Various thoughts flashed through Qingming's mind as he flicked his wrist and threw three kunai. Moments later, he heard the clinking sound of the kunai he threw deflecting those tossed by the middle-aged Iwa ninja.
Without hesitation, Qingming formed hand seals and quickly unleashed a jutsu—Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!
He opened his mouth slightly and spat out over a hundred fireballs. Under his control, these fireballs split into two groups: two-thirds of them targeted the middle-aged Iwa ninja, while the remaining third aimed at the severely injured Aikawa Suke.
From the earlier battle, Qingming had already deduced that the middle-aged Iwa ninja was very protective of Aikawa Suke. Otherwise, he wouldn't have risked himself to guard him so closely.
Realizing this, Qingming decided to exploit that weakness.
"Damn it!" the middle-aged Iwa ninja cursed with a darkened expression, but even though he swore, he had no choice but to protect Aikawa Suke from Qingming's attack.
There was no other option—Aikawa Suke was a rising star of their clan, and his life could not be lost here.
Indeed, the middle-aged Iwa ninja and Aikawa Suke were from the same family.
This connection was why he had rushed over first to provide assistance.
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"
The middle-aged Iwa ninja swiftly performed hand seals, casting this B-rank jutsu to create a water wall that blocked Qingming's fireballs.
As the fireballs struck the water wall, a sizzling sound filled the air.
Soon after, a large cloud of steam emerged, obscuring Qingming's vision.
Frowning, Qingming immediately made hand seals for Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!
A gust of wind swept through, instantly dispersing the steam and even clearing the dust that had filled the area.
When everything settled, Qingming's eyes darted forward—but there was no one in sight.
The place where the middle-aged Iwa ninja and Aikawa Suke had stood was now empty, save for a hole in the ground, roughly seventy to eighty centimeters in diameter.
It was clear they had escaped using an Earth Release jutsu.
"So that Water Release jutsu earlier was just a setup to facilitate their escape?"
Realizing that he had been outplayed, Qingming felt a wave of irritation. He activated his Sharingan, scanning his surroundings.
Soon, he spotted the middle-aged Iwa ninja in the distance, who had just emerged from the ground with an unconscious Aikawa Suke in his grasp.
Sensing Qingming's gaze, the middle-aged Iwa ninja looked back and smirked mockingly.
Not only that, but he made a provocative gesture, as if daring Qingming to chase him.
But Qingming was far from foolish.
Despite his annoyance at being outmaneuvered, he wasn't about to rush in blindly—especially with several Iwa Jonin nearby, prepared to back each other up.
If he chased after them and these Jonin all focused their efforts on him, he'd be in serious danger.
Taking a deep breath, Qingming withdrew his gaze and instead looked around at the ongoing battle.
At first glance, he noticed the youngest member of his squad, who was being double-teamed by two Iwa Chunin. The young ninja's body was covered in blood, though it was unclear if it was his own or someone else's.
Without hesitation, Qingming used the Body Flicker Technique to rush over.
Before the two Iwa Chunin could react, Qingming cast a genjutsu on both of them, putting them under his control.
Then, with a swift swing of his short sword, he ended their lives.
"Captain!"
Only after the two Iwa Chunin fell did the young squad member realize what had happened. He quickly greeted Qingming with respect.
"Mm," Qingming responded with a nod, not wasting any words. He kicked off the ground and headed toward the next skirmish.
Since the Iwa ninja were so focused on protecting Aikawa Suke and had left him to roam freely, Qingming decided to take full advantage of that. He launched into a spree, targeting the lower- and mid-ranked enemies.
Within just two minutes, Qingming had moved across several battlefields, killing seven Iwa Chunin.
Finally, the Iwa Jonin, unable to bear it any longer, dispatched two of their own to confront him.
To Qingming's surprise, however, these two weren't interested in killing him. Instead, they focused almost entirely on defense.
Only when Qingming tried to disengage would they strike. But the moment he retaliated, they'd shrink back into defensive positions.
This made things a bit tricky for Qingming.
But from their tactics, he soon understood their intent: they simply wanted to stall him and prevent him from targeting more of their forces.
As for killing him?
It seemed they hadn't even considered it—at least not yet.
With that realization, Qingming decided to play along, dragging out the fight with them.
Why not just kill the two Jonin?
Indeed, if Qingming unleashed his full power, he could definitely kill them both.
But then what?
Two more Jonin would come after him.
The Iwa Village had dispatched elite forces for this mission, and the number of Jonin in their ranks was not small. Was Qingming supposed to kill them all?
He felt that he had already done enough in this battle. He had killed nearly ten Chunin, two Special Jonin, and two full-fledged Jonin.
Additionally, he had seriously injured another Jonin.
This level of achievement was more than enough.
Any more than this, and it would draw too much attention.
As the saying goes, "The tallest tree catches the most wind."
Without absolute strength, Qingming didn't want to stand out too much.
Although his current performance was already better than 90% of the Jonin, it was still within a reasonable range.
But if he went further, it would become hard to explain.
So instead, he chose to go along with the Iwa Jonin's plan, taking the opportunity to practice his swordsmanship and improve his skills.
As for the fate of the other Konoha ninjas on the battlefield, that wasn't his concern. He wasn't their babysitter, after all.
Besides, Qingming had a nagging feeling that something was off.
Logically speaking, with the battle having lasted this long, Nara Shisui should have already figured out the situation and gathered the forces to launch a counterattack.
Yet, the Konoha forces were still trickling in one squad at a time.
This piecemeal strategy was keeping their numbers low, making it impossible for them to overwhelm the Iwa forces. How could they expect to reduce their casualties like this?
If the fight continued this way, Konoha would only suffer more.
Qingming couldn't believe that Nara Shisui hadn't realized this. If the strategy persisted, there had to be a reason behind it.
And in Qingming's mind, there were two possible explanations. Either other parts of their base were also under attack, making it impossible to send more reinforcements...
Or Nara Shisui was planning something bigger, and they were being used as bait to keep the Iwa ninjas occupied.
Between the two, Qingming believed the second scenario was more likely.
If it were the first, Nara Shisui would have likely ordered a retreat by now, shortening their defensive line to consolidate their forces and minimize casualties.
It was only if he had a deeper plan in mind that he would continue sacrificing lives to keep the Iwa ninjas engaged.
"The question is, just how ambitious is his plan?"
As these thoughts raced through his mind, Qingming continued to spar with the two Iwa Jonin, biding his time.
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