Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

Chapter 1086 Speculation and Reunion

"Are we just going to send ourselves to our deaths as cannon fodder?"

This thought flashed through Qingming's mind.

But no village would allow elite ninja like the Anbu to be used as cannon fodder, unless...
Suddenly, Qing thought of a possibility.

So he focused his attention again and scanned each of them.

He quickly discovered the problem with one of them.

Under the Byakugan's vision, the chakra flow within this person is abnormal; an external chakra has occupied the person's eyes and brain.

This is a very obvious sign of being manipulated by illusion.

"There is indeed a problem!"

Just now, he was thinking that unless these people were not actually ANBU ninjas from Kirigakure, they would not be used as cannon fodder for testing.

It now appears that these people were not Kirigakure's ANBU, but rather that they, as Kirigakure's ANBU, were manipulated by someone, which led them to do things that were completely contrary to Kirigakure's interests.

Then
Who is controlling them?

Qingming already had an answer in his mind regarding the possible reactions from Konoha and Kumogakure after the problems arose during the troop withdrawal.

"Uchiha Obito~"

Qingming uttered these words softly.

That's right, he believed that the person controlling these Hidden Mist Anbu was Obito Uchiha.

This was not a wild association on his part; rather, he had a strong motive to sabotage the peace talks between Konoha and Kumogakure.

After all, for these rats in the gutter, the more chaotic the ninja world is, the safer they are, and the more they can take advantage of the chaos.

Of course, this is only one factor.

In addition, he has even clearer evidence pointing to the other party.

Firstly, the genjutsu on this Kirigakure leader Jonin was clearly the work of the 'Genjutsu: Sharingan'.

He was quite proficient in this technique and recognized it at a glance.

Moreover, he could also conclude that the person who cast this illusion technique definitely possessed a Sharingan at the Mangekyou level.

Only Sharingan of this level possesses sufficient ocular power to flexibly control the mind of a Jonin for an extended period of time.

Currently, there are only three people in the entire ninja world who possess the Mangekyou Sharingan—the other party, him, and Uchiha Shisui.

He certainly didn't do it, and Uchiha Shisui had no reason to do it, so the only one who would have done it was the other party.

Secondly, on another timeline, Obito Uchiha attacked Kirigakure immediately after the Third Shinobi World War.

They have a 'precedent' of controlling the Fourth Mizukage, and these people are all members of the Kirigakure Anbu, so Qingming can't help but be suspicious.

Of course, he probably hasn't taken control of Yagura yet.

Otherwise, the wooden clone lurking in Kirigakure would have already sent him a message.

After all, of the three ninja villages—Kirigakure, Kumogakure, and Iwagakure—Kirigakure was the one he had infiltrated the deepest. He would know if Yagura Karatachi showed even the slightest abnormality.

This might just be a test by the other side, and they might also be trying to sabotage the peace talks between Konoha and Kumogakure.

With that thought in mind, Qingming immediately scanned other locations, attempting to find traces of Uchiha Obito.

After all, if his guess was true, then these dozen or so people were just cannon fodder used by the other side to scout ahead, and he would definitely have to do it himself when it came to the final showdown.

Therefore, it must be nearby.

Even if he himself is not there, there must be informants nearby.

Sure enough, after a thorough search, Qingming discovered some anomalies.

Behind these dozen or so Hidden Mist members, a man was following closely.

The opponent's presence was so well concealed that it was almost impossible to detect; the person was hidden underground and moved at lightning speed.

This immediately reminded Qingming of Jue and his 'Mayfly Technique'.

Upon closer inspection, the other person's aura did indeed seem somewhat familiar.

Just as Qingming was about to conduct further investigation, the other party suddenly stopped, as if he had noticed his spying.

This made Qingming even more certain of his guess.

So, after thinking for a moment, Qingming used the 'Mind Communication Technique' to contact Nara Mitsuhiko in the rear camp and told him that the attackers were a dozen or so Kirigakure ANBU.

After that, he went straight to Jue's hiding place.

He was incredibly skilled and daring; anyone else, even knowing the enemy's location, wouldn't approach rashly. At the very least, they would need to find some helpers.

However, Qingming was different; he had enough confidence in his own strength.

So I went alone.

It just so happens that almost ten months have passed since the Nine-Tails' attack, and he also wants to know how Obito Uchiha is doing, and also to test his reaction.

If the other party really intends to attack Kirigakure, then he needs to prepare in advance. In any case, he must not let them control Yagura Karatachi.

Indeed, in my memory, after the other party took control of Yagura Karatachi, they only caused trouble within Kirigakure and did not affect the stability of the ninja world.

But memories are just memories.

Now that he's the butterfly in his grasp, he can't guarantee that the other side won't cause trouble after controlling Yagura.

In any case, judging from the other party's probing actions this time, the possibility is very high.

If that's the case, then the peace of the ninja world might be broken again.

His cultivation will inevitably be affected at that time.

Therefore, he absolutely cannot let this happen.

"Sigh, I'm really worried sick about the peace of the ninja world!"

Qingming sighed inwardly, then used the 'Instantaneous Movement Technique' to rush towards the location that was suspected to be Jue.

The journey of less than two kilometers, even in the jungle, did not take him long.

Soon, Qingming arrived at his destination.

He stood in front of a large tree, silent.

Time passes minute by minute.

At one moment, the sound of explosive tags exploding came from afar.

Without even guessing, Qingming knew that Nara Mitsuhiko and his group had clashed with the dozen or so Kirigakure ANBU members.

However, Qingming paid no attention to that side, but instead quietly looked at the big tree in front of him and said, "What, aren't you coming out yet?"

Call ~
A gust of night wind blew by.

The leaves rustle.

However, the trees in front remained unchanged.

"Ha~"

Qingming sneered and was about to make a move to destroy the tree.

Just then, a half-black, half-white figure emerged from the tree trunk.

If it's not Jue, then who is it?

Upon seeing the other person, Qingming breathed a slight sigh of relief.

This proves that his guess was correct.

However, Qingming showed no sign of anything amiss. He simply sneered, "What, you've finally decided to come out?"

She ignored his sarcasm and simply looked to the side.

The next moment, a distorted spatial fluctuation came.

Immediately afterwards, Obito Uchiha, wearing a vortex mask, appeared in the arena.

Upon seeing the other person, Qingming was about to say something.

But before he could speak, Obito Uchiha interrupted him, saying, "How dare you show your face in front of me?"

"What do you mean?"

Qingming was puzzled by the question, so he spoke up.

Seeing Qingming's reaction, Obito Uchiha's expression under his mask changed drastically with anger, and he couldn't help but emit strong chakra fluctuations, as if he was about to start a fight at the slightest provocation.

However, faced with his reaction, Qingming's expression became much more serious, but he did not move at all, just standing quietly in place, looking at the other party.

But it was precisely this calm demeanor that prevented Obito Uchiha from making any rash reaction.

There was no other reason than that the oppressive aura emanating from Qingming was too heavy. Obito's intuition told him that if he chose to take action, the consequences might be unbearable.

Finally, after a few breaths of confrontation, he withdrew his imposing aura.

(End of this chapter)