Chapter Summaries

Uchiha Jin learned that Leaf Village’s army would arrive in two days, giving his trapped group hope as they prepared to keep moving through the Land of Whirlpools. Two days later, Jin and his companions continued evading Mist Village, with their pursuers still unable to catch them.

• The three Leaf ninja agreed to stop discussing Ishikawa Itsuki and worried about Mist Village’s increasingly frequent searches.
• Kudo Shin wished they had a Hyuga ninja for reconnaissance, and Uchiha Jin acknowledged the Byakugan’s advantage in large-scale scouting.
• Uchiha Jin received word that Leaf Village’s assembled army, led by Uchiha Fugaku, would arrive in two days.
• Uchiha Jin urged Kudo Shin and Nara Kazama to rest before setting out again in two hours.
• Two days later, Uchiha Jin and the other two raced through the forest, continuing to evade Mist Village as Nara Kazama helped them detect threats.

Uchiha Jin, Nara Kazama, and Kudo Shin ambushed a Mist Village squad, but their victory was interrupted by the arrival of Suikazan Fuguki. Jin ordered the group to flee rather than expose his true strength, leaving Kudo Shin struggling to escape.

• Nara Kazama spotted two Mist Village squads ahead, and Uchiha Jin ordered Kazama to attack with him while Kudo Shin stayed hidden.
• Uchiha Jin and Nara Kazama combined Fire Style and Wind Style to kill several Mist Genin and injure two Mist Chunin.
• Kudo Shin killed one injured Mist Chunin from behind, and Uchiha Jin killed the other as he tried to flee.
• Nara Kazama recognized Suikazan Fuguki of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, and Uchiha Jin ordered the group to run.
• Uchiha Jin and Nara Kazama fled at full speed, while Kudo Shin froze in fear and struggled to keep up.

Uchiha Jin rescued Kudo Shin and Nara Kazama from Suikazan Fuguki, then fled while taunting the pursuing Mist swordsman. Fuguki became enraged and chased them, but Jin’s speed kept him out of reach.

• Suikazan Fuguki attacked Kudo Shin, but Uchiha Jin turned back and carried Shin away.
• Uchiha Jin caught up to Nara Kazama and carried both companions as he ran.
• Uchiha Jin mocked Fuguki while fleeing, provoking him to swear he would kill Jin even if he abandoned his mission.
• Fuguki threw ninjutsu and weapons at the fleeing trio, but he could not catch up to Jin.

Uchiha Jin kept Suikazan Fuguki chasing him until Leaf Village’s fleet arrived, forcing the exhausted Mist ninja to flee. Uchiha Shisui and the Jonin heard Nara Kazama’s account of what had happened at the Land of Whirlpools, including an embellished version of Ishikawa Itsuki’s role.

• Uchiha Jin carried Nara Kazama and Kudo Shin while he evaded Suikazan Fuguki for nearly half a day.
• Suikazan Fuguki chased Uchiha Jin to the shore, where they saw Leaf Village ships approaching with Uchiha banners.
• Uchiha Shisui and more than a dozen Elite Jonin arrived, and Suikazan Fuguki fled from the reinforcements.
• Uchiha Jin dropped Nara Kazama and Kudo Shin and lay down, leaving Nara Kazama to explain the events to Uchiha Shisui.
• Nara Kazama recounted the group’s time in the Land of Whirlpools, embellishing Ishikawa Itsuki’s part, and the Jonin were stunned.

After their achievements were verified, Kudo Shin, Uchiha Jin, and Nara Kazama received promotions and official assignments. With new deployments still pending, Uchiha Jin brought out liquor and snacks so the three could celebrate together.

• Uchiha Shisui welcomed Uchiha Jin and the others to the new Frontline Camp and told them to rest while the Leaf forces took over.
• An Anbu squad interrogated Uchiha Jin, Kudo Shin, and Nara Kazama, then accepted their evidence and placed them under orders to remain in camp.
• Two days later, the Anbu squad leader informed them that their merits were confirmed, Kudo Shin was promoted to Elite Jonin and reassigned as a captain, and Uchiha Jin and Nara Kazama were promoted to Chunin.
• Uchiha Jin brought out liquor and snacks and proposed that the three celebrate before they went their separate ways.

Uchiha Jin, Nara Kazama, and Kudo Shin drank together after surviving a major battle, and Shin thanked Jin for saving his life. Kazama urged Jin to recruit Shin and build his own power, warning that the village would always distrust him as an Uchiha.

