Chapter Summaries

Uchiha Yue entered his spiritual space and discovered that its light sphere held all his memories, then prepared to investigate it further. Orochimaru interrupted him with a mission and introduced an Anbu partner whose codename was Shadow.

• Uchiha Yue restored his spiritual energy and entered his spiritual space, where he found a pure white expanse and a sphere of light.
• Uchiha Yue touched the sphere and watched his memories, including memories from his previous life, replay before him.
• Uchiha Yue deduced that the Yamanaka Clan's memory-reading technique might be connected to the spiritual space, then left when he began to feel mentally fatigued.
• Orochimaru appeared and offered Uchiha Yue a difficult mission, telling him to follow his partner's arrangements.
• Uchiha Yue noticed an Anbu behind him, who introduced himself with the codename Shadow.

Uchiha Yue departed on a difficult mission with the Anbu Shadow, whose identity and abilities intrigued him. After Shadow revealed himself as a powerful Nara clan ninja by binding a Sunagakure squad, he suddenly released the captured enemies as Yue moved in to attack.

• Orochimaru introduced Shadow to Uchiha Yue, ordered them to work together, and warned Shadow to protect Yue even if that meant abandoning the mission.
• Shadow told Yue to follow his orders, and the two left Orochimaru's group for their mission.
• Yue and Shadow encountered four Sunagakure ninja in the Land of Wind and prepared to ambush them.
• Shadow used the Nara Style: Shadow Binding Technique to restrain the Sunagakure squad, revealing his Nara clan identity and impressing Yue.
• As Yue approached the helpless enemies with Fubuki Tachi to use Falling Moon Style Swordsmanship, Shadow released them, prompting Yue to demand an explanation.

Uchiha Yue survived Shadow’s sudden release of the Nara clan technique and retaliated by killing two Sunagakure ninja without help. Shadow reappeared and praised Yue, while the battle with the remaining squad continued.

• Shadow released the Nara clan’s secret technique, freeing the Sunagakure squad and nearly getting Uchiha Yue killed by their jonin.
• Uchiha Yue evaded the jonin’s attack and angrily questioned Shadow, then focused on fighting the squad alone.
• Uchiha Yue used an afterimage to draw the jonin away and severed a Puppet Master’s Chakra Threads with Falling Moon Blade Aura.
• The jonin blocked Yue’s strike, but Yue killed the Puppet Master with Falling Moon Style: Clone Slash.
• Uchiha Yue escaped the jonin’s counterattack and cut down another Sunagakure chunin with Falling Moon Style: Single Blade Slash.
• Shadow appeared before Uchiha Yue again and praised him.

Uchiha Yue and Shadow wiped out a Sunagakure squad, with Yue killing three chunin and Shadow defeating the jonin. After the battle, Yue questioned Shadow about what he had been doing.

• Shadow began forming hand seals as Uchiha Yue rushed toward a Sunagakure shinobi, and Yue noticed the unusual rhythm in his seals.
• Shadow used a Nara clan secret technique to restrain the Sunagakure jonin just as the jonin prepared to attack Yue.
• Uchiha Yue used Wind Style Chakra to speed up and killed the last Sunagakure chunin with Falling Moon Style: Iai Slash.
• Shadow killed the Sunagakure jonin, and the squad was completely wiped out.
• Uchiha Yue asked Shadow what he had been doing.

Uchiha Yue confronted Shadow over his actions during their fight, and Shadow explained that he had been testing him under Orochimaru’s orders. After revealing that his real name was Nara Luyang and sharing what little he knew about their mission, Shadow agreed to explain why he served Orochimaru’s Anbu, but warned Yue to keep the story secret.

• Uchiha Yue threatened to fight Shadow unless he explained why he had put him in danger during their mission.
• Shadow said Orochimaru had ordered him to train Yue and revealed that he was Nara Luyang, Shikaku Nara’s cousin.
• Shadow told Yue that their mission was to rescue people in the Land of Earth, though he did not know its full details.
• Uchiha Yue and Shadow hid in a cave before nightfall in the Land of Wind.
• Shadow agreed to tell Yue why he had joined Orochimaru’s Anbu and asked him not to reveal the story.

Shadow explained to Uchiha Yue that the Nara, Yamanaka, and Akimichi clans served the Third Hokage and that Shadow had been assigned to spy on Orochimaru. He suspected Orochimaru’s mission to rescue research subjects from the Land of Earth involved forbidden techniques and human experimentation, then asked Yue whether they should report it to the Third Hokage or conceal it.

