Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

The next day.

Nightfall.

In the light drizzle, a large force of Konoha shinobi moved swiftly through the darkness.

Uchiha Haruki lifted his head and scanned the area around him. Everywhere he looked, there were silhouettes—hundreds, maybe even over a thousand.

Aside from the troops left behind to guard the main base and frontline outposts, Orochimaru had mobilized nearly every available shinobi.

That alone showed how significant this mission really was.

Haruki only received the briefing around midday. Their objective: strike a key Iwagakure outpost.

Orochimaru wouldn't go to all this trouble just to hit some random base.

In fact, this outpost was Iwagakure's largest supply hub in the Land of Rain, responsible for distributing resources to two-thirds of their battlefront.

If it fell, Iwagakure wouldn't be able to mount a serious offensive for at least a month or two.

It was only now that Haruki began to understand why Orochimaru had pushed for that full-scale offensive earlier.

First, it was likely an intentional strategy—to force Iwagakure into diverting troops to the front, leaving their rear lines vulnerable. It laid the groundwork for this very strike.

It was an open ploy. Even if Iwagakure suspected something, they'd still have no choice but to reinforce the frontlines. Otherwise, Orochimaru could just launch another wave of attacks and push the battlefront right to their doorstep.

That would be an even worse scenario.

So they had to spread themselves thinner, sending more shinobi forward to hold the line.

Now, after confirming Iwagakure had taken the bait, Orochimaru began quietly recalling some of his forces—temporarily creating a local advantage in manpower.

That was the confidence behind this sudden strike.

And there was more.

Haruki's last mission during the previous offensive—destroying supply reserves—wasn't random either. It was likely meant to cripple Iwagakure's logistics even further, making them more vulnerable once this current operation began.

As for Sunagakure, Orochimaru surely had plans in place to prevent them from exploiting the situation.

"Tsk... One move after another, like clockwork," Haruki thought, admiring the layered strategy.

He quickened his pace to keep up with the main force.

According to the plan, once they reached the designated area, the army would split into three teams: two would intercept reinforcements, and the third would launch a direct assault on the target outpost.

Wait—

Wasn't the intel supposedly secure?

Then why prepare for enemy reinforcements?

Come on!

With such a large-scale movement, Iwagakure would have to be blind not to notice something was up. Even if they didn't spot them en route, once the battle broke out, word would reach their headquarters quickly.

Shinobi had countless ways of transmitting information—especially from a supply base this critical. There were bound to be emergency channels to alert command.

So reinforcements were guaranteed.

But that didn't mean Orochimaru's careful planning was pointless.

Everything he did was meant to buy time—to create a delay, so Iwagakure couldn't react instantly.

And that was enough.

From there, it would come down to brute strength—whose side could hit harder and faster.

If your side lacked the raw power, then no amount of clever scheming would save you. That's just how war worked.

As the saying goes: in the face of absolute strength, all strategy is meaningless.

Orochimaru couldn't guarantee victory. All he could do was tilt the scale ever so slightly in Konoha's favor.

Time flew by.

More than ten hours passed.

By the next morning, the sky was still dim when Haruki and the others came to a halt in a dense forest.

The route for this operation had been planned in detail, and everything so far had gone without incident.

They would rest here through the day. Once night fell again, they'd travel under cover of darkness and reach the target area by late morning the next day.

After a short break, they would launch the assault before noon.

It was a tight schedule—but necessary. Any further delay would increase the risk of exposure dramatically.

If they wanted to catch Iwagakure off guard, they had to move fast.

The following day.

Mid-morning.

Haruki and the rest of the force arrived at the designated location on time.

After a quick rest, the army split into three groups.

Haruki and Mizutani Shizuko were assigned to a 300-man unit heading for the first interception point.

The location was a narrow river valley corridor, with mountains on both sides and a long river cutting through the center. The riverbanks were relatively wide and sandy—just enough space to fight.

This corridor connected Iwagakure's central command in the Land of Rain to the target supply hub—it was the shortest and most direct route for reinforcements.

If Iwagakure planned to send support, it would almost certainly come this way.

Their task was to stall any enemy reinforcements, buying time for the assault team to strike the outpost.

Being the largest and most vital logistics base for Iwagakure in this region, it was heavily defended and staffed with elite forces.

Even with the numerical advantage, Konoha couldn't expect to overwhelm them in a short time—especially with the enemy fighting on familiar terrain.

So their interception mission would be far from easy.

It was guaranteed to be a bloody battle.

As that thought crossed his mind, Haruki turned to Mizutani Shizuko.

"Don't stray too far from me."

"Okay," she nodded, obedient and focused.

She didn't say something rash like "I don't need protection," nor did she let her emotions cloud her judgment by yelling about avenging Furukawa and Ryosuke.

That earned Haruki's quiet approval.

He had no intention of babysitting anyone—but if a comrade could be this sensible, he didn't mind offering a little extra protection.

After all, there were only two members left in Squad Seventeen.

If she died too... he really would be all alone.

Time passed, second by second.

As noon approached, Haruki glanced up and muttered under his breath, "They should've started by now."

Unfortunately, their current position was too far from the front. Even if fighting had broken out, they couldn't hear it from here.

Just then, a messenger arrived with an urgent update: everyone was to stay alert and be ready to engage at any moment.

Hidden within the trees on either side of the valley, Haruki and the rest of the Konoha shinobi crouched low, kunai in hand, breathing carefully, their eyes locked on the corridor ahead.

Waiting.

One minute...

Two minutes...

Five minutes...

Ten...

An hour passed.

Two full hours.

Still, no sign of the enemy.

Haruki could sense unease spreading among the unit—small shifts, whispers, nervous glances.

But the tension was quickly brought under control.

Another half hour slipped by.

They had now been waiting for two and a half hours.

No one could say for sure whether Iwagakure was simply slow to react... or if Orochimaru's preparations had really paid off… or maybe the enemy had taken an alternate route entirely.

Still, even if they had changed paths, someone should have spotted them. There was no way they could completely vanish.

Just as the doubt began to creep in—

A single figure came sprinting from the distance and vanished into the forest.

Moments later, a new message arrived from command:

The enemy is three kilometers away. Prepare for battle.