Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

After a round of contemplation, Uchiha Haruki closed the skill proficiency panel.

Without saying a word, he raised his hand again and began weaving hand seals to cast the jutsu — Mystic Palm Technique, initiating a new round of body reinforcement.

He needed to confirm something: How long would it take for another metamorphosis after his 'Constitution' stat hit 19 points?

Dense Yang Release chakra gathered within his palms. Haruki focused his attention and carefully guided the energy, letting it penetrate into every part of his body, stimulating cellular evolution at the microscopic level.

Time ticked by.

In the blink of an eye, over two hours passed.

The afternoon sun had begun its descent.

Suddenly, Haruki opened his eyes.

A trace of unmistakable exhaustion flickered across his face.

Fighting off the fatigue, Haruki concentrated to feel the subtle changes in his body. After almost fifty rounds of reinforcement in just a few hours, he could sense a slight improvement.

But compared to previous cycles of evolution, this progress was minimal—far too small to even estimate the time required for the next full transformation.

After thinking for a moment, Haruki activated his Mangekyō Sharingan.

Immediately, he triggered the ocular technique sealed within his right eye — Eye of Insight: Dominion of the Self.

Harnessing its unique powers, he scanned his own body in an instant and precisely evaluated the actual gain made during this training session.

Disabling Dominion of the Self, he deactivated his Mangekyō Sharingan and muttered quietly,

"Two months, huh…"

That's right—based on his own calculations, if he continued training at this rate, it would take roughly two more months for his body to hit the next major threshold. At that point, he'd be ready for another breakthrough.

Was that long?

It depends who you're comparing it to.

Compared to his past pace, yes—this breakthrough was taking longer than usual. But when put side by side with other shinobi across the ninja world—most of whom were forever limited by their talent and genetics—two months was nothing.

And Haruki? He had that kind of patience.

With that in mind, he stopped overthinking. After splashing cold water on his face, he returned to his bed to rest.

Nightfall was only a few hours away. He needed to be well-rested for the mission ahead.

Snore...

Soft, rhythmic snores echoed. In just a few seconds, Haruki had fallen into a deep sleep.

Time flew.

Night descended.

Outside the Blackstone Outpost, high in the sky.

While still some distance from Flying Fish Town, Haruki suddenly veered off course and flew toward the open ocean.

About fifteen minutes later, he arrived at a secluded rocky reef, roughly 30 kilometers offshore.

It was a quiet place, smoothed flat by the tides over years.

Suspended in the air, Haruki opened his Sharingan and scanned the surroundings.

Once he confirmed no chakra signatures or people within a few kilometers, he descended swiftly.

Landing on the damp rocks, Haruki didn't waste a moment. He crossed his fingers into the 'Ram' seal and cast — Shadow Clone Jutsu!

Poof!

With a burst of chakra mist, ten clones appeared around him.

Haruki got straight to work, assigning tasks without delay:

Two clones were instructed to train Wind Style: Rasenshuriken.

One was tasked with further refining the Rasengan.

Three were assigned to train Water Style: Water Formation Wall, Water Dragon Bullet, and Great Shark Bullet respectively.

From the remaining four:

One was ordered to develop Delicate Illness Extraction.

One to train Mind-Body Transmission.

One to refine Instant Blade Technique.

And the last was given the task of developing Earth Release chakra.

Watching his ten busy clones get to work, Haruki nodded in satisfaction.

This was the same strategy he'd used for the past two days — deploying shadow clones to continue training even while he handled missions.

Granted, it required him to return every hour to absorb their experiences and memories, as well as reset their chakra reserves.

But compared to the massive rewards, such inconvenience was trivial.

Besides, thanks to his Wind Style: Wings of the Gale, the distance wasn't much of an obstacle at all.

He even gained additional proficiency with Wings of the Gale just by making these frequent trips — truly a win-win.

Putting those thoughts aside, Haruki formed hand seals again, activating Wings of the Gale.

With a flap of his chakra wings, he took to the sky and flew toward Flying Fish Town.

It was time for the night's mission.

Elsewhere — Flying Fish Town

At the center of town, inside a dimly lit building, over a dozen Mist Jōnin had gathered for a secret meeting.

A moment later, the senior-most Mist Jōnin seated at the head of the table concluded:

"Since everyone agrees, let's proceed with the operation as planned."

He then turned to the man seated to his right and said,

"Ao, you'll be leading this mission."

"Yes, Captain!"

Ao, whose right eye was covered by a black cloth, stood up and responded immediately.

"Good. Everyone else, go get ready."

"Yes!"

With synchronized precision, the jōnin responded and dispersed to carry out their roles.

Soon, the conference room was empty — except for Yano Chiaki, who remained seated, eyes dull and unfocused, lost in thought.

Outside, under Ao's command, the team members made rapid preparations.

Their objective was clear — to deal a severe blow to Konoha's morale.

And how?

By eliminating Uchiha Haruki.

That's right. Their target was none other than Haruki.

As one of Konoha's most gifted young shinobi, Haruki's death would cause significant damage to the Leaf's overall spirit—especially now, on the brink of war.

Of course, having a plan was one thing. Executing it was another.

Roughly fifteen minutes later...

Haruki arrived in the skies above Flying Fish Town.

As usual, he activated his Sharingan and began scanning the Mist shinobi's activities from above, never letting his vigilance drop.

He waited patiently — until well into the early hours of the morning.

Once the intelligence had been gathered and the enemy appeared at their most fatigued, he made his move.

With a sudden dive, Haruki dropped toward a building's rooftop and hurled a kunai downward.

Sparks flashed — a paper bomb tag affixed to the kunai ignited.

Just before impact, another kunai seemingly came out of nowhere — intercepting Haruki's projectile mid-air.

Clang!

The sharp metallic clang rang out as the two kunai collided, sparks flying in the dark sky.

Haruki's kunai was knocked off course and detonated in mid-air with a boom, lighting up the sky in a flash of flame.

In an instant, Flying Fish Town sprang to life.

Every Mist shinobi — whether on duty or resting — emerged from cover, all eyes turned toward the explosion's source.

Yet surprisingly, none of them looked panicked.

Not because they didn't take it seriously, but because they were used to it by now.

Ever since Haruki had been assigned reconnaissance duty, he made similar nightly raids before retreating.

In the beginning, the Mist shinobi were rattled. But after a dozen or more times, they no longer reacted with alarm.

As for Haruki, his true intention wasn't just to harass.

His real target was their ballistae.

Though not devastating, the mounted weapons still posed a threat. And Haruki wanted them destroyed before the large-scale battle broke out.

Unfortunately, he hadn't yet succeeded.

But tonight... something felt different.

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