Chapter Summaries

Shuo spent an afternoon in Konoha quietly disrupting an attack and stopping an infiltrator, using his control over light to help without drawing attention. After handing the infiltrator’s scroll to a patrol, he encountered an unknown watcher who expressed interest in his actions, then continued home to find dinner.

• Shuo noticed two gray-clad men tailing a Chunin and subtly helped the Chunin evade their attacks until patrols captured one attacker.
• Shuo sensed a concealed person swimming toward Konoha, followed him to the riverbank, and caught him hiding a sealed scroll.
• Shuo disarmed the infiltrator and disabled him, but the man took poison and died before Shuo could question him.
• Shuo gave the scroll and the dead man’s location to a ninja patrol, then headed toward his dorm.
• A voice in an alley addressed Shuo as Namikaze Shuo and questioned whether his interventions had been deliberate; Shuo brushed him off and walked away.

Shuo endured Minato’s sustained-combat training, using his light abilities to counter attacks and escape a five-sided assault. While eating ramen afterward, he sensed a Root operative watching him and identified the modified forehead protector before the figure left.

• Rin woke Shuo early and brought him to Minato’s special training session, where he reluctantly agreed to participate for a bowl of ramen.
• Shuo deflected Minato’s kunai and shuriken with precise light manipulation, then used a Light Mirror Array to redirect attacks as the training intensified.
• After a kunai grazed his arm, Shuo fought back with the Light Mirror Array, turning Minato’s attacks against his shadow clones and disrupting his assault.
• Minato sent four shadow clones and himself to attack from five directions, but Shuo used Light Density Manipulation to slow attacks within a ten-meter zone and walk out of the encirclement.
• Shuo joined Minato, Kakashi, Obito, and Rin for ramen, where he sensed the watcher from the previous day and recognized the figure’s modified forehead protector as Root’s code.

Shuo refused Danzo’s invitation and used Light Manipulation to drive off the Root members following him. After returning to his dorm, he received dinner from Rin and spent the evening relaxing, leaving his imitation progress at 44.9%.

• Shuo noticed two Root members following him and confronted them in an alley after they demanded he meet Danzo.
• Shuo illuminated the rain and used the glowing droplets to disrupt a Root member’s Water Release attack.
• Shuo refused Danzo’s invitation for the time being, and the Root members withdrew after he warned them not to press him.
• Shuo detected a distant observer through light reflected from a puddle, then returned to his dorm and gained 0.5% imitation progress.
• Rin brought Shuo dinner, and he ate before idly practicing Light Manipulation and going to sleep.

Shuo went to a sweet shop, noticed a covert intelligence meeting, and escaped an attack by manipulating light. He left the conspirators behind and headed off to find lunch after gaining new insight into his light-control ability.

• Shuo visited a sweet shop and ate honey cake with Obito, Rin, and Nohara Shizuka.
• Shuo detected a man receiving signals from across the street and tracked him to an old bookshop where three people discussed a target.
• When one of the conspirators fired a senbon at him, Shuo deflected it and used distorted light to escape without fighting.
• Shuo gained 0.4% Imitation Points, reached 45.3%, and learned local light environment control · distortion field.
• Shuo returned to the river to play with its reflections, then set off toward the Shopping District for lunch.

Shuo followed Dango to the mission hall, where Miura persuaded him to take a sweets-delivery mission for its red bean reward. After completing it, Shuo noticed a hidden silver-haired presence watching him, then learned someone matching that description had asked Miura about his mission; he left for the dorm without pursuing the matter.

• Dango led Shuo to the mission hall, where Miura explained that the cat lived there and offered him an unclaimed D-rank delivery mission.
• Shuo accepted the job after learning the thank-you gift was red bean sweets, then collected a wooden box from the confectionery.
• Shuo ran into Obito and Kakashi, then detoured past the old bookstore and told the tense middle-aged man there to stop meeting people at the sweets shop.
• Shuo delivered the box, received four red bean dumplings, and ate them by the river while sensing a well-hidden silver-haired person across the water.
• Shuo reported the mission to Miura, who said a silver-haired boy had asked what job Shuo took, and Shuo headed back to the dorm.