• Uchiha Jin, Nara Kazama, and Kudo Shin relaxed over drinks and chatted in their tent.
• Kudo Shin thanked Uchiha Jin for saving his life and offered to help him in the future.
• After Shin passed out, Nara Kazama advised Jin to recruit him as a useful civilian ninja.
• Uchiha Jin questioned why Nara Kazama was planning so carefully for him.
• Nara Kazama warned Jin that the village would not let him escape suspicion as an Uchiha and urged him to build his own power to protect his future family.

Uchiha Jin reconsidered his plans after Nara Kazama argued that he would need a force to protect his future family. Jin agreed to hear Kazama’s scheme for recruiting people from clans and civilian groups, though the plan could make them enemies of Leaf Village.

• Nara Kazama told Uchiha Jin that he expected Jin to rise to prominence and said he needed to plan for the future beyond surviving the clan’s extermination.
• Uchiha Jin realized he would eventually want a family and concluded that he needed to build a force capable of protecting them.
• Uchiha Jin agreed to discuss Nara Kazama’s ideas, and Kazama explained that Jin should recruit disaffected Uchiha while Kazama approached suppressed members of the Ino-Shika-Cho clans.
• Nara Kazama proposed recruiting civilians through Kudo Shin and attracting members of other clans who resented Hiruzen Sarutobi’s faction and Danzo’s Root.
• Nara Kazama suggested hiding recruits outside Leaf Village or withdrawing them during wartime, arguing that the village would hesitate to attack a force it needed to defend itself.
• Uchiha Jin recognized that the scheme could rapidly create a powerful force but realized that exposure would make them enemies of Leaf Village.

Uchiha Jin and Nara Kazama formed a tentative alliance and planned to use Kudo Shin as the first step in their scheme. Shisui confronted Jin at the frontline camp, asking why he had spoken so openly before leaving Leaf Village, and observed that Jin was stronger than the Anbu had discovered.

• Uchiha Jin agreed to let Nara Kazama handle their plan involving Kudo Shin and wait until Kudo Shin needed help.
• Uchiha Jin and Nara Kazama discussed other matters and established a cautious alliance.
• Shisui entered Uchiha Jin's tent, criticized him for drinking at the Frontline Camp, and asked him to come outside.
• Uchiha Jin followed Shisui to a quiet beach, where Shisui asked why Jin had said those things before leaving Leaf Village.
• Uchiha Jin said he had not wanted to lie to Shisui, and Shisui remarked that Jin was stronger than the Anbu's investigation had revealed.

Uchiha Jin told Shisui that he expected the Uchiha clan to be wiped out and planned to avoid being caught up in its conflict with Leaf Village. He then explained that the clan’s supposed factions were fighting for power while their reckless rhetoric made the village take them seriously.

• Shisui questioned why Uchiha Jin had hidden his strength despite surviving dangerous missions and fighting Mist ninja.
• Uchiha Jin said he had concealed his abilities to avoid being tied to the Uchiha, which he believed were doomed to be destroyed.
• Shisui promised to prevent a conflict between the clan and Leaf Village and said he would deal with the clan’s Radical Faction.
• Uchiha Jin mocked Shisui’s claim, saying the clan had only Moderate and Surrender factions and a useless Clan Leader.
• Uchiha Jin explained that the so-called Radical Faction had made no real preparations and that both factions were mainly competing for power.
• Uchiha Jin warned that the village took the Uchiha’s repeated rebellion talk seriously because it viewed the clan as unstable.

Uchiha Jin explained to Shisui why the Uchiha faced destruction even if the clan’s radicals were only using rebellion as a slogan. Shisui considered Jin’s comparison between the Uchiha and the Nine-Tails and recognized that the village and the clan viewed the conflict from opposing positions.

• Uchiha Jin criticized Fugaku for failing to choose a course and consolidate control of the Uchiha amid the clan’s internal divisions.
• Shisui questioned why the Uchiha were doomed if the clan’s radicals did not truly intend to rebel, and wondered whether revealing this to the village could ease tensions.
• Uchiha Jin recounted how Hashirama Senju captured and sealed the Nine-Tails because of his strength, despite the fox having harmed no humans.
• Uchiha Jin compared the Nine-Tails’ treatment to the village’s fear of the powerful, unstable Uchiha, who openly threatened to take the Hokage’s position.
• Shisui reasoned that Hashirama Senju’s decision made sense from the village’s perspective but was unjust from the Nine-Tails’ perspective, and saw the conflict as a matter of opposing viewpoints.

