Recaps

After the Nine-Tails' attack, Uchiha Shōji seeks to protect his clan by earning Konoha’s trust and gaining influence among the Uchiha. He persuades the clan to volunteer for border duty, then chooses the dangerous Mount Hot Spring Outpost as his deployment.

• Liu Heng awoke as Uchiha Shōji during the Nine-Tails' attack, and his Sharingan briefly transformed before he collapsed.
• Shōji recovered with fused memories and a Mangekyō Sharingan, then resolved to protect the Uchiha and sought a place in the Clan Assembly.
• After Konoha ordered the Uchiha to relocate, Shōji gained Elder Genran’s attention and proved his ability in a spar with Shisui.
• Shōji argued at the Clan Meeting that the Uchiha should volunteer for border duty to earn Konoha’s trust, and Fugaku agreed to consider the proposal.
• Shisui pledged support for Shōji’s effort to restore the clan’s honor, while reporting his views to Sarutobi Hiruzen.
• Hiruzen approved the Uchiha deployment and included Shōji, while rejecting Shimura Danzō’s demand for a more extreme approach.
• Shōji left his family with instructions to Uchiha Yang to protect Uchiha Saki and Uchiha Chihaya, then joined the departing force.
• After the Uchiha were assigned to Mount Hot Spring, Shōji asked Kogen to put his name on the roster for its outpost.

Shōji distinguished himself in the Land of Hot Springs war, rising to Jōnin and defeating the Magnet Release ninja Toroi. Konoha’s leaders recalled him and decided to place him in the Anbu, while Kumogakure reduced its presence on the front.

• Shōji joined Kogen’s group at the Hot Springs Mountain Outpost, where he faced his first battlefield as Kumo launched a night raid.
• Shōji fought in Konoha’s counterattacks, killed a Kumogakure Jōnin, and helped destroy Kumo outposts before Suzaku ordered a retreat.
• As the war of attrition continued, Shōji became a Jōnin and led sabotage missions, prompting Dodai to send Toroi and an elite unit to ambush him.
• Shōji ordered his teammates to escape, killed two Kumogakure Jōnin, then revealed his Mangekyō Sharingan and used Susanoo to kill Toroi.
• Shōji returned to the outpost with Toroi’s corpse, and Suzaku sent it with a report to Konoha.
• Hiruzen decided to recall Shōji and place him in the Anbu, despite Danzō’s objections, so he could test Shōji and investigate the Uchiha from within.
• Kumogakure reduced its activity and withdrew some forces, while Konoha adjusted its garrisons and recalled Shōji and other Uchiha to the village.

Shōji joined the Hokage’s Anbu while taking responsibility for guiding the Uchiha away from a coup, then secretly traded with Orochimaru as he investigated Konoha’s disappearances. The arc left Shōji racing to prove the clan’s innocence after Hiruzen linked the case to the Uchiha.

• After returning from the front, Shōji accepted Hiruzen’s invitation to join the Hokage’s Anbu and persuaded Fugaku to entrust him with the clan’s external affairs.
• Shōji urged Fugaku to keep the Uchiha calm and wait for a new Hokage, while planning to help bring Jiraiya or Tsunade back to Konoha.
• Shōji became Captain Hawk of the Anbu’s Sixth Squad and began investigating the disappearances, but his team found no useful clues.
• As Orochimaru prepared to defect, Shōji met him in disguise and traded Akatsuki information and an invitation for Wood Release cells, research materials, and mission service.
• Danzō accused the Uchiha of causing the disappearances, but Hiruzen chose to investigate cautiously and ordered Shōji and Shisui questioned.
• Hiruzen told Shōji that suspicious intelligence implicated the Uchiha and demanded answers within two days, so Shōji offered a joint investigation with the Military Police Force.
• Shōji left for the Uchiha compound to seek Fugaku’s cooperation, while Hiruzen privately suspected spies from other nations rather than the clan.

Shōji abandoned his effort to reconcile the Uchiha Clan with Konoha and persuaded the clan to leave rather than attempt a coup. As the Uchiha prepared to withdraw, Hiruzen weighed how to respond and Orochimaru defected from the village.

• Shōji exposed his Mangekyō Sharingan during the confrontation with Danzō and forced Hiruzen to return the detained Uchiha, then declared that the clan would leave Konoha.
• Shōji persuaded the Uchiha to choose withdrawal over a coup, and Fugaku ordered preparations to begin with Iwagakure as their preferred destination.
• Fugaku revealed his Mangekyō Sharingan and chose to cover the clan’s retreat while Shōji and Shisui prepared to protect the evacuees.
• Hiruzen and the advisers debated how to handle the departing Uchiha, while Danzō urged a purge and Hiruzen considered the risks of attacking them.
• Hiruzen rejected Danzō’s proposal to place Naruto under Root’s protection and ordered Anbu to investigate the disappearance case and summon Orochimaru and Jiraiya.
• Orochimaru learned of Hiruzen’s summons, packed his belongings, and defected from Konoha by leaping over the eastern wall.
• The Uchiha completed their initial preparations, and Shōji arranged for Chihaya, Yang, Saki, and Uncle Satoru’s family to leave in the first group.