Shuo joined Kakashi, Obito, and Rin for Minato’s two-on-two teamwork trials, using light-based tricks to support his team while refusing to put in more effort than necessary. After training, Minato took him to ramen, while Shuo noticed signs of trouble near the mission hall and chose to ignore them for now.

• Obito hurried Shuo to the training ground, where Minato paired Shuo and Kakashi against Obito and Rin for a practice match.
• Shuo redirected Obito’s fireball, escaped Kakashi’s attack, and distorted the light around Kakashi to interfere with his vision before Minato halted the round.
• Minato gave Kakashi color-coded kunai so he and Shuo could coordinate, and they worked together through the next fifteen minutes of the match.
• In the second round, Shuo reflected sunlight into Obito’s eyes and used changes in the light and shadows to evade Rin’s attack, letting Kakashi take the offensive.
• Kakashi asked how long Shuo could maintain his light-field distortion, and Minato asked whether anyone had been troubling him; Shuo brushed off both concerns.
• Minato took Shuo to Ichiraku Ramen, while Shuo spotted a silver-gray shadow near the mission hall and decided to eat before worrying about it.

On a rainy day, Namikaze Shuo met Sai, who told him to avoid the sweet shop after Root punished two people involved in a rendezvous. Shuo stayed out of the shop and went to sleep, while Sai left Konoha and the system credited Shuo with a small increase in imitation points.

• Sai sat with Shuo in the cafeteria and said Danzo wanted to see him, but Shuo explained that he refused to avoid the hassle of registering and reporting his ability.
• Sai told Shuo not to return to the sweet shop, and Shuo later sensed Sai moving rapidly toward the village outskirts as if fleeing.
• Rin shared her umbrella with Shuo and walked him back to the dorm, getting her shoulder soaked while keeping him dry.
• Shuo passed the sweet shop without entering, bought red bean daifuku elsewhere, and received 0.1% imitation points for encountering Sai.
• Shuo went to bed as rain began again, thinking he would avoid trouble when he could.

Shuo met Sai at the sweets shop and learned that Danzo was investigating his abilities after his kekkei genkai data was leaked. Sai warned him that others wanted to know whether his abilities could be replicated, then told him the shop would close the next day; Shuo returned to his dormitory with the warning and the news.

• Shuo bought two slices of limited-edition chestnut cake and lured Sai into an alley beside the sweets shop.
• Sai told Shuo that Danzo was investigating his abilities, mission records, Team Minato ties, and leaked kekkei genkai data to see whether his abilities could be replicated.
• Sai explained that he warned Shuo because his older brother had taught him to tell people what they ought to know.
• Sai told Shuo that the sweets shop would close the next day because the owner's son was taking her to Sunagakure.
• Shuo received system points for learning the intelligence and contacting Sai, then finished his cake and went back to his dormitory.

Shuo waited for the sweet shop to open, bought its last two slices of chestnut cake, and calmly watched Sai across the river before leaving. He returned to the dormitory, heard about an afternoon mission and Rin’s lunch, then went to sleep.

• Shuo waited outside the sweet shop until it opened and bought its last two slices of chestnut cake.
• Shuo ate the cake by the river and noticed Sai standing silently beneath a willow across the water.
• Shuo shared a patch of sunlight with Sai, then left while Sai remained behind before eventually walking away.
• Shuo gained 0.4% imitation points for accepting the shop’s closure without clinging to it.
• Obito told Shuo that Minato had scheduled a mission for that afternoon and that Rin had made him a lunch box.
• Shuo returned to his dormitory and fell asleep in the sunlight, thinking briefly about the shopkeeper’s move to Sunagakure.

Shuo joined Minato’s team to escort a sealing scroll to Kikyo Castle, noticing a concealed watcher but leaving the matter to Minato. After the mission, Sai warned him that Root had ordered an assassination, leaving Shuo to face the coming danger on his own terms.

• Minato led Shuo, Obito, Rin, and Kakashi on a mission to deliver a sealing scroll to Kikyo Castle.
• Shuo sensed a concealed watcher following the team, but the watcher eventually went into the city and met another figure before returning toward Konoha.
• The team delivered the scroll without incident and returned to Konoha, while Shuo received only 0.2% in imitation points.
• Sai met Shuo by the river and warned him that Root had issued new orders concerning him, involving specialists in assassination.
• Shuo returned to his dormitory, checked that he was close to unlocking the next ability stage, and went to bed.

