luckily, you didn't encounter those bastards; otherwise, the consequences would be dire.
Oh, right, I remember Shisui was with you, right? Where is he?"
However, upon hearing Uchiha Hachidai's words, Qingming's expression became strange.
Ultimately, he chose not to conceal anything and recounted the attack they had faced.
As soon as he began speaking, Uchiha Hachidai grew agitated, exclaiming, "What? You actually ran into those mist ninjas and were ambushed? How did you manage to escape? What about the others?"
Hearing his words, the other Leaf ninjas on standby immediately became wary, as if they feared enemies might follow Qingming here.
Seeing their reactions, Qingming understood they were overreacting and quickly explained everything that had happened afterward.
Once he finished, Uchiha Hachidai was left speechless for a long time.
Eventually, he regained his senses and incredulously asked, "You managed to repel those mist ninjas? How is that possible?"
In response, Qingming did not bother to explain further; he simply said, "Let's discuss the specifics later. Our people are still behind. Should we regroup first?"
"Yeah, we should regroup first!"
Upon hearing this, Uchiha Hachidai collected his thoughts and nodded.
Then, the group followed Qingming's lead towards the location where Uchiha Shisui and the others were hiding.
However, Qingming could tell that these individuals still regarded him with some caution.
In light of this, Qingming chose to ignore it. After they regrouped, their wariness would surely dissipate.
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