That night.
In Konoha Village.
In a secluded corner.
The headquarters of the Root organization is located underground here.
At this moment, in an office, Danzo was flipping through the documents in his hand when the door was suddenly knocked on.
Danzo frowned slightly, closed the document in his hand, and then said, "Come in!"
Creak~
The door opened, and a Root ninja quickly entered the room.
Danzo looked at him and directly spoke, "Yi, what is it?"
"Lord, Ying Gui has gone missing."
Yi replied briefly.
"What?"
Upon hearing this news, Danzo's expression immediately showed a brief moment of shock.
Then, he furrowed his brows and asked, "What do you mean?"
Upon hearing this, Yi didn't hide anything and immediately explained the situation.
"Reporting to the lord, half an hour ago was Ying Gui's scheduled time for contact with the base, but he didn't send the signal. I was worried something had gone wrong, so I sent the Red Shadow team."
"And then?"
Danzo continued to ask expressionlessly.
Yi replied, "The Red Shadow team followed the markers left by Ying Gui and found the Seventh Training Ground, but the trail ended there. Ying Gui's whereabouts are unknown."
Upon hearing this answer, Danzo's expression darkened, and then he asked, "And what about that kid?"
"The target has returned to his residence." Yi answered.
"Was there anything unusual at the location where Ying Gui disappeared?" Danzo asked again.
"No."
Yi shook his head and responded, "The Red Shadow team checked carefully. There were no signs left by Ying Gui, nor were there any traces of a fight. It was as if Ying Gui had disappeared into thin air."
The so-called Ying Gui was, of course, the Root ninja who had been monitoring Qing Ming.
He was directly found by Qing Ming using his Byakugan, then Qing Ming used 'Heaven's Grace' to instantly catch up to him and controlled him with 'Genjutsu: Sharingan', before taking him away from the spot.
During this, there was no fighting involved, and when Qing Ming left, he used 'Heaven's Grace' again to erase all traces of his presence, moving to a different location.
With such care, how could the Red Shadow team possibly find any clues?
Upon hearing Yi's response, Danzo's face became extremely gloomy.
Although it was still unclear whether Ying Gui was dead or alive, and there was no evidence linking this incident to Qing Ming, the fact that Qing Ming had returned safely to his residence was already the biggest issue.
Ying Gui was assigned by Danzo to monitor Qing Ming. Unless something beyond his control happened, Ying Gui would have followed Qing Ming all the way.
Now, Qing Ming had returned to his residence, yet Ying Gui had disappeared.
Danzo could guess the outcome with his intuition.
Ying Gui was probably already dead.
What surprised him was that Qing Ming had been so bold.
Originally, in his estimation, even if Ying Gui was discovered, Qing Ming shouldn't have killed him. The most likely scenario would have been him trying to shake off the surveillance. After all, other Uchiha ninjas had acted this way in the past.
But Qing Ming didn't follow the script and directly disrupted Danzo's plans.
During this time, Danzo had been busy helping Orochimaru in his bid for the Fourth Hokage position. He didn't have time to focus on Qing Ming, and sending someone to monitor him had simply become a habit.
He never imagined that Qing Ming would kill.
It would have been fine if Qing Ming had left behind some obvious evidence, as Danzo could have used that to his advantage.
But the problem was that Qing Ming had done it too cleanly, leaving no traceable evidence behind.
Now, it seemed that Danzo had no choice but to swallow this defeat.
But Danzo was not the kind of person to accept such a setback.
After thinking for a moment, he directly ordered, "Yi, starting tomorrow… no, starting now, send two squads to monitor that kid. Once he makes a move again, don't hold back. I don't believe he can silently eliminate two entire squads. As long as we catch him making a mistake…"
He didn't finish his sentence, but the meaning was clear.
Once he found the chance, he wouldn't hesitate to deal with Qing Ming.
However, upon hearing Danzo's order, Yi didn't immediately agree. He opened his mouth and said, "Lord, isn't it a bit too early for such action? Shouldn't we…"
Before Yi could finish his sentence, Danzo raised his hand and interrupted him. "Don't say anything. Just do as I say."
"Understood, Lord."
Yi immediately answered and no longer spoke further.
"Alright, you may leave and make the arrangements."
Danzo waved his hand, dismissing him.
"Understood."
Yi responded once more and then turned to leave the office.
After Yi left, Danzo's expression finally returned to calm.
The reason why he chose to act at this time wasn't just out of anger at being underestimated. He also wanted to use this opportunity to put pressure on the Uchiha clan.
Originally, Danzo didn't intend to have any conflicts with the Uchiha clan at this time.
However, based on the latest information he received, most of the Uchiha clan's high-ranking ninjas had already decided to support Minato Namikaze for the position of the Fourth Hokage. In just a few days, they would likely come to a unanimous decision.
For Minato, support from a powerful clan like the Uchiha would be a great help.
But this decision was in direct opposition to Danzo's own goals.
Thus, Danzo didn't hesitate any longer.
If he could change the Uchiha's stance, that would be ideal.
If not, he could always eliminate a potential threat.
Danzo then reached up and touched his right eye, which was wrapped in bandages.
If his guess was correct, Qing Ming might have awakened the legendary Mangekyo Sharingan.
Even a simple three-tomoe Sharingan had made Danzo feel its power. If Qing Ming replaced it with a more powerful eye, his strength would undoubtedly increase significantly.
With this, when the time came for him to compete for the position of Hokage, he would have an even stronger foundation.
Indeed, even now, Danzo was still holding onto his dream of becoming Hokage.
As for whether he could take down Qing Ming, Danzo never doubted that.
Though he had failed multiple times in dealing with Qing Ming over the past two years, those failures were due to his own circumstances. He had more important matters to attend to, so he could only assign a limited number of people and didn't make sufficient preparations.
Now, however, things were different.
All of his important tasks had been completed.
From now on, once the opportunity arose, he would use all his power.
At that point, there should be no unexpected setbacks.
Danzo was confident in the strength he commanded.
Similarly, Qing Ming had complete confidence as well.
From Ying Gui, Qing Ming had learned that Danzo might have guessed he had awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan.
However, Danzo was unaware of the true power of this eye.
This could be inferred not only from Danzo's instructions to his subordinates but also from his eventual confrontation with Sasuke many years later.
With that in mind, Qing Ming wasn't afraid.
Moreover, his power was not limited to the Sharingan alone. His immense chakra and mastery of various high-level ninjutsu were also part of his strength.
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