Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

Out of the corner of his eye, Uchiha Haruki glanced at his left arm and noticed thin, black lines spreading from the wound. A faint stench began to waft from it.

It was clear—the steel needle that grazed him had been laced with poison.

There was no time to treat it now. Haruki simply channeled chakra to stimulate the self-healing properties of the affected tissue, slowing the spread of the toxin. Then, he turned sharply in the direction the needle had come from.

There he saw a familiar figure—it was none other than Ao.

Locking eyes across the battlefield, Haruki could sense that beneath the black eyepatch, Ao's Byakugan was fixated on him.

"No wonder his aim was dead-on. That explains it—he had the Byakugan backing him up!" Haruki thought grimly.

In response, he flung several shuriken toward Ao, returning the favor.

At the same time, chakra surged through the wings on his back as he launched himself skyward, trying to escape the immediate clash.

But Ao and the three elite Jonin from the Hidden Mist weren't about to let him slip away.

The two Special Jonin didn't have time for jutsu, but they hurled venom-coated kunai to intercept him.

The other Jonin moved differently. With hands moving in a blur, he completed a set of seals and immediately unleashed a Wind Release jutsu.

From his mouth burst a rapid-fire series of vacuum bullets, spraying upward like a machine gun aimed straight at Haruki.

Haruki twisted and dodged mid-air, his chakra wings flaring, narrowly avoiding the barrage.

Just as the storm of bullets ceased, Ao, who had dodged Haruki's earlier attack, made another hand seal.

A high-pressure water jet suddenly surged toward Haruki.

Thanks to the extended vision range from the Byakugan, the stream was pinpoint accurate—targeting his core. No matter which direction Haruki dodged, he'd be vulnerable. Worse yet, Ao could control the stream's angle to a degree.

The chances of being hit were dangerously high.

"Dodging isn't an option!"

Haruki immediately sheathed his blade and performed hand seals, unleashing a powerful jutsu: Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique!

Fwoosh!

Flames spewed from his mouth, forming into a fire dragon that clashed head-on with the water jet.

Hissssss—

Steam erupted as the two elements collided, dissolving each other into white mist.

Despite this stalemate, Ao didn't seem disappointed.

Because in the time Haruki was tied down by the elemental clash, the previously scattered Mist Chūnin and Genin had regrouped.

While these lower-ranked shinobi posed no individual threat to Haruki, sheer numbers could become deadly. Like ants overwhelming an elephant, if they used the right tactics and weapons, even he could be worn down.

And now, under the direction of the three Mist Jonin, they charged in with kunai laced with poison and explosive tags.

Countless kunai and shuriken flew through the air, aiming to cut off Haruki's escape.

Forced to turn and face them, Haruki dodged deftly.

At that moment, the three Jonin once again unleashed their own jutsu—trying to wear him down completely.

It was clear—they wanted to exhaust him until he dropped.

But Haruki wasn't fooled.

As he danced between blades and jutsu, his eyes locked on Ao.

Others might not know the limits of his chakra, but with the Byakugan, Ao absolutely did.

Even if they exhausted themselves, there was no guarantee they could deplete Haruki's chakra reserve. After all, it took multiple shinobi to even attempt to restrain him. Without true coordination, how could they wear him down?

And yet, the Mist ninja were not the type to waste energy for nothing.

"Something's off here."

Haruki's mind raced as he avoided the ongoing attacks. With the keen insight of his Sharingan, he scanned the Mist forces below—and saw something.

Among the chaos, several Mist shinobi were quietly closing in.

Other teammates were subtly covering for them.

They might have blended in among the ranks, but from Haruki's vantage in the sky, the pattern was clear.

"Those few… they're the key, aren't they?"

His thoughts raced, trying to guess the ploy. When nothing came to mind, he acted.

Locking onto their location, Haruki unleashed another jutsu: Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!

BOOM!

A massive fireball descended.

Seeing the threat, one of the Mist Jonin immediately stopped attacking and used Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique to intercept it.

That confirmed it.

"There's definitely something wrong with those few!" Haruki thought, eyes narrowing.

Without hesitation, he began distancing himself from them while launching attacks to wear down the Mist Jonin.

Minutes ticked by.

After several rounds of this, even Ao and the other Jonin realized the truth: Haruki had seen through their plan and was deliberately messing with them.

So they stopped hiding.

Gathering over a dozen competent Chūnin, they launched a coordinated jutsu assault, trying to force Haruki into the range of the mysterious shinobi who had been protected earlier.

At the same time, those figures advanced quickly.

Seeing this, Haruki made a snap decision.

Even as a water arrow struck him, he consumed a massive amount of chakra and cast Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!

Once again, a hurricane-like blast tore through the field.

The whirlwind scattered attacks, sent Mist shinobi tumbling, and disrupted the battlefield.

The Mist forces couldn't even defend, let alone attack.

But Haruki remained cautious. He hadn't forgotten how Ao had tried to ambush him after the last Great Breakthrough—the poison from that steel needle still lingered in his body.

Yet this time, Ao didn't strike back.

Instead, the previously protected Mist Chūnin finally acted.

Recovering from the gale, they immediately formed hand seals and jointly activated a sealing jutsu.

That's right—a sealing technique.

Black sealing symbols swirled beneath their feet.

Haruki finally understood the full plan: those shinobi had been seal users, and Ao and the others had been buying time to let them prepare.

Too bad he'd disrupted it all.

Though they had shaken off the wind and struck quickly, they were still too slow.

Haruki didn't even need much effort—he soared out of their range before the jutsu could take effect.

The sealing attempt had failed.

Now, the Mist ninja were completely out of options.

Ao looked up at Haruki, who despite his wounds, was still lively and airborne. Around him, while not many had died, the Mist troops were clearly demoralized.

A wave of helplessness washed over Ao.

Just then, a sound broke through—the thunder of many footsteps.

Ao snapped to attention.

Without hesitation, he activated the Byakugan under his eyepatch.

His vision pierced the obstacles ahead—and he saw a group of battered Mist ninja charging toward them.

Their arrival reminded him of his original mission.

His thoughts kicked into overdrive again.