"Be careful!"
Just as Qingming flew towards the group of Kirigakure ninjas surrounding a dozen Konoha ninjas, one of them suddenly shouted loudly.
In the next instant, these ninjas quickly scattered.
Seeing this, Qingming curled his lip in frustration and muttered, "Damn it!"
Now, these Kirigakure ninjas had learned from experience. They realized the advantage of Qingming's aerial position and immediately spread out as soon as they saw him coming. This made it much harder for him to attack multiple targets at once.
Even his multi-target technique, Fire Style: Phoenix Fire Jutsu, became less effective as the enemy spread out.
It could only be said that ninjas' adaptability was truly impressive.
If only they had prepared for aerial targets, Qingming might not have dared to fly so freely.
But now, even without him doing anything, the Konoha ninjas trapped in the circle could take a breather.
In fact, they might even be able to use Qingming's arrival as an opportunity to counterattack.
Just like now, when the Konoha ninjas saw him coming straight toward them, they exchanged looks and immediately began to chase after the scattered Kirigakure ninjas.
The Kirigakure ninjas, wary of Qingming's presence, dared not fight at full force.
As a result, they soon found themselves at a disadvantage.
Seeing this, Qingming was glad to give them the opportunity and circled around the battlefield, continuing to apply pressure on the Kirigakure ninjas.
Of course, when a good opportunity presented itself, he wouldn't miss it.
In a short amount of time, he used his techniques to kill one ninja and injure three others.
However, that was where it ended.
The reason was simple—several Kirigakure Jonin had already arrived.
Qingming watched them approach, flapped his chakra wings behind him, and flew toward another battlefield.
The few Kirigakure Jonin, seeing the bodies of their comrades on the ground, threw a few shuriken at the Konoha ninjas in a fit of frustration.
Then they quickly gave chase after Qingming.
It wasn't that they didn't want to stay and finish off the Konoha ninjas, but if they did, Qingming would stay in the area and launch devastating attacks on the Kirigakure ninjas there.
Although this was a mutual exchange of damage, with Qingming alone, the harm he could do with his aerial advantage might outweigh that of the Kirigakure ninjas.
In such a case, it would not be worth it.
So, they had no choice but to pursue him relentlessly. Even though they couldn't kill him, they couldn't let him linger in one place for too long.
As for the Konoha ninjas, they had a numerical advantage, so they left them to handle it.
This was a forced decision.
Time continued to pass.
An hour later, the first rays of sunlight appeared over the horizon, illuminating the sea.
When the first light of dawn hit the Eagle Beak Cliff, the murderous aura on the battlefield seemed to dissipate slightly.
Unconsciously, over five hours had passed.
At this point, both sides' ninjas were exhausted, but without orders from their superiors, they did not dare to retreat easily.
So they continued to hold on.
Thanks to the Chakra Absorption Technique, Qingming's chakra remained at a high level, while the Kirigakure Jonin were visibly running low on chakra.
This made Qingming's delaying tactics much easier.
Taking advantage of this, he even killed a Kirigakure Jonin and an Elite Jonin, further reducing their high-level combat strength.
If Qingming didn't mind provoking Kirigakure, he could have gone on a killing spree at this point.
There was no doubt about his strength. Over the past several hours, he had been primarily using his flying techniques to maneuver and delay.
If he were to unleash his full power, with his current strength, he could easily kill several ninjas even if surrounded.
But doing that wouldn't be beneficial for the overall situation, and there was no advantage to doing so. Hence, he had refrained.
However, if he could delay things a bit longer and weaken the enemy's state even further, he might just go all out.
But as if fate had other plans, just as Qingming was about to take action, a sharp eagle cry suddenly rang out from the distance.
Qingming fixed his gaze and saw a messenger hawk from Kirigakure in the sky.
Screech~
Another eagle cry followed.
Below, Terumi Mei and the other Jonin listened closely.
After a moment, their expressions subtly changed.
They exchanged glances, and then a Jonin skilled in mind techniques used jutsu to contact the other Kirigakure ninjas, issuing a retreat order.
That's right, a retreat!
From the messenger hawk's cries, they had received orders from their superiors to return to the forward base as quickly as possible.
In the sky, because of his aerial position, Qingming immediately realized Kirigakure's plan but made no move to stop them.
There were two main reasons: First, he couldn't stop them.
These Kirigakure ninjas had clearly prepared for this, splitting into several groups as soon as they received the orders, and retreating in different directions toward the sea. There was no way for him to stop them all.
Second, the remaining Konoha ninjas in the base were few and in very poor condition. Even if he stopped one or two groups, they didn't have the strength to wipe them out.
Lastly, and most importantly, Terumi Mei and the others were keeping an eye on him. If he made a move to intercept the retreat, it was very likely that another full-scale battle would break out.
Although he wasn't afraid of them, Qingming didn't want to waste his energy for no reason.
After considering all of this, he chose to let them go.
Seeing that he made no move, Terumi Mei and the others secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
If they were confident before the battle started, after several hours of exhaustion, they had completely lost their previous resolve.
In such a situation, it was better to avoid unnecessary conflict.
Time continued to pass, and both sides silently watched as their ninjas pulled back, one by one.
Soon, the Kirigakure ninjas disappeared from the battlefield, and the remaining Konoha ninjas gathered together.
Qingming flapped his chakra wings lightly, and in no time, he reached the Eagle Beak Cliff.
Facing the rising sun, Qingming looked out toward the distant sea.
There, a few Kirigakure warships were rapidly sailing away.
Faintly, he saw a few familiar faces on the ship's stern—several of the Kirigakure Jonin who had clashed with him the night before.
For some reason, he had a strange feeling, a premonition that they would meet again soon.
This wasn't just a random thought.
Kirigakure had planned this entire battle meticulously, and even endured until the end, so they couldn't have come out of it without any gains.
Qingming could almost predict that some of the border defense bases had already been taken by Kirigakure, possibly more than one.
Therefore, both sides would likely compete for control over these bases in the future.
At that time, it was very likely he would be called upon again, and those Kirigakure Jonin would probably participate in the battle as well. The chance of them crossing paths again was high.
This wasn't just a feeling; it was almost certain.
However, this wasn't necessarily a good thing.
Though, with his current strength, especially after gaining the ability to fly, such a large-scale battle probably wouldn't threaten his life.
But if possible, he didn't want to waste his time and energy on it.
Unfortunately, he still wasn't in a position to disregard the rules.
"Ahh..."
With a soft sigh, Qingming stopped thinking about it and flew back toward the base.
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