Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

The moon set. The sun rose.

In the blink of an eye, it was the next day.

After a night of brutal bloodshed, Konoha and Iwagakure finally ceased their mutual slaughter at the break of dawn—both sides having paid a heavy price.

Just as Uchiha Haruki had predicted, without proper command, the Iwa shinobi abandoned their aggressive posture and shifted into a more defensive stance.

By all accounts, this should have been the best opportunity for Konoha to launch a counterattack.

Unfortunately, the relentless assaults from Iwa in the days prior had left Konoha severely depleted. The shinobi were mentally and physically exhausted, and simply did not have the capacity to push forward.

After some discussion, Captain Yuito Omura decided to give up any offensive maneuvers. Instead, he instructed the troops to maintain only minimal harassment while focusing the majority of their efforts on recuperation.

Haruki had originally thought that this period of calm would last for at least ten to fifteen days.

But unexpectedly, the peace shattered in just one week.

That afternoon—

Haruki was inside the western mountain stronghold, practicing the Mystical Palm Technique to channel Yang Release chakra and strengthen his body, when someone came running up in a hurry.

Thump thump thump—!

The rough wooden door rattled with urgent knocking.

Haruki opened his eyes, clearly annoyed, and called out, "Come in!"

Creak—

The door opened, and a Konoha chunin stepped inside.

"Captain, news just came up from the valley. Iwa's making a move. The command post is ordering us to prepare for defense."

"Iwa's making a move?" Haruki's brow furrowed. "What's the situation exactly?"

"Not sure," the chunin replied, shaking his head.

Haruki waved him off. "Alright, go gather everyone. Also, notify the other jonin to organize defensive formations."

"Yes, Captain!"

With that, the chunin disappeared in a flash.

As the commanding officer of this strategic outpost, Haruki was the de facto captain. Beneath him were several jonin team leaders. Normally, defensive tasks and patrols would be left to them.

As for Haruki himself?

He was either searching for a Chakra Battery, or focused on personal training. He rarely involved himself in day-to-day logistics—and today was no exception.

Watching the chunin leave, Haruki sat and waited quietly for over a minute. Once the Yang chakra in his body was fully depleted, he grabbed a nearby short sword, performed a few body flickers, and arrived atop a tall tree not far away.

With a thought, he activated his Sharingan.

In an instant, the scene from down the mountain unfolded before his eyes.

Although the Sharingan wasn't as good as the Byakugan for long-distance surveillance, in situations with no obstacles, it could still see quite far.

In Haruki's view, the Iwa shinobi had finished assembling.

They were divided into three formations. One group was heading straight for the Furyu Town outpost, clearly intending to engage the Konoha forces head-on.

A second formation angled northward, seemingly targeting the northern mountain stronghold.

As for the third group—

They were coming right here.

He could clearly see them bypassing Furyu Town and curving around through the southern plains—drawing a wide arc as they advanced directly toward his current position.

Looking at this all-too-familiar attack pattern, Haruki was puzzled.

"Didn't Iwa replace their command staff? Why are they using the same tactics again?"

If only one or two commanders had been swapped out, Haruki might understand. But during last week's decapitation mission, they had nearly wiped out the entire Iwa command hierarchy.

With such a massive overhaul, how could the army's tactics remain the same?

Each commander had their own style. It was impossible for the new ones to exactly mimic their predecessors. If anything, Haruki expected even more variation.

But what was happening now?

This clearly defied logic.

"What exactly is going on…?" Haruki murmured to himself, eyes narrowed.

After a moment of thought, he shook his head and dropped back to the ground, deciding not to overthink it. He would simply wait patiently for Iwa to make the first move.

As the saying goes:

When the enemy comes with troops, meet them with generals; when water floods in, block it with earth.

If he couldn't figure out their motive, so be it.

Whatever tricks they had in store, it would ultimately come down to raw power.

Without strength, no amount of strategy would amount to anything.

Twenty minutes later—

Haruki received word that his men had engaged the enemy.

He also learned that the enemy had split into three waves, advancing toward the mountaintop from left, center, and right.

After some thought, Haruki ordered the other jonin to manage defense, while he sprinted toward the dense forest on the far right.

His plan was to bypass Iwa's left-wing force and strike them from behind.

This would not only disrupt their attack rhythm and delay their advance, but also allow Haruki to probe the enemy's true strength.

However, what happened next completely exceeded Haruki's expectations.

He had assumed that Konoha's frontlines would be able to hold off Iwa's forces for at least a little while.

But in under five minutes, the central line was completely overrun, forcing both the left and right wings to retreat, lest they be cut off from behind.

"What happened?! How did our defensive line collapse so quickly?" Haruki asked mentally.

Through the Telepathic Communication Technique, a special jonin from the Yamanaka clan quickly responded:

"It's the Four-Tails Jinchuriki! He was hidden within their attacking unit!"

"What?!" Haruki's expression darkened. "Are you sure?"

"Positive," the voice of Yamanaka Kiku replied firmly.

"He broke through our line with a powerful Lava Release jutsu. No one could stop him."

Haruki went silent. After a long pause, he muttered, "So that's what their plan was…"

From Kiku's description, Haruki could already piece together Iwa's strategy.

They had deliberately reused the tactics of their previous commanders for two reasons:

First, to lull Konoha into a false sense of familiarity.

Second, to create confusion and mask their real intentions.

Then, while Konoha was second-guessing, they inserted a Jinchuriki into the assault, launching a surprise attack and swiftly seizing one of the two strategic high points around Furyu Town.

That's right—two.

If Haruki's guess was right, the Five-Tails Jinchuriki was currently with the Iwa forces attacking the northern mountain outpost.

And just like the Four-Tails, he had probably already broken through the defenses.

But there was no point dwelling on that now.

What mattered most was figuring out how to stop them.

The Four-Tails Jinchuriki, Rōshi, was different from Han, the Five-Tails host. Rōshi's Lava Release was especially lethal to living tissue.

Even worse, he could use Lava Release Chakra Mode to shield his entire body. Ordinary attacks couldn't even touch him.

Unless someone drained him dry like Kisame Hoshigaki did in the future, there was no easy way to deal with him.

And unfortunately for Haruki, none of his techniques countered Lava Release well.

That was a major problem.

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