Chapter Summaries

Lin Feng investigated suspicious chakra traces in the Academy library and found evidence that Root was developing mind-control drugs using Uchiha blood. He left to warn Shisui and obtain a drug sample before Root discovered the leak.

• Lin Feng followed violet chakra traces from the Bloodline Limit shelves into the forbidden archive.
• Lin Feng found a tampered scroll describing Sharingan blood as a catalyst for mind-control drugs, but Uchiha Mikoto caught him before he could finish reading.
• Mikoto warned Lin Feng that the archive had been tampered with and that anyone approaching it might be watched.
• Lin Feng told Mikoto that Root needed Uchiha blood for its experiments, and she responded with weary concern.
• Lin Feng connected Root's drug trials, his and Shisui's symptoms, and the forbidden-book searches into a single conspiracy.
• Lin Feng headed for Shisui's training ground to warn him and steal a physical sample of the drug.

Lin Feng and Shisui connected Root’s drug experiments to Danzo and the Akatsuki, then planned an infiltration to steal samples. They agreed to enter Root in three days, while Lin Feng resolved to deal with suspicions inside the Uchiha Clan first.

• Lin Feng told Shisui that a tampered scroll described drugs that forcibly enhanced the Sharingan but caused the body to collapse within three years.
• Shisui revealed that Root would transport drugs and hold a secret meeting soon, and Lin Feng concluded that Danzo was colluding with the Akatsuki against the Uchiha Clan.
• Shisui mapped a five-second gap in Root’s barrier, and the two planned to infiltrate from the east during the Hour of the Ox three days later.
• Shisui agreed to cover Lin Feng and erase his chakra traces, while Lin Feng would breach the barrier and Shisui would mark the retreat route.
• After Shisui left, Lin Feng suspected that the clan elders were watching him and decided to remove the threat within the clan before infiltrating Root.

Lin Feng infiltrated Root’s drug laboratory, stole a pale blue sample, and copied records linking ocular-technique suppression to Outer Path Chakra. He escaped through an abandoned passage and set out to deliver the evidence to Shisui before Root could expose the theft.

• Lin Feng slipped past Root’s chakra security net and used his Sharingan genjutsu to make a patrol member open a hidden door.
• Lin Feng entered the drug laboratory and sealed a pale blue liquid sample from the third cold-storage compartment.
• Lin Feng found and copied Root’s records on Sharingan suppression, which said the experiments used chakra extracted from the Outer Path.
• A concealed trigger activated the alarm, and Lin Feng escaped the pursuing Root members through a hidden passage.
• Lin Feng analyzed the sample’s rapidly degrading chakra and connected its suppressive ingredient to Akatsuki’s Outer Path techniques.
• Lin Feng put away the sample and copied scroll, then headed for the abandoned exit to deliver them to Shisui.

Lin Feng and Shisui discovered that Danzo had planted a tracking agent on Lin Feng and possessed Akatsuki’s chakra-suppression formula, so they moved their plan against Root forward to that night. After finding a dead crow marked with a blood-drawn Sharingan, they suspected Danzo had involved Itachi and prepared to meet at Root’s eastern drainage outlet at midnight.

• Lin Feng gave Shisui the sample and scroll, and Shisui confirmed Danzo had Akatsuki’s original chakra-suppression formula.
• Shisui detected a tracking agent on Lin Feng and realized Danzo would expect their planned operation, so they decided to act that night.
• Lin Feng and Shisui found a dead crow with its eyes removed and a Three-Tomoe Sharingan painted in blood, and Shisui suspected Danzo had drawn Itachi into the conflict.
• Lin Feng and Shisui agreed to meet at Root’s eastern drainage outlet at midnight, with Lin Feng holding off Itachi if they encountered him while Shisui searched for Danzo’s evidence.
• Shisui removed the crow and left to erase their traces, while Lin Feng headed for Konoha determined not to give up on Itachi.