• Shadow told Uchiha Yue that the three clans served the Sarutobi Clan and had members in the Third Hokage’s Root unit.
• Uchiha Yue questioned Shadow’s claim that the Third Hokage controlled Root, but kept his own belief that Shimura Danzō held the unit firmly in his grasp.
• Shadow explained that the Third Hokage had assigned him to Orochimaru as a spy and that Orochimaru knew who he worked for.
• Shadow suspected Orochimaru was researching forbidden techniques through human experimentation on the people they were sent to rescue from the Land of Earth.
• Shadow asked Uchiha Yue whether they should report Orochimaru’s plans to the Third Hokage or keep them secret.

Uchiha Yue realized Shimura Danzō might be manipulating Orochimaru and the Third Hokage over Orochimaru’s human experiments, leaving Yue and Shadow caught in the scheme. After a night spent hiding, Yue decided to leave Orochimaru’s side and build his strength under someone else’s protection.

• Shadow advised Uchiha Yue that any report about Orochimaru’s forbidden research had to go through Shimura Danzō, their direct superior.
• Uchiha Yue reasoned that Danzō had concealed or encouraged Orochimaru’s experiments to drive a wedge between Orochimaru and the Third Hokage.
• Uchiha Yue realized Shadow and the Nara clan could lose the Third Hokage’s trust, while Yue himself could also be blamed for helping Orochimaru.
• Uchiha Yue kept his suspicions from Shadow and hid with him in a cave overnight to avoid worsening the conflict in Konoha.
• Uchiha Yue and Shadow set out the next morning to continue Orochimaru’s mission, while Yue resolved to leave Orochimaru and seek protection elsewhere.

Uchiha Yue and Shadow traveled through the Land of Wind while hiding from Sunagakure patrols, believing Orochimaru's group was in danger. They spotted an injured, lone Sunagakure ninja, and as Shadow approached to capture him, Uchiha Yue noticed something was wrong.

• Uchiha Yue used his Purple Eye to observe Sunagakure patrols and warned Shadow that the village was on alert.
• Shadow concluded that Sunagakure had discovered Orochimaru's group and told Uchiha Yue to conceal their trail with his spiritual energy.
• Uchiha Yue hid their movements while Shadow guided them around Sunagakure's traps.
• On the third day, Uchiha Yue spotted a badly injured lone Sunagakure ninja and Shadow decided to capture him for intelligence.
• As Shadow approached the ninja, Uchiha Yue sensed that something about him was unusual.

Uchiha Yue experimented with entering a captured Sunagakure ninja’s spiritual space to read his memories, despite discovering the man’s body carried a spreading poison. After withdrawing from the dangerous spiritual space, Yue warned Shadow, whom he called Mr. Lu Yang, that they had a problem.

• Shadow easily captured the injured Sunagakure ninja and brought him back to Uchiha Yue.
• At Shadow’s suggestion, Uchiha Yue decided to use genjutsu and his spiritual energy to interrogate the captive.
• Uchiha Yue touched the captive’s head and realized the man’s poison was spreading into him, and had likely poisoned Shadow as well.
• Uchiha Yue entered the captive’s spiritual space and began reading his memories, enduring sharp pain as he touched the memory sphere.
• As his spiritual energy weakened, Uchiha Yue withdrew and gravely told Shadow, “Mr. Lu Yang,” that they had a problem.

Uchiha Yue and Shadow discovered that Sunagakure planned to poison Orochimaru’s unit and wipe it out, so they chose to warn him. Their return was blocked by an elite Sunagakure force, leaving them unable to deliver the intelligence easily.

• Uchiha Yue purged the poison from himself and Shadow, then suspected Sasori of the Red Sands had developed the potent toxin.
• Uchiha Yue explained that the poisoned Sunagakure ninja had been used as bait and revealed that an assembled force planned to attack Orochimaru’s unit.
• Shadow chose to join Orochimaru and help prepare to fight the Sunagakure force.
• Uchiha Yue and Shadow discovered that twenty jonin and forty chunin had surrounded them in the desert.
• Shadow told Uchiha Yue that they had no clear way to deliver the intelligence and would have to take things one step at a time.

