Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

After restraining Aburame Ryoma, Uchiha Haruki didn't rush to kill him.

Instead, he lifted the man's mask.

Though he had never seen Ryoma in person and didn't know what he truly looked like, the distinctive purple markings at the corners of his mouth confirmed the man's identity.

Haruki wasted no time. He immediately formed hand seals and fully activated Genjutsu: Sharingan, forcing Ryoma to begin revealing his memories.

He had to admit—Ryoma's willpower was incredibly strong, and his mental fortitude was impressive.

But under the power of Haruki's Mangekyō Sharingan, it was ultimately meaningless.

Soon, Ryoma's memories began to surface.

Unfortunately, using Genjutsu: Sharingan to read memories was always a bit of a shortcut—many areas in the target's memory were locked behind curse seals and couldn't be accessed.

The most troublesome among them was the "Tongue Curse Seal of Absolute Silence."

Due to this seal, any memories related to Danzo were not only impossible to vocalize—they couldn't even be read.

Additionally, many secret missions related to the Root organization were sealed the same way. Those memories were similarly inaccessible.

In the end, Haruki was only able to extract a few fragments—such as the exact location of Root's headquarters within Konoha, the interior layout, and some structural details.

Useful perhaps in the future—but for now?

Haruki shook his head and mentally cast those details aside.

What he really wanted to know was:

What was this mission truly about?

With that thought, Haruki continued guiding Ryoma to recall more relevant memories.

Perhaps because the current mission was still ongoing, those specific memories hadn't yet been sealed.

So, Haruki quickly uncovered several key pieces of information.

Just as he had suspected—

Over the past several days, the person secretly monitoring him was indeed a Root ninja.

More precisely—Ryoma himself.

Through his memories, Haruki learned that Ryoma had been using a reconnaissance technique called Secret Technique: Dissolution Bugs to track his movements.

He had to admit—Ryoma deserved his reputation as one of Root's top infiltration and surveillance experts in its history.

The original version of this technique only allowed surveillance over a range of a few hundred meters.

But after Ryoma's modifications, it could now monitor targets from two to three kilometers away.

No wonder his Sharingan and even the Byakugan of the Hyuga clan in his squad had failed to detect it!

At such a distance, any detection would've been near impossible.

On top of that, Ryoma had received a rough outline of their mission route from Orochimaru, and had pre-deployed bugs along the route in advance.

This made his surveillance even harder to notice.

Too bad the technique required parasitic insects to function.

Otherwise, Haruki might've stolen the jutsu for himself.

Haruki shook his head and continued digging deeper into Ryoma's memories.

Before long, a faint look of displeasure formed on his face.

From Ryoma's mind, he finally confirmed that this assassination mission had been ordered directly by Danzo.

If that were all, it wouldn't be such a big deal.

But the shocking part was—the plan had been in motion for months.

The only reason it hadn't been carried out earlier was because of the heavy assault from Iwagakure at the time.

The frontlines were unstable, and Orochimaru had refused Danzo's proposal.

That delay was all that spared Haruki.

At that point in time, he hadn't awakened his Mangekyō Sharingan yet.

If this operation had taken place earlier—

He might not have survived the ambush from Kirigakure's elite forces tonight.

Silently, Haruki made a mental note against Danzo, scribbling his name into his growing ledger of enemies.

What surprised him more was the discovery that Orochimaru had played a role in all of this too.

On second thought, it made sense.

At the time, Orochimaru hadn't yet left the Root organization.

Nominally, he was still Danzo's subordinate and needed to follow orders in some matters.

Plus, as the Supreme Commander of Konoha's forces in the Land of Rain, Orochimaru was in a unique position.

Without his cooperation, it would have been impossible to mobilize two famous jōnin like Haruki and Uchiha Shisui.

So, Orochimaru's involvement felt almost inevitable.

Haruki made sure to add his name to the list as well.

However, the Kirigakure ambush itself didn't seem to be Orochimaru's doing.

"Faceless, huh…"

Haruki opened his eyes and muttered.

According to Ryoma's memories, their route details had been passed on to Kirigakure by a Root ninja codenamed 'Faceless.'

As for who this Faceless person actually was?

Ryoma didn't know.

All he knew was that the man was a deep-cover Root agent embedded within Kirigakure, and apparently held a fairly high position.

Haruki thought about it briefly, then dismissed the intel—it wasn't something he could use right now.

With that, he had extracted all the useful information from Ryoma's memories.

The rest?

Even if the Yamanaka Clan Head—a true master of mental jutsu—were here, it would take serious effort.

Haruki didn't bother trying.

With a final thought, Haruki formed hand seals and activated Chakra Absorption Technique.

In the next moment, a surge of chakra began flowing from Ryoma's body into his own, replenishing Haruki's reserves.

"Hmm?"

Ryoma let out a faint grunt—clearly in pain—but remained trapped inside the genjutsu.

That was the power of a fully realized Genjutsu: Sharingan backed by the Mangekyō, unleashed with Haruki's full strength.

Roughly twenty seconds later, Ryoma's chakra had been completely drained.

Even his spiritual and physical energies had been significantly sapped.

The human body couldn't withstand such brutal depletion.

He died on the spot—without a sound.

Thud—

Haruki released his grip. Ryoma's lifeless body collapsed.

Without wasting time, Haruki quickly formed hand seals and unleashed another Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu, incinerating the corpse to a charred husk.

And he didn't stop there.

He gave the same treatment to all the other Root ninja corpses, as well as the remains of Kurotsuchi Raiga and Pipa Tenzo.

Just as he was about to leave, Haruki paused.

Something had caught his attention.

Activating his Sharingan again, he scanned the surroundings and saw—

dozens of kikaichū bugs still fluttering in the air.

Even though Aburame Ryoma was dead, the bugs were still alive.

This was no surprise.

The Aburame clan's relationship with their insects was a partnership.

The ninja provided chakra, and the insects fought in return.

But once the human died, the insects—lacking a chakra source—would die off eventually.

However, Haruki wasn't willing to take the risk.

What if other Aburame clan members could extract intel from these bugs?

To be safe, he decided to eliminate every last one of them.

Without a ninja to control them, the kikaichū—driven by mere instinct—were easy prey.

A few more Great Fireball Jutsu later, the battlefield was cleared of all insects.

Haruki looked around at the now silent, scorched field and nodded in satisfaction.

Without looking back, he turned and left.