Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

Haruki moved too fast—far too fast.

Not only was Karu caught off guard, but even his teammates didn't have time to react, much less coordinate an attack.

Which meant—Haruki had to follow up himself.

However, just as he had anticipated, even though his "Genjutsu: Sharingan" had reached perfection, it still wasn't enough to hold down a jonin-level opponent for long—not unless his Sharingan evolved into Mangekyō.

And unfortunately for Haruki, Karu was exactly that kind of high-level jonin: mentally fortified and extremely powerful.

Sure enough, Karu snapped out of the genjutsu after only a moment of disorientation.

At that instant, Haruki had just arrived in front of him, short sword stabbing forward.

But Karu, moving on instinct, grabbed the blade with one hand—

BOOM!

A surge of explosive chakra erupted from Karu's palm.

The short sword shattered in an instant, fragments flying in all directions.

Haruki stood frozen for a split second, staring blankly at the now-bare sword hilt in his hand.

What the hell?

He had never experienced something like this before.

The fight hadn't even officially begun, and his primary weapon was already destroyed.

Seeing Haruki dazed, Karu didn't hesitate. He flung the broken blade fragments toward Haruki's face—

And immediately closed the gap in a single stride.

With his left hand clenched into a fist, a violent burst of Explosion Release chakra surged outward, enveloping his arm.

Then he launched a brutal punch straight at Haruki's abdomen.

Had that punch landed, Haruki would have at the very least suffered critical injuries.

Thankfully, despite being stunned by the sword's destruction, Haruki had kept his focus on Karu.

The moment Karu hurled the shards, Haruki pushed his Sharingan to the limit, tracking every move with absolute clarity.

He could see Karu's diversion followed by a strike with pinpoint precision.

Haruki ignored the flying fragments and stomped hard with his right foot, propelling himself sharply to the left.

Karu's punch hit nothing but air.

Even so, the shockwave from his Explosion Release carried enough force to knock Haruki off balance, forcing him to stagger back two steps.

Just the aftershock alone was enough to rattle him.

Clearly, even a missed punch carried power—making Haruki all the more wary.

But Karu didn't give him time to regroup.

Before Haruki could regain footing, Karu advanced again, fists flying in a relentless barrage—left, right, left, right—aimed all over Haruki's body.

This time, Karu had learned his lesson. He didn't look directly at Haruki's eyes, which slightly reduced his accuracy.

But with Explosion Release, accuracy wasn't the point.

As long as the attack connected, it didn't matter where it landed—any hit could be fatal.

And Karu fought accordingly.

Faced with this kind of reckless onslaught, Haruki had no choice but to dodge.

He couldn't let himself get touched—not even once.

On top of that, the explosive nature of Karu's chakra made it impossible to meet him head-on. One wrong move, and Haruki risked having his own fist blown to pieces.

This was the first time Haruki had been put in such a frustrating situation.

Not that it was necessarily dangerous—his fully evolved Three-Tomoe Sharingan made Karu's "slow" punches easy enough to see.

But the problem was…

He couldn't strike back.

Being forced to dodge over and over without countering—it was suffocating.

Finally, after evading more than a dozen punches, Haruki reached into his gear pouch and pulled out a kunai.

Now the dynamic shifted.

With his Sharingan's enhanced perception, Haruki could time his counterattacks precisely—slipping in strikes between Karu's punches.

The battle that had been one-sided was now a full-blown close-quarters skirmish.

Meanwhile, the Konoha jonin who had accompanied Haruki wasn't just standing around—

He was already locked in combat, trying his best to delay the pursuing Iwa shinobi.

Yes, the rest of the Iwa team had already caught up.

Haruki stole a quick glance at the skirmish. His ally was outnumbered, and though he was holding his own for now, it was only a matter of time before he was overwhelmed.

We can't afford to drag this out…

With that thought, Haruki ducked under a punch, found an opening, and drove his kunai straight toward Karu's heart.

That kind of lethal intent forced Karu to retreat and defend.

Seizing the opportunity, Haruki opened his left hand—

A swirling ball of dense chakra instantly formed in his palm.

Rasengan.

A seal-less, high-level technique.

Without pausing, Haruki thrust his left hand forward, aiming the Rasengan at Karu's chest.

Sensing the deadly force behind it, Karu didn't dare to take the hit—he jumped back again, barely avoiding the attack.

And while Karu retreated, Haruki did the same—creating more distance as his hands blurred through seals.

Moments later, a razor-sharp invisible wind blade appeared between his palms.

It was none other than the technique he had copied from Shoji Kohara:

Wind Style: Blade of Wind.

After days of practice, Haruki had nearly reached Level 5 proficiency, and could now use it with ease.

The technique's speed, power, and concealment made it ideal for dealing with an enemy like Karu.

And sure enough, since Karu still wasn't making eye contact with Haruki, he didn't detect the attack in time.

By the time he rushed in again to resume close-quarters combat, he sensed danger and hurriedly dodged—

But not fast enough.

The wind blade sliced across his left arm, leaving a deep, bone-deep gash.

Haruki didn't stop there.

While keeping his distance, he swiftly formed hand seals again and spat out a massive fireball.

Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu—

A signature technique of the Uchiha clan.

Feeling the intense heat bearing down, Karu immediately dived to the side to evade.

Boom!

The fireball exploded, sending scorching flames and shockwaves outward, forcing Karu to keep dodging.

This crucial interruption meant Karu could no longer close the distance.

Haruki finally had a moment to breathe.

Now it's kite time.

Haruki stopped holding back his chakra, weaving seals at blinding speed and casting jutsu in quick succession:

Fire Style: Phoenix Fire Jutsu

Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu

Fire Style: Dragon Fire Jutsu

Wind Style: Blade of Wind

All while lobbing shuriken and kunai embedded with explosive tags.

Thanks to his Sharingan's superior tracking, Haruki could predict Karu's movement patterns with increasing accuracy.

His attacks became deadlier by the second.

Karu, meanwhile, was clearly frustrated.

And he still didn't dare make direct eye contact—afraid of getting caught in another genjutsu.

Finally, after getting cut again by another wind blade, Karu made his decision.

He retreated.

Quickly forming seals, he used the same Earth Style jutsu from earlier and dropped low—

vanishing into the ground.