Uchiha Yue and Shadow hid from a large Sunagakure force, but Shadow chose to break through alone to deliver intelligence to Orochimaru. Shadow was killed, and the Sunagakure ninjas began searching the dune where Uchiha Yue was concealed.

• Uchiha Yue and Shadow stayed hidden in a sand dune while Yue used his spiritual energy to conceal them from the encircling Sunagakure force.
• As the days passed, Uchiha Yue grew anxious and suspected Shadow intended to break through alone.
• Shadow admitted he planned to deliver intelligence to Orochimaru, gave Yue a scroll for Danzo in case he died, and asked Yue to remain hidden.
• After Yue disappeared back into hiding, Shadow exposed himself and attempted to escape the encirclement.
• The Sunagakure ninjas killed Shadow in under thirty seconds, then began searching the dune where Uchiha Yue was hiding.

Uchiha Yue chose to fight his way out after Sunagakure’s search threatened to expose him. He wounded several Sunagakure chunin and dodged the first attacks, but the ninja surrounded him again and began sealing off every escape route.

• Uchiha Yue decided to risk death fighting rather than be captured and studied by the Sunagakure ninja.
• Uchiha Yue ambushed several Sunagakure chunin with Afterimage Fist and Clone Slash, grievously wounding them.
• Several Sunagakure jonin attacked Uchiha Yue with ninjutsu, but he used Purple Eye and Basic Shatter Step to evade their strikes.
• Uchiha Yue began escaping the encirclement, but more Sunagakure ninja appeared and surrounded him again.
• The Sunagakure ninja hurled concealed weapons at Uchiha Yue and prepared further ninjutsu as he tried to read their trajectories.

Uchiha Yue fought to escape an elite Sunagakure force, using his perception and techniques to survive as the attackers wounded and surrounded him. He broke free, awakened his Three-Tomoe Sharingan, and pushed Basic Shatter Step toward a new limit.

• Uchiha Yue used Rotation through the Fubuki Tachi to deflect hidden weapons back at the Sunagakure ninja and disrupt their attacks.
• Two Sunagakure jonin engaged Uchiha Yue at close range while the rest coordinated their assault, and a kunai struck his left arm.
• Uchiha Yue stirred up sand and dust with Wind Style Chakra, used Purple Eye to track his foes, and broke through their encirclement.
• Uchiha Yue activated his Three-Tomoe Sharingan and combined it with Purple Eye to read a Sunagakure jonin’s attacks.
• Uchiha Yue evaded the jonin with increasingly fluid Basic Shatter Step and thought, “One step, a foot away; one step, to the ends of the earth!”

Under pressure from a Sunagakure jonin, Uchiha Yue grasped the essence of the Yagami Clan’s Basic Shatter Step and used Flash Step to evade an attack. After his new technique failed on his next attempt and he was wounded, he abandoned thoughts of testing it and prepared to break through the Sunagakure encirclement.

• Uchiha Yue realized that “One step, a hair's breadth; one step, to the horizon” revealed the true essence of the Basic Shatter Step: Flash Step.
• As a Sunagakure jonin attacked with a Kunai and prepared follow-up moves, Uchiha Yue activated Falling Moon Style: Flash Step and appeared three meters away, dodging the attack.
• Uchiha Yue believed Flash Step was a space-time ninjutsu and wanted to use the Sunagakure jonin to practice it.
• When Uchiha Yue tried to use Flash Step again, the technique failed to activate, and the Sunagakure jonin wounded his abdomen.
• Uchiha Yue regained his composure and resolved to break through the Sunagakure encirclement so he could survive and absorb his breakthrough.

Uchiha Yue fought to survive against an elite Sunagakure force, using Flash Step and his sensory-deprivation ability to evade and counterattack. He injured several enemies but remained under heavy pressure from the Sunagakure jonin, with his survival still uncertain.

• Uchiha Yue abandoned his reckless fighting after being badly wounded and devised a hit-and-run plan against the numerous Sunagakure ninja.
• Uchiha Yue used Basic Shatter Step and Wind Style Chakra to evade attacks, refining his Flash Step under pressure.
• Uchiha Yue deprived nearby Sunagakure ninja of their hearing, weakening the chunin while the jonin continued to threaten him.
• Uchiha Yue fought while retreating, using genjutsu, ninjutsu, and hidden weapons to injure several Sunagakure ninja.
• Uchiha Yue continued battling the elite force with multiple wounds, hoping to survive and gain experience.

