Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

The moment Uchiha Haruki exposed the genjutsu, the withered figure—Specter—no longer bothered to waste chakra and promptly ended the illusion.

Gradually, the eerie laughter that had filled the forest faded away.

Only then did the Konoha chunin lower their hands, though the fear on their faces lingered. They were still visibly shaken.

Haruki, however, remained calm as ever. Without rushing to attack, he looked at Specter again and asked,

"Why are you here for me?"

Specter smirked. "Why? Isn't it obvious? Money, of course."

He didn't bother to hide it.

"There's a bounty on your head in the black market. I just happened to be the first one to try and claim it."

"Black market, huh…" Haruki murmured. "So it really is a bounty ninja…"

In fact, Haruki had already suspected as much. The moment he noticed these strangers had no village insignias and looked nothing like standard ANBU operatives, the identity became obvious.

As for who had issued the bounty?

He had a pretty good guess.

Most likely, it was Ōnoki. The man had always preferred using external forces to eliminate the village's enemies. In fact, the later rise of the Akatsuki couldn't be separated from Ōnoki's early support.

So having him hire bounty hunters to eliminate Haruki now made perfect sense.

One detail served as further confirmation: this area was deep in the heart of the battlefield. Without help from Konoha or Iwagakure, no one should've been able to breach so many defensive layers and arrive here alive.

But Konoha?

Unlikely.

Even someone like Danzo wouldn't act against him at this stage—not until Haruki had outlived his usefulness. There was still value to be squeezed out of him.

So that only left Iwagakure.

Still—

"Ghost Corpse Clan? What even is that?"

Haruki felt a chill of confusion.

Across both his past life and this one, he had never once heard of such a name. "Ghost Corpse Clan"… It sounded like a Kekkei Genkai clan.

But it was entirely unfamiliar to him.

That left two possibilities:

The clan was so minor it barely registered—a forgotten footnote, now trying to look impressive.

The clan existed but was wiped out during this Shinobi World War, which is why there were no records of them afterward.

And then—

Haruki's eyes narrowed. A third possibility crossed his mind.

What if the clan never existed at all?

What if this so-called "Ghost Corpse Clan" was nothing more than an invented identity?

With that thought, Haruki activated his Sharingan, carefully observing Specter and the people behind him.

Specter reacted immediately. Whether out of guilt or caution, he didn't say a word and instead ordered his men to attack.

Haruki didn't move.

His subordinates struck first, while he stood silently, observing everything with sharp focus.

As the first clash began, the Konoha chunin were quickly thrown into disarray.

They were caught completely off guard.

Why?

Because these enemies weren't fighting to protect themselves—they were charging forward in suicidal attacks, just like their clan name suggested.

The "Ghost Corpse Clan" truly lived up to its name.

These warriors threw themselves at the Konoha ninja like walking time bombs.

The Leaf shinobi had never seen anything like it, and were immediately overwhelmed.

Haruki saw it clearly: even if these enemies didn't rely on self-destructing tactics, their base combat strength was already above average chunin level.

If they weren't concerned about injuries or death, they could likely hold off even elite jōnin.

"I wonder if they have other tricks…" Haruki mused.

Right then, one of the attackers got caught.

A Konoha chunin managed to stab a kunai up through the enemy's jaw, straight into the brain.

It should've been a fatal blow.

But instead of falling, the attacker's lips curled into a twisted grin.

The next moment, their body began to swell, their skin lighting up with strange curse-seal markings, as if ready to explode.

A surge of danger washed over the Konoha ninja.

The chunin quickly tried to retreat—but it was already too late.

Just as the enemy was about to detonate, Haruki suddenly appeared by his comrade's side.

He grabbed the chunin by the arm, launched off the ground, and blasted away like a missile.

BOOM!

A low, muffled explosion shook the woods.

Black blood and flesh blasted out in all directions, covering a ten-meter radius with gore and bone fragments.

When the smoke cleared, everything—grass, trees, soil, even rocks—had been torn to shreds.

Had anyone been caught in that, death would've been instant.

Haruki set the rescued chunin down and looked warily at Specter.

Just that one self-destruct tactic made these enemies incredibly dangerous.

And then—

Haruki's eyes swept the forest.

From the shadows, countless figures emerged, surrounding them without making a sound.

The Konoha chunin quickly pulled back to Haruki's side.

One whispered, "Captain… what now?"

"'What now?'" Specter sneered before Haruki could reply. "My target is Uchiha Haruki. Be smart, and get out of the way."

It was a clear attempt to drive a wedge between them.

The Konoha ninja weren't fools. They knew it was a ploy.

But still, their eyes drifted briefly toward Haruki.

Haruki didn't flinch. His expression didn't change.

He simply looked around at the gathered enemies and calmly said,

"All of these… they're you, aren't they?"

Specter tilted his head, playing dumb.

"What are you talking about?"

But Haruki wasn't fooled.

The flicker of panic in Specter's eyes when he asked had already given him the answer.

Smiling faintly, Haruki turned to his subordinates.

"Protect yourselves."

Then he lunged toward Specter.

Even before moving, he had already cast Genjutsu: Sharingan.

Though they were nearly 30 meters apart, Specter was frozen on the spot.

The Ghost Corpses didn't even have time to react before Haruki arrived.

In a flash of steel—

Slash.

Specter's head was severed cleanly and sent flying into a tree before thudding to the ground and rolling seven or eight meters away.

Only then did Specter break free from the genjutsu.

When he looked at Haruki again, his eyes were filled with fury and malice.

His mouth opened and closed like an old man wheezing, releasing hoarse, unsettling sounds.

"You live up to the name 'Ghost Blade.' But Uchiha Haruki—you can't kill me."

The severed head spoke.

And in the same moment, one of the corpses near Haruki began to swell—and exploded, faster than the one before.

BOOM!

Blood and shattered bones flew everywhere again—but Haruki was already gone.

A split second later, another head flew through the air.

Haruki reappeared twenty meters away, his sword having already claimed a second kill.

Before that head even hit the ground, he vanished once more.

Then a third, then a fourth—

Three heads severed in the blink of an eye.

Finally, Specter responded.

He began controlling all nearby Ghost Corpses, ordering them to attack Haruki in unison.

Explosions rocked the area.

Haruki was forced to retreat and dodge repeatedly, and his movements became far more restricted.

At the same time, every Ghost Corpse around him spoke with Specter's voice, their mouths moving in sync:

"Uchiha Haruki… don't struggle.

There's no point.

We are immortal… undying…

You cannot defeat us.

Just give up…"

Their voices clawed at Haruki's mind—a demonic, unrelenting chorus, trying to wear down his will.

But it was useless.

Haruki never said a word.

He simply kept cutting them down, one after another.