Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh!

Just as Ishii Ichiro dodged Haruki's kunai, several shuriken came flying toward him, cleverly sealing off his escape routes.

Forced to act, Ichiro swung his kunai to deflect the incoming projectiles.

Seizing this opportunity, Uchiha Haruki once again used the Body Flicker Technique, closing the distance between them in a flash.

Just like before, they locked into combat again.

Ryosuke and Shizuko stayed close, carefully following Haruki's earlier instructions. They focused on disrupting Ichiro's movements without engaging recklessly.

"Damn it!"

As Haruki's movements became increasingly fluid and confident, Ichiro felt like a mere sparring dummy. Frustrated and furious, he had no outlet for his rage.

At that moment, a kunai flew at them from the side—not at Ichiro, but at Haruki, who was locked in battle.

"Watch out!"

"Careful!"

Two warning shouts rang out almost at the same time.

A chill swept over Haruki's spine. He leapt backward instinctively.

Whoosh—

The kunai sliced the air, flying just past his face.

From the corner of his eye, Haruki spotted a middle-aged Iwa shinobi charging toward him, a Konoha chunin giving chase closely behind.

The one who had first shouted the warning was that very chunin—a familiar face.

Haruki recognized him. He was the one who had helped organize their defenses earlier. He'd been running around putting out fires on the battlefield, and now he'd come to assist them.

But—

Haruki glanced at the Iwa shinobi who'd tried to sneak attack him, his expression sour.

If it hadn't been for that ambush, he'd still be farming battle experience from Ichiro!

"Damn it, I was just trying to take it easy—and now you force my hand."

That's right—Haruki had already decided to go all in.

It was obvious now: this enemy had singled him out.

In such a situation, staying passive would only result in being ganged up on.

So, if someone was going to strike first—it might as well be him.

As for exposing some of his strength?

So be it.

With that thought, Haruki pulled out six shuriken and threw them.

Three blocked off the enemy's retreat, two anticipated his evasive path, and the final one aimed directly at his chest and stomach.

The middle-aged Iwa shinobi clearly hadn't expected such a fierce counterattack. His reaction was delayed and awkward.

That moment of hesitation was enough for the pursuing Konoha chunin to catch up. Their weapons clashed violently.

But with every advantage comes a downside.

While Haruki had prevented the ambusher from getting close, he had also given Ichiro a moment to breathe.

At the exact moment Haruki threw his shuriken, Ichiro also launched a kunai of his own.

Haruki didn't have time to block—he could only dodge.

That single evasive movement gave Ichiro ample time to act.

He immediately widened the gap, completed a rapid series of hand seals, and slammed his palm into the ground.

"Earth Release: Fissure Palm!"

A jutsu erupted from the earth. Multiple cracks, each a meter wide, split open in a fan shape, all surging toward Haruki's position.

Ryosuke and Shizuko tried to interfere, but lacking combat experience, they failed to find a good opening. Their thrown weapons missed completely.

The result: Ichiro successfully cast his jutsu.

The ground beneath Haruki trembled violently. Watching the jagged rifts rush toward him, his expression grew serious.

Raising both hands, Haruki completed the hand seals for Body Flicker at his fastest possible speed.

Just before the ground collapsed beneath him, he managed to escape the range of the jutsu by sheer velocity.

It had to be said—earthquake-style jutsu like this were extremely unfriendly to non-flying shinobi.

If Ichiro had more chakra, or if he'd mastered this technique fully, Haruki might not have even been able to stand properly—let alone run.

But it was over.

Haruki looked at the frustrated and winded Ichiro in the distance and didn't hesitate.

He charged straight at him.

Yet before he even arrived, three kunai he had thrown earlier were already upon Ichiro.

Ichiro's sharp eyes caught a glimpse of an explosive tag tied to one of the kunai.

He immediately retreated.

Boom!

A flash of fire exploded.

A shockwave burst outward from the detonation, clearly visible to the naked eye.

The blast startled nearby combatants. For a brief moment, the chaos of the battlefield fell into silence.

Haruki ignored it all. He had made his move—and he wasn't going to hesitate now.

Using the fiery smoke as cover, he closed in on Ichiro.

Just as Ichiro assumed Haruki would engage in melee again, Haruki suddenly halted, his hands weaving seals.

Rat → Tiger → Dog → Ox → Rabbit → Tiger.

Six seals completed in the blink of an eye.

Haruki took a deep breath, channeling Fire Release chakra to his throat, and exhaled with force.

In the next instant, a flurry of small, flaming fireballs—like phoenix flower seeds—shot out and spiraled toward Ichiro.

Never mind their power—the display alone was dazzling, befitting the elite flair of a true Uchiha.

But Ichiro wasn't impressed.

The moment he saw Haruki forming hand seals, he'd already sensed something ominous.

And now it had come to pass.

He had no choice but to dodge.

As the fireballs rained down, Ichiro twisted and turned, evading as best he could.

Still—he couldn't escape unscathed.

When the flames finally dissipated, his clothing was scorched in several places, and his face was blistered with burns.

Thankfully, Haruki's Fire Style: Phoenix Fire Jutsu wasn't very high-level. Its power was limited, and without Sharingan for enhanced targeting, the attack lacked precision.

Otherwise, this would've been enough to seriously wound or even kill him.

Still, Haruki wasn't done.

Before his chakra could settle, he began weaving seals again.

Ichiro panicked and started forming seals of his own—planning to flee with a jutsu.

But before he could complete the motion, a violent surge of mental energy hit him like a brick.

Suddenly, he saw a vivid image—Haruki throwing a kunai straight at him.

Instinctively, he sidestepped.

But a heartbeat later—agony bloomed in his chest.

Looking down in disbelief, Ichiro saw a kunai embedded deep in his heart.

In his final breath, Ichiro forced himself to look up.

He saw Haruki's arm still outstretched, the kunai just released.

And with a whisper, he muttered—

"Genjutsu… huh…"

That's right—Haruki had just used Genjutsu.

But it wasn't the infamous Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique—that required the Sharingan.

Haruki didn't plan to reveal that part of his strength just yet.

Instead, he used a far more subtle illusion—Mind Reflection Technique.

Though it's often dismissed as symbolic, used primarily to stimulate the Sharingan's evolution, it still had real illusion effects.

It could disrupt the target's senses just enough to alter their judgment.

Haruki had planted a false image of himself throwing a kunai—so that Ichiro would dodge preemptively.

And when Ichiro moved to avoid it, that's when Haruki truly struck—resulting in a perfect one-hit kill.

Ichiro had no chance to resist.

After all—who would ever expect a genin to wield this many advanced skills?

And with Haruki's Genjutsu proficiency already at Level 3, nearly Level 4, it was his most polished ability—almost as effective as a C-rank illusion technique.

No shame in being fooled.