Uchiha Yue advanced his evasive skills while battling the Sunagakure ninja, but mounting wounds, blood loss, and dwindling Chakra pushed him into a new crisis. As dizziness and fatigue set in, he wondered whether he would die there.

• Uchiha Yue used Basic Shatter Step and Wind Style Chakra to evade the Sunagakure ninja and realized his evasive abilities had reached jonin level.
• Two kunai pierced Uchiha Yue's right shoulder as the Sunagakure ninja pressed their numerical advantage.
• The Sunagakure ninja sent their injured comrades away, reducing the pursuers, while Uchiha Yue continued fighting with many severe wounds.
• Uchiha Yue began suffering dizziness from blood loss and found that his Chakra was nearly depleted.
• The Sunagakure jonin inflicted more wounds on Uchiha Yue, who wondered if he would be buried there.

Uchiha Yue ran out of strength while fighting an elite Sunagakure unit and nearly chose to die by his own sword before Orochimaru arrived with Anbu reinforcements. Orochimaru revealed that he had deliberately let Yue serve as bait, leaving Yue to realize he was still a pawn.

• Uchiha Yue exhausted his chakra and physical strength while trying to escape the Sunagakure ninjas, then prepared to kill himself rather than be captured.
• Orochimaru appeared with his Anbu and engaged the Sunagakure force, giving Uchiha Yue hope of survival.
• Orochimaru explained that Shadow's death had alerted him to the Sunagakure unit's location and that he had arrived after Yue began fighting them.
• Orochimaru admitted that he had let Uchiha Yue fight as bait to lower the Sunagakure ninjas' guard and make the Anbu attack more effective.
• Uchiha Yue accepted Orochimaru's explanation aloud but realized that he remained a pawn.

After realizing Orochimaru had used him as bait, Uchiha Yue resolved to grow strong enough to escape being controlled by others. The Sunagakure unit was defeated, but Yue discovered that Flash Step had left his leg bones fractured as Orochimaru asked about his injuries.

• Uchiha Yue brooded over being treated as a chess piece and strengthened his resolve to become powerful enough to control his own fate.
• Uchiha Yue offered Shadow’s intelligence scroll to Orochimaru, who told him to deliver it to Danzō himself and revealed that he knew of Danzō’s schemes.
• Uchiha Yue understood Orochimaru’s determination to continue researching forbidden techniques but held a grudge against him for using Yue as bait.
• Orochimaru’s Anbu wiped out the elite Sunagakure unit with only a few losses, and Uchiha Yue’s contribution improved his mood.
• Uchiha Yue examined his injuries and discovered that repeated use of Flash Step had fractured the bones in his legs, prompting Orochimaru to ask how badly he was hurt.

Uchiha Yue realized that using Flash Step had left severe cracks in his leg bones, forcing him to abandon his training and return to Konoha to recuperate. After finding comfort in the gains he made during the battle, he set out under Anbu escort, vowing to return to the Land of Wind and Sunagakure one day.

• Uchiha Yue examined his cracked leg bones and concluded that he would need a long period of rest to recover.
• Uchiha Yue felt despondent about losing time for training, then took heart from his experience and breakthroughs in Basic Shatter Step and Flash Step.
• Orochimaru agreed to send two Anbu squads to escort Uchiha Yue to Konoha and gave him a scroll of ninjutsu insights.
• Uchiha Yue used the Uzumaki Clan Secret Technique to restore his mental energy and chakra, discovering that his recovery and chakra accumulation had improved.
• Uchiha Yue departed for Konoha under Anbu escort and vowed to return to the Land of Wind and Sunagakure to wash away his humiliation.

Uchiha Yue and Orochimaru’s Anbu fought their way out of the Land of Wind, losing two squads of elite Anbu in the process. As the two survivors continued escorting Yue toward Konoha, his Purple Eye detected several familiar figures heading toward the Land of Wind.

• Uchiha Yue slowly traveled toward the Land of Fire while recovering his legs and training his spiritual energy under Anbu protection.
• Uchiha Yue and the Anbu reached the Land of Wind’s border, where they planned a breakout while evading Sunagakure elites.
• Sunagakure elites discovered Uchiha Yue and the Anbu, triggering a bloody battle at the border.
• Uchiha Yue escaped the Land of Wind with two surviving Anbu, while two squads of elite Anbu were killed.
• Uchiha Yue detected several familiar figures approaching the Land of Wind as his escorts resumed their journey.