Sharingan Evolution: Proficiency's Path

Clang!

Once again, Shafeng blocked Qingming's short sword attack. He then opened his Three-Star Fan, skillfully deflecting the shuriken that Qingming had thrown at him.

Next, he infused Wind Style chakra into the fan, giving it a powerful swing that forced Qingming back as he tried to close the distance again.

Taking this opportunity, Shafeng quickly formed hand seals and, using his fan once more, unleashed a powerful Wind Style jutsu that covered a large area around Qingming.

At this point, Qingming typically had two choices: if the storm wasn't too strong, he could rely on his Sharingan's keen perception to charge directly through it. But if the storm was too fierce, he would avoid it and wait for another chance to attack.

For the past quarter hour, the two had been engaged in this rapid exchange of offense and defense.

Both fighters had revealed most of their abilities, and the battle had turned into a test of timing and depth of skill.

In terms of combat experience, Shafeng had a slight edge over Qingming. However, with his two-tomoe Sharingan and mastery over several techniques, Qingming managed to erase that advantage.

In fact, Qingming was beginning to put Shafeng on the back foot.

Because of this, Shafeng had to resort to using high-powered Wind Style jutsu more frequently to create breathing room—something that consumed a significant amount of chakra.

In contrast, Qingming's techniques consumed very little chakra.

If things continued this way, the situation would clearly favor Qingming, and he was fully aware of it.

Qingming was so focused on his battle with Shafeng that he didn't even care when one of his subordinates was killed by the puppeteer, who he suspected was from the same clan as Sen'ya.

Additionally, as the battle progressed, Qingming figured out the abilities of the twenty-something female Sand shinobi. She was a rare genjutsu specialist from Sunagakure. Her soundwave-based genjutsu was quite effective, even forcing Qingming's other subordinate to destroy his own hearing to escape it.

However, this greatly reduced his combat effectiveness, and soon, he was being completely overwhelmed by the female shinobi, who wasn't even proficient in close combat.

The only one who seemed to be holding an advantage was Uesugi Yoichi.

Yes, once again, Yoichi was one of Qingming's subordinates, and his opponent was a muscular 17- or 18-year-old Sand shinobi.

As Qingming had predicted, this Sand shinobi was indeed skilled in taijutsu, but not to an extraordinary level.

Thus, Yoichi, with his more well-rounded skills, had been dominating the fight.

However, this advantage quickly vanished when the puppeteer joined the fray.

If Qingming didn't step in to help, it was clear that Yoichi and his remaining subordinate wouldn't last much longer.

Yet, Qingming only glanced at their predicament before turning his focus back to Shafeng.

He had already dealt with the strongest enemy jonin, and the remaining three were only chunin, just like his subordinates.

If they couldn't handle themselves, that was their own fault for not being strong enough. Qingming wasn't about to play the role of a babysitter, constantly ensuring their safety.

Besides, even though it seemed like he had the upper hand, one moment of carelessness could flip the situation in an instant. After all, Shafeng was a jonin, and Qingming couldn't afford to be careless.

So, they would have to fend for themselves.

Of course, Qingming couldn't drag this out for too long. If his teammates all died and those Sand chunin surrounded him, things would get troublesome.

With that in mind, Qingming increased the pace of his attacks.

At the same time, he no longer worried about conserving chakra and started using more jutsu to force Shafeng to consume even more chakra to defend himself.

He also kept actively looking for opportunities to cast genjutsu.

Unfortunately, Shafeng would rather take a minor hit than give Qingming that chance. Every time, he managed to avoid direct eye contact, preventing Qingming from successfully casting his genjutsu.

Halfway through forming hand seals, only for Shafeng to once again shift his gaze, Qingming sighed inwardly, "As I thought, my genjutsu skills are still too low."

If his Genjutsu: Sharingan had reached level 5, he would've been able to cast genjutsu with just a simple gesture.

In a one-on-one duel like this, a small movement would be enough to control his opponent. It wouldn't be as troublesome as it was now.

The phrase often heard in the ninja world—"In a one-on-one fight, flee from a Sharingan user. In a two-on-one fight, attack from behind"—wasn't an exaggeration.

That reputation was earned through real battles fought by Uchiha jonin with three-tomoe Sharingan.

Unfortunately, Qingming hadn't reached that level yet, so he could only continue wearing down Shafeng's chakra.

While Qingming found the situation bothersome, Shafeng was secretly despairing.

Feeling that his chakra reserves had dropped below half and seeing Qingming still calm and composed, Shafeng began to lose hope for victory.

"Should I continue?"

Shafeng asked himself this question.

The mission from the village was to eliminate as many enemy forces as possible, but there was no specific target.

So, if he chose to retreat now, he wouldn't be held accountable.

Convincing himself, Shafeng stopped hesitating. After blocking another of Qingming's attacks and forcing him back, Shafeng seized the opportunity and fled into the distance.

Seeing this, Qingming's eyes lit up. "Finally, he's making a move!"

That's right, Qingming had been waiting for Shafeng to take action—whether it was attacking or retreating, as long as Shafeng stopped trying to outlast him in a battle of attrition, it was acceptable.

And why was that?

Because only when his opponent moved would Qingming have his opportunity.

Opportunity for what?

The chance to capture him, of course!

Yes, after realizing he could defeat Shafeng, Qingming had been considering how to capture him and turn him into his second "chakra battery."

But that couldn't happen here.

Although the Sand and Leaf ninjas had been forced to fight on the battlefield's outskirts due to the intensity of the battle between Qingming and Shafeng, they could still observe what was happening.

If Qingming captured Shafeng in full view of everyone, he would have no choice but to hand him over, unless he wanted to silence witnesses.

Although Qingming had little loyalty to Konoha and wasn't one to coddle his teammates, he wasn't about to start killing them, either.

One had to have principles. Without them, power would eventually go to one's head, and Qingming had no intention of becoming a mindless monster driven only by strength.

So, the best option was to act out of sight.

To do that, Shafeng needed to leave the area and relocate the final battle elsewhere.

That way, no one would know what Qingming did, and there would be no need to eliminate witnesses.

And that was why he had been waiting for Shafeng to make his move.

As Shafeng fled, Qingming didn't try to stop him. Instead, he followed closely behind.

With the shift in their battle, the situation on the other two fronts also changed. The two Konoha shinobi began to fight with renewed confidence, while the three Sand shinobi started considering retreat.

After all, their jonin had been defeated. If they waited for Qingming to finish with Shafeng, they wouldn't stand a chance.

Running away was the only logical decision.

But it wasn't an easy one.

The result of the jonin battle was still unknown. If they retreated too early, they might face punishment later.

Besides, they still had the upper hand on the battlefield. It was hard to give up the glory they were about to achieve.

Then there was the puppeteer. His goal wasn't just to gain credit—he also wanted to gather information about his clan's younger member.

Whether that person was alive or dead, he needed an answer.

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