Sharingan Evolution: Proficiency's Path

After dodging several attacks in quick succession, Qingming flipped his hand and pulled out a kunai from his ninja tool pouch, engaging in close combat with Xiaoyuan Xiu'er. The sound of clashing kunai echoed in the air as they exchanged blows.

However, it was clear that Xiaoyuan Xiu'er had far more combat experience. In just a moment, Qingming found himself with several new wounds on his body.

Slash!

Glancing at the fresh cuts on his arm, Qingming forced Xiaoyuan Xiu'er's attack away with a powerful shove. He then took half a step back, threw the kunai in his hand, and drew out the short sword from his waist.

Compared to the kunai, the short sword felt much more suited to him.

Xiaoyuan Xiu'er tilted his head to avoid the kunai Qingming threw. When he saw Qingming draw his short sword, he smirked dismissively and lunged forward again.

Clang!

Clang clang clang!

The sound of their weapons colliding became more rapid, indicating that the battle had intensified.

Qingming initially thought that after using the "Konoha-style Swordsmanship," he would at least be able to match Xiaoyuan Xiu'er. However, after just two or three minutes, he found himself at a disadvantage.

In weapon combat, there's a saying: "An inch longer is an inch stronger, an inch shorter is an inch riskier."

His short sword certainly had an advantage in attack distance compared to Xiaoyuan Xiu'er's kunai, but he couldn't fully exploit this advantage. On the contrary, Xiaoyuan Xiu'er's attacks showed him the true meaning of danger; the fluidity with which the opponent switched between offense and defense was remarkable.

At first, Qingming could barely keep up, but as time went on, he was reduced to a purely defensive position.

He had only briefly experienced this feeling of being outclassed in skill during training with Furukawa. However, that had been training, and while he hadn't been able to match Furukawa, he hadn't felt overwhelmed either.

Now, the situation was different. Facing life-and-death combat, he finally understood the true strength of a Jonin.

He even sensed that in terms of close-quarters combat, Xiaoyuan Xiu'er might have already surpassed Furukawa.

Furthermore, Xiaoyuan Xiu'er had rich experience fighting Uchiha ninjas, and despite several attempts to counter with his Sharingan, Qingming had failed.

At this moment, Qingming realized his problem: in trying to hide his Sharingan, he had become too unfamiliar with its use, lacking knowledge of many techniques. This was fine for bullying lower-ranked ninjas who had never seen the world, but against an experienced Jonin, he felt utterly outmatched.

Indeed, only through practice can one gain true insight!

This battle made Qingming aware of his shortcomings and pointed him toward the direction for future improvement.

He no longer thought about how to kill his opponent, as he realized it was beyond his capabilities. Instead, he just wanted to learn more combat techniques from Xiaoyuan Xiu'er and improve his proficiency with "Konoha-style Swordsmanship" and the Sharingan.

As for revenge…

Once he improved his strength, opportunities would arise.

Qingming wasn't the type to overestimate himself.

As time passed, while Qingming was immersed in battle, a series of sharp whistle blasts suddenly pierced the air.

What's this? The signal for mission completion!

The whistle brought Qingming back to reality, and he immediately thought of this. Without any hesitation, he took the risk of injury to abruptly create distance between himself and Xiaoyuan Xiu'er.

Then, he performed the "Body Flicker Technique," dashing towards the nearest Konoha Jonin at incredible speed.

At the same time, other Konoha ninjas also rushed towards the nearby Jonin.

Afterward, before several Iwa ninjas could react, led by these Jonin, they gathered towards a single direction.

During this process, some Iwa ninjas attempted to obstruct them.

However, Konoha had long been prepared, and their manpower gathered very quickly. They briefly established a situation where they had the numerical advantage, with Jonin present to maintain order.

As a result, the Iwa ninjas could not stop them.

By the time the leader Huangtu reorganized his team, Konoha ninjas had already left the battlefield.

But Huangtu didn't want to give up.

Watching Konoha's reaction, he knew they had achieved their objective.

And their objective was to hinder the enemy.

Now that the enemy was retreating, it was obvious what that meant.

Huangtu concluded that it was likely too late to execute a support mission, so he simply issued an order to continue the pursuit.

However, after a short while, they discovered that Konoha's team had gained another group of people ahead.

These individuals were none other than the surviving Konoha ninjas from the He Valley battlefield.

With this, Konoha's team grew stronger and more confident.

On the contrary, Huangtu didn't dare to chase too closely, fearing an ambush in return.

Yet they couldn't abandon the pursuit either.

After all, this was Iwa's defense area, and even if they were to escort Konoha ninjas out, they couldn't let them run rampant.

Thus, in a tacit agreement, Konoha ninjas gradually distanced themselves from the He Valley corridor.

About an hour and a half later, the three teams that participated in the assault reunited. Another half hour later, another team responsible for the blockade also arrived.

At this point, Iwa ninjas completely abandoned their unrealistic fantasies.

They had lost this encounter, and with a loss came acceptance, so they could only follow at a distance, watching Konoha ninjas leave.

Of course, Qingming and the others did not dare to linger, as they were deep within enemy territory. If they were surrounded, it would spell trouble.

Thus, they left the Iwa-controlled area at the fastest speed possible.

The Next Day.

Morning.

After a grueling ten hours of marching, Qingming and the others finally returned to their territory.

Inside the frontline base closest to Konoha, hundreds of Konoha ninjas lay scattered, almost all bearing injuries.

Medical ninjas, having arrived earlier, moved among them, treating the wounded.

Qingming glanced at the surviving ninjas around him; their numbers were roughly half of what they had set out with.

Now, he finally understood why the Ninja World Wars never lasted long.

With a casualty rate like this, how could it continue for too long?

Fortunately, such operations were infrequent; otherwise, it wouldn't take long to deplete all ninjas.

Shaking his head, Qingming stopped overthinking and instead focused on healing his wounds with "Healing Technique" while contemplating his training plan for the future.

First, he could reduce the frequency of practicing the "Reflecting Heart Technique."

His Sharingan had already been exposed, so there was no need to continue hiding it. He could now keep it activated for long periods to increase his proficiency through practice.

Thus, he could save some chakra.

And this chakra could be used to improve the "Illusion·Restraint Technique."

Next, the "Konoha-style Swordsmanship" needed further enhancement. Qingming didn't want to feel that helplessness of being outclassed again.

Lastly, he needed to work on the techniques for using the Sharingan.

Thinking about this, Qingming pondered for a moment before whispering, "Looks like I need to contact the clan higher-ups soon."

That's right; he intended to start with the clan.

While he could also explore on his own, it would waste time and be unnecessary.

After all, no matter how much he thought about it, could he really surpass the Uchiha clan's thousand-year inheritance?

So, when it's time to speak up, he must speak up.

He believed that the clan would not hesitate to pass on knowledge to him once they learned he had awakened the Sharingan.

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