After a brief exchange with Uchiha Shisui, Qingming returned to the crowd.
After waiting for nearly ten minutes, the team was fully assembled.
Qingming glanced over the group, which totaled seventy people—a standard ninja detachment, comprising a commander and a vice-commander.
The team was divided into four squads, each with seventeen members, including a squad leader and four battle teams.
Qingming and Uchiha Shisui served as the squad leaders for the first and second squads, each commanding four teams, totaling sixteen members.
Of course, not every squad leader was a true jōnin; the leaders of the third and fourth squads were merely special jōnin.
Additionally, among the four teams in each squad, two team leaders were also special jōnin.
Thus, in this seventy-person team, only four were true jōnin, with ten special jōnin, while the remaining fifty-six were chunin.
From this configuration alone, it was clear that Konoha's elite combat forces were somewhat lacking.
Logically, such an elite team should have jōnin as squad leaders, with team leaders being special jōnin as well.
However, in reality, only half of the four squad leaders and sixteen team leaders met this requirement.
Nonetheless, compared to a typical unit, this configuration was quite impressive.
After all, having fourteen jōnin among seventy people, without any genin, was unimaginable in ordinary troops.
However, it was precisely this configuration that justified the need for support; otherwise, sending a bunch of genin would be no different from sending supplies.
While Qingming pondered this, the commander finished explaining the mission and assigning the positions and responsibilities for each squad during the upcoming journey.
The first squad, led by Qingming—who had the strongest overall strength—was placed at the forefront, while Uchiha Shisui's second squad was tasked with bringing up the rear, with the weaker third and fourth squads positioned in the middle.
Qingming had no objections to this arrangement.
Rather than passively accepting, he preferred to take the initiative, so leading the way was just to his liking.
With everything ready, the team set off.
With a command from Qingming, his four teams formed an "A-B-A" formation and began scouting ahead.
Next, they would first return to the Land of Fire and then proceed along the northern border, ultimately crossing a significant portion of the Land of Fire to reach the southeastern coast.
During this journey, the time spent operating within the Land of Fire was relatively safe; the other two segments were not as secure.
If Danzo intended to create trouble, the best opportunities would be outside the Land of Fire or before reaching the battlefield.
Of course, it was also possible that he would wait until they reached the Hidden Mist battlefield to make his move.
In short, there were many possibilities, and he had to remain cautious.
······
Two days passed in a flash.
Qingming and his team traveled light, marching for more than ten hours each day, and today they finally left the Land of Rain and entered the Land of Fire.
During this time, Qingming was concerned about ambushes, but to his surprise, everything went smoothly; they encountered no trouble along the way.
However, this calmness made Qingming feel a looming sense of urgency, as if a storm was approaching.
Yet, reminding himself of his strength helped him relax.
As the saying goes, "One power can suppress ten others."
With his current strength, as long as he remained cautious and avoided pitfalls, he didn't have to worry about Danzo's hidden schemes.
"Alright, let's stop here for today!"
Seeing that it was about time, Qingming commanded the team to halt.
Soon, the other three squads arrived at the location.
The group did not start a fire or cook; instead, each member pulled out soldier pills, popped them into their mouths, replenished their chakra and stamina, and then began to rest.
However, Qingming did not rest immediately. He quickly flashed to a tree branch and sat cross-legged.
After checking the chakra within him and confirming it was still abundant, he began his practice of the "Heart Reflection Technique."
While the "Palm Sage Technique" could be executed while on the move, the "Heart Reflection Technique" required him to stop.
The reason was simple; the process of this technique stimulated the Sharingan, requiring him to constantly adapt, which would affect his vision.
Thus, he could only perform it while stationary.
Time passed slowly.
Before long, it was deep into the night.
Finally, Qingming stopped his training and began to take advantage of the time to rest.
For the past two days, Qingming had maintained this routine: traveling during the day while using the "Palm Sage Technique" to enhance his body, and resting at night to practice the "Heart Reflection Technique" to promote the evolution of his Sharingan.
He could say that he had not wasted a single second.
The only pity was that during the mission, he couldn't use the "Shadow Clone Technique" to practice other skills, which resulted in nearly forty thousand chakra points going unused each day.
This made Qingming feel a twinge of pain.
Fortunately, this situation wouldn't last long; once they reached the Hidden Mist battlefield, he could resume his usual training schedule.
A night passed uneventfully.
······
The next day.
Morning.
Everyone washed up casually, swallowed a few soldier pills, and then set off again.
According to plan, they would spend four days traversing a significant portion of the Land of Fire, ultimately reaching their destination on the fifth day.
That is, the southeastern coast.
Initially, he believed that traveling within the Land of Fire would be relatively safe.
However, just half a day in, Qingming sensed something was off.
"Stop!"
Qingming suddenly raised his right arm, signaling everyone to halt.
He then activated his Sharingan and scanned the surroundings.
Yet, he found nothing.
The dozen or so Konoha ninjas behind him also grew vigilant, scanning the area but saw no signs of trouble.
After a moment, a special jōnin from the Hyuga clan stepped forward and inquired, "Captain, is something wrong?"
"There's something watching us from the shadows."
Qingming succinctly replied.
Indeed, just moments ago, he had suddenly felt something spying on him, but upon activating the Sharingan, he found nothing.
Retracting his gaze, Qingming looked at the special jōnin from the Hyuga clan and said, "Hyuuga Hanabi, use your Byakugan to scan the area and see if there are any enemies or anything else hidden."
Without hesitation, Hyuuga Hanabi focused her mind, activated her Byakugan, and carefully surveyed the surroundings.
However, after some time, she retracted her gaze and shook her head at Qingming, saying, "Captain, I've checked everywhere; there's no one here."
"What about anything else?"
Qingming pressed on.
"Other than some normal flora and fauna, there's nothing special."
Hyuuga Hanabi continued to shake her head.
Nevertheless, Qingming did not believe that it was merely an illusion; he could only conclude that the enemy was hiding too deeply.
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