Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

"Haruki, it's getting late. Shouldn't we be heading back now?"

Just as Uchiha Haruki was deep in thought about how much faster his chakra recovery might be after his next physical transformation and 'Physique' attribute increase, Uchiha Tekka's voice broke his concentration.

Haruki was startled. He looked up to see that the sun had almost dipped below the ocean horizon. He didn't think further, stood up, and said,

"Let's go."

As he spoke, he closed his proficiency panel.

"Mm."

Tekka nodded, and the two of them began running across the water's surface, heading back toward the forward base.

Along the way, Tekka continued to talk about their earlier sparring match, asking questions about techniques and seeking advice.

This attitude alone made Haruki willing to guide him.

Of course, it was also mutually beneficial.

To quickly accumulate proficiency in his Illusory Blade Technique and Blink Blade Technique, Haruki needed constant practice. Aside from fighting with Mist ninjas, sparring was the fastest method.

Solo training couldn't compare to the efficiency of real-time sparring in gaining proficiency.

Though Tekka's strength was average, his Sharingan allowed him to barely keep up as a training partner.

That's why Haruki didn't mind helping him out. Otherwise, Sharingan or not, he wouldn't waste his time.

"Haruki, during our third bout just now—your side slash looked like a feint. I saw through it with my Sharingan… but it still landed. Why?"

"That's because…"

Their voices trailed off in the sea breeze, back-and-forth as they discussed technique.

Before long, the two returned to the forward base.

After saying their goodbyes, Haruki headed to his quarters—a simple courtyard residence.

As usual, the moment he stepped through the gate, Haruki activated his Sharingan and scanned the courtyard and house thoroughly. Only after confirming nothing was amiss did he relax.

It wasn't paranoia—just caution. Better safe than sorry.

His name was becoming more well-known.

On the black market, his bounty had reached 32 million ryō, just 3 million short of Asuma's.

Maybe someone in the black market discovered he had taken possession of the Kusanagi Sword from the craftsman village leader and had increased his bounty accordingly. Or maybe Kirigakure themselves had issued a direct bounty.

Either way, his bounty was now sky-high—and the number of people who wanted him dead was growing.

So, caution was non-negotiable.

Inside the house, Haruki quickly washed up, ate a simple meal to fill his stomach, and then resumed casting the Palm Sage Technique to continue strengthening his body.

He trained this technique during the day as well.

But given the time required to perform 240 repetitions daily, he couldn't finish it all during daylight.

So, at night, he worked overtime.

In addition, any missed attempts with the Mirror Mind Technique during the day had to be made up at night.

As a result, his evenings were always packed with training—tonight was no exception.

Time ticked by.

Eventually, midnight arrived.

After casting the final Mirror Mind Technique, Haruki let out a long sigh and collapsed into bed, instantly falling asleep.

However, just as he slipped into a deep slumber—

Knock knock knock—

In an instant, Haruki's eyes snapped open. Though his face still showed traces of fatigue, his eyes were sharp and alert.

He glanced out the window—a starry night sky.

Clearly, he hadn't been asleep for long.

Knock knock knock—

The knocking came again—faster and more urgent than before.

Just from the rhythm of the knocks, Haruki could tell—whoever was outside was in a hurry.

That thought flashed through his mind. Without hesitation, he grabbed his clothes, quickly dressed, snatched his Kusanagi Sword from the table, and stepped into the courtyard.

Before the third round of knocks hit the gate, Haruki opened it.

Creak—

The sound of wood scraping echoed as he pulled the door open.

Standing outside was a Konoha ninja, his face visibly anxious.

Haruki's eyes swept across him—he recognized the man as a messenger chunin working under the Uchiha jonin in charge of the base.

"Jonin Haruki!"

Seeing Haruki appear, the Konoha chunin immediately greeted him.

"Mm."

Haruki nodded briefly, skipping pleasantries.

"It's late. What's going on?"

The chunin wasn't surprised that Haruki figured out something was wrong. After all, he wouldn't come knocking in the middle of the night for nothing.

There was only one possible explanation: an emergency.

He steadied his breath and quickly replied,

"Just moments ago, we received a message from the northern command. Kirigakure launched a major assault on the northern front line about an hour ago. The battle is intense."

"The northern front again?"

Haruki murmured.

If he remembered correctly, the ambush team from a month ago had broken through from the northern front as well.

That incident had clearly been orchestrated by Danzo, who had ordered his Root ninjas stationed at the northern front to secretly cooperate.

So, what about this time?

Another one of Danzo's plots?

Or had the Mist Village taken advantage of the hidden weakness left behind by the previous scheme?

Haruki couldn't make sense of it yet.

But there was one thing he had to understand:

Why were they daring to make such a bold move?

The entire purpose of placing this forward base here was to prevent Kirigakure from pushing the war into the Land of Fire.

As long as the forward base remained intact, it didn't matter which segment of the border they attacked—they would always risk being flanked from behind.

Haruki refused to believe Kirigakure couldn't see that.

Yet they still made this move—and it wasn't some small skirmish, but a full-scale battle.

Not to mention, their recent patrols hadn't detected any suspicious movements from Kirigakure, meaning they must have taken a long detour.

All signs pointed to this being a well-prepared assault.

The more Haruki thought about it, the less sense it made.

"Jonin Haruki?"

The chunin's voice brought him back to reality.

"Oh."

Haruki nodded,

"Go on."

But the Konoha ninja shook his head,

"That's all I know. The commander asked me to summon you to a meeting. You can ask him the rest."

"I see…"

Haruki nodded,

"Alright, let's go."

He locked the gate behind him and quickly followed the messenger toward the command hall.

Meanwhile, many other jonin had also been roused from their sleep.

After getting a basic understanding of the situation, they too began making their way to the meeting room.

By the time Haruki arrived, the place was already full of people.