Time ticked by, second by second.
In the blink of an eye, the battle had raged on for over forty minutes.
Qingming had been stalling for nearly ten minutes, and finally, there were some changes on the battlefield.
First, chaos erupted among the Iwa-nin on the outer edges of the battlefield, particularly those further away from the base.
Next, some of the Iwa-nin Jonin seemed to have received some kind of message. After some hesitation, they began organizing a retreat.
Seeing this, Qingming narrowed his eyes.
He glanced at the two Iwa-nin Jonin who had been stalling him and said with a hint of amusement, "Hey, your comrades seem to be retreating. Aren't you going to leave?"
"What?"
The two Iwa-nin Jonin were startled. They quickly glanced at the other Iwa-nin Jonin, and sure enough, some had already started retreating.
It was clear they hadn't noticed this earlier.
However, this was understandable.
Although Qingming had been stalling them, he hadn't just been playing around. He had been using his full strength to hone his swordsmanship, forcing the two to focus all their attention on defending against his attacks. Otherwise, they could easily have been killed.
So it made sense they hadn't noticed what was happening with the other Iwa-nin Jonin.
While they were still figuring out the situation, a series of sharp, varied-length whistles suddenly rang out across the battlefield.
"That's the signal to retreat!"
The two Iwa-nin Jonin's expressions changed. They exchanged glances, then immediately launched an attack on Qingming.
Seeing this, Qingming could easily guess what those whistles meant.
At this point, the two weren't trying to fight him to the death; they were merely attempting to create enough space to retreat.
After all, if Qingming kept the pressure on them, they wouldn't have the chance to escape.
'It seems Nara Sisui's plan has succeeded,' Qingming thought to himself. He easily blocked the continuous attacks from the two Iwa-nin Jonin with his short sword.
Each time they attempted to retreat, Qingming would counter, preventing them from disengaging.
This left the two Iwa-nin Jonin increasingly frustrated.
On the other hand, Qingming remained calm, maintaining a careful balance. He neither pressed too hard nor let them escape—deliberately dragging things out.
This was exactly the same tactic the two Iwa-nin Jonin had used on him earlier, and now he was returning the favor.
Naturally, the two Iwa-nin Jonin were deeply frustrated.
A minute passed quickly.
As Qingming handled their increasingly frantic attacks, a voice suddenly appeared in his mind.
It was Yamanaka Feng's voice, transmitted through the Yamanaka clan's mental technique, the Communication Jutsu, relaying the latest information to all Konoha Jonin on the battlefield.
Qingming listened closely for a moment, and his face soon revealed a "just as I thought" expression.
His earlier suspicions were confirmed: Nara Sisui had indeed been scheming something bigger. His ambition was nothing less than to wipe out the entire Iwa-nin elite force on the battlefield.
By now, over three-quarters of the forces from Konoha's base had been mobilized, and they had successfully surrounded the Iwa-nin.
The earlier commotion among the Iwa-nin was due to them realizing they were being encircled, which is why they were now hastily trying to retreat.
As for why the Konoha Jonin hadn't been informed earlier…
It was simply because the plan had been put together too hastily.
By the time they'd confirmed there were no threats from other directions and were ready to execute the plan, the battle on Qingming's side had already been raging for some time.
Plus, Yamanaka Feng wasn't nearby at the time, and sending people to notify each Jonin individually would've been too risky—it could have compromised the entire plan.
So Nara Sisui had simply postponed notifying them.
Qingming could only shrug at this. What else was there to say?
Even though Jonin were seen as pillars of the village, in a war that spanned the entire world, they were still just more valuable pawns.
Complaining would be pointless.
Ultimately, as long as his own strength was sufficient, he could handle whatever came his way, no matter the circumstances.
At the end of the day, strength is the only thing that truly matters.
Just as Qingming was reflecting on this, the two Iwa-nin Jonin seized an opportunity, breaking away from the fight at the cost of minor injuries, and quickly fled.
Qingming considered chasing them but decided against it.
He sheathed his short sword and began following Nara Sisui's orders, gathering nearby Konoha ninja to prepare for the encirclement and elimination of the remaining Iwa-nin.
…
Two hours later.
The battle was over.
Everything ended naturally, as if it was inevitable.
Aside from fewer than ten who escaped, the entire Iwa-nin elite force had been wiped out.
In truth, once the Iwa-nin had failed to detect Nara Sisui's plan and allowed themselves to be surrounded, their fate was sealed.
Yes, they were an elite force, but the Konoha ninja who had fought their way here were no pushovers either.
Couple that with Nara Sisui mobilizing nearly three-quarters of Konoha's forces, giving them a crushing numerical advantage, and the outcome was clear.
Despite the Iwa-nin's fierce resistance, all they managed to do was increase Konoha's casualties by a few more lives. They couldn't alter the final outcome—most of them still died.
Qingming looked at the body of a young Iwa-nin on the ground, shook his head, and said, "Looks like you didn't make it after all."
The boy was none other than the Iwa-nin Jonin he had heavily injured earlier.
Next to him lay the body of the older Iwa-nin Jonin, who had died trying to protect the younger one. But this time, there were too many Konoha ninjas for him to pull off any tricks.
With such a burden at his side, it was inevitable that he'd perish.
As Qingming mused over this, a Konoha Chunin ran over and respectfully said, "Jonin Qingming, Captain Nara has asked you to attend a meeting in an hour."
"In an hour, huh..."
Qingming pondered for a moment before replying, "Alright, I'll be there."
He was curious about why the Iwa-nin had launched this sudden attack. Judging from the situation, many of the Iwa-nin didn't seem to be from nearby bases.
How could he be sure of this?
The logic was simple: ever since he made a name for himself, the Iwa-nin from nearby bases, especially those in the lower ranks, all recognized his face.
No one wanted to be targeted by the "Ghost Sword."
However, when he arrived on the battlefield, only one of the four Iwa-nin Chunin he encountered recognized him.
This was strange. Aside from the fact that these Iwa-nin weren't from nearby bases, Qingming couldn't think of any other explanation.
Furthermore, the strength of this attacking force far exceeded what the nearby bases could muster, meaning they must have had reinforcements from elsewhere.
But with Iwa-nin Village currently under pressure from both Suna and Kumo, how could they spare troops to send here?
There was definitely something going on that Qingming didn't yet understand, which was why he couldn't fully grasp Iwa-nin Village's intentions.
However, this upcoming meeting should clear up some of his doubts.
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