Naruto: Uchiha Survivor Forced to Save the Shinobi World

Swish, swish, swish!

With the sound of cutting wind, four members of the Hidden Leaf's ANBU landed scattered in an inconspicuous forest outside the village walls.

The leader asked, "Is this the place?"

One member nodded. "Yes, the information from the Barrier Squad points to here! Look, someone passed through here recently!"

The group quickly approached a footprint.

The print was light, clearly left by someone trying to avoid leaving traces. If not for the moss on the ground, the footprint wouldn't have been noticeable at all.

After scouting the surrounding area, they found no other traces in the forest besides the single footprint.

As for the owner of the footprint, they had already disappeared without a trace.

The ANBU leader was both angry and frustrated. "Damn it, that person escaped again!"

Undoubtedly,

The four ANBU being there wasn't a coincidence; it was part of a carefully planned operation by the ANBU and the Barrier Squad to capture their target.

Their target was a mysterious individual who had been frequently entering and leaving the village lately.

The incident where the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki was abducted from the village by the Akatsuki was still a matter of great concern.

To eliminate potential threats and prevent such incidents from happening again, the Hidden Leaf launched an unprecedented internal investigation.

Surprisingly, they failed to uncover any Akatsuki spies.

Instead, the operation unearthed numerous spies from other villages planted within the Hidden Leaf.

Given the current cooperative state of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, the Hidden Leaf dealt with the matter discreetly. Instead of a bloody purge, they peacefully deported these spies.

During this internal investigation, the Barrier Squad unexpectedly discovered a mysterious individual frequently crossing the Hidden Leaf's barrier.

Yes, the entire Hidden Leaf Village was enveloped in a sensory barrier!

Theoretically, no enemy infiltrating the Hidden Leaf could escape the Barrier Squad's detection, as they would be discovered immediately.

However, theory was just theory.

Knowledge of the Hidden Leaf's barrier codes wasn't limited, with rogue shinobi like Orochimaru and Uchiha Itachi being among those who possessed this knowledge.

Even the Barrier Squad was well aware of the potential for information leaks.

Yet, replacing the barrier was a massive undertaking, requiring extensive time and resources. Even if a new barrier were installed, there was no guarantee its information wouldn't also leak. Hence, the village had long postponed replacing the barrier.

In practice, even the old barrier wasn't maintained around the clock.

It was only during special times—such as wartime or the current large-scale village investigation—that the Barrier Squad operated the barrier continuously.

Because of this, they inadvertently detected the mysterious individual frequently crossing the barrier.

After thoroughly searching the small forest and confirming there were no leads, the ANBU leader asked, "Has the Barrier Squad sent any updates? The target has crossed the barrier so many times—surely their chakra information has already been captured and analyzed?"

Another ANBU member shook their head. "I asked around, but it seems the Barrier Squad has submitted their report directly to the Hokage's office."

"What?!"

The ANBU leader was visibly surprised.

For the Barrier Squad to bypass the ANBU and report directly to the Third Hokage clearly indicated the situation was serious.

...

Hokage's Office.

The Third Hokage set down the report in his hands, his face grim as he stared at the Barrier Squad Captain in front of him. "Are you telling me that the individual frequently crossing the barrier is a deceased spirit?"

The Barrier Squad Captain wiped sweat from his forehead and said reluctantly, "Hokage-sama, based on comparisons with our archived data, the chakra information we captured matches perfectly with that of the deceased Uchiha Fugaku."

"Ah…"

The Third Hokage sighed deeply, dismissing the Barrier Squad Captain with a wave of his hand.

Turning to the room's other occupants—Nara Shikaku, the Jonin Commander, and Yamanaka Inoichi, head of the Intelligence Analysis Squad—he asked, "What do you two think?"

Yamanaka Inoichi said, "I've already verified it. Uchiha Fugaku is indeed dead. His body is securely stored in the vault."

The Third Hokage stood and clasped his hands behind his back. "This is intriguing."

Every individual's chakra information is as unique as an iris or fingerprint. While there are secret techniques in the shinobi world to mimic chakra information, the Third Hokage couldn't understand why someone would disguise themselves as Uchiha Fugaku.

Shikaku spoke up. "We're analyzing the target's behavior patterns. We've already found some leads and should be able to locate them soon."

The Third Hokage nodded. "This matter must be resolved quickly."

...

Training Ground.

After finishing a sparring session with Haku, Uchiha Shinji walked to the side of the field, taking the towel Karin handed him to wipe off his sweat. He then lifted a water bottle and drank deeply.

Unlike Shinji, who was drenched in sweat, Haku only seemed slightly winded. He joined them at the edge, sipping water as he said, "Shinji-kun, school's about to start again!"

"Yeah, time flies," Shinji replied, setting the bottle down.

The two-month break from the ninja academy was almost over in the blink of an eye.

Reflecting on the past few weeks, Shinji felt both fear and relief.

He feared that he had underestimated the intensity of the village's investigations. Wave after wave of inspections had uncovered numerous spies from other villages, including one who was in contact with Karin.

Fortunately, Karin, Haku, and Kimimaro were all precious assets to their respective factions. In a "sacrifice the pawns to save the kings" strategy, they emerged unscathed from the village's scrutiny.

Shinji was thankful for his caution, having stopped all experiments involving Karin, Kimimaro, and Neji in time to avoid the storm.

Over the past few weeks, his focus had shifted entirely to collecting other dojutsu-based bloodline limits, using Shadow Clones to leave the village and gather information on 'Night Owl.'

Undoubtedly,

The mysterious individual causing chaos and paranoia in the village was Shinji himself—though he was unaware of it.

His current frustration lay in the fact that Night Owl was exceptionally cunning and elusive. Despite sending his Shadow Clones to search the Land of Hot Water, he hadn't been able to locate the target's hideout.

...

Land of Hot Water.

Sasori looked at the cloaked figure before him and said, "'Night Owl,' huh?"

The cloaked individual nodded cautiously, their demeanor guarded as they asked, "What does the Akatsuki want with me? We have no quarrel."

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