Watching the shadow clone leave, Qingming finally stopped lingering.
He quickly packed his gear and used Wind Style: Wind Wings and Chakra Robe, soaring into the sky towards the direction of Konohagakure.
In fact, he had also placed Flying Thunder God marks both outside and inside his residence in Konohagakure. If he wanted to return quickly, he wouldn't need to go through all this trouble.
However, Qingming didn't want to take that route.
The reason was simple.
These Flying Thunder God marks were only meant for emergencies, and he would never use them unless absolutely necessary.
As an S-rank forbidden technique documented in the Sealing Scroll, he didn't have an official way to learn it. Recklessly using it could easily give people a reason to question him.
It was true that most of the people who should know about his looting of the Root organization's collections were already aware of it. If he used the technique, they would likely be able to guess the underlying cause.
But there were always some who didn't know—or who pretended not to know.
That being the case, there were some surface-level actions he still had to take.
Therefore, even though he had learned Flying Thunder God, he couldn't just use it recklessly.
Furthermore, Flying Thunder God was a secret trump card, and it was better not to reveal it unless absolutely necessary.
These thoughts flashed through his mind as Qingming shook them off and with a flap of his wings, accelerated towards Konohagakure.
Half an hour later.
Qingming arrived outside Konohagakure.
He deactivated Wind Style: Wind Wings and Chakra Robe, landing on the ground.
Ignoring the curious gazes of the people around him, he walked straight through the village gates and entered the village.
He didn't hurry to the Hokage Building but instead made his way to Uchiha Fugaku's residence.
The message had come from him, so Qingming naturally needed to check with him first to understand the situation before making any plans.
Soon, he arrived at the Uchiha clan compound and reached Fugaku's house.
Fugaku seemed to have been waiting for him, as the moment he entered, the two exchanged greetings.
After a few pleasantries, Fugaku began explaining the situation.
It turned out that, not long ago, the Hidden Cloud Village had suddenly increased its offensive.
During this period, they had even breached Konohagakure's defense lines, pushing toward the Fire Country's border. It was only through the sacrifice of the frontline ninja that they were able to repel the Hidden Cloud forces.
However, due to the significant losses suffered by the frontline troops, it seemed unlikely that they would be able to withstand the next wave of attacks from the Hidden Cloud Village. Thus, a request for reinforcements was sent to the village.
Unfortunately, due to internal issues in the Fire Country, most of Konohagakure's forces had been sent out, leaving the village unable to spare many personnel.
With numbers insufficient, the only option was to compensate with quality.
As a result, Fugaku, who had stood out during the Third Shinobi World War and was currently not engaged, was selected.
Fortunately, due to his good relationship with the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, Fugaku was able to agree as soon as Minato made the request.
Thus, he was called back to assist.
After hearing Fugaku's explanation, Qingming was momentarily at a loss for words.
"Eh!"
Finally, he let out a light sigh and asked, "When do we depart? Who else is coming?"
Seeing that Qingming hadn't refused, Fugaku secretly sighed in relief.
To be honest, he had been worried that Qingming might reject the mission.
From Qingming's past actions, it was clear that he despised trouble, and considering the conflicts between him and Danzo, Fugaku had been afraid that Qingming would get angry and refuse.
Luckily, Qingming was still rational and didn't outright refuse.
However, if Qingming had known what Fugaku was thinking, he would have probably laughed.
It wasn't that he was rational; he just didn't want to complicate things over trivial matters.
Indeed, to him, the situation with the Hidden Cloud Village was a minor issue.
First of all, with his current strength, even if the AB team from the Hidden Cloud Village were to join forces, they wouldn't be able to do much against him, let alone the rest of the forces.
Without worrying about his life being in danger, no matter how bad the situation, it was nothing to him.
Second, based on his memories from his past life, the Hidden Cloud Village had never signed a peace agreement with Konohagakure. However, they wouldn't actually invade the Fire Country until a year or two later.
Thus, there was no need to worry that this was the start of a major invasion.
From this, could he deduce that the Hidden Cloud's sudden actions were merely testing the style of Hokage Minato?
After all, Konohagakure had just appointed its Fourth Hokage, and the frontlines had an issue almost immediately afterward, which felt too coincidental.
If his deduction was correct, this was only the beginning.
The Hidden Cloud Village's movements were probably just a test. After them, other villages would likely follow suit, trying to probe the Fire Country's defenses.
They might not be as direct as the Hidden Cloud, but sending small squads to infiltrate the Fire Country and gather intelligence was inevitable.
Considering this, it was almost certain that Konohagakure's Anbu would be very busy in the near future.
Wait a minute—'Could Kakashi be the one who gains fame in these covert battles?'
The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed.
After all, just a few days ago, he had noticed that Kakashi had joined the Anbu.
If the Anbu took action next, Kakashi's current reckless attitude meant he would likely lead from the front, earning a notable reputation.
Many thoughts flashed through Qingming's mind, but he quickly pushed them aside and continued to listen to Fugaku's explanation.
Fugaku continued, "In addition to you, there will be a hundred-man team, with ten Jonin, sixty Chunin, and thirty Genin. You will be the leader."
"Is that so?"
Qingming pondered for a moment, then nodded after a while.
Seeing his agreement, Fugaku went on to describe the composition of the team.
As expected, it was composed of elite members.
Few of them were civilians, most were from prominent clans.
With such a team, the average combat power would exceed their apparent strength.
Qingming was satisfied with this.
After the conversation, he left Fugaku's house and returned to his own residence. He packed some clothing and supplies, sealing them in scrolls, before heading straight to the Hokage Building.
Upon arrival, he met with Minato Namikaze, who wasted no time. After handing over detailed intelligence from the frontlines, Minato ordered him to depart immediately.
Qingming said nothing in response. When he arrived at the assembly point, he quickly counted the team members. Confirming there were no issues, he gave the order to set off.
Due to the lightweight nature of the team, they arrived in the Land of Rice within less than three days.
This was the frontline where Konohagakure and the Hidden Cloud Village were at war.
When Qingming and his team arrived, Konohagakure was doing everything it could to repel the Hidden Cloud's attack.
It was clear that the leader in charge of this battlefield had made an accurate judgment; with their current strength alone, they would not have been able to withstand the Hidden Cloud's offensive.
Fortunately, they had requested reinforcements in time, and Qingming and his team arrived just in time to prevent further losses.
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