Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

Chapter 1190 Conflict
Time passes minute by minute.

Soon, Qingming opened his eyes again.

Immediately, a glint of light flashed in his eyes.

Qingming murmured, "Dragon Cave?"

That's right, the one synchronizing his memories with him was his shadow clone, who was absorbing natural energy in the Land of Fields.

The reason the other party transmitted memories to him was because he met one of the three great goddesses of Ryuchi Cave there—the Goddess Tashin!
······
Go back a few minutes.

The country of fields.

Inside that space inside the mountain.

Qingming's shadow clones are absorbing the surrounding natural energy.

Suddenly, a subtle spatial fluctuation was felt.

In a corner of the cave, the wooden clone that usually resided there suddenly opened its eyes.

Without any hesitation, he immediately looked at the location from which the spatial fluctuations were coming.

However, there was nothing there, and sensing chakra fluctuations, there was still nothing.

However, 'Qingming' was not careless. With a thought, he immediately started rolling his eyes.

The next moment, a figure appeared in his field of vision.

The other person was dressed as a young girl, wearing a bright green dress and a golden crown on her head, giving her an ethereal and otherworldly air.

However, Qingming was not fooled by the image presented by the other party.

Putting aside the fact that the other person was so ordinary, how did they end up in this secluded place? Their appearance alone reminded him of something.

That's right, it's Princess Tianxin, one of the three great goddesses of Ryuchi Cave.

Ever since he discovered that this node connected the three holy sites, he had been on high alert at all times.

Whenever he has time, he recalls the relevant plot and characters.

That's why I recognized the other person's identity at a glance.

Seemingly sensing his observation, Princess Tianxin finally stopped hiding herself.

She casually manifested herself among the shadow clones, looking at the wooden clone in the corner and asking, "Who are you? Why are you here?"

Her voice was clear and melodious, yet it carried a seductive quality.

At this moment, if it were an ordinary person, or someone with a weak will, upon hearing the other party's voice, they would probably immediately sell out their ancestors for eighteen generations.

But 'Azure Abyss' is different!
Although it is just a wooden clone, as part of the whole Qingming, it naturally carries some of the characteristics of the original body.

This includes resistance to illusions.

In the end, the bewitching power of the Heavenly Princess is just a special kind of illusion.

Therefore, Qingming's expression remained unchanged throughout the entire process.

Seeing this, Princess Tianxin finally became serious.

Actually, she was already very serious.

After all, she couldn't afford to be careless about someone who could control such a dangerous force as natural energy.

Indeed, the moment Tianxin Shenji appeared, she had already discovered what the 'Azure Netherworlds' were doing and realized that they were absorbing the natural energy here.

Silence, a deathly silence, filled the cave!

Neither Qingming's wood clone nor his shadow clone spoke.

The two sides remained locked in a stalemate for a long time before the silence was finally broken by the wooden clone.

However, he still didn't answer the other person's question, but instead asked in return, "Tianxin Shenji?"

That's right, he didn't pretend not to know her; he directly revealed her identity. Right now, he really didn't need to be overly wary of her; her strength was indeed considerable compared to ordinary people.

But when it comes to him, it's just the same.

Of all the people in Ryuchi Cave, the only one he cared about was the White Snake Immortal.

Even the White Snake Immortal was someone he cared about, not someone he feared.

After all, it's unlikely that the opponent will remain in the real world for long. With his strength, even if he's no match for them, he can hold them off until they return to Ryuchi Cave.

Moreover, if they fought with all their might, the White Snake Immortal might not be his match.

Therefore, he had absolutely no reason to be afraid.

On the other side, when Tianxin Shenji heard Qingming mention her name, her already serious face became even more serious.

With a stern face, she asked, "Who exactly are you? How do you know my identity?"

"Furthermore, do you know that the natural energy here belongs to the three holy lands? How dare you absorb it so recklessly? Are you courting death?"

'So they were attracted by the noise of the shadow clones absorbing natural energy?'

The thought flashed through Qingming's mind, but he said without showing any weakness, "Hehe, I really didn't know when the natural energy generated in the ninja world became the energy of the three holy lands."

In his view, the so-called three holy lands are essentially a parasite that is constantly sucking blood from the ninja world.

A thousand years ago, Kaguya Ōtsutsuki descended upon this world, planted the Divine Tree, and gave birth to a Divine Tree Fruit.

Although this drained most of the world's natural energy, Kaguya Otsutsuki was later sealed away and the Divine Tree was cut down.

Logically speaking, after such a long time, the ninja world should have regained some of its vitality.

But what is the actual situation?

Leaving aside the distant Warring States period, even just in the recent decades of the Ninja Village era, one can see that the power level of the ninja world has been steadily declining.

If it weren't for Naruto and Sasuke, these two outliers, the ninja world would probably be sparsely populated by now.

The culprit behind all this is that the three holy lands, in order to maintain the level of their own 'world' from declining, constantly siphon blood from the ninja world.

As a result, the power levels in the ninja world have become lower and lower, and the chances of a genius being born have become smaller and smaller.

Therefore, Qingming intercepted the natural energy of the three holy lands without any psychological burden.

Previously, he was unwilling to make a big deal out of it, simply because he didn't want to cause any unnecessary trouble.

Now that Princess Tianxin has appeared, there's no need for him to hide anything anymore; he can just express his true feelings directly.

However, his words clearly hit a nerve with Princess Tianxin.

Her expression suddenly turned extremely ferocious as she looked at 'Qingming' and said, "What a sharp-tongued brat. I wonder if your bones are just as hard."

As she spoke, she suddenly lunged forward, like a giant snake, flashing through the crowd and arriving beside Qingming.

Then, she opened her mouth, and a pair of sharp, long teeth bit straight at Qingming's neck.

A foul, fishy smell wafted over, and Qingming saw specks of purplish-black venom on the opponent's sharp teeth.

Without a doubt, Qingming knew that the opponent's venom was far more potent than that of ordinary snakes.

If he were bitten, even with 43 points of 'physique', he would probably still be in trouble.

Unfortunately, what he had here was merely a wooden clone. Even if it bit him, it wouldn't be a big deal; at most, the wooden clone would just disintegrate.

If this can severely injure or even kill the opponent, then it is even more worthwhile.

Various thoughts flashed through his mind, but Qingming quickly gathered his thoughts.

Without any hesitation, he immediately activated the Mangekyou Sharingan.

(End of this chapter)