Lin Feng met Itachi at Konoha’s eastern drainage outlet, where Itachi warned him about conflicting Anbu orders and told him not to interfere in Sasuke’s affairs. Suspecting Danzo’s influence and a problem with Itachi’s left eye, Lin Feng kept the meeting from Shisui and headed for the Anbu Archive to seek evidence.

• Itachi found Lin Feng clearing Root’s medicinal residue and precisely removed some of it, warning that Lin Feng’s chakra circulation was still suppressed.
• Itachi said Shisui’s “Deep Current” operation had conflicting orders and questioned whether Shisui had contacted Lin Feng.
• Lin Feng brought up Sasuke’s training, and Itachi warned him not to interfere in Uchiha matters or the Sharingan’s inheritance.
• Lin Feng noticed Itachi’s left pupil contract and suspected that Sasuke was Itachi’s weakness and that something was wrong with his eye.
• Lin Feng decided not to tell Shisui about the meeting and headed toward the Konoha Anbu Archive to look for records of the conflicting orders.

Lin Feng infiltrated the Anbu Archive and uncovered evidence linking Itachi’s missions to Root and a secret surveillance plan targeting the Uchiha Clan. He escaped with a fragment bearing traces of a Sharingan sealing technique, deciding to keep his findings from Shisui for now.

• Lin Feng examined Itachi’s Anbu enlistment record and found that five of seven missions overlapped with Root operations.
• Lin Feng discovered a torn Uchiha Clan Surveillance Plan, codenamed Crow, that had been proposed by Shimura Danzo and jointly assigned to the Anbu Sixth Squad and Root.
• Touching the fragment triggered sealed memories that showed a crow passing a blood-red Sharingan as cracks spread across its pupil, injuring Lin Feng’s eye and draining his chakra.
• Lin Feng spotted Root’s identification mark in the archive and escaped through a ventilation duct as others entered.
• Lin Feng kept the fragment and decided not to tell Shisui about his discoveries, then headed toward the Forest of Death.

Lin Feng and Shisui uncovered evidence that Root was monitoring the Uchiha Clan Surveillance Plan and received an anonymous patrol timetable. After Shisui's left eye suffered a dangerous reaction, Lin Feng resolved to seek records from Lady Mikoto and find a way to remove Root's drug suppression.

• Lin Feng showed Shisui the torn archive page and explained that Root had reached the files about the Uchiha Clan Surveillance Plan first.
• Shisui shared an anonymous patrol timetable, and Lin Feng judged it credible because its gaps overlapped with Anbu mission movements.
• Shisui's left eye flared painfully, and Lin Feng found its chakra abnormality matched the reaction he had seen in Itachi's eye.
• Lin Feng promised to investigate the Outer Path Secret Art Suppression Mechanism and approach Lady Mikoto for records in the forbidden technique scrolls.
• Shisui gave Lin Feng a safe route toward the Uchiha Clan Grounds, and they set their next meeting for three days later at midnight.

Lin Feng met Mikoto in the shrine chamber and learned that Fugaku had been meeting Danzo, the Uchiha clan had split into factions, and a Contract Seal concealed an agreement. After Itachi watched him leave, Lin Feng regrouped with Shisui and warned that they had even less time than he had thought.

• Lin Feng showed Mikoto a fragment from the Anbu Archive, and she identified its seal as a Contract Seal readable only by its caster.
• Mikoto told Lin Feng that Fugaku had been meeting Danzo and that the Uchiha clan had split between Yashiro's faction and those wavering between the moderates and Danzo.
• Mikoto warned Lin Feng to stop investigating, then revealed that the Contract Seal could be undone with the caster's blood or chakra from someone with sufficiently close blood ties.
• Lin Feng left the shrine and saw Itachi watching the hidden chamber before Itachi disappeared into the night.
• Lin Feng concluded that he needed chakra from Itachi or Sasuke to break the seal and lift Root's drug suppression, then told Shisui they had less time than expected.

