Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

In a flash, another four days had passed.

It was now the latter half of July.

That afternoon…

In the familiar forest clearing…

Uchiha Haruki was seated cross-legged atop a massive boulder, continuously performing Mystic Palm Technique to strengthen his body.

Unfortunately, the effects were minimal.

Based on his own estimations, after his Constitution stat had risen to 18, it would take at least a month and a half to break through and reach the next transformation.

If anything disrupted his training, it could take even longer—unless Mystic Palm Technique could advance from Lv8 to Lv9.

But that was wishful thinking.

Haruki opened his Proficiency Panel and glanced at the Mystic Palm Technique's current state: Lv8 (15,234/50,000).

Seeing the vast gap remaining, he immediately dismissed the thought.

"Yeah… guess I'll have to take it slow," Haruki sighed, preparing to continue his training.

Just then, a stream of chakra suddenly returned to his body.

At the same time, a segment of training experience and memory surged into his mind.

Haruki quickly closed his eyes, silently digesting the information, converting it into corresponding skill proficiency.

A few moments later, he opened his eyes, a hint of joy flashing across them.

Without hesitation, he raised both hands and swiftly completed a series of hand seals—

Water Style: Hidden Mist Jutsu!

A massive amount of chakra burst from his body, instantly turning a 100-meter radius into a thick, white mist.

But just as quickly, the fog faded, and the surrounding forest reappeared as if nothing had ever happened.

This flawless display of control showed that Haruki had reached a masterful level with this jutsu.

And indeed, that was the case.

With the newly absorbed experience and memory, his Water Style: Hidden Mist Jutsu had successfully advanced to Lv5 (0/0)—the state of perfection.

The earlier frustration in Haruki's heart was instantly swept away, replaced by renewed hope for the future.

Once the excitement settled, he turned his attention back to chakra allocation.

Now that Hidden Mist Jutsu had reached completion, the 5,000 chakra points originally assigned to it were free for redistribution.

Haruki swept his gaze over his skill panel and finally settled on—

Water Style: Giant Shark Bullet Jutsu.

As a powerful and versatile A-rank ninjutsu, he hoped to integrate it into his tactical system more effectively.

Though currently at Lv4, making it usable in most cases, it still lacked decisive impact against opponents of equal strength—unless taken by surprise.

Therefore, investing more chakra into it to accelerate its mastery was necessary.

With the 5,000 chakra points newly available, the daily proficiency gain for Giant Shark Bullet Jutsu would rise from 80 to 110.

This would allow for a much quicker rank-up.

"Alright, let's do it!"

With his decision made, Haruki closed the panel and immediately resumed his training.

Time ticked by second by second...

Roughly an hour passed.

As Haruki remained immersed in training, the sound of hurried footsteps echoed through the woods, growing closer.

Haruki's ears twitched slightly before he opened his eyes.

Moments later, a familiar figure appeared before him.

Haruki looked at the newcomer and said, "What happened, Tekka?"

Indeed, it was none other than Uchiha Tekka.

For the past while, Haruki had entrusted most logistical matters to him.

According to the schedule, Tekka should've just finished a mission and been preparing to rest—so why had he rushed over so urgently?

And with this level of urgency?

At Haruki's inquiry, Tekka took a deep breath before saying:

"Haruki, the Hidden Mist has made a move."

Haruki's pupils narrowed sharply. He instantly sat upright and said, "Tell me everything."

He wasn't overreacting. This matter was too important.

Though the Hidden Mist Village had stayed relatively quiet for over a month, Haruki had always known—it was just the calm before the storm.

As the Third Great Ninja War neared its conclusion, the major villages' battles were reaching a boiling point.

The Hidden Mist's silence was clearly part of a greater buildup.

Now that they had suddenly acted, he had every reason to be on high alert.

"This afternoon," Tekka began, "while Squad Three was out on a patrol mission, they spotted a Mist-nin team moving offshore. As soon as they made contact, the enemy quickly retreated."

"After learning this, I questioned the other squads and found that since noon, multiple patrol teams have spotted Mist-nin activity."

"They're spread widely across the entire front line—striking from all sides. It looks like they're testing our defenses for weak points."

Tekka recounted the situation with composure and precision, detailing both the third squad's encounter and the overall pattern he had uncovered.

Finally, with a concerned expression, he added,

"Haruki… I have a bad feeling about this. I think the Mist-nin are about to launch something big."

"Hmm."

Haruki nodded solemnly, clearly agreeing.

He even speculated that the Hidden Mist might have already reached a peace agreement with Sunagakure, the Village Hidden in the Sand.

If that were the case, they could now shift all their forces to mount a full-scale offensive against Konoha.

By contrast, it seemed that Konoha wasn't currently planning to confront Mist head-on—at least not yet.

From recent intelligence and the general mood within the command, Haruki guessed that Konoha's high command wanted to first finish their war with Sunagakure—decisively.

Then, they could focus all remaining forces on Iwagakure and Kirigakure.

From what Haruki remembered from his previous life, Konoha didn't win overwhelmingly in this war, but they did manage a minor victory.

In the end, Sunagakure was the first to sign a peace treaty with them.

In fact, when Iwagakure's radical faction later tried to sabotage peace talks between Konoha and the Sand, it was Sunagakure's Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, who stepped in personally to prevent it.

Though his motives were self-serving, Rasa's direct involvement was a sign that Konoha had the upper hand in their treaty.

Of course, this also planted the seeds for Sunagakure's future cooperation with Orochimaru in the Konoha Crush Plan.

All these thoughts raced through Haruki's mind in an instant.

But he quickly shook his head, discarding future hypotheticals.

Right now, what mattered most was when Kirigakure would strike—

and how much longer he could enjoy peaceful training days.

As he thought this, another figure arrived—it was a Chūnin messenger.

He brought word that Haruki and Uchiha Tekka were to immediately report to the command center for a meeting.

"Well, there goes that."

Haruki let out a silent sigh.

His peaceful days were over.

With that, he and Uchiha Tekka turned and made their way to the command post.