Recaps

After Hiruzen Sarutobi’s funeral, Uchiha Ling used his Jōgan to detect Root’s interest in him and glimpse possible threats to his life. He accepted a B-Rank mission to investigate a town where residents were falling unconscious, leaving Konoha with two companions as a Root agent followed them under orders to retrieve his Sharingan.

• At Hiruzen Sarutobi’s funeral, Ling detected a malicious observer and identified the watcher as likely connected to Root.
• At home, Ling projected possible futures in which Danzo’s forces captured or killed him, then chose a B-Rank mission that could help him gain power and leave Konoha.
• Ling accepted the mission to investigate the sleeping town and set out with Aoi and Inuzuka Gaku.
• A tanuki-masked Root agent reported Ling’s departure and received orders to observe him and retrieve his Sharingan if necessary.
• Ling sensed the Root agent following the team and welcomed the pursuit as a chance to turn the mission to his advantage.

Ling, Inuzuka Gaku, and Aoi investigated Maple Leaf Town, where a strange tree kept the residents asleep and drained their vitality. After Ling helped repel a Root operative’s assassination attempt, he and Inuzuka Gaku headed for the Ancient Shrine, which Ling suspected held clues to the town’s condition.

• Kuromaru led Ling, Inuzuka Gaku, and Aoi to a strange maple tree whose energy threads connected the sleeping residents, while shadow monsters emerged to defend it.
• Ling warned that destroying the tree might accelerate the residents’ decline, so Inuzuka Gaku divided the team to search for clues and monitor the victims.
• A Root operative attacked Ling with a sealing senbon, but Ling dodged it, and the operative then fought Inuzuka Gaku and Kuromaru.
• Aoi blinded the Root operative with Genjutsu: Haze Flash, and Ling used an unusually powerful Will-o'-the-Wisp Technique to help Inuzuka Gaku drive him off.
• Ling suspected the operative’s chakra was connected to Danzo and noticed a damaged scroll and an ancient Yin Release core within the tree’s roots.
• Inuzuka Gaku took Ling to investigate the Ancient Shrine, while Aoi stayed behind to care for the residents.

Ling and Inuzuka Gaku uncovered a corrupted sealing scroll beneath the Inari Shrine and destroyed the root-bound corpse feeding on Maple Leaf Town. As Ling reached for the scroll, three Root operatives ambushed them, leaving him facing a likely fatal attack.

• Ling and Inuzuka Gaku found a hidden staircase beneath the shrine and discovered a corpse fused to roots that drew life energy from the town into a damaged scroll.
• The corpse awakened and attacked them with writhing roots and a mental assault, while Ling and Inuzuka Gaku fought back.
• Ling used his Jōgan to identify a vulnerable root node, evade a killing strike, and direct Inuzuka Gaku to the corpse’s unstable core.
• Inuzuka Gaku struck the core, destroying the corpse and causing the roots and mental pressure to fade; Ling reached for the bloodstained scroll.
• Three Root operatives appeared, attacking Ling and Inuzuka Gaku and reaching for the scroll, while a kunai pressed against Ling’s back.

Ling detonated the damaged bloodstained scroll to escape Root, leaving himself severely injured as the blast devastated the cavern. When Root closed in again, he seized the scroll’s remaining core and awakened a strange form of Sharingan just as their attacks reached him.

• Ling used his Jōgan to identify damaged points in the scroll, then channeled chakra into them and triggered a destructive energy blast that killed one Root operative.
• Ling, Inuzuka Gaku, and Kuromaru were hurt by the blast, while the two surviving Root operatives recovered and moved to kill Ling.
• Kuromaru shielded Ling from a Root attack, and Inuzuka Gaku urged him to escape despite being trapped beneath rubble.
• Ling chose to rush toward a faint glimmer at the blast’s center and grabbed a small fragment that appeared to be the scroll’s core.
• The fragment flooded Ling with Yin Release energy, awakening scarlet eyes with unusual patterns and a trace of Jōgan sheen as the Root operatives’ attacks arrived.

