Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

Time flew by—nearly ten hours had passed.

Night slowly descended.

After finally shaking off Han and the Iwa jonin that had been pursuing them, Uchiha Haruki and his squad caught up with the main force.

They assisted in repelling several waves of pursuing Iwa-nin. At last, they were relatively safe.

"Relatively," because no one doubted that Iwagakure would resume the chase. So, true safety was still a long way off.

But for now…

Both sides had fought multiple rounds and marched for hours. Everyone was exhausted and in need of rest.

And so, for the time being—they were safe.

Inside the makeshift camp…

Haruki followed the medics around, helping tend to the wounded Konoha shinobi.

Iwagakure's sudden assault had turned the battle into an utter bloodbath.

Out of a force of nearly four hundred, about two hundred had died. Fewer than one hundred and eighty remained—and all were injured.

Adding the wounded reinforcements from Tiger Mountain Camp, the number of casualties needing treatment surpassed three hundred.

The medical corps was completely overwhelmed.

Which is how Haruki got roped in to help.

He had no objections. In fact, he welcomed it.

After all, his Healing Technique proficiency had already surpassed 80%. Just healing another twenty or thirty shinobi would be enough for a level-up.

It was the perfect opportunity to push the jutsu to Mastery.

And perhaps, while he was at it, he could learn Mystic Palm Technique and Chakra Scalpel too.

That would mark the beginning of a whole new phase.

Because after this, he could start focusing on physically strengthening his body, reducing the gap between his physical and spiritual stats—and prepare for unlocking the Mangekyō Sharingan.

Calming his thoughts, Haruki focused entirely on healing the wounded.

Time passed, second by second.

Before he knew it, nearly two hours had gone by.

After healing the wounds of yet another Konoha chunin, a flash of insight suddenly struck Haruki—deepening his understanding of the Healing Technique.

Opening his system panel, he checked it.

Just as he had hoped—Healing Technique had leveled up—and went straight to Lv5 (0/0): Mastery.

Haruki tried using it on his own injured left arm.

A warm sensation washed over him. The previously unhealed wound began to rapidly close, visibly accelerating the healing process.

Compared to before, the effect had improved by at least 30%.

What else could he say?

No doubt about it—Mastery was a whole different level!

Not only had the jutsu's power improved, but his understanding of Yang Release chakra had also deepened.

Originally, Haruki thought he would have to level up Mystic Palm Technique significantly before using Yang chakra to enhance his body.

But now… he felt he was ready.

Without hesitation, he used the excuse of needing rest, sat down, and began channeling chakra.

He restrained the Yang Release chakra usually used for healing and instead let it circulate internally, guiding it through his chakra pathways to nourish and strengthen his cells.

At first, he felt nothing.

But slowly, a faint warmth began to rise from within—like soaking in a hot spring. It was incredibly pleasant.

Unfortunately, even after repeating the process several times, his Physical stat didn't change at all.

Still, Haruki was confident this method worked.

The only reasons he saw no results yet were either:

Not enough time, or

The Yang chakra produced by Healing Technique was still too little or too weak.

"Yeah… I still need Mystic Palm Technique."

With that thought, Haruki closed his panel and began to mentally review everything he knew about Mystic Palm, then started practicing it.

Thanks to the solid foundation built from Healing Technique, just one attempt increased his Mystic Palm proficiency by three points.

That meant, with around thirty repetitions, he could fully unlock the jutsu.

This was the true difference between him and a prodigy.

For most talented shinobi, even if they had mastered a similar jutsu, learning a higher-level one like Mystic Palm was no easy feat—and often impossible.

But Haruki wasn't like them.

He didn't have to worry.

As long as he had a foundation, he could rely on the proficiency system to accumulate experience and master new techniques at lightning speed.

Just like now—he practiced while refining his understanding, and within just half an hour, he had unlocked Mystic Palm.

His learning speed was nothing short of astonishing!

Of course, the chakra cost was steep.

Every activation of Mystic Palm to gain the minimum proficiency required at least 150 chakra points.

Thankfully, his Chakra Control was already at Lv4, granting a 20% reduction in chakra usage—otherwise, it would've cost even more.

Luckily, he still had plenty of chakra left to burn.

So, with no issues, he got the jutsu to entry-level in one sitting.

Just as Haruki was preparing to start training Chakra Scalpel as well, a Konoha chunin suddenly ran over to him and asked if he had finished resting.

No doubt—it was a bold move.

But the woman had no choice.

Her last surviving teammate—and boyfriend—was critically wounded and had fallen unconscious. Desperate, she had no option but to seek Haruki out.

"Haruki-sama, please! You have to save Kaneki! I… I can't lose him!"

Seeing the urgent plea in her eyes, Haruki didn't waste words.

"Lead the way," he said simply.

"…Huh?"

Akao Akira blinked, stunned by how quickly Haruki agreed. But then she snapped back to reality.

"R-right! This way!"

She immediately led the way forward.

Honestly, she'd assumed Haruki—being from the Uchiha clan—would be cold and difficult to persuade.

What she didn't know was that Haruki was actually planning to test his newly learned Mystic Palm Technique—that was why he agreed so readily.

In truth, medical team assignments had their own order. He wasn't supposed to override that without good reason.

But this was just one case—it wouldn't cause too much trouble.

Before long, the two of them arrived beside an injured Konoha chunin.

Multiple wounds marred his body, but the most serious by far was a deep gash that stretched from his left shoulder to his right hip.

Even with bandages wrapped tightly around it, blood still oozed continuously.

If Kaneki weren't a ninja able to sustain himself with chakra—he'd have died already.

Haruki stepped forward and examined his injuries carefully.

After a moment, he muttered to himself: "Lucky guy."

If he hadn't just learned Mystic Palm, he wouldn't have stood a chance of treating such severe trauma—even if he'd shown up.

But now?

"Not a problem."

With that thought, Haruki asked Akao to keep watch nearby and make sure no one disturbed him.

Akao's eyes lit up.

"Yes, Haruki-sama! I'll make sure no one gets close!"

She meant every word—her voice was filled with conviction.

Haruki only nodded slightly. He didn't really care too much.

This was the center of the camp—no one was likely to intrude anyway.

He was more concerned someone else might come barging in for help like she had.

Still, he didn't say anything more.

Haruki took a deep breath and began to treat Kaneki's injuries.