After observing for a while, Kamida Akiharu put down the monocular telescope. He pondered for a moment, then bit his thumb, allowing his blood to drip down.
Next, he clasped his hands together and quickly formed the seals '亥—戌—酉—申—未', performing the Summoning Technique.
Bang!
A burst of chakra smoke erupted.
A slender, divine crane appeared on the scene.
Without wasting time, Kamida Akiharu quickly took out some paper and a pen, writing a secret letter and placing it in the crane's leg-mounted letter tube.
Then, he patted its back and commanded, "Kusanagi, deliver this letter to the forward base immediately."
The crane, named Kusanagi, let out a loud call in response.
It nodded, flapped its wings, and shot into the sky like an arrow, disappearing into the horizon.
Watching it leave, Kamida Akiharu felt a bit relieved.
Having completed this, he turned to Shiyin and the group of Leaf ninjas who had arrived, saying, "Reinforcements from the base will arrive soon."
"From now on, everyone, keep a close watch on the enemy's movements. We must ensure they remain under our surveillance at all times."
"Yes, Captain!"
Several Leaf ninjas replied promptly, then went back to their respective tasks.
······
A few minutes later.
Inside the forward base, a piercing alarm suddenly rang out.
Inside the room, Qingming's shadow clone abruptly opened its eyes, realizing something was wrong.
Soon after, a message-carrying Chunin found him and instructed him to report to the meeting room immediately.
The shadow clone wasted no time and rushed to the meeting room.
Not just him, all the Jōnin in the base quickly gathered as well.
The ninja leading the meeting was a Uchiha Jōnin. Without any unnecessary words, he swiftly conveyed the news of the impending attack by the Mist ninjas to everyone.
Then, without discussing it with the group, he began assigning tasks.
As he spoke, he pointed to Qingming's name.
"Qingming?"
"Here!"
The shadow clone responded immediately.
Then, the Uchiha Jōnin continued, "You will lead the First and Second Squads to rush to the No. 3 watchtower as quickly as possible. This is your mission requirement."
Saying this, he tossed a scroll to him.
The shadow clone caught it, opened it, quickly scanned through, and felt slightly relieved.
Then he closed the scroll and replied, "Yes, Captain!"
"Alright."
The Uchiha Jōnin nodded and said, "You may go and prepare now!"
"Yes."
Qingming replied and hurriedly left the meeting room.
Inside the meeting room, the Uchiha Jōnin's voice continued.
One by one, Jōnin were assigned their tasks and stepped out, displaying expressions ranging from delight to solemnity.
However, none of this mattered much to Qingming anymore.
He had already set off with the First and Second Squads.
The so-called No. 3 watchtower was actually the reef watchtower where Kamida Akiharu was stationed, and it was also the closest watchtower to the Mist ninja warships.
The fact that the Uchiha Jōnin assigned him here, along with the elite First and Second Squads, clearly showed his acknowledgment of Qingming's strength.
However, the shadow clone was not interested in receiving such recognition.
After all, he wasn't the main body, and he lacked that level of strength.
But in the meeting room, he couldn't express this and could only grit his teeth and accept the mission.
Fortunately, his task wasn't to directly confront the Mist Village's attacking forces.
The Uchiha Jōnin had given him two mission requirements.
The first was that if the Mist ninjas discovered the No. 3 watchtower and launched an attack, their task would be to hold the enemy off, buying the base at least ten minutes of defensive time.
The second was that if the Mist ninjas did not notice them, or if they did notice but chose to ignore them, then their task was to launch a surprise attack from the rear when the Mist ninjas clashed with the base.
According to the intelligence Kamida Akiharu had relayed, the direction of the four Mist warships was clearly inclined towards directly attacking the forward base.
This meant that the possibility of needing to delay was relatively low.
Thus, it offered more room for maneuvering.
As the saying goes, "One should not bite off more than one can chew."
Although he had little affection for the ninjas under him, he wouldn't intentionally lead them to their deaths.
The possibility of a retreat was precisely why he accepted this mission.
Otherwise, even if it raised some suspicions, he wouldn't have taken on such a heavy responsibility.
In addition to this, he felt confident in accepting the mission because, based on the time, his main body should be returning soon.
As long as the conflict didn't end swiftly, if it dragged on even slightly, he should be able to wait for his main body to return.
By then, even if issues arose, his main body could handle them.
······
Twenty minutes flew by.
Qingming led the two squads, totaling thirty-five people, to the reef watchtower, where he met Kamida Akiharu.
Upon seeing him, Akiharu was excited.
After all, Qingming's reputation for his demonic sword had gradually spread over the past few days.
Although he hadn't had the opportunity to demonstrate his strength recently due to the Mist Village's retreat, news of him ambushing an elite team of Mist ninjas on the way to support and killing several Jōnin had already circulated.
Especially the fact that among them were two members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, which made everyone admire him even more.
Of course, this news spread quickly also due to the Uchiha clan's promotion efforts.
As one of the noble families of Konoha, the Uchiha clan thrived on reputation.
Coincidentally, Qingming's actions matched their current needs, so the Uchiha clan was naturally generous in providing the necessary resources.
As for these happenings, Qingming was somewhat aware, but he didn't pay them much mind.
Fame can sometimes be a burden, but it can also be a double-edged sword that saves him from a lot of trouble if used properly.
Sure enough, when Akiharu saw him, he immediately regarded him as the backbone of the operation, and the handover of command was seamless.
As for being targeted by other ninja villages because of this...
With his current strength and achievements, did he think that not publicizing it would make enemies stop their pursuit?
That would be a joke!
Not only would they not let up, but they would also intensify their efforts.
After all, eliminating geniuses from other ninja villages was a consensus among the five great ninja villages.
War is not just about direct confrontation on the battlefield; it also involves covert calculations.
If they could leave opposing ninja villages in a weakened state, even if they lost this war, they would still have a chance to retaliate in the next one.
Thus, in some respects, this aspect is equally important as the direct battles on the front lines.
So, the notion of staying low-key and being spared by enemies is nothing but a dream.
Moreover, since he was already famous, it would be even more impossible to keep a low profile.
For this reason, he did not stop the Uchiha clan from promoting him.
In this situation, the only way to fend off external probing and targeting was to become stronger.
The only thing he could be thankful for was that he had quietly awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan long before he became well-known, granting him the ability to turn the tables.
Therefore, such a hollow reputation meant nothing to him.
Various thoughts flashed through his mind as Qingming turned his gaze toward Kamida Akiharu standing in front of him.
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