Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

Ten-odd minutes later—

Somewhere in the forest.

Sazekaze's sharp shout echoed through the woods.

"Wind Style: Great Sickle Weasel Jutsu!"

A violent windstorm erupted. The surrounding trees were ripped from the ground, while countless vacuum blades scattered in all directions, carving deep furrows—each a foot or more deep—into the forest floor.

And amidst the raging tempest, a lone figure flashed around at high speed, evading the deadly wind blades attacking from every direction.

It was none other than Uchiha Haruki.

Moments earlier, he'd grown overconfident and rushed in too aggressively, only to fall right into Sazekaze's trap. Now, caught inside the jutsu, all he could do was look for an opening to escape.

But just as he started making progress—

Sazekaze's familiar voice rang out again:

"Took me long enough to trap you. You think I'd let you walk out so easily? Fire Style: Blazing Inferno Jutsu—burn!"

"What?! A Fire Release?!"

Haruki's expression shifted dramatically. Without wasting a second, he activated his Sharingan to its fullest and sprinted toward the edge of the storm.

But no matter how fast he was, he couldn't outrun the flames.

As the saying goes: Fire borrows the power of wind, and wind fuels the strength of fire.

Combining Wind Style: Great Sickle Weasel Jutsu with Fire Style: Blazing Inferno Jutsu unleashed a force far stronger than either could alone.

Clearly, this was Sazekaze's ultimate move, his trump card.

And the moment he used it, it showed results.

"No—!"

From within the storm, Haruki let out an anguished roar before being completely swallowed by the flames.

Whoosh—whoosh—

Outside the jutsu's range, Sazekaze leaned on his three-star fan, gasping for breath, eyes locked on the inferno he'd just created.

He muttered, "Did I get him…?"

"Get me? Heh…"

Before he could relax, a cold sneer echoed by his ear, followed immediately by the sound of a blade slicing through the air.

A terrifying sense of danger surged through him. On reflex, Sazekaze dodged to the right.

Squelch—!

The sound of a blade sinking into flesh rang out.

Haruki's short sword had pierced straight through Sazekaze's left arm.

Without hesitation, Haruki channeled Fire Release chakra into the blade and flicked upward—severing half the arm clean off.

The scent of scorched flesh spread through the air, and Haruki couldn't help but wrinkle his nose in disgust.

Sazekaze, meanwhile, was clutching his severed arm, staggering backward through the pain. Only after retreating three or four meters did he manage to stop.

Glaring at Haruki, he gritted his teeth and growled, "That just now… was it a shadow clone? When did you switch?"

Clearly, he wanted to know when Haruki had replaced his real body with a clone.

But Haruki had no interest in wasting words.

He vanished in a blur and reappeared right in front of him.

Now missing half an arm, Sazekaze's combat ability had taken a huge hit.

He couldn't form hand seals anymore. All he had left were some basic taijutsu and shallow bursts of Wind Release using his fan.

Unfortunately, none of that worked against Haruki.

In under two minutes, Haruki found an opening and, for the first time, used his Genjutsu: Sharingan technique—successfully catching Sazekaze in an illusion.

What followed was easy.

Haruki knocked him out cold, then used Chakra Drain Technique to siphon every last drop of chakra from his body.

Afterward, he even used Healing Jutsu to tend to the severed arm.

Although the wound had already been cauterized by high heat and wasn't bleeding, Haruki still spent chakra to stabilize Sazekaze's condition, just to ensure he didn't die.

Once everything was done, Haruki formed hand seals and cast Shadow Clone Jutsu, creating a new clone.

He had really gone all in today. Using clone after clone, chakra drain, healing—it had cost him a lot.

But it was absolutely worth it.

As long as Sazekaze was safely delivered back to the underground cavern, just one chakra extraction would be enough to recover today's losses.

From what Haruki could tell using his Sharingan, Sazekaze had at least over 8,000 chakra points at full power. With a 60% conversion rate, that was nearly 5,000 points in one go.

The sheer amount made Haruki's heart skip a beat.

Suppressing his excitement, he told the clone, "You go now—get him back there quickly."

"Got it," the clone nodded. Without another word, it hoisted the unconscious Sazekaze over its shoulder and left the area.

Haruki, meanwhile, began cleaning up the battlefield.

He erased any traces that could arouse suspicion, ensuring no one would know Sazekaze had been captured.

Once that was finished, Haruki didn't linger. He rushed back toward the earlier battle site.

If possible, he wanted to capture more Sand ninjas.

After all, the more "chakra batteries," the better.

And that puppet master—if he could catch him too, that would be the cherry on top.

Thinking this, Haruki quickened his pace.

However, when he arrived at the battlefield, the only thing left…

was a single Leaf ninja corpse.

Other than that, everyone was gone.

Haruki took one glance and recognized the body—it was the subordinate who had deliberately destroyed his hearing system earlier.

Clearly, he hadn't survived in the end.

As Haruki was inspecting the body, a faint sound suddenly came from the trees nearby.

He sprang up and shouted, "Who's there?!"

"Captain—it's me!"

A weak voice called out.

Moments later, the bushes rustled, and a pale-faced Kamijo Yōichi stumbled out.

He was clutching his lower abdomen, with blood seeping through his fingers—clearly badly injured.

Haruki's Sharingan widened as he examined the man carefully, ensuring he wasn't an enemy in disguise.

Once he confirmed it was really Kamijo, he stepped forward.

"You alright? Where are the enemies?"

"Cough, cough…"

Kamijo coughed a few times, then replied weakly, "A few minutes ago, they suddenly retreated. I don't know why."

"Retreated…"

Haruki fell into thought. Then asked, "Do you know which direction?"

Kamijo pointed to the northwest.

"E12 sector?" Haruki frowned.

"Yeah," Kamijo nodded. "That's likely."

Haruki went silent again.

Then Kamijo asked, "By the way, Captain—what about Sazekaze?"

"Ugh, don't mention it. He escaped," Haruki replied in frustration.

Kamijo didn't question it.

He didn't think Haruki could actually kill a jōnin, or even drive one off.

In fact, managing to force one to flee was already far beyond his expectations.

Anything more was unimaginable.

On the other side, Haruki said nothing more—but quietly observed Kamijo's expression.

If the man had shown even the slightest suspicion, Haruki might've been forced to eliminate him.

He wasn't the type to kill needlessly, but if someone threatened his core secrets, he wouldn't hesitate.

Luckily, Kamijo's reaction was completely normal.

Haruki glanced at the wound on his abdomen—non-fatal for now—so he didn't waste chakra healing him.

Instead, he said, "Stay here and report what happened. I'm heading to the E12 sector."

"Yes, Captain!" Kamijo replied firmly.

"Good. Be careful," Haruki added, then dashed off in the direction the Sand shinobi had fled, quickly disappearing into the dense forest.

After he left, Kamijo raised his bloodied hands, performed a summoning jutsu, and once again called forth that parrot—beginning to transmit the report.