Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

The next day, in the morning.

At the final defensive line of Iwagakure, the Third Raikage surged forward alone once again, his body wreathed in lightning, barehanded, as he led the charge head-on.

Standing in his way were five elite Iwa jōnin—all true veterans.

Yet even so, none of them dared to face him head-on. Instead, they coordinated carefully, using ninjutsu and refined combat techniques to contain him from all sides.

The entire fight was dangerously intense. A single misstep, and if the Third Raikage found an opening, it could easily end in critical injury—or death.

The tension was immense. Especially since, just this morning, these five had received a classified order: no matter what, they had to stall the Third Raikage. He must not be allowed to leave the battlefield.

That only heightened their nerves.

The Third Raikage swept his sharp gaze over them. He instinctively sensed something was off—but couldn't quite put his finger on it.

After all, these were no ordinary shinobi. All five were handpicked Iwa jōnin. Despite their inner unease, their faces betrayed nothing. Even their movements during battle revealed no clues.

Time ticked on.

Still, the Third Raikage sensed no obvious anomalies.

At last, he decided to stop overthinking it. His instincts flared—he'd simply use brute strength to break through whatever doubts lingered in his heart.

But then—

"Lord Raikage! Urgent intel—return to headquarters immediately!"

A sudden voice rang out in his mind. The Third Raikage recognized the voice instantly.

It belonged to one of his subordinates—someone who had mastered a special telepathic jutsu, capable of transmitting messages directly to targets within a certain range.

"Urgent intel?"

There was no time to dwell on it. The Raikage immediately prepared to disengage and retreat, intending to rush back to find out what had gone wrong.

He trusted his men.

If they were willing to interrupt his offensive rhythm, then whatever had happened was without a doubt critical—something that only he could handle.

Without hesitation, the Raikage launched a flurry of strikes to push back the five Iwa jōnin and leapt into the air, intending to break out of the encirclement and retreat.

But to his surprise—those five shinobi, upon realizing he was trying to withdraw, risked everything to block his path, even at the cost of being gravely injured.

In that instant, the Third Raikage finally understood what had been bothering him all along.

Compared to the Iwa-nin he had fought over the past few days, these five had been oddly conservative in their fighting style. But the moment he tried to leave, they became aggressively bold, even to the point of recklessness.

The contrast was clear. Their earlier restraint had been deliberate, and now, with him trying to pull back, their facade was crumbling.

Up until now, they only latched on like leeches whenever he eased up his attacks. But the moment he increased pressure, they would retreat into their shells again.

He hadn't noticed before, too focused on his offense. His gut had told him something was wrong, but he couldn't place it—until now.

They were never meant to fight him head-on.

They were ordered to delay him—at all costs.

"Something's definitely gone wrong in the rear lines."

The more he thought about it, the more convinced he became.

There was only one reason these shinobi would risk everything to hold him here: something had happened that Iwagakure desperately didn't want him to know.

"Then I definitely can't stay."

With that thought, the Third Raikage shouted:

"Out of my way!"

Before the words even fully left his lips, he entered the most powerful state of his Lightning Release Chakra Mode.

Crackling lightning burst from his skin, wrapping him in a thick, solid coat of living electricity.

This was the strongest Lightning Armor—his ultimate state.

At this level, ordinary weapons and ninjutsu couldn't even scratch him. Not even Wind Release techniques—typically strong against lightning—could harm him now.

BOOM!

The Third Raikage vanished in a flash of speed.

A second later, two of the Iwa jōnin were flung into the air before they even realized what happened. They were dead before they hit the ground.

The remaining three froze in place, visibly shaken.

Their orders were to stall him—but that had assumed they stood a chance. What could they possibly do against someone this overwhelming?

They didn't sign up for suicide.

"Hmph."

The Third Raikage snorted and didn't even look back as he left the battlefield.

Far away, an Uchiha with three tomoe in his Sharingan eyes—Haruki's shadow clone—watched him leave, eyes narrowed in silence.

Then, with a flick of his fingers, he dispelled the Shadow Clone Jutsu.

POOF!

A puff of chakra smoke swirled and vanished, leaving no trace of the clone.

Meanwhile—

In a secluded mountain cave, Uchiha Haruki abruptly opened his eyes during his training session.

Then he immediately closed them again—his mind diving into the influx of memories passed on by the clone.

Moments later, he reopened his eyes and muttered:

"Looks like this battle's about to end."

With a god's-eye view of the situation, he quickly pieced together what had happened based on the Raikage's sudden retreat.

If he was right, the Cloud Village had uncovered Iwagakure's plot, and had informed the Raikage, prompting his rapid return.

Now that they knew a massive ambush was incoming, the Cloud forces had two options:

Option one:

Burn the ships and launch an all-out attack, trying to breach Iwagakure's final defense before the encirclement could close in. If they succeeded, they'd take control of the battlefield.

But there was a huge risk:

If they failed to break through in time, they'd be trapped between Iwagakure's main army and the village itself, completely surrounded.

Even with the Raikage's strength, the Third Tsuchikage—Ōnoki—was no pushover. His Dust Release was nothing like standard jutsu, and Lightning Armor wouldn't save the Raikage from that.

Combine that with the final defense line, and it was nearly impossible to break into Iwagakure in time.

So—option two was the only real choice.

Retreat.

Break out through any remaining gaps before the encirclement closed completely.

But even retreating wouldn't be easy.

The Iwa shinobi wouldn't let them go quietly. Blood would be shed either way.

"Now the question is—can I profit from all this?"

Haruki smiled faintly.

With both sides about to go all-in against each other, their attention would be entirely focused on the war. That meant more freedom for him.

And he had no doubt the coming chaos would be pure madness.

At first, the Cloud Village wouldn't let the Raikage stay behind to cover their escape. They'd all try to retreat together—probably even sacrificing some shinobi to buy time.

Only once everything fell apart would the Raikage likely stay behind as a rear guard, stalling Iwagakure's forces so the rest could flee.

Even then, the retreating Cloud ninja would still be pursued—because no matter how strong the Raikage was, he was still only one man. He couldn't hold off ten thousand Iwa soldiers alone.

This escape was bound to be chaotic.

And chaos meant opportunity.

Haruki could move freely, taking advantage of the situation to harvest chakra and accelerate his own growth.