Three Matters

The two Sunagakure shinobi immediately turned to respond; Nakamura pressed his hands to the ground, and a pedestal of earth rose up, hoisting Qingyu to a higher vantage point.

Then, Qingyu did three things:

There were many who supported these three actions, and few who opposed them.

First, he threw three ordinary shuriken at the ground between the Kirigakure pair and their wounded comrade—not as an attack, but as a warning to force them to halt.

Second, he flung two specially crafted shuriken into the air, one infused with fire-natured chakra and the other with water-natured chakra; they collided, creating another steam explosion, this one with a wider radius, instantly shrouding half the battlefield in white mist.

Third, he tossed a small scroll toward Nara Shikamaru while shouting, "Catch! Reinforcements are arriving soon!"

There was nothing inside the scroll; it was empty, but the Kirigakure and Sunagakure teams didn't know that.

"Damn it! Konoha reinforcements?"

"Retreat! Fall back first!"

The Kirigakure squad: Do they actually have such a thing as teammates?!

Taking advantage of the chaos, the Sunagakure and Kirigakure squads quickly disengaged from the battlefield and vanished into the forest.

As the white mist dissipated, only the Ino-Shika-Cho trio and the newly landed Qingyu squad remained in the clearing.

Nara Shikamaru picked up the empty scroll, examined it, and then looked up at Qingyu with a complex expression: "Thanks... but... there aren't any reinforcements, are there?"

Qingyu smiled: "The scroll is real; it contains medical bandages and hemostatic medicine. Do you need them?"

Shikamaru stared at him for a few seconds, then smiled as well: "Ah, we do... many thanks."

After some simple medical treatment, the group rested for a while.

Shikamaru asked directly: "What is your objective?"

Qingyu hesitated for a moment.

According to Tobirama's analysis, they should maintain their distance now to prevent the other side from biting back.

Tobirama: Are you insane? You didn't even fight the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, why are you helping them!

Qingyu: But I'm a good person!

Izuna: Good people deserve to have guns pointed at them!

Qingyu: ...The main thing is that I don't have a phone; otherwise, I'd be recording the whole thing while doing good deeds!

As the saying goes, when poor, cultivate your own virtue; when successful...

Inside the Uchiha Teahouse, the Qingyu of his past life was advising everyone.

If you have money, you should eat, drink, and indulge in debauchery, but there is one thing you must never do.

And that is doing good deeds...

According to Izuna's judgment, Ino-Shika-Cho were trustworthy—at least more so than Sunagakure and Kirigakure.

After all, they were the Hokage's preferred Ino-Shika-Cho.

In terms of reputation, they were leagues ahead of the other two moral deserts.

"We need the Scroll of Heaven," Qingyu ultimately chose to tell the truth.

"And you?"

"The Scroll of Earth." Shikamaru pulled the scroll from his robes to show him.

"What a coincidence."

The air instantly grew tense.

Yamada and Nakamura subconsciously assumed combat stances, and Yamada muttered: "Captain, are we going to fight now?"

Nakamura whispered: "I hope we don't get counter-killed by them..."

Qingyu: ?

Three against one and getting counter-killed? Do you even know how to play!

Ino shielded Choji, leaving only Shikamaru and Qingyu relatively calm.

"Do you want to fight?" Shikamaru asked, though his hands showed no intention of forming seals.

"If we fight, you don't have the advantage," Qingyu said truthfully.

"Choji is injured, Ino has exhausted much of her chakra, and while you still have strength left, the previous battle should have already exposed your techniques."

"The same goes for you," Shikamaru said.

"That steam explosion technique just now was impressive, but it must have consumed a lot of energy, right? And..."

He looked into Qingyu's eyes: "You have been avoiding killing from the very beginning; you only used interference and intimidation."

Qingyu felt a jolt in his heart.

This guy observes things so closely?

Don't go guessing my next sentence, too.

Shikamaru: Your next sentence is...

"So," Shikamaru put away the scroll.

"I have a proposal."

"What proposal?"

"We cooperate temporarily. You help us reach the Central Tower, and in exchange, we give you the Earth scroll once we arrive. That way, you'll have a complete set."

"Why help us?"

"Because you helped us just now," Shikamaru shrugged.

"Besides, I can tell that you and your squad... aren't simple. Rather than spending the rest of the journey worrying about you ambushing us, it's better to just become allies."