Shuo sensed a Root assassin waiting on his roof and defeated him using his light abilities, then let him leave. Sai watched from a nearby rooftop before Shuo went back to bed, while the system reported that he was closer to unlocking the next tier of light abilities.

• Shuo detected a Root assassin on his roof and waited until the attacker broke into his room.
• Shuo blinded the assassin with reflected moonlight, bound him with a net of light, and stopped his attack.
• Shuo identified the attacker as a Root operative and released him after the assassin surrendered.
• Shuo noticed Sai watching from across the street and traced a small arc of light on the broken window before Sai disappeared.
• Shuo treated the cuts on his feet, and the system awarded him 1.1% imitation points, leaving him 1.8% from the next tier.

Shuo dealt with his broken window and learned that Root members could enter and leave Konoha without registering. A kunai bearing a familiar mark appeared at his window, suggesting his troubles were not over.

• Shuo accepted breakfast from Obito, told him someone had come looking for trouble, and asked him to arrange repairs for the broken window.
• Shuo used his light ability to gather the dangerous glass shards and blocked the draft with an old jacket.
• At the Mission Hall, Shuo asked Miura about Root members bypassing departure registration, and her silence confirmed they had an exemption.
• Miura warned Shuo not to get involved, but he said he could not ignore Root after they came to his window.
• Shuo found a kunai tied to a note bearing the same crooked arc as the mark from the previous night, then tucked it away.

Shuo joined Team Minato on a caravan escort mission and used the silver-gray thread on his wrist to signal Sai, who had secretly followed them. Sai began following Shuo, while Shuo let him stay close without demanding an explanation.

• Shuo kept the kunai and wrapped its silver-gray thread around his wrist, then Minato told him Team Minato would support him whatever he chose.
• Shuo traveled with Team Minato on a three-day escort mission to the Land of Rice Fields' border, where Kakashi gave him an extra rice ball and spoke about keeping unnecessary things.
• Shuo sensed Sai hiding in a dead tree near the border and later exposed the thread to the sunlight as a quiet signal.
• Sai emerged and asked what the curved line meant; Shuo told him to keep thinking and come back when he figured it out.
• Sai followed Shuo out of the woods, and Shuo allowed him to accompany the group as long as he did not cause trouble.

Shuo returned to Konoha with Sai still following him, and let Sai stay near his dormitory rather than sending him away. During a C-rank mission to drive off wild boars, Shuo secretly used his light-based ability to save Obito, while Sai recognized what he had done; the chapter ended with Sai remaining outside Shuo’s room and Shuo’s imitation points reaching 49.0%.

• Shuo returned to Konoha with Sai following him and indirectly allowed him to spend the night outside his dormitory room.
• The next morning, Shuo invited Sai to breakfast, where Sai warned him that Root might send a stronger operative after Shuo refused Danzo’s summons and drove off an assassin.
• Minato led Shuo, Sai, Obito, Rin, and Kakashi on a C-rank mission to drive wild boars away from the farmers’ crops.
• When a boar charged Obito, Shuo used a small flash of light to distract it, allowing Obito to escape and defeat it; Sai recognized Shuo’s intervention.
• The team drove away the boars, and Shuo gave Sai a piece of candy before returning to his dormitory; Sai stayed outside, while Shuo’s imitation points increased to 49.0%.

Shuo and Sai settled into a quiet routine as Shuo gave Sai his coat and later exchanged books with him. Their connection seemed to respond through the silver-gray thread, bringing Sai’s imitation progress to 49.5%, just short of completion.

• Shuo woke, saw Sai asleep outside, and dropped his old coat over him before inviting him to the cafeteria.
• At breakfast, Shuo sensed two people watching him from a private room and used a strand of light to glimpse a document headed with his name, Namikaze Shuo.
• Shuo returned to his room to sleep, while Sai followed him; later, Shuo discovered that a Logistics Unit worker had installed new curtains after an unexplained repair request.
• At dusk, Shuo found Sai reading beneath his window and exchanged his ninjutsu theory book for Sai’s ninja tool maintenance textbook.
• Sai found a candy wrapper marked with a curved line inside Shuo’s book, and his imitation points rose to 49.5% as Shuo’s wrist thread faintly lit in response.

