Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

Chapter 988 Infiltration
"No."

Upon hearing Qingming's question, the wooden clone calmly shook his head and replied as follows.

Upon hearing this, Qingming was not surprised.

Firstly, the Third Shinobi World War had only just ended, and even if Kumogakure was warlike, it wouldn't risk being attacked by a group of enemies by making any big moves.

Secondly, given the tension between Konoha and Kumogakure regarding the border issue, Konoha would receive corresponding information whenever Kumogakure made any major moves.

However, he didn't hear any rumors in Konoha, which indirectly shows that the Hidden Cloud Village hadn't done anything out of line.

It was based on these two points that he was not at all surprised by the wooden clone's answer.

Shaking his head inwardly, Qingming temporarily put these thoughts aside and released the 'Wood Clone Technique' with a thought.

In an instant, the wooden clone in front of him transformed into a human-shaped wooden stake.

Then, it disappeared quickly.

At the same time, long stretches of the other person's memories surfaced in his mind.

It took Qingming more than an hour to browse through all these memories.

Opening his eyes, Qingming stood still, pondered for a while, and after confirming that there was nothing in Yunyin Village that was worth his attention, he once again used the 'Wood Clone Technique'.

Soon, another wooden clone appeared.

Just like in Kirigakure, Qingming left instructions for him to filter out 'junk' information before activating the 'Flying Thunder God Technique' and leaving Kumogakure.

The view suddenly shifted.

Qingming arrived at a hill outside Iwagakure Village.

Feeling the intense depletion of chakra within his body, Qingming quickly focused his mind and drew chakra from the alternate dimension between his eyebrows to replenish what he had just consumed.

A dozen seconds later, his chakra was fully replenished, and Qingming was back to normal.

Only then did he have the mind to observe the Hidden Stone Village below.

Unlike Kumogakure, Iwagakure has a sensory barrier that covers the entire village.

Therefore, he cannot teleport directly in, because that would trigger the barrier's response.

The fate of Obito Uchiha, who was targeted by Konoha, was still fresh in Qingming's mind, and he did not want to suffer the same fate.

Moreover, when he replaced the shadow clone last time, he received intelligence that Onoki had personally ordered the setting up of another barrier in the village that could sense chakra.

Even now, he still doesn't know what the other party wants to do.

Therefore, it's best to be cautious.

With this in mind, Qingming moved slightly away from the perception barrier of Iwagakure and then used the 'Mind Communication Technique'.

He quickly made contact with his wooden clone, who was hiding in Iwagakure.

After confirming that there were no problems, he followed the same method, activated 'Heavenly Guard', and infiltrated the interior of Iwagakure, eventually entering the underground space where his wooden clone was hiding.

Because they had already communicated, the wooden clone did not exhibit any extreme behavior.

Therefore, their meeting went unnoticed by anyone.

Looking at the wooden clone in front of him, Qingming immediately dispelled the 'Wooden Clone Technique'.

Instantly, the other person's memories were synchronized into his mind.

However, because when he replaced the shadow clone last time, he told the other party not to do anything unnecessary.

Therefore, it has basically remained unchanged for more than a month.

Correspondingly, the number of memories in his mind was also reduced, and he finished browsing through the other party's memories in very little time.

After doing all this, Qingming rested for a while, and then immediately used the 'Wood Clone Technique' to create another wooden clone.

As usual, Qingming cast the "All Things Seal" spell on the opponent and injected one million points of chakra before leaving the abandoned underground laboratory.

Back on the ground, Qingming looked around, then locked onto the direction of the Earth Shadow Building and walked over.

Like Konoha, the Tsuchikage Building in Iwagakure also has a room specifically for storing important documents.

If you were to ask where in Iwagakure (Hidden Stone Village) information is most likely to be hidden, then this room would undoubtedly be the answer.

Therefore, this is his first stop.

However, he had only taken a few steps when he suddenly stopped.

Qingming looked at himself and thought to himself, "As the saying goes, 'Better safe than sorry.'"

Although he was confident he could fool everyone, it was never a bad thing to be cautious.

Therefore, he decided to change his appearance. After thinking for a moment, Qingming raised his hands to form a hand seal and used the 'Transformation Technique' to transform into the appearance of Uchiha Obito.

That's right, it's Uchiha Obito.

Even the mask on his face was copied by him using 'Wood Release' based on the memories in his mind.

Once he put it on, a villainous aura immediately emerged from him.

Qingming nodded in satisfaction.

In this way, even if their whereabouts are discovered, it won't matter.

As for whether this will cause trouble for Obito Uchiha?
Sorry, Qingming doesn't care at all!
Don't say that he and the other party were never on the same side and there was no need to consider the other party's feelings. Just the way the other party threatened him in Konoha was enough for him to cause trouble for the other party.

Of course, it's best not to expose yourself if you can avoid it.

After all, he and the other party hadn't completely broken off relations yet.

Therefore, we need to be cautious in our next actions.

With this in mind, Qingming activated his Byakugan and used its X-ray vision to carefully bypass the patrolling Iwa ninja teams along the way, heading straight towards the Tsuchikage Building.

Unlike the Hokage Building, which is mainly constructed of a mixture of brick, stone, and wood, the Tsuchikage Building is made of a large number of giant rocks, giving it a very rugged appearance.

At the same time, its interior also appears quite spacious.

Qingming activated 'Heavenly Defense', carefully entered, and then, based on the memories in his mind, quickly went up to the third floor and headed accurately to one of the rooms.

This is where the important documents and materials of Iwagakure are stored.

He was able to know this thanks to the intelligence gathering done by the shadow clone who stayed behind over the past few months.

Qingming remembered that this seemed to have been read from the brain of an Iwagakure ANBU member who had served as a guard here for a period of time.

Therefore, the situation here is relatively clear.

And now, this intelligence has come in handy.

When Qingming arrived in front of the house, he looked at the two ANBU ninjas guarding the outside and revealed himself without any hesitation.

"Varied"

The two were startled by his sudden appearance, and one of them immediately tried to ask a question while issuing a warning.

However, before he could even utter a word, he was frozen in place by a single glance from Qingming.

Seeing this, another person immediately took out a kunai and was about to stab Qingming.

However, the opponent's movements were too slow, especially under Qingming's Mangekyou Sharingan, it was like a tortoise crawling.

Qingming stepped forward, reached out, and instantly grabbed the other person's neck.

At the same time, a dense array of sealing techniques appeared, centered on Qingming's palm, and quickly covered the entire body of the Iwagakure ANBU member, binding him in place.

This is no other ninjutsu; it is the 'Self-Karma Binding Seal'.

All of this, though it sounds like a long story, actually happens in the blink of an eye.

Through the holes in the mask, Qingming could clearly see that the person under his palm had a look of urgency in their eyes.

Clearly, he was more worried about what might happen to the place he was protecting than about his own life.

However, there's no use in being anxious.

Qingming's gaze swept over, and he once again used 'Genjutsu: Sharingan', pulling the person's consciousness into the illusion as well.

Thus, the two people at the door simultaneously lost their ability to warn of danger.

His first step can be considered a success.

As for why they didn't just kill the two of them...
It's simple, Qingming is worried that they might have some hidden tricks up their sleeves.

As far as he knew, Konoha's Anbu ninjas would have special cursed seals placed on their bodies before carrying out important missions.

For example, sending out messages at the moment of death.

Presumably, Iwagakure, being one of the Five Great Ninja Villages, also has similar methods.

If such a warning device were installed on these two people, he would have alerted them.

Therefore, Qingming chose to trap him rather than kill him.

Of course, how things will unfold remains to be seen.

(End of this chapter)