Uchiha Madara: Not Bad

Qingyu turned around and served a bowl to Rin Nohara and Shizune respectively.

Rin Nohara held the bowl with both hands and blew on the soup.

She lowered her head and took a sip of soup.

Then his eyes immediately lit up.

"It tastes so good."

Rin Nohara's voice was filled with genuine amazement.

She grew up in Konoha, and her family often cooked fish, but she had never tasted such delicious fish soup before.

Shizune also took a sip, without saying a word, but silently quickened her pace of drinking the soup.

She was already thinking to herself whether she should buy a few more sea bream tomorrow.

After a while, it gradually got dark.

Rin Nohara stood up to say goodbye, Temari to Qingyu and Tsunade at the door.

"Thank you for the treat. Qingyu- kun's fish soup is absolutely delicious."

Be careful on the road.

Qingyu watched Rin Nohara's figure disappear around the street corner, then turned around to clean up the dishes in the kitchen.

As he walked out the door carrying the trash bag, a figure emerged from the shadows at the street corner.

"Dongjian?"

Qingyu recognized the ordinary-looking middle-aged man.

That's Madara Uchiha.

Based on those traits, Qingyu knew that Madara Uchiha was probably watching him from somewhere.

Please wait a moment.

He quickly ran back to the kitchen, grabbed a clean bowl, filled it to the brim with fish soup, and brought it out.

"This is a small token of my gratitude to my senior."

Qingyu presented the bowl to Madara Uchiha with both hands.

The soup was still hot, white steam rising into the cool night air.

Madara Uchiha looked at the fish soup that Qingyu handed him and instinctively wanted to refuse.

Then he remembered that this food was made using Izuna's swordsmanship, and if he refused, he might never have the chance to taste it again.

So he took it.

Madara Uchiha drank it and found that it tasted quite good.

"What are you doing here, Dongjian?"

Qingyu asked, feigning confusion.

Madara Uchiha handed the empty bowl back to Qingyu and took out several scrolls from his pocket.

"I plan to leave the village for a while to take care of some personal matters. These are Ninjutsu that the Senju Clan used to store, things my father brought back from the battlefield. They're just gathering dust here, so I might as well give them to you."

Qingyu took the scroll, unfolded it, and glanced at it.

It's filled with the Uchiha Clan's signature Ninjutsu, such as "Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Jutsu" and "Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique," among others.

"Thank you Dongjian."

Qingyu carefully put the scroll away and sincerely thanked Madara Uchiha.

Madara Uchiha and turned to leave.

He went to a deserted place.

"Reverse Summoning Jutsu"

With a bang, the white smoke dissipated, and Madara Uchiha's figure disappeared from the forest.

Graveyard of Mountains.

A colossal Demonic Statue stood deep within the cave.

Madara Uchiha's true form sat before the Demonic Statue.

The Wood Clone dispelled the spell in front of him.

Bang.

White smoke rose, Wood Clone transformed into a wisp of smoke and dissipated into the air.

With it came a flood of memories—every scene and feeling that the Wood Clone had experienced—that poured into Madara Uchiha's mind intact.

"The taste of Izuna."

Madara Uchiha said, lost in his memories.

--

Black Zetsu slowly emerged from the shadows on the ground, half of its body buried in darkness, only its two yellow eyes visible.

Looking at the smile on Madara Uchiha's face, he felt that the old man was getting more and more senile.

How many years has Izuna been dead?

They're still talking about it here.

However, Black Zetsu didn't say those words aloud.

Several days passed.

The streets of Konoha were bathed in the early summer sunlight.

Qingyu pushed open the door, preparing to go out for cultivation, but stopped before even taking a step.

A little girl was standing at the door.

She was not tall, her short black hair was a little messy from the wind, and she was looking up at him.

Mitarashi Anko.

Qingyu recognized him.

--

"You're finally out."

Anko Mitarashi's tone carried the self-righteous complaint typical of a child, as if it was his fault for letting Qingyu sleep until this late.

Qingyu looked down at the cute little girl and mentally estimated her age.

At this point in time, Mitarashi Anko should not have yet become Orochimaru's apprentice.

"What do you need me for?"

Qingyu asked.

"I ran into Lord Orochimaru on the road."

Mitarashi Anko put her hands behind her back and puffed out her chest like an adult, but her stomach betrayed her by rumbling loudly.

Her face flushed slightly, but she pretended nothing had happened and continued, "Lord Orochimaru asked me to pass on a message, saying that you should go to him."

Did he say what it was about?

"He didn't say."

Anko Mitarashi shook her head.

"Okay, I'll be right there."

Qingyu stood up and walked towards Orochimaru's research institute.

Anko Mitarashi stood still for two seconds, then jogged to catch up, stepping on his shadow and following closely behind.

Orochimaru's research institute is located in a secluded corner on the edge of Konoha.

It is an inconspicuous two-story gray building, which looks no different from an ordinary house from the outside.

But once you push open that heavy iron door, the scene inside is completely different.

The shelves on both sides of the corridor were filled with glass jars of all sizes, containing various specimens.

Orochimaru stood in front of a large laboratory table, holding a mission scroll in his hand.

"Hehe, Qingyu- jun is here."

Orochimaru turned around.

He stuck out the tip of his tongue and licked the corner of his mouth. This habitual gesture, coupled with his pale face, always gave people a chill down their spine.

"Lord Orochimaru, is there something you need?"

Qingyu walked to the lab bench and glanced at the several hand-drawn maps scattered on the table.

That was a topographical map of the border between the Land of Wind and the Land of Rivers, with several important passes and water sources circled in red ink.

There is a task.

Orochimaru pushed the mission scroll in front of Qingyu.

"Rank C mission: Head to the border of the Land of Wind to deal with spies infiltrated by the Sunagakure."

Qingyu picked up the scroll, unfolded it, and quickly scanned its contents.

The mission is indeed marked as Rank C, and the description is to infiltrate the Sunagakure's intelligence base located at the border between the Land of Rivers and the Land of Wind, obtain records of the Sunagakure's recent intelligence activities against Konoha, and eliminate the enemy ninjas on the list.

"Aren't there any higher-level missions, Orochimaru- sensei?"

Qingyu was curious.

Although Orochimaru is already his team Jonin, he has not yet gone out to carry out any high-difficulty missions.

"In my personal opinion, Qingyu- kun's strength has far surpassed that of Chunin, but everything must be done step by step."

Orochimaru smiled, then suddenly thought of Nawaki's tragedy.

Having talent isn't scary; what's scary is not surviving.

Orochimaru picked up another document and pointed to the name on it.

"Moreover, this mission isn't just about our small team. Minato Namikaze will also be involved. He'll lead a team to launch a feint attack on the west side to draw the attention of the main Sunagakure forces, while our team will infiltrate from the east side and take the intelligence base directly."

Orochimaru put away the file, his golden vertical pupils fixed on Qingyu.

"Also, I hope you can go find Tsunade and ask her to join this mission as well."