Uchiha Jin challenged Shisui’s faith in the Konoha leadership by questioning how Sakumo Hatake’s classified mission details had been leaked. Shisui began to suspect a conspiracy among the higher-ups and asked Jin to explain his point directly.

• Shisui despaired over the Uchiha’s predicament but still trusted Hiruzen Sarutobi to find a solution.
• Uchiha Jin asked Shisui what he thought of Sakumo Hatake’s suicide, and Shisui acknowledged Sakumo as a great ninja.
• Jin questioned how details of Sakumo’s S-rank mission had spread throughout Leaf Village and why the leak had never been investigated.
• Shisui realized the Konoha higher-ups likely knew the truth and had concealed it, weakening his trust in them and the Will of Fire.
• Shisui told Jin to speak openly, saying he trusted the Hokage but could still think for himself.

Uchiha Jin explained to Shisui how the Hokage faction had taken over Sakumo Hatake’s power after his suicide, leaving Shisui to question his trust in Hiruzen Sarutobi. Shisui grew fearful about the Uchiha Clan’s future but could not find a way forward.

• Shisui realized Uchiha Jin’s warning that powerful people and groups were dangerous connected the Nine-Tails, the Uchiha Clan, and Sakumo Hatake.
• Uchiha Jin pointed out that Hokage faction members had taken over the positions Sakumo Hatake once held and that Kakashi Hatake had later joined their faction.
• Uchiha Jin argued that Sakumo Hatake had chosen suicide to prevent Leaf Village from falling into internal chaos, allowing the Hokage faction to absorb his followers.
• Shisui struggled to accept Uchiha Jin’s account and became increasingly pessimistic about the Uchiha Clan’s future.
• Shisui decided he could no longer trust Hiruzen Sarutobi easily, even though Uchiha Jin had offered no concrete evidence.

Uchiha Jin argued that the Uchiha were too divided and outnumbered to challenge the Hokage faction, and urged Shisui to give up. Shisui rejected that advice, but Jin’s claims about the Sarutobi Clan and village finances made him question where Konoha’s money had gone.

• Shisui woke Uchiha Jin and begged him to explain how the Uchiha could avoid destruction.
• Jin blamed the Uchiha’s arrogance and infighting for their weakness, and claimed the Sarutobi Clan had grown to nearly four thousand ninja by using village funds.
• Jin warned Shisui that opposing the Hokage would pit the Uchiha against the Sarutobi and the rest of Konoha, and told him to give up.
• Shisui dismissed giving up, but Jin’s speech made him reconsider the Uchiha’s situation and the Sarutobi Clan’s growth.
• Shisui wondered where the Daimyo’s annual funding had gone, since Konoha seemed poorer despite receiving billions.

Uchiha Jin advised Shisui to seize control of the Uchiha Clan through ruthless factional politics, but Shisui struggled with the plan because it conflicted with his beliefs. He remained uncertain, having previously trusted Hiruzen Sarutobi to help reform the clan despite seeing no changes.

• Shisui asked Uchiha Jin for advice on how to change the Uchiha Clan, and Jin agreed to help because he considered Shisui a friend.
• Uchiha Jin told Shisui to build his own faction and unite the clan by eliminating the Radical and Moderate Factions through schemes, violence, and reputation attacks.
• Shisui questioned whether Jin's approach was too ruthless and asked if he could pursue a more moderate path.
• Uchiha Jin warned Shisui that a struggle for power was a fight for survival and that kindness could lead to defeat.
• Shisui silently weighed Jin's advice against his beliefs and recalled that Hiruzen Sarutobi had promised to help him, but the clan had not changed.

Uchiha Jin guided Uchiha Shisui on building a faction within the clan, then learned that he and Nara Kazama would join Shisui’s elite squad for the Mist Village Frontline. Shisui revealed that Shikaku Nara had personally requested to serve there, leaving Jin puzzled about the unexpected deployment.

• Uchiha Shisui vowed to follow Jin’s path to save the clan, even if it required bloodshed.
• Jin advised Shisui to recruit marginalized Uchiha by tying rewards to work and to seek Hiruzen Sarutobi’s help.
• Shisui told Jin that he and Nara Kazama would join his elite squad alongside a Hyuga member, while Kudo Shin would lead an ordinary squad.
• Jin questioned why Shikaku Nara was assigned to the Mist Village Frontline rather than the Rain Country Frontline.
• Shisui explained that Shikaku had personally asked Lord Hokage to send him to the Mist Village Frontline.

