Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

Chapter 1224 Departure
Outside Nanga Shrine.

Qingming, Uchiha Shisui, Uchiha Tetsuka, and Uchiha Hachidai stood facing each other.

The Eighth Hokage of Uchiha glanced at the three young faces, and without any unnecessary words, said directly, "Go and pack your equipment now. We'll meet at the gates of Konoha in half an hour."

Clearly, the other party already knew the details of the mission, otherwise they wouldn't have directly stated that they would meet at the gates of Konoha.

You should know that they were carrying out this mission together with the Anbu. If they hadn't received prior notice, they should have gone to the Hokage Building to assemble first.

But it doesn't matter anymore.

Upon hearing the other party's words, Qingming nodded, and then used a 'Body Instant Technique' to disappear from the spot.

Although he was confident that nothing would happen to him given his current strength, he still needed to be fully prepared for everything.

Therefore, he also needs to make some preparations.

Back home, Qingming took out a scroll and retrieved spare shuriken, kunai, and other ninja tools from a storage room converted from a guest room.

Then, he took out several stacks of detonating talismans, as well as some bandages and other healing items.

Although with his current 44 points of 'Constitution' attribute granting him self-healing ability, it's unlikely he'll ever need these things, but it's always good to be prepared.

Finally, considering that the mission might be delayed, he took out the ration pills that his shadow clone had purchased in advance for his next round of arduous training.

Looking at the large pile of things in front of him, he immediately raised his hand to form a seal and cast a 'Sealing Array', sealing them all into the scroll he had taken out first.

Looking at the sealed scroll that was filled to the brim, Qingming nodded in satisfaction.

He then changed into a brand-new Konoha Jonin uniform, took out his long sword, hung it at his waist, and walked out.

Next, he couldn't show his true strength in front of others, so he had to fight using swordsmanship as before.

Well.
Speaking of swordsmanship
'By the way, I think I also have the title of 'Ghost Swordsman'.'

Qingming paused slightly, then shook his head, stopped thinking about it, and continued walking forward.

Soon, he arrived at the gates of Konoha.

At this moment, two groups of people had arrived, all dressed in black robes and wearing masks.

Clearly, this is the secret service team that will be working with them on the mission.

"Two squads?"

Qingming's gaze swept over the eight people, assessing their strength.

Although he didn't actively try to sense things, he still managed to discover some clues thanks to the keen perception granted by his 45 points of 'spirit' attribute.

First, there are the leaders of these two squads, one of whom has the same sinister aura as most Uchiha ninjas.

Qingming had reason to suspect that the other party was a Jonin from the Uchiha clan.

Recalling the timeline of Minato Namikaze's death, it seems there was an Uchiha clan ninja who joined the Anbu after Shisui Uchiha's death, responsible for monitoring Itachi Uchiha's every move.

His name is Uchiha Inahisa, and he is a person with considerable strength and a meticulous mind.

'It must be him!'

Qingming made a judgment in his mind, and then looked at another leader of the Dark Guard.

Unlike Uchiha Inahisa, Qingming immediately guessed his identity based on the immense life force emanating from him.

If he is not mistaken, he should be one of Orochimaru's experimental subjects, successfully fusing with Hashirama's cells, thus awakening Yamato's Wood Release bloodline limit.

Of course, the other party's immense vitality is compared to that of ordinary people; compared to him, it is far inferior.

For this reason, they also turned their attention to him.

After all, there will always be a subtle connection between people with the same bloodline limit.

Qingming couldn't do anything about it. However, he wasn't too concerned about it.

Anyway, with his current strength, even if some secrets are exposed, it's not a big deal.

However, if he remembered correctly, it should have been Hiruzen Sarutobi who received the Root's legacy, yet he was willing to hand over Yamato to Minato Namikaze.

This made him think more highly of the other party.

Turning his gaze away from the other person, Qingming looked at the six team members behind the two. According to his senses, the strength of these six people was between Special Jonin and Jonin, which was not bad.

Among them, the three people behind Yamato were positioned in a rather deliberate manner, suggesting that they had cooperated for quite some time. Based on the unusual physique of one of them and the strong aura of Yang Release, Qingming guessed that these three should be ninjas from the Ino-Shika-Cho clan.

As for the three Anbu behind Uchiha Inahi
They didn't have many distinguishing features. Apart from one of them having a ninja dog with him, Qingming was probably a ninja from the Inuzuka clan. The other two were unidentifiable.

However, this alone was enough for him to realize how much Minato Namikaze valued this mission.

These two ANBU squads, along with his team of Uchiha Shisui, Uchiha Inahisa, and Uchiha Yasaka, would be enough to wipe out a small ninja village even if he only performed at his usual level.

"Tsk tsk~, that's really true."

Qingming shook his head inwardly, deciding not to think about it anymore.

In fact, he could vaguely guess why Minato Namikaze did this.

Now that the relationship between the Uchiha clan and Konoha has finally been somewhat restored, Minato Namikaze absolutely does not want to see the two sides develop a rift because of this incident.

This can be seen from the Uchiha meeting just now, and Minato Namikaze's concerns are not unfounded.

Therefore, he must do everything he can to bring Itachi Uchiha back.

Only in this way can we continue to promote peaceful coexistence between the Uchiha clan and Konoha.

Furthermore, as a rogue ninja from Konoha, Orochimaru's ambition to target the ninjas of his own village was something Minato Namikaze could not tolerate.

If Orochimaru isn't severely injured in one go, he might turn on the village's ninjas again after this benefit.

As the saying goes, there are those who steal for a thousand days, but not those who guard against thieves for a thousand days.

Therefore, Minato Namikaze doesn't act unless he's absolutely sure of it, but when he does, he goes all out.

Qingming even suspected that Uchiha Inahisa and Yamato carried Minato Namikaze's Flying Thunder God Technique mark, and that he would summon them when the time was right.

Of course, it cannot be ruled out that there was other valuable information in the messages sent back by Itachi Uchiha and others, which made Minato Namikaze grit his teeth and invest heavily.

But whatever factors led Minato Namikaze to make this decision, it gave Aoki a chance to achieve his goal.

Perhaps this time, he might actually be able to get a few Edo Tensei bodies from Orochimaru.

"Hello, my name is Tianzang, and he is fire. We will carry out the next mission together."

Just as Qingming was lost in thought, Yamato stepped forward and introduced himself.

'Heavenly Treasure?'

Qingming was taken aback at first, then remembered that Yamato was the name he revealed to the outside world when he took over Team 7 from Kakashi, while Tenzo was his code name in the Anbu.

These thoughts flashed through his mind quickly. Qingming nodded to the other party and said, "Uchiha Qingming!"

He then stood there without saying a word, adopting an attitude that kept strangers at bay.

Seeing this, Yamato knew he couldn't continue probing and could only retreat back to the group to wait for the arrival of Uchiha Hachiro and the others.

The three of them didn't keep them waiting too long.

Soon, everyone had arrived.

After getting to know each other, the group set off together.

(End of this chapter)