Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

Time passed in a blur—several hours went by.

Uchiha Haruki had remained on edge, half-expecting more enemies to show up. But as dawn approached and he still hadn't seen a second soul, his nerves began to ease slightly.

If the enemy had truly held the advantage, there was no way they would have left Shirashikurato's fate hanging. Which meant—most likely, Haruki's side had won.

All he had to do now was wait for rescue.

As for heading back on his own...

Haruki considered it but ultimately decided against it.

After all, his side's victory was just a guess. If the enemy had simply been delayed due to a stalemate somewhere else, walking back into their grasp would be as good as suicide.

So—better to be patient and wait.

And so he did.

For two more hours.

Two hours later.

Daylight broke over the forest.

In the woods, four Leaf Village ninjas raced swiftly through the trees.

Suddenly, the leading jonin halted and tossed a kunai with a sharp shout:"Who's there?!"

At his words, the three Genin following him immediately spread out, forming a loose defensive formation.

Clang!

The kunai was intercepted midair.

Haruki stepped out from behind a tree.

Noticing his uniform, one of the Genin directly in front of him blurted out in shock,"A Konoha ninja?!"

"Yeah."Haruki nodded calmly.

The lead jonin didn't lower his guard. He narrowed his eyes and asked,"Who are you? Why are you here?"

In response, Haruki explained his identity and recounted everything that had happened the previous night, leaving nothing out.

After hearing the story, and seeing the scorched wound on Haruki's chest, the jonin pondered for a moment—then decided to bring him back to their temporary outpost.

About an hour later, Furukawa arrived at the base.

Once Haruki's identity was verified, he was escorted back to the main camp.

It was there that he finally learned the full scope of what had happened.

From the beginning, Haruki had found the Iwa ninja's ambush strange.

There weren't any important facilities in their defensive zone. Capturing it didn't offer any long-term strategic advantage—it was a meaningless, high-cost move.

But now, things made sense.

Last night, their sector wasn't the only one attacked. Several other nearby defensive zones—and even some on the opposite side of the base—were ambushed as well.

And it wasn't just Iwa-nin involved—Sand-nin had joined in, too.

Whatever agreement the two villages had made, it had led to a coordinated assault on Konoha's main base.

Yes, that's right—the main base itself.

The attacks on outer zones like Haruki's were just feints—diversions to draw away attention.

The real strike force took some time to appear—and when they did, they came from both the eastern and western flanks, charging straight at the main base.

And these weren't the disorganized forces Haruki and the others had faced.

They were elite troops.

In a matter of minutes, the defenses on both flanks were broken through.

With the enemy rapidly approaching, Orochimaru had no choice but to recall all support units to defend the base.

So while Haruki and the others had been desperately hanging on, the main camp was embroiled in a brutal clash of its own.

In the end, Konoha successfully held the base.

If not, Haruki wouldn't be seeing Furukawa alive right now.

But still—

Haruki couldn't help but glance at Furukawa's missing right arm and feel a wave of sobering realization at the horrors of war.

Yes—Furukawa had lost an arm in last night's battle. His dominant right arm, no less. That kind of loss would drastically affect his future combat capabilities.

And yet—that was the best outcome possible.

Of the four jonin assigned to Haruki's zone, only Furukawa and one special jonin survived. Their squad leader, Nakajima Hiroshi, and another special jonin had both died in battle.

Among the Chunin, only one remained alive.

As for Ryosuke and Shizuko Mizutani, though they were both badly injured, they had miraculously survived thanks to the timely arrival of Okura Seiya.

That's right—even though the main camp couldn't send help in time, Okura Seiya—the jonin stationed at their original base—did arrive to support them.

Thanks to him, Ryosuke and the others made it out alive.

Initially, Furukawa had assumed Haruki was dead. When he first heard news of Haruki's survival, he thought someone might be impersonating him.

After all, Haruki had been gone far too long, and the last anyone had seen, he was being pursued by a special jonin. Dying under those circumstances would have been normal.

No one could have guessed that Haruki not only survived—but also killed his enemy.

That revelation brought genuine relief to Furukawa.

As for how he killed him…

Haruki emphasized how his opponent underestimated him, and how he, in turn, had been cautious and tactical.

After all, no one had ever seen Shirashikurato go all-out. As far as others were concerned, Haruki's version of events would be accepted without much question.

Even if someone suspected the truth, what could they do? Would they really defend a dead enemy ninja?

In time, as Haruki's strength grew, this wouldn't even be a concern.

Back at the main camp—

Haruki first went to check in on Ryosuke and Shizuko Mizutani.

The moment they saw him, the two were nearly brought to tears with joy.

Haruki, too, couldn't help but smile faintly upon seeing them alive.

After chatting for a while, he headed to the medical corps to treat his injuries.

The minor wounds were no issue, but the chest injury needed to be handled quickly.

Even though the high heat from the lightning had cauterized the wound and stopped the bleeding, if left untreated, it could leave serious aftereffects.

Haruki had no intention of ending up like Hayate Gekkō—constantly coughing after just a few steps.

Speaking of Hayate, Haruki suddenly thought of the "Dance of the Crescent Moon."

Last night's battle made one thing clear: when it came to ranged combat, his current fire-style jutsu were already sufficient for now.

His next goal should be to level them up further.

But in close combat, his basic taijutsu was clearly lacking. He needed to learn more advanced techniques as soon as possible.

Not that he was aiming to learn Dance of the Crescent Moon specifically.

That technique required two shadow clones and a synchronized three-pronged attack from the front, left, and right. The chakra cost was high and demanded perfect timing—best suited for assassins like Gekkō.

Haruki's goal wasn't to be an assassin.

He wanted to become a well-rounded fighter, strong in all areas—not a specialist in sneak attacks.

What he wanted was the foundational technique: Konoha-ryū Kenjutsu—Leaf Style Sword Technique.

Though not widely practiced among Leaf ninjas, it wasn't exactly rare either.

Even long-time Genin like Kosuke Maruboshi, and jonin like Hayama Shirakumo, had mastered it and even developed their own variations.

Haruki figured if he could learn it and grind its proficiency, he might be able to develop his own sword techniques, too.

Of course, the most important factor was that it wasn't tightly restricted.

As long as he had enough military merit, he could exchange for it without issue.

That relatively easy access was the main reason Haruki had set his sights on it.

As he walked, Haruki mentally calculated his accumulated merit over the past month—and he figured he had enough.

Once his wounds were treated, his next stop would be logistics—to redeem his points and claim Leaf Style Kenjutsu.