Ling used the newly awakened power of his fused Jōgan and Sharingan to defeat the Root attackers and save Inuzuka Gaku and Kuromaru. One Root member escaped, leaving Ling to face Danzo’s attention as the strange fragment in his hand began to resonate with his chakra.

• Ling’s new eyes let him read the Root members’ attacks, evade their techniques, and strike one attacker’s chakra node with Yin Release: Purifying Erosion.
• Ling disrupted the Wind Release ninja’s Pressure Damage, then used the Hell Viewing Technique to immobilize him and kill him with a kunai.
• The last Root member severed his disabled arm and fled after Ling killed his two companions.
• Ling’s Sharingan faded as he reached his limit, and he used his remaining chakra to keep the unconscious Inuzuka Gaku and gravely injured Kuromaru alive.
• Ling noticed the fragment growing warm and sensed that his secret and his return to Konoha would bring further trouble.

Ling escaped the underground cavern with Inuzuka Gaku and Kuromaru gravely wounded, then arranged for their rescue and tried to recover while a watcher followed him. As he headed toward Konoha with his companions, a mysterious stranger bearing ripple-patterned eyes blocked the road and revealed he had watched Ling’s fight.

• Ling treated Inuzuka Gaku and Kuromaru, hid them among the rubble, and recovered a Root token whose tracking and communication runes he disabled.
• Ling reached town, persuaded the mayor to organize a rescue, and hid his injuries while sensing remote surveillance.
• A black fragment fed Ling Yin Release energy, easing his pain as the Jōgan warned that prolonged use could alter his mind.
• After Inuzuka Gaku and Kuromaru were rescued, Ling loaded them into a carriage and set out for Konoha.
• A traveler with purple face paint and ripple-patterned eyes stopped the carriage and told Ling he had watched the fight.

Ling encountered a mysterious, immensely powerful man who offered him freedom and power if he left Konoha, but Ling chose to return. The stranger branded him with an unknown mark, and Ling continued toward Konoha, resolved to face the dangers ahead.

• The mysterious man suppressed Ling with overwhelming chakra and revealed that he knew about Ling's eyes, the fragment, Danzo, and the Akatsuki.
• The man warned Ling that Danzo would target him and offered him a choice between returning to Konoha or leaving with him for power and freedom.
• Ling refused the offer and chose to return to Konoha, judging its known dangers safer than trusting the stranger.
• The mysterious man marked Ling with a black rune before disappearing, warning that he would return if Ling lost faith in Konoha or sought greater power.
• Ling found that the Jōgan could not analyze the mark, then drove toward Konoha and vowed to face the storm ahead.

Uchiha Ling returned to Konoha after a dangerous mission and concealed his true abilities while Shimura Danzō kept him under surveillance. In the hospital, Ling sensed a mysterious chakra signature that might mean Tsunade had returned in secret, and he watched for a chance to shift the balance of power.

• Izumo Kamizuki and Kotetsu Hagane summoned medical ninja when Ling arrived at the gate with the badly injured Inuzuka Gaku and Kuromaru.
• Shimura Danzō praised Ling publicly, and Ling claimed that luck and the enemy’s own technique had allowed him to survive.
• At Konoha Hospital, Ling used the Jōgan to detect a concealed Root observer watching from a nearby building.
• Ling repeated his account to an Anbu and received a visit from Naruto Uzumaki, who was relieved that Ling had survived.
• Ling examined the Root Token and the shard, then found that the mysterious Black Mark near his heart resisted the Jōgan.
• Ling sensed a faint burst of Yang Release near Inuzuka Gaku’s room and suspected that Tsunade had returned or was treating him remotely.

While recovering under Danzo’s surveillance, Uchiha Ling tried to contact Tsunade’s hidden allies and received a covert response. He prepared to offer the damaged Root Token and mysterious black fragment as bargaining chips.

