Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Amid blinding flashes of firelight, a series of explosions suddenly erupted behind the earthen wall.

Screams of Iwa shinobi rang out alongside the blasts.

Looking ahead, it became apparent that two Konoha jōnin were no longer with the group.

It turned out that during the standoff, those two jōnin had used Earth Style jutsu to infiltrate the Iwa outpost in secret.

Now, the chaos behind enemy lines was clearly their doing.

Moments later, the earthen barrier, erected by an Iwa jōnin, crumbled, revealing the chaotic battlefield beyond.

The two Konoha jōnin were currently being surrounded and attacked by Iwa shinobi.

Upon seeing this, Furukawa immediately issued orders:

"Squads One, Two, and Three—engage the enemy! Squad Four—find and destroy the supply depot!"

Unfortunately, Uchiha Haruki was assigned to Squad Four. The team consisted of three chūnin and Haruki, a genin.

Normally, squeezing a genin into a chūnin team would raise eyebrows—life-and-death missions weren't the place for sentiment.

But in this case, none of the other three members objected.

Why?

Simple: after a month of battling Iwa shinobi, Haruki had already proven himself—his strength was on par with most chūnin.

Since no one doubted his capability or feared he'd drag them down, they accepted him without complaint.

Even Furukawa wouldn't have made such a decision lightly if it risked their survival.

However, only Haruki understood that Furukawa's arrangement carried deeper meaning.

To the rest of the team, Haruki was just an ordinary genin who fought like a chūnin.

But Furukawa knew the truth—Haruki's real strength exceeded the chūnin level.

So assigning him to Squad Four wasn't just a deployment. Furukawa clearly intended for Haruki to be a hidden trump card, someone who could tip the scales when it mattered most.

Haruki didn't mind this arrangement at all.

In fact, compared to front-line slaughter, this infiltration and sabotage mission was much more his style.

Why? Because it was less dangerous.

Even though the surprise attack had partially failed thanks to one squad being exposed early, the enemy still hadn't been fully prepared.

The Iwa base was now under attack from all four directions, which meant their high-ranking shinobi had probably already been dispatched to defend.

As for the remaining low and mid-ranking shinobi, they posed little threat to someone like Haruki.

And why wouldn't any jōnin remain behind?

The answer was simple: ninja warfare isn't like ordinary warfare. While logistics were important, in the shinobi world, human resources mattered more.

From Iwagakure's perspective, preserving their elite fighters took precedence over protecting supplies.

They could always resupply—but trained shinobi took years to cultivate.

So, just like Konoha, Iwa was likely to deploy its top fighters to minimize losses among the ranks.

That's why Haruki said the mission wasn't that dangerous—at least, not for him.

But for his three teammates? That was another matter entirely.

Inside the Iwa Outpost.

Haruki and the three chūnin moved quickly toward the center of the village.

Nearly ten minutes had passed since they infiltrated the village. Finally, they had pinpointed the location of the enemy supply depot.

This was thanks to one of the chūnin on the team—Ichisuzu Yamanaka.

Although he wasn't a direct heir of the Yamanaka clan and hadn't learned their top-tier Mind Body Secret Techniques, he had trained in a form of mind-reading ninjutsu.

A few minutes earlier, with help from others, the squad had shaken off their pursuers and slipped into the village.

They soon found an Iwa chūnin on guard.

Catching him off-guard, they took him down swiftly.

Then Ichisuzu performed his mind-reading technique. Without much effort, he extracted the intel they needed straight from the captive's brain.

According to that intel, the supply warehouse was located beneath the center of the village.

If the intel was accurate, all they had to do now was destroy the supplies, and the mission would be complete.

After that, they could all retreat.

But first, they had to neutralize the guards stationed there.

Upon reaching the village center, Ichisuzu Yamanaka raised his right fist to signal a stop.

Then he quickly formed a few hand seals, closed his eyes, and began scanning the area.

Haruki wasn't sure what jutsu Ichisuzu was using, but he could sense a gentle pulse of spiritual energy radiating outward from him.

It had to be some sort of Yamanaka clan technique.

As Haruki was pondering this, Ichisuzu suddenly opened his eyes and snapped his gaze toward him—his expression briefly flickering with shock and scrutiny.

"What is it?" Haruki asked calmly, unaffected by the stare.

Ichisuzu quickly composed himself and replied, voice flat:

"It's nothing."

Haruki frowned slightly.

That gaze just now… he must've noticed something.

"Was it my Sharingan?"

Haruki dismissed the thought almost immediately.

No way. The Sharingan, when not activated, couldn't be detected—not even by the Yamanaka clan head, let alone a lesser-trained member.

That left only one possibility.

Haruki focused inward and felt the immense chakra flowing through him.

"He must've sensed my chakra reserves."

Before leaving base, Haruki had deliberately conserved his chakra and even used Chakra Refining Technique to replenish it, pushing his reserves past 4,500 points.

That amount far exceeded most chūnin.

And he was only eleven years old.

Given how a shinobi's chakra typically expanded with age and training, this was highly abnormal.

Especially without showing any signs of possessing a kekkei genkai like the Sharingan.

Haruki had long been aware of this issue.

That's why, both at the main base and the forward outpost, he always kept his chakra concealed and minimized contact with outsiders.

Yet now, it seemed he'd finally slipped up.

"It must've been the proximity," he thought. "I was too close to Ichisuzu when he used his sensing jutsu."

In fact, that was exactly what happened.

The jutsu Ichisuzu had cast was called "Touch of the Mind"—a sensing technique that could detect nearby lifeforms and estimate their overall strength.

And how did it measure that strength?

By gauging chakra levels.

Normally, this technique wasn't very precise—but Haruki's chakra was just too immense to overlook.

Ichisuzu had been startled, thinking perhaps a jōnin was disguised in their midst.

Once he confirmed it really was Haruki, his shock only deepened.

Still, with the mission in progress, there was no time to dwell on it.