Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

Tss—

Uchiha Haruki's expression was blank as he pulled his short blade free.

The Iwa-nin in front of him lost all strength, slumped to the ground, clutching his chest. After a brief struggle, he stopped breathing entirely.

Without pause, Haruki scanned the battlefield. Then, with a Body Flicker Technique, he reappeared next to another Iwagakure special jonin.

This time, thanks to support from the nearby Konoha jonin, it took even less effort. Within just a few moves, Haruki spotted an opening.

The moment their eyes met, Haruki launched Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique, pinning the enemy in place in an instant.

Taking the opportunity, the Konoha jonin beside him thrust a kunai forward, piercing straight through the Iwa-nin's back.

As the enemy collapsed, unwilling to die, Haruki nodded silently to the Konoha jonin behind him—then darted off toward another Iwa-nin target.

That Iwa-nin was one of the two real heavy-hitters, elite jonin-level. In less than two minutes, he had already overwhelmed the Konoha jonin assigned to him.

Haruki's aim was to back up his comrade—to suppress the attacks from that elite Iwa-nin.

As for Haruki's personal target? Another Iwagakure special jonin.

After all, as the saying goes: Pick the softest persimmon first.

Haruki's plan was simple—first eliminate the weaker Iwa-nin to reduce their numbers, then gang up on the remaining two elites.

As for Han...

He was currently being held back by several skilled Konoha jonin. Haruki figured he could be dealt with last.

But things didn't go quite as planned.

Just as he finished off the third Iwa special jonin and was about to engage the fourth, a subtle tremor pulsed from beneath his feet.

At first, Haruki thought it was just someone stealthily casting an Earth Release technique.

But when he leapt into a nearby tree, a strange insect-like creature suddenly burst out from where he'd just been standing.

It was about two meters long, with three pairs of sharp legs and a body covered in thick, armored scales. It was none other than Chika, the summoning beast of Kohara Shuji.

Of course, Haruki didn't know that.

All he saw were those alert, earthen-yellow beast eyes that instantly locked on to him—and then the insect opened its mouth wide.

Immediately, Haruki felt a powerful suction force pulling at him, as if he were about to be swallowed whole.

He quickly channeled chakra to his feet, anchoring himself, then formed a Ram seal and used the Body Flicker Technique to vanish from the spot.

As he escaped, he pulled a kunai from his pouch and hurled it at the creature below.

This was no ordinary kunai. Wrapped around its handle was an explosive tag—already primed the moment Haruki threw it.

The insect sensed the danger immediately. Chika shut its mouth, turned its head to dodge, and flung its tail forward to block.

Clang!

The kunai struck the heavily armored tail, making a sharp metallic noise—but failed to do any damage.

A split second later—boom!

The explosive tag ignited, unleashing a wave of crimson flame that engulfed half of the insect's body.

Skreeee!

Chika let out a shrill, painful screech.

It went berserk, thrashing wildly in place. Its six legs clawed frantically at the ground and tree trunks, leaving a mess of deep gashes and claw marks everywhere.

Clearly, despite its calm demeanor, this creature had serious offensive capabilities.

Moments later, the flames subsided, and the beast stopped howling.

Its scales were now scorched black across a wide area—while not a fatal injury, the damage was definitely not light.

Yet, Chika still remembered Shuji's command.

Its eyes swept the battlefield before it darted toward a nearby Iwa jonin.

Then it opened its mouth again—and spat out a figure.

It was none other than Kohara Shuji.

The moment Haruki saw him, countless thoughts clicked into place.

And with that, he immediately guessed that the mysterious person who'd been spying on him from the shadows earlier... was very likely this man.

Sure enough, Shuji's very first sentence confirmed it:

Pointing toward a nearby Iwa jonin, he shouted,

"The Konoha forces are escaping! They're stalling for time!"

The battlefield fell silent for a moment—even the Five-Tails' Jinchūriki, Han, who was fighting multiple Konoha jonin, froze for a second.

Han immediately charged through the trees like a juggernaut, his chakra cloaked in steam.

He stopped in front of Kohara Shuji and growled,

"Explain. What's going on?"

Gulp—

Feeling the terrifying pressure from Han's violent aura, Shuji instinctively swallowed.

But he still forced himself to stay calm and replied rapidly:

"Konoha's forces discovered the encirclement early. They're making a full-speed break for it. These people are just holding you here so the main force can escape safely."

"Direction?" Han barked.

Shuji didn't hesitate—he pointed directly toward the path the Konoha main force had taken.

The moment he had his heading, Han wasted no time.

Steam burst from his body in torrents, and like a locomotive, he thundered forward.

Several Konoha jonin tried to stop him—but neither ninjutsu nor weapons fazed him.

With the Tailed Beast Cloak protecting him, Han shrugged off the last-minute attacks.

One brave jonin leapt directly into his path, using a B-rank Earth Release—Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall.

But Han's body suddenly sprouted a second tail, and the horn on his forehead grew more defined.

Boom!

He rammed into the wall, shattering it within a heartbeat.

Even the jonin who cast the technique was hit by the shockwave and sent flying. Whether he lived or died was unclear.

Everyone watching stood in stunned silence.

No one dared to step into Han's path again. They could only trail behind, launching minor interference attacks from either side.

Even then, it was only possible thanks to the elite skills of the Konoha jonin—they knew enough advanced techniques to slow Han down slightly.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have even kept pace, let alone interrupted him.

As Han grew smaller in the distance, the remaining three Iwa-nin exchanged glances and broke away from their Konoha opponents to chase after him.

Naturally, the Konoha ninja weren't about to let them go without a fight.

And so, the battle continued as they all gave chase—until the last of them disappeared from sight.

Now, only Uchiha Haruki and Kohara Shuji remained on the battlefield.

…Oh, and the critically wounded Konoha jonin, whose condition was still unknown.

Haruki hadn't stayed behind because he didn't want to retreat—rather, it was Shuji who kept staring him down, clearly itching for a one-on-one duel.

Coincidentally, Haruki also wanted revenge.

So, he stayed.

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