Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

Forward Base.

Inside the Meeting Room.

Uchiha Haruki sat at the edge of the conference table, eyes half-closed. He appeared to be resting, but in truth, his ears were sharply focused, listening intently to the conversations around him.

Unfortunately, to his disappointment, no one here seemed to know any more details than what he'd already heard.

Just as Haruki quietly shook his head, a figure entered the room—an Uchiha jonin.

It was none other than the base's commander—Uchiha Kazuo.

As always, he carried himself with decisive authority. Without wasting a single word, he went straight to the head of the table and began outlining the current situation.

In essence, it was the same information the Konoha chunin had conveyed—only with a few additional details.

But those added details were enough to confirm Haruki's suspicions: this was no minor skirmish.

The Mist Village was dead serious this time.

Of course, the border command had also realized this. As a result, Nara Kiko dared not mobilize forces from the central or southern fronts, fearing this could be a classic case of "luring the tiger from the mountain."

Yet the northern front couldn't go undefended either.

So now, the pressure had fallen on their unit.

The command had ordered them to immediately dispatch a portion of their forces to encircle the Mist Village's raiding troops from the rear.

Upon hearing this, a special jonin from the Nara clan immediately spoke up:

"You want to draw forces from our base? What if we're their true target?"

Everyone was momentarily stunned, then began to nod in agreement.

Indeed—if command feared the central and southern fronts might be decoys, then their own location could just as easily be the true target.

In fact, given the strategic value of their base, it might even be more important.

Another jonin added,

"Nara-san makes a good point. Half a month ago, let's not forget what happened here. We have to consider this carefully."

"Absolutely," another nodded. "That scenario is possible."

"It's not something we can afford to ignore."

More and more voices joined in.

Soon, the meeting room grew noisy with discussion and concern.

"Quiet!"

Suddenly, a thunderous voice rang out.

Uchiha Kazuo swept his gaze across the room, and under his stern eyes, everyone fell silent.

Only then did he speak:

"What you're worried about, the command has already considered. That's why they're only asking us to dispatch 100 people. The rest will remain on full alert, in case of a Mist sneak attack."

"One hundred?"

One Konoha jonin asked hesitantly,

"Is that enough?

Based on intel, there are four to five hundred Mist ninja on the northern front. Can a hundred really block their retreat?"

"Ahem…"

Kazuo cleared his throat and turned his gaze to Haruki.

"Quality over quantity.

Haruki, the command has specifically requested that you lead the squad. Any problem with that?"

Before Haruki could reply, someone else interjected:

"If Jonin Haruki is leading, then I have no worries."

"Exactly. His strength is obvious to us all. He'll complete the mission without issue," another added.

Haruki's eyes briefly flicked toward the two who'd spoken—his Sharingan glinted coldly for an instant.

He didn't mind taking on the mission, but that didn't mean he liked being pushed into a corner.

These two had clearly coordinated, putting him in a position where refusing would make him look like a coward.

He didn't know whether they were simply stirring trouble or being manipulated behind the scenes—but either way, it wasn't out of goodwill.

The rest of the room? Most of them wore expressions of indifference, acting as if it had nothing to do with them.

This moment drove home the reality once again for Haruki:

This world was real—everyone had their own agendas, and it didn't revolve around him.

With those thoughts flashing through his mind, Haruki composed himself and looked at Kazuo.

"I'm willing to lead the squad. But I'll need a few people to assist me."

"Name them."

Without hesitation, Haruki named four jonin—including the two who'd just tried to corner him.

"Captain!"

Those two immediately stood up, ready to protest.

But before they could get a word out, Kazuo raised his hand and cut them off.

He turned to Haruki and said,

"No problem. All four of them will go with you."

Kazuo had already noticed the veiled hostility between them, but he didn't mind.

To him, a true Uchiha genius must be forged through fire. A greenhouse prodigy was no true prodigy.

That's why he hadn't stopped their earlier remarks.

And now, since Haruki was fighting back—Kazuo saw no reason to spare the others either. Haruki was, after all, a ninja of the Uchiha clan. No one could be allowed to bully him without consequence.

So, he directly approved Haruki's chosen support team.

With the matter settled, Haruki didn't waste time.

He accepted the mission scroll, said his goodbyes, and left the meeting room.

Departure was scheduled in 30 minutes.

He planned to return to his quarters and gather anything he might need.

Although he had no proof, Haruki's gut told him this mission would be far from simple.

Thirty minutes later.

Southern edge of the forward base.

Dockyard.

Haruki and a hundred Konoha ninja boarded two passenger vessels and, under the starlit sky, set off in haste toward the northern front of the Fire Country's border.

But not long after their departure—a shark surfaced from the sea.

A masked figure climbed out from its mouth.

Dressed in a black cloak, the mask on his face bore four water-like stripes—the symbol of Kirigakure's ANBU.

It was clear this man was a Mist Village black ops operative.

Staring toward the direction of the departing ships, the ANBU pulled a scroll from his robe.

He quickly scribbled a message in secret code, then formed a series of hand seals and summoned a smaller shark.

Stuffing the scroll into its mouth, he gave it a pat and sent it off.

After a brief moment of surveillance, he then slipped back into the original larger shark's mouth.

With a leap, the shark dove into the ocean with a splash—and vanished into the sea.

Haruki, at this moment, had no idea that his group's movements had already been exposed.

But even if he had known—he wouldn't have cared much.

Because in his mind, the chances of this mission going wrong were already at 90%.

He wasn't even thinking about those two questionable companions onboard—whether they were acting on someone's orders or had their own hidden motives.

Just the Mist Village alone wouldn't let them reach their destination easily.

Regardless of whether this attack on the northern front was a real assault or a feint, the 400–500 Mist ninja were very real.

If Haruki and his team actually reached their destination, the Mist troops would be caught in a pincer attack—facing annihilation.

If that happened, it wouldn't matter what scheme Kirigakure had planned—the losses would outweigh the gains.

That's why the Mist absolutely couldn't allow Haruki's team to arrive unhindered.

A battle was inevitable.

Of course, there was another possibility—that the enemy might let them pass, and simply retreat early.

In that case, no real harm done.

In fact, the command might even be hoping that's what would happen.

Unfortunately, Haruki didn't think that was likely.

But in the end, it all depended on what came next.

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"Hey everyone,Due to the low response on this fanfic and the lack of new paid members on Patreon, I might have to drop this project. If things don't improve within the next two days, I'm really sorry—but I'll have no choice but to stop working on it.Thank you all for your support so far, and I truly appreciate everyone who's been following along."