• Ling sensed a brief pulse of pure Yang Release chakra near Inuzuka Gaku and suspected Tsunade was secretly helping him.
• Ling hid a message asking Lord Hokage to investigate contradictions in the Maple Leaf Town mission report and Root’s involvement.
• During questioning, Ling hinted that he had seen a strange black object fall from a dead Root member, making the Anbu wary.
• Inuzuka Gaku awakened from his coma, while Ling’s hidden message remained undiscovered.
• An unfamiliar nurse secretly infused Ling’s IV bag with Yang Release chakra, confirming that Tsunade’s people had received his message and were watching him.
• Ling decided to use the damaged Root Token and mysterious black fragment as bargaining chips.

Ling used evidence from the Maple Leaf Town mission to bargain for protection and a meeting with Tsunade. He learned he would have ten minutes to meet her the next afternoon and prepared for the high-stakes encounter.

• Ling revealed to the female Anbu that Root had sought an ancient Scroll in Maple Leaf Town and that he possessed a Root token with communication and tracking runes.
• Ling refused to hand over the token until he could meet the Hokage and receive a guarantee of safety, and he offered information about the Scroll's remnants.
• The female Anbu agreed to pass Ling's information on and told him to maintain the status quo.
• After two more days, the female Anbu told Ling that Danzo would leave his office the next afternoon and arranged a ten-minute meeting in an underground chamber behind the hospital.
• Ling accepted the meeting and spent the night using his Jōgan to prepare for possible conversations and reactions.

Uchiha Ling staged a medical emergency to evade Root surveillance and meet Tsunade, offering evidence of Danzo’s involvement in the Maple Leaf Town mission and revealing his mutated Sharingan. Tsunade granted him provisional protection under her direct command in exchange for monitoring, examinations, and intelligence on Root, leaving Ling back in the hospital with a tenuous lifeline against Danzo.

• Uchiha Ling used the nurse’s pressure-point technique and a Shadow Clone to fake a life-threatening emergency, then slipped out of the hospital unnoticed.
• Uchiha Ling met Tsunade in a hidden basement and presented a Root Token and a fragment from the destroyed scroll as evidence of Root’s actions during the Maple Leaf Town mission.
• Uchiha Ling revealed his unusual Sharingan and claimed its abilities had helped him survive and were what Danzo wanted to obtain.
• Tsunade offered Uchiha Ling temporary protection by placing him in the Anbu training program under her command, but demanded information about his eyes, regular examinations, and intelligence on Root.
• Uchiha Ling returned to the hospital and switched places with his Shadow Clone while the Root observer remained unaware of his meeting with Tsunade.

After being discharged, Ling entered a new training arrangement under the Hokage’s direct authority, with Rock Lee as his taijutsu instructor and Fox monitoring his progress. His uneasy peace ended when the mark over his heart resonated with a pulse of matching Yin Release chakra from the Forest of Death, hinting at another fragment or related source.

• Ling and Inuzuka Gaku were discharged from the hospital, and Gaku thanked Ling for saving him and Kuromaru.
• Ling went to the Hokage Building, where Fox assigned Rock Lee to train him and gave him new identification papers and a training plan.
• Ling moved into the Anbu training dormitory and improved his taijutsu, chakra control, and use of his mutated Sharingan while Fox examined him weekly.
• Ling detected Root surveillance near the dormitory and heard updates about Tsunade, Naruto, and Sasuke from fellow trainees.
• While refining chakra one night, Ling felt the heart mark resonate with a brief pulse of matching Yin Release chakra from the Forest of Death.

Ling used his team’s training in the Forest of Death to investigate the energy linked to the Fragment and discovered a hidden experimental site beneath an abandoned facility. He left with evidence connecting the experiments to Danzo and began planning a covert return to learn more and gain power.

