Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

Time ticked by, second by second.

The number of "Ghost Corpses" on the battlefield visibly decreased, their ranks thinning as Uchiha Haruki moved through them like a phantom, his short sword slicing through one neck after another with cold efficiency.

During the slaughter, Haruki made several discoveries.

These "Ghost Corpses" didn't just possess formidable close-combat skills and basic ninjutsu. They could also release a strange toxic mist.

Well—calling it a "mist" might not be entirely accurate. Its nature was closer to that of a bacteria.

Once it made contact with living flesh, it would rapidly multiply, attacking the body from within. The host would gradually become sluggish, their limbs stiffening—until finally, they transformed into something just like a Ghost Corpse.

However, this tactic was useless against Haruki.

Before the toxic mist could get close, he would use Wind Style: Great Breakthrough to blow it away.

And once that was done, the Ghost Corpses were met with yet another round of merciless killing.

As the battle continued, Haruki noticed that Specter's condition was worsening.

Any sane person, faced with such a one-sided massacre, would have weighed their options and retreated, then planned a counterattack.

But Specter?

It was as if that concept didn't even exist for him.

The more Haruki killed, the more unstable Specter became. His emotions began spiraling out of control, until, eventually, he was like a wild beast—completely consumed by rage and blind aggression.

That behavior puzzled Haruki.

But he didn't dwell on it. Given the situation, this was just a minor distraction to him.

What really mattered now was wrapping this up and examining the effects of his recent body evolution.

Fifteen minutes later, the number of remaining Ghost Corpses had dropped to three.

Even so, they didn't back down. They kept roaring and charged toward Haruki again.

Haruki didn't hesitate. He flickered forward, and with three quick slashes—two heads fell.

Now, only one Ghost Corpse remained.

Just as Haruki was about to strike again, the final enemy suddenly came to a halt.

His crazed expression visibly calmed.

"Hmm?" Haruki paused and narrowed his eyes.

Judging from the look on his face, it seemed Specter's rationality had returned—at least temporarily.

Haruki decided to wait and see what he'd do next.

Specter's now-sane eyes slowly swept across the blood-splattered battlefield, but he showed no hint of emotion at the corpses of his fallen allies.

Then, his gaze settled on Haruki.

Seeing that Haruki remained completely unscathed, a flash of undeniable fear flickered in his eyes.

"Uchiha Haruki… You're strong. Truly strong."

Specter's voice was hoarse and dry, so grating it made one's ears ache.

Haruki showed no reaction.

Seeing this, Specter suddenly burst into laughter.

"Ahahahaha—!"

And then his tone flipped without warning.

His face twisted in madness, and he screamed,

"BUT YOU CAN'T KILL ME!"

"I AM IMMORTAL!"

And with that, he self-destructed.

The next second, an inky, viscous green mist surged outward like a liquid cloud, forcing Haruki to jump back several steps.

When he finally stopped, the toxic mist had already vanished—absorbed completely into the ground.

Haruki furrowed his brow and stood still, silently sensing his surroundings.

Suddenly, as if something had clicked, he quickly made his way to one of his subordinates—the unfortunate chunin from earlier.

Now, the man's entire body had withered and collapsed, looking no different from a Ghost Corpse.

Earlier, Haruki had left him alone because he hadn't been sure if the man was truly dead.

But now?

Now he was certain.

After Specter's self-destruction, a green liquid had seeped from the corpse's surface and quickly burrowed into the ground.

The moment it vanished, the man's vital signs disappeared, and his body began to decay rapidly.

Haruki stared at the vanishing mist and muttered to himself, his mind forming a theory.

If he was right…

That toxic mist was Specter.

Or at least, his consciousness.

Specter had likely found a way to transfer his spirit into the bacteria-like mist—using the Ghost Corpses as shells, or incubators, to survive and reproduce.

In theory, as long as even a small trace of the mist remained, Specter could resurrect.

That would explain his earlier claim of being "immortal."

But Haruki also figured something else:

If too little of the mist survived, then reviving would be extremely difficult.

It would be like shattering one's spirit into a thousand shards—and only keeping a few. The odds of pulling oneself back together would be slim.

And even if Specter did manage to return, he likely wouldn't be the same.

Repeated fragmentation of the soul might destroy even the basic foundations of human thought and emotion.

Eventually, Specter might end up as nothing more than a living mass of instinct-driven bacteria.

Haruki shook his head and sighed internally:

"This world really is twisted. So many madmen… and so many geniuses."

He didn't know how Specter had pulled it off—but one thing was clear:

No matter how twisted, he truly had the mind of a genius.

"Maybe we'll meet again someday…"

With that thought, Haruki stood and glanced at his surviving subordinates.

After a moment's pause, he ordered,

"Sweep the area. Make sure no enemies slipped away."

"Yes, Captain!" they replied, then scattered into the forest.

Once they were gone, Haruki could no longer hold back his excitement.

He opened his proficiency panel immediately.

A familiar, faint blue light screen appeared in front of him:

[Name: Uchiha Haruki]

[Age: 12]

[Physique: 12 → 13]

[Spirit: 15]

[Chakra: 22,500 (33,268 → 35,732)]

[Bloodline: Sharingan – Three Tomoe (9999 / 10000)]

[Skills]:

Chakra Refinement Technique: Lv5 (261 → 338 / 5000)

Wind Style: Blade of Wind: Lv4 (750 → 1650 / 2000)

Shadow Clone Jutsu: Lv3 (290 → 335 / 1000)

Chakra Absorption Technique: Lv5 (1920 → 1965 / 5000)

Rasengan: Lv4 (1390 → 1700 / 2000)

Palm Sage Technique: Lv6 (3727 → 6725 / 10000)

Chakra Scalpel: Lv4 (702 → 772 / 2000)

Heart Reflection Technique: Lv7 (4885 / 20000)

Swordsmanship: Lv6 (1350 → 2285 / 10000)

Illusion Sword Technique: Lv2 (20 → 250 / 500)

Flash Blade Technique: Lv1 (160 / 200)

Chakra Control: Lv4 (1805 → 1965 / 2000)

[Perfected Skills]: None yet

From the panel, it was clear:

His body's evolution had caused his Physique stat to increase from 12 to 13, just as expected.

Thanks to this, his potential ceiling rose again.

His theoretical chakra cap jumped from 44,000 to 56,000.

And with greater physical resilience, his body could now endure longer periods of running the Chakra Refinement Technique—about an extra hour per day.

If that were the only benefit, it would have meant around 2,000 extra chakra restored daily.

But in reality?

That was just the tip of the iceberg.

The real benefit was how much faster his body could now recover chakra on its own.

When combined, Haruki estimated he could now regenerate 42,000 chakra per day, compared to his previous 33,000.

That was a massive leap, and every one of his skills would benefit from it.

And there was something else…

Now that his Physique had reached 13, he was one step closer to matching his Spirit stat of 15.

Which meant—

He was nearly ready to safely awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan.

In fact, Haruki could already feel it—like the power was just waiting to burst forth.

He looked at the progress bar:

Three Tomoe Sharingan: (9999 / 10000)

Haruki hesitated for a long moment.

The desire to awaken the next stage was burning inside him.

But finally, he shook his head.

"I've waited this long… no point in rushing it now."

He decided to hold off.

Once he raised his Physique to 14, he would attempt the awakening.

By then, even if his Spirit surged and strained his body, he wouldn't be in danger.

"Yeah… That's the plan."

In that instant, Haruki's mind was made up.