Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

At the same time.

Elsewhere.

On the main battlefield—

Munashi Jinpachi was still locked in fierce combat with Uchiha Shisui when he suddenly caught sight of Uchiha Haruki emerging from the forest.

His expression immediately shifted.

He remembered very clearly—just a short while ago, Haruki had been chased off the battlefield by Kurotsuchi Raiga and Pipa Tenzo.

And now... he was back.

"Doesn't that mean—?!"

Jinpachi's mind spun with the implications. Without hesitation, he immediately created distance between himself and Shisui.

His gaze swept toward the forest Haruki had emerged from—but there was no sign of Raiga or Tenzo.

The worst-case scenario had occurred.

Still, Jinpachi didn't hesitate.

He swiftly pulled a whistle from his robes, shoved it into his mouth, and blew hard.

The next moment, a shrill, rhythmic whistle echoed across the battlefield.

Hearing the signal, the Mist ninja were stunned for a moment—but then, their faces changed all at once.

They shot a glance at Jinpachi, and without any further hesitation, they pulled back from the Leaf shinobi and began retreating in unison, all in the same direction.

A few Konoha ninja, bloodthirsty from battle, tried to pursue them.

But Uchiha Shisui quickly stepped in to stop them.

After calming his chakra flow, Shisui made his way to Haruki and asked:

"What happened to the two who were chasing you?"

Clearly, he had seen Raiga and Tenzo pursuing Haruki off the battlefield earlier.

"I killed them," Haruki replied flatly.

"What?! You killed them?!"

Shisui had already guessed something along those lines after they failed to reappear—but hearing it confirmed still left him stunned.

It wasn't that he doubted Haruki's words—a fact-check would easily reveal the truth. And Haruki had no reason to lie.

It was how he did it that shocked him.

Even fighting Jinpachi alone, Shisui found himself struggling.

But Haruki?

He had taken down over a dozen elite Mist special jōnin, then eliminated a particularly difficult Kaguya clan jōnin.

Now, he'd defeated both Kurotsuchi Raiga and Pipa Tenzo, who were on par with Jinpachi.

This kind of strength had long since surpassed normal jōnin level.

"Could it be…"

Suddenly, Shisui recalled some ancient notes left by their Uchiha ancestors.

One note described the Sharingan evolving beyond the three-tomoe stage.

"It's called the Mangekyō Sharingan… right?"

With that thought, Shisui fixed his gaze on Haruki's eyes.

Haruki met his probing stare with an eerily calm expression.

Their eyes locked, and Shisui felt a faint sense of pressure from Haruki's gaze.

But it wasn't overwhelming. Not the kind of absolute suppression that the ancestral notes had warned about.

"Am I just overthinking it…?" Shisui wondered silently.

"Something wrong?" Haruki asked, as if he hadn't noticed anything unusual.

"Oh… no." Shisui snapped out of it and shook his head. "Nothing."

He glanced across the battlefield, pausing briefly on the corpses of their unit commander and vice commander, then withdrew his gaze.

"Haruki, what should we do next?"

"What should we do?" Haruki echoed, his eyes scanning the battlefield. Seeing the surviving but wounded Konoha shinobi, he answered,

"Let's rest for now. Then we keep moving forward."

"Keep going?" Shisui's expression shifted slightly. He lowered his voice and said meaningfully:

"Isn't that too risky? What if there are still enemies hiding in the shadows?"

His meaning was clear—these Mist ninja were just the visible threat. The ones lurking in the dark hadn't even acted yet.

Haruki nodded slightly in acknowledgment.

"Then let's rest for now. As for the hidden threats—let me check."

With that, he raised his hands and released the Shadow Clone Jutsu.

Poof—!

A puff of chakra smoke erupted, and Haruki's figure vanished instantly.

Seeing this, Shisui's eyes widened in shock.

"A shadow clone?!"

That's right. The Haruki who had just spoken with him was merely a clone created earlier to divert the attention of Aburame Ryoma and the others.

Haruki's real body was still on his way back!

At that moment, Shisui began to doubt all his previous judgments.

Even just a shadow clone with a Sharingan had pressured him slightly…

What kind of power would the real Haruki possess?

"Could it be… he really awakened the legendary Mangekyō Sharingan?"

The thought hit Shisui like a tidal wave.

Meanwhile…

Back in the forest…

Haruki, who was racing back toward the battlefield, suddenly halted.

A stream of memories abruptly surfaced in his mind—his shadow clone's experiences.

Haruki quickly scanned the information, and immediately understood:

Shisui must have noticed something.

With the clone vanishing so suddenly, it had surely deepened Shisui's suspicions.

Still, this wasn't done on purpose.

When Haruki had split off that shadow clone, Ryoma and the others hadn't yet appeared.

The clone hadn't known about the situation on his end.

So, after completing its task of diverting attention, the clone had simply followed its pre-set instructions and dispelled itself.

If everything had been going smoothly, it would've passed the latest battlefield intel back to Haruki.

If Haruki had been in battle, it could also help replenish his chakra.

A win-win either way.

As for Shisui's growing suspicions?

Anyone familiar with the Sharingan, after seeing my combat performance, would have suspicions anyway.

As long as he didn't confirm anything himself, that doubt would remain just that—doubt.

And now that his strength had risen to this level, no one could easily act against him based on vague suspicions.

So, a little speculation meant nothing.

With his thoughts sorted, Haruki didn't pause any longer.

He kicked off the ground and accelerated his return to the main battlefield.

A few minutes later—

Haruki met up with Uchiha Shisui once again.

Shisui was currently organizing the surviving Konoha ninja to clean up the battlefield.

Haruki took a quick glance—less than half of the original team had survived.

The unit commander and vice commander, both elite jōnin, had been killed in action.

Of the ten special jōnin, seven had died.

Among the fifty-six chūnin, only twenty-three were still alive.

Counting himself and Shisui, only twenty-eight of the original seventy had survived.

Forty-two lives lost.

Haruki did feel some sorrow—but he wasn't surprised.

After all, the Mist's overall combat power far exceeded their own this time.

Even though he had done his best to thin the enemy's numbers, the repeated interruptions and ambushes had limited his effectiveness.

During the times when Haruki had been tied up in battle, the Mist ninjas had fully exploited their superior numbers and elite units, causing massive casualties among the Leaf forces.

Still, thanks to Haruki's efforts, the enemy hadn't come out unscathed either.

By his estimation, of the hundred-plus Mist ninjas involved in the ambush, more than half had died or been seriously injured.

The chūnin didn't matter as much—though elite, they could be replaced.

But the jōnin casualties?

That loss would sting for a long time.