Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

Two hours later.

After once again dispelling his Shadow Clone Jutsu and completing a new round of training, the chakra Haruki had drained from Iwagakure ninja was finally depleted.

The surrounding area remained quiet, just as Haruki had anticipated—two hours wasn't nearly enough time for Iwagakure to completely surround this place.

"Phew—"

Letting out a long breath, Uchiha Haruki walked over to the last two Iwa chunin and formed hand seals. With both palms pressed down, he activated Chakra Absorption Technique.

In just a few breaths, his chakra was fully restored to its peak. In contrast, the two Iwa ninja on the ground—drained of both mental and physical energy—were now completely lifeless.

Even though much of his intel had likely already leaked out, Haruki still didn't want Iwagakure to figure out exactly why he had targeted these individuals.

So, as always, before leaving, he performed Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu, incinerating the corpses.

That way, Iwagakure wouldn't be able to analyze the bodies and deduce what he had done.

After tidying up the battlefield and erasing all traces of his presence, Haruki departed quickly, heading southeast.

His next task was to cross half of the Land of Earth, then follow the southwestern border into the Land of Rain, and finally return to Konoha's area of control.

Yes—Haruki was planning to return.

Although there had been no word yet from the battlefield where the Third Raikage was fighting, Haruki estimated that the Raikage wouldn't be able to hold out for much longer. By tonight at the latest, he would be dead.

Rather than waiting for confirmation before making his move, it was smarter to leave now, and perhaps evade some of Iwagakure's attention in the process.

What Haruki didn't know, however, was that not long after he left, a four-man squad from Iwagakure had arrived at the site.

Unlike ordinary troops, these four were clad in black cloaks and masks—clearly a squad of Iwa ANBU.

The four looked down at the charred corpses in silence, but a chilling aura suddenly spread through them.

"Rei-on!"

The squad leader spoke.

Without needing further instruction, the ANBU ninja codenamed Rei-on nodded, "Understood, Captain."

She swiftly performed a series of hand seals, then slightly parted her lips.

An invisible sonic wave rippled outward from her position, spreading quickly in all directions.

Rei-on closed her eyes and tilted her head slightly, listening closely to the way the sound changed across the terrain.

After a moment, she opened her eyes and shook her head.

"Captain, the target has already left the area."

"Kuro."

The ANBU captain turned toward another masked teammate.

Codenamed Kuro, this ninja didn't speak, instead kneeling and beginning a detailed inspection of the ground.

Though Haruki had been careful to cover his tracks, the meticulous search from the experienced tracker soon bore results.

Kuro led the team to a spot within the stone forest, pointing to a faint footprint.

"Captain, this was left by our target."

"I see."

The ANBU captain studied the footprint and then glanced in the direction the toes pointed.

"So he went this way?"

"Yes," Kuro confirmed.

"Good!"

The captain nodded and snapped, "Let's move."

With that, he vanished with Body Flicker Technique.

The other three followed immediately.

Meanwhile…

Walking through the forest, Haruki suddenly felt uneasy.

He halted and carefully extended his senses outward.

Nothing.

"Was it just my imagination?"

He wanted to believe that—but quickly dismissed the thought.

Haruki trusted his instincts. Something dangerous was definitely approaching.

After thinking it over, he decided not to continue on his original path. Instead, he changed course, taking a longer detour toward his destination.

Sure enough, after walking for a while, that uneasy feeling disappeared.

Haruki let out a soft breath of relief.

But the moment was short-lived—only an hour later, the same sense of danger returned.

If it had happened once, it might have been a coincidence.

But twice? The exact same sensation?

No way it was just a hunch this time.

Haruki didn't hesitate—he immediately changed direction again, and carefully erased all traces of his movement.

This time, the uneasy feeling vanished for an even longer period.

But eventually... it came back.

At this point, Haruki was almost certain someone was tailing him—and they were very close. Otherwise, he wouldn't be getting such a strong sense of dread.

If his guess was right, it was likely Iwagakure ninja. And for them to give off this level of pressure, their strength wasn't low.

Naturally, Haruki wasn't going to confront them head-on. Walking into a direct fight when he already knew the enemy had superior strength wasn't bravery—it was recklessness.

With that thought, Haruki adjusted his route again.

This time, he not only cleared all traces of his path, but also cast Shadow Clone Jutsu, creating a single clone.

The real Haruki and the clone exchanged a glance—then split in opposite directions.

The shadow clone maintained a slightly faster pace than before to attract the pursuers, while the real Haruki used Body Flicker Technique at full power to escape.

That's right—Haruki didn't want to engage or set up an ambush.

His only goal was to leave the Land of Earth and return to Konoha's control zone as soon as possible.

And the reason for that urgency?

The shadow clone he had stationed near the Third Raikage had just relayed a message:

The Third Raikage… had fallen.

Which meant Iwagakure's forces were now freed up.

Most of them would return to the front lines, yes—but even a small portion would be more than enough to make life miserable for Haruki.

So his top priority now was to get out of enemy territory—and avoid entanglement with Iwagakure shinobi at all costs.

With that thought, Haruki picked up his pace again.

He felt a bit lucky that he had already trained Body Flicker Technique to its peak level—using it now felt almost like flying.

And with chakra reserves far surpassing those of a standard jonin, Haruki was confident he could outrun his pursuers.

Of course, that didn't mean he was going to ignore them.

"Know yourself and know your enemy, and you'll never be defeated."

Even if he had no intention of engaging the enemy, and even if they were unlikely to catch up, he still needed to understand who was on his trail.

That was the mission of the shadow clone he had just sent off.

That clone had been filled with 10,000 chakra points. As long as it avoided direct hits and didn't get into too many confrontations, even a jonin might not be able to defeat it.

And when it came to dodging enemy attacks, most shadow clones might struggle—but not one with the Sharingan.

So yes—scouting the enemy was absolutely possible.

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