• Ling learned that Might Guy had permission to take his team into the Forest of Death for training and decided to use the opportunity to investigate.
• During perimeter training with Might Guy, Rock Lee, and Neji Hyuga, Ling sensed a strange energy beneath an abandoned training facility.
• Ling secretly touched the energy with his Jōgan and heard fragmented voices describing experiments, failed subjects, Danzo, and an underground altar.
• Ling feigned dizziness, and Might Guy ended the training early; on the way back, Ling concluded that Danzo had conducted forbidden experiments beneath the forest.
• Back in his dormitory, Ling weighed his options and resolved to seek more information and power through a covert investigation.

Ling used his Jōgan to gather evidence of Danzo’s underground experiments in the Forest of Death, including a dangerous altar sealing stone linked to Moryo’s cells. After resisting the mysterious mark’s attempt to draw out the information, he secretly passed a warning to Fox during an examination and waited to see whether Tsunade would act.

• Ling trained his distant perception and heard fragments from imprisoned experiment subjects, which revealed brutal experiments ordered by Shimura Danzō.
• Ling heard a dying subject describe Moryo’s cells and a sealing stone beneath an altar, then felt the mark over his heart urge him to transmit the information.
• Ling used his Jōgan and Sharingan to suppress the mark’s influence and isolate his memories of the sealing stone.
• Ling decided he needed Tsunade’s support and covertly wrote a warning about Danzo’s laboratory onto Fox’s water-soaked scroll during his examination.
• Fox accepted the scroll without reacting, and Ling waited anxiously to learn whether Tsunade would investigate.

Ling received Tsunade’s covert instruction to stay put while she handled his intelligence about Danzo’s underground operation, and he passed a wilderness assessment without revealing his suspicions. The chapter ended when an inhuman presence began watching him from inside the dormitory building, putting him on alert for an imminent attack.

• Ling noticed that the underground laboratory’s energy had become harder to sense, and Neji warned him that Anbu patrols near the Forest of Death had increased.
• A Hokage-signed mission scroll delivered Tsunade’s coded reply: she had received Ling’s message and ordered him not to act until she gave further instructions.
• Ling attended the three-day wilderness and reconnaissance assessment in the southeast Forest of Death, passed without drawing attention, and sensed that security around the restricted northwest area had tightened.
• After returning to the dormitory, Ling sensed a hostile, inhuman presence watching him from the building’s shadows and prepared for combat.

Ling survived an attack by a shadow monster sent by Danzo, using the Dormitory Simple Soundproof Barrier’s overload and a Jōgan-infused strike to drive it off. As Fox ordered him taken for treatment and the scene sealed, Ling realized Danzo’s assault had begun in earnest.

• A shadow monster ambushed Ling in his dorm room, and his Sharingan revealed that conventional attacks could barely harm it.
• Ling’s genjutsu enraged the monster, forcing him to dodge its tendrils as the fight wrecked the room.
• Ling let the monster wound his left shoulder, then used the soundproof barrier’s overload to delay its attack and pierce its energy core with a Jōgan-infused strike.
• The injured monster fled into the shadows, and Ling told the arriving staff that it had escaped after a barrier backlash.
• Fox inspected the damaged room, ordered the scene sealed, and sent Ling to the Medical Department while reporting the attack to the Hokage.

After an assassination attempt, Tsunade confirmed Danzo’s likely involvement and tightened her control over Root while Ling recovered in the hospital. A mysterious fragment of thought from the mark over Ling’s heart hinted at a distant transaction and warned him to beware of eyes.

• Tsunade questioned Ling about the shadow-like attacker, and he described its abilities while concealing his own counterattack and the Yin Release energy core.
• Tsunade told Ling that evidence linked Root to the Forest of Death facility and that the concealment barrier had strengthened during the attack, exposing Danzo’s efforts to hide it.
• Tsunade raised Ling’s security to the highest level and vowed to make Danzo recognize her authority as Hokage.
• Over the next few days, Tsunade’s orders restricted Root’s funding, independence, and access, while Danzo’s faction remained silent under scrutiny.
• Ling recovered with Tsunade’s medicine and Yang Release treatment, improving his control over the Yin Release energy and its integration with his Jōgan and Sharingan.
• The mark over Ling’s heart sent Ling a fragment mentioning coordinates, a southeast transaction, and a warning to beware of eyes.

