Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

Deep in the forest—

Uchiha Haruki was moving fast through the trees when suddenly a kunai flew at him from the front right.

Reacting on instinct, Haruki twisted his body mid-air and leapt to another tree nearby.

But the moment his feet touched the branch, something felt off.

He glanced down—a nearly invisible wire.

A trap? Is this because I killed that white-furred monkey earlier?

Yes. Just moments ago, during his journey, Haruki had been targeted by a white-furred monkey.

He hadn't wanted to engage at first, but the dense jungle was too favorable for the beast.

After spending some effort trying to shake it, he'd finally had no choice but to kill it.

He had thought the scuffle wouldn't attract attention.

But apparently, the three-person team he was tracking had been closer than expected.

Hearing the commotion wasn't surprising.

Haruki was now almost certain—they were the ones who set this trap.

He figured out the entire sequence in just a second.

The trap had just been triggered.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—

Dozens of kunai shot toward him from every direction, sealing off all escape routes.

But Haruki didn't panic—in fact, he even had the mind to comment:

"Nicely done… that's a well-set trap."

It wasn't sarcasm. He meant it.

For an average ninja, there was practically no good solution here other than brute-forcing their way out—and likely failing.

But Haruki wasn't average.

His blood-red Sharingan spun rapidly, the twin tomoe tracking every incoming kunai and mapping out their trajectories in his mind.

With a few flickers of movement, he dodged all of them by the slimmest of margins.

From their hiding spot, the three attackers stared in shock, eyes wide.

"You coming out on your own? Or do I have to drag you out?"

Haruki's voice echoed through the trees, calm and collected.

His gaze had already locked onto their exact positions.

He sounded as if he didn't take them seriously—but inwardly, he was completely focused.

They had crafted a near-perfect trap—clearly not amateurs.

Even if they were, Haruki would never let down his guard.

A lion goes full strength even against a rabbit.

Believing that a Sharingan alone guaranteed victory was the path to self-destruction.

The shinobi world was filled with unknown jutsu and techniques.

Overconfidence meant eventual disaster.

That mindset—never underestimating anyone—was how Haruki had survived this long.

"Still not coming out?"

He called again.

But before he could finish his sentence, several shuriken came flying.

Haruki blurred into motion, dodging each effortlessly.

That's when he felt it—a flicker of danger at his back.

He glanced behind—a jet-black shadow raced toward him.

The Shadow Possession Jutsu?

In that instant, Haruki recognized the Nara clan's signature technique.

Which meant the one attacking must be—

Nara Seihei.

He remembered that name.

As the only representative from the Nara Clan participating in this round of the Chūnin Exams, Haruki had paid attention to him in advance.

No wonder the trap was so intricate—it was laid by a Nara.

The Nara Clan was infamous for their high intelligence and tactical brilliance.

It made perfect sense—using kunai to predict Haruki's landing point and trap him right then and there.

But unfortunately for them—intellect alone isn't enough when facing overwhelming strength.

That thought flashed through Haruki's mind as he leapt again and again, narrowly avoiding the creeping shadow.

In the end, the shadow halted just inches from Haruki's feet—unable to close the distance.

It had run out of range.

Haruki didn't hesitate.

He immediately formed seals at blinding speed, his fingers moving faster than the eye could follow—

"Fire Style: Phoenix Fire Technique!"

With a breath, he unleashed a barrage of fireballs, dozens of flaming orbs bursting through the air toward the trio's hiding spot.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Explosions erupted.

Seihei and his two teammates were forced out of cover, coughing through the smoke.

Whoosh whoosh—

More kunai flew at Haruki.

He weaved around most of them with ease.

But as one flew directly past his face, he suddenly raised his right hand—

index finger slipping perfectly into the ring of the kunai's hilt.

With a flick of his wrist, he spun it, built momentum—

Then hurled it with a sharp crack of air.

Thud!

The kunai embedded itself three inches above the head of a stunned Genin—Satō Masaru.

Masaru froze.

He looked up slowly, face going pale as he realized the kunai had nearly killed him.

Just three inches lower and—

"Wait... did he miss on purpose?"

The thought crept into his mind as he turned his eyes toward Haruki in the distance—

and saw those blood-red Sharingan glowing like embers.

There was no way a Sharingan wielder would miss by three inches.

He had been spared.

Haruki didn't bother with the frozen Masaru.

His body flickered again—appearing right in front of the second teammate.

Aoki Akane, startled by Haruki's sudden approach, leapt back without hesitation.

She drew a kunai mid-air, preparing to counterattack.

But it was already too late.

"Genjutsu: Sharingan!"

Their eyes met—

Haruki completed the hand seal faster than she could react.

Even though it was only slightly stronger than the default Sharingan's hypnotic ability due to limited prep time—it was still more than enough.

Akane's movements stalled midair.

Her pupils glazed over.

Her eyelids drooped.

She wobbled like someone about to fall asleep.

Clang!

A blade hissed from the side—

Haruki swung his sword and knocked away the kunai Seihei had thrown in a panic.

Then, without pause, he pivoted and delivered a swift kick, launching the dazed Akane backward.

At that moment, Seihei suddenly dropped all his defenses.

Haruki blinked—then immediately understood.

He's giving up.

Sure enough, Seihei reached into his pouch and pulled out three scrolls, tossing them to the ground.

"We surrender! These are our scrolls!"

His words came out in a rush.

Seeing that the other side knew when to quit, Haruki didn't push it.

He walked over, glanced at the scrolls—all Earth Scrolls, as expected.

Makes sense. Same team members wouldn't be assigned different scrolls—there'd be no point to the test.

Still, this worked out perfectly for him.

Haruki used his short sword to flip one of the scrolls up into the air, inspected it for traps—

Then picked it up and silently walked away.

Only after he disappeared into the trees did Nara Seihei finally exhale in relief.