Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

"I wonder… if I activate Susanoo, could it withstand a blow from that ice dragon?"

As Uchiha Haruki nimbly dodged the ice dragon's onslaught, this thought flashed through his mind. But he quickly suppressed it.

Not only was he unable to recklessly expose the power of his Mangekyō Sharingan, even if he could, with its current evolution level, it likely wouldn't hold up.

Although he had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan some time ago, its evolution had progressed to less than one-fifth of its full potential.

As a result, his Susanoo was still in its initial skeletal form. And relying on those few bone-like structures obviously wouldn't be enough to block an attack from the massive ice dragon.

After all, this was one of Yukikaze's trump cards—hardly something easily countered.

The only reason he hadn't been torn apart already was due to his exceptional Sharingan insight and quick reaction speed.

However, maintaining and controlling a creature of that size also consumed an enormous amount of chakra, and Yukikaze didn't have enough chakra reserves to sustain it indefinitely.

Haruki's plan was simple: endure until the opponent's chakra was drained, and then strike a fatal blow.

Ten minutes passed in a blur.

A frigid wave of icy mist came roaring toward Haruki.

With swift hand seals, he unleashed:

Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!

A massive fireball erupted from his mouth, clashing with the freezing breath of the ice dragon.

Next—Flash Blade Technique!

He dodged the dragon's incoming claw attack yet again.

But before he could even regain his footing, Yukikaze directed the dragon to press forward with a crushing sweep.

Haruki reacted instantly, chaining together multiple Body Flicker Techniques to evade.

Spotting an opening, he retaliated with:

Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!

The fire lashed out at the ice dragon and Yukikaze riding atop it. Flames scorched the dragon's body, melting a portion of it.

Yukikaze quickly injected more chakra, patching up the melted area.

Once restored, the ice dragon resumed its assault. Haruki kept evading while seeking the next opportunity to counter.

For the past ten minutes, the two clashed in a tight dance of attack and defense. Neither dared to lower their guard for a second.

But unlike Haruki's composed demeanor, Yukikaze was starting to lose his calm.

Just as Haruki had predicted, controlling such a massive construct demanded staggering amounts of chakra.

After so much prolonged use, Yukikaze was running dangerously low—and with that came anxiety.

And when someone gets anxious… they make mistakes.

Yukikaze was no exception.

Only two minutes later, after Haruki dodged another claw swipe, he suddenly noticed something: Yukikaze hesitated, as if unsure which direction to attack next.

In that instant, Haruki realized—this was his chance.

Suppressing the instinct to defend, Haruki let the flying ice shards pass and instead began a rapid series of hand seals.

Wind Style: Rasenshuriken!

With a piercing screech, the spinning chakra shuriken formed in his palm, shredding the air around it. The violent wind even blew back the shattered ice shards in all directions.

Yukikaze's expression changed drastically the moment he saw it. He tried to steer the ice dragon away—

But it was too late.

The dragon's immense size made it slow to move—especially its tail, which remained anchored to the ice surface.

And that was exactly where Haruki targeted.

Without hesitation, Haruki slammed the Rasenshuriken into the dragon's base.

Crack-crack-crack—

A sound like grinding glass filled the air.

Just like with the ice prison technique before, the Rasenshuriken met no resistance. Its microscopic chakra needles tore the dragon apart at the molecular level, cutting through it like butter.

The entire jutsu structure collapsed, and the ice dragon exploded into a flurry of shards with a thunderous boom.

Among the shower of glittering ice fragments, Haruki locked onto Yukikaze's true form.

A faint blue glow flickered around him—Flash Blade Technique!

In the blink of an eye, Haruki appeared directly in front of his foe.

Swish—!

A streak of blade light cut through the air.

Yukikaze instinctively raised his kunai to block—Clang!—the metal rang out sharply, but the sheer force of the blow made him stumble back.

Haruki followed with a second slash, the gleaming steel reflecting in Yukikaze's eyes, momentarily dazing him.

"No!" Yukikaze cursed internally.

He instantly realized—he'd fallen for it.

The intelligence reports from the village had already warned him of Haruki's deceptive swordsmanship.

But he hadn't expected it to be this effective.

There had been no warning signs. Just a single moment of hesitation, and he was caught.

The truth was, Yukikaze was just unlucky.

Two weeks ago, Haruki might not have been able to exploit such a moment.

But now?

Over the past two weeks, Haruki's Phantom Blade Technique had just advanced to the next level.

Upgrading from level 5 to 6 had allowed him to seamlessly fuse genjutsu with swordplay—a simple shift in intent, and a basic slash could become a mesmerizing illusion.

The result?

Slash!

Haruki's blade swept across Yukikaze's chest, tearing through his clothes and leaving a deep gash.

Crimson blood flowed freely, staining his robes in an instant.

But Haruki didn't let up.

Pivoting on his right foot, he spun a full circle—360 degrees—before slashing down again.

This time, Yukikaze had learned his lesson. He kept his eyes off the blade entirely, relying on his ears to judge the direction of the attack.

He swung his kunai to block—

But the motion strained his chest wound, causing a slight delay.

Haruki spotted it.

"Perfect opportunity," he thought.

With a flick of his wrist, he knocked the kunai into the air, and followed with another deadly slash.

Sensing the impending danger, Yukikaze had no choice.

What little chakra he had left surged from his body, forming a thick armor of ice around him.

Screech—

The blade struck the ice armor, carving a deep gouge—but failing to pierce through.

Using the force of the impact, Yukikaze flung himself backward, widening the distance.

Haruki prepared to follow up.

But just then—a massive surge of chakra rippled through the air from afar.

Haruki froze briefly and looked toward the source.

A wave like a tsunami was roaring toward them, threatening to engulf the entire battlefield.

And atop that colossal wave stood a man clad in a black cloak and a mask—clearly, an elite ANBU from the Hidden Mist Village.