Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

Countless thoughts flashed through Uchiha Haruki's mind, but he quickly shook his head to clear them. No use dwelling on the what-ifs. He shifted his focus back to the Mist ninja below.

By now, the two Mist squads had closed in on each other—the distance between them was less than a hundred meters.

Haruki made a quick decision. He ignored the squad directly below him and instead turned sharply in the air, flying toward the reinforcements approaching from the rear.

As for the squad beneath him?

If they gave chase, he'd simply hold off both units.

If they ignored him and continued as planned, they'd soon run into the Konoha reinforcements at the outpost.

Either way, it worked in his favor.

After all, if he only had to deal with half the enemy force, the numbers wouldn't be so lopsided. It would be like setting up a fair duel.

Whoosh—

Chakra wings flared behind him as Haruki accelerated. In the blink of an eye, he was above the newly arrived Mist unit.

No tricks. No pretense.

He dived straight into them with a decisive, deadly charge.

The Mist shinobi didn't hesitate either. On the order of a jonin, they stopped and immediately hurled a barrage of kunai.

Haruki's Sharingan activated to full power. He spotted the faint shimmer of explosive tags attached to the weapons.

There was no time for ninjutsu, even though many of his jutsu had been perfected to lightning-fast speeds.

But their combined velocity meant he had no window to form hand seals or gather chakra.

Not that it mattered.

He'd prepared for this.

In one smooth motion, Haruki drew the long blade from his waist.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Steel rang out in rapid succession. He swung the blade in a tight, impenetrable arc, slicing down every kunai before they could reach him.

By the time the explosive tags detonated, he had already broken through the rain of weapons.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Deafening blasts erupted behind him. Fireballs bloomed in the sky, briefly outshining the sun.

But Haruki, moving too fast for the flames to catch, looked like he'd burst from the heart of the inferno.

The Mist ninja watching were stunned into silence.

Even those who had already finished their hand seals for a second volley of ninjutsu faltered. They had expected him to evade, not charge head-on.

That single second of hesitation cost them.

Haruki dodged their attacks with a casual twist of his body, propelled by Wind Style: Wings of Wind.

Then he retaliated.

Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!

Same technique. Same impact.

Even though these Mist ninja had been on guard since the last time, they were still caught off guard.

Why?

Simple. There was no concealing mist this time, but Haruki's overwhelming strength had created a perfect opportunity.

The result was the same.

Mist shinobi scattered like leaves in a storm.

Haruki didn't press the attack right away. He glanced toward the other Mist unit in the distance.

They made no move to retreat or regroup.

Good.

Time to finish this half.

Wind Style: Wind Blade!

Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!

Fire Style: Phoenix Fire Jutsu!

Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!

One jutsu after another rained down.

Some targeted individuals.

Others engulfed entire groups.

Haruki didn't hold back. He wasn't concerned about chakra conservation.

He unleashed everything with ruthless efficiency.

The effects were immediate and devastating.

In moments, seven or eight Mist ninja were dead. More than a dozen were wounded.

Keep in mind, after his earlier ambush, only around 120 Mist ninja remained.

Now, nearly a sixth of their force had been wiped out in mere seconds.

The psychological blow was enormous.

Even worse—they couldn't touch Haruki.

After several failed attempts to regroup and counterattack, a few of the Mist jonin gave up on fighting back altogether.

Instead, they began leading their squads toward the Blackstone Outpost.

Haruki narrowed his eyes.

In the distance, he saw the Konoha reinforcements intercepting the other Mist squad.

He decided not to risk direct interception anymore.

Instead, he shadowed the retreating Mist ninja from a distance, harassing them with long-range strikes.

By the time the two Mist forces finally reunited, their numbers had dropped below a hundred.

Even those who survived were on edge—fatigued, tense, and off-balance.

But with both squads now merged, Haruki's opportunities for high-ground advantage vanished.

Not because the Mist ninja had become more dangerous.

But because the Konoha reinforcements had joined the battle. Haruki now had to avoid friendly fire.

Making things worse, the Mist ninja cleverly stayed close to the Konoha shinobi, using them as human shields.

That made precision attacks nearly impossible.

Haruki picked off a few stragglers, but ultimately, he had to abandon this safer hit-and-run strategy.

If things continued like this, the ten Mist jonin would decimate the Konoha support team before he could finish off the enemy.

Indeed, the reinforcements summoned by Captain Sano Nobuhisa were clearly outmatched.

In terms of both quantity and quality, they were inferior.

There were only six elite jonin or special jonin among the Konoha side, while the Mist side boasted a full ten jonin.

Clearly, Haruki had to step in.

No more waiting.

He dove.

His target: a Konoha jonin currently being overwhelmed by three Mist jonin.

At the last moment, Haruki deactivated Wings of Wind and descended in a blur.

He landed between the attackers and the defender.

Shing!

His blade sang as it left its sheath.

With lightning-fast strikes, he intercepted all three enemy jonin in an instant.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The Mist ninja pulled back, reassessing their new opponent.

Behind him, the Konoha jonin's voice rang out, full of relief:

"Haruki-san!"

Haruki didn't turn.

"Go help the others. I'll handle these three."

"Understood. Be careful!" the jonin replied before disappearing with a Body Flicker Technique.

He clearly had complete faith in Haruki.

The Mist jonin didn't pursue.

They fixed their full attention on Haruki.

They knew exactly who they were dealing with—and none dared take him lightly.