Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

Splash~

A sea breeze swept across the battlefield, lifting waves over half a meter high.

The lingering white mist—no longer sustained by Ao's chakra—quickly dissipated under the force of the wind.

Uchiha Haruki stood silently, staring at Mei Terumi without a word.

Likewise, Mei watched him warily, scanning for the slightest opening.

As the seconds ticked by, the atmosphere between them grew heavier and heavier, almost suffocating. The pressure weighed down so hard that even the severely injured Ao and Uchiha Tekka could barely breathe.

Whoosh—

Another gust of wind blew. Mei's bangs fluttered into her eyes, blocking her vision.

"Now!"

At that very moment, Haruki's chakra surged from his feet, launching him forward with explosive speed.

The sea beneath his feet sank in a wide depression, and in the next instant, his figure blurred into a high-speed afterimage—

he was already right in front of Mei Terumi.

Whoosh—

A flash of steel gleamed.

Haruki slashed with his long blade, Wind Release chakra surging through the edge.

The blade took on a cold cyan glow—its sharpness carried a terrifying aura that targeted Mei's pale neck with deadly precision.

"So fast!"

Mei was shocked by his sudden appearance.

And when she felt the deadly sharpness of his chakra-infused blade, her expression changed dramatically.

Her instincts screamed at her to dodge.

But just as she was about to evade, her peripheral vision caught sight of the severely wounded Ao behind her.

She bit her lip.

She could dodge—but if she did, Ao would take the hit instead.

And that was something she absolutely could not allow.

So she gritted her teeth and raised her kunai, placing it firmly between her and Haruki's slash.

Haruki smirked slightly and increased the force behind his blade.

Clang!

Long blade met kunai in a crisp clash of steel.

Though still a teenager and not yet fully grown, Haruki's terrifying 16 points of Constitution gave him a strength that far surpassed ordinary adult shinobi.

Combined with the leverage of a long blade over a short kunai, Haruki's advantage was significant.

Even so, Mei didn't budge an inch.

Haruki narrowed his eyes. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that the arm holding the kunai was visibly more muscular—

it was clear she had activated some kind of augmentation technique.

Additionally, the water beneath her had sunk into a wide depression, absorbing much of the impact.

Clearly, Mei had diverted a large portion of the force into the sea.

At that moment, Haruki realized—

her taijutsu was not weak at all.

During her battle with his shadow clone, she had gone out of her way to avoid close combat, putting on the appearance of someone unskilled in taijutsu.

But now…

Haruki shook his head.

There was no doubt—

she'd been hiding her true strength from the very start.

Or rather—her intel.

Haruki was now almost certain: Mei's taijutsu wasn't inferior to a typical elite jonin who specialized in close combat.

Which made sense. How could someone destined to become a future Kage have such a glaring weakness?

Everything she showed before… was just a façade.

All of these thoughts flashed through Haruki's mind in an instant.

He suddenly exerted more force and pushed Mei back.

Yes, her taijutsu was formidable.

But Haruki's blade skills—his swordsmanship—were far beyond what even elite jonin could handle.

Without pause, Haruki slashed again, his blade sweeping down toward Mei.

She didn't dare relax even for a moment, quickly raising her kunai to block.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Metal rang out as kunai and blade collided again and again in rapid succession.

Haruki and Mei fought fiercely, neither giving an inch, exchanging blows with skill and precision.

Unconsciously, the surrounding mist shinobi and Konoha ninja began to slow their own battles, each of them splitting a portion of their attention to watch this duel unfold.

They all understood one thing clearly:

In a battle where numbers and strength were almost evenly matched, the outcome would ultimately be decided by the leaders.

If Mei defeated Haruki, the Konoha shinobi would be forced to retreat.

But if Haruki emerged victorious—

the mist ninja would fall back instead.

Clang! Clang!

Five minutes passed. The battle continued.

Just as the watching crowd assumed the fight would drag on even longer—

Shhhk—

The sharp sound of steel tearing through flesh echoed out, followed by a spatter of blood.

"Ugh…"

Mei let out a low groan and immediately leaped back.

A deep gash now marked her right arm.

She glanced sideways at the wound, feeling the searing pain lancing through it, but her eyes stayed fixed on Haruki's sword as she cursed inwardly:

"What just happened?"

A moment ago, they were evenly matched—

but suddenly Haruki had switched tactics.

His swordsmanship, once bold and direct, had become sly and unpredictable. The abrupt shift in style caught her off guard—

and that moment of disorientation was all it took.

She had seen the blade coming and instinctively raised her kunai to block—

But then… she realized Haruki's real attack hadn't even started yet.

That brief hesitation created a fatal opening.

It was only because of her quick reflexes that she avoided a more serious injury.

If she'd been any slower, she might've ended up like Ao—badly wounded and helpless.

Still, even this outcome was troubling.

If Haruki continued mixing real and fake attacks like this, no matter how sharp her reflexes were, she'd eventually leave herself wide open.

But was this swordsmanship… or genjutsu?

Until she figured that out, defending against him would only become harder and harder.

As she pondered this—

A voice rang out from the edge of the battlefield.

It was Ao, who had retreated earlier. He shouted loudly:

"Watch the sword glint! He's using it to cast genjutsu—affecting your perception!"

It was a perfect example of "the onlooker sees more clearly than the player in the game."

Mei had been too deep in the battle to understand what was happening.

But Ao, observing from the outside and using his Byakugan to track Haruki's chakra in minute detail, had noticed the trick.

He'd fallen victim to it himself just minutes ago.

So he instantly realized Mei was now in the same danger—and warned her just in time.

And Ao was right.

Over the past week, thanks to his strong foundation in Swordsmanship Lv. 7 (0/0), Haruki's Phantom Blade Technique had leveled up from Lv. 4 (701/2000) to Lv. 5 (1150/5000)!

For most C-rank skills, level 5 marked mastery.

Though the Phantom Blade wasn't a C-rank jutsu, Lv. 5 was still a significant threshold.

At this level, Haruki had unlocked powerful new features—

like casting genjutsu through the glint of his blade.

Yes. His Phantom Blade technique could now use the glimmer of light on his blade mid-battle to confuse and deceive the enemy.

The illusion was far harder to detect than before.

This was how both Ao and Mei had been caught off guard.

It wasn't that they lacked strength or vigilance—

it was that Haruki's technique had become far too subtle and advanced.

Even knowing how it worked wouldn't make it easy to defend.

After all, in battle, how could you not look at your opponent's blade and movement?

Which gave Haruki endless chances to activate his Phantom Blade illusions.

And this… was just his warm-up.

The real pressure had only just begun.

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