Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

One hour later — somewhere in the forest.

One of Uchiha Haruki's shadow clones was moving swiftly through the trees when the subtle sound of something cutting through the air suddenly reached his ears.

In a flash, he twisted his body, dodging a barrage of kunai aimed directly at him.

Landing on a tree branch, the clone stood alert, eyes scanning the direction the attack came from.

Whoosh—whoosh—

Two figures appeared in a blink.

Both wore black cloaks and masks—clearly members of Iwagakure's ANBU.

Specifically, they were the ANBU Captain and the female operative code-named Suzune.

"Iwa ANBU?" the shadow clone asked grimly.

The two masked shinobi didn't respond. Instead, they silently studied Haruki.

After a long pause, the ANBU Captain finally said,

"Uchiha Haruki. The new genius of the Uchiha clan.

Opened the Three Tomoe Sharingan at just eleven years old.

Tell me—what's your goal?"

"They figured out my real identity this fast?"

Haruki's clone felt a flicker of caution.

He'd had some notoriety before, sure—but within the whole of Konoha, he was hardly considered famous.

That was partly due to his deliberate low profile. But the truth was—Konoha had too many geniuses.

Compared to prodigies like Hatake Kakashi, who made his name early, or the rising star Uchiha Shisui making waves on the frontlines lately—Haruki's reputation wasn't even close.

Even so, in just a few short hours since his true face had been exposed, Iwagakure had not only identified him but gathered background intel as well.

That alone spoke volumes about the intelligence-gathering power of the Five Great Ninja Villages.

Haruki couldn't afford to be careless.

Those thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant—and then his Sharingan activated.

As expected, both ANBU operatives quickly looked away to avoid eye contact.

Seizing the opening, Haruki flipped his hand—six shuriken appeared in his palm, which he instantly hurled, two from each side, aiming straight at Suzune.

If you want to break the enemy's fingers, start by severing one.

From the outset, Haruki had targeted the weaker of the two.

Sensing danger, Suzune shifted with a quick flicker, trying to dodge the incoming blades.

But Haruki had anticipated this reaction.

Whoosh—whoosh—

Two more shuriken flew out from his hand. With even greater force, they slammed into two of the original six in midair.

Sparks flew as the impacts altered their trajectories—those two then collided with the remaining four.

The eight shuriken suddenly spread out, raining down on Suzune from different angles like scattered flower petals.

Just as her feet touched the ground again, she no longer had time to dodge.

Left with no other option, she pulled out a kunai and braced for a direct defense.

You had to admit, ANBU combat skills were top-notch. Even in such a rushed moment, Suzune managed to block all eight shuriken.

Still, she didn't escape unscathed—two of the spinning blades grazed her shoulders, leaving shallow cuts.

At that point, Haruki should have pressed the advantage and gone in for the kill.

But he didn't.

Not because he didn't want to—but because he couldn't.

Just as he made his move, the ANBU Captain had already launched his counterattack.

Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh—

Multiple kunai came flying his way.

Haruki's Sharingan spun rapidly, instantly detecting the explosive tags tied to the ends.

Without hesitation, Haruki vanished from his original spot at the exact moment he threw his own shuriken.

Boom—BOOM—BOOM!

A series of violent explosions tore through the forest, flames lighting up the night and banishing the surrounding darkness.

As Haruki's clone landed, the two ANBU members appeared simultaneously—one in front, one behind, boxing him in.

Clearly, they were trained in how to deal with Sharingan users.

"Attack!" the ANBU Captain barked.

Suzune instantly formed hand seals. Her mouth opened, releasing a high-pitched soundwave that struck Haruki's brain directly, making his vision swim and his balance falter.

The Captain lunged at the same moment, kunai aimed straight at Haruki's heart.

Luckily, Haruki's Sharingan was fully active, and to his enhanced vision, the enemy's movement was slow as a turtle.

Clenching his teeth against the disorienting noise in his head, Haruki dodged the attack and countered with a kunai of his own, aimed squarely at Suzune.

She was forced to cancel her jutsu mid-cast.

Haruki was about to press the assault—but the ANBU Captain reengaged, cutting him off once again.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The sound of metal clashing echoed through the trees.

As a true jōnin, the ANBU Captain's overall abilities were exceptional.

Even with his line of sight restricted, he could keep up with Haruki's flurry of attacks.

Meanwhile, Suzune supported from the side, her sound-based ninjutsu constantly disrupting Haruki's movements.

Every time he tried to mount a proper counterattack, something would get in the way—either the distance was too great or the Captain had pinned him down.

The whole fight felt oppressive, like he was constantly being steered by the enemy.

But Haruki understood the reason:

This was a shadow clone.

It couldn't take too much damage.

That naturally limited his freedom and aggression.

If this had been his real body, even with these two being elite shinobi handpicked to deal with him, there's no way they would've had it this easy.

The limitations came from the clone's inherent fragility—it just couldn't show his full strength.

Still, as the fight dragged on, Haruki was starting to piece together their capabilities.

First, Suzune.

She was likely a special jōnin—not particularly skilled in taijutsu, and her entire combat style revolved around sound-based techniques.

Earlier, the clone had suffered due to lack of experience.

But now that he had firsthand intel, if his real body encountered this again, he'd be far better prepared.

Then, the ANBU Captain.

His strength was formidable—his combat skills alone surpassed Haruki's Level 5 Swordsmanship.

Haruki needed to rely on the Sharingan's insight just to keep up.

What's more, the Captain had a defensive Earth Style technique that allowed him to instantly harden his skin like armor when attacked, making it nearly impervious to blades.

Unless Haruki fully mastered wind-style chakra's shape and nature transformation—and infused it into his short sword—he wouldn't be able to break that defense easily.

Of course, if no one was interfering, he might be able to use the Sharingan to create a brief opening in the opponent's guard and land a fatal blow.

But either way—it wouldn't be easy.

This ANBU Captain's strength was clearly beyond a standard jōnin's.

As for whether he'd reached the elite jōnin level, Haruki couldn't say for sure.

For one, he'd never fought someone at that rank before and didn't know how they compared.

And two, this ANBU may still be holding something back.

At the jōnin level, shinobi were typically proficient in at least two chakra natures.

But so far, this man had only used Earth Release—nothing else.

So Haruki had no way of knowing how deep his abilities actually ran.