Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

Boom! Boom!

Two massive collisions erupted one after another as enormous dragons made of water and fire crashed violently into the earthen wall. The impact not only obliterated the wall but also killed Nozawa Ki, one of the Iwagakure squad leaders.

Fortunately, thanks to Nozawa Ki's early warning, most of the lower- and mid-tier Iwa shinobi managed to dodge the attack in time. Only a few unlucky ones got caught in the blast and suffered varying degrees of injuries.

"Charge!"

A low shout echoed from the Konoha forces.

The next moment, hundreds of Konoha shinobi let out war cries as they surged forward toward the outnumbered Iwa shinobi.

The lake that had formed behind the earthen wall due to the obstruction now rapidly spilled outward as the wall crumbled. The water level dropped sharply, and the surface became increasingly unstable.

Yet, the Konoha shinobi tread across it as though walking on solid ground—not even a hint of imbalance.

In no time, they caught up with the retreating Iwa shinobi.

Yes—caught up.

The Iwa forces had been outnumbered from the start. Now, with their leading jōnin killed, how could they possibly find the courage to stay and fight?

So the moment Uchiha Haruki and the others advanced, the Iwa shinobi immediately scattered and fled.

But in the end, the overwhelming difference in numbers and strength led to the majority of them being slain on the spot.

As for the few who escaped in all directions, Haruki and his team did not pursue. Instead, they quickly regrouped and pressed forward.

They had to move fast, creating enough distance before Iwagakure could respond. Only then would the enemy be forced to spend time rebuilding their encirclement.

This would buy Haruki's team precious time to rest and recover, and more importantly, continue stalling Iwagakure's reinforcements.

If they could manage to break through once more before the second encirclement was fully reestablished, they would gain yet another window to recover.

Repeat this process two or three times, and the mission would essentially be complete.

By that point, the defensive-offensive operations at the front line strongholds would likely have reached their conclusion.

"The question is... will everything go as planned?"

As they advanced, Uchiha Haruki kept one eye on their surroundings, while mentally contemplating various future possibilities and forming counter-strategies.

Time passed, minute by minute.

Before long, it was mid-afternoon.

Once it was confirmed they'd successfully broken through the encirclement, Nara Shisui gave the order for the team to halt and rest.

At his command, the Konoha shinobi immediately sat down on the ground and each took out a military ration pill from their pouches, chewing on them.

For a while, the only sound on the field was the crisp "crunch, crunch" of rations being consumed.

They rested for roughly an hour before setting out again, heading toward Iwagakure's second defensive line, just as planned.

This time, however, Nara Shisui didn't push them into a forced march.

There were two reasons:

Everyone was already exhausted. Days of constant fighting, pursuit, and marching had severely depleted their stamina. Slowing down was necessary to maintain their fighting capability.

They needed to be chased.

After all, their goal wasn't to escape—it was to tie up Iwagakure's support forces.

If they moved too fast and left their pursuers behind, the Iwa shinobi might give up the chase altogether. That would mean mission failure.

So they had to maintain a pace that gave Iwagakure hope—just enough to keep the chase alive.

At the same time, they couldn't let the distance get too close, or they'd put themselves in danger.

Striking that balance was up to Nara Shisui.

As a jōnin from the famously intelligent Nara Clan, Haruki had faith in Shisui's ability to manage that balance. So he didn't interfere with any of the commander's decisions.

And indeed, Nara Shisui proved worthy of that trust.

Over the next full day, Shisui masterfully directed the team—sometimes marching, sometimes pausing; sometimes detouring to avoid Iwa patrols, and other times breaking through blockades directly.

As a result, not only were they never caught, but they also kept Iwagakure fully invested in the pursuit.

The mission was proceeding exceptionally well.

Time flew by, and soon, it was evening of the following day.

By then, the squad had broken through three Iwagakure blockade lines, arriving at a base camp they had previously attacked and taken two nights earlier.

The place had once been a bustling town, but war had long since emptied it of civilians. The buildings were mostly in ruins.

Even so, it offered far better shelter than the open wild—at least here, they had roofs to shield them from wind and rain.

They would rest here for the night.

According to the latest updates from headquarters, the counteroffensive was going extremely well—Konoha's front-line forces had made major breakthroughs.

Some of the bases along Iwagakure's second defense line had already been overrun.

And as for Haruki's team, their mission tomorrow was to rendezvous with one of those victorious squads that had breached the second line.

In other words, their mission to stall Iwagakure's reinforcements was basically complete.

Once they linked up with the other Konoha unit, their safety would be much more secure.

The intel also indicated that Iwagakure wouldn't be able to block their path again until around noon the next day.

As long as they set out before that, they'd be fine.

And according to their plan, they were scheduled to leave early tomorrow morning—making their current situation effectively safe.

Yet, despite that—

Uchiha Haruki felt a deep sense of unease.

It was hard to explain, but something told him tomorrow's rendezvous wouldn't go as smoothly as expected.

That vague feeling of being watched that had come and gone these past few days… now it was stronger than ever.

Unfortunately, he had no proof—so there was no way Nara Shisui would alter the operation plan based on just a hunch.

"Tch. Looks like I'll have to be extra careful tomorrow."

Sighing internally, Haruki warned himself to stay sharp.

Then he hugged his short sword close and entered a meditative training state.

No matter how tired he was, Haruki had long developed the habit—whenever time allowed, he would train.

At present, his daily chakra recovery limit was 21,000 points. To not use it would be wasteful, so he made sure every second counted.

Since he could no longer farm the "Mirror Heart Technique," he had instead shifted his training to "Genjutsu: Sharingan."

This technique consumed less chakra and time than the former, allowing its proficiency to increase rapidly. The progress bar was already nearing the halfway mark.

Once it reached Level 7 (0/0)—the perfect mastery level—he could start working on developing a new technique: "Phantom Blade Style."

As for his Healing Technique, the frequent combat of the past few days had provided plenty of chances to practice, and its proficiency had also risen quickly.

Right now, its progress bar had surpassed 80%. Just one or two more battles, and it would hit Level 5 (0/0)—master level.

At that point, Haruki could begin learning Mystic Palm Technique and Chakra Scalpel.

Once those were leveled up, he could then attempt physical body enhancements.

All these thoughts flickered through Haruki's mind, but he quickly calmed his focus and returned to his training, following the routine he had planned.