Time flew by like a fleeting shadow.
In the blink of an eye, a week had passed.
Konoha Village
At the Root Headquarters, inside a dimly lit office.
Danzo sat behind his desk, meticulously reviewing a surveillance report in his hands.
After a long moment, he set the report back on the desk. Raising his head, he directed his gaze at a Root ninja standing before him.
"Have you pinpointed the target's location?"
"Yes, Lord Danzo!"
The ninja, codenamed Yi, nodded and replied, "The Red Shadow Squad and the Grey Eagle Squad have roughly circled the target's activity range. At most, in another one or two days, we will have his exact location."
Hearing this definitive answer, Danzo's cold and sinister face broke into a rare smile.
Although it was a faint smirk, it was enough to indicate his improved mood.
After a moment of thought, he ordered, "Yi, proceed immediately as planned. Send personnel out of the village in batches. Once the target's location is confirmed, take action immediately."
"Yes, Lord Danzo!"
Yi showed no hesitation and responded promptly.
Danzo nodded in satisfaction. "Good. You may leave now."
"Yes, sir."
With one final response, Yi turned and disappeared in a flash.
The door creaked shut behind him.
Danzo picked up the report on the desk once more and gave it another look.
After a brief moment, he tossed the report back onto the desk.
Leaning back in his chair, he closed his eyes halfway, seemingly deep in thought.
The room fell silent, save for the sound of his fingers tapping rhythmically on the desk.
Meanwhile
Far from Konoha Village, in a distant forested area.
Qingming flew through the air, his Byakugan active beneath his Konoha forehead protector, clearly seeing the Root ninja concealed in the forest below.
Along the way, he had already spotted several such teams.
It was evident that his plan had succeeded. The Root ninjas had indeed managed to keep pace with him through their own efforts.
However, the timing was less than ideal.
According to his progress, he still needed three more days to fully advance his "Chakra Cloak."
At the same time, these people were likely only one or two days away from completely pinpointing his location.
When that happened, in order to avoid complications, they would most likely strike immediately.
This would reduce his safety margin significantly.
After some thought, Qingming decided to proceed as planned but to delay them slightly.
With this in mind, he abruptly changed direction, veering off to another path instead of continuing straight ahead as usual.
Moments later, after he had flown far away, a few Root ninjas emerged from the forest below.
They watched Qingming's retreating figure, their expressions grim beneath their masks.
One of them spoke up, "Has he discovered us?"
It wasn't an unreasonable suspicion—Qingming's actions were highly unusual.
Over the past week, although they had only managed to track him to this area, they were still fairly certain of the general direction he was headed.
Normally, they would use this knowledge to narrow their surveillance range step by step.
But now, Qingming had suddenly altered his flight path.
How could they not grow suspicious?
However, regardless of their doubts, they ultimately chose to remain still.
The mission had progressed to this point, and they couldn't afford even the slightest mistake.
Danzo's orders were clear: they were to prioritize secrecy over everything else. Losing the target was preferable to letting him discover their presence.
They had no choice. Qingming's flying techniques were simply too versatile.
If he became aware of them, their week's worth of effort would be wasted.
Thus, they opted for the most cautious approach.
Qingming didn't make things too difficult for them, either.
To avoid alerting them, he only stayed out of their surveillance range for a short while before looping around to head toward a forest to the south.
This way, with minimal investigation, the Root ninjas would be able to pick up his trail again and confirm that he hadn't strayed too far.
In their eyes, this would appear to be an isolated incident.
By the time Qingming resumed his usual course the next day, everything would seem normal again.
The Root ninjas would have little reason to grow suspicious, and at most, they would need an additional day to re-establish their surveillance.
This slight delay, compared to the timeframe Danzo had set for the mission, was negligible.
For Qingming, however, it bought him an extra day for training.
By the time the Root ninjas locked onto his exact location, he would be nearly finished with his "Chakra Cloak" training.
Of course, such a delay tactic could only be used sparingly.
Overdoing it would undoubtedly arouse suspicion from both the Root ninjas and Danzo.
If it happened once, they might attribute it to some unknown variable that caused Qingming to deviate from his usual route.
But if it happened repeatedly, even a fool would realize something was wrong.
Fortunately, Qingming only needed this one opportunity.
Back in the forest.
Wasting no time, Qingming formed hand seals and performed the Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu.
Five clones appeared around him.
Skillfully, Qingming assigned each of them specific training tasks and sent them off.
Meanwhile, he began his own training.
Every hour, he would dispel his clones, absorb their training experiences and memories, and convert them into proficiency for his respective skills.
Afterward, he would create more clones and repeat the process.
Through this cycle of practice, he continuously refined his abilities.
Three days later, in the morning.
As Qingming absorbed his clones' experiences and memories once more, his "Chakra Cloak" finally advanced.
As he had hoped, upon reaching level 9 (0/0), the pinnacle of mastery, its effects underwent a qualitative transformation.
At level 8, aside from the "self-sustaining" feature, the cloak could only withstand two C-rank techniques or ten D-rank techniques within a second.
Against B-rank techniques, it would collapse entirely.
Now, however, Qingming could clearly feel its increased durability.
With that in mind, he formed hand seals again and created a shadow clone to begin testing.
He unleashed a barrage of techniques, targeting the clone clad in the Chakra Cloak.
Minutes passed, and Qingming finally ceased his assault.
He drew his conclusions:
D-rank and weaker techniques could now be ignored entirely, thanks to the enhanced self-sustaining feature, as long as his chakra reserves remained sufficient.Against C-rank techniques, he could endure seven or eight in a second without issue.Even B-rank techniques could now be withstood twice without the cloak breaking.
The results were remarkable.
This newfound strength gave Qingming even greater confidence in the upcoming battle.
Releasing the protective seal on his forehead, he activated his Byakugan and scanned the area within a kilometer.
Sure enough, the Root ninjas had already closed in.
Qingming, however, was waiting for someone's arrival.
plz support me if you can.
patreon.com/Mano99
all the fanfic is 30 chapter a had and you will get 1 chapter everyday.