Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

Seeing the serious expression on Uchiha Haruki's face, the Uchiha elder assumed he was worried about what lay ahead.

So, with a hearty laugh, he said,

"Haruki, don't worry. Once you reach the Mist battlefield, there will be clan members stationed there to look after you."

Haruki realized the elder had misunderstood but didn't bother correcting him. He simply followed the conversation and replied politely:

"Thank you for arranging that, Elder."

"Mm,"

The Uchiha elder nodded, then seemed to recall something. Suddenly, he said,

"Wait a moment."

With that, he turned and entered the back room. A few moments later, he returned with a book and two scrolls in hand.

Seeing the items, Haruki's heart stirred slightly. He had already guessed what this was about, but still asked curiously,

"This is…?"

"Didn't you request support from the clan?"

The elder said.

"Well, these are what you asked for."

He handed the three items to Haruki.

Haruki quickly received them with both hands.

The elder then explained,

"The book contains insights from a predecessor regarding the development of water-element chakra."

Upon hearing that, Haruki immediately flipped through the book. After skimming a few pages, he confirmed it was indeed similar to the wind-style chakra development notes he had obtained from the Uchiha library before.

With this book, he could save himself a great deal of time and effort.

But now wasn't the time to read, so Haruki quickly put it away and turned his attention to the two scrolls.

Seeing this, the elder continued:

"Each of these scrolls records a water-style jutsu. They should be enough to keep you busy for a while."

Haruki opened the two scrolls.

One of them contained the jutsu Water Release: Water Formation Wall, and the other one detailed Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique.

Both were B-rank jutsu, one defensive and one offensive—it was clear the elder had chosen them with care.

The only drawback was that neither technique was an optimized version.

The Water Formation Wall was just a basic vertical wall for defense, and the Water Dragon Bullet Technique was the long-form version requiring 44 hand seals.

Still, Haruki didn't mind.

After all, with his proficiency panel, as long as he put in time and effort, he could level the techniques up himself. Once mastered, he could change the jutsu's form or reduce the hand seals as he pleased.

So there was no need to fuss over whether it was a standard version or not.

Just as he revealed a hint of a smile, the Uchiha elder hit him with some disappointing news.

"As for the Kusanagi Sword you requested—the clan hasn't been able to obtain it yet. Originally, we planned to deliver it with these items, but since you're here now, you might as well take these first."

Haruki barely registered the second half of the elder's statement. He focused only on the crucial part:

"You haven't obtained it… not that it doesn't exist."

In other words… the clan had leads on the Kusanagi Sword.

Haruki's eyes gleamed as he immediately asked,

"So the clan knows where one might be?"

Although he didn't understand why Haruki was suddenly interested, the Uchiha elder still answered truthfully:

"That's right. According to our intel, before the war broke out, the leader of the Village of Artisan Nin (Takumi Village) obtained one. He apparently planned to replicate it, but never succeeded. So theoretically, he still has the original."

Then the elder suddenly noticed Haruki's brightening eyes and quickly asked,

"Wait… you're not planning to go after it yourself, are you?"

Haruki didn't even hesitate.

"Why not? Is that a problem?"

Seeing how casually Haruki talked about robbing someone, the elder pointed at him and scolded jokingly,

"You little punk…"

What the elder didn't know was—Haruki was the kind of person who weighed the situation carefully before acting.

If this were someone else, Haruki might've kept his intentions hidden.

But this Uchiha elder was clearly part of the radical faction.

And radicals were, to put it nicely, unconventional, or more bluntly, they disregarded rules.

In a world where might makes right, the idea of taking things by force wasn't so outrageous.

After all, when small ninja villages came into possession of rare treasures, didn't the Five Great Villages just take them?

So Haruki's attitude didn't seem too surprising.

In fact, this sort of thinking might even make the radical elder view him more favorably.

However, what happened next caught Haruki off guard.

The Uchiha elder directly shot down his idea.

"Absolutely not."

"Why?"

Haruki asked bluntly.

The elder shook his head,

"Because you won't be able to find him."

"What do you mean?"

Haruki pressed.

"Exactly what it sounds like,"

the elder replied.

"Since the war started, Takumi Village has disbanded. All of their shinobi have gone into hiding."

"Huh?"

Haruki blinked in surprise.

The elder elaborated,

"You know the Village of Artisan Nin is known for creating ninja tools, right?"

"Yes,"

Haruki nodded.

"But did you know that in peacetime, over 70% of all the tools used by the Five Great Villages came from them?"

Haruki shook his head—he honestly had no idea. In his previous life's knowledge, smaller villages were barely mentioned, and he never expected Takumi Village to have that kind of influence.

But now it all made sense.

As a weapons supplier, they had too much value and too little power to protect it.

In times of peace, the other villages might tolerate it and let them profit.

But in times of war?

It wasn't about money anymore.

It was about power balance.

If Takumi Village leaned toward one of the five great powers, supplying them exclusively with weapons, the scale of the war could be tipped drastically.

No one wanted to see that happen.

And if they tried to be neutral, they'd still be seen as a threat and targeted by everyone.

So the best option—for survival—was to disappear.

Clearly, their leader had understood this.

So he disbanded the village and scattered everyone, each person hiding across the ninja world.

In peaceful times, Takumi Village had functioned because of its cohesion and division of labor.

Now that they were spread apart, they could no longer offer their services collectively. That way, even if the Great Villages still wanted their tools, they wouldn't bother hunting them down.

When the war ended, they could regroup and rebuild the village.

That was Takumi Village's survival strategy.

Through the elder's explanation and his own reasoning, Haruki finally understood why the village had disbanded, and also why his plan wouldn't work.

With things the way they were…

Finding the Takumi Village leader was next to impossible.