Two days passed in the blink of an eye.
It had been three days since the Mist Ninja's last attack on Flying Fish Town.
Even now, they hadn't made another move.
"I wonder if today will bring any changes," Qing Ming thought to himself, recalling the slight anomalies he had noticed in Flying Fish Town the previous night.
Just as this thought crossed his mind, a knock sounded at the door.
Qing Ming's heart skipped a beat, and he muttered, "Could it be that my hunch was right?"
As he pondered this, he grabbed a towel from the side and quickly dried his face. Then, he went to open the door.
Standing outside was a familiar figure—none other than Nakagawa Ichiro, the messenger ninja under Sano Nobuhisa.
One couldn't deny Nakagawa's sheer luck. Despite enduring several large-scale battles, he was still alive and, surprisingly, his strength seemed to have improved slightly.
Qing Ming's Sharingan scanned Nakagawa, vaguely sensing the subtle increase in his energy. This scrutiny made Nakagawa visibly uneasy. He shifted slightly and said, "Qing Ming Jonin, the captain has asked you to come to the conference room immediately."
The familiarity of this opening line reminded Qing Ming of the events leading up to the Mist Ninja's previous attack. Back then, Nakagawa had delivered a similar message.
With a hint of humor, Qing Ming asked, "What's going on? Don't tell me the Mist Ninja are attacking again?"
Though his tone was lighthearted, he was genuinely inquiring.
Nakagawa nodded solemnly. "That's correct."
He glanced around cautiously to ensure no one was eavesdropping before continuing, "Didn't you report earlier this morning about the Mist Ninja's unusual behavior in Flying Fish Town last night?
Earlier today, Captain Sano dispatched a team to investigate. The findings confirm that the Mist Ninja are indeed preparing for another assault."
"Is that so..." Qing Ming murmured thoughtfully. He waved his hand dismissively. "Alright, I understand. Go inform the others."
"Understood."
With that, Nakagawa Ichiro left without further delay.
Watching him walk away, Qing Ming stood at the doorway for a moment, lost in thought, before heading back inside.
He had only just woken up and hadn't yet prepared his gear. Even though it was just a meeting, Qing Ming liked to be fully equipped.
Given his role in the base, there was a high probability—at least 90%—that Sano Nobuhisa would assign him to a reconnaissance mission after the meeting.
He had no intention of making a return trip just to gear up.
A few minutes later, Qing Ming was ready, fully equipped and locking his door before heading to the conference room.
As for the meeting, the agenda was straightforward and predictable: summarizing the current situation, gathering opinions, and assigning tasks.
One noteworthy detail was the intelligence from the reconnaissance team—this time, the Mist Ninja didn't plan a unified assault. Instead, they had split into smaller squads for a strategy of harassment.
This tactic had an obvious goal: to launch raids and disrupt operations.
Given their comparable manpower, the only viable counter-strategy was to respond with similar guerrilla tactics.
This meant a long, drawn-out battle. The sound of combat would likely echo day and night.
On the bright side, this shift in the Mist Ninja's tactics implied they had essentially given up on capturing Black Stone Outpost.
With that possibility off the table, there was less concern about losing the base.
Fighting near their stronghold was also advantageous. They had access to superior supplies and could maximize their home-field advantage, enhancing their combat effectiveness compared to the enemy.
These factors combined meant that, despite the impending battles, the atmosphere during task assignments wasn't overly tense.
When it came to Qing Ming's turn, things went as he had anticipated—he was assigned to monitor the Mist Ninja's movements again.
This time, however, his task was simpler. He only needed to report the general movements of the Mist Ninja to the command center.
After the meeting, Qing Ming left the command room without delay. Activating Wind Release: Wings of Wind, he soared into the sky, heading south from the outpost.
Minutes later, Qing Ming arrived above the canyon where Sano Nobuhisa had ambushed Ayada Akiku and her team.
At the moment, dozens of Mist Ninja squads were cautiously making their way through the area.
Their caution was evident, a clear sign that the ambush from before had left a lasting impression on them.
Unfortunately for them, their caution was misplaced.
During the meeting earlier, Sano Nobuhisa had decided to set the battlefield around Black Stone Outpost, leveraging their home-field advantage.
As a result, there were no ambushes along the route from Flying Fish Town to Black Stone Outpost.
Time passed slowly.
Eventually, some Mist Ninja noticed Qing Ming flying overhead.
But he was too high up for them to do anything about it. They could only stay on guard while continuing forward.
As for Qing Ming, revealing their positions didn't bother him at all.
Both sides had been operating in the open for some time now. As long as there were no ambushes, movements were of little consequence.
After tailing them for a while, Qing Ming grew bored.
Landing in the distance, he summoned a Shadow Clone to continue the reconnaissance and surveillance.
As for himself, he turned his attention back to training.
Over the past two days, Qing Ming's Earth Release: Harden had leveled up again, reaching Level 5.
At this stage, it had undergone a qualitative transformation.
He could now activate the technique in an instant, making it viable for use in high-intensity battles.
This significant improvement greatly increased his survivability.
However, advancing from Level 5 to Level 6 required a daunting 5,000 proficiency points. Even at his current pace, it would take over a week to achieve.
To expedite his progress, Qing Ming decided to reallocate some of the 70,000 chakra points he had invested into Earth Release: Harden.
He diverted 20,000 points into Fire Release: Scorching Flame, enabling a daily proficiency gain of 200 points. This adjustment meant he could advance the technique to Level 2 in just one day and reach Level 3 within five days.
Once at Level 3, it would be battle-ready rather than merely a tool for corpse disposal.
Meanwhile, his Water Release: Water Wall and Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet techniques were also nearing their limits.
Both were currently at Level 6 and would soon reach their maximum of Level 7.
When that happened, Qing Ming would recover an additional 40,000 chakra points to allocate elsewhere.
Though he had plans for these points, they wouldn't be used to further enhance Earth Release: Harden or Fire Release: Scorching Flame.
Still, there were ways to accelerate his progress.
Qing Ming gazed at the Mist Ninja squads in the distance.
"They'll make excellent resources," he thought with a smirk.
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