Danzo sent a Root member to apologize to Ling and make concessions, easing Tsunade’s crackdown long enough for Ling to recover and train. A vision then warned Ling of a dangerous transaction involving Orochimaru and Akatsuki in the southeast, leaving him convinced that a larger threat was approaching.

• A Root member delivered Danzo’s apology to Ling and promised that the incident would not happen again, while Ling emphasized his loyalty to Lord Hokage.
• Danzo’s concessions and Tsunade’s lack of conclusive evidence led to a temporary pause in the conflict, giving Ling a safer period to recover.
• Ling healed his shoulder, trained with Rock Lee, refined his Yin Release Fragment, and improved his Sharingan’s perception using the Jōgan.
• Ling received a clear vision of a pale-haired man in an Akatsuki cloak examining a glowing container that reflected snake-like golden eyes.
• Ling connected the vision to Orochimaru and a possible transaction in the southeast, and resolved to grow stronger before the looming threats reached him.

Ling reported an unverified warning about a possible Orochimaru and Akatsuki transaction, and Tsunade later confirmed that their forces were active near the Land of Rice Fields. With the danger confirmed, Tsunade planned a two-pronged strike on Danzo and made Ling the bait for an attack on Danzo’s hidden device.

• Ling told Fox that Orochimaru might meet the Akatsuki southeast of the Land of Fire to trade dangerous energy or forbidden techniques, and Fox rushed to report it to Tsunade.
• Ling intensified his training while recovering, improving his chakra and the perception of his mutated Sharingan and Jōgan.
• Tsunade told Ling that covert agents had confirmed Orochimaru’s presence and suspected Akatsuki chakra near the Land of Rice Fields, and that Jiraiya had gone to investigate.
• Tsunade revealed that Danzo might use a hidden device to locate or steal Ling’s ocular power, and proposed using its activation as an opening to attack Danzo’s forces.
• Ling agreed to act as bait and accepted a Flying Thunder God kunai to signal Tsunade if the device targeted him.
• Tsunade planned to lead an assault on the underground laboratory while Kakashi and Fox led an elite squad against Danzo’s command center.

Ling served as bait while Tsunade and Kakashi attacked Danzo’s facilities, then fought off Root operatives as the energy targeting his eyes vanished. After Danzo’s defeat, Ling became a Special Jōnin and Hokage-direct Anbu member, while unresolved threats still awaited him.

• Ling resisted Danzo’s remote attempt to seize his ocular power and sent a signal that triggered the assault on Danzo’s bases.
• Root operatives broke into Ling’s isolation room, and Ling disrupted their cursed seals before incapacitating them.
• Tsunade destroyed Danzo’s underground laboratory, ending the energy lock on Ling, while a mysterious mark on Ling’s heart dissolved after delivering a cryptic message.
• Fox reported that Tsunade had defeated Danzo and Kakashi had breached his command center.
• Tsunade killed Danzo, disbanded Root, and awarded Ling the title of Special Jōnin and a place in the Hokage’s Anbu under Fox.
• Ling visited the Memorial Stone and resolved to face the dangers ahead rather than endure them passively.

Ling began his Anbu service as Crow, balancing missions with Taijutsu training and research into his eyes. When his Fragment resonated with a distant source to the northwest, he resolved to investigate its origins while remaining cautious and building his strength.

• Tsunade assigned Ling the Anbu codename Crow and placed him in Fox's squad, with strict orders to conceal his eyes and abilities.
• Fox moved Ling to the Anbu dormitory and gave him a basic first-month schedule, while Tsunade allowed him to continue Taijutsu training with Team Guy.
• Ling trained with Rock Lee and Might Guy, carried out Anbu patrol and intelligence work, and used his Jōgan to detect overlooked traces and security vulnerabilities.
• Ling studied the connection between the Jōgan and Sharingan and tested how his insight into trajectories and weak points could improve ninjutsu.
• The Fragment against Ling's chest warmed as his Jōgan detected a distant, sinister energy fluctuation from the northwest.
• Ling continued writing his report without revealing his discovery and decided to uncover the Fragment's origins when he had grown stronger and found the right moment.

