Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

Chapter 135: Chapter 135



Splurt—

The sound of a blade piercing flesh echoed in the air.

Takayama Yōichi stared down at the short sword that had pierced straight through his heart. He opened his mouth, trying to say something, but only blood gushed out—no words followed.

Uchiha Haruki looked at him coldly, his expression emotionless. With a firm pull of his right hand, he drew the sword back out.

Yōichi staggered back two steps. His wide, unblinking eyes were filled with unwillingness, but in the end, his body collapsed, lifeless.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu."

Haruki swiftly formed hand seals, then opened his mouth and exhaled a massive fireball—nearly two meters in diameter.

The fireball engulfed Yōichi's corpse, making a hissing, crackling sound as flames consumed the flesh. Before long, the body was burnt beyond recognition.

As for burning it to ash?

That wasn't possible—Haruki's Fire Style wasn't strong enough for that.

But this much was enough.

All Haruki wanted was to prevent Iwagakure from retrieving any memory fragments about him from Yōichi's brain. He didn't care about reducing the body to dust.

As for concealing the fact that Yōichi was dead?

Haruki didn't plan on that—nor could he even if he wanted to.

Those rats hadn't all been killed. As long as Iwagakure could trace even one of them, they would discover Yōichi's death soon enough.

In that case, there was no point wasting effort to cover it up.

What concerned him more were the five unconscious ninja still inside the cave. While they didn't know what Haruki had done to them, that didn't mean Iwagakure couldn't figure it out upon inspection.

To ensure his secret didn't get out, they also had to die.

Why not keep them around and continue extracting chakra from them?

Simple.

If Iwagakure could find them once, they could find them again.

The risk far outweighed the benefit.

So Haruki wasn't going to waste time moving them elsewhere.

Standing at the collapsed cave entrance, Haruki pondered briefly, then raised his right hand. Focusing his chakra, he formed a high-density chakra sphere in his palm.

Yes—the Rasengan.

He pressed the Rasengan into the rubble. A spiraling force erupted, blasting the debris aside and creating a small tunnel.

Haruki advanced a few steps, then formed another Rasengan and repeated the process.

The only reason he had to do this multiple times was because his mastery of Rasengan was still basic. He couldn't yet channel enough chakra to blow open a full tunnel in one shot.

Several minutes later, he finally returned to the cave interior.

The three Iwa shinobi and two Cloud shinobi were still alive.

Haruki didn't waste any time. He stepped forward and used Chakra Absorption Jutsu, draining as much of their spiritual and physical energy as he could.

Before long, his chakra reserves were completely full.

But the five on the ground still hadn't been completely drained.

Haruki could only shake his head in mild regret—he didn't have the luxury of time to stay here longer, so he gave up on extracting more.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Five kunai flew from his hand, each piercing one target in the heart with surgical precision.

The bodies twitched slightly in their sleep, then fell still forever.

Haruki followed up with another Great Fireball Jutsu, burning the corpses until nothing recognizable remained.

Only then did he leave the cave.

To be safe, he didn't immediately head to his next hideout. Instead, he made a few loops around the area, watching for pursuers or any unusual presences.

Only after confirming he was in the clear did he quietly move toward his next base.

That location also held a few more Cloud and Stone ninja captives.

Based on his calculations, their bodies should have recovered enough by now for another chakra harvest.

Thinking this, Haruki quickened his pace.

In just a short time, he arrived at his destination.

He scanned the area and, seeing no threats, entered the hideout and resumed his cultivation.

Night fell.

At the final line of defense in Iwagakure, inside a small command hut, a Stone jōnin stepped forward and bowed to an elderly man.

"Elder!"

Hearing the call, the old man put down the document he was reading, glanced up at the jōnin, and smiled.

"Ah, Ishikawa. What brings you here?"

"Reporting in, Elder—Yōichi is missing."

Ishikawa's voice was serious.

"Yōichi?"

The Iwa elder was momentarily confused.

Then, as if recalling something, he nodded in realization.

"Oh, you mean Takayama Yōichi? What happened to him?"

"According to the mission timeline, he should have contacted us half an hour ago, but we've received nothing. We believe he may have been killed."

Ishikawa answered truthfully.

Hearing this, the elder's face turned solemn.

"If I recall, he was investigating both the mysterious ninja and the recent disappearances of our outer perimeter shinobi, correct?"

"Yes, Elder," Ishikawa said. "We've made no progress regarding the mysterious ninja, but based on Yōichi's last report, it seemed like he had found a lead regarding the disappearances."

"And?"

"That was the last we heard from him. After that routine contact, he went silent."

The elder fell silent, deep in thought.

"You believe he discovered something… and was silenced."

"Most likely," Ishikawa replied firmly.

"Can we confirm the location?"

"Yes. Yōichi had a blood contract with the Hidden Rat Clan. He always summoned a few hidden rats for field work. If we can track down their leader, we should be able to determine his last known location."

But upon hearing this, the elder didn't respond right away.

Only after a long pause did he speak.

"Set the Yōichi matter aside for now. Our top priority is coordinating with the main force."

"By tomorrow morning at the earliest—or at the latest, midday—the enemy will realize our main force's movements. At that time, we'll need to keep the Cloud shinobi occupied. As for Yōichi…"

He hesitated again, then continued:

"Judging from the number of disappearances, it's probably just a few small-time scavengers taking advantage of the chaos."

"As long as they keep showing up, they won't stray far from the battlefield. Once the main army arrives, they'll be like fish caught in a net."

"At that point, any random team can handle them easily."

"So for now, leave it."

Then, with a stern but measured tone, the elder concluded:

"Ishikawa, remember this:

The more critical the situation, the more important it is to distinguish priorities.

The Cloud shinobi are our main concern.

Everything else is secondary.

Understood?"

"Thank you for your guidance, Elder. I understand."

Ishikawa bowed deeply.

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