Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

Clang~

A crisp metallic clashing sound rang out.

Uchiha Haruki's Body Flicker Technique was still underdeveloped. At level 2, it wasn't enough to create a true "teleportation" effect in front of even a Genin.

So, before he could land an attack, the Iwagakure Genin reacted in time, raising his kunai to block Haruki's strike.

However, due to a prior injury to his arm, the strength behind the block was lacking, and he was easily overpowered by Haruki.

Haruki's eyes flickered as he stared at the opponent's blood-drenched arm. The kunai in his hand slashed and stabbed rapidly—within the blink of an eye, he had launched over a dozen attacks.

Even though the Iwagakure Genin tried his best to defend, he couldn't keep up with Haruki's rhythm.

Finally, after one more flurry with the kunai, Haruki saw his opening. Tightening his core, he unleashed a powerful kick with his right leg.

Boom~

A dull thud echoed out.

The Iwagakure Genin felt his left arm go numb as he was sent flying sideways.

Haruki didn't let up. Before even retracting his leg, he swiftly threw three shuriken, all aimed at the enemy's vital points, enhanced by his level 3 Ninja Tool Throwing skill.

Sensing danger, the Genin tried to dodge.

Unfortunately, mid-air with no leverage, he barely twisted his body enough to evade two of the shuriken.

The third one found its mark—piercing his thigh.

Blood gushed out. The shuriken had struck directly at the femoral artery.

As he hit the ground, the Iwagakure Genin stumbled, unable to stand, and a muffled groan of pain escaped his lips.

At that moment, Haruki activated the Body Flicker Technique again and silently appeared behind him.

A chill ran up the Genin's spine. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead, and a suffocating sense of despair overwhelmed him.

"Please... don't..."

A near-pleading voice slipped into Haruki's ears.

But he was unmoved.

Shhk~

The sound of a blade piercing flesh followed.

The Iwagakure Genin's pupils dilated. Blood trickled from the corners of his mouth.

"Hhhkk... hhkkk..."

A choking, raspy sound came from his throat as Haruki emotionlessly withdrew the kunai from the man's back.

Splurt~

A mouthful of blood sprayed from the Genin's mouth.

The next moment, he collapsed to the ground, lifeless.

After killing his opponent, Haruki quickly scanned the area and rushed straight toward Shizuko Mizutani.

She was already weak in taijutsu, and now surrounded by two Iwagakure Genin. Her situation was dire, and Haruki had to act fast.

As expected, once he took over the offensive, it took less than three minutes to bring both Genin to the ground.

Without taking a break, Haruki then targeted the two Iwagakure Genin currently fighting Ryosuke.

Just like before, once he and Shizuko joined the fray, the two enemy Genin had no room to resist. Within minutes, they were both slain.

Haruki, Ryosuke, and Shizuko were the only three Genin from the Konoha side, so Iwagakure only dispatched Genin to deal with them.

This was a perfectly reasonable arrangement—two versus one, with equal ranks, Iwagakure Genin should not have lost.

However, they hadn't accounted for the variable—Uchiha Haruki, who, while technically still a Genin, possessed combat ability far beyond that rank.

In the end, one slip-up resulted in the deaths of six Iwagakure Genin.

But that was the limit.

After he had slain his sixth opponent, Haruki finally drew the attention of other Iwagakure forces. Three Chunin immediately disengaged from their battles and charged straight toward him.

Seeing this, Haruki called over his shoulder to Ryosuke and Shizuko without turning his head:"Hold off the one on the left for me."

"Got it." ×2

Having fought alongside Haruki for so long, Ryosuke and Shizuko had complete trust in him.

So, without hesitation, they immediately responded and acted.

With their confirmation, Haruki wasted no time. He pushed off the ground and rushed straight at the two Iwagakure Chunin on the right.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh~

Several shuriken flew toward him.

Haruki's body swayed slightly, dancing through the barrage like a butterfly among flowers, dodging effortlessly.

Seeing this, the two Chunin's already grim expressions darkened further.

They weren't surprised Haruki had dodged the attack—after all, someone capable of taking out six Genin in short order clearly had skills.

What startled them was how easily he had done it. The shuriken had passed mere inches from his body.

It looked simple, but was in fact extremely dangerous.

It required nerves of steel and razor-sharp instincts—calmly predicting the trajectory of enemy attacks and trusting in one's precision.

Otherwise, instead of saving energy, a misstep could cost you your life.

That's why most ninja would leave a safety buffer when dodging.

But Haruki clearly didn't.

This made the two Chunin treat him with even more caution.

All this happened in the blink of an eye.

Haruki had already closed the distance, and the next moment, a flurry of clashing kunai rang out.

Thanks to a month of harsh training, Haruki's real combat experience had grown immensely.

Now, facing the coordinated attack of two Iwagakure Chunin, he no longer appeared as overwhelmed as he had during that ambush days ago.

Still, his goal wasn't just to stall.

Haruki glanced across the battlefield.

On the Jonin front, Konoha was at a disadvantage, but so far, there were no casualties.

Among the lower and mid-rank ninja, aside from the six Genin Haruki had killed, one Iwagakure Chunin and two more Genin had been eliminated by other teammates.

But the price was steep—Konoha had lost two Chunin in the process.

In total, Iwagakure had six Jonin, eight Chunin, and one Genin remaining.

And Konoha?

Aside from two Jonin and two Special Jonin, they had four Chunin, plus Haruki's Team 17—three Genin.

So it was 4+3 versus 8+1.

Haruki needed to kill at least two to three more Chunin to keep the mid-lower battlefield balanced.

As for the Jonin clash…

That was beyond his ability to influence.

What Haruki could do was ensure that this side of the battle didn't collapse.

Anything beyond that was out of his hands.

Unless…

He was willing to reveal his Sharingan.

But unless absolutely necessary, Haruki wouldn't take that step.

The Sharingan was his trump card, and trump cards were meant for decisive moments.

Even though his Sharingan was still only one tomoe, when combined with his rudimentary mastery of Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique, it could still disrupt even a Jonin if launched as a surprise attack.

And ninja are fragile—if he could seize such a moment, he might not kill his opponent outright, but a serious injury was likely.

That would at least give him a chance to retreat safely.

So unless he had no other choice, Haruki would not use the Sharingan.