Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

In the forest.

Uchiha Haruki had been training for nearly two more hours. Only when the sky had completely darkened did he gather his belongings and return to the camp—to his personal quarters.

However, before he could even sit down properly, someone came knocking at his door.

Looking at the Konoha chunin in front of him, Haruki frowned and asked, "Do you know why Captain Kurozawa is looking for me?"

Sure enough, this person had been sent by Kurozawa Nariki.

The chunin shook his head and replied, "No idea. Captain Kurozawa just said to tell you to head over right away."

"…Alright."

Haruki let out a helpless sigh, picked up the Kusanagi sword beside him, and walked out of the tent.

A few minutes later, he arrived at the command post of the northern defense line.

Haruki quickly noticed something odd—there were more people here than usual at this hour, and many of them seemed to be in a rush.

"Something big really has happened…"

That thought suddenly surfaced in Haruki's mind, though he quickly pushed it down.

Knock knock knock—

Haruki arrived at Kurozawa Nariki's office and knocked on the door.

"Come in!"

The familiar voice came from behind the door.

Without hesitation, Haruki pushed it open.

Creak—

As the door opened, he saw Kurozawa Nariki sitting inside, his face filled with worry.

"What happened, Captain?"

Haruki walked into the room and asked directly.

"Sigh…"

Kurozawa Nariki let out a deep breath before speaking:

"Captain Nara Hikaru just sent word. Twin Rivers Town has fallen."

"What!?"

Haruki was stunned. "You mean Twin Rivers Town on the Rain Country battlefield?"

"Yes."

Kurozawa nodded. "Since you came from there, you should understand how important that town is."

"Of course I do."

Haruki's face darkened.

He was very familiar with Twin Rivers Town. After retreating from Wind Willow Town, he had spent quite a bit of time there.

He had participated—directly or indirectly—in several battles over the Western Mountain Stronghold, as well as two decapitation missions targeting the Iwagakure assault troops.

He had even clashed with the Four-Tails jinchūriki Rōshi and the Five-Tails jinchūriki Han in that area.

With that level of force concentration, the town's strategic value was beyond obvious.

Now that Twin Rivers had fallen, Konoha had lost its last major stronghold in the Rain Country.

If Iwagakure straightened their battlefront, they could threaten Konoha's main base in the Rain Country directly.

Konoha's defensive forces would be squeezed into a narrow zone with limited movement and fewer options for response—

Meanwhile, Iwagakure's opportunities would multiply.

Drawing from his past-life memories, Haruki immediately guessed Iwagakure's next move:

They would dispatch an elite squad to bypass Konoha's main base in the Rain Country and launch a surprise attack on the Fire Nation's mainland.

In his past life, the one who led this mission was Higashi Shinin.

And the outcome of that battle?

Konoha's border defense forces in that direction were nearly wiped out.

It was only thanks to Minato Namikaze's timely arrival that things were salvaged.

Even so, Iwagakure successfully created a breach.

Afterward, to force Iwagakure to pull back and buy time for Konoha's frontline troops, Minato's team was sent to destroy the Kannabi Bridge—

An operation that became known as the legendary Battle of Kannabi Bridge.

That battle produced two Sharingan heroes for Konoha…

But it also laid the groundwork for the tragedies to come.

At the same time, Sunagakure, seeing an opportunity, sought to gamble everything on a final showdown with Konoha.

To make peace with Kirigakure, they even offered up one of their village's heroes—Yakura of the Scorch Release—as a bargaining chip.

This, in turn, freed up Kirigakure to launch a full-scale assault on Konoha, breach the border, and invade the Fire Nation.

In his past life, it was during this arc that Might Duy opened the Eight Gates and kicked the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist into oblivion.

But now—two of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen had already been killed by Haruki, so that event likely wouldn't happen again.

Still, the fall of Twin Rivers Town had already triggered a cascade of consequences, making its importance clear.

In fact, it was arguably the turning point of this entire shinobi world war.

While Haruki was deep in thought, Kurozawa Nariki asked,

"Haruki, did something come to mind?"

"Huh?"

The question brought Haruki back to reality. He was stunned for a moment, then shook his head.

"Nothing important."

Of course, he wasn't about to tell the truth.

Not because he didn't trust Kurozawa—but because the timing wasn't right.

Leaving aside the difficulty of explaining where he got such detailed intel, the troubles it might bring were enough to make him stay quiet.

Take the Battle of Kannabi Bridge, for example.

On the surface, it looked like Konoha's forces weren't strong enough, and Minato couldn't arrive in time—leading to tragedy.

But with the memories from his past life, Haruki knew better.

Uchiha Obito had been targeted by Uchiha Madara early on, and much of what happened might have been carefully orchestrated.

If you consider that Madara later used Kirigakure's ANBU to manipulate events—such as Rin's death at Kakashi's hand, meant to push Obito into awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan—then things become even clearer.

And behind Uchiha Madara…

There was still Black Zetsu, the ultimate manipulator.

That whole nest of conspiracies was something Haruki had no intention of getting involved in—at least not yet.

Countless thoughts flashed through his mind before Haruki asked,

"When did this happen?"

"A few hours ago," Kurozawa answered.

"And did Captain Nara make any arrangements?" Haruki asked again.

"He did," Kurozawa nodded.

As he spoke, he pulled a mission scroll from the desk drawer and handed it to Haruki.

"Your latest orders just came in. Captain Nara instructed you to lead your unit and remain stationed along our defensive line—to guard against a surprise attack from Kirigakure."

That's right—only now had Haruki's team officially received their mission orders.

He had been wondering why the command had taken so long, and now he understood.

Clearly, Nara Hikaru had been aware of the situation in the Rain Country battlefield.

He must've known the outcome at Twin Rivers Town was imminent.

It couldn't have been a sudden defeat—there must have been signs for some time.

So, he had been waiting to see the final result.

If Twin Rivers could be held, then Haruki's orders likely would have been to counterattack in the Land of Waves and retake the Forward Base.

But now—

Twin Rivers had fallen to Iwagakure.

That left no room for aggressive moves.

Their only option was to stay still and defend, so the orders changed accordingly.

That explained why the mission command had only arrived today.

As for the content, Haruki actually found it very favorable.

He did need time to strengthen his body and break through his physical attribute ceiling, so this defensive assignment was perfectly timed.

With that thought, he took the mission scroll and carefully looked through it.

Once he confirmed there were no issues, he stored it away.

The two then discussed some of the previous arrangements in more detail, locking them into place.

Once everything was finalized, Haruki took his leave.