Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

"What was that?"

Feiyu Town.

Inside the barrier.

Ao narrowed his eyes as he watched Uchiha Haruki vanish into the distance.

Just moments ago, using the Byakugan's x-ray vision, he had suddenly sensed an unusual kind of energy within Haruki.

Despite the interference caused by the Water Release: Hidden Mist Technique, Ao was certain—that was not something the Sharingan should naturally emit.

"...Ao, it's not your fault."

Beside him, Terumi Mei spoke up. Seeing Ao silently staring in the direction Haruki had escaped to, she mistook his silence for frustration or guilt and tried to comfort him.

After all, Ao had been in charge of this operation. With the target escaping, it was natural for him to shoulder the blame.

Unfortunately, Mei had no idea what Ao had just witnessed.

And Ao—he wasn't ready to speak of it yet either.

He had no proof.

He planned to go back, investigate thoroughly, and only after confirming what had changed in Haruki's body, would he say anything.

But what he didn't know... was that this would be his last chance to expose the fact that Uchiha Haruki had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan.

Meanwhile…

Haruki was flying across the sky, silently replaying the night's events and his own reactions in his mind.

The trap set by Kirigakure had been carefully planned—an elaborate ambush with overwhelming odds. With such meticulous preparation, it was no surprise they'd been able to temporarily trap him.

But what about his response?

Even though the mist technique had limited visibility, Haruki figured that Ao—using the Byakugan—had likely noticed something.

Chakra dispersed in mist could hinder ordinary perception, but not the Byakugan's piercing gaze.

And the fact that Ao was able to pinpoint his location so precisely at the end most likely meant his Byakugan had been activated the entire time.

In that case, the chakra fluctuations that came with activating the Mangekyō Sharingan—so distinct from an ordinary Sharingan—would not have gone unnoticed.

"Byakugan, huh…" Haruki muttered to himself.

His mind drifted back to a recon mission he'd carried out days ago.

That time, one of his shadow clones had considered obtaining a Byakugan to complement the Sharingan's lack of long-range detection.

Coincidentally, the target at the time... had been Ao.

Maybe it's time to follow through on that plan, Haruki thought.

Lost in thought, he had already arrived at the secluded training spot where his shadow clones had been meditating.

He had visited this place several times over the last few hours, and since the reset cycle hadn't completed yet, he refrained from disturbing them.

Finding a quiet spot, Haruki sat down and glanced at the wound on his shoulder.

He had already removed the embedded shuriken while en route.

And now, the wound had completely healed.

It was important to note—he hadn't used any healing jutsu during this time. All he had done was channel a bit of chakra to the affected area.

Yet within ten minutes, the injury had entirely closed.

Clearly, after his recent transformation and his "Constitution" stat reaching 19, his body's regenerative abilities had been significantly enhanced once again.

"Not bad," Haruki nodded in satisfaction.

Without wasting time, he raised both hands, quickly formed hand seals, and activated a medical jutsu—Mystic Palm Technique.

A surge of bright, Yang-aligned chakra filled his body, enhancing his physical structure as he cycled the technique.

Once, twice, three times...

Fifteen repetitions later, feeling his chakra nearly depleted, he finally stopped.

But now was the perfect moment to practice the Shadow Clone Technique.

This jutsu was notoriously chakra-intensive.

To maximize chakra efficiency, and to make the most of the 15,000 chakra points allocated for it, the best time to practice was when his chakra reserves were already low.

And now, after battle, flight, and chakra enhancement, his reserves were nearly drained—ideal for his purpose.

Let's begin training.

With that thought, Haruki raised his hands, crossed them into the "Ram" sign, and cast the Shadow Clone Technique.

Poof!

A cloud of chakra-infused smoke burst outward as one shadow clone appeared beside him.

Haruki and the clone stood still for a moment, synchronizing their state.

Then, he canceled the jutsu, and immediately re-cast it.

Again and again.

Twenty full repetitions.

After finishing, he opened his stat interface—his Shadow Clone Technique proficiency had increased by 20 points.

Expressionless, he closed the interface and checked the time.

An hour had passed.

It was time.

With a gesture, he dispelled the ten clones still training nearby.

Immediately, a surge of chakra and memories flooded into him—all the experience and insights gained by the ten clones during the past hour.

Closing his eyes, Haruki calmly began to process everything.

Ten minutes passed.

He had fully integrated the clones' training experience into his own muscle memory and skills.

Without pause, he formed hand seals once again and created ten fresh shadow clones.

These clones inherited his current state—the perfect mental condition, the latest mastery level of each skill.

Training with this refreshed mindset was like climbing further from the summit, not starting from the base.

This was what he referred to as "resetting the state."

Waving them off to resume training, Haruki himself began channeling the Soul Reflection Technique, initiating the next stage of evolution for his Sharingan.

Time passed.

Half an hour later, his chakra had dipped again, so he returned to Shadow Clone practice.

Once that was done, he absorbed their memories and experience again.

And so the cycle repeated—every hour a complete reset.

Like a machine, Haruki trained relentlessly.

It was monotonous, yes.

But Haruki didn't mind.

Watching the proficiency numbers on his status interface steadily rise behind every skill, he felt his effort was paying off.

Which only motivated him to train harder.

Time ticked on.

Two hours slipped by in a flash.

The moon had faded, and dawn was on the horizon.

After absorbing another wave of experience and memory from ten clones, Haruki created one final set.

Then, he stood up.

Casting Wind Release: Wings of Wind, he soared off toward the direction of Blackstone Outpost.

It was time to submit his mission report.

As for those ten final clones—they would continue training for an hour before naturally dispersing.

When that time came, Haruki—already inside the outpost—would still receive all their insights.

After that, it would be time to focus entirely on advancing the Mystic Palm Technique and Soul Reflection Technique.

(End of Chapter)