Chapter 245 After the War
Returning to the West Mountain stronghold again, Qingming looked at the mountain whose terrain had changed drastically and could easily guess the intensity of the battle last night.

At this time, the trees on the entire mountain had almost disappeared, replaced by various strange-shaped lava crystals.

In addition, there were many mountain collapses caused by powerful earth-style ninjutsu.

All in all, this is already a brand new place.

When stationed in such a place, the first thing to do is naturally to explore the surrounding environment clearly.

With this thought in mind, Qing Ming directly told Shan Zhongju behind him, "Ju, immediately lead your men to find out the surrounding situation, and then formulate a new defense strategy."

"Yes, Captain!"

Upon hearing this, Yamanaka Kiku responded without any hesitation.

However, his voice sounded weak, as if he had a serious illness.

Actually, it’s almost the same!

Yesterday, although they withdrew from the main battlefield in time and did not participate in the subsequent "battle" for the four tails here, the fighting on the peripheral battlefield could not be avoided.

Yamanaka Kiku's lungs were injured in this battle. Although Qingming had used medical ninjutsu to treat her, she was still not fully healed because the time was still short.

In the past, for an injury like this, the person would have been given a few days to recover.

But not this time.

In yesterday's battle, Konoha suffered heavy losses, and the defense of each point cannot be relaxed, so they can only send out these lightly injured soldiers.

Looking at the people who had left, Qingming quickly came to their original residence.

Sadly, this place has changed beyond all recognition.

The simple wooden house where he lived before had long since turned to ashes.

Qing Ming didn't act pretentiously. He just found a huge rock formed by solidified lava and sat on it.

He formed seals with his hands and skillfully performed the "Palm Immortal Technique", condensing a pure Yang escape chakra and began to strengthen his body.

During the strengthening process, he was distracted and was also thinking about what to do next.

First of all, needless to say, you must continue to strengthen your body.

He must seize this rare peaceful time and not waste a single minute.

Secondly, he also had to find a way to collect knowledge related to the development of water-attribute chakra, as well as some water-style ninjutsu.

Although he does not have time to develop water-attribute chakra for the time being, he can start preparing after this round of strengthening is completed.

Instead of waiting until then to collect in a hurry, it is better to prepare in advance.

Finally, there is the third thing, which is to find an alternative weapon.

As his strength continues to increase, the short sword in his hand that cannot conduct chakra has greatly restricted the display of his strength.

If you don't want to suffer losses in this regard when fighting with others in the future, you must change it as soon as possible.

As for the target, he already had it, and that was the rare Kusanagi sword in the ninja world.

It just so happens that the Uchiha clan can help with both collecting knowledge and finding weapons.

Needless to say, as a wealthy family with a thousand-year heritage, such knowledge and ninjutsu can be easily produced.

As for the latter.
This was a decision he had made long ago.

Compared to the entire Uchiha clan's intelligence network, his efficiency alone was too slow, and it would be far better to ask the clan to help him search.

As for whether the Uchiha clan will help, I believe that neither the conservatives nor the radicals who want to win him over will refuse the request of this "rising star".

Three minutes later.

Qingming opened his eyes.

He did not rush to use the Palm Immortal Technique again to strengthen his body, but took out a pen and paper and carefully wrote a letter.

After finishing writing, Qingming put the letter away.

In two days, the convoy carrying supplies from the base camp will arrive, and then we can ask someone to take the letter back.

······
In a blink of an eye, another week has passed.

It was the beginning of March. Qingming could clearly feel that his body was one step closer to transformation. In a week at most, the transformation would definitely come.

"Soon, soon!"

Somewhere on the mountain, Qingming opened his eyes and muttered to himself.

After a while, a sound of footsteps was heard. Qingming looked in the direction of the sound and saw several Konoha Chunins walking out from behind the strange-shaped lava crystals.

These are his direct subordinates, responsible for patrolling the area.

Seeing them coming over, Qing Ming asked directly: "Is there anything unusual?"

"No."

A Konoha Chuunin replied succinctly.

Qingming was not surprised by this answer.

As he expected, after the great battle a week ago, the Iwa Ninja's offensive pace slowed down significantly.

Not to mention large-scale attacks, even small-scale conflicts have become rare.

In the past week, they had spotted the enemy only a handful of times, and the battles that had broken out weren't even battles.

As soon as those Rock Ninjas find themselves exposed, they will retreat without any hesitation, so encounters will often turn into pursuit battles.

Therefore, direct conflict is almost non-existent.

However, a week has passed, and I think the Iwagakure should have almost recovered, so there's no guarantee that they won't cause a major incident.

With some vigilance in his heart, Qing Ming said to several of his subordinates: "Don't let your guard down. The enemy may restart the war at any time. Be careful when patrolling."

"Yes, Captain!"

Several Konoha Chunins were startled and responded quickly.

Seeing this, Qing Ming waved his hand and said, "Okay, let's go to the next area!"

Having said that, he stood up and ran in another direction.

Several Konoha Chunins followed closely behind.

Soon, the group arrived at their destination.

Without waiting for Qingming to say anything, several Konoha Chunins tactfully left and dispersed to carry out routine patrols and searches.

Qingming himself found a new place and began to perform the "Palm Immortal Technique" to condense the Yang escape chakra and strengthen his body.

In this way, time passed day by day.

······
three days later.

evening.

Qingming had just completed his patrol mission and returned to his residence on the top of the mountain. Before he could even sit down, there was a knock on the door.

dong dong dong~
Qing Ming opened his eyes impatiently and said, "Come in!"

crunch~
A Konoha Chunin pushed the door open and walked in.

"what's up?"

Qing Ming looked at the other party and spoke in an indifferent tone.

"Qingming Jonin, Captain Weiren has called a meeting of all the Jonins. Here is a warrant!"

The Konoha Chunin replied neither humbly nor arrogantly, and while speaking, he took out a handwritten call-up order from his pocket.

Qing Ming took the warrant and checked it. After confirming that there was no problem, he nodded and asked, "When exactly?"

"In half an hour."

The Konoha Chuunin replied.

"Okay, I understand. You can go back and report now."

After hearing Qing Ming's words, the Konoha Chunin did not linger any longer. After leaving the wooden house, he immediately used the 'Flash Body Technique' to leave.

(End of this chapter)