A few hours had passed.
Qingming was initially worried that more enemies might follow, but as the night turned to dawn, and no one else appeared, he gradually relaxed. If the enemy had the upper hand, they wouldn't have abandoned Shiraishi Kurato. This likely meant his side had won.
All he had to do now was wait for reinforcements.
As for returning on his own… Qingming thought about it and decided against it. His assumption that his side had won was just a guess, and if the battle was still ongoing, he'd be walking right into a trap by heading back. So, it was better to stay patient.
And so, he waited—another two hours passed.
Two hours later, daylight fully broke.
In the forest, four Konoha shinobi were swiftly moving through the trees. Suddenly, the leading Jōnin halted, flinging a kunai forward, shouting, "Who's there?"
At this, the three Konoha Genin immediately spread out, forming a defensive formation.
Clang—the kunai was intercepted mid-air.
Qingming stepped out from behind a tree.
Seeing his attire, one of the Konoha Genin exclaimed, "A Konoha ninja?!"
"Yes," Qingming nodded.
Even so, the Jōnin remained cautious, questioning, "Who are you? And why are you here?"
Qingming then explained his identity and the events of the previous night in detail.
After listening and noticing the wounds on Qingming's chest, the Jōnin thought for a moment and decided to escort him back to the temporary base.
An hour later, Furukawa arrived at the temporary base.
Once his identity was confirmed, Qingming was taken back to the main camp. There, he finally learned the full scope of what had happened.
At first, Qingming had thought Iwa's sudden attack didn't make much sense. The area they attacked had no significant resources or strategic importance; taking it wouldn't benefit them, and it couldn't be held. But now, everything became clear.
It turned out the attack wasn't without purpose.
The previous night, several nearby defensive zones, as well as others on the opposite side of the main camp, had also been ambushed. Moreover, the attackers weren't just from Iwagakure—there were Sunagakure forces involved too.
Apparently, the two villages had reached some kind of agreement and launched a simultaneous assault on Konoha's main camp.
The real target wasn't the outer defense zones; those attacks were merely diversions. The main assault came later when the real forces of Iwa and Suna struck from both the eastern and western sides of the main camp.
The shinobi defending those zones couldn't hold out for long under the assault from such powerful forces. Within a short time, the defenses were breached.
With the enemy closing in on the main camp, Orochimaru was forced to order the reinforcement teams to return to help defend. While Qingming and the others were fighting for their lives, a brutal battle was also taking place at the main camp.
In the end, Konoha successfully defended the main camp—otherwise, Qingming wouldn't be speaking to Furukawa right now.
However, Qingming couldn't help but feel the weight of the battlefield's brutality as he glanced at Furukawa's now-missing right arm.
Yes, during the battle, Furukawa lost his right arm, which was his dominant hand—a blow that would surely diminish his strength significantly. But considering the circumstances, it could have been worse. Out of the four Jōnin Konoha had sent out, only Furukawa and one Tokubetsu Jōnin survived. Squad leader Nakajima Hiroshi and the other Tokubetsu Jōnin had fallen in battle. Only one Chūnin had survived as well.
As for Ryosuke and Mizutani Shizuko, although they had sustained severe injuries, they managed to hold out until they were rescued by Ōkura Seiya.
Ōkura Seiya, the Jōnin who had been left behind to guard the base, had arrived just in time to save them, as the main camp had been too engaged to send aid.
Initially, Furukawa had assumed Qingming had perished. After all, it had been a long time since he was last seen, and he was being pursued by a particularly dangerous Tokubetsu Jōnin. Death seemed like the most likely outcome.
But no one expected Qingming to not only survive but also to kill his enemy. Furukawa was deeply relieved.
As for how Qingming killed his opponent, he emphasized how the enemy underestimated him and how his caution and cleverness ultimately led to victory. Since no one had seen Shiraishi Kurato's full strength, Qingming was free to tell his side of the story however he wanted.
Even if someone suspected there might be more to it, no one was going to argue in defense of a dead enemy.
Besides, as long as Qingming kept quiet and worked to strengthen himself, any doubts would eventually fade away.
Upon returning to the main camp, Qingming first visited Ryosuke and Mizutani Shizuko.
When they saw him, they were almost overcome with emotion—on the verge of tears. Qingming, seeing them alive, allowed himself a rare smile.
After a brief conversation, Qingming headed to the medical unit to tend to his injuries.
Most of his wounds were superficial, but the injury to his chest needed immediate attention. While the lightning strike had cauterized the wound and stopped the bleeding, it still required proper treatment to avoid lasting damage. Qingming had no desire to end up like Hayate Gekkō, constantly coughing with every step.
Speaking of Hayate Gekkō, Qingming thought about the Dance of the Crescent Moon.
The battle last night had made him realize that his long-range jutsu were sufficient for now—what he needed was a stronger close-combat technique. His basic taijutsu was no longer enough.
However, he wasn't aiming to learn the Dance of the Crescent Moon itself. That technique required using shadow clones to strike the enemy from multiple directions simultaneously, a move designed for assassination, not for Qingming's goal of becoming a well-rounded warrior.
What Qingming really wanted to learn was the precursor to that technique—Konoha Ryū Kenjutsu.
Although not widely taught, there were a few shinobi, such as the eternal Genin Kosuke Maruboshi and the Jōnin Hayama Shirakumo, who had mastered this sword style and even developed their own unique techniques based on it.
Qingming figured that if he learned the basics of Konoha Ryū Kenjutsu and leveled up his proficiency, he could develop his own unique moves as well.
The most important part was that this style was relatively accessible. As long as he had enough merit points, he could exchange them for the technique.
After calculating his accumulated battlefield merits over the past month, Qingming figured he had just enough.
He planned to redeem his points for Konoha Ryū Kenjutsu as soon as his injuries were taken care of.
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