Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

"Haaah!"

After transforming into a human "porcupine," Kaguya Morinosuke didn't pause. With a loud roar, he suddenly pulled a bone blade out from his left arm and gripped it tightly in his right hand.

"Hehehe~"

He let out a sinister chuckle.

Then, he kicked off the ground, his whole body charging forward like an unstoppable tank, emanating a dominating aura as he charged directly at Uchiha Haruki.

Seeing Morinosuke charging at him head-on, Haruki didn't hesitate for a second. He immediately sheathed his kunai.

His hands flew through a rapid sequence of hand seals, and in the blink of an eye, he released a jutsu—

Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!

A massive fireball, two to three meters in diameter, burst from his mouth, roaring with intense heat, hurling straight toward Morinosuke.

Feeling the scorching wave of heat bearing down on him, Morinosuke didn't dare take it head-on. He quickly sidestepped to avoid it.

BOOM!

The fireball struck a large tree behind him, instantly reducing it to charred ash.

But that wasn't all—the resulting flames from the explosion quickly spread across the area, turning the nearby forest into a sea of fire.

Even someone as bloodthirsty and battle-hardened as Morinosuke felt a flicker of caution in his heart.

Yes, the bone spikes covering his body could defend against most physical attacks and even some weaker jutsu.

But when faced with high-level Fire Release like the one Haruki had just unleashed—he knew better than to take it directly.

Thoughts flashed through his mind rapidly. Morinosuke raised his bone blade, intending to take advantage of the momentary gap after Haruki's jutsu to launch a counterattack.

But to his surprise, before he could even move two steps, another giant fireball was already hurtling toward him.

"That fast?!"

Shocked, Morinosuke quickly dodged again.

But this was only the beginning.

For the next two to three minutes, Haruki rained down ninjutsu on him relentlessly, launching attack after attack as if he had an unlimited supply of chakra.

"Damn it!"

Morinosuke cursed internally, forced to focus all his attention on dodging.

He'd only relaxed for a moment earlier, and Haruki's Sharingan had immediately picked up the opening—nearly blasting a fireball right into his face.

That close call had shaken Morinosuke, making him unwilling to let his guard down again.

Still, he wasn't too worried. Compared to Haruki, who was burning chakra at a rapid pace, his own evasive maneuvers consumed far less chakra.

In other words, this couldn't last forever.

Once Haruki ran out of chakra or switched tactics, Morinosuke would strike.

But what Morinosuke didn't know was—

Haruki was well aware of this.

So why continue this seemingly wasteful barrage?

There were two reasons.

First, he needed time—to analyze his opponent and devise a counter-strategy.

There was no denying that Morinosuke was a tough opponent: heavily armored with bone spikes and packed with battlefield experience. For someone like Haruki, who specialized in close-quarters combat, Morinosuke was a natural counter.

So he had to carefully think through his next move.

Second, he was using the Sharingan to closely observe Morinosuke's habits and attack patterns, gathering crucial data for a decisive strike later on.

As for chakra consumption?

That wasn't a concern.

At present, Haruki's chakra reserve had reached nearly 60,000 points. Spamming Fire Release: Great Fireball and other techniques wouldn't drain him any time soon.

Not to mention—there were still plenty of Mist chunin on the battlefield. If Haruki really did start running low, he could always absorb chakra from one of them.

Even though his Chakra Absorption Technique hadn't leveled up in a while, it was already level 5. At that level, he could absorb 1,000 chakra points per second and convert 90% of that into his own chakra.

With his current strength, capturing a Mist chunin alive mid-battle wouldn't be difficult at all.

So chakra? Not an issue.

That said, he couldn't drag this out forever.

Haruki had noticed that the other two Mist jōnin were starting to pay attention to his fight.

So far, they hadn't interfered—probably because they weren't from the Kaguya Clan and didn't want to cooperate with Morinosuke. Plus, they were tied down by Konoha's Tokubetsu Jōnin.

But if they finished their own battles or if Morinosuke started losing badly, they'd likely come to assist.

Which meant—Haruki had to end this fight soon.

Time ticked on...

Two more minutes passed, and Haruki suddenly ceased all fire jutsu. No more Fireball Technique, no more ranged attacks.

Morinosuke was momentarily puzzled.

He'd been expecting a longer exchange—but Haruki just stopped.

As a result, Morinosuke didn't rush in immediately. He was wary of a trap.

Haruki, however, didn't give him time to speculate. He raised his hands again, fingers forming the Ram seal, and cast—

Shadow Clone Technique!

In an instant, Haruki's form split into three identical versions of himself.

"Shadow Clones?"

Morinosuke scoffed. "Hah! Kid, you couldn't beat me alone—do you really think adding two clones will help?"

Haruki ignored him.

He knew full well—Morinosuke was just trying to bait him into revealing his intentions.

Did he look like a green academy graduate who'd fall for that?

Seeing Haruki unmoved, Morinosuke gave up the pretense and charged forward, bone blade raised.

Haruki didn't waste time either—he drew a kunai from his pouch, and along with his two clones, surrounded Morinosuke in a pincer formation.

Clang!

The kunai and bone blade clashed with a sharp metallic ring.

Haruki dug in, his feet sinking slightly into the soil as he matched Morinosuke's strength head-on.

Meanwhile, his two clones moved in from the sides, their kunai aimed at the few unprotected spots on Morinosuke's body.

But Morinosuke grinned coldly.

The bone spikes on his body instantly expanded, targeting the clones' vital points.

Sensing danger, both clones retreated, while Haruki pulled back to avoid damage as well.

Morinosuke tried to pursue—

But just then, Haruki kicked off the ground, suddenly reversing direction from retreat to assault, and lunged straight at him again.

Morinosuke remained calm and swung his bone blade in response.

Clang, clang, clang—!

Kunai and bone blade collided repeatedly in a flurry of sharp, rapid strikes.

Haruki's two clones joined the fray, making it three against one.

In an instant, the pressure on Morinosuke intensified drastically.