Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

A few seconds later,

Haruki had completely drained the chakra from the two enemies.

Just as he was about to extract their physical energy and mental energy, both men were suddenly killed by attacks from other Iwa-nin.

Haruki immediately sensed the sudden emptiness in their spiritual energy and muttered under his breath:

"What a waste…"

Without hesitation, he tossed their corpses forward—

right at a few Iwa-nin in front of him.

Startled, they instinctively jumped back to avoid the bodies.

But as soon as they found their footing again, a figure appeared beside them—

It was Haruki.

Using the two corpses as cover, Haruki had taken advantage of their distraction to blink directly into their midst using Body Flicker Technique.

"Leaf Strong Whirlwind—!"

He raised his right leg and delivered a spinning back kick—

instantly knocking all of them flat.

Haruki's upgraded physical attributes didn't just boost his chakra reserves and recovery rate.

They also significantly enhanced his overall body performance.

Even without specialized physical training, his speed and strength were now well above most elite jōnin.

Which meant—

When he unleashed a Leaf Strong Whirlwind, it hit just as hard as the technique of a veteran jōnin who'd trained it for years.

Haruki glanced over the downed enemies, scanning quickly.

With just one look, he locked onto the two with the most chakra.

He flickered twice and grabbed both of them.

Just like before, he used Chakra Absorption Technique—

draining their chakra while using their bodies as shields against enemy attacks.

The two tried to resist, but Haruki easily neutralized their efforts.

Draining 1,000 chakra points per second, there was barely any time for resistance—

Within a few breaths, their chakra was gone.

What could they even use to fight back?

And on top of that, there were other Iwa-nin attacking from the sides.

Moments later, both men died.

Haruki tossed aside their corpses with a hint of regret, preparing to repeat the process.

But then—

An Iwagakure jōnin suddenly charged in from a short distance away.

Haruki shot him a glance, then swept his eyes over the growing number of Iwa-nin nearby.

He also checked in with his own body—his chakra was nearly at capacity again.

After a quick mental calculation, he made his decision.

Without hesitation, he turned and leapt into the depths of the forest.

The Iwa jōnin arrived at the scene and watched Haruki's figure disappear into the trees.

He threw a few kunai in symbolic pursuit but clearly had no intention of chasing him down.

After all, this wasn't just any shinobi—

Uchiha Haruki was one of the top Konoha ninja specifically mentioned in their mission brief as a high-priority target.

Which was exactly why the jōnin didn't dare chase him alone.

He was well aware of Haruki's strength.

If he didn't catch him, that was fine—

But if he did catch up…

One-on-one, he'd be totally outmatched.

And who could say if there were any traps or ambushes waiting in the direction Haruki had fled?

Weighing the risk, he chose not to pursue.

After all, his orders were to seize the high ground.

As for Haruki—

Someone else could chase him if they wanted to.

He wasn't risking it.

Still…

"Why did he charge across the frontlines to get here in the first place?"

Suspicious, the jōnin—Shikō—began questioning the nearby Iwa-nin about what had just happened, while checking the bodies lying on the ground.

Unfortunately, all four had been killed by their own side's attacks in the chaos.

And the battle had been too intense for any of them to mention that their chakra had been drained.

So after some investigation and questioning, Shikō found nothing unusual.

But it was only a matter of time—

If Haruki kept using the same tactic, sooner or later, word would spread that he was draining enemy chakra.

Haruki himself was already mentally prepared for that.

So what if the Iwa-nin found out?

At most, they'd get a little more cautious, maybe make things a bit more difficult.

As for Konoha…

Even if the information did get back to the Leaf Village, it wasn't a big deal.

As long as he didn't drain his own comrades, no one would have any reason to come after him for it.

So—

He was going to keep draining.

In the forest…

Haruki came to a stop.

Once he confirmed that Shikō hadn't followed him, he didn't retreat very far.

From where he stood now, he could still see the Iwa-nin through the forest canopy, thanks to the Sharingan's incredible perception.

After steadying his breath, Haruki immediately began casting Palm Sage Technique, burning chakra.

This time, it took him over twenty minutes to bring his chakra level back down to around 20,000.

He opened his skill panel and took a look:

Palm Sage Technique: Lv6 (7945/10000)

+111 proficiency

Based on this pace, if he repeated the same process twenty more times, draining around 300,000 chakra points, he could finally push it to Level 7.

"Three hundred thousand chakra… not a small task," Haruki muttered, closing the panel.

Then, he suppressed his presence again and moved stealthily toward the Iwa-nin rear lines.

As for the main battlefield up ahead—

Based on Haruki's estimate of both sides' strength, it would likely be a long, drawn-out fight.

Nothing he needed to worry about right now.

Soon, Haruki closed in on the Iwa formation again.

Finding the right opportunity, he pounced—

causing another wave of panic.

Then, he disappeared back into the trees.

Shikō looked down at the five new corpses with a grim expression.

That's right—Haruki had once again targeted Shikō's sector of the battlefield.

But can you blame him?

As the saying goes:

"If you're gonna pick a persimmon, pick the soft one."

Since Shikō clearly wasn't bold enough to pursue him, Haruki had no reason not to take advantage.

He had full confidence in his strength and believed that even if he attacked a different area, he could still escape.

But—

"If there's an easy mode, why play hard mode?"

Besides, any chakra lost in battle was still lost chakra.

Even small amounts—Haruki didn't want them to go to waste.

So—

Over the next hour and a half, Haruki launched three more surprise attacks on Shikō's area,

draining chakra from fourteen mid- and low-tier Iwa-nin in total.

Adding in his earlier harvest, he had collected 65,000 chakra points, completing one-fifth of his target.

But continuing further wouldn't be so easy.

Not because Shikō had grown bolder—

But because he was running out of troops.

There simply weren't many Iwa-nin left for Haruki to drain.

Through the forest canopy, Haruki watched the ongoing skirmish, with Shikō still fighting hard.

Haruki decided it was time for one final big strike.

He moved carefully to the edge of the battlefield, waiting for the right moment.

Thwip, thwip, thwip—!

Several kunai shot out toward key blind spots behind Shikō, targeting his vital points.

But—

Shikō dodged the ambush like he had eyes in the back of his head, slipping away with a quick sidestep.

Not only that, he even broke free of the Leaf jōnin fighting him and charged straight toward the hidden Haruki.

Seeing this, Haruki was momentarily surprised.

"Didn't expect him to react that fast…"

But then, he quickly refocused, expression hardening.

The sneak attack may have failed—

But in direct combat, he had nothing to fear.