Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

That said, Sazekaze was a jōnin after all. He quickly regained his composure. When he looked at Uchiha Haruki again, though his gaze was still cautious, the fear he'd shown earlier had faded.

Maybe he'd figured it out—Haruki's earlier strike was likely just a lucky hit. Otherwise, why would he be standing around posturing instead of finishing the job?

Seeing that the bluff didn't work, Haruki didn't get frustrated.

In fact, this was fine.

He had been wanting to test his current strength anyway.

He remembered clearly—back when he faced Iwagakure's jōnin, Obara Shūji, the man hadn't even used his full strength, yet Haruki had been completely overwhelmed.

But that was months ago.

Now, Haruki's one-tomoe Sharingan had evolved into two tomoe, with his overall strength growing tremendously.

His Fire Style: Phoenix Fire Jutsu had advanced from Level 3 to Level 4, gaining improvements in both form and nature transformation, making it more flexible and more powerful.

His genjutsu, Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes, had gone from early Level 2 to nearly Level 4, greatly enhancing both casting speed and power.

His primary combat technique, Konoha-Style Kenjutsu, had jumped from Level 3 all the way to the perfected Level 5.

As for his Body Flicker Technique and Ninja Tool Throwing—

The former had also reached Level 4 Perfection, while the latter hit Level 5 Perfection, both with significant upgrades.

And beyond improving existing skills, Haruki had also learned a new sword style more suited to the Sharingan: Uchiha-Style Kenjutsu—which he also pushed to Level 5 Perfection.

Not only that, he combined it with Konoha-Style Kenjutsu to create a new, deeper hybrid sword style more in tune with his own combat instincts.

In genjutsu, aside from Shackling Stakes, he'd also mastered Genjutsu: Sharingan, reaching Level 3 with excellent results.

All things considered, his close-quarters combat, long-range offense, and overall skill set had improved dramatically.

Which was why Haruki couldn't help wondering—could he beat Obara Shūji now?

He hadn't forgotten—Mizutani Shizuko had died saving him from that very man.

Of course, charging at him directly now would be reckless.

But the Sand ninja in front of him—weaker than Obara but stronger than most special jōnin—was a perfect test subject.

When Sazekaze saw the burning battle lust in Haruki's eyes, he felt... insulted.

He was a jōnin, and this little chūnin dared to challenge him?

Just because he was from the Uchiha clan?

"Tch, just a two-tomoe Sharingan," Sazekaze scoffed inwardly.

With that, he unleashed his full killing intent.

A crushing wave of pressure surged forth.

Haruki's breath hitched—but only for a moment. He recovered quickly.

A weaker ninja with shaky willpower might've been paralyzed by despair under this kind of pressure, exposing fatal openings.

But Haruki wasn't like that.

His ambitions went far beyond anything native to this world.

A little taste of death? Nowhere near enough to shake his mind.

So the scene was downright strange:

Sazekaze stood firm, exuding murderous intensity, while Haruki remained calm and unshaken, watching him with curiosity and amusement.

Seconds ticked by in silence.

Finally, Sazekaze couldn't hold it in anymore. He opened his mouth.

"You—"

But before he could finish the word, Haruki moved.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Three shuriken shot out.

Sazekaze instantly stopped mid-sentence. He channeled Wind Release chakra into his fan and swung it sharply.

A gust of wind surged forth, blowing the shuriken back.

This wasn't a jutsu—just pure Wind Release chakra manipulation.

Similar to how Sarutobi Asuma infused his chakra blades with Wind chakra to enhance cutting power.

As long as you'd mastered Wind chakra's form and nature transformations, this kind of application was entirely feasible.

The same went for Fire Release.

And Haruki had done exactly that.

In a blur, he dodged the wind burst.

Then, focusing his chakra, he directed a surge of superheated Fire Release chakra through his palm and into his short sword.

The result—

The formerly silver blade, looted from Iwagakure special jōnin Baishi Sōtō, turned a dark crimson, the surface flickering with tiny licks of flame.

Haruki could feel the intense heat radiating from the blade, and his heart soared.

He'd finally realized one of his earliest ideas: a dual-attribute weapon—physical and elemental.

If that blade connected?

The enemy wouldn't just be cut—they'd be burned, too.

Double the damage. Double the pain.

Haruki was eager to test it.

Without hesitation, he kicked off the ground, launching himself like an arrow straight at Sazekaze's right flank.

In a blink, he was already swinging the flaming short sword at Sazekaze's neck.

Feeling the searing heat from the blade, Sazekaze dared not be careless.

He raised his massive fan to block—

But suddenly, a wave of drowsiness washed over him.

His eyelids grew heavy. He felt himself drifting.

"Crap!"

In a flash of panic, he bit his tongue, the sharp pain and flowing blood snapping him back to alertness.

To his credit, jōnin had far stronger mental resistance than lower-ranked shinobi.

Even with Haruki using his Sharingan at full power, he couldn't fully hypnotize him.

Maybe the imminent threat of death helped snap Sazekaze out of it faster.

Regardless, before Haruki's blade could strike, Sazekaze had already recovered.

He didn't try to block anymore. Instead, he leaned back sharply, dodging the blade by a hair's breadth.

Haruki didn't miss a beat.

His wrist flicked, and the horizontal slash instantly shifted to a downward diagonal cut, aiming for Sazekaze's chest.

A moment later, the blade sliced through the man's torso—

And left behind a pile of smoldering sand.

That's right—sand.

Sazekaze had activated a jutsu at the last moment: Sand Substitution.

The attack had missed.

Haruki had seen the subtle shift, but Sazekaze was clearly experienced in fighting Sharingan users.

He had dodged Haruki's line of sight at just the right moment, denying him a chance to counter.

"Wind Style: Great Sickle Weasel Jutsu!"

Just as Haruki pulled his blade back, Sazekaze, now safely out of range, launched a counterattack.

And this time, he didn't hold back.

This was full-power Wind Release.

In their earlier exchanges, Haruki had dared to push through the windstorms, charging head-on.

But now?

Not a chance.

This storm was on a whole different level.

Last time, the trees only lost some leaves and a few branches.

This time?

Entire trees were ripped from the ground, shredded into pieces by razor-sharp vacuum blades midair.

Even the forest floor was torn up.

There was no way anyone could "push through" something like that.

Getting close would mean getting torn to pieces.

Without hesitation, Haruki activated Body Flicker and vanished, speeding off to the side, beyond the storm's reach.

And he wasn't the only one.

The three Sand shinobi and the three Leaf shinobi nearby—upon seeing the terrifying jutsu—also scrambled to retreat farther out.

None of them dared linger.

For a moment, the entire battlefield was empty, save for the raging, howling wind.

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