Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

Another week passed in the blink of an eye.

The time to depart for the battlefield was drawing closer and closer.

That's right, the news had been made public.

This year's group of academy graduates, along with newly promoted chunin, those genin who hadn't yet advanced, and a large number of clan shinobi, would all be heading to the battlefield in the Land of Rain.

"The Land of Rain, huh…"

Inside his room, Uchiha Haruki let out a soft sigh and fell silent.

If there was any place he least wanted to go, it was undoubtedly the Land of Rain battlefield.

Located between the Lands of Wind, Earth, and Fire, and bordering several smaller nations, the Land of Rain's unique geographic position had always made it a strategic hotbed during every Great Ninja War.

This time was no different.

Sand ninja, Stone ninja, Leaf shinobi, bounty hunters, Rain Country's own ninja, the Akatsuki led by Yahiko, and even ANBU from Cloud and Mist villages—both open and covert forces were active here. The situation was as chaotic as it was dangerous.

Because of this, tension ran high. Any small disturbance could trigger an all-out fight to the death.

Thus, the Land of Rain had earned its infamous nickname—the ninja graveyard, the meat grinder of war.

The shinobi stationed there endured pressures far beyond those on any other front.

That's why Haruki didn't want to go.

Unfortunately, it wasn't up to him.

What about abandoning the village?

Forget it—even putting aside the clan techniques and Leaf Village's many jutsu he still needed, the price of becoming a rogue ninja was one he simply couldn't afford.

Even with his newly awakened Sharingan, Haruki's overall strength was only at a chunin level.

With that kind of power, escaping the pursuit of Konoha's ANBU was out of the question.

And besides, the world outside wasn't exactly safe either.

The Uchiha clan's Sharingan had always been highly coveted, a staple on the black market's most wanted list. If his identity were exposed, bounty hunters would come at him in waves.

Haruki had no desire to live like a rat, constantly running for his life.

Rather than that, it was better to follow the village's orders and go to the battlefield.

With the Sharingan as his trump card and the support of the proficiency panel to aid his growth, Haruki figured he could play it cautiously and avoid unnecessary risk.

Thinking of the Sharingan, Haruki opened his panel.

The familiar light blue screen appeared before his eyes:

[Name: Uchiha Haruki][Age: 11][Physique: 7][Spirit: 9][Chakra: 1450 (2570 → 3018)][Bloodline: Sharingan - Single Tomoe (1/1000) → (30/1000)][Skills:]

Chakra Refining Technique: Lv3 (266/1000) → (322/1000)

Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu: Lv1 (50/200)

Insight Technique: Lv3 (601/1000) → (683/1000)

Ninja Tool Throwing: Lv3 (1/1000)

Chakra Control: Lv3 (102/1000)

Three Basic Jutsu: Lv3 (0/0)

Basic Taijutsu: Lv3 (0/0)

This past week, Haruki had spent all his time rigorously testing the Sharingan's chakra consumption and exploring how its proficiency could be increased.

Now, he finally had answers to both questions.

First, regarding chakra usage: if he simply kept the Sharingan activated without fighting, it consumed only one point of chakra per minute.

But if he engaged in combat, the chakra cost would vary depending on the situation.

The more complex the scenario, and the greater the demands on the Sharingan's abilities, the faster it drained chakra. Conversely, in simpler situations, the consumption was lower.

Additionally, actively using the Sharingan's powers—such as performing genjutsu through it—would incur extra chakra costs.

In other words, if he did nothing strenuous, he could keep the Sharingan active all day without issue. But in intense battle, he might burn through all his chakra in just fifteen to twenty minutes.

Still, Haruki didn't plan to put himself in such a dangerous position.

As for improving the Sharingan's proficiency?

There was good news—Insight Technique still worked.

In fact, now that the Sharingan had awakened, the improvement rate was even better. He no longer needed dozens of points in Insight Technique to increase one point in Sharingan proficiency.

Now, every ten points of Insight Technique would earn him one point of Sharingan growth.

But Haruki wasn't thrilled just yet.

Why?

Because gaining those ten points of Insight proficiency cost 1,700 chakra.

And he could only use about 3,500 chakra per day.

Which meant… he could only improve his Sharingan by two points per day.

But a Single Tomoe Sharingan needed 1,000 proficiency points to evolve into a Double Tomoe.

That's 500 days—a year and four months.

Haruki didn't have that kind of time.

Fortunately, Insight Technique wasn't the only method.

While testing the Sharingan's consumption, Haruki discovered that simply keeping it active also built proficiency.

The panel confirmed that proficiency would gradually increase the longer the Sharingan stayed open.

So Haruki tested thoroughly and came to this conclusion: for every five hours of active Sharingan use, he gained one proficiency point.

That only required about 300 chakra—far less than the 1,700 needed for Insight.

By that logic, his Sharingan proficiency should be higher than thirty.

But it wasn't.

Why?

Because there are only twenty-four hours in a day.

Once you factor in sleep, meals, and other essentials, he only had about a dozen hours for grinding.

That's why it had taken him seven days to gather twenty-nine points.

And that was with eight of those points coming from Insight Technique, and no one disturbing him—he'd been able to keep the Sharingan open as long as he wanted.

If things hadn't been so peaceful, the number would've been even lower.

So, in short: Haruki could not afford to stop training Insight Technique.

As long as he planned to keep the Sharingan a secret, he had to raise its level.

Only that would allow him to accelerate the evolution of his Sharingan into a Double Tomoe form.

Still, this wasn't something that could be rushed.

In just a few days, he'd be stepping onto the battlefield.

But his current combat abilities were limited and overly specialized.

That's why Haruki had decided to broaden his skills before departure.

First on the list: Body Flicker Technique.

This would serve as a crucial escape tool. He had to raise its proficiency before real combat started, so he could rely on it in emergencies.

Next, his late parents had left him two additional Fire Style jutsu—Phoenix Fire Jutsu and Dragon Fire Jutsu.

Haruki planned to grind those into usable techniques too.

The former would give him area-of-effect attacks, so he wouldn't be helpless against multiple enemies.

The latter would let him strike at medium-range targets more effectively.

And finally, genjutsu.

Now that he had the Sharingan, genjutsu was a must. The synergy between the two could produce results far beyond the sum of their parts.

At the moment, Haruki only knew one genjutsu—Insight Technique.

But that was mainly for evolving the Sharingan. Using it in battle was inefficient and unreliable.

Luckily, his parents had left behind one more genjutsu—Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique.

Not only was it a proper, combat-capable genjutsu—it was specifically designed for the Sharingan.

Perfect for him to start learning.