Before long, the afternoon had arrived.
Inside the room, Qingming opened his eyes and looked at his empty palm. He then picked up the book next to him and began flipping through it with great focus.
After a while, he let out a soft sigh and said, "Sigh, developing the fourth chakra nature really isn't easy!"
In the Ninja World, apart from those who inherit some bloodline limits, most ninjas are born with only one chakra nature.
In fact, until they reach the rank of Chūnin, they only have one. It's only after reaching Jōnin rank that they begin working on developing a second chakra nature to make up for their weaknesses.
Of course, some geniuses may start earlier, but it's usually only around the Chūnin stage.
However, even among these people, more than 90% end up with only two chakra natures.
The reason for this isn't that they are unwilling to develop more; after all, mastering multiple chakra natures undoubtedly boosts one's combat power. If it were possible, no one would turn it down. The truth is, they just can't do it.
If developing one's inherent chakra nature is a difficulty level of 1, then developing a second chakra nature is a 5.
At this stage, ninjas with moderate talent can manage it. However, when it comes to developing a third chakra nature, the difficulty level increases to 10.
Don't be fooled by the fact that the difficulty doubles from developing the second nature; it's still ten times more difficult than developing the first.
This step is practically impossible for anyone without sufficient talent.
Right now, more than half of the Jōnin in the Ninja World are stuck at this step.
As for developing a fourth chakra nature, from Qingming's current perspective, the difficulty is at least a 20.
In this situation, only geniuses need to waste their time. Because even if they manage to develop it, there's no guarantee it will yield good results.
Instead of spending time on this, it's better to focus on refining the abilities they already have, as the improvement might be more substantial.
However, Qingming had no intention of giving up.
Not only because of the existence of his proficiency panel, which made mastering the Earth Release chakra nature a non-issue, but also because of its restraining effect on Water Release chakra. He couldn't afford to ignore that.
It wasn't that he was aiming to confront water-style users specifically; it was just that the five chakra natures—Fire, Wind, Lightning, Earth, and Water—had clear strengths and weaknesses. They form a perfect cycle, and losing one of them would create a flaw.
Certainly, in combat, he could rely on his massive chakra reserves to overwhelm opponents. But if he faced a ninja with similar chakra levels who happened to master the counter-techniques to his jutsu, this weakness would be significantly magnified.
The "barrel theory" from his past life perfectly illustrated this: how much water a barrel can hold doesn't depend on its tallest board, but on the shortest one.
The reason he was tirelessly working to develop a new chakra nature was to extend that shortest board, preventing obvious weaknesses.
So no matter how difficult the process, he couldn't give up.
With this thought in mind, Qingming refocused and once again studied the contents of the book, continuing to develop his Earth chakra nature.
...
As the sun set and the moon rose, time passed.
By the evening, neither the Hidden Mist Village nor Konoha had made any significant movements.
In fact, there had been no small-scale skirmishes either. It was as if neither side had noticed the other, maintaining complete silence.
However, Qingming knew this was merely the calm before the storm.
Just like Konoha, which spent the entire day mobilizing troops. Although ninjas' mobility far exceeded that of ordinary armies, such large-scale troop movements still required time.
Thus, there hadn't been any action yet.
Similarly, the Hidden Mist Village was also actively preparing.
This was why Qingming had a full day to focus on training.
But that was about to come to an end.
Not long ago, his mission had arrived. Uchiha Hachidai had indeed secured a rather good assignment for him.
Thinking this, Qingming tidied up his gear. After confirming that he had everything, he left his room.
He didn't linger and quickly raised both hands, forming hand seals with swift precision, before performing a jutsu—Wind Release: Wind Wings!
Bang~
A pair of light cyan chakra wings unfolded behind him.
Qingming's mind stirred, and he manipulated the wings, causing them to flap slightly.
In the next moment, he ascended into the air.
After flying around once, he headed straight for Feiyu Town.
Feiyu Town was a small settlement located at the eastern border of the Fire Country, adjacent to the sea. Due to its unique geographical environment, it was often hit by storms, but after the storms passed, large catches of fish would follow, giving the town its name.
Feiyu Town's outpost had once been a key point in Konoha's central defense line.
However, now it had become one of the four outposts captured by the Hidden Mist Village.
This time, the mission at the Black Stone Outpost was to reclaim this outpost.
Qingming's task was to use his ability to fly to scout the enemy's movements there, providing intelligence to help the command center plan their operations.
It was truly a great mission!
With his current abilities, he could operate under the cover of night, and the Hidden Mist Village wouldn't be able to catch him. The safety level was very high.
The best part was the credit he could gain.
Of course, this was also something the village could accept.
After all, the importance of intelligence often far exceeded the combat power of a single Jōnin.
Although his strength was a bit beyond the typical Jōnin's, in a battlefield with hundreds or thousands of people, he was just one more face in the crowd. Especially when targeted, his combat effectiveness was limited.
Indeed, the command center had already received word that the Hidden Mist Village had made specific arrangements to counter flying targets this time.
So, unlike the last time when he could rush around saving everyone, it would now be nearly impossible.
And this was precisely why the village had agreed to Uchiha Hachidai's suggestion.
After all, how could they let such a powerful Jōnin just "sit this one out"?
...
Fifteen minutes later.
Qingming arrived above Feiyu Town's outpost.
Looking down from the sky, he could see the outpost was brightly lit, with shadows of people moving everywhere.
Activating his Sharingan, Qingming observed closely and noticed that all the people were from the Hidden Mist Village, patrolling the area.
At that moment, the entire Feiyu Town outpost resembled a massive machine, with every ninja embedded as a gear, working together to form the monstrous entity known as "war."
"This is going to be tough!"
After watching for a while, Qingming couldn't help but sigh.
From the Hidden Mist Village's arrangement, it was clear that they weren't rushing into things. Instead, they intended to use this small town as a base, gradually expanding outward.
Thus, Konoha would find it hard to break through with only the forces at the Black Stone Outpost.
However, gathering more forces wasn't very realistic either.
With the final decisive battle between Konoha and the Hidden Sand Village underway, and the need to keep the Hidden Stone Village in check, there was no way to spare additional troops.
"Sigh, this is tough."
Shaking his head, Qingming sighed again.
These matters were for the higher-ups of Konoha to worry about. There was no need for him to overthink. He just needed to do his part—after all, Konoha would eventually drive out the Hidden Mist Village.
With that thought, Qingming resumed carefully observing the situation inside and outside the outpost, taking detailed notes.
These would all need to be submitted, so there couldn't be any mistakes.
Although he planned on staying out of the actual fight, he still had to approach the task with the right attitude.
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