Lin Feng followed Itachi and confronted him about the Contract Seal, Danzo, and the cost of his Root missions. Itachi revealed that a Root operation would begin in three days and offered Lin Feng a chance to act, while Lin Feng decided to keep the plan from Shisui until he could verify Itachi’s intentions.

• Lin Feng followed Itachi from Naka Shrine and found him secretly watching Sasuke train at the Ninja Academy’s training ground.
• Lin Feng confronted Itachi about watching Mikoto and showed him a torn page bearing a Contract Seal that could also bind Sasuke.
• Lin Feng told Itachi that Danzo was forcing him to overuse the Mangekyo and that Shisui’s eyes were nearing their limit.
• Itachi revealed that Root would conduct a large-scale operation in three days and that he could open the northern seal in District Seven for ten minutes.
• Itachi warned Lin Feng not to tell Shisui, and Lin Feng decided to withhold the information until he verified Itachi’s intentions.

Lin Feng and Shisui discussed Itachi’s directions to Root’s experimental zone and suspected Danzo was monitoring their meeting. Shisui left alone to scout District Seven, entrusting Lin Feng with a Crow Mark kunai and a warning to survive if he did not return.

• Lin Feng and Shisui deciphered Itachi’s information as a route into Root’s experimental zone through the drainage pipes and an Uchiha Contract Seal.
• Shisui judged Itachi’s signal credible but agreed they needed to prepare for a possible ambush.
• Teuchi revealed that masked ninjas regularly bought large amounts of late-night ramen, leading Lin Feng and Shisui to suspect Root was monitoring the area.
• Lin Feng urged Shisui to move up the operation and let him accompany him, but Shisui refused and said he would scout alone.
• Shisui gave Lin Feng a Crow Mark kunai and left Ichiraku Ramen, telling him to go to District Seven if he failed to return by midnight.
• Lin Feng decided he would go to District Seven if Shisui did not return, determined to have Shisui tell Sasuke the truth himself.

Lin Feng discovered Root’s plan to exterminate the Uchiha in three days and learned that Itachi was assigned as its executor. After Shisui entrusted him with Kotoamatsukami’s spare eye, Lin Feng decided to infiltrate Root and stop the Uchiha coup on the same night.

• Lin Feng tracked a Contract Seal signal to Danzo’s Laboratory and sensed a wounded direct Uchiha bloodline connected to it.
• Lin Feng found the severely injured Shisui, who revealed that Root’s Genocide Contingency Plan would target the Uchiha in three days and that its executor, codenamed Crow, was Itachi.
• Shisui gave Lin Feng a bloodied Root communication scroll and revealed that he had sealed Kotoamatsukami’s spare eye inside the Crow Mark kunai.
• Lin Feng pieced together Danzo’s plan to force Itachi to massacre the clan while the Uchiha radicals prepared their coup.
• Shisui warned Lin Feng that he would have to choose between infiltrating Root and stopping the coup, but Lin Feng declared he could do both.
• Lin Feng marked routes to Root and the radicals’ gathering points on a map as Shisui fell into a healing sleep.

Lin Feng discovered that Shisui had entrusted him with the one-use Kotoamatsukami and weighed how to prevent the Uchiha clan’s destruction. When Itachi confronted him, Lin Feng chose to infiltrate Root and stop the clan radicals, reserving Kotoamatsukami as a last safeguard.

• Lin Feng treated the unconscious Shisui and opened the Crow Mark seal on Shisui’s kunai, learning Root’s layout and that he had inherited the authority to use Kotoamatsukami once.
• Lin Feng read Shisui’s note urging him to use Kotoamatsukami to stop Itachi from annihilating the clan, then considered whether to target Itachi, Danzo, or Shisui.
• Itachi arrived at the watchtower in Root robes with a Mangekyo Sharingan and asked Lin Feng how much he knew.
• Lin Feng told Itachi he would use Kotoamatsukami to stop him if necessary, and Itachi asked whether Lin Feng would infiltrate Root or confront Fugaku and the radicals first.
• Lin Feng declared he would do both, keeping Kotoamatsukami as a final safeguard while Shisui’s breathing grew steadier.

