Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

A few minutes later—

The Iwagakure forces appeared at the far end of the valley.

As they drew closer, Uchiha Haruki roughly counted—just over two hundred shinobi.

He quietly exhaled, feeling a wave of relief. Looks like Orochimaru's plan worked.

Otherwise, given the amount of time that had passed, there was no way Iwagakure would've sent such a small force.

Now, with three hundred on Konoha's side against just over two hundred enemy shinobi, they had the advantage. The battle wouldn't be quite as bloody as expected.

The Iwa-nin closed in.

Haruki and the others raised their kunai, waiting for the signal from their commander. The moment it came, they'd launch the first wave of attacks.

But just then, the Iwagakure commander at the front suddenly came to a halt.

Seeing this, the Konoha leader didn't hesitate in the slightest and gave the order:

"Fire!"

In the next instant, a flurry of kunai shot out from both sides of the forest like a torrential downpour, hurtling toward the Iwagakure formation.

"Look out!" the Iwa commander shouted, but the ambush came too fast.

Many enemy shinobi didn't even have time to react—especially the genin, several of whom were struck like pin cushions and died on the spot.

Just one volley had already claimed a tenth of the enemy force.

The second wave followed immediately. This time, the Iwa-nin were prepared—they drew their weapons and began to block the incoming kunai. Only a few were unlucky enough to be hit fatally.

After all, they were fighting far from home and hadn't brought many tools with them. Knowing this, the Konoha commander quickly gave the next order:

"Charge!"

With a collective roar, the Konoha shinobi surged out of the trees.

Before they arrived at the battlefield, several Konoha jōnin launched a third wave—this time, powerful ninjutsu rained down from above, smashing into the Iwa ranks.

Though the enemy jōnin responded quickly with counter-ninjutsu, they had still lost the initiative.

By the time the dust settled, nearly ten more Iwagakure genin and chūnin lay dead. Another twenty to thirty were injured.

Now, the remaining enemy force had dropped below two hundred, and a significant number of them were wounded.

They'd been in such a rush to respond to the emergency that they hadn't considered the possibility of an ambush. By the time they realized what was happening, it was already too late.

If they had just sent out a few scouting teams in advance, this could've been avoided.

Then again—

Scouts were usually elite shinobi. With the size and layout of Konoha's ambush, even the best scout squads would've been slaughtered.

So the question remained:

Was it worth sacrificing some lower-ranked shinobi to preserve a few elite ones?

Or was it better to risk losing the elites to avoid unnecessary deaths?

There was no clear answer. It all depended on one's perspective.

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Shouts of war and deafening explosions filled the air, echoing across the valley.

Haruki didn't rush in recklessly. At this stage, any chūnin or genin who ran ahead risked being wiped out by stray attacks—especially before the jōnin from both sides engaged each other. No one followed "battlefield etiquette" in situations like this.

So, Haruki held back with the middle ranks, waiting until the jōnin were fully locked in combat before zeroing in on a target—a chūnin from Iwagakure.

Why not go for a genin instead?

Simple. The frontliners had already engaged most of the enemy's genin.

On a battlefield, everyone had their own survival logic.

Charging ahead might give you a quick kill, but it also put you in the crossfire. Waiting meant you had better control and safer odds.

Refocusing, Haruki locked his attention on the Iwa chūnin before him.

Coincidentally, the man also carried a long sword—one of the rare sword-wielding shinobi from Iwagakure.

Because of the village's rugged terrain and pragmatic mindset, Iwa shinobi tended to dismiss swordsmanship as flashy and impractical. They preferred straightforward taijutsu or versatile ninjutsu.

So, finding a fellow swordsman on the enemy side was rare—and Haruki couldn't resist testing himself.

The Iwa shinobi seemed pleased too, assuming Haruki was just a greenhorn genin.

But he celebrated too early.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

In a span of just a few seconds, Haruki unleashed dozens of precise strikes, each aimed at a vital spot.

At first, the Iwa chūnin brushed him off, thinking, What can some kid possibly do with a sword? Genius wasn't something you found on the roadside.

He parried lazily.

But as the duel continued, the man's expression grew darker. Beads of sweat began forming on his brow.

It hit him—

In terms of swordsmanship alone, he wasn't Haruki's equal.

He'd already had several close calls—and they were happening more and more frequently.

He was rattled.

Meanwhile, Haruki, having gotten over his initial nerves, began to relax. The longer they fought, the more confident he became.

Not only was his Leaf-style swordsmanship superior, but his control and technique far outclassed the enemy.

Nothing to fear.

Besides, he hadn't had time to train his sword technique lately. This was a perfect opportunity to rack up some practice points.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The duel pressed on steadily.

As he fought, Haruki kept an eye on Mizutani Shizuko's side of the field.

She was also up against a chūnin—not very skilled, and although she was slightly on the defensive, she held her own.

Haruki was reassured.

Minutes passed.

Fifteen… maybe twenty.

And as time went on, the fighting only grew fiercer.

Konoha forces were holding the line, buying time to stall the enemy reinforcements.

But Iwagakure couldn't afford to stall. Their orders were to reach the outpost under attack as fast as possible.

The result?

The jōnin on their side began hurling massive ninjutsu attacks one after another, forcing the mid- and lower-rank shinobi to scatter.

Haruki and Shizuko had long since vacated their original positions.

Taking advantage of the chaos, Haruki's sword-wielding opponent backed off. A new challenger appeared—a different Iwa chūnin who had just killed two Konoha genin working together.

He made a beeline for Haruki.

"Heh... tough luck, kid. You ran into me."

Nishimura Ishihei grinned cruelly as he rushed forward, eyes fixed on Haruki's.

He was clearly trying to see the familiar look of panic and terror in his enemy's gaze.

Having fought on the battlefield for over a year, Ishihei knew exactly what frightened rookie shinobi.

If he played the role of the cold-blooded killer well enough, most of them wouldn't even be able to fight back.

Sometimes they'd even wet themselves before the fight began.

So he thought—

"Be afraid, rookie!"

He roared in his heart.

But as he got close, he saw no fear in Haruki's eyes.

Just calm.

Nothing but calm.

"…What the hell?"

A chill crept through Ishihei. Something felt wrong.

Had he just picked a fight with the wrong guy?

But at this point, there was no turning back.

With a roar, he lunged, kunai slashing toward Haruki—