Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

Deep within the forest…

Uchiha Haruki stood silently, his eyes fixed on the distant Four-Tails—towering even larger than Gamabunta. He could feel the immense chakra surging from the beast, and silently made a note to himself: Someday, I must get myself a "chakra battery" like that.

ROAR—

A deafening bellow erupted from the Four-Tails. It pounded its chest with both arms, venting the fury that had accumulated from its long imprisonment.

BOOM!

Just then, a massive water bullet shot toward its head. But the beast casually slapped it away with a massive palm.

The Four-Tails turned its gaze to Gamabunta—who was slightly smaller in comparison—and snarled, "Foolish toad. You're courting death!"

Its voice boomed like thunder, and before the sentence even finished, it lunged forward and threw a mighty punch at Gamabunta.

Seeing the massive fist hurtling toward him, Gamabunta dared not take it head-on. He quickly leapt into the air to evade.

The punch missed, slamming into the ground instead.

BOOM!

A thunderous quake followed, shaking the entire battlefield.

But that wasn't all…

That single punch disrupted the earth's core, causing lava to erupt from deep underground. The molten rock, infused with the Four-Tails' chakra, sprayed violently in all directions.

From afar, Haruki watched the volcanic eruption-like scene unfold and finally understood why people once saw tailed beasts as harbingers of catastrophe.

At this point, who wouldn't believe it was a beast of calamity?

ROAR—

The Four-Tails bellowed again, then coated itself in lava, transforming into a magma gorilla as it charged toward Gamabunta.

Seeing this, Haruki couldn't help but break into a cold sweat for the great toad. He quickly composed himself and headed toward Yamanaka Kiku's position.

Two minutes later—

As the ground quaked and rumbled, Haruki finally located Yamanaka Kiku and a group of Konoha shinobi.

They were locked in battle with Iwa-nin.

However, it was easy to sense that neither side had much will to fight. Throughout the skirmish, many of them kept glancing toward the distant battlefield where the Four-Tails, Gamabunta, and Minato Namikaze were engaged.

And who could blame them?

With that kind of commotion going on, it was hard to focus on fighting. The fact they hadn't stopped altogether was a testament to how deep the hatred ran.

With a flash, Haruki appeared beside Yamanaka Kiku. His sword thrust forward in one swift motion, piercing through the arm of an elite Iwa jonin who had no time to react.

"Who—!?"

Startled, the Iwa ninja leapt backward, pulling away rapidly.

Even Yamanaka Kiku had been caught off guard by Haruki's sudden appearance, showing just how distracted they had become.

Haruki ignored the surprised enemy and turned to Kiku. "Immediately order everyone to regroup. We're retreating."

"Retreat?" Kiku blinked, then quickly nodded. "Understood. I'll give the order."

Just as he began forming hand signs, he suddenly paused and added, "Captain, we still have injured back at the second defensive line."

Haruki immediately remembered—he had told those injured to stay in place. They couldn't be abandoned.

After a moment's thought, he said, "Forget regrouping. Tell everyone to retreat directly. Then gather a few men and come with me—we'll retrieve the wounded."

"Yes, Captain!"

Kiku swiftly reviewed the injured personnel and surviving forces in his mind, then used Mind Transmission Jutsu to relay Haruki's orders across the battlefield.

Around them, chaos stirred. The nearby Iwa jonin hadn't heard their conversation—only that Haruki had whispered something to Kiku, and then both had quickly departed.

At the same time, the other Konoha ninjas began an orderly withdrawal.

The Iwa shinobi saw this but made no move to stop them.

Once again, they simply had no will to fight.

Moments ago, the opportunity wasn't there. But now that Konoha had initiated a retreat, there was no point dragging it out.

Their greater concern now was with the Four-Tails' sudden loss of control. What now?

The chaos from the mountaintop couldn't be hidden from the Iwa forces stationed below.

Sure enough, orders came quickly: withdraw.

However, several elite jonin were instructed to stay behind and assist the incoming support teams.

Indeed, Iwagakure had anticipated the risks of sending both the Four-Tails and Five-Tails Jinchūriki into battle. Now, they were deploying top personnel to handle the fallout.

They couldn't afford to toss this problem onto Konoha.

Had the Four-Tails lost control inside Wind Willow Town, maybe they would've walked away and left the mess to their enemies.

But right now, the beast was raging atop their own mountainside.

If they ignored the problem and let Konoha seize control of the Four-Tails first… the consequences would be disastrous.

Yes, the Four-Tails was strong. But to the Five Great Nations, a tailed beast wasn't that terrifying.

With proper preparation, capturing one wasn't impossible.

So Iwagakure had no choice but to act quickly. They couldn't allow a berserk Jinchūriki to wander freely. Teams were already en route to recover it.

Naturally, Konoha had also noticed Iwa's movements.

Konoha commander Daimura Yuijin didn't hesitate to respond. He also dispatched elite forces—not to capture the Four-Tails, but to sabotage Iwa's recovery.

His goal: inflict maximum losses on the enemy.

Thus, a tug-of-war over the berserk Four-Tails began.

The battle raged from dawn to dusk… and from dusk until the next dawn. Nearly a full day and night passed without rest.

The main battlefield centered around the Four-Tails itself.

But the truly brutal combat took place across a five-kilometer radius around it.

There, both sides ambushed each other, clashed with blood-soaked blades, and risked everything—just to ensure a fair fighting environment for their main forces.

The death toll was staggering.

Finally, by the second evening, the battle came to an end.

Iwagakure managed to retrieve the Four-Tails.

But Konoha didn't lose out either. Their interference caused massive damage to Iwa's high-level forces.

In particular, the deaths of Iwa ninja skilled in sealing and barrier techniques were a devastating blow.

Without those specialists, Iwa would now have to think twice before deploying their Jinchūriki again.

One more rampage, and they might not be able to contain it.

In short, both sides came out of this battle battered and weary.

The sheer cost—for both Iwagakure and Konohagakure—meant neither could afford another large-scale conflict anytime soon.

This made a full-scale war in the near future highly unlikely.

And for Uchiha Haruki… that was very good news.

He needed a peaceful environment to further refine his body.

In less than half a month, he would undergo another transformation.

And when that time came—everything would be different.