Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

Whoosh—

A kunai came flying from behind.

Uchiha Haruki dodged it effortlessly, as if he had eyes on the back of his head.

Turning around to look in the direction the kunai had come from, he saw an Iwa Chunin charging straight toward him, abandoning the two Konoha genin he had been overwhelming just moments before.

And he wasn't alone—another Iwa shinobi also ditched his fight and started closing in on Haruki.

It was obvious. These two were teaming up to take him down.

But Haruki had already expected this.

Ever since that middle-aged Iwa shinobi had tried to ambush him earlier, he knew he had entered their crosshairs. It was only a matter of time before more came after him.

And if he couldn't avoid it—then he'd take the initiative.

That's why he had chosen to quickly kill Ishii Ichiro earlier.

It was a move meant to disrupt their rhythm.

Just as expected—once Ichiro was dead, these two were forced to drop their current targets and focus entirely on Haruki.

At first glance, it looked like Haruki had simply become a meat shield for the Konoha genin nearby. But if you thought about it deeper, you'd realize—his risk hadn't increased at all.

In fact, it might have even gone down.

If these two had first killed their respective opponents, they likely would've joined up with Ichiro to attack Haruki together—a three-on-one.

But now, with Ichiro dead, it was only two-on-one. The threat level was significantly reduced.

At the same time, the Konoha genin who survived, whether they liked it or not, would draw the attention of other Iwa shinobi nearby—pulling potential threats away from Haruki.

As long as he managed the rhythm of the fight carefully, he wouldn't have to face more enemies in the short term.

All these thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant.

Haruki didn't waste time—he pulled out a kunai and charged directly at the two Iwa shinobi.

Seeing Haruki rushing at them, the two didn't say a word. They exchanged glances and moved to intercept him—clearly intending to engage in close combat.

Normally, unless a ninja was a prodigy, their chakra reserves were limited.

In chaotic battlefields like this, most wouldn't spam jutsu.

No one wanted to burn through their chakra, only to be picked off when they were defenseless.

Every ninja had to calculate and conserve.

True, Haruki had shown strong close-combat abilities during his fight with Ichiro—but that had been a one-on-one.

Now, it was two versus one. These two Iwa shinobi didn't believe Haruki could hold his own.

In fact, they were even a bit relieved.

They clearly remembered how Haruki had used ninjutsu to kill Ichiro. Though they didn't voice it, they held a bit of fear in their hearts.

But now? Haruki had chosen to go melee.

Perfect. That was exactly what they wanted.

There's no way he can fight us both, they thought.

And they weren't entirely wrong.

Even though Haruki had trained his Basic Taijutsu to level 3 mastery and fully grasped its techniques—even though he'd gained solid combat experience from Ichiro—he still couldn't go two-on-one.

Within moments, new wounds appeared on his body.

Fortunately, they were all surface wounds, and didn't yet affect his combat ability.

Clang! Clang!

Haruki swung his kunai to deflect both their blows, then took a step back to create some distance.

The two Iwa shinobi didn't rush him. Instead, they fanned out, approaching slowly from both sides—trying to flank him.

They even threw in a bit of psychological warfare.

"Kid, stop struggling. You can't beat us. Put down your weapon and surrender. Maybe we'll spare your life," one said.

"Yeah, look around. You think anyone's coming to help you? Just surrender before we make you suffer," the other added.

Haruki glanced sideways at the battlefield.

They were right—everyone nearby was caught up in their own fights. No one could come help him, not even Ryosuke or Shizuko.

They were locked in a three-on-one fight with a young Iwa shinobi, along with another Konoha genin aiding them.

The odds weren't great, but it didn't seem life-threatening for the moment.

Haruki quietly let out a breath of relief.

Then, he turned his focus back to the two in front of him.

It was true—without using the Sharingan, he couldn't take on two enemies at once in melee.

But on the flip side, they wouldn't be able to easily kill him either.

The battle came to a stalemate.

And that was exactly what Haruki needed.

As long as he could hold this balance, he didn't have to rush.

Time was on his side.

Once reinforcements arrived, the crisis would be resolved. There was no need to throw his life away fighting these two head-on.

This realization calmed him even more.

The two Iwa shinobi realized their taunts weren't working, so they gave up the talk and charged again.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The high-pitched clang of metal echoed again and again.

Haruki expanded his senses fully, fending off both attackers. He was clearly outmatched, but he didn't collapse.

The fight dragged on for one or two more minutes.

Finally, one of the Iwa shinobi signaled to his teammate, then suddenly pulled back—clearly preparing to cast a jutsu.

Haruki's heart sank. "Not good!"

He knew these two wouldn't let him stall forever, but he hadn't expected them to change tactics so soon.

He thought he had at least a few more minutes. Their impatience caught him off guard.

He tried to retreat, but the remaining Iwa shinobi suddenly intensified his attacks, keeping Haruki locked in place.

It was dangerous. Haruki clenched his teeth.

"Should I activate the Sharingan?"

If he caught his opponent off guard, he was confident he could finish the one in front of him in a single strike.

But he wasn't sure if he could hide the Sharingan from the other enemy afterward.

Once it was exposed, he'd become a target.

Every Sharingan user in the Uchiha clan was a potential future threat. Killing one would be a huge achievement.

And Iwagakure wouldn't hesitate to grab a Sharingan for research purposes—there were no cursed seals protecting it like the Hyuga clan's Byakugan.

Of course, not using the Sharingan didn't mean he was doomed.

But the thought of losing control of the situation made Haruki extremely uneasy.

Just then, a series of sharp whistles echoed across the battlefield—long and short, irregular in pitch.

The Iwa shinobi, who had just been attacking with wild aggression, suddenly froze.

Their expressions shifted, and they exchanged glances with the Iwa shinobi in the rear.

The next moment, both began weaving hand seals and cast some Earth-Style jutsu, retreating toward the edge of the battlefield.

"Wait… are they… retreating?!"

Haruki's eyes widened.

He was stunned—and then elated.

If the enemy was pulling out, he no longer had to worry about exposing himself.