Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

Two hours later—

As a massive sealing formation rose into the air, the enormous body of the Four-Tails was restrained, then quickly shrank and vanished.

No, more accurately, it didn't vanish—it was sealed back inside Rōshi.

It only appeared to disappear from Haruki's perspective because of the great distance between them—and because Rōshi's physical form was far too small to perceive clearly at that range.

As the oppressive aura in the air dissipated, Uchiha Haruki withdrew his gaze and returned to the Kogaya Village outpost.

"Captain, did you discover anything?"

He had barely arrived when several Konoha Jōnin stepped forward to inquire.

Haruki shook his head without saying much.

"It was the Four-Tails from Iwagakure. It lost control. Have the patrols secured and get some rest. We'll talk about the rest tomorrow."

The Jōnin exchanged glances, then nodded and dispersed.

At this point, no one treated Haruki as a mere twelve-year-old anymore.

With his ever-growing strength and the increasingly formidable aura he exuded, not even the Tokubetsu Jōnin dared defy his orders.

Even though they still had questions, they swallowed their curiosity and followed his command.

As for Haruki's reticence, there were two reasons: first, there was no need to disclose too much, and second, most of what he suspected was still unconfirmed.

So he'd wait to see what came from the higher-ups.

Haruki believed the response wouldn't take long.

And he was right.

Ōmura Yuito's response came even faster than expected—almost as if he had already been prepared for the outcome. By dawn, Haruki received the official report.

Taking the intel from a messenger Chūnin, Haruki quickly scanned through it.

And sure enough, the more he read, the clearer the previous night's events became.

As he had anticipated, the Four-Tails' rampage was directly connected to Konoha's recent operation.

And just as he expected, the operation had been an assassination attempt.

It made sense—given the current state of the battlefield, assassinations were one of the few cost-effective strategies that could hinder Iwagakure's advance.

In the end, the clash between two villages always came down to hard power. Tactical tricks might yield temporary gains, but never decisive victories.

And on this front, Konoha was clearly at a disadvantage.

Therefore, their best bet was using targeted assassinations—low in cost, high in payoff—to buy more time.

Unlike the previous attempt that targeted Iwagakure's command chain, this time Ōmura Yuito set the sights on Rōshi and Han—the Jinchūriki of the Four-Tails and Five-Tails.

If either of them died, their Tailed Beasts would be forced into a revival stage, leaving Iwagakure without its two strongest weapons.

Without those "living nukes," Iwagakure's offensive momentum would surely stall.

That would give Konoha much-needed breathing room.

To be fair, if the plan had worked, it might have turned the tide of the war.

But... it failed.

It was unclear whether the intelligence from their mole was faulty, or if Iwagakure had accidentally deployed more guards than expected.

Regardless, the operation was exposed ahead of time.

Even with Minato Namikaze, a Kage-level combatant, taking part in the mission, they couldn't accomplish the assassinations.

Still, the operation wasn't a complete failure.

At the very least, they managed to provoke another rampage from the Four-Tails.

Of course, the price was steep—two full-fledged Jōnin and four Tokubetsu Jōnin were lost during the mission.

But Iwagakure's losses were even greater.

After all, the Four-Tails went berserk right inside their encampment.

Even though Iwagakure's higher-ups had anticipated such dangers and placed Rōshi and Han in relatively remote quarters...

Under the sheer size and power of the Four-Tails, distance was meaningless.

Adding to the chaos was the enormous cost required to re-seal the beast. Iwagakure reportedly lost two to three hundred troops in that single night.

Reading the estimate in the report, Haruki finally understood why so many people resented the Jinchūriki.

When one of them lost control, entire squads died instantly.

It wasn't just faceless numbers. Those victims had families, friends, comrades.

And those people had every reason to hold a grudge against the Jinchūriki who killed their loved ones—even if it was unintentional.

It was no wonder the Jinchūriki were so often feared and hated.

After all, no village's Jinchūriki had never gone berserk at some point.

"Sigh... I'm getting off-topic again. Let's see what Yuito's next move is."

With that, Haruki continued reading the report.

When he saw what was being planned next, his instincts were confirmed.

Ōmura Yuito had prepared a contingency in case the mission failed.

According to the new orders, all outposts were to be evacuated within one day, and all personnel were to regroup at Fūryū Town.

After that, everyone would relocate to a more rearward base.

In short—Fūryū Town would be abandoned.

Haruki didn't find this surprising at all.

As a Jōnin, he had access to far more information than ordinary Konoha shinobi. He knew that Fūryū Town had already reached its defensive limits.

Over the past month, Iwagakure had relentlessly attacked the outposts surrounding Fūryū Town, draining its resources and manpower.

If things continued, it would be nothing short of slow death.

Yuito had clearly seen this too—hence last night's risky operation, and the subsequent withdrawal plan.

If the assassination had succeeded, they might've held the town.

But since it failed, the only logical move was strategic retreat.

Of course, this wasn't Yuito's decision alone.

A single outpost commander didn't have the authority to reshape the entire battlefront.

This order must've been approved by Konoha's main headquarters.

Otherwise, such a bold move—one that would cause every outpost along the front line to pull back—would have never been issued.

Now that the order was out, it meant the main base had already decided to shorten the defensive line.

"But the time frame..."

Haruki frowned as he scanned the two-day timeline in the message.

"One day to retreat to Fūryū Town, and one more to fall back again? That's nonstop movement."

Still, orders were orders.

He put away the report, dismissed the messenger Chūnin, and immediately summoned the outpost's Jōnin to delegate the evacuation tasks.

When they heard they were retreating, the others were clearly surprised—but no one protested.

They quickly got to work.

By noon that same day, everyone at the outpost had finished packing up.

Not even a scrap of supplies was left behind for Iwagakure. Everything was taken.

The entire group departed for the Fūryū Town outpost, twenty kilometers away.

Haruki had been worried Iwagakure might try to intercept them during transit.

But that fear turned out to be unnecessary.

Iwagakure was still reeling from the Four-Tails' rampage—they had neither the manpower nor the time to deal with Konoha's retreat.

So, Haruki and his team reached Fūryū Town safely and without incident.