Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

After observing for a while, Kanda Eikaku put down the monocular in his hand.

He hesitated briefly, then bit his thumb open, allowing fresh blood to drip down.

Next, he pressed his hands together and quickly performed the seals: Boar–Dog–Bird–Monkey–Ram, activating the Summoning Jutsu.

Poof—!

A burst of chakra smoke exploded.

A slender divine crane appeared on the scene.

Without wasting any time, Kanda Eikaku pulled out pen and paper, scribbled a secret letter, and stuffed it into the message tube tied to the crane's leg.

Then he patted the crane's back and said, "Crane Mountain, deliver this message to the Forward Operating Base at once."

Screee!

Hearing the command, the divine crane named Crane Mountain let out a long cry.

It nodded, flapped its wings, and shot into the sky like an arrow, vanishing into the clouds.

Watching it disappear, Kanda Eikaku let out a small sigh of relief.

Then, turning to Shiying and the Konoha ninjas who had followed him to the watchtower, he ordered:

"Reinforcements from the base will arrive soon.

For now, keep a close eye on the enemy's movements. We must ensure they stay under surveillance at all times."

"Yes, Captain!"

The Konoha ninjas responded in unison, then quickly resumed their respective duties.

A few minutes later.

Inside the Forward Operating Base—

Suddenly, a harsh alarm rang out across the camp.

Inside one of the rooms, Uchiha Haruki's shadow clone snapped open his eyes, a sense of dread rising in his chest.

Moments later, a messenger chunin rushed in to summon him to the war room.

The shadow clone didn't dare delay and hurried to the meeting room at once.

He wasn't the only one—every jonin stationed at the base was making their way there.

Presiding over the meeting was a jonin from the Uchiha clan, who wasted no time and immediately briefed everyone on the impending Mist Village assault.

There was no debate. Without delay, the jonin began assigning tasks.

And right away, he called out a name:

"Haruki!"

"Here!"

The shadow clone stood up promptly.

The Uchiha jonin continued,

"You are to lead Squads One and Two and immediately head to Watchtower No. 3.

That is your mission."

As he spoke, he tossed a scroll to Haruki.

The clone caught it, unrolled it, scanned its contents, and finally let out a small breath of relief.

Then he closed the scroll and responded firmly:

"Understood, Captain!"

"Good," the jonin nodded. "Go prepare at once."

"Yes."

With that, Haruki turned and rushed out of the meeting room.

Back inside, the Uchiha jonin continued giving out assignments.

Jonin after jonin were called upon, each walking out with varied expressions—some satisfied, others grave.

But none of that concerned Haruki anymore.

He was already on the move, leading Squads One and Two, heading toward Watchtower No. 3.

This particular watchtower, built atop the reef, was the one currently under the command of Kanda Eikaku—and the closest one to the approaching Mist warships.

The fact that Haruki had been assigned this location—alongside the most elite squads—was clear recognition of his strength.

But the shadow clone didn't exactly welcome that recognition.

After all, he wasn't the real Haruki. He didn't have his full power.

Still, he couldn't say that in the meeting room, so he had no choice but to accept.

Fortunately, the task didn't involve directly clashing with the Mist's assault forces.

The Uchiha jonin had laid out two possible scenarios for the mission:

If the Mist-nin discovered Watchtower No. 3 and launched an attack, Haruki's team was to stall them—buying at least ten minutes for the base to prepare.

If not, meaning either they weren't discovered, or were ignored, then Haruki's team would lie in wait and launch a surprise pincer attack once the Mist engaged the base from the front.

According to the intel Kanda Eikaku had relayed, the Mist warships were heading directly toward the Forward Base.

That meant the likelihood of needing to stall was relatively low.

Which gave Haruki more strategic flexibility.

As the saying goes: Don't take on more than you can handle.

He had no strong emotional attachment to his subordinates—but he also wasn't the type to lead them to their deaths unnecessarily.

Because the plan allowed room for maneuver, he'd accepted the mission.

Otherwise, even at the cost of suspicion, he wouldn't have volunteered.

Besides, he had one more reason for accepting:

Based on his calculations, the real Haruki should be almost back by now.

As long as the battle didn't end immediately, the real body would arrive and take over.

That gave him the confidence to take on the assignment.

Twenty minutes later—

Haruki, with his two squads totaling thirty-five shinobi, arrived at the reef watchtower and met up with Kanda Eikaku.

Seeing Haruki, Kanda Eikaku's eyes lit up with excitement.

After all, the name "Ghost Blade Haruki" had already begun to spread among the ranks.

Although the Mist had been unusually inactive lately, not giving Haruki a chance to show off his power on the battlefield, word had gotten around.

Especially about how, on his way to reinforce the base, Haruki had fought off an ambush by Mist Village elite forces—killing several jonin in the process.

Among them were even two members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, which made his feat even more impressive.

Of course, part of this rapid spread was thanks to the Uchiha clan's efforts to boost his reputation.

As one of Konoha's most powerful families, the Uchiha craved prestige.

Haruki's accomplishments fit their narrative perfectly, so they had no reason to hold back on promoting him.

Haruki was somewhat aware of this behind-the-scenes promotion.

But he didn't mind.

While fame could sometimes be a burden, it could also be a useful tool, helping him avoid unnecessary complications.

And this was proof of that—Kanda Eikaku immediately treated him like a pillar of support, handing over command authority without hesitation.

As for whether this would make him a target of other villages?

With his current strength and battlefield record, did it even matter?

If they weren't promoting him, would that really stop his enemies from coming after him?

What a joke.

If anything, the attacks would only intensify.

After all, eliminating talented shinobi from enemy villages was a shared goal among the Five Great Nations.

War wasn't just fought on the battlefield—it was also fought in the shadows.

If one village could cripple the next generation of another, it meant gaining an edge in future conflicts, even if they lost the current one.

In that sense, targeting enemy geniuses was as vital as any open battle.

So, the idea of avoiding danger by staying low-key?

Wishful thinking.

Especially now that his name was already known—there was no going back.

That's why Haruki didn't bother stopping the Uchiha from spreading his reputation.

If anything, now the only path forward was to become stronger, to withstand the tests and schemes of the outside world.

The only fortunate thing was—

long before his name had become widely known, he had already awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan in secret.

With that trump card, he had the power to flip the table when needed.

So fame?

It meant little to him.

As these thoughts flashed through his mind, Haruki turned his eyes toward Kanda Eikaku standing before him.