Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

Clang!

A crisp metallic clash rang out.

Uchiha Haruki's blade slashed forward, knocking the kunai out of Yamada Shinichi's hand.

Without pausing, he twisted his wrist, swinging his blade horizontally and carving a long gash across Yamada Shinichi's chest.

"Ugh—"

The searing pain forced a muffled groan from Shinichi as he stumbled back several steps, temporarily widening the gap between himself and Haruki.

Just as he tried to catch his breath and reach for another kunai, Haruki had already closed the distance.

Whoosh!

Cold steel glinted as Haruki swung again—this time, aiming directly for Shinichi's neck.

At this moment, Shinichi had no strength left to evade.

In the nick of time, a kunai flew from the side.

A chilling sense of danger surged through Haruki's heart. His Sharingan caught a glimpse of the kunai, and he knew—if he didn't stop this swing, he'd be hit. Severely, if not fatally.

Whoever had thrown it had timed it perfectly.

"Tch."

Haruki clicked his tongue and aborted the strike. He twisted his body slightly, withdrew his blade, and knocked the incoming kunai away with a horizontal slash.

Yamada Shinichi had narrowly escaped death.

Without hesitation, he leapt backward several times, putting more distance between himself and Haruki.

Haruki didn't pursue.

One look was enough—he had already seen through Shinichi's fighting style during their exchanges. Creating another opportunity to finish him off wouldn't be difficult. Plus, the wound across Shinichi's chest had severely weakened him. He was likely functioning at less than half his full strength.

No point in chasing him further.

More pressing now were the two Mist Jonin approaching him.

Haruki turned toward the direction the kunai had come from. Two Mist Jonin were walking toward him from opposite sides.

Behind them lay the corpse of a Leaf Jonin, throat slit and lifeless.

There had originally been six Jonin in the Leaf's support squad. The Mist side had ten. Haruki had held off three himself, leaving seven more Mist Jonin.

Seven against six.

Five of the Leaf Jonin were engaged in one-on-one duels. Only the slain one had been double-teamed.

No wonder he had been killed.

After all, not every Jonin possessed the strength to take on multiple opponents and survive, like Haruki did.

Most Jonin were just skilled professionals—their power levels weren't vastly different. In one-on-one battles, unless one ninja's technique completely countered the other's, the odds were typically around 50-50.

At best, a 60-40 split.

In chaotic combat, even that small difference often didn't matter.

As for Jonin with significantly higher win rates—they were the elite Jonin. The cream of the crop.

Clearly, the fallen Leaf Jonin wasn't one of them.

Facing two enemies of equal rank, he had little chance.

And truth be told... his enemies might not have been equal rank at all.

Haruki's gaze slid to the Mist Jonin on the right. Through his Sharingan, he could see the opponent's chakra—much higher than a typical Jonin's.

Moreover, one particular chakra stream within the body was in a constant state of activation, as if a jutsu was being sustained.

That suggested elite status.

But the only way to be sure was through battle.

Haruki's body shimmered with blue light.

He activated "Shunkenjutsu"—Instant Sword Technique.

In a flash, he moved at full speed. In less than a heartbeat, he stood face-to-face with the Mist Jonin.

Their eyes met.

Haruki attempted to cast Genjutsu: Sharingan.

But the Mist Jonin's reaction was sharp—just as Haruki activated his Sharingan, the man closed his eyes, sensing the danger.

Haruki sighed inwardly. No choice but to abandon the genjutsu.

But he didn't halt his attack.

Whoosh!

The blade gleamed as Haruki slashed at his opponent's neck.

Clang!

The Mist Jonin raised a short sword, perfectly intercepting the strike.

Before Haruki could adjust his stance, his opponent pressed forward. He twisted his body to avoid Haruki's blade, then scraped his short sword along it and lunged for Haruki's neck.

Screeech!

The long and short blades ground against each other, sparking bright orange flashes.

Haruki's eyes lit up. Even after a single exchange, he could tell—this man was a skilled swordsman.

That excited him.

Having mastered both the Konoha Sword Style and Uchiha Sword Style, and merged them into a complete new system—culminating in his signature Instant Sword and Illusion Blade techniques—Haruki had few equals in swordplay.

Most ninja who fought with blades were no match for him anymore.

But now, at last, a worthy challenger.

Haruki arched back just enough to dodge the stabbing short sword.

Then, without hesitation, he unleashed the full power of his perfected swordsmanship.

The two clashed fiercely.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The constant sound of steel echoed around them.

Haruki's instincts were right—this Mist Jonin's sword skills were top-notch.

Against an average Jonin, this Mist ninja would've already landed a killing blow in close quarters.

That's likely what happened to the fallen Leaf Jonin.

The Mist Jonin was like Haruki before he'd awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan—relying solely on swordsmanship to outclass foes.

But now... he was facing Haruki.

Not only was Haruki's swordsmanship superior, but his overall power was on a different level.

After a long bout, Haruki had uncovered the limits of his opponent's technique.

At a critical moment, Haruki found an opening and slashed his blade straight at the Jonin's neck.

Squelch—

Or so he expected.

To his surprise, there was no sound of flesh being cleaved. No blood sprayed.

His sword had struck the neck—but the moment it touched, his opponent's neck, and half his body, turned into liquid.

"Hydration Technique?!"

One glance was enough. Haruki recognized it instantly.

This ability to transform the body into water could only come from the Hydration Technique, a secret jutsu of the Hōzuki Clan from the Mist Village.

So his opponent was a member of the Hōzuki Clan—and likely a core member at that. Otherwise, he couldn't have learned such a closely guarded technique.

Only now did Haruki realize what the constant chakra activity in his opponent's body had been: the passive maintenance of the Hydration Technique.

Turns out, it was a semi-passive ability.

Thinking about it, that made sense.

Without it being constantly active, how could one selectively liquefy a body part the moment it was attacked?

If it required manually predicting attacks and perfectly timing the transformation, the technique would be far too clunky to be useful—let alone worthy of being called a clan secret.

"Can I learn this?"

The thought flickered through Haruki's mind.

But he quickly shook his head.

Mastering the Hydration Technique wasn't just about chakra control—there were deeper, foundational steps involved.

Even if he captured this Hōzuki Jonin, there was no guarantee he could extract that knowledge. The man likely had seals to block memory theft.

So relying on the Sharingan's copying ability was out of the question.

Reverse engineering the jutsu from a body?

That was Orochimaru's specialty, not his.

He'd rather spend the time training Yamino Kagami, his Mind Reflection technique.

It's just a Hydration Technique.

No way it could compare to his Heavenly Dominion.