Ling joined Fox and Azure Phoenix on an S-rank mission to infiltrate the Land of Rain, meet the injured undercover operative Late Autumn, and investigate Amegakure. The team discovered that the rain itself formed a vast sensory network and stealthily approached the rendezvous shrine under its watch.

• Ling adjusted to his Anbu identity as Crow and built rapport with Fox while continuing his training.
• Fox introduced Azure Phoenix and ordered Ling to help rendezvous with Late Autumn and investigate reports of Akatsuki activity and a possible Tailed Beast experiment in Amegakure.
• The three Anbu traveled toward the Land of Rain, where Azure Phoenix detected patrols and established a communications point at the border.
• Azure Phoenix contacted Late Autumn, who reported that he was seriously injured and warned that God's gaze was everywhere inside Amegakure.
• Ling used his Jōgan to discover that the rain carried chakra threads that formed an enormous sensory barrier, and Fox ordered the team to suppress their chakra.
• The team crept through the rain toward the abandoned shrine, while Ling sensed that the Fragment had grown unusually quiet.

Ling and “Fox” entered an abandoned temple to rescue their undercover operative, “Late Autumn,” but discovered the mission was an Akatsuki trap led by Deva Path Pain. As “Fox” fought the attackers, Ling injured the burly opponent and escaped into an underground fissure while Pain watched him.

• Ling and “Fox” found the wounded “Late Autumn,” who warned them that Akatsuki had discovered them and set a trap.
• Deva Path Pain, Konan, and a burly man emerged, and Pain’s Shinra Tensei shattered “Fox’s” earth wall and killed “Late Autumn.”
• “Fox” tried to contact “Azure Phoenix,” but the communication signal was blocked, so he ordered Ling to split up and escape.
• Ling ran toward an underground fissure while Konan sent chakra-charged paper after him and the burly man attacked him.
• Ling used his Jōgan and Sharingan to strike the burly man’s energy core, then escaped into the fissure as “Fox” fought Konan.
• The black Fragment against Ling’s chest trembled briefly when Deva Path Pain looked toward him, then became still.

After escaping into an underground river, Ling treated his broken arm and discovered an ancient artificial structure beneath the Land of Rain that resonated with the Fragment. Though badly injured and nearly out of chakra, he followed faint chain sounds and sobbing deeper into the tunnels.

• Ling was swept through the underground river until he reached a gravel bank, where he splinted his broken left arm and tried to recover his chakra.
• Ling detected a rhythmic hum and an artificial structure buried beneath him, and the pitch-black Fragment warmed in response to it.
• Ling suspected the underground structure might be connected to the Akatsuki’s base or the sensory barrier covering the Land of Rain.
• Ling heard chains dragging and faint sobbing from one passage, then chose to follow the sounds despite his injuries.

Ling discovered Xi, the last Miko of the Uzumaki Clan, imprisoned to power Pain’s Abyssal Corridor and stabilize the Ryūmyaku. As Pain accelerated his corruption of the ancient contract and sensed Ling, Ling attacked a damaged rune on one of the Six Binding Pillars with the Fragment’s power.

• Ling found Xi chained inside a cavern, where the Six Binding Pillars drained her energy into the underground structure.
• Xi told Ling that Pain had twisted her clan’s ancient contract with the Ryūmyaku to power the Abyssal Corridor and gain control of the energy source.
• Xi warned that freeing or killing her could destabilize the Ryūmyaku and unleash a catastrophe across the continent.
• The Fragment flared as Pain accelerated his erosion of the contract, and Ling felt Pain’s consciousness sweep through the cavern.
• Xi pointed out damaged runes on the southeast pillar, and Ling struck them with the Fragment’s power using “Purifying Erosion: Barrier Break!”