Shuo rejected an offer to serve directly under the Hokage and learned that refusing Root’s recruitment could bring harsher pressure. After completing a sweet potato harvest mission with Sai and Team Minato, Shuo told Sai not to follow him the next day, but left his curtains open enough to keep a patch of light on him.

• Shuo discovered a Root agent watching the dormitory and met Scarface, who offered him a safer position directly under the Hokage.
• Shuo refused the offer, and Sai explained that the recruiter Saw’s approach meant someone higher up wanted to recruit him.
• Shuo and Sai joined Obito, Rin, Kakashi, and Minato on a D-rank mission harvesting sweet potatoes for an elderly farmer.
• The farmer called Shuo and Sai friends, and their shadows overlapped as they walked back at sunset.
• Shuo told Sai not to follow him the next day and gave him two candies; Sai stayed downstairs, while Shuo left a gap in his curtains so the light still reached him.

Shuo confronted Root agents sent by Danzo and used light to immobilize them, while a glowing mark appeared on his wrist and on Sai’s candy wrappers. The system showed Shuo was just short of unlocking Light-Speed Thinking, and Sai stayed by Shuo’s dormitory after Shuo told him not to sit on the cold ground.

• Shuo noticed a faint disturbance in the light and found Sai waiting below with the finished book and three folded candy wrappers inside.
• Four Root ninja cornered Shuo and demanded that he come to Danzo, but Shuo used light to immobilize them and sent them back with a message for Danzo.
• Shuo discovered that the line on his wrist and the creases on an orange candy wrapper were glowing and vibrating faintly.
• The system reported that Shuo had reached 49.9% imitation progress and needed one more trigger to unlock Light-Speed Thinking: Beginner.
• Shuo gave Sai his last candy and told him not to sit on the ground at night, and Sai later stood beneath Shuo’s room and ate it.

Shuo reached 50% imitation points and unlocked Lightspeed Thinking, which let him process enormous amounts of information but overwhelmed him when it activated passively. After learning to shut the ability off, he noticed the silver-haired figure still watching him from below and wondered whether the new power was worth the hassle.

• Shuo woke to find the silver thread on his wrist glowing, then noticed he could understand the behavior of light without consciously analyzing it.
• The system announced that Shuo had reached 50% imitation points and unlocked Lightspeed Thinking, with a three-minute daily-use limit and a 75% next-stage target.
• Shuo tested the ability on his soup and Sai, taking in overwhelming amounts of detail and stopping his meal early.
• On the way back to the dormitory, Shuo's ability activated passively and flooded him with information until he mentally ordered it to stop.
• Shuo told Sai he had gained a troublesome new ability, then returned to his room and found the line on a candy wrapper trembling.
• Shuo looked down at the silver-haired figure, experimented with a shaft of sunlight, and lay down as the system confirmed Lightspeed Thinking was activated.

Shuo struggled to control Lightspeed Thinking as it flooded him with details about his surroundings. He learned that Sai had been ordered to kill him in three days, but dismissed the threat and exposed Shin’s lie about his callus.

• Shuo woke with Lightspeed Thinking overwhelming him and gradually learned to reduce its passive output.
• At breakfast, Shuo correctly guessed that Sai had three candies in his pocket.
• Shuo and Sai encountered Shin, who revealed that Danzo had ordered Sai to kill Shuo in three days, with Shin supervising.
• Shuo told Sai he was not afraid and pointed out that Shin’s ring-finger callus came from gripping a kunai, not drawing a bow.
• Sai caught up with Shuo, and the system recorded a small increase in imitation points.

Shuo kept Sai company as Sai struggled to decide what to believe about his supposedly dead brother and the mission planned for three days later. The next morning, Sai still had no answer, and the countdown showed one day remaining.

• Shuo told Sai to spend the afternoon thinking and to come get him for dinner, while Sai returned to his usual spot downstairs.
• Shuo ate the dinner Sai brought and asked how much he believed about his brother; Sai said he did not know, and Shuo reminded him he had three days to think.
• Sai brought Shuo breakfast the next morning, and they ate together by the river.
• Sai asked what Shuo would do if the mission led to a fight, and Shuo said he would fight if necessary but run if he could not win.
• Sai admitted he did not know what he would do, and Shuo told him to wait and see as they walked back together.
• The status display showed 50.3% imitation points and one day remaining.