Qingyu quickly consulted the two big shots in his mind.

Tobirama: "The risk is high. They might go back on their word once they reach the Central Tower."

Izuna: "But this Nara brat... his eyes are honest. Besides, cooperation is indeed more efficient than guarding against each other."

Tobirama: "We need constraints. An oath? A contract? Or..."

Izuna: "The Uchiha Sharingan can plant a genjutsu through visual contact, but you don't have your eyes activated right now..."

"We'll cooperate," Qingyu finally said.

"But the terms need a slight change: once we reach the Central Tower, we swap scrolls and enter simultaneously. That way, neither side can back out."

Shikamaru thought for a moment and nodded: "Deal."

"What if we do go back on our word?" Shikamaru asked suddenly, the corner of his mouth curling up.

Qingyu smiled: "Then it would just prove I misjudged you... but I believe you won't."

Shikamaru: Uchiha Qingyu... you guy...

And so, a strange temporary six-man squad was formed.

It was like having four people in a three-man squad, or four members in the Heisei Trio.

A six-man squad that was actually eight!

The rest of the journey went more smoothly than they could have imagined.

With Shikamaru's tactical mind, Qingyu's (and the two big shots' in his head) reconnaissance abilities, plus the combat power of Yamada and Nakamura, they avoided all large-scale conflicts. They only encountered two squads that tried to ambush them, both of which were easily repelled.

During a rest break, Shikamaru sat down next to Qingyu.

"That steam explosion jutsu of yours," Shikamaru asked.

"How did you do it? Using Fire Release and Water Release at the same time?"

"Just a little trick," Qingyu said vaguely.

"A special application of nature transformation."

"That's not just ordinary nature transformation," Shikamaru stared at him.

"When ordinary Fire and Water Release collide, either the fire evaporates the water, or the water extinguishes the fire. Yours... reached a certain balance, as if it were deliberately calculated."

If you were tortured by veterans of Fire and Water Release separately, I'm sure you'd learn it quickly too.

Qingyu felt a tightening in his chest; this guy was too sharp.

Are you a sensitive chicken?

"Just lucky," he finally said.

"Is that so?" Shikamaru smiled, not pressing further, and changed the subject.

"But your tactical style... it's very unique. One moment it's like the aggressive Uchiha style, the next it's like the steady Senju approach. It's contradictory, but effective."

Qingyu didn't know how to respond.

Left hand, right hand, doing a slow-motion move...

"My father once said," Shikamaru looked into the depths of the forest.

"The most formidable ninjas aren't those who only know one style, but those who can fuse different styles into their own. You... have a bit of that."

Damn, brother, don't be so sincere, look at me, will you!

I'm being stunned by this Konoha brotherhood!

And besides playing chess with you and being henpecked, your dad actually has such vision?

Shikaku: Don't be so stereotypical!

After saying that, he stood up to check on Choji's injuries.

Qingyu sat where he was, ruminating on those words.

In his mind, the two big shots were, for once, not arguing.

After a long silence, Izuna said: "That Nara brat... he has a good eye."

Tobirama: "His tactical mind is also beyond his years. This era still has excellent talent."

Izuna: "Hmph."

Tobirama: "Hmph."

Qingyu smiled.

Perhaps, he really could carve out a different path?

A path that possessed both the fire of the Uchiha and the water of the Senju, along with a style uniquely his own.

As the saying goes, Fire Style has high damage, and Water Style has high damage!

I'll just hide inside the mist and use the Flying Thunder God to execute a vertical slash on Jiuan...

Ahead, the silhouette of the Central Tower was already vaguely visible; this journey was finally coming to a temporary end, yet regarding the strange aspects of this world, Qingyu remained only half-informed. Just the fact that so many Uchiha survived Itachi Uchiha's "New Year's greeting" was strange enough, wasn't it!

Still, this world was indeed very strange at the moment.

Clearly, in the original timeline, the Uchiha missed the Second Hokage so much that the entire clan went to meet him in the afterlife.

Itachi Uchiha: Happy New Year! Everyone gets a one-time trial card for the Mangekyo Sharingan!!!

Three, two, one... link up!!!

Uchiha (dancing with joy): Ah!!!! Ah!!! Lord Second Hokage!!! Lord Second Hokage!!!