Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

What Uchiha Haruki had realized, his teammates had also figured out. As soon as they understood they'd been exposed, Hyuga Hiiro asked in a deep voice,

"Captain, what now?"

Haruki didn't answer directly. Instead, he first asked,

"Hiiro, how far are we from the enemy command center?"

Hyuga Hiiro glanced to the front-right, then replied crisply,

"Through this corridor, take two right turns. Roughly 200 meters in total."

"I see."

Haruki gave a brief hum, then without wasting time, issued the order:

"Forget the guards. From now on, we advance at full speed. We must reach the enemy command post as quickly as possible."

Without waiting for the others' reactions, Haruki bolted forward at full speed.

Seeing this, Hiiro and the others exchanged glances and followed immediately.

Soon, the corridor came to an end. Haruki turned sharply at a 90-degree angle, just as Hiiro had instructed, and continued to the right.

But he had barely taken a few steps when—at the far end of the corridor—three Iwa-nin squads appeared. A total of twelve ninja.

Haruki's gaze swept over them, and in an instant, he used their chakra levels to estimate their strength: two special jonin, ten chunin.

Without breaking stride, Haruki lowered his head and charged straight toward them, with Hyuga Hiiro and the others right on his heels.

Seeing this, the three squads of Iwa-nin tensed up instinctively.

One of the special jonin stepped forward and shouted,

"Stop! The base has been infiltrated. Cooperate for inspection immediately!"

Haruki, ignoring the command, continued charging forward.

The Iwa special jonin gritted his teeth and drew a kunai, shouting again,

"You four! Stop right there!"

This time, Haruki finally halted, and his teammates also came to a stop behind him.

Seeing this, the Iwa-nin slightly lowered their guard, even if they didn't show it openly.

This was exactly what Haruki was waiting for.

The special jonin in front was about to speak again—when Haruki suddenly looked up, revealing a pair of blood-red Sharingan eyes.

"Sharingan? No—!"

The Iwa-nin's heart dropped. His words caught in his throat. He tried to shout an alarm...

But it was too late.

Their eyes met, and Haruki activated a hypnosis genjutsu, momentarily taking control of the special jonin.

In the next instant, six shuriken appeared in Haruki's hands.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh—

The air cracked with slicing sounds.

One shuriken went straight for the paralyzed special jonin's throat. The other five flew toward the remaining eleven Iwa-nin.

Simultaneously, Hyuga Hiiro and the others—fully prepared—also threw their kunai and shuriken.

"Watch out!"

One of the other Iwa special jonin shouted, but it was too late.

Caught off guard, five Iwa-nin were instantly killed, and three more injured. Only four managed to dodge the ambush entirely.

Haruki dashed past the dying special jonin whose throat was pierced, charging directly into the seven remaining Iwa-nin.

His rapid movement caused his Transformation Jutsu to dispel, revealing his true form.

"Demon Blade Haruki!"

The remaining special jonin recognized him and cried out in shock.

Haruki heard the name, smirked, and cast a cold glance at the man—who immediately shut his eyes in fear and began retreating rapidly.

But Haruki didn't chase him. Instead, he used Illusion Sword Technique and a mix of vision-blocking tactics to take out the six remaining Iwa chunin in a blink.

At that moment, Hyuga Hiiro and the others just caught up.

Though they'd heard of Haruki's fearsome nickname "Demon Blade," and knew he was powerful, they couldn't help gasping when they saw his ghost-like swordsmanship.

They were frozen in place, momentarily stunned.

But Haruki didn't care what they thought. As soon as the last Iwa-nin fell, he rushed forward again without hesitation.

Hyuga Hiiro and the others shook off their shock and quickly followed.

Within a few seconds, they reached the end of the hallway. Haruki turned another corner, and up ahead, just a few dozen meters away—was the Iwa-nin command center.

But those final meters wouldn't be easy.

Just as Haruki surged forward, he suddenly sensed danger.

Boom!

An explosion rang out from the side, flinging dirt and rocks through the air. Haruki stopped just in time to avoid being caught in the blast.

As the smoke cleared, a figure emerged and blocked the path.

Haruki narrowed his eyes. The newcomer was someone he'd fought twice before—an explosive corps member of Iwagakure: Shō.

He wielded Explosion Release with precision. Haruki remembered clearly—his favorite short blade had been destroyed in their first fight, shattered by Shō's bare hands.

However, Haruki had left his own mark too. His final move—Wind Style: Blade of Wind—had nearly taken Shō's life.

Thinking this, Haruki's gaze shifted toward Shō's chest and abdomen. He wondered if beneath those clothes was a scar as deep as the pain from their last clash.

As if sensing Haruki's stare, a flicker of fear passed across Shō's gaunt face. If he hadn't retreated in time that day, he might have died.

Even so, the wound had kept him bedridden for over a week. Though healed, it still caused him pain.

Clearly, it had become a lasting aftereffect.

His combat ability had dropped. Intense fights now caused chest pain, and his chakra circulation became unstable.

And his Explosion Release required close-range combat to be fully effective—this limitation left him extremely frustrated.

That frustration now turned to killing intent, burning in Shō's eyes as he stared at Haruki again.

But Haruki ignored the hatred. His gaze shifted past Shō—toward the rear.

There, he saw more Iwa-nin squads standing in formation—guarding a single room.

There was no mistaking it. That was the command center.

Without hesitation, Haruki reached into his pouch and pulled out the three-pronged kunai that Minato Namikaze had given him.

Seeing this, Shō assumed Haruki was about to strike. He lunged forward, swinging a punch straight at Haruki's face.

Sensing the Explosion Release chakra concentrated in the punch, Haruki dodged immediately.

Boom!

Shō's fist struck the corridor wall, unleashing a muffled explosion.

Missing his mark, Shō followed up with a second attack—his left fist aiming straight for Haruki's stomach.

Haruki dodged again, and while moving, channeled chakra into the kunai's hilt to activate its chakra tag seal.

Then, he hurled the kunai straight toward Shō.

Shō reacted quickly—dodging with a tilt of his head.

The kunai flew past him and embedded itself in the ground—not far from the Iwa-nin squads guarding the command post.

Shō ignored the kunai and prepared for another attack.

But suddenly, a commotion erupted behind him.

Turning around, Shō saw three figures appear out of nowhere.

And at their feet—was the kunai that Haruki had just thrown.