Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

Shff, shff, shff—

Dozens of kunai rained down like a sudden storm, blanketing the area where Uchiha Haruki had stood moments before.

Then—

BOOM!

A thunderous explosion tore through the forest—one of the kunai had been embedded with an explosive tag, erupting with violent force.

And that was just the beginning.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Explosions followed in rapid succession, wave after wave of shockwaves ripping through the area.

Nearby trees swayed wildly. Those too close were snapped in half by the blasts and came crashing down.

As flames from the detonation spread, the surrounding forest began to catch fire, casting the entire area into a chaotic blaze.

Pft!

As the dust finally settled, Haruki crawled out from beneath a fallen tree trunk, spitting out bits of debris.

Brushing the grass from his head, he stood and narrowed his eyes, alert and focused on the direction the kunai had come from.

Through the lingering smoke and flame, a dozen or so shadowy figures could be seen standing with arms crossed, silently watching.

"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"

The Konoha jonin beside Haruki quickly weaved hand signs and unleashed a powerful gust of wind from his mouth.

Whoosh—

The smoke was instantly swept away, revealing the attackers:

A group of Iwagakure shinobi.

Haruki's eyes scanned over the enemy one by one, stopping when he reached the man in the center.

There was no doubt—that one had the strongest chakra.

His very presence exuded danger.

The others?

Aside from a handful of elite jonin, most were just high-level chunin—not enough to be considered a real threat in Haruki's eyes.

But while Haruki observed them, they were studying him just as intently—especially the one in the center, who suddenly spoke:

"As expected from a Uchiha prodigy. You noticed our ambush in advance. Tell me—what gave us away?"

"Noticed the ambush in advance?"

Haruki almost rolled his eyes.

Truth be told, he'd only reacted oddly because he'd just received some memory feedback from a shadow clone—his timing had been coincidental at best.

But apparently, the enemy had misinterpreted it as him predicting their trap.

Maybe if he'd walked a little farther, he would've discovered the ambush—but at that moment, he hadn't sensed a thing.

A complete misunderstanding.

If the enemy had just waited a few more seconds, they would've realized there was no actual threat of exposure.

But unfortunately for them, they panicked and launched the ambush early.

Haruki certainly wasn't about to explain any of that to them. Letting them remain confused was to his advantage.

Still, the incident highlighted a clear flaw in Haruki's current capabilities—

He lacked large-scale detection methods.

"I'll definitely need to work on that," he thought.

Then he turned to the Iwa jonin and replied coolly,

"Take a guess."

"A guess?"

The man narrowed his eyes at Haruki's mocking tone, raising his hand to signal an attack—

But before he could say anything, Haruki and the Konoha jonin beside him spun on their heels and bolted into the woods.

At the same moment Haruki had spoken, he'd covertly signaled his comrade to retreat. The moment the Iwa ninja got distracted, they took the chance to escape.

Watching the two vanish into the forest, the Iwa jonin's face darkened.

"After them!" he barked.

"Yes, Captain!"

The Iwa shinobi quickly acknowledged the order and rushed after them.

Meanwhile, their captain formed several hand seals. No one knew what technique he used, but the moment he tapped the ground with his right foot—

he vanished.

Elsewhere—

Haruki and his companion sprinted through the woods, simultaneously sending out distress signals to their main force.

Suddenly, a faint tremor shook the ground beneath their feet.

The two exchanged a glance, and without a word, leapt backward in opposite directions.

Just in time.

BOOM!

The earth beneath where they'd just been erupted violently. Chunks of dirt and rock exploded outward, forcing them to retreat even further.

"Explosive tags?"

"No... Something's off."

Haruki immediately ruled that out.

Not only did the sound and blast pattern differ from a normal explosive tag, but more importantly—this was the same path they had just come from.

They had specifically chosen this return route to avoid traps.

There was no reason for any explosives to suddenly appear now.

His thoughts raced as he scanned ahead.

When the dust cleared, he saw a lone figure standing in a large crater, fists clenched.

It was the Iwa jonin who'd stood at the center of the ambush earlier—the one who had given off such a dangerous vibe.

Haruki's eyes moved from the man's clenched fists to the crater at his feet.

Suddenly, something clicked in his mind.

He looked more closely at the man's features—

A slim frame, sunken cheeks, and wild brown hair shaped like an explosion.

It all felt eerily familiar.

"Karu?" Haruki called out tentatively.

Yes—this man's appearance reminded him of Karu, the demolition specialist from Iwagakure who had been reanimated during the Fourth Great Ninja War by Kabuto.

Karu possessed the Explosion Release kekkei genkai—a powerful ability that allowed him to create detonations through physical contact.

Sure enough, the man furrowed his brows and asked,

"You know me?"

Which was basically an admission.

But Haruki didn't look pleased to see a "familiar face."

On the contrary—his eyes filled with caution.

Because in many ways, Karu was the perfect counter to Haruki.

Karu was a close-combat specialist who fought with his fists—already a dangerous matchup.

But what made him terrifying was the Explosion Release—

He could infuse his punches with chakra and cause anything he touched to explode.

The crater beneath him was clear evidence of how destructive that ability could be.

For someone with a human body, getting touched meant certain death.

That gave Karu a terrifying edge.

He could fight with a "trade-blows" mentality, forcing Haruki to abandon tactics that relied on visual feints or close-up deception.

All he had to do was survive one of Haruki's strikes and then counterattack—it was a dangerous gamble that could work in his favor.

But that didn't mean Haruki was helpless.

If close-range tricks weren't viable, then there was always genjutsu—and in that department, the Sharingan was second to none.

As the sound of pursuing enemies grew louder behind him, Haruki stopped hesitating.

He opened his mouth as if to respond to Karu's question, then suddenly—

Activated his Sharingan.

In one smooth motion, he raised a hand and unleashed:

"Genjutsu: Sharingan!"

"Shit!"

Karu instantly sensed danger.

He jumped back, preparing to shut his eyes—

But it was too late.

Haruki's Genjutsu: Sharingan had already reached Level 7 – Mastered.

With a mere glance, the illusion was cast.

Karu's body froze—completely trapped.