Ding~
A crisp sound of metal clashing echoed.
Qingming swung his short sword, precisely deflecting Si Guang's incoming kunai.
Initially, Qingming thought they would be locked in a stalemate for a moment.
Unexpectedly, Si Guang withdrew the moment they clashed.
Then, taking advantage of the force from the sword, Si Guang spun around and dashed toward another battlefield without even glancing back.
The whole process was so smooth, without the slightest hesitation.
Qingming was left dumbfounded.
Just a moment ago, Si Guang had charged at him so aggressively that Qingming thought he was preparing for a head-on fight. Qingming had even braced himself for the clash.
But this?
A big question mark popped up over Qingming's head.
However, one thing was undeniable: for Si Guang to deceive even the powerful insight of Qingming's Sharingan and conceal his true intentions, that was no small feat.
Shaking his head, Qingming decided not to pursue Si Guang. Instead, he shifted his attention to the surviving lower- and mid-level Iwagakure shinobi nearby.
With their leader having made a "strategic retreat," these remaining shinobi were now at a loss, teetering on the verge of collapse.
And Qingming's sharp gaze was the final straw that broke the camel's back.
They had witnessed Qingming's earlier brutality firsthand, and none of them dared to face him.
So, when Qingming looked their way, they could no longer hold out. Abandoning their battles, they fled in all directions.
Without wasting a word, Qingming dashed forward, swiftly capturing several of them and draining their chakra dry.
Feeling the near-overflowing chakra inside him, Qingming found a quiet spot under the pretense of scouting for more enemies. He spent about 20 minutes converting roughly 16,000 chakra points into proficiency for his Mystical Palm Technique.
Afterward, he launched another attack on a different battleground.
This one had been locked in a deadlock since Qingming hadn't intervened to disrupt it.
Without waiting any longer, Qingming seized his moment, quickly taking down several Iwagakure shinobi.
Using his Chakra Absorption Technique, it took less than 10 seconds to drain them dry.
By the time the leading jōnin arrived, Qingming had already escaped.
Of course, not everyone was as "cowardly" as Si Guang, but even the most aggressive among them wouldn't chase him alone into the dense forest.
Because that wouldn't be bravery, it would be suicide.
Qingming exploited this fact, repeatedly striking and succeeding.
Before he knew it, he had amassed over 160,000 chakra points, pushing his Mystical Palm Technique proficiency to lv6 (9120/10000)!
Now, he only needed to gather another 130,000 chakra points to advance the technique.
Just as Qingming was about to continue and finish his chakra collection, Iwagakure suddenly called for a retreat.
Yes, they retreated.
Not just in his sector, but the Iwa forces attacking the northern mountain and besieging Fengliu Town also withdrew.
Standing atop a tree, using the early morning light to peer through the leaves, Qingming watched the orderly retreat of the Iwa forces below. He knew this battle was far from over.
Clearly, last night, Iwagakure had gone all out, hoping to take them down in one fell swoop.
But Namikaze Minato's appearance had shattered that dream.
After hours of intense fighting through the latter half of the night, the Iwa forces realized their goal was unattainable.
Thus, they chose to retreat.
It's easy to predict that there won't be another large-scale offensive anytime soon.
Once Iwagakure abandons the idea of wiping them out in one go, smaller, tactical teams would be far more effective for a shinobi war.
But this shift would be detrimental to Qingming's efforts to gather chakra.
With the Iwa forces now forming smaller teams, the proportion of jōnin would sharply increase. While they wouldn't pose too much of a threat to him, it would make his chakra extraction far more difficult.
Still, advancing his Mystical Palm Technique wouldn't be much affected.
Gathering 130,000 chakra points?
Even without extra chakra from enemies, his natural recovery rate would let him gather enough within just over three days, so there's no concern about dragging things out.
As for what comes after, that would have to be dealt with as it comes.
After observing for a while, Qingming pulled his gaze back. Leaping from the tree, he returned to the camp.
He left the task of tallying battle losses to the other jōnin and headed straight to where the wounded were being treated.
There, he began using his medical ninjutsu to treat the injured while also increasing his proficiency in the Mystical Palm Technique.
The morning passed quickly.
Though Iwagakure had withdrawn, Konoha's forces remained on high alert, ready to deal with any possible attacks.
Their caution was not misplaced.
By early afternoon, Iwagakure launched another assault.
As Qingming had predicted, the enemy now attacked in smaller teams, focusing their efforts on Fengliu Town.
Konoha responded in kind, dispatching teams to meet them head-on.
This time, the battlefield expanded to a five-kilometer radius, with battles raging everywhere. The scene was bloody and chaotic.
Iwagakure had more numbers and often engaged Konoha's teams with superior forces. But though Konoha was outnumbered, their average combat strength was higher.
As a result, even when outnumbered, Konoha often fought to a draw.
Thus, the battle became a war of attrition, where it remained unclear who would falter first.
Several hours passed in the blink of an eye.
By dusk, the fighting finally began to die down, with both sides retreating to their camps, exhausted and desperate for rest.
On the western mountain, Qingming had also fought several brutal battles, though he hadn't managed to collect much chakra.
The reasons were simple:
First, his body could only hold so much chakra.
The frequent battles left him with no time to process the chakra he had absorbed, limiting how much more he could gather.
Second, Iwagakure had deliberately targeted him.
They seemed to have discovered his ability to absorb chakra. Whenever Qingming began to absorb chakra from an enemy, they would either kill the captive shinobi or unleash powerful jutsu to interrupt him.
In short, they refused to let him collect chakra easily.
This frustrated Qingming to no end.
The worst part was, there wasn't much he could do about it.
The jōnin he faced now always appeared in pairs at the very least.
In such situations, if Qingming didn't go all out, he wouldn't be able to kill them quickly.
But if he did go all out, it would draw more jōnin from nearby, making it just as hard to finish them off.
In summary, it was an unpleasant experience.
Still, thanks to his considerable strength, Qingming didn't have to worry about his safety. So, he decided to bide his time and even use the opportunity to increase his proficiency in Kenjutsu.
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