Chapter 273: Gifts and News

Seeing Qingming's serious expression, the Uchiha elder assumed he was worried about his future encounters.

With a hearty laugh, he said, "Qingming, don't worry! Once you arrive at the Mist Hidden battlefield, the clan will ensure your safety."

Hearing this, Qingming realized the elder had misunderstood his concerns but chose not to correct him. Instead, he followed up with, "Thank you for your arrangements, Elder."

The Uchiha elder nodded and, as if recalling something, suddenly said, "Wait a moment."

With that, he turned and walked into an inner room, returning shortly with a book and two scrolls in hand.

Seeing these items, Qingming's heart stirred, and he had a vague guess about their significance but still asked out loud, "What is this?"

"You applied for assistance from the clan, right? Here are the items you requested," the elder replied, handing them to Qingming.

Qingming quickly accepted them.

The Uchiha elder continued to explain, "The book contains insights from a senior about developing water-style chakra."

Upon hearing this, Qingming opened the book and briefly skimmed through it. It was indeed similar to the wind-style chakra development notes he had previously found in the Uchiha library.

With this book, he could save a lot of time and effort.

However, now wasn't the time to read, so he put the book away and turned his gaze to the two scrolls.

Noticing this, the Uchiha elder spoke again, "The two scrolls contain records of a water-style jutsu, which should be sufficient for your study for a while."

Qingming opened the scrolls and discovered that one contained the jutsu—Water Release: Water Barrier, while the other held Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique.

Both were B-rank jutsu—one for offense and one for defense—indicating that the elder had put thought into them.

The only downside was that both the Water Barrier and the Water Dragon Bullet were merely standard versions.

This meant the former created a vertical wall of water for protection, and the latter required a long sequence of 44 hand seals.

However, Qingming didn't mind this too much.

Thanks to his proficiency panel, he could level them up with time and effort.

When that happened, whether changing the jutsu's form or reducing the hand seals would be entirely up to him.

Thus, he didn't see the need to concern himself with whether they were optimized versions.

Just as a smile of satisfaction appeared on his face, the Uchiha elder delivered some unfortunate news.

He stated, "As for the Kusanagi sword you wanted, the clan hasn't received it yet. Originally, we planned to give you these items along with the sword, but since you've returned now, you can take these first!"

Qingming barely registered the latter part of the elder's statement, focusing instead on the earlier comment about not having received the sword but rather having "no news of it."

"Does that mean the clan has information about the Kusanagi sword?" Qingming asked directly.

Although unsure why Qingming was asking, the Uchiha elder replied honestly, "Yes, intelligence indicates that before the war broke out, the leader of the Craftsman Village accidentally obtained one and seemed to be planning to replicate it. Unfortunately, he hasn't succeeded yet, so theoretically, they currently possess one."

"Wait, you... aren't suggesting I go after it myself, are you?"

As the elder spoke, he noticed Qingming's eyes lighting up and quickly inquired.

Qingming, hearing this, countered, "What's wrong with that?"

Seeing Qingming express such thoughts with an air of nonchalance, the Uchiha elder laughed and scolded him, "You rascal!"

In truth, the elder was unaware that Qingming was simply sizing up the situation. If it had been someone else, Qingming wouldn't have expressed himself so openly.

However, the elder clearly belonged to the radical faction of the Uchiha clan.

And radical factions, when it came down to it, operated outside the norm; on one hand, they could be quite innovative, but on the other, they often ignored established protocols.

Moreover, this was a world where extraordinary power determined a lot.

In this context, if a small ninja village had something valuable, it would likely be forcibly taken by one of the five major villages.

Thus, Qingming's perspective wasn't particularly out of place.

In fact, because of his outlook, the radical elder might even view him more favorably!

However, to Qingming's surprise, the elder outright rejected his idea, stating firmly, "No!"

"Why not?" Qingming asked without holding back.

The Uchiha elder shook his head and replied, "You wouldn't be able to find him."

"What do you mean?"

Qingming pressed for clarification.

"Just what it sounds like," the elder said. "Since the war broke out, the Craftsman Village has disbanded; all the ninjas from the Craftsman Village have gone into hiding."

"Ah?"

Upon hearing this news, Qingming was taken aback.

Noticing his reaction, the Uchiha elder continued, "You should know that the Craftsman Village is quite skilled at crafting ninja tools, right?"

"Yes," Qingming nodded.

"Do you know that during peacetime, over seventy percent of the ninja tools used by the five major villages are supplied by them?" the elder inquired.

Qingming shook his head, genuinely unaware of this fact.

His memories of the small ninja villages were vague at best, so he had no idea the Craftsman Village wielded such influence.

However, at this point, he could guess why the Craftsman Village had disbanded.

As a supplier of weapons and tools, they were too weak to protect such vast interests.

They couldn't even manage to keep themselves safe.

In peacetime, it might have been acceptable to earn a little profit.

But during wartime, it wasn't just about making money; their existence had started to significantly impact the balance of power in the conflict.

Such formidable ninja tool production capability meant that if the Craftsman Village sided with any particular village, it could grant that village an enormous advantage in equipment.

No one would want to see such a scenario unfold.

And any attempts to negotiate would likely paint them as targets.

Thus, the best way to ensure that no other village received support from the Craftsman Village was to erase their presence entirely.

Only by doing this could a semblance of balance in the war be maintained.

Clearly, the leader of the Craftsman Village had realized this looming threat.

So, he had disbanded the Craftsman Village early on, scattering everyone to hide throughout the ninja world.

The Craftsman Village could supply over seventy percent of the ninja tools to the five major villages during peacetime because they worked together in unity.

Now that everyone had dispersed, it was impossible for them to achieve that level of coordination.

This meant that even the five major villages wouldn't bother to expend significant resources trying to track them down.

In this way, once the war ended and they regrouped, they could reestablish the Craftsman Village.

This was the survival strategy of the Craftsman Village.

Through his own thoughts and the Uchiha elder's explanations, Qingming finally understood the reasons behind the Craftsman Village's disbandment and why the elder had dismissed his idea.

In this situation, it was nearly impossible for him to find the leader of the Craftsman Village.

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