Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

Staring down at Kakuzu's corpse, Uchiha Haruki thought to himself:

"Perhaps no one will ever know that right here, in this unremarkable corner of the world, a ninja ranked among the elite of the entire Shinobi World… died in utter silence."

A strange unease crept into Haruki's heart.

"I wonder… will I one day end up the same? Dying quietly in some forgotten place?"

For a brief moment, a deep sense of dread took root in him.

But he quickly shook it off.

No. He still had to transcend this mortal world, to achieve immortality. How could he possibly die like this?

Refocusing his mind, Haruki cast those dark thoughts aside and looked around.

Now that Kakuzu's chakra had ceased, the Composite Jutsu: Scorching Wind Storm that had created the raging sea of fire began to dissipate rapidly.

However…

The surrounding forest had already caught fire, with numerous trees ablaze. Expecting the flames to vanish instantly was unrealistic.

Fortunately, the deep jungle was humid, and the fire wasn't likely to spread far. In fact, if the flames grew large enough, it might trigger a downpour.

When that happened, the fire would be extinguished naturally.

So there was no need for him to worry.

Besides, the noise from this battle had already been loud enough—Haruki had no intention of staying longer.

Finding the spot where the flames still burned the fiercest, he tossed Kakuzu's body into the blaze, then turned and left on his own.

Time passed.

By the next evening, Haruki had returned to the coast.

Now, all that remained was to cross the strait before him, and he'd arrive in the Land of Waves, and from there, return to the Forward Operating Base.

However, he wasn't in a hurry to set off.

What lay ahead was going to be a test of physical endurance, and after running nonstop for more than ten hours, it was time for a break.

Standing atop a treetop, Haruki gazed toward the distant sea, watching the sun begin to set.

His thoughts drifted.

Since killing Kakuzu, his luck seemed to have improved dramatically.

At first, he assumed more bounty hunters would show up to claim his 17 million ryo bounty. After all, that kind of money was no small sum.

As the saying goes, "Men die for wealth, birds die for food." Such a massive bounty would drive many ninja to ignore the risks.

But surprisingly, his journey had been smooth sailing. Not only had no bounty hunters appeared, he hadn't even run into any unexpected trouble.

Thinking it through, it made sense.

He had eliminated all the witnesses. Those who had seen him during the mission were already dead. So how could any new bounty hunters find him so quickly?

Though—he wasn't completely safe.

That peace was only temporary.

After all, his bounty was still up on the black market, and sooner or later, someone would come looking for him.

Not to mention, there was one clue he couldn't hide—

the Kusanagi Sword he had taken from the leader of the Artisan Ninja Village.

As long as he continued to wield that weapon, and as his fame grew, someone would eventually connect the dots.

At that point, the black market, which had long been monitoring the Artisan Ninja Village leader, would likely piece together what happened.

And they certainly wouldn't sit still.

In fact, they would probably do everything they could to incentivize bounty hunters to come after him.

After all, he'd essentially offended the black market.

Haruki knew they wouldn't let this go easily.

Eventually, he'd have to deal with waves of new enemies.

Of course, he could simply hide the Kusanagi Sword.

Doing so would undoubtedly help him avoid a lot of unnecessary trouble.

But… after everything he'd gone through to get this precious weapon, how could he bear not to use it?

A few bounty hunters and one black market?

Not enough to make him flinch.

As the saying goes: "When the enemy comes, face them head-on. When the flood rises, build a dam."

He would deal with things as they came.

With that, Haruki jumped down from the treetop and sat on a thick branch. He laid the long blade across his knees and closed his eyes, entering a meditative rest.

Time ticked by, second after second.

Soon, the sun sank below the horizon, and nightfall descended.

At a certain moment, Haruki opened his eyes. Without further hesitation, he concealed his chakra signature and slipped toward the coastline.

After avoiding several Konoha patrol teams, he reached the sea. Confirming his direction, he began walking across the waves, heading toward the Land of Waves Forward Base.

However, unlike when he first came to the Fire Country, now he had to be more cautious.

The coastline of the Fire Country was long and wide—any direction would eventually lead to shore.

But the Land of Waves was much smaller. If he didn't pay close attention, he could easily lose his bearings and end up off course.

What Haruki didn't know, though, was that at that very moment, on the distant sea behind him, several large ships were sailing toward the same base.

From the markings on the hulls, it was clear that they were warships from the Hidden Mist Village.

They were packed full of Mist-nin.

Clearly, after more than ten days of silence, the Mist Village was moving again—and this time, they were going big:

They planned to launch a surprise attack on the Leaf's Forward Base in the Land of Waves.

Hours later—

To the east of the Land of Waves, around ten kilometers from the Forward Base, a watchtower stood atop a reef.

Inside, a Konoha ninja suddenly froze, his expression shifting. He quickly blew the whistle hanging from his chest.

A piercing shrill echoed throughout the watchtower.

Moments later, hurried footsteps approached. A Special Jonin ascended to the top of the tower.

"What is it, Shiying?" he asked upon arrival.

The Chunin, still holding the whistle, responded immediately:

"Hidden Mist warships—they're attacking!"

"How many?" the Special Jonin asked with steady calm.

"Four," Shiying replied.

Hearing this, the Special Jonin let out a slight breath of relief.

Based on past experience, four Mist warships meant roughly 200 to 300 ninjas.

That was a sizable force—but it was also comparable to the number of Konoha shinobi stationed at the Forward Base.

If the Mist-nin were launching a sudden attack, Konoha could've been caught off guard—and suffered heavy losses.

But now?

Since they had detected the enemy in advance, there was nothing to fear.

With a clear mind, the Special Jonin—Kanda Eikaku—asked,

"Direction?"

"That way!"

Shiying pointed southeast.

Kanda Eikaku took the monocular from Shiying's hand and peered through it in that direction.

With help from the moonlight, he could make out four large ships floating on the sea's horizon.

Each ship was dark as ink, sailing like ghost vessels.

Kanda knew they weren't ghost ships at all—just Mist-nin deliberately cutting all lights to avoid detection.

Unfortunately for them, their luck had run out.

This reef-top watchtower was constructed by Konoha during the Mist's period of silence, and therefore wasn't present in Mist Village intel.

Which meant—before they even got close, their position had already been exposed.

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