Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

A few breaths later, Haruki finally ended his jutsu, then began panting heavily.

"Huff... Huff... Huff..."

Hearing the rough breathing, the nearby Konoha jonin snapped out of his shock. Looking at Haruki, he asked with concern:

"Are you alright?"

Haruki waved a hand dismissively and steadied his breathing.

"I'm fine."

He truly wasn't injured.

The reason he'd been panting so heavily was simply because he had drawn too much chakra at once. It had nearly gone out of control, putting immense strain on his body.

But it was also precisely because of that surge that his Wind Release: Great Breakthrough had packed such devastating power.

"Good... glad you're alright."

Seeing Haruki's breathing visibly stabilizing, the jonin next to him relaxed and gave a brief nod.

But right as the two spoke, from the chaotic battlefield ahead, a long, sharp spear of solidified rock came flying at blinding speed—aimed directly at Haruki's chest.

"Look out!"

The Konoha jonin immediately shouted a warning.

Haruki's Sharingan spun rapidly, locking onto the stone spear's trajectory. With a flash of movement, he effortlessly dodged the attack.

Another spear followed right after—then a third, and a fourth.

In the blink of an eye, more than a dozen stone spears shot toward him, all targeting vital areas.

But no matter how many they launched, none of them hit.

Haruki's figure blurred and shimmered as he weaved through every single attack with ease.

And more than that—he had already pinpointed the caster's location.

Mid-dodge, his hands flashed through hand seals. A transparent wind blade formed between his palms, and with a sharp thrust forward, he launched it like a missile.

"Ugh..."

A stifled grunt came from the distance.

With the Sharingan's acute perception, Haruki saw clearly—a Hidden Stone jonin had been struck in the arm by the wind blade.

Seeing that his target was still staggered, Haruki didn't hesitate. He flung several shuriken with practiced precision—aimed directly at the enemy's throat, heart, and lower abdomen.

The jonin did his best to dodge, but one of the shuriken sliced into his left waist, further weakening him.

That was the kind of opportunistic precision Haruki excelled at.

He always knew how to take advantage of an opening.

Just as he was about to launch another attack, the surrounding Iwa shinobi finally snapped out of it and started retaliating en masse—some threw ninja tools, some used jutsu, and others charged directly.

Haruki's expression didn't change.

Calm and composed, he drew the short sword from his hip—and rushed straight in.

That single motion was like a trigger.

Behind him, the Konoha forces surged forward as well.

Twenty meters wasn't far—not for shinobi.

In the time it took to blink, both sides collided.

Chaos erupted instantly.

There were sounds of weapons clashing, of ninja clashing hand-to-hand, and the violent explosions of paper bombs detonating amid the crowd.

The battlefield was a storm of noise and fury.

Haruki moved like a specter through the Iwa ranks, short sword in hand, dodging attacks with nimble footwork and striking with terrifying efficiency.

Every stab he made either killed or critically wounded an enemy.

The reason?

Simple.

Every time his opponent saw him strike, they froze.

Like sheep awaiting slaughter, they just stood there.

It was eerie—but that was the power of his Illusion Sword Technique (Genjutsu: Phantom Blade).

Unless they had a way to resist his instant-cast Genjutsu: Sharingan, there was nothing they could do but die.

For most chunin and genin, unless they had direct support, facing Haruki meant getting one-shotted.

With his Sharingan fully active, Haruki could track every slight movement around him.

No attack escaped his notice.

As he weaved through their ranks, he continued scanning for opportunities—and every time he found one, another Iwa ninja fell.

After cutting down seven or eight mid-to-low-level Iwa shinobi, an Iwa jonin finally arrived, trying to stop his relentless assault.

But Haruki didn't even acknowledge him.

With fluid motion, he slipped past all the jonin's attacks, darting straight into another cluster of enemies.

The Iwa jonin chased after, only to be intercepted by a Konoha jonin. The two clashed fiercely.

Haruki gave the Konoha jonin a quick glance—he nodded in return and engaged the Iwa jonin directly.

Haruki turned his eyes back to the battlefield, switching back into kill mode.

Normally, he wouldn't fight this recklessly—but this was different.

They needed to break through the enemy lines, and fast.

If the Iwa squads on the other two fronts arrived, they'd be completely surrounded.

And when it came to survival…

"Better them than me."

This wasn't the time for mercy or battlefield etiquette.

He had only one goal: cut down everyone in his path and open a route for his comrades to get through.

Everything else—irrelevant.

Time ticked by, second by second.

With Haruki and the other combat jonin spearheading the assault, the entire Konoha force broke through the Iwa blockade in under three minutes.

It might've seemed ridiculously fast, but it wasn't.

First, Konoha's jonin outnumbered the enemy's—so Iwa couldn't stop them through brute strength alone.

Second, Konoha's overall numbers were also higher, so the Iwa side couldn't rely on numbers either.

Most importantly, Haruki was at the front, carving a bloody path like a demon, making it impossible for the Iwa side to organize any meaningful resistance.

And that's why the entire Konoha unit made it through so quickly.

But making it through didn't mean the danger was over.

In fact, the real test was only just beginning.

Behind them, the Iwa shinobi, seeing the Konoha force escape, gave chase without hesitation.

And now that the two sides were no longer intermingled, Iwa's jonin no longer had to worry about friendly fire. They unleashed their full power, bombarding the Konoha forces with reckless jutsu barrages.

Konoha had no choice but to leave some ninja behind to deal with it.

That naturally slowed the whole team down.

Which was exactly what the Iwa jonin wanted.

They didn't care about conserving chakra—they just kept hammering away, trying to buy time.

Why?

Because reinforcements were on their way.

Speak of the devil...

Barely a minute later, the squads from 2 o'clock and 10 o'clock arrived, merging with the original pursuit team.

Though they'd missed the best chance to complete the pincer attack, the sheer increase in numbers still put enormous pressure on Haruki's group.

But even so, Haruki and the others never stopped moving.

They knew clearly—

If they halted now, they'd face wave after wave of enemies.

Their only hope was to keep charging forward until they reached the outpost at Fengliu Town.

Yes, many of them might die in the process.

But that…

was already the best possible outcome.