A few minutes later.
The Konoha reconnaissance team arrived in front of "Qingming." The leader of the team, Iwata Ichimu, was someone Qingming recognized—he was a ninja skilled in intelligence gathering and sensory techniques.
Seeing "Qingming," Iwata Ichimu hurriedly asked, "Qingming-sama, what exactly happened here?"
As he spoke, his gaze swept around.
It was clear that a fierce battle had recently taken place in this area. Although there were likely only two combatants, the battle had been intense. Looking at the pile of ashes beneath Qingming's feet, Iwata Ichimu could already guess the enemy's fate.
However, what he wanted to know wasn't just what had happened in this particular spot, but what had occurred in this entire region over the past period.
In fact, shortly after the battle had taken place here, they had set out from their base. Despite hurrying, they hadn't encountered the enemy, but they had come across plenty of traces of battle along the way.
They had even seen a few mist-ninja corpses that had been severed at the waist in the area where the fighting had been the most intense.
Given all this, Iwata Ichimu had a rough idea of what had happened but still needed confirmation from Qingming, as he was the one who had actually witnessed the events.
Hearing the inquiry, "Qingming" withdrew his gaze from Hyūga Rinne and looked toward Iwata Ichimu. He replied, "About ten minutes ago, while I was on my routine patrol, I discovered a small mist-ninja squad in this area. From their appearance, they seemed to be preparing for a surprise attack on our base, so I intervened. The commotion you heard was from my battle with them."
Indeed, Qingming pushed the time he encountered the mist-ninja back by several minutes, and didn't explain why he hadn't reported to the base before engaging them. However, now that the enemies were already dealt with, those concerns were irrelevant.
After all, if he were to give an explanation, it could be said that the area was close enough to the Blackstone base that there was no need to report or request assistance.
In other words, the enemies had been eliminated, and everything was back to normal.
As if understanding the implications behind Qingming's words, Iwata Ichimu immediately skipped over any questions regarding the details of the situation and began asking about the strength and numbers of the enemies, as well as the battle process.
Qingming didn't hide anything and answered all of his questions in detail.
As for further investigations, evidence gathering, or analyzing the enemy's intentions—those were matters Iwata Ichimu could handle on his own. Qingming had no intention of getting involved.
After the brief exchange, he dispelled the "Shadow Clone Technique" and absorbed the relevant memories back into his main body.
...
Meanwhile.
Qingming was flying through the sky when he suddenly received a new set of memories.
After quickly scanning them, he muttered, "Quite perceptive!"
Seeing that Iwata Ichimu didn't press on certain matters, Qingming was quite pleased. He decided that, if he encountered any danger to Iwata Ichimu in the future, he might offer assistance.
Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Qingming immediately set his course and began flying toward the northwest at full speed.
Just a moment ago, he had received a message from another of his shadow clones, informing him of a mist-ninja squad that had become separated from their main force and was located to the northwest of the Blackstone base. He was instructed to go there immediately.
Thanks to the speed of his "Wind Release: Wind Wings," even though the distance was several dozen kilometers, Qingming could reach his destination in a matter of minutes.
In less than three minutes, Qingming had arrived near the target area.
Before getting any closer, Qingming focused his attention and activated the Byakugan in his forehead.
Instantly, everything within a one-kilometer radius appeared clearly in his vision.
Qingming quickly scanned the area his shadow clone had pointed out and, just as he expected, saw three mist-ninjas—one special jonin and two chunin.
From their appearance, it seemed they had just gone through a fierce battle and were now taking a short break.
Qingming used the "Mind Transfer Technique" to connect with the shadow clone that had sent him the message. The clone, in order to avoid alerting the enemy, had already moved to another battlefield and wasn't nearby.
However, Qingming wasn't seeking help from the clone—after all, a special jonin and two chunin were no match for him, and he could easily handle them on his own.
He had contacted the clone simply to verify that these three ninjas had indeed just been through a battle.
If that was the case, he could act more aggressively.
A few moments later, Qingming disconnected the "Mind Transfer Technique."
As expected, the three ninjas had indeed been involved in a battle not long ago. This was why they had been detected by his shadow clone.
"Since that's the case..."
Qingming wasted no time. He immediately cast "Earth Release: Hardened Technique" and "Chakra Armor," layering both protections over himself, and then flew directly toward the place where the three ninjas were hiding.
...
Down below.
In the forest.
The mist-ninja, Yukihana, was tending to her wounds.
Reflecting on the recent battle, she realized that if she hadn't come up with the idea to use the "Water Clone" technique to deceive her opponent, she would have likely died.
But even though she had been lucky and deceived a weaker opponent, could she rely on this strategy again?
What if she encountered an opponent with stronger sensory abilities next time? Wouldn't she be doomed?
Even if she didn't face such an opponent, she began to question when this pointless war would end. Was it really going to continue like this forever?
For reasons she couldn't explain, Yukihana felt a deep sense of uncertainty about her future.
Unlike ninjas from other villages, due to the oppressive policies of the Hidden Mist Village, many of their ninjas suffered from poor mental health.
This might not have been apparent in everyday life, but after facing life-or-death situations, the psychological toll had started to show in Yukihana.
While she was lost in thought, a violent energy presence entered her sensory range.
Instantly, she froze, and quickly stood up, preparing to warn her two subordinate chunin to stay alert.
However, before she could speak, Qingming had already appeared in her line of sight.
"Ghost Sword Qingming?!"
In an instant, Yukihana recognized his identity.
Without hesitation, she fled.
Yes, she ran.
She didn't even warn her two subordinates—almost as soon as she recognized Qingming, she turned and fled.
In the sky, seeing this, Qingming was momentarily stunned and thought to himself, "Am I that terrifying? And, seriously, are you really that scared?"
Although the opponent was a female ninja, Qingming thought she wouldn't be so weak.
What he didn't know, however, was that Yukihana's panic response was triggered by her own inner turmoil. When faced with an opponent as overwhelmingly powerful as him, it led to an instinctual reaction.
If she managed to escape, there was a high probability that she would become a rogue ninja from the Hidden Mist Village.
Unfortunately, the Hidden Mist's bloody mist policies were so extreme that it almost guaranteed any ninja who had doubts or faced a psychological breakdown would turn into a rogue.
Of course, this assumption relied on her actually managing to escape.
Qingming shook his head and dismissed such thoughts. He flapped his wings and swiftly descended like a bolt of lightning, landing directly in front of the two mist-ninja chunin who had just gotten up.
Qingming's hand turned into a blade, and with a quick motion, he used "Chakra Surgical Blade" to sever the muscles in one ninja's right arm, causing the kunai he had just drawn to fall to the ground.
At the same time, Qingming turned his head and glanced at the other one. When their gazes met, he used "Genjutsu: Sharingan," trapping the other ninja in place.
The mist-ninja with the injured arm tried to struggle but was immediately caught by Qingming's hand around his neck.
With a prepared "Chakra Absorption Technique," Qingming quickly drained all of his chakra, mental energy, and physical energy in a few seconds.
With a thud, the ninja's body collapsed to the ground. Qingming flashed to the other ninja and did the same, draining his chakra.
A few seconds later, another body dropped lifelessly to the ground.
Qingming raised his hand and performed the "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu," incinerating the bodies of the two mist-ninjas.
After completing these tasks, he wasted no time and immediately activated "Body Flicker Technique," chasing after the direction where Yukihana had fled.
plz support me if you can.
patreon.com/Mano99
all the fanfic is 30 chapter a had and you will get 1 chapter everyday.