Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

"Retreat~~~"

The anguished dying scream of Ichiro Kurokawa rang out across the battlefield. For a brief moment, the Iwagakure chūnin and genin froze in shock—then, without hesitation, they began to retreat en masse.

Seeing this, the surviving Konoha shinobi sprang into action—some moved to intercept, others launched a chase.

In an instant, the battlefield became even more chaotic than before.

However, the momentum had clearly shifted in Konoha's favor. With the initiative now on their side, the Iwa forces found themselves in a more desperate and disorganized position, suffering even greater casualties.

In that final clash alone, Iwa lost at least thirty to forty more shinobi. Those who managed to escape the pursuit and return alive to their main base likely didn't number more than a hundred.

In other words, this surprise assault had cost Iwagakure all of their jōnin—and more than two-thirds of their overall fighting force. The losses were staggering.

That said, Konoha hadn't come away unscathed either. Out of the original one hundred and fifty shinobi stationed here, fewer than fifty were still alive.

And even that was largely thanks to Uchiha Haruki.

If he hadn't eliminated dozens of Iwa chūnin and genin at the start, Konoha's casualties would have been far worse.

After all, Iwagakure had come prepared to wipe out the entire outpost at Ogatani Village. That Konoha not only survived but also won was nothing short of a miracle.

No—that's not quite right. It wasn't a miracle. It was entirely due to Haruki's extraordinary performance.

Without his complete annihilation of the enemy's jōnin unit, no amount of resistance from Konoha's side would've mattered. Their fate would have been sealed.

So while it was a pyrrhic victory, it was still a victory—far better than total annihilation.

Because of this, all the surviving Konoha shinobi—whether jōnin, chūnin, or genin—now looked at Haruki with awe and gratitude in their eyes.

Awe, for his overwhelming strength.

Gratitude, because that strength had saved their lives.

But Haruki himself paid little attention to their reverence or thanks. Everything he had done was simply because he followed his own will.

If someone pissed him off one day, he wouldn't hesitate to kill them—regardless of their status. He didn't care about that sort of thing.

The Hidden Leaf? To be honest, it wasn't something that could restrain him for long.

As his strength continued to grow, its ability to bind him would only weaken.

He had said it before—his goal was the stars and the sea.

The shinobi world?

In his eyes, it was nothing but a speck of dust. The rise of its so-called ninja civilization only happened because an alien had planted a tree.

Now, Haruki sat atop a rooftop, gazing at the star-filled sky, his thoughts drifting far, far away.

No one knew how much time passed before a figure quietly appeared beside him.

It was one of the few surviving Konoha shinobi from earlier—a tokubetsu jōnin.

He didn't disturb Haruki, who was still looking at the night sky. He simply stood there silently.

Finally, when Haruki returned to himself, the tokubetsu jōnin stepped forward and said, "Captain, this is the report from today's battle."

As he spoke, he handed over a document.

Haruki took the report, skimmed through it, and once he confirmed there was nothing wrong, he signed his name.

Then he returned it and said plainly, "Looks fine. Submit it as-is."

"Yes, Captain!"

The tokubetsu jōnin gave a crisp response and turned to leave.

But just then, Haruki called out, "Wait."

The jōnin stopped and turned. "Captain, is there something else?"

Haruki thought for a moment, then said bluntly, "When you submit the report, tell them the Ogatani Village outpost is no longer defensible. Recommend immediate evacuation."

The jōnin's face stiffened at the order. He hesitated for a moment before asking, "Captain… are you sure we should say that?"

"Yeah." Haruki nodded. "Tell them I said so."

The jōnin fell silent for a few seconds, then finally replied, "Understood, Captain."

With that, he vanished using the Body Flicker Technique.

Haruki knew that by saying such a thing, his evaluation among Konoha's leadership would likely drop.

But he didn't care.

Even if his reputation took a hit, what difference did it make? Just by being an Uchiha, he was already destined to be sidelined by this current Konoha leadership.

So why bother?

He might as well live as he pleased.

Haruki had no intention of being the last man defending this outpost alone.

Well, maybe that was an exaggeration—but the meaning stood.

If the higher-ups saw his strength and decided to squeeze him dry, that would be bad.

Sure, he might improve his swordsmanship rapidly that way, but the time and energy wasted would far outweigh the benefits.

Better to speak up now, while he still could.

Hopefully, they'd understand what he meant.

———

Time passed. The next day arrived.

Haruki received a reply—or rather, an order—from Daimura Yuuto.

The message asked him to hold the position for just one more week.

The letter vaguely hinted that a certain operation was underway near Fūryū Town, and it needed a bit more time to prepare.

To support him, Daimura was sending another hundred shinobi his way.

Haruki considered the situation. After the crushing defeat Iwa had just suffered, it was unlikely they would launch another attack so soon.

After all, jōnin weren't like crops—you couldn't just grow another batch once you cut some down.

Sure, you could replace tokubetsu jōnin with specific talents, and among the chūnin there were always a few promising individuals to promote…

But well-rounded, experienced jōnin? They weren't so easy to replace.

With Haruki's current power, Iwa would need to send either a massive wave of lower-level shinobi to wear him down—or they'd have to commit more jōnin to the field.

In the first case, Haruki could just request reinforcements.

But if things escalated to that point, a small skirmish could spiral into a full-scale war—something that didn't align with Iwagakure's broader strategy of striking isolated outposts around Fūryū Town.

So the chances of that happening were low.

That left only one likely option: sending elite shinobi to deal with him.

And to even stand a chance against Haruki, Iwagakure would need to send at least four jōnin—maybe more. If you added in the other Konoha jōnin stationed at Ogatani, Iwa would need a total of seven or eight top-tier shinobi to take the base.

There was no way they could gather that many so quickly.

At the very least, not within a week.

That made the mission more acceptable.

So, Haruki decided to accept it.

Of course, if Iwa did do something reckless—like sending everything they had just to kill him—he wouldn't stick around to die for the sake of a tiny outpost.

Compared to his life, this place wasn't worth anything.

Let them complain if they wanted. He didn't care.

Still, what really piqued Haruki's curiosity… was what exactly was going on in Fūryū Town?

"What, another decapitation strike?"

Haruki muttered under his breath.