Naruto: Uchiha Survivor Forced to Save the Shinobi World

The next day, the Hidden Leaf Village was still bustling with reconstruction efforts.

The casual strike unleashed by Otsutsuki Toneri, using Yakumo's drained chakra, had nearly destroyed an entire district. The final casualty count reached hundreds, making it the village's heaviest loss since the Nine-Tails Incident and the Uchiha Clan Massacre.

Even though the attack was over and the assailant defeated, the streets were abuzz with discussion.

The ninja academy was even more fervent in its debates.

The mysterious attacker had effortlessly defeated Neji, Yakumo, and Sasuke—top talents of the academy—only to meet a dramatic end at the hands of Uchiha Shinji.

This solidified Shinji's position as the academy's top student and added a layer of legend to his name!

After all, single-handedly pursuing and slaying a mysterious powerhouse was a feat worthy of epic praise, no matter who accomplished it.

On the training field.

Shion pestered Shinji, "Shinji, tell me already—how did you beat that guy yesterday?"

A crowd of rookies gathered around, even Sasuke pretending to be nonchalant as he edged closer.

Shinji smiled, "I got lucky yesterday. The guy underestimated me, giving me an opening. Otherwise, beating him would've been tough!"

"So that's how it was!"

Sasuke thought to himself.

Kiba asked, "I heard the guy had Byakugan—is that true?"

"Well…" Shinji paused, then said, "I only beat a lifelike puppet, so it looked like it had Byakugan, but they probably weren't real."

"So it was just a puppet?"

"Did the puppeteer get away?"

"Was it someone from the Hidden Sand?"

The rookies who hadn't been at the scene last night started whispering among themselves.

Shinji took the chance to slip out of the crowd.

Thanks to Koharu's political influence, he had received updates on the village's investigation into the attack.

Toneri's lifelike puppet's appearance and his attempt to abduct Neji pointed to the attack targeting the Hyuga clan. That very night, the Hyuga clan head, Hizashi, was secretly summoned by the Third Hokage.

Shinji also learned some details of the meeting.

Hizashi not only denied any connection between the attack and the Hyuga clan but also concealed that Toneri was from the Otsutsuki clan on the moon, feigning complete ignorance.

Shinji understood Hizashi's reasoning.

The Uchiha massacre was a fresh precedent. As the Hyuga clan head, Hizashi clearly didn't want his clan to end up in the same perilous position as the Uchiha. Rather than spilling everything and risking village surveillance or hostility, he chose to deny it all.

After all, if the Akatsuki could have multiple mysterious Mangekyo Sharingan-wielding Uchiha, a couple of Byakugan-wielding enemies wasn't that shocking. Plus, the attacker was confirmed to be a puppet with eyes that weren't true Byakugan.

That evening, Shinji returned to his apartment early.

Having his chakra completely drained wasn't a pleasant experience, and even he needed a few days to fully recover. He now felt a twinge of fear about his choices.

During his final clash with Toneri, he could have used the Byakugan controlled by Susanoo Tomoshibi to channel Byakugan chakra and resist the massive Tenseigan's chakra-draining ability.

But he had figured that even if he blocked the chakra drain, he'd still face a grueling fight. So he took a risk, letting Toneri succeed to lower his guard, then striking unexpectedly.

The outcome went as planned—Toneri, after draining his chakra, did relax, giving Shinji the chance to ambush him.

But in hindsight, the choice was too reckless. It worked because Toneri lacked experience. Against a seasoned opponent, Shinji might've been the one to die.

It wasn't until the third day that Shinji fully recovered, his spiritual essence free of weakness.

Once recovered, his first move was to slip out of the village and secretly head to the illusory passage in the Land of the Moon that connected to the moon.

The Otsutsuki on the moon were too restless. He needed to gather intel to prepare for potential future attacks.

Outside the passage, he observed with his Byakugan for a day, noting that at least on this end, the Otsutsuki branch family had no guards posted.

"The Otsutsuki branch family should know I infiltrated the moon through this passage last time. They wouldn't just leave it unguarded…"

Shinji didn't act rashly, pondering instead.

"Should I call Itotsume? She's a spiritual entity and excels at genjutsu. She might be able to slip through the passage and infiltrate the moon unnoticed…"

He shook his head, dismissing the idea.

In the shinobi world, spiritual entities had unmatched scouting abilities, but against the Otsutsuki branch family with their massive Tenseigan, they weren't as effective.

Sending Itotsume recklessly could be like sending her to her doom.

"Better send a shadow clone first!"

Shinji formed hand signs, casting the Shadow Clone Jutsu, and sent the clone out.

Soon after, he lost his connection to the clone. Oddly, it didn't send back any information.

This typically meant one of two things.

Either the clone was taken out instantly without reacting, or it was neutralized by some special method, preventing even its chakra from returning.

If it was the former, Shinji should've received some fragmented data, but he got nothing, so he leaned toward the latter.

His shadow clone had likely been eliminated by a special method, with no chakra escaping back.

Shinji didn't rush. He set up an ambush nearby and waited.

His earlier action should've alerted the Otsutsuki branch family guarding the passage, who would likely emerge to investigate.

Yet after waiting a full day, no one—not even a puppet—came out to check.

"Could it be that the Otsutsuki branch family didn't post guards but set up some kind of triggered trap in the passage? Makes sense! During the last battle on the moon, I revealed Mangekyo Sharingan-level power. They know my strength. Weak guards here would be pointless, but they probably don't have enough strong forces to spare either!"

Suddenly, Shinji had this theory.

With that in mind, he cast the Shadow Clone Jutsu again, creating three shadow clones. He instructed them to explore cautiously and sent them into the illusory passage.