Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

Chapter 14: Chapter 14



"Hi, I'm Ryosuke!""Uchiha Haruki."Haruki replied concisely to the boy who had walked over to his desk.

With that, he glanced at the other teammate.Shizuko Mizutani seemed a little shy under his gaze. She shrank her neck slightly and spoke in a voice as soft as a whisper, "My name is Shizuko Mizutani."

After exchanging names, the three of them sat together—mostly thanks to Ryosuke's initiative.

The conversation that followed was mostly dominated by Ryosuke. Shizuko responded here and there, while Haruki remained silent for the most part.

From their talk, Haruki learned that both of Ryosuke's parents were chunin-level ninja, skilled in technical fields—one worked in cryptography and code-breaking, the other was in the Barrier Corps.

Still...

Haruki couldn't help but wonder how two quiet and technical people ended up with such a chatterbox for a son.

Maybe he'd been holding it in too long at home?

Just as Haruki was quietly mocking the boy in his mind, Ryosuke suddenly interrupted his train of thought.

"Haruki, you haven't told us about your parents?"

"They were killed in action," Haruki replied calmly.

Ryosuke froze for a moment, scratching his head awkwardly. "Ah... sorry, Haruki. I didn't know..."

"It's alright. It's all in the past now."Haruki remained composed as he spoke again.

Even so, Ryosuke went quiet, clearly feeling a little guilty.

Shizuko Mizutani looked like she wanted to say something, but after several failed attempts to gather her courage, she ultimately stayed silent.

Haruki didn't probe. He already knew what she wanted to say—words of comfort. Maybe the original Haruki would've needed that, but not him.

Time ticked by.

Roughly half an hour later…

A group of over ten jōnin entered the classroom.

Well—not all were true jōnin. Most of them were tokubetsu jōnin.

Tokubetsu jōnin were elite ninja who hadn't quite reached the level of full jōnin in overall strength but had exceptional talent in specific areas. They were essentially specialists—stronger than chunin, but not quite top-tier.

It made sense. The majority of this graduating class had limited potential, and assigning full jōnin to every team would be a waste of resources.

This was wartime. Jōnin were the backbone of the village and were needed on the frontlines. Training the next generation was important, but not as critical as winning the war.

"Team 11, stand up," one of the tokubetsu jōnin called out from the podium.

Immediately, the students named Kōta Nakajima, Hanako, and Hiryu stood up.

Once their identities were confirmed, the instructor led them out of the classroom.

Then came Team 12, Team 13...

Before long, it was Team 17's turn.

"Uchiha Haruki? Shizuko Mizutani? Ryosuke?"A middle-aged shinobi with a scar across his face looked directly at the trio.

"Yes, sensei!" Ryosuke responded on behalf of them.

The man flipped through the papers in his hand and nodded. "Alright, follow me."

With that, he turned and left the classroom.Haruki and the others quickly followed.

About fifteen minutes later, they arrived at Training Ground Ten.

It was in a remote area. Normally, it would take half an hour to get there from the village center. This time, they had sprinted it in half that time.

As a result, both Ryosuke and Shizuko were gasping for air.

Especially Shizuko—being a girl with less physical conditioning, the run had clearly pushed her to her limits.

Even so, Haruki didn't offer any help. He couldn't tell if this was some kind of hidden test from the jōnin leading them.

Based on his observation, Shizuko likely had enough stamina to endure, so he let things play out naturally.

"Alright, we're here," the jōnin finally said as he stopped at the center of the training field.

Haruki and the others came to a halt as well.

The jōnin scanned them with sharp eyes, his gaze lingering a little longer on Haruki. Then he spoke:"You were able to keep up with me—that means you've passed the first test."

"Test?" Shizuko asked, still panting, a confused look on her face.

"That's right, it was a test," the jōnin nodded."On the battlefield, no matter what kind of shinobi you are, poor physical endurance makes you the most likely to die."

Upon hearing that, Shizuko froze, her face turning pale.

She hadn't expected her first day as a shinobi to include talk about death and sacrifice.

When the word "sacrifice" came up, she quietly glanced at Haruki and thought to herself, I wonder how Haruki-kun felt when he heard about his parents… It must've been painful.

Haruki noticed her glance but said nothing.

The jōnin moved the conversation forward. "Alright, take a short break."

Ryosuke and Shizuko immediately sat down on the ground, catching their breath. Only Haruki remained standing, still as a statue.

That level of exercise didn't even faze him.

The jōnin noticed but didn't comment. Instead, he said, "Let's use this break to get to know each other better."

"Great idea, sensei! We don't even know your name yet," Ryosuke chimed in enthusiastically.

The jōnin gave a slight nod and introduced himself:"My name is Furukawa. As you can see, I'm a jōnin. I'm thirty-seven years old. I enjoy playing shogi, and I dislike rule-breakers."

Then he looked at Ryosuke and said,"You can start. Name, age, likes, dislikes, and your dream."

"Yes, Furukawa-sensei!" Ryosuke replied energetically."My name's Ryosuke. I'm ten years old. I like making friends. I hate anything with cilantro. And my dream is to become Hokage!"

Hokage? Another one brainwashed by the Will of Fire, Haruki thought to himself with a sigh.

Furukawa gave a neutral nod, then turned to Shizuko."And you?"

Shizuko, having recovered her breath, finally spoke without gasping."My name is Shizuko Mizutani. I'll be turning ten after the New Year. I like flower arranging, and as for dislikes… uh…"She thought for a moment, then shook her head."I don't think there's anything I particularly hate.As for my dream…"She looked around nervously, then gathered her courage."My dream is to become a medical ninja like Lady Tsunade."

Tsunade? Haruki glanced at her, thinking to himself, Her reputation really does run deep. No wonder she still became the Fifth Hokage despite being away from the village for so long.

Just then, Furukawa turned his attention to him."Your turn, Haruki."

"Mhm." Haruki gave a small nod."My name is Uchiha Haruki. I'm ten years old. I like training. I dislike unnecessary trouble. As for my dream..."

He suddenly trailed off.

Because in that moment, Haruki realized—he had never seriously thought about his future, let alone had a dream.

When he first transmigrated here, he was afraid of being discovered as an outsider, so he focused intensely on training.After absorbing all of his predecessor's memories and experiences, his priority shifted to surviving the upcoming Ninja World War. So again, he trained obsessively.

The furthest ahead he had ever thought was how to survive the Uchiha clan's inevitable purge.

The future?Dreams?

He had never even considered them.

"Haruki-kun?"Shizuko gently poked his arm and asked in a soft voice, "Is something wrong?"


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