Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

That night.Inside the training room.

Uchiha Haruki skillfully completed a sequence of hand seals, and chakra surged through his body.

In the next moment, a flash of clarity gleamed in his eyes.

Ahead, a rabbit locked in a small cage immediately fell into a deep sleep under his gaze.

Proficiency +1!

On the skill panel, Reflection Technique instantly advanced from lv0 (99/100) to lv1 (1/200)!

As the Reflection Technique leveled up, a special kind of chakra emerged from within Haruki's mind. It flowed along his chakra pathways and surged into his eyes.

"This is..."

Suddenly, Haruki recalled the explanation Senju Tobirama had once given about how the Uchiha awakened their Sharingan.

According to him, members of the Uchiha clan were born with intense "love." When they lost that love, a special chakra would emerge from their brain and affect their visual nerves.

At that moment, their eyes would transform — awakening the Sharingan.

That description was eerily similar to what Haruki was currently experiencing, making it impossible not to draw connections.

"Panel!"

With a thought, Haruki opened his skill interface.

[Name: Uchiha Haruki][Age: 10][Constitution: 6][Spirit: 7][Chakra: 415 (580 → 622)][Bloodline: Sharingan · Not Awakened (51/100)]

[Skills:]

Chakra Refinement: lv2 (9/500)

Clone Technique: lv2 (1/500)

Transformation Technique: lv2 (1/500)

Substitution Technique: lv2 (1/500)

Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique: lv0 (52/100)

Reflection Technique: lv1 (1/200)

Basic Taijutsu: lv2 (1/500)

Ninja Tool Throwing: lv2 (120/500)

"No change?"

Haruki's expression froze when he saw that the Sharingan's awakening progress was still at (51/100).

He hadn't expected that Reflection Technique would have no effect.

"No... something's not right…"

Taking a deep breath, Haruki slowly exhaled, closed his eyes, and fell into a moment of reflection. Once he calmed himself, he performed the hand seals again and cast Reflection Technique once more.

Before mastering the technique, he had needed a rabbit to serve as a target to ensure a successful cast.

But now, he no longer needed an external target — he could cast it at will.

The only downside: upon reaching lv1, each use of Reflection Technique consumed at least 200 chakra points.

Before and after leveling up, the chakra cost for the Three Basic Techniques also increased, but nowhere near this much.

Then again, that made sense. The Three Basic Techniques were E-rank — casting them used only about 20 chakra points.

But Reflection Technique was an A-rank genjutsu. Before reaching lv1, each cast already cost at least 100 chakra. Now that it consumed 200 chakra per use, it was expected.

Fortunately, Haruki had a sizable chakra pool; otherwise, he wouldn't be able to sustain this.

Pushing aside those thoughts, Haruki focused on feeling the effects of the Reflection Technique.

Just like before, a special kind of chakra was born in his brain and flowed into his eyes.

Moments later, he opened his eyes.

Still, the Sharingan awakening progress on the panel didn't budge.

But this time, Haruki wasn't particularly disappointed.

Why?

Because based on what he had just sensed, he knew his eyes were moving closer to awakening the Sharingan.

In other words, Reflection Technique was working — just at a very subtle level.

That subtle effect was reflected on the panel by the progress bar remaining unmoved.

"Now the question is... how many times will I have to cast Reflection Technique to get the Sharingan's progress to increase by just one point?"

With that thought, Haruki began channeling chakra again and performed the technique once more.

Once, twice, three times...

Several hours passed.

By the time Haruki pushed Reflection Technique to lv1 (10/200), the Sharingan progress bar finally ticked up to (52/100).

Letting out a long sigh, Haruki finally relaxed.

He had expected this, but only when he saw the panel actually change did he feel truly at ease.

After estimating his chakra usage, he realized he had spent around 2,000 chakra points just to advance the Sharingan by a single point.

Was the cost high? Yes and no.

For a genin, gathering that much chakra was a challenge. But for a chunin, it was totally manageable.

Even if someone couldn't boost their proficiency by 10 points in one sitting, doing it gradually would still work.

Even casting it once per day — in a few months, the Sharingan would awaken.

"Then why has no one else in the Uchiha clan succeeded using this method?"

It might be that no one could persist for years… but a few months? Surely someone had managed that.

Haruki didn't underestimate the Uchiha clan's desire to awaken the Sharingan.

With that kind of drive, maintaining a daily routine for a few months shouldn't be a problem.

And yet — no one had awakened the Sharingan through this method.

That unsettling realization cast a shadow over Haruki's thoughts.

He pondered for a long time but couldn't come up with a good explanation.

Since he couldn't figure it out, he decided not to dwell on it anymore. The panel had shown progress — that was what mattered.

What he needed now was to grind.

Luckily, he had a few days off from school, so he planned to use the time to master Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique and also monitor the Sharingan's awakening progress more carefully.

With that data, he could design a more efficient training plan.

But those were thoughts for another time.

Haruki yawned and glanced at the clock. It was already 5:00 AM.

He had stayed up all night just to confirm the effectiveness of Reflection Technique. Now, it was time to rest.

The next day.Noon.

After a quick meal, Haruki headed to the training grounds and began practicing on his own.

First came chakra refinement.

With his lv2 Chakra Refinement Technique, the results were impressive. In just three hours, he restored 600 chakra points.

With a full chakra pool, he began practicing Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique.

As a C-rank offensive jutsu, each cast consumed at least 50 chakra points.

Currently, his fireball technique sat at lv0 (52/100).

Each time he performed it properly — regardless of success — his proficiency increased by one point.

In other words, he needed 48 more successful attempts to reach the next level.

48 x 50 = 2,400 chakra points.

That just happened to be the maximum amount of chakra Haruki could reasonably use in a single day.

Unless his constitution increased again, or he found a better type of ration pill that was easier to digest, this limit wasn't likely to improve.

Boom—!

A fireball erupted from Haruki's mouth, rapidly expanding into a massive sphere nearly 1.5 meters in diameter.

It smashed into the ground, blasting open a large crater. The pit was charred black, and even after the flames faded, it radiated intense heat.

By the end of the afternoon, Haruki had pushed his Fireball Technique to lv0 (75/100). While he hadn't fully mastered it yet, he could successfully cast it from time to time.

Just like that earlier fireball — that was already at an entry-level standard.

Looking up at the sunset, Haruki didn't linger. He headed straight home.

After a short rest, he resumed training again.

Since ninjutsu wasn't convenient to practice indoors, he focused entirely on Reflection Technique.

Over and over again, until deep into the night — when he finally drifted into sleep.

The days that followed passed just like this.