Lin Feng passed Itachi’s genjutsu test and accepted the risk of using Kotoamatsukami to stop Danzo, while Itachi supplied details for infiltrating Root. A hidden note revealed that Kotoamatsukami’s final-use authorization would permanently seal the caster’s ocular power, leaving Lin Feng less than a day to prepare.

• Itachi tested Lin Feng with a genjutsu and warned that using Kotoamatsukami would expose him to Danzo’s sensory barrier.
• Lin Feng used the sealing kunai as an anchor, broke through the illusion, and passed Itachi’s test.
• Itachi gave Lin Feng Root’s patrol schedule and details about the sealing array, then warned him that Danzo had spare Sharingan vessels.
• Lin Feng accepted the cost of becoming a rogue ninja and vowed not to rely on Kotoamatsukami alone.
• Shisui’s chakra began to fluctuate as he remained unconscious, and the Crow Mark in Lin Feng’s palm turned searing hot.
• Lin Feng combined Itachi’s intelligence with Shisui’s map and discovered that Kotoamatsukami’s final-use authorization would permanently seal the caster’s ocular power.

Lin Feng discovered that Root’s drainage pipes were monitored by chakra-independent devices, making his planned infiltration route a trap. The Crow Mark led him to a mysterious metal cylinder in Shisui’s pouch that might help him bypass the surveillance before the clan extermination began.

• Lin Feng felt Shisui’s Crow Mark heat up and received a vision of a cold, circular device inside Root’s drainage pipes.
• Lin Feng noticed Shisui’s map marked a surveillance grid along the planned route and realized the devices could detect intruders without sensing chakra.
• Lin Feng concluded that Shisui had been detected and trapped in the pipes, then abandoned his original infiltration plan.
• Lin Feng searched for another way into Root but rejected every alternative as time ran short.
• Lin Feng found a metal cylinder in Shisui’s pouch, and the Crow Mark confirmed it as he recognized it as a technological device.

Shisui tested Lin Feng's Three-Tomoe Sharingan in a sparring match, teaching him to read an opponent's intent rather than merely track movement. After Lin Feng finally touched Shisui during his last attack, Shisui collapsed, warned him not to believe everyone could see the light or assume he could save everyone, and left him his kunai; the Crow Mark's pain then urged Lin Feng to prepare for the approaching hour of the boar.

• Shisui awoke at dusk, demanded that Lin Feng activate his Three-Tomoe Sharingan, and began testing his reactions despite his wounds.
• Shisui repeatedly outmaneuvered Lin Feng and taught him to sense the reason and intent behind an opponent's movements.
• Lin Feng closed his eyes, sensed Shisui's intent to strike his heart, and touched Shisui's chest before the final attack landed.
• Shisui collapsed after congratulating Lin Feng, warned him not to think he could save everyone, and pressed his kunai into Lin Feng's hand.
• Lin Feng put Shisui's kunai away and organized his equipment as the Crow Mark urged him to act before the hour of the boar.

Lin Feng infiltrated Root’s drainage system and discovered a Sensing Barrier that tracked physical contact rather than chakra. He used Shisui’s Technique-Sealing Talisman to slip past it, entering Root’s inner perimeter as the hidden sentries raised their alert level.

• Lin Feng entered the drainage pipe and sensed an invisible barrier sweep through it with help from the Crow Mark.
• Lin Feng identified the barrier as a sealing technique and avoided the occupied left passage as a Root sensory ninja approached.
• Lin Feng used Shisui’s Technique-Sealing Talisman to force open a brief gap in the barrier and pass through.
• A hidden sentry noticed the disturbance, increased the barrier’s scanning frequency, and recorded the anomaly without raising an alarm.
• Lin Feng confirmed he had reached Root’s inner perimeter and continued deeper into the pipe, preparing for more frequent scans.

