Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

Mizutani Shizuko wasn't stupid.

The moment she heard Captain Haruki Mori instruct them to move out to Sector E3, she immediately realized something had gone wrong. Her voice held a hint of worry as she asked,

"Haruki?"

Haruki turned to her and gave a reassuring look.

"Let's go," he said.

After quickly checking his gear, he sprinted toward the E3 zone.

Shizuko didn't hesitate and hurried to catch up.

Alongside them, several other Konoha chunin who had just received the same order also moved out.

Sector E3 was a narrow mountain trail—one of the alternate routes connecting the Iwagakure headquarters to their rear supply base.

It wasn't far from the valley corridor—less than a kilometer in a straight line.

Haruki and the others took a direct path through the mountainside. It only took them a few minutes to arrive.

By the time they reached the area, over fifty Konoha shinobi had already assembled there.

Most of them were chunin and jonin, with only a few genin scattered among them. As for shinobi as young as Haruki and Shizuko—there were barely any.

So when they appeared, they naturally drew a few curious glances.

Haruki had long since gotten used to such looks.

The more battles he fought in—and survived—the more stares like that he received.

At first, it had been awkward. But now, after so many brushes with death, it barely fazed him.

Ignoring the attention, he led Shizuko to an open patch of ground, sat down, and closed his eyes.

Seeing that, the others lost interest and returned to their own recovery.

Time passed.

Since the jonin in charge hadn't spoken, no one else made a sound.

Everyone quietly took the opportunity to rest and restore stamina lost in the last battle.

And as minutes ticked by, more and more shinobi gathered at the location.

Five minutes later.

The number of people in the clearing passed one hundred.

Haruki opened his eyes and looked around.

Many of the newly arrived ninja were clearly injured—some quite severely.

His brow furrowed.

Something didn't feel right.

The situation was worse than he had anticipated.

If not, the higher-ups wouldn't have called in so many wounded fighters to bolster the front.

"Are we really running out of troops?" Haruki wondered.

They'd started the operation with 300 shinobi.

In the earlier battle at the valley corridor, they had the numerical advantage, so their losses were lower than Iwagakure's.

But even then, dozens had still died.

And since that fight wasn't over yet, a significant portion of the force had to remain behind to hold the line.

That meant—at most—maybe a hundred could be spared to reinforce E3.

Yet already, there were more than a hundred gathered here.

That could only mean one thing:

Konoha had committed all remaining forces they could afford to move.

Clearly, the enemy wasn't ordinary.

"Tch. I just hope the assault on the supply base finishes soon. Otherwise…"

Haruki didn't finish the thought.

Instead, he turned his gaze toward the squad leader of Second Company.

Others followed suit, all eyes falling on the man as he stood and clapped his hands to gather attention.

When the clearing had gone silent, the man spoke clearly:

"All right. That's enough time.

I'm sure many of you have already guessed—

Yes, very soon, a team of Iwagakure reinforcements will pass through here.

Our job is simple: stop them.

Delay them for as long as possible—

Give Third Company the time they need to eliminate the supply base."

He paused, then continued:

"I'll now divide everyone into six squads.

Each squad will be assigned to a defensive sector.

Our goal: prevent the enemy reinforcements from breaking through."

Without waiting for questions, he immediately began assigning groups.

Haruki and Shizuko were placed in Squad Four, which was responsible for the central sector—meaning they likely wouldn't be the first to engage.

But they weren't going to be ignored either.

The defensive sectors were positioned close together to prevent the enemy from picking them off one by one.

It was a linked chain—if one team engaged, the rest would be drawn in quickly.

This tactic wasn't meant for concentrated offense.

The commander's aim was simple—draw out the battle line and stall the enemy's advance.

Once teams were formed, everyone moved to their assigned positions.

Haruki took cover in the dense forest and felt a heaviness settle over him.

The setup, the urgency, the number of troops—all signs pointed to one conclusion:

The enemy was no joke.

Otherwise, the captain wouldn't have opted for this delay strategy.

And that thought made him uneasy.

Ten minutes slipped by.

By now, it had been about 45 minutes since the interception plan began.

And from the moment the mission was first initiated—over three hours had already passed.

According to their initial orders, if the plan couldn't be completed within four hours, it would be aborted, and all units were to withdraw immediately.

That meant:

If they could hold out a little longer, they'd be able to retreat safely.

If possible, Haruki wished the enemy would come as late as possible.

Or better yet—not come at all.

But deep down, he knew that was impossible.

If the jonin commander had been urgent enough to pull them mid-battle, he must've had solid intel.

Otherwise, there was no reason to give up the opportunity to completely wipe out the Iwagakure troops at the valley corridor.

Shifting units mid-operation would only allow more Iwa shinobi to survive—while increasing their own casualties.

That kind of move was only made when absolutely necessary.

Which meant—

Something serious was coming.

So serious that someone had to be sacrificed.

That's why Haruki couldn't shake his unease.

While his mind wandered, a disturbance rippled through the forest ahead.

Before Haruki could even react, a massive current of yellow sand surged toward them.

The ground warped and changed in its wake, swallowing up trees and flattening terrain.

The sand swept forward like a raging river, crashing through the forest.

Haruki jumped, vaulting up a tree and looking ahead.

A wide strip of the forest had been flattened—completely cleared out by the sand.

Any Konoha ninja hiding within were instantly exposed.

At the source of the attack stood a massive young Iwagakure shinobi.

He wore a red shinobi cap, had a prominent nose, and a face full of bristly stubble.

Haruki recognized him at once.

It was Kurotsuchi's uncle—Yellow Earth, the son of the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki.

A famous figure in the shinobi world—his portrait was well-known.

Haruki had no trouble identifying him.

At this point in time, Yellow Earth wasn't quite at his wartime peak, but as someone over twenty years old, he had clearly reached the level of an elite jonin.

That much was obvious from the scale of his technique just now.

A simple Earth Style: Earth Flow River had been transformed into a terrain-changing weapon under his control.

Behind him stood a unit of Iwagakure ninja—less than a hundred in number, but each and every one of them was at least chunin-level.

This was a squad of Iwagakure elites.

Seeing them, Haruki's heart sank.

No words were needed—

The battle ahead was going to be brutal.