Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

Time flowed like water, gently trickling past.

In the blink of an eye, it was now early June.

More than two weeks had passed since the last ambush by Kirigakure on the forward base.

Back then, the rear border troops had arrived at the forward base about three hours after the Mist ninja retreated. After a short stay, they continued their pursuit.

Unfortunately, the enemy had already vanished without a trace, and they found nothing.

So, after staying at the base for two days, the reinforcement troops returned. However, before leaving, they left behind a group of additional ninja—replenishing the base's losses and even boosting the headcount by nearly a hundred.

Thus, the forward base's strength reached an unprecedented 350 personnel.

Since then, Kirigakure had launched a few probing attacks. But none made it near the base—each time intercepted by the outer patrol teams.

During this period, Uchiha Haruki was naturally targeted.

Whenever he appeared, if the Mist forces were strong enough, they would gang up on him. If not, they would immediately retreat.

This reduced Haruki's chances for combat kills considerably.

However, he wasn't too bothered. He still split his days between missions and training, not missing a single one.

Thanks to the constant battles and intense practice, both his Illusory Blade Technique and Blink Blade Technique improved rapidly.

That evening.

On a reef-strewn beach not far from the forward base—

Haruki, wielding a long blade, darted around like a phantom. He weaved in and out from all directions around Uchiha Tekka, the sound of metal clashing echoing rhythmically.

Tekka pushed his Three Tomoe Sharingan to the limit, waving his kunai frantically, blocking Haruki's swift strikes.

Even so, within one minute, he was defeated—Haruki's blade was pressed against his neck.

Gulp.

Feeling the chill of the blade at his throat, Uchiha Tekka swallowed hard and dared not move.

At the same time, he shouted,

"I surrender!"

But… the expected response didn't come. The blade remained at his neck. Haruki stood there like a statue, as if he hadn't heard him at all.

"This feeling… wait a minute…"

Tekka's heart trembled. He slowly tilted his head, carefully distancing his neck from the blade, and cautiously turned to look.

There he saw Haruki, eyes closed, standing still as a statue. A trace of frown lingered between his brows, as if he were deep in thought.

Tekka murmured,

"So it really happened again."

This wasn't the first time. In previous spars, Haruki had occasionally entered this trance-like state—and every time it happened, his swordsmanship would evolve.

It seemed another breakthrough was at hand.

Tekka felt a wave of bitter awe, muttering in his heart:

"The difference between people really is greater than the difference between a person and a dog…"

Shaking his head, Tekka quietly stepped back and waited patiently for Haruki to come out of it.

Roughly half a minute later, Haruki opened his eyes.

Seeing this, Tekka stepped forward immediately,

"Haruki, don't tell me your swordsmanship leveled up again?"

Haruki smiled but said nothing.

He wasn't surprised Tekka could guess—after all, the last few breakthroughs had happened right in front of him.

Only, those were all improvements to the Blink Blade Technique.

But this time…

Haruki casually spun his sword, forming a beautiful flourish.

A sensation of complete control surged through him.

He now felt he could integrate genjutsu and swordsmanship with a mere thought—far more fluid than ever before.

The reason was simple:

His Illusory Blade Technique had just leveled up.

Indeed, the spar with Tekka had given him the final push to increase his mastery.

Now, it had risen from Lv.5 (1150/5000) to Lv.6 (1/10000)!

Clang—

Haruki sheathed his blade and said,

"Alright, that's it for today. I'm taking a break."

Without waiting for a reply, he walked over to a reef and sat down.

"Status panel."

At his thought, the familiar pale-blue system screen appeared before him.

[Name: Uchiha Haruki]Age: 12

Physique: 15 → 16

Spirit: 19

Chakra: 55,000 (60,596 → 70,964)

Bloodline: Sharingan – Mangekyō (3201/50000 → 4929/50000)

Skills

Chakra Refinement: Lv.5 (1115 → 1439/5000)

Wind Release: Wind Blade: Lv.6 (875 → 3405/10000)

Wind Release: Rasenshuriken: Lv.3 → Lv.4 (174 → 462/2000)

Water Release: Water Formation Wall: Lv.3 → Lv.4 (294 → 954/2000)

Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet: Lv.3 → Lv.4 (101 → 721/2000)

Water Release: Hidden Mist Technique: Lv.1 (51/200)

Shadow Clone Jutsu: Lv.4 (190 → 540/2000)

Chakra Absorption: Lv.5 (3650 → 4150/5000)

Rasengan: Lv.6 (1015 → 3545/10000)

Palm Sage Technique: Lv.8 (101 → 4065/50000)

Chakra Scalpel: Lv.5 (1550 → 2200/5000)

Pathogen Extraction Technique: Lv.1 (1/200)

Mirror Mind Technique: Lv.7 (14486 → 19094/20000)

Illusory Blade Technique: Lv.5 → Lv.6 (1/10000)

Blink Blade Technique: Lv.1 → Lv.4 (1100/2000)

Chakra Control: Lv.5 (2320 → 2610/5000)

It had been nearly a full month since Haruki had arrived at the Kirigakure warfront. Although a few days were lost in transit and delay, his progress across the board had been immense.

The most noticeable improvement was his chakra pool.

Thanks to intense training and chakra refinement, he had gained over 10,000 chakra points—equivalent to about one "chakra card"—raising his total capacity from 60,000 to over 70,000.

This brought him one step closer to the legendary "Chakra Ton-level", further boosting his stamina and endurance.

Beyond that, the biggest gain was in his Mirror Mind Technique.

Thanks to consistent practice, its proficiency had risen from Lv.7 (14486/20000) to Lv.7 (19094/20000)—just shy of level 8.

At his current pace of 192 proficiency points per day, he would reach the next level in less than five days.

Once that happened, the technique's effect on Mangekyō Sharingan evolution would intensify.

Currently, it took three Mirror Mind proficiency points to raise one Mangekyō point.

After leveling up, that ratio could shift to 2:1, or even 1:1.

If that happened, his timeline for evolving to Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan would shrink dramatically—possibly from years to just a fraction of that.

Additionally, his Water Release techniques had both leveled up, making them far more practical in battle.

Then there was the Illusory Blade Technique and Blink Blade Technique.

The former had just reached Lv.6.

The latter, thanks to his foundation in swordplay, increasing understanding of Wind Release, and constant battle usage, improved rapidly—from Lv.1 (162/200) to Lv.4 (1100/2000) in just half a month.

Now, it was becoming second nature to him.

And beyond all this, he had also learned two new techniques:

Water Release: Hidden Mist Technique – copied using the Sharingan during his fight with Ao

Pathogen Extraction Technique – exchanged from Chiba Seihei

Due to limited chakra each day, he hadn't trained them much beyond beginner level yet.

Hmm...

Speaking of chakra—

Haruki focused on his body's internal state.

After more than twenty days of continuously casting Palm Sage Technique, he could vaguely feel the approach of another physical transformation.

In ten to fifteen days, he would likely hit the threshold again.

At that point, he could activate the power of "Aspect of Man", breaking through his physical limitations and boosting his Physique stat even further.

That would increase both his chakra limit and recovery rate.

When that happened, he'd finally have surplus chakra to spare—for refining those newly acquired skills.

*********************************************************************************************Hey everyone! Want to read ahead and unlock up to 100 early-access chapters? 📖Plus, enjoy even more exclusive novels! Join my Patreon now and dive into the adventure!

patreon.com/Rawink00