Lin Feng entered the Root Archive Room and found evidence that Danzo had targeted Shisui years before the Uchiha Clan Annihilation Plan. As Lin Feng tried to uncover more from the files, someone approached the archive room.

• Lin Feng subdued a Root archive administrator before he could retrieve confidential files and took the Final Confirmation Notice Regarding the Uchiha Clan Annihilation Plan.
• Lin Feng read that Root supported the plan, named Itachi its primary executor, and listed Shisui as a special observation subject whose research file dated back three years.
• Lin Feng found the R-001-504 file and learned Danzo had studied Shisui's Kotoamatsukami and developed a suppression program against it.
• Lin Feng uncovered a blacked-out passage revealing that the suppression program had been tested on Shisui and that Itachi was chosen as its second executor.
• Lin Feng tried to read more of the file, but footsteps sounded outside and someone slowly opened the archive room door.

Lin Feng fought Danzo in the archive room and escaped through a ventilation duct with a torn page about a tracking curse seal. Danzo sent the Curse-Mark Hound after him, while Lin Feng realized the archive rack held something Danzo valued even more than Kotoamatsukami.

• Danzo confronted Lin Feng in the archive room and asked whether he had Shisui's eye.
• Lin Feng attacked Danzo, but their first exchanges left Lin Feng with a cut and revealed Danzo was protecting a bronze archive rack.
• Lin Feng detonated an Explosive Tag near the rack, then used the distraction to escape through a ventilation duct instead of pursuing Danzo.
• Danzo ordered his subordinates to release the Curse-Mark Hound to hunt Lin Feng.
• Lin Feng found a torn page describing the Soul-Seizing Hound's curse-seal tracking properties and hid it in his ninja tool pouch.
• As the hound pursued him through the duct, Lin Feng concluded Danzo was protecting something in the archive more important than Kotoamatsukami.

Lin Feng escaped Root’s Curse-Mark Hounds by enduring the pain of the spreading Curse Seal and trapping all three with Sharingan genjutsu. At the reservoir, injured and short on time, he rejected the choice between seeking treatment and investigating Shisui’s intelligence, deciding to find another way.

• Lin Feng discovered that a page from the archives had attached itself to his skin and spread Curse Seal markings across his arm as the hounds closed in.
• Lin Feng tore away the page and affected skin, then held his Three-Tomoe Sharingan steady through the pain to trap all three hounds with the Shackling Stakes Technique.
• Lin Feng escaped through the ventilation duct and emerged beside an abandoned reservoir while the genjutsu began to break.
• Lin Feng compared the route to Shisui’s watchtower, where he could treat the Curse Seal, with the route to the radicals’ gathering place, where he could verify Shisui’s intelligence.
• Lin Feng folded the map and decided he had to find a third path.

Lin Feng discovered Shisui’s notes revealing that Kotoamatsukami could only be stopped by its caster’s restraint, then reversed Danzo’s tracking mark to buy time. As Lin Feng left to stop the Uchiha coup, Shisui murmured that the Third Hokage knew.

• Lin Feng read Shisui’s page explaining that Kotoamatsukami could not be externally dispelled and that Shisui had taken the page to keep the secret from Root.
• Lin Feng realized Root was locking onto the watchtower and used Reverse Crow Summoning to send the Curse Seal’s tracking mark back to Danzo.
• Lin Feng checked Shisui, confirmed he remained stable, and decided to leave for the Uchiha Clan Grounds while carrying the page.
• Shisui murmured in his sleep that the Third Hokage knew, leading Lin Feng to suspect Hiruzen Sarutobi had known Danzo would target Shisui and failed to stop him.