Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

Time passed like a fleeting shadow.

In the blink of an eye, another week had gone by.

After several days of recovery, Uchiha Haruki's chest injury had fully healed, and both Ryosuke and Shizuko Mizutani had also made full recoveries.

Haruki had already received his next orders: starting tomorrow, Team 17 would officially return to active duty.

In other words, today would be his last day of free training.

Beneath the shade of a tree, Haruki slowly opened his eyes. As he felt his chakra surge once again through his body, he nodded in satisfaction and murmured to himself, "Status panel!"

In the next second, the familiar light-blue system screen appeared before his eyes:

[Name: Uchiha Haruki]

Age: 11

Physique: 7

Spirit: 9

Chakra: 3510 (5026→5027)

Bloodline: Sharingan (Single Tomoe) - 112/1000 → 160/1000

Skills:

Chakra Refinement Technique: Lv3 (664/1000 → 762/1000)

Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu: Lv2 (11/500 → 21/500)

Fire Style: Phoenix Fire Jutsu: Lv2 (7/500 → 101/500)

Fire Style: Dragon Fire Jutsu: Lv2 (2/500 → 10/500)

Genjutsu: Shackling Stakes Technique: Lv1 (105/200 → 110/200)

Body Flicker Technique: Lv2 (234/500 → 375/500)

Shadow Clone Jutsu: Lv0 (5/100)

Leaf-Style Kenjutsu: Lv2 (1/500 → 315/500)

Insight Technique: Lv4 (6/2000 → 186/2000)

Ninja Tool Throwing: Lv3 (210/1000 → 570/1000)

Chakra Control: Lv3 (131/1000 → 150/1000)

Three Basic Techniques: Lv3 (0/0)

It was clear that over the past week, his Leaf-Style Kenjutsu had improved dramatically, from Level 2 (1/500) to Level 2 (315/500).

Haruki now felt confident that with his current swordsmanship alone, he could easily overwhelm the two Iwagakure chunin who had attacked him weeks ago.

Had his sword skill reached Level 3, he could've outright killed them even more decisively.

Unfortunately, history couldn't be rewritten—and those two had already died by his hand anyway.

Shaking his head, Haruki's gaze drifted toward his "Ninja Tool Throwing" skill.

In just over ten days, it had gained 360 proficiency points, which was extremely fast for a Level 3 skill.

The reason was simple—Haruki had been secretly using his Sharingan to assist in training.

Though he didn't want to reveal the Sharingan too soon, he wasn't about to limit himself unnecessarily. As long as the risk was manageable, he was willing to use it.

Thanks to that boost, his understanding of Ninja Tool Throwing had grown significantly. While it hadn't reached a "breakthrough," it had definitely become a more threatening tool in battle.

Strength increases like these always come bit by bit, building up steadily.

Haruki then turned his attention to the bloodline section.

He had unlocked his Sharingan two months ago, yet it had only reached 160 proficiency.

Even for someone as patient as Haruki, this progress was starting to wear on his nerves.

In order to accelerate its evolution, he had spent nearly two-thirds of his chakra during the last twelve days on practicing the Insight Technique.

Yet the evolution rate of his Sharingan barely improved.

At the current pace, Haruki estimated it would take another ten months to reach the Double Tomoe stage.

Although that was already four months faster than the original estimate of over a year, it still felt too slow.

Thankfully, his Chakra Refinement Technique was nearing its next level—currently sitting at Lv3 (762/1000).

If his next few missions weren't too demanding, and he could squeeze in eight hours of training a day, he would reach Level 4 within a month.

That would allow him to draw on even more chakra daily, which meant he could funnel even more into his Insight Technique, speeding up the Sharingan's growth.

Additionally, at Level 4, the Insight Technique required five proficiency points to raise the Sharingan by one evolution point.

Once it hit Level 5, that ratio would definitely improve.

By then, Haruki's Sharingan would be about halfway evolved, and the rate of progression would increase even more.

Doing the math, he estimated it would only take four to five more months to evolve into Double Tomoe.

Still not short—but far better than ten or fourteen months.

Thinking all this through, Haruki let out a long sigh and felt his frustration ease.

Closing the panel, he wasted no more time and resumed his training for the day.

Clang! Clang!

Land of Rain – Northeastern Region

A long dirt road stretched ahead, and over a hundred fully armed Konoha shinobi were slowly escorting several carts of supplies forward.

Haruki was among them.

His expression? Not good.

Originally, he had been hoping to receive a low-intensity assignment—something that would allow him to grind his Chakra Refinement Technique and accelerate the Sharingan's growth.

Instead, the main base had deployed them to the front lines to rotate into a key outpost.

Are you kidding me?

This was the front lines!

The danger level here was on par with infiltration missions.

Being this far from the main base meant there would be no immediate reinforcements. If something went wrong, they'd be on their own.

If the danger was manageable, they could rely on their strength. But if it was beyond their limits, they'd be utterly wiped out—no questions asked.

The risk was obvious.

For a moment, Haruki even considered deserting.

But knowing his current strength, he gave up on that dangerous thought.

After all—"It's safest under a big tree."

Until he reached Kage-level strength, flying solo was not an option.

The ninja world's threats were not just on the surface. If he got ambushed outside the system, no one would even know he died.

So—better to play it safe.

Now, all Haruki hoped was that the outpost they were being assigned to wasn't a critical one.

That way, he could lay low for a month and survive the rotation period.

Of course, if the situation turned too dangerous, he wouldn't hesitate to abandon the post and escape.

Haruki had no intention of dying for Konoha.

Time passed quickly.

Three days later—

The ambush Haruki had feared never came, and the convoy reached its destination safely.

It was a small town, devastated by war. Crumbling buildings, shattered walls, and roads full of potholes—signs of Earth Release techniques were everywhere.

As for civilians—

Aside from the Konoha ninja who had arrived to meet them, no one was left.

Most of the town's original residents had either fled early in the war or had been caught in the crossfire and killed.

Walking through the desolate streets, Haruki could clearly smell the stench of decay rising from the ruins.

As the saying goes—"When gods wage war, mortals suffer most."

The countless corpses buried within those collapsed houses were victims of collateral damage, their lives lost to battles between ninja.

The Shinobi World War never only affected shinobi—it always dragged in millions of ordinary people as well.