Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

Just as Uchiha Haruki was diligently training in swordsmanship, a figure rapidly approached from the distance.

Noticing the arrival, Haruki stopped his practice early. As the person drew near, Haruki bowed slightly and greeted,

"Uncle."

That's right—the visitor was none other than the Uchiha Jonin who had coordinated with him on two prior occasions.

The Jonin gave Haruki a once-over, nodding in satisfaction before speaking.

"I've read your mission report. You did well."

Haruki didn't respond, quietly waiting for him to continue.

Sure enough, the Jonin said:

"After three days of review by headquarters, everything in your report has been confirmed to be true.

Considering the difficulty of the mission and your performance, the command center has determined that you meet all the requirements to be promoted to Jonin.

In principle, your promotion has been approved."

Upon hearing this, Haruki allowed a subtle expression of excitement to show—though inside, he remained utterly calm.

He understood clearly: the title of Jonin was just that—a title. What truly determined whether one could survive in the ninja world was personal strength.

With enough strength, even a Genin could survive and thrive.

That said, becoming a Jonin wasn't without its perks.

At the very least, missions offered more freedom, and there was now the possibility of being involved in higher-level decision-making.

After all, in every major village, Jonin were the backbone. Even the Kage had to consider the opinions of the majority of Jonin before pushing through policies.

These thoughts flashed through his mind in a moment, as the Uchiha Jonin continued:

"Get yourself ready. Tomorrow morning, HQ will hold a meeting to officially announce your promotion to Jonin.

Every Jonin who isn't on a mission will be there. It's a chance for you to meet the others—and for them to meet you."

"Understood, Uncle," Haruki replied respectfully.

The Jonin glanced at the sword-scarred ground and trees around them.

"Looks like you're training. I won't disturb you further."

With that, he turned to leave.

"Thank you, Uncle. Take care," Haruki called out quickly.

"Mm."

With a simple acknowledgment, the Jonin vanished using the Body Flicker Technique.

"A meeting, huh…"

Haruki murmured, watching the spot where his uncle had disappeared.

He stood still in thought for a few seconds, then quietly unsheathed his short sword and resumed training.

Time ticked by.

Before he knew it, an entire day had passed.

That day, Haruki gained 134 points of proficiency in the Heart-Reading Technique, pushing his Sharingan's evolution progress up by the same amount. His swordsmanship also improved by over 50 points.

Satisfied with the gains shown on his status panel, Haruki closed his eyes and went to sleep.

The Next Day – Morning

Headquarters.

Inside the meeting room.

Haruki sat quietly, surrounded by a group of Konoha Jonin, sizing them up—trying to guess who were clan ninjas and who were civilians, while roughly estimating their strength.

It wasn't a productive exercise—pure speculation without context—but he did it anyway.

After all, he couldn't just sit there doing nothing, right?

Still, it wasn't like he learned nothing.

At the very least, he noticed that over half of the Jonin present were clan-born. Civilian-born Jonin made up less than 40% of the group.

That didn't surprise him.

Civilian ninjas didn't have inherited jutsu or family support. Advancing to Jonin under those conditions was incredibly difficult.

If not for their overwhelming numbers, civilian Jonin might not have even made up a third.

But that had nothing to do with him.

Haruki gave a subtle shake of his head and continued observing the room.

Meanwhile, the others were observing him too.

He was the newly promoted Uchiha prodigy, after all. Their expressions varied—some calm, some curious, some admiring, and some clearly cautious or wary.

Haruki ignored all of it.

He sat quietly and calmly, unmoved by the attention.

A moment later, the tent flap opened—and in walked the commander-in-chief of Konoha's Rain Country frontlines: Orochimaru.

His gaze lingered briefly on Haruki but didn't show any notable reaction.

Haruki had expected as much.

At this point in time, Orochimaru had not yet lost the race for Fourth Hokage, nor had he been "instant-killed" by Uchiha Itachi's Sharingan. He hadn't yet developed an obsession with the Sharingan.

So Haruki wasn't particularly worried about him.

Orochimaru sat at the head of the table, cleared his throat softly, and began the meeting.

"There are two items on today's agenda.

First—Uchiha Haruki has passed all evaluations, and the village has officially granted him the rank of Jonin."

Clap clap clap—

Applause broke out. Whether they were happy about it or not, the Jonin present all clapped politely.

Orochimaru didn't ask Haruki to introduce himself—his basic information had already been distributed beforehand.

Nor did he ask the other Jonin to introduce themselves. That was the Uchiha clan's responsibility.

After the meeting, the Uchiha Jonin would naturally introduce Haruki to those who mattered.

Once the applause faded, Orochimaru moved on.

"The second matter—should we launch a counterattack on Iwagakure?

I believe everyone has seen the relevant intel by now.

Kumogakure's raid on Iwagakure may have ended in failure, with the Third Raikage dying in battle, but Iwagakure still took heavy losses."

As he spoke, Orochimaru glanced briefly at Haruki.

The rest of the Jonin followed suit, casting subtle glances toward him.

Clearly, everyone knew where this intel had come from.

Haruki, however, didn't react at all.

He simply sat there, quietly, seemingly… daydreaming?

Yes, he was daydreaming.

For some reason, the start of the meeting reminded him of unpleasant memories from his past life, draining any interest he might've had.

If it weren't so inappropriate to leave now, Haruki honestly would've preferred to return to his sword training.

"So then, should we take this opportunity to launch an offensive against Iwagakure?"

Orochimaru's voice rang out again, drawing everyone's attention back. The room shifted into a more serious tone as the Jonin began to speak one by one—some in favor, some against.

Those in favor argued that Iwagakure's frontlines were vulnerable and now was the perfect time to strike and weaken their military strength.

Those against pointed out that Iwagakure's overall forces still held the advantage, and they'd just secured a major victory. Their morale was at its peak.

If the counterattack failed, and reinforcements arrived from Iwagakure, it could backfire badly.

In short—both sides had valid points.

In the end, the decision rested solely with Orochimaru.

He tapped his fingers on the table thoughtfully for a while, then finally spoke.

"I've decided… we'll attack."

The room reacted with mixed expressions, but no one objected further.

Orochimaru held considerable authority among the Jonin. Once he made a decision, the rest simply had to follow.

And so, they began to plan the operation.

The meeting lasted nearly two hours. By the end, most of the action items and arrangements had been confirmed.

Orochimaru officially ended the meeting and was the first to leave the room.