Uchiha Jin worried that Shikaku Nara had come to investigate him, while Shisui warned that people could not stay hidden forever. Meanwhile, Shikaku questioned his nephew Nara Kazama about Jin, and Kazama concealed his alliance with Jin while describing his teammate’s abilities.

• Uchiha Jin suspected Shikaku Nara had come to the Mist front because of him, and Shisui warned him that his strength would not remain secret.
• Nara Kazama visited Shikaku Nara, who welcomed his nephew warmly and asked about the teammates he had assigned him.
• Nara Kazama praised Uchiha Jin as a strong teammate and acted confused about Jin’s unusual behavior to hide their alliance.
• Nara Kazama told Shikaku that Jin’s Taijutsu had helped their squad survive three days at Mist Village’s headquarters and escape pursuing ninja.

Shikaku Nara questioned Nara Kazama about Uchiha Jin’s goals and concealed strength, but Kazama said he knew little because their old squad was treated as cannon fodder. Shikaku assigned Kazama to investigate Jin in their new elite squad, leaving Kazama worried that his uncle’s scrutiny would endanger his and Jin’s plans.

• Shikaku Nara asked Nara Kazama what Uchiha Jin wanted and why he hid his strength.
• Kazama explained that he and Jin had served in a cannon-fodder squad, where they had no bonds or trust and rarely spoke beyond missions.
• Shikaku accepted Kazama’s explanation and told him that he would remain with Jin in a new elite squad led by Shisui and including a Hyuga.
• Shikaku tasked Kazama with uncovering Jin’s secrets, offering to count his success as an A-rank mission for the Nara Clan.
• Kazama agreed outwardly but worried that Shikaku’s close attention would interfere with his and Jin’s plan to build their own force.

Uchiha Jin learned from Nara Kazama why Shikaku Nara was investigating him: the Cloud ninja corpse Jin left behind connected him to an earlier attempt to abduct Kushina. Kazama proposed crafting a small, plausible conspiracy to explain Jin’s actions while concealing their larger plan.

• Uchiha Jin waited for Nara Kazama to return, suspecting Shikaku Nara had summoned him.
• Nara Kazama asked Jin what he had done to attract Shikaku’s attention and explained that Shikaku had tasked him with uncovering Jin’s secrets.
• Uchiha Jin described killing three Uchiha and leaving behind a Cloud ninja’s corpse.
• Nara Kazama reasoned that the corpse linked Jin to Cloud Village’s earlier attempt to abduct Kushina, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, prompting Shikaku to investigate.
• Nara Kazama advised Jin to tell the truth and use a plausible smaller conspiracy to conceal their larger plan.

Uchiha Shisui formed a squad with Uchiha Jin, Nara Kazama, and Hyuga Aya, then led them on a mission to destroy twelve Mist Village outposts. The squad quickly cleared its first outpost, killing several enemies, and prepared to continue the mission.

• Nara Kazama explained that Uchiha Jin’s plan to target Cloud Village would convince his clan uncle that he was seeking revenge rather than threatening Leaf Village.
• Uchiha Shisui introduced himself as the squad captain, and Uchiha Jin, Nara Kazama, and Hyuga Aya described their abilities.
• Uchiha Shisui assigned the squad to destroy twelve outposts on the left side of the Land of Whirlpools and gave them three days to work together.
• Hyuga Aya scouted the first Mist Village outpost and reported nine Genin, three Chunin, and one Jonin.
• Uchiha Shisui, Uchiha Jin, Nara Kazama, and Hyuga Aya attacked the outpost and killed one Jonin, two Chunin, and one Genin in under a minute.

After three days of successful missions, Shisui announced that the squad’s adaptation period was over, but his teammates showed no enthusiasm about taking on harder assignments. Seeing Aya’s sorrow, Shisui and Kazama invited her to explain what was troubling her, and Kazama offered to help.

• The squad swept through fifty Mist Village outposts in three days, killing nine Jonin and countless Chunin and Genin.
• Shisui declared the adaptation missions over and said the squad would take on high-difficulty missions after returning.
• Jin and Kazama said they wanted to lie low until the war ended, while Aya said she hoped the war would never end so she would not have to return to the village.
• Shisui noticed Aya’s sorrow and asked whether she was in trouble, suggesting that the squad could help.
• Kazama told Aya to trust him and explain the problem, promising to do his best to help.