Half an hour later.
Jia stopped his narration, and Danzo closed his eyes.
He began to recall everything he had just heard, while connecting it with all the past intelligence he had gathered about Qingming, running through various possibilities in his mind.
His fingers lightly tapped the surface of the table, producing a rhythmic "tap-tap" sound.
Time passed, second by second.
At a certain moment, the sound stopped.
Soon after, Danzo opened his eyes.
A glimmer of sharpness flashed in his gaze, which was laced with an unmistakable greed that he quickly concealed, muttering to himself, "I can't rush... I mustn't rush... I need to probe further."
Upon hearing Danzo's mutterings, Jia spoke up, "Master, should we prepare for the next operation?"
Danzo snapped out of his thoughts, just as he was about to give his approval. Suddenly, he recalled Hiruzen Sarutobi's warning.
It was foreseeable that the Anbu were likely watching him closely now. If his suspicions were correct, that Uchiha brat's value was simply too great.
Danzo, with some effort, raised his right arm and touched the bandages sealing his right eye, thinking to himself, "A mere Three-Tomoe Sharingan has this kind of power. If it's a Mangekyo Sharingan, then…"
As Qingming had predicted, although Danzo's recent actions were clean and decisive, they had still raised his suspicions.
If, before, his doubt about Qingming activating the Mangekyo Sharingan was a "1," then now it was at least a "10."
This had triggered his greedy nature.
However, in the end, Danzo suppressed his desires. He looked at the two Root ninja standing below him and said seriously, "Jia, from now on, halt all operations targeting Uchiha Qingming."
"Yes, Master!" Jia responded without asking why. Whatever Danzo commanded, he would do.
Danzo, pleased with the two silent figures below, nodded in satisfaction.
The reason he chose to refrain from acting against Qingming was not because he feared Hiruzen Sarutobi, but because he was worried about Sarutobi preemptively intervening.
From his understanding of his old friend, once his suspicions were confirmed, and if Sarutobi got wind of the relevant intelligence, he would undoubtedly attempt to win Qingming over.
At that point, it would be much harder for Danzo to achieve his goal.
Thus, he chose to endure temporarily.
However, what Danzo didn't realize was that this very act of patience caused him to miss his last opportunity.
Of course, even if he had chosen not to wait and had acted forcefully, there was little chance of success.
Given Qingming's current strength, if he were willing to reveal his Sharingan, there were very few individuals in the entire ninja world who could defeat him.
However, such an action would disrupt his plans.
But when the time came, Danzo wouldn't get off so easily.
So, in a sense, Danzo should be grateful that he refrained from acting; otherwise, he might have lost his life.
Danzo's choice, however, was unknown to Qingming, who was still diligently following his plan and making the most of his time to train.
Meanwhile, the actions of the Mist Ninjas were also within his expectations.
Over the past two days, the Mist Ninjas from Feiyu Town had not caused any trouble near the Black Stone Base, and it seemed unlikely that they would do so for some time.
That night.
Qingming completed the first phase of his training and returned to the Black Stone Base. After quickly scanning the base's daily report, he drew this conclusion.
Back when he had severed the retreat of the Mist Ninjas and forcibly captured Oil Girl Shadowless, he could have, if he were heartless, summoned a couple of shadow clones to wipe them out.
But he had not done so, as he intended to leave a clue.
Without a doubt, his forceful action in capturing someone would seem highly abnormal, and if the Mist were to review this operation later, they would certainly notice this detail.
When they investigated further, they would definitely realize that one of their own had been swapped.
This would inevitably raise suspicions about the outcome of the operation.
As a result, they would not dare act recklessly.
After all, no one knew whether there was another Oil Girl Shadowless in their ranks.
Thus, until they cleared their internal suspicions, they would not easily take action.
This gave Qingming an excellent opportunity for further training.
According to his previous calculations, his "Palm Immortal Art" would reach completion in about five days. Now, after two days had passed, even accounting for some delays, it would take at most four days for his "Palm Immortal Art" to advance.
At that point, this technique would significantly enhance his physical strength.
This would accelerate his body's metamorphosis.
Once his body underwent another transformation, his "Constitution" attribute would increase, which would undoubtedly push his overall abilities forward.
Especially since this time, his "Constitution" attribute was breaking through from 19 points to 20, the improvement would be even more substantial.
Qingming looked forward to this with great anticipation.
With these thoughts in mind, he put down the daily report, quickly ate some food to satisfy his hunger, and then returned to his quarters to resume his intense training.
······
The sun rose and set.
In the blink of an eye, three days had passed.
By noon on the fourth day.
On the western side of the base.
In the forest.
Qingming was methodically using the "Palm Immortal Art" to strengthen his body.
Suddenly, a sense of completeness washed over him.
Qingming smiled and quickly opened his status panel. Sure enough, his "Palm Immortal Art" had leveled up from lv8 (48720/50000) to lv9 (0/0), achieving its perfect form.
This was his first A-rank technique to reach perfection, and Qingming was overjoyed.
"Shhhh... hhhhh..."
He took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly. Once his mood was calm again, Qingming resumed using the "Palm Immortal Art" to continue enhancing his body.
As he had predicted, the perfected lv9 (0/0) "Palm Immortal Art" greatly improved the effects of strengthening his body.
Originally, it would take about ten more days for his body to reach the point of transformation.
But now...
Qingming carefully sensed his condition. If he continued as before, injecting a maximum of 36,000 chakra points, he felt that the time could be reduced to around six days.
Saving nearly half the time was a significant improvement.
This improvement would not only apply to his next transformation, but also to every subsequent one, potentially saving that much time in the future.
With this, his rate of improvement in strength would inevitably accelerate.
How could Qingming not be thrilled with such progress?
Additionally, now that the "Palm Immortal Art" had reached perfection, its healing effects had significantly increased, along with his understanding of the Yang Release chakra.
Qingming closed his eyes and meditated for a while. He realized that, with a little effort, he could develop a Yang Release technique similar to the Akimichi clan's body enlargement jutsu.
Unfortunately, it wasn't necessary.
Not only was he currently overwhelmed with tasks, but even if he had the time, he wouldn't waste it on such a technique.
This was because, at present, such a technique was of little use to him.
As for the future...
If the need ever arose, he could always rely on his raw strength, negotiation, or infiltration to acquire it from the Akimichi clan. There was no need to develop it on his own.
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