Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

Elsewhere—

Shizuko Mizutani stood watch by the mountain path, her mind racing in circles. One moment she was worrying about Haruki and Ryosuke's safety, the next she was panicking about what she should do if enemies showed up.

Time slipped by slowly in her anxious wait.

She had no idea how long had passed when suddenly—a rush of footsteps echoed in the distance.

Shizuko snapped to full alert in an instant, her nerves stretched to the limit.

Who is it?

Haruki? No, his footsteps aren't this heavy.

Ryosuke? No, these strides are too long—definitely an adult's steps.

It's the enemy!

She had her answer within a second.

In that moment, all of Shizuko's indecision and thoughts evaporated.

Without hesitation, she crept closer to the path.

Two bandits were running down the mountain trail in a panic, one ahead of the other.

Even while running, they kept glancing behind them as if terrified of something chasing them.

Whoosh—

Suddenly, a kunai whistled through the air from the forest on the side.

The front bandit didn't even see it before it pierced clean through his calf.

"AAAH!"

He let out a scream as he collapsed to the ground, tumbling over and over in a miserable heap.

The bandit behind him skidded to a stop, tense and wide-eyed, scanning toward where the kunai had come from.

Then he saw her.

A small girl, barely half his height, emerged from the trees.

His eyes locked on the forehead protector on her head.

Not long ago, two devils wearing that same symbol had massacred dozens of his comrades. Now there was another one.

Terror flooded his face.

But then… he looked at her delicate features. And a flicker of hope was born.

Without hesitation, he dropped to his knees and began to cry and plead:

"Please, spare me! I didn't want to join them—I had no choice! I never did anything truly evil."

"I have two kids at home, just about your age. If I die… they won't survive. They're so small. So pitiful."

"I'm begging you… for the sake of my children… please let me go. I swear I'll never do anything bad again!"

As he spoke, he slammed his forehead into the ground—again and again. The blows were so hard, his head began to bleed.

The sight was so pitiful, it stirred a trace of mercy in Shizuko's heart.

What if he's telling the truth? If I kill him… what happens to his children…?

She was torn, battling with herself—when suddenly, as the bandit began to show relief on his face—

Thwip—

A kunai shot from afar and struck him square in the throat.

Blood sprayed as Uchiha Haruki landed in front of the bandit, yanking the kunai out without blinking.

He turned to the other bandit, who was frozen in fear, and calmly drove the blade into his chest, ending his life in one swift motion.

"Ha-Haruki…"

Shizuko stammered, still shaken.

"Don't overthink it during a mission."

Haruki cut her off with a wave of his hand before she could continue. "Don't forget the mission objective."

Then, without another word, he turned and began walking down the mountain.

Shizuko stood there stunned for a long moment before she finally murmured, "Eliminate all the bandits…"

That was right. Their mission was to kill every single bandit on Mount Kurokuro. Letting even one escape was technically a failure.

It wasn't that Haruki was obsessed with rules or mission success. He wasn't some Kakashi-type.

No—he did it because he wanted Shizuko to understand one thing: a mission is a mission.

If you hesitate at the wrong time, someone could die.

In the foreseeable future, Team 17 would operate as a unit, completing missions together. Haruki refused to let himself be dragged down by a soft-hearted teammate.

Sometimes, cruelty was necessary.

Of course, this was a temporary stance.

It wasn't like he planned to obey the village blindly forever. He didn't want to become a mindless tool like a Root ninja.

Once he had enough strength, he would choose his own path.

But for now…

He would obediently play his role.

Down the mountain—

The three of them regrouped again.

Even Furukawa, who had disappeared for several hours, finally returned.

He glanced over each of them and simply said, "Not bad."

Then, without further comment, he turned and began leading them back toward the village.

Perhaps because of the dangers of the outside world, Furukawa had no intention of camping out. He planned to take them back that very night.

Haruki fully supported that idea.

If possible, he would've stayed in the village forever.

Unfortunately, that wasn't reality.

In fact, from now on, he'd be heading out regularly for missions.

His only hope now was that Furukawa wouldn't accept too many C-rank missions in a row.

Time passed.

By early the next morning, Haruki and the others were safely back in Konoha. The journey had been so smooth it almost felt unreal to him.

Figures. I'm not the protagonist. The world doesn't revolve around me.

He thought of how Naruto could take on a simple mission that suddenly escalated into S-rank chaos, and Haruki couldn't help but grit his teeth.

Thank goodness I don't have that kind of "main character luck."He was honestly relieved.

"All right, go rest," Furukawa said once they entered the village. "You're off for the next three days. Take the time to relax a little."

"Goodbye, sensei!" ×3

The three of them replied weakly, clearly exhausted.

"Go on now," Furukawa waved them off.

Haruki said goodbye to his teammates and made his way quickly toward the Uchiha compound.

When he got home, he collapsed into a chair and began removing his gear.

The mission had lasted only a single day, but to Haruki, it felt like ages.

He had gone from someone who hadn't even killed a chicken… to someone whose hands were now stained with the blood of over twenty people.

Even though he had justified it to himself—these bandits had it coming, and he'd even taken the time to consider his teammates' mental states—he couldn't help but feel off.

The dying faces of those people flashed before his eyes one after another.

He couldn't even muster the will to train.

But regardless of his emotional state, he couldn't allow himself to slack off.

Haruki forcibly calmed himself, and like a beginner, began slowly practicing the "Shadow of the Heart Technique".

This mission had gone without surprises, and since he hadn't used much chakra to kill the bandits, his reserves were still full.

That couldn't go to waste.

So, Haruki began grinding skill proficiency with the technique.

Watching the little numbers on the skill panel gradually rise, his heart slowly began to settle.

Once his chakra was exhausted, he focused on refining more.

And once his chakra was replenished, he continued practicing.

After two full training cycles, it was already noon.

Finally, Haruki couldn't hold on any longer.

He washed up briefly and collapsed into bed.

In his sleep, his brow furrowed and relaxed over and over again—as if haunted by something even in his dreams.