Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

Clang!

Clang!

Clang!

Three consecutive sword strikes were parried precisely by Aikawa Sukai. In that moment, Uchiha Haruki immediately sensed something was off. After a brief analysis, he quickly understood the opponent's intent.

His gaze swept the battlefield. Iwagakure still had the upper hand. Although squads from Konoha were arriving one after another, the staggered arrival times meant Iwa ninjas continued to hold a numerical advantage.

On top of that, their forces this time were composed of elite shinobi. As a result, Konoha's casualties remained higher.

Given the situation, enemy reinforcements showing up here was practically guaranteed.

Haruki even spotted a few Iwa Jonin already starting to take notice of his side of the field.

"No. I can't give him time to stall for backup."

With that thought, Haruki stopped holding back and unleashed his full power.

Instantly, the pressure on Aikawa Sukai skyrocketed—the sound of metal clashing rang out non-stop.

Gripping his kunai tightly, Sukai fended off Haruki's rapid and precise attacks from his blind spots. Despite his best efforts, he couldn't avoid getting wounded.

Once Haruki went all in, it only took a dozen exchanges before two more cuts appeared on Sukai's body.

They weren't deep, but they were enough to impact his mobility—and Haruki exploited every weakness.

In the past, he might not have been able to fight with such precision. But ever since his Sword Mastery leveled up from 5 to 6, his control over detail had significantly improved.

Still, that wasn't enough.

If there were no other enemies around, Haruki wouldn't have minded wearing Sukai down little by little.

But with enemy reinforcements likely to arrive any second, wasting time now would be foolish.

So he waited for an opening.

The moment Sukai blocked another of his strikes, Haruki immediately activated an A-Rank technique—Rasengan.

Over the past month, his Rasengan had risen from level 3 to level 4, and his proficiency had increased dramatically.

In the blink of an eye, a high-density chakra sphere spun to life in Haruki's left palm, and he thrust it toward Sukai's back.

An overwhelming sense of danger exploded in Sukai's mind.

He didn't have time to think. Pure instinct took over.

He rapidly transformed chakra inside his body into Lightning Style chakra and forcibly pumped it into his legs.

Crackle!

A flash of lightning surged down both limbs.

Sukai's muscles and reflexes surged—heightened to their limit.

At the very last second, he dove forward, just barely dodging Haruki's Rasengan.

Well—mostly.

The spinning chakra sphere still grazed his back.

In an instant, the fabric of his shirt shredded under the rotating force, and a twisted, blistered wound appeared across his exposed skin—deep and jagged.

"Ugh…"

Sukai let out a muffled groan, gritting his teeth against the pain. He forced himself to stand and narrowly evaded Haruki's follow-up thrust from the side.

Yes, Haruki's attacks hadn't stopped—in fact, they'd grown even more relentless.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

In a breath's time, Haruki unleashed several more sword strikes from varying directions, one after another.

Sukai blocked what he could, but with injuries piling up, his defense faltered.

Shlick—

The sound of a blade cutting through flesh echoed sharply.

Haruki drove his sword into Sukai's left flank, just above the waist, carving a deep wound down to the bone.

The strike had been aimed at Sukai's heart, but the Jonin twisted away at the last second—causing the blade to miss its intended mark.

Well—not entirely.

Even though the blow hadn't hit his heart, the injury was severe, costing him at least 20% of his combat ability.

And in a battle of this intensity, that was enough to mean death.

Haruki moved like a ghost—circling Sukai, pressing harder with every step.

Sukai, in turn, completely ignored the damage Lightning Style chakra was doing to his body. He forcefully stimulated his nerves and muscles, pushing his reaction speed to its peak just to keep up.

But artificial stimulation never lasted long.

Barely three minutes later, Sukai's lightning chakra flickered and faded, and his speed plummeted.

Haruki's eyes lit up.

In a flash, he thrust his short sword forward, and—

Shlunk—

The blade punched through Sukai's lower back.

"Aaaagh!!"

The searing pain finally overwhelmed Sukai's discipline—he screamed out.

Haruki ignored it.

His left palm opened again. With a single thought, he formed another Rasengan—this time, a silent, hand-sign-free version.

Once more, he lunged, chakra sphere blazing toward Sukai's spine.

But—

"Stop!!"

A loud voice suddenly rang out from nearby.

Haruki's brow furrowed, and his gaze flicked toward the source.

Charging toward them at full speed was a middle-aged Iwa ninja.

Ahead of him, three shuriken hurtled toward Haruki, all aiming for vital spots.

At that moment, Haruki had two options:

If he chose to finish off Sukai, he could only dodge two of the shuriken, tops.

But if he abandoned the attack, he could dodge them all.

Considering he still had other enemies to face, Haruki chose to avoid unnecessary injury.

He stepped back—abandoning the Rasengan attack.

But he wasn't about to let Sukai off that easily.

As he retreated, he suddenly ripped his sword free and swept it sideways, carving a long gash across Sukai's waist.

With that wound, on top of the earlier piercing strike and the multiple cuts from before, Sukai was basically out of the fight.

And still—Haruki wasn't satisfied.

As he moved backward, he reached into his gear pouch and pulled out a kunai tied with an explosive tag—and hurled it straight at Sukai.

"Damn it!" cursed the middle-aged Iwa Jonin.

With a burst of speed, he flickered into position beside Sukai and snatched him up just before the kunai struck.

BOOM—!

A fireball and cloud of dust burst into the air, the shockwave knocking both Iwa ninja off their feet.

But Haruki had already anticipated this.

Dodging the blast, he immediately launched a follow-up attack at their last known position.

Forming hand signs at lightning speed, he activated:

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"

BOOM—!

Another fiery explosion detonated, blasting away the surrounding smoke and dirt.

Haruki raised his hand to wave away the remaining dust and looked toward the blast zone.

No sign of them.

Clearly, they'd escaped just in time.

Haruki was just about to search for their trail when a flurry of kunai came flying from the side, aiming straight at his vitals.

He turned sharply.

His Sharingan tomoe spun rapidly—locking onto each kunai's trajectory in a fraction of a second.

And in that moment, he saw the attacker.

It was the same middle-aged Jonin who had rescued Sukai.

Now, the man was hidden behind a tree, his appearance a bit battered, but otherwise unharmed.

Clearly, Haruki's surprise attacks hadn't injured him much.

Haruki's gaze narrowed slightly as he peered into the man's chakra flow—undeniably Jonin-level.

And considering he'd already fought several battles today, it was clear his true strength likely exceeded that of a standard Jonin.

That matched perfectly with the skill he had just demonstrated.

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