Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

It turned out their worries had not been unfounded.

Just after Haruki and his squad finally shook off the last wave of Iwa-nin pursuit and spent over two hours reaching the Fengliu Town outpost, they realized just how dire the situation really was.

Only then did they understand why Fengliu Town hadn't sent reinforcements—it wasn't that they didn't want to help; it was that they simply couldn't.

Currently, not far from the Fengliu Town outpost, two Iwa squads were stationed, and even worse—Rōshi, the Jinchūriki of the Four-Tails, and Han, the Jinchūriki of the Five-Tails, were both among them.

That level of pressure was crushing for the outpost. There was no way they could afford to send anyone out.

In fact, the command here had been desperately requesting reinforcements from other outposts and even the rear headquarters.

"No wonder we never saw the Four-Tails or Five-Tails Jinchūriki during the ambushes... So they were here all along."

Everyone, Haruki included, felt a sudden clarity.

Before this, they'd been worried that the two Jinchūriki might be participating in the effort to encircle them. They hadn't seen either during the fighting and had chalked it up to luck.

Now they knew better—it wasn't luck. It was because Fengliu Town had drawn their attention, keeping them occupied.

It even seemed likely that Iwagakure's main force had also been attracted here. That, more than anything, was why Haruki's team had managed to survive.

After learning all this, Nara Shisui and the others were struck by how close they'd come to death. With the sheer size of the force Iwa had mobilized, had it all been focused on them, they wouldn't have stood a chance, even if they had wings to escape.

And even if a few had survived, there's no way this many people would've made it out.

…Though, to be fair, not many had made it this far anyway. Still, it was better than a complete massacre.

"You all have one day to rest," came a stern voice from their commanding officer.

Standing before them was Omura Yuito, the chief commander of the Fengliu Town outpost. "After that, you'll be joining the defense force and following my orders. Is that clear?"

Their prior mission had been to return here and assist with the defense, so naturally, they had no reason to reject the order.

But before the discussion moved on, Haruki stepped forward.

"Captain Yuito," he asked, "based on current intel, how long until Iwagakure launches a full assault?"

Yuito glanced at him, then answered calmly, "Based on the information we have, it will likely take them another week to complete preparations."

"One week, huh…"

Haruki nodded slowly and said nothing more.

Yuito didn't press him for details. He turned to address the others and began answering their questions one by one.

Haruki, meanwhile, stood quietly to the side, listening to the discussion as he sank into deep thought.

According to his original plan, over the coming days he would pause all other training and focus entirely on practicing Medical Sage Technique. Every drop of chakra he recovered daily would go into strengthening his body.

But the problem was—this kind of body enhancement needed about ten days to go from quantitative change to qualitative transformation. Only then would his "Constitution" stat improve.

And if the main battle broke out in seven days, then he might miss that window. That meant these days of training could end up wasted.

On the other hand, Haruki was reluctant to switch his chakra investment to other jutsu.

After all, improving Constitution was essential for eventually awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan. He didn't want to push that back just because the situation got tough.

He found himself hesitating.

But just then, Omura Yuito said something that lit a spark in Haruki's eyes.

"Over the next few days," Yuito said, "Iwagakure will likely send out smaller squads to probe our defenses. You lot have the most experience fighting them. I'm hoping you'll contribute heavily."

That's right… the Iwa-nin!

Haruki didn't plan on going back to capturing enemies for chakra extraction—this wasn't familiar territory, and trying that here was far too dangerous.

But he did think: if he could draw chakra in the course of regular missions, while clashing with Iwa-nin, then it was a different story.

That way, he could offset his chakra deficit during combat and still push forward with his body's enhancement. If done right, he might still complete his physical transformation within seven days.

But to make that work…

He calculated mentally:

I'll need to absorb at least 17,000 points of chakra every day.

A typical chunin, if drained completely without regard for their survival, could provide around 7,000 points.

Seventeen thousand points meant about two and a half enemies per day.

And factoring in combat losses, movement, and wasted energy, he'd probably need to drain at least three Iwa chunin daily to stay on track.

It sounded tough—

But not impossible.

What he needed was tight planning—no wasted time between missions and training. One slip-up could ruin everything.

Haruki clenched his fist silently, firming up his resolve.

At the same time, Omura Yuito had finished answering everyone's questions and began assigning duties for their upcoming missions.

Soon after, he dismissed them to rest.

Fengliu Town had originally been an ordinary small town, and though many buildings had been damaged during recent battles, quite a few were still usable. Haruki was assigned a room of his own.

Back at his temporary lodging, Haruki didn't rest right away.

Instead, he washed his face, refreshed himself, and immediately began training Medical Sage Technique.

He still had plenty of chakra left today, and he wasn't about to waste it.

As he activated the jutsu, a warm surge of chakra—his Yang Release—began flowing through his body, nourishing his organs and cells.

Roughly three minutes later, the chakra was depleted and the enhancement stopped.

Without hesitation, Haruki formed the seal again and cast the technique once more.

He repeated this cycle every three minutes, slowly pushing his body closer to transformation.

Time passed.

Before he knew it, the sun had nearly set, and his chakra for the day had been completely used up.

Haruki was thoroughly exhausted.

Still, he fought off the fatigue long enough to grab a small meal, filling his stomach before finally allowing himself to fall asleep.

Because he knew—

Without proper nutrition, his chakra wouldn't recover the next day.

And Haruki couldn't afford any setbacks.

Recovery after training was just as important as the training itself.

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