"Be careful!"
Seeing the giant shark descending from the sky, the special jōnin of the Mist immediately shouted a warning.
Hearing this, the surrounding Mist ninjas quickly scattered and ran in all directions.
However, Qingming was already very close to them, and the size of the shark was enormous, so before they could get far, the shark crashed down.
Boom~
A muffled impact echoed.
The shark landed on the surface of the lake, creating a massive wave that rapidly surged toward the Mist ninjas.
Many of them couldn't dodge in time and were swept up by the waves, sent flying farther out.
Seizing this opportunity, Qingming used his Byakugan to locate the two Mist Chūnin whom he had heavily injured with "Lightning Release: Thunder Strike," and with a flap of his wings, he flew over to them.
On the way, he formed seals and cast the technique—Chakra Absorption Technique!
As he grabbed the two ninjas, he immediately began to absorb the chakra within them.
At lv6, "Chakra Absorption Technique" allowed him to absorb and convert 2,000 chakra points per second. The two Mist Chūnin couldn't hold on for more than a few seconds before their chakra was completely drained.
Just as Qingming was preparing to extract their spiritual and physical energy, he noticed that they had already passed away.
Clearly, the reason they hadn't died from the injuries earlier was that their chakra had been keeping them alive. Now that the chakra was gone, there was no way they could survive.
Realizing this, Qingming cursed under his breath, "What bad luck," and discarded their bodies.
...
A few seconds earlier, by the side of the ghost lightless moon, a special jōnin of the Mist appeared with a whoosh.
Looking at Qingming's actions, he said seriously, "Captain, he's absorbing the chakra of Da Chi and Tai Ren."
"Yes, I know."
Without changing his expression, the ghost lightless moon nodded. Even without his subordinate's reminder, he had already noticed.
After a round of exchanges, he had finally regained his composure.
Previously, he hadn't been at the battlefield. He had only recently arrived from the homeland, and although he had heard of Qingming's name, he hadn't actually faced him in battle.
Because of this, his understanding of Qingming's strength was somewhat vague.
It was only after he had discovered Qingming's presence that he thought about keeping him alive to provide a glimmer of hope for the mission.
Now, however, it was clear that Qingming's power was far beyond what he had imagined.
With that in mind, they no longer needed to hold back.
"Everyone, Plan C!"
The voice of ghost lightless moon suddenly rang out, reaching the ears of every remaining Mist ninja.
At this moment, there were still 11 Mist ninjas left, including the ghost lightless moon and a special jōnin skilled in perception, a true jōnin, two special jōnin, and six chūnin.
Hearing the command for Plan C, they were momentarily stunned, then immediately took out several sealing scrolls from their ninja tool pouches. They opened them, revealing an assortment of ninja tools and explosive tags.
At this time, Qingming had just finished absorbing the chakra from the two Mist ninjas.
As he was watching the others, the Mist ninjas had already launched their attack, this time with a prepared assault. The ninja tools they threw were all equipped with explosive tags.
That's right, all of them.
Plan C was essentially a backup plan of a backup plan. It was to be enacted when the mission was deemed impossible and an extreme danger was encountered.
Once the decision was made to execute Plan C, they could freely use all the resources and methods that the village had provided for the mission.
And what was most needed to destroy a stronghold?
The answer was simple: lots of explosive tags.
Thus, upon hearing the order to execute Plan C, the Mist ninjas no longer hesitated to use explosive tags. They immediately began throwing them, all equipped with the powerful explosive tags.
It must be said that their choice was correct. If they had used only regular ninja tool attacks, Qingming would not have been afraid. But now, things were different.
Looking at the dense number of explosive tags, even Qingming had to avoid the barrage.
Each explosive tag, in terms of power, was no less than a C-rank fire release technique, especially one focused on offensive power.
With several rounds of attacks raining down, even Qingming couldn't resist the barrage unless he activated his Mangekyō Sharingan to use his "Heaven's Blessing" ability.
Otherwise, he'd have no choice but to retreat.
At this moment, in the sky, it looked as though a series of falling stars had appeared. The kunai, with explosive tags attached, flew into the air, either blocking Qingming's escape routes or heading directly for him.
In any case, they covered a large area where Qingming was.
Boom~ Boom~ Boom~
The sound of explosions rang out incessantly, and one fiery red fireball after another appeared in the sky, resembling fireworks, occupying the entire sky.
But this was not the end.
Before the first batch of explosive tags had even finished exploding, under the direction of ghost lightless moon, the Mist ninjas launched a second and third round of attacks, once again throwing ninja tools with explosive tags.
Immediately, the explosions intensified again, more fireballs appeared, and shockwaves radiated unpredictably in all directions.
Even the Mist ninjas at a distance couldn't help but take two steps back.
One could imagine what had happened to the people inside.
And this was precisely what ghost lightless moon wanted.
After truly realizing Qingming's strength, he only had one thought: before Qingming could become more vigilant, they should overwhelm him with a massive amount of explosive tags.
To be fair, he was decisive, and his plan was not wrong.
At this moment, if anyone else were in Qingming's position, even if they had the same flying ninjutsu, they would likely be reduced to ashes under such a dense bombardment.
But Qingming was different.
Indeed, he had been caught off guard.
However, with the combination of his Byakugan and Sharingan, he was still able to find a way out amidst the barrage of attacks.
From the perspective of the Mist ninjas, their attacks had covered every possible area simultaneously and had been repeated three times, leaving no space for Qingming to escape.
But in reality, each of the kunai and shuriken they threw had different speeds.
Moreover, the explosive tags on them couldn't possibly explode simultaneously, creating a time difference between each attack.
Perhaps this brief difference in timing seemed insignificant to others, but to Qingming, it created "gaps."
And he was precisely using these gaps, combined with his timely use of "Earth Release: Hardening Technique," "Chakra Armor," and the enhanced "Wind Release: Wind Wings" that had reached its perfect level, to maneuver with incredible agility and speed, dodging attack after attack.
As long as he wasn't directly hit by an explosive tag, it wasn't deadly.
Thus, amidst the stunned gazes of the Mist ninjas, he broke free from the flames and stood high in the sky.
Indeed, he appeared somewhat disheveled. His clothes were torn, and his condition was worse than that of a beggar. His exposed skin was scorched, and he had visible injuries. Blood leaked from the corner of his mouth, indicating damage to his internal organs.
Nevertheless, this still caused immense psychological shock to the Mist ninjas.
After all, if they were in his position, they would have no confidence in surviving such a barrage of attacks.