Time passed second by second.
Soon, an hour had gone by.
Although Qingming had been trying his best to control the pace, preventing the Mist Ninjas from losing hope and breaking down or changing their targets, the prolonged lack of progress had still drained their patience, and they were starting to consider retreating from the battlefield.
This was something Qingming absolutely did not want to see.
Fortunately, he had delayed long enough.
By now, Uchiha Shisui and the others had already arrived nearby.
So, he no longer had to worry about the Mist Ninjas suddenly withdrawing.
At worst, he could command two squads to surround and trap these Mist Ninjas.
However, the Mist Ninjas' resolve to attack was even stronger than Qingming had anticipated. Although they had wavered, they had not yet truly retreated.
This had caused them to miss the perfect opportunity to withdraw.
When Uchiha Shisui and the others reached the battlefield, Qingming could clearly see, with the help of his Sharingan, that many of the Mist Ninjas had started to panic. It was clear they hadn't expected Leaf Village's reinforcements to arrive so quickly.
Even though Uchiha Shisui's group was only a few people, each one of them was a powerful Jonin, and their presence alone was far more intimidating than bringing dozens or even hundreds of middle and low-ranked ninjas.
Certainly, in order to get there as quickly as possible, Uchiha Shisui and his companions had barely rested, and both their chakra and stamina had been significantly depleted.
But, ultimately, Jonin were Jonin, and their battle power was far beyond what ordinary middle and low-ranked ninjas could compare to.
In the past, the Leaf Ninjas in the Hongshu outpost had been struggling, not because there weren't enough surviving ninjas, but because their high-level combat power was lacking!
Previously, Qingming had helped fill that gap, easing the pressure.
And now, with Uchiha Shisui and the others arriving, the Leaf Ninjas' high-level combat power deficiency was completely addressed, and their pressure had been lifted even more.
At this point, the Mist Ninjas had no reason to stay calm.
Watching the battle, Uchiha Shisui and his companions immediately joined in without a word, and they directly targeted the strongest Mist Jonin.
Upon seeing this, the Leaf Ninjas' morale surged, and they immediately began counterattacking.
In the sky, Qingming watched all of this unfold and nodded with satisfaction.
He then flapped his wings and flew straight to another battlefield not far away.
This area originally had around seventy or eighty Mist Ninjas, but after an hour of his repeated interference, fewer than fifty remained.
Of course, the Leaf Ninjas had also suffered casualties, with their numbers dropping from more than fifty to around forty.
Now, on the battlefield, it was almost a one-on-one fight between both sides.
However, overall, the Mist Ninjas still held the advantage—not only because they had more people, but also because their average strength was greater than the Leaf Ninjas'.
If it weren't for the fear of Qingming's surprise attacks, the Leaf Ninjas would have been crushed by now.
It was clear that even during combat, the Mist Ninjas occasionally glanced up at the sky.
Yet, just as they had suspected, Qingming's figure appeared in the sky once again.
Immediately, all of the Mist Ninjas reduced the intensity of their attacks. They continuously stole glances at the sky, remaining on alert for another ambush.
But this time, Qingming had no intention of ambushing them.
He openly appeared above them, and after closing the distance, he launched another round of "Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu" and "Fire Release: Phoenix Fire Technique."
Suspended in the air, Qingming observed the Mist Ninjas below as they skillfully dodged the attacks.
Once they relaxed their guard slightly, he suddenly dove at high speed, evading several shuriken and kunai along the way, before landing directly on the ground.
And he landed right in the middle of a group of Mist Ninjas.
Seeing Qingming among their ranks, the Mist Ninjas froze for a moment, then a wave of joy spread among them.
Before, they were powerless against Qingming—not because his strength was overwhelming, but simply because they couldn't hit him.
Now that he had abandoned his aerial advantage and landed on the ground, what was stopping them?
Immediately, one of the Mist Jonin shouted, "Bind him!"
Upon hearing this, the Mist Chunin around Qingming suddenly came to their senses. They immediately abandoned their current opponents and pounced on Qingming, seemingly afraid that he might fly away again.
Meanwhile, the Leaf Ninjas, seeing this, were confused.
Why had Qingming suddenly landed?
Clearly, in their understanding, Qingming was most helpful when he remained in the air to harass the enemy.
Now that he had landed, he was at most just another Jonin to help them—his presence wouldn't influence the situation in the short term.
Without a doubt, it seemed like a foolish choice.
However, no matter how confused they were, the Leaf Ninjas reacted quickly. Especially the few who were near Qingming.
Without hesitation, they immediately moved to counter the Mist Ninjas around him, trying to prevent them from getting too close to Qingming, buying him time to fly away again.
Unfortunately, Qingming had no intention of leaving.
Now that Uchiha Shisui and the others were on the other battlefield, he no longer needed to continue harassing the Mist Ninjas. He could finally do more.
For example, deal with the Mist Ninjas on this battlefield.
Of course, Qingming wasn't putting in so much effort just to help the Leaf Ninjas below. More importantly, he was doing this for the chakra.
In the past three days, to minimize risk, he had rarely attacked Mist Ninjas above the small squad level.
This had resulted in him acquiring very little chakra.
But now...
Qingming scanned the area, noting that there were dozens of Mist Ninjas nearby. This couldn't possibly be a trap targeting him. Such a good opportunity—how could he miss it?
With this thought in mind, Qingming quickly formed hand seals and performed "Chakra Absorption Technique." He then swiftly moved behind a Mist Chunin who was charging at him, grabbing him by the back of the neck.
In the next instant, a large amount of chakra poured into his body.
The Mist Chunin he had grabbed felt as if his chakra had been drained by a flood, vanishing completely.
Terror appeared on his face.
He tried to resist, but Qingming's left hand turned into a blade, using "Chakra Scalpel" to cut through his limbs' nerves, rendering him completely unable to fight back.
Holding the Chunin, Qingming skillfully dodged several attacks and spent a few seconds draining his chakra, mental energy, and physical energy.
After throwing the corpse at one of the Mist Ninjas, Qingming once again performed "Body Flicker Technique," arriving behind another Mist Chunin.
He repeated the same process, grabbed this person, severed his nerve connections, rendering him unable to resist, and began draining his chakra.
A few seconds later, he discarded the second body and immediately moved to the next one.
In just under a minute, Qingming had drained the chakra of five Mist Chunin without wasting a single second.
Only then did the Mist Ninjas, who had previously been somewhat frantic, begin to calm down.
They finally realized that even without the aerial advantage, Qingming was not someone they could easily handle.
The reason they had acted recklessly earlier was that the orders from their Jonin forced them to fight desperately.
Furthermore, after an hour of Qingming's repeated harassment, these Mist Ninjas had been holding in their frustration. Now that they had an opportunity, they naturally wanted to vent their anger.
Unfortunately, they had chosen the wrong target to release their pent-up rage.
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