Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

In the blink of an eye, another half hour had passed.

Schlick—

Uchiha Haruki pulled his short sword out of the chest of a Mist Special Jōnin, letting the corpse fall limply to the ground. He then scanned the area around him.

At a glance, only a handful of Mist ninja remained from the original assault team. Meanwhile, over a dozen corpses now lay at Haruki's feet.

It was clear that the chaotic battle over the past half hour had been devastating for the Mist side.

Flicking the blood off his blade, Haruki looked at the remaining Mist-nin and said with a mocking tone:

"You seem to be running low on manpower."

The Mist ninja's expressions changed several times upon hearing his words, but none dared to refute him—because it was the truth.

A dozen of them had ganged up on Haruki for over half an hour, yet he hadn't even suffered a serious injury, while their own numbers had been decimated.

Yes—they were definitely running out of hands.

But regardless, they couldn't allow Uchiha Haruki to leave alive.

With that resolve, they prepared to call in more reinforcements to continue the assault.

Just then—

Whoosh—

A sharp gust of wind tore through the air.

From the corner of his eye, Haruki noticed a blur coming from the side and instinctively stepped back.

In the next instant, a massive sword, as wide as a door, flew past his face and slammed into a tree nearby.

The moment the blade hit the trunk, it sank in as effortlessly as a hot knife through butter, showing no resistance at all.

Its sharpness was self-evident.

Before anyone could react, another figure appeared before Haruki—a large man, who launched a sweeping kick aimed directly at Haruki's head.

Haruki responded instantly, raising his left arm to block.

Boom—

A heavy thud rang out.

The sheer force of the kick sent Haruki sliding two to three meters backward before he could regain his footing.

But that wasn't the end of it.

Before he could fully stabilize, a fist shot toward his face.

Haruki dodged by tilting his head, allowing the incoming wind from the punch to graze his cheek. He countered with a swift diagonal slash from his short sword.

Despite his bulky frame, the opponent moved with impressive agility. With just a subtle twist of the body, he perfectly avoided the blade.

Then came another sweeping leg kick—again targeting Haruki's head.

Haruki blocked once more, then retaliated immediately.

Thwack! Thud! Smack!

The sounds of fists and feet colliding echoed around them.

In a mere instant, the two had exchanged over a dozen blows.

Boom!

Finally, after another block from Haruki, the man backed off with several quick hops, retreating to where the giant sword was embedded.

Only now did the nearby Mist-nin seem to snap out of their daze, calling out in unison:

"Lord Jūzō!"

That's right—the man was none other than Jūzō Biwa.

There was no denying it—his combat experience and practical skill were exceptional.

It was no wonder that months later, when the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist were wiped out by Might Duy's Eight Gates Release, he was one of the three survivors.

This level of strength was nothing to scoff at.

Even though their skirmish had been brief, Haruki had seen enough to judge—even without the Executioner's Blade, Jūzō Biwa's base strength surpassed that of most Jōnin.

And with the massive, razor-sharp Executioner's Blade in hand?

Haruki's eyes glanced at the bisected corpse of the vice captain lying in the distance.

He thought to himself:

"Even among elite Jōnin, that man wouldn't have stood a chance."

Indeed, the vice captain who had previously engaged Jūzō Biwa was now dead.

Haruki had suspected from the beginning that the man was no match for Jūzō—and now, it was confirmed.

Still, the fact that he lasted as long as he did was commendable.

With a quiet sigh, Haruki withdrew his gaze and looked back toward Jūzō.

Jūzō, in turn, stared right back at him, his eyes cold and emotionless.

"Heh."

Haruki sneered and made the first move—activating Genjutsu: Sharingan with a flick of his eyes, while simultaneously hurling several kunai.

But Jūzō wasn't afraid to meet his gaze head-on. Clearly, he had prepared for this.

The moment Haruki activated his genjutsu, Jūzō yanked the Executioner's Blade from the tree.

He rotated the blade ninety degrees and plunged it into the ground vertically, using its massive width to shield his body.

The broad surface of the Executioner's Blade perfectly blocked the kunai, which clanged harmlessly off its steel.

Haruki wasn't disappointed by this outcome.

He kicked off the ground, rocketing forward like a cannonball, and arrived in front of Jūzō in the blink of an eye.

Then, with precise aim, he thrust his short sword through the crescent-shaped notch near the blade's hilt—right toward Jūzō's chest.

But Jūzō reacted quickly.

Snapping out of the genjutsu just in time, he tilted the Executioner's Blade slightly, causing Haruki's stab to miss by inches.

Then, with no hesitation, he surged forward, slamming toward Haruki with both his body and his massive weapon.

Having experienced his strength firsthand during their earlier clash, Haruki wasn't foolish enough to meet it head-on.

Especially not when his opponent was using the flat of the massive blade to body-slam him.

Haruki kicked off the ground and leapt backward.

Jūzō missed, but without pause, he swung the Executioner's Blade in a wide arc, aiming to cleave Haruki in two.

Sensing the deadly sharpness of the incoming strike, Haruki ducked low and dodged under the blade.

Then, he stabbed upward with his short sword, aiming at Jūzō's chest again—timing it perfectly between the end of one attack and the start of another.

But Jūzō once again reacted swiftly, sidestepping just in time to narrowly avoid the blow.

Now fully alert, Jūzō regarded Haruki with genuine seriousness and caution.

Earlier, he had felt the might of Haruki's Wind Release: Rasenshuriken, used to kill Kaguya Morinosuke. That had led him to believe Haruki was primarily a ninjutsu specialist.

But now?

It was clear that his swordsmanship was nothing to underestimate either.

Even though they had only exchanged a handful of strikes, it was more than enough to reveal Haruki's skill.

As for all the corpses lying around, riddled with sword wounds?

To Jūzō, those people were nothing but fodder—their fate irrelevant in evaluating true strength.

Only by fighting Haruki personally did Jūzō begin to take his swordsmanship seriously.

Still, he wasn't afraid.

He might be cautious now, but fear? That was far from it.

When it came to swordplay or kenjutsu, he hadn't met many people he feared.

And besides—

A good blade makes a great swordsman even deadlier.

There was no doubt about it—Haruki's short sword was vastly inferior to the legendary Executioner's Blade.

So, Jūzō had no fear at all.