Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

"Good. Let's go with that."

With a clear decision made, Uchiha Haruki began handling the captives he had on hand.

Of course, he didn't kill them immediately.

That would've been a waste—a big one.

Haruki wasn't the type to squander resources like that.

Before ending their lives, he planned to extract every last drop of their mental and physical energy, squeezing out their final bit of value.

This extraction process alone took more than two hours.

Not because the captives were far apart, but because Haruki's body could only hold a limited amount of chakra, and he couldn't absorb it all at once.

To avoid waste, Haruki had to pause mid-process, using Mind Reflection Jutsu to spend excess chakra and make space before continuing.

That delay alone cost him the extra hours.

By this point, the Cloud Shinobi had already retreated.

Just as Haruki had predicted, the Cloud troops didn't initially leave the Third Raikage behind to cover the retreat.

Instead, a small squad was left to delay the Stone ninja on the final line of defense, while the rest withdrew rapidly under the Third Raikage's lead.

By the time Haruki arrived on the battlefield, the fight was already winding down. The rearguard Cloud shinobi were all dead or dying, and the remaining Stone ninja numbered only a handful.

Haruki glanced northwest—the majority of them had gone to chase the retreating Cloud forces.

But he didn't hurry to catch up.

He already had shadow clones tailing that group. When it was time to move, they'd alert him.

What did catch Haruki's attention were the Stone shinobi wounded being moved to the rear. To him, that looked like an opportunity.

If he could infiltrate the Iwagakure medical unit, then these injured shinobi would become ready-made chakra batteries.

Not only that—he might even use the chance to grind his Healing Jutsu proficiency, laying the groundwork for learning more advanced medical ninjutsu later.

A perfect two-for-one deal. How could Haruki resist?

After weighing the risks, he decided to go for it.

With that in mind, Haruki concealed himself and moved quietly toward the rear of the battlefield, heading for the cluster of tents where Iwagakure's medics were stationed.

Perhaps because of their victory at the front lines, the Stone's rear guard had relaxed. Haruki only needed minimal effort to slip through their defenses.

Following a medic into a tent, Haruki suddenly spoke up:

"Hey."

Moriki Ishi—the medic—was startled by the sudden voice. He spun around and leapt back, pulling out a kunai while keeping his eyes on Haruki.

But what greeted him was a pair of crimson, blood-red eyes.

In the next second, he fell into a genjutsu.

Even as his consciousness slipped, Moriki Ishi struggled to speak:

"Sha…ringan…"

"Heh… The Sharingan really is famous, huh?"

Haruki couldn't help chuckling at those last words. He didn't know if he was being sarcastic or just amused.

But thinking about another timeline…

A decade from now, the Uchiha clan would be massacred. How many in the next generation of shinobi would even remember the legend of the Sharingan?

And how much deterrent power had the Leaf Village lost because of that?

Shaking his head, Haruki pushed the thought aside and focused on the task at hand.

He began guiding Moriki Ishi to recall basic information—his name, his mission, the layout of the medical camp, and so on.

With that, Haruki quickly formed a comprehensive understanding of this makeshift Iwagakure camp. Now, he could walk around without fear of being exposed.

Without delay, Haruki knocked the medic unconscious again and drained him of chakra. Then, using Transformation Jutsu, he took on Moriki Ishi's appearance.

Just as he was about to leave the tent, Haruki paused.

He walked back to the unconscious medic, raised his hand like a blade, and chopped down on the man's throat.

Crack—!

The crisp sound of bones snapping filled the air.

Moriki Ishi gasped violently, his face turning red from suffocation. After a few seconds of convulsions, he actually regained consciousness.

Only to be met by another hypnosis spell.

His eyes shut involuntarily, and he slipped into a final, eternal slumber.

Gazing at the corpse, Haruki raised his hand again. In his palm, a high-density chakra sphere began to form.

Yes—Rasengan.

Haruki pressed the Rasengan against the ground. The chakra ball sliced into the earth like a hot knife through butter, carving out a deep, silent hole.

He dropped the corpse inside and buried it, covering the area with dirt and rocks.

It was a very amateur attempt at corpse disposal, but he hadn't studied any proper techniques—this would have to do.

Still, it was better than just leaving a body lying around, wasn't it?

Muttering to himself, Haruki stepped out of the tent.

Using Moriki Ishi's memories, he quickly located the wounded soldiers' tent. Avoiding shinobi familiar with the real medic, he made his way straight to a tent.

The moment he entered, he was hit by the strong stench of blood.

Looking up, he saw several Iwagakure chunin lying on makeshift beds, letting out occasional groans of pain.

All around their bodies, their bandages were soaked with blood—they were clearly badly injured.

"Doctor!"

Upon seeing Haruki enter, the wounded Stone shinobi perked up in excitement.

Unlike the Leaf, Iwagakure didn't have many medical ninja.

Most were kept in the village. Those who did come to the front lines typically stayed close to the main force. Very few remained behind to care for the severely wounded.

These injured soldiers had worried they might not get treated in time—and now, a medic had arrived.

Of course they were excited.

But Haruki, seeing their hopeful faces, coldly replied,

"Don't move. I'll treat you one at a time."

Without waiting for a response, he walked toward the nearest injured ninja.

"Thank you…"

The wounded chunin gritted his teeth through the pain, expressing his gratitude.

Haruki gave a small nod and carefully inquired about the man's injuries. Then, he unwrapped the bandages on the man's side to reveal a wound nearly an inch deep.

Confirming that it was just an external injury, Haruki quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

After all, at his current skill level, he could only treat surface wounds.

Thankfully, the Cloud shinobi weren't known for using poison—otherwise this would've been much more complicated.

After a quick cleaning of the wound, Haruki began casting Healing Jutsu, stimulating rapid cell regeneration around the injury.

A few minutes later, he withdrew his hand and said,

"You're good."

The wounded ninja looked down. The gash had completely closed, though the skin around it looked a little off.

There was still a slight sting of pain.

Before he could speak, Haruki added,

"The wound is only partially healed. You'll need to rest for a few days and avoid any intense movement."

"Thank you! Really—thank you!"

The Stone shinobi thanked him repeatedly.

Haruki responded with a simple "Mm," and turned to head toward the next patient.

But just then, his steps faltered.

He turned his head slightly and stared at the wounded ninja on the bed.

It looked like he had something to say…

…but despite opening his mouth several times, no words came out.