Unknowingly, a week had passed.
The day of departure arrived.
That morning, before the sun had even risen fully, Qingming and two other Konoha Jōnin led over a hundred Konoha ninjas, escorting more than a dozen carts loaded with supplies as they set out.
The carts carried all strategic materials left unused during the Battle of Shahe City. Naturally, the village couldn't afford to abandon them, so it fell on this group to transport them back.
Because of this, their return to the village would take over three times the usual travel time—roughly a week.
Despite the longer journey, no one in the group complained. In fact, their faces were filled with joy.
After all, they had survived.
This war had lasted far too long and claimed countless lives. Everyone yearned for peace.
Although the past few days had been relatively calm, being stationed on the front lines meant that no matter how relaxed they appeared outwardly, their hearts remained tense—a survival instinct born of over two years of battlefield experience.
But now, they were finally heading home.
Once back in the village, they could truly let their guard down.
How could they not be overjoyed?
The wheels rolled on, the rhythmic creaking of the carts echoing far into the forest.
Seated atop one of the carts, Qingming gazed at the monotonous scenery around them, feeling a wave of boredom.
An hour had passed since their departure, and nothing of note had occurred.
In this situation, he couldn't immerse himself in training either.
After some thought, Qingming approached the other two Konoha Jōnin and said, "I'll go scout from above. You two stay with the convoy."
The two Jōnin, aware of Qingming's mastery of a flying jutsu, thought it over briefly before nodding in agreement.
Seeing this, Qingming immediately left the convoy. Forming a seal with his hands, he activated Wind Release: Wind Wings and soared into the sky.
The ninjas in the convoy watched Qingming's ascending figure with envy.
Whether in his past life or this one, whether mundane or extraordinary, those bound to the land often dreamed of taking to the skies.
Unfortunately, they lacked the capability.
Within moments, Qingming's figure disappeared from their sight.
Flying further and ensuring the convoy could no longer see him, Qingming finally came to a halt.
He promptly formed a cross-shaped hand seal and activated Shadow Clone Jutsu.
Poof!
A puff of chakra smoke erupted, and a shadow clone identical to Qingming appeared midair.
Looking at his clone, Qingming gave an order: "You'll stay with them. I'm going to train."
Indeed, Qingming no longer wished to remain with the convoy.
To him, this slow journey felt like a waste of time.
His shadow clone, understanding his thoughts, nodded and replied, "Got it. You go ahead; I'll notify you if anything happens."
"Alright."
With that, Qingming flew off.
Estimating the convoy's speed, Qingming chose a location on the map that lay within his communication range for Communication Jutsu—a technique that allowed a 100-kilometer connection between him and his shadow clones.
The selected spot lay ahead of the convoy's route and was just at the edge of Communication Jutsu's range.
This meant he wouldn't need to relocate for quite some time.
Having made his decision, Qingming activated Chakra Coat for protection and flapped his wings, accelerating toward the target location.
A few minutes later.
Qingming arrived at his destination.
It was a forest with two sizeable peaks rising in the center.
One stood to the north and the other to the south. Known as Twin Peaks on the map, they were bisected by a broad path through the forest's center.
This path was an essential trade route connecting the eastern and central regions of the Land of Fire. It also happened to be on the convoy's planned route.
Qingming chose the higher northern peak as his training ground.
As always, he didn't land immediately.
First, he undid the Guardian Seal on his forehead, then activated his Byakugan to inspect the surroundings.
Through his Leaf Village forehead protector, Qingming's vision encompassed everything within a one-kilometer radius.
Initially, he assumed such a remote location would be devoid of people.
To his surprise, when he flew over the shorter southern peak, he noticed signs of human habitation.
There was a mountain fortress built into the southern peak.
Instantly, Qingming's interest was piqued.
Soon after, he spotted people—three or four dozen of them.
None of these individuals possessed chakra, indicating they were ordinary civilians.
Frowning slightly, Qingming didn't want anyone lingering near his training site.
After considering his options, he descended onto the southern peak and approached the group without alarming anyone.
Once he got close enough to examine their appearance, his frown relaxed.
From their attire, they appeared to be a band of mountain bandits.
This realization simplified matters for him.
Nevertheless, Qingming decided to interrogate one of them to confirm their identity.
With that, he flashed in front of a sentry, startling the man so much that he reflexively opened his mouth to scream.
But before he could make a sound, Qingming activated Genjutsu: Sharingan.
In an instant, the sentry's consciousness was drawn into an illusion.
It didn't take long for Qingming to extract all the information he needed.
As suspected, they were indeed a group of mountain bandits.
And why only "now"? The reason was straightforward: they had started as war refugees.
Initially fleeing the chaos, they ended up in this forest.
At first, they survived by hunting in the forest's resource-rich but dangerous environment.
But once they discovered that passing caravans could provide supplies, fewer people were willing to risk hunting.
What began as begging soon escalated to demands, and when demands failed, they resorted to looting.
Now, they had become full-fledged bandits.
Having confirmed their identity, Qingming didn't hesitate to deal with them.
It didn't take long for him to eliminate all the bandits, both inside and outside the fortress.
Afterward, he used Fire Release to incinerate their remains.
Standing amidst the now-empty fortress, Qingming pondered the number of similar cases throughout the Land of Fire.
"Probably quite a few," he muttered.
The reasoning was simple: although most of the three-year war had been fought outside the Land of Fire, it hadn't been entirely untouched.
Foreign ninja infiltrating the Land of Fire wouldn't spare civilians. Sometimes, they would even massacre entire villages to cover their tracks.
Not to mention the frequent battles between ninjas in towns. A single jutsu could cause significant casualties.
Under such circumstances, how could ordinary people live peacefully?
Compared to the small nations that had turned into battlefields, the citizens of the Five Great Nations were fortunate simply to survive.
Still, many of those affected had undoubtedly turned to banditry.
Qingming could already foresee the surge of missions related to bandit suppression in the near future.
Maintaining stability in the Land of Fire would require Konoha to address these wartime remnants.
Shaking his head to dismiss these thoughts, Qingming activated Wind Release: Wind Wings again and soared into the sky.
This time, his Byakugan scan revealed no other anomalies in the vicinity.
Satisfied, he landed atop the northern peak and began his training.
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