The glaring word "Eliminated" appeared three times on the intel report, striking a nerve.
Senju Wajian, the son of Senju Butsuma, had also been assassinated — indicating that the war had entered a white-hot phase.
But for Uchiha Gin, whose mindset hadn't yet fully adapted to this world, the idea of killing a child under ten was something he simply could not accept.
However, given the current situation, all he could do was take it one step at a time.
"The Hagoromo Clan has already taken out the third son of the Senju Clan. We need to step up our efforts too!"
Uchiha Fūka glanced at the group who were all intently studying their materials and decided to give them a bit of encouragement.
"Is this really okay? Targeting such young children…"
Unable to keep it in, Uchiha Gin whispered his doubts to Uchiha Ryōichi beside him — and received a surprised look in return.
"Weren't you the most eager about this mission? Charging ahead nonstop, even exposing our position and causing us to fight the Senju for ages before escaping."
Ryōichi asked in confusion.
Gin silently cursed. Even though he'd inherited the original owner's memories, the shock and short time span made him forget a lot of what the original had done.
Anyone else in his position wouldn't fully step into the shoes of a movie character they'd seen before — they'd mostly just watch from the sidelines.
"Just because I saw him do something ≠ I did it myself."
Feeling awkward, Gin pointed at his head, which was still wrapped in bandages.
"I took a hit from a Senju fighter, smashed my head on a rock, and now my recent memories are all scrambled… sorry about that."
Seeing the injury, Ryōichi was understanding. Considering Gin's level, surviving a blow from a Senju powerhouse without having his organs shattered was already a miracle, thanks to their ancestors watching over him.
Having successfully deflected suspicion, Gin took the opportunity while flipping through documents to dive deeper into the original host's memories.
But the memories from a few years ago were fragmented — like watching an old, laggy VCD. It took great effort to make sense of them.
After a while, Gin came back to himself, eyes flickering slightly, finally understanding the reason behind the original's reckless behavior.
Due to the war, Gin lost his parents at age eight. At the time, Uchiha Tajima — not yet clan leader — took him in.
Two years later, Tajima became clan head, married, and had children. He treated Gin like his own son. Gin, more like a son than a nephew, took on the role of "big brother" and protector to Tajima's children.
But war is merciless. The enemy's blade does not spare children. To them, anyone in their way — man, woman, young, or old — is an enemy.
During one raid, the Uchiha territory was ambushed. Tajima had taken all young fighters to the front, leaving only women and children behind. Gin, left behind as their bodyguard, was quickly overwhelmed due to his lack of strength.
The brutal enemy pried open his eyelids and forced him to watch as Tajima's wife and three young sons were slaughtered before his eyes.
"Useless trash. Even after that, you still didn't awaken your Sharingan? What a waste."
The murderer laughed cruelly, mocking Gin as his spirit collapsed.
The attackers wiped out the entire territory, leaving only Gin — now hoarse from screaming and completely numb. To them, someone like him would never pose a threat, no matter how he grew.
When they left, Gin knelt among the corpses for three days, completely unaware even as the bodies began to rot.
Tajima returned to find this scene of tragedy and shed two lines of blood tears with his Sharingan.
Fortunately, his elder sons Madara and Izuna had already come of age for war, so Tajima had taken them along to the front, sparing them from the massacre.
As for Gin, the only survivor, Tajima never sought accountability.
In his eyes, Gin was already broken beyond repair — alive or dead, it made no difference.
"Even though this makes sense… something about these memories feels off, like they were staged. Everything fits a little too conveniently."
Gin couldn't help but complain inwardly. According to the original's memories, the Uchiha clan did investigate the tragedy, but limited resources and the enemy's deliberate cover-up meant they found no jutsu traces at the scene. All victims had died from external wounds. Eventually, the case faded into obscurity — an unsolved mystery.
Though Gin was a witness, he didn't recognize the attacker's methods. He only saw someone pull "weapons" out of their body to kill, but it was too dark to tell what exactly they used.
But Gin — now a transmigrator — had read all of Naruto. He immediately recognized the technique: the attacker used bones as weapons.
Looking across the Naruto lore, only one being could do that: Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, sealed on the moon. The only other possibility was the Kaguya Clan, driven overseas by the Uchiha and Senju clans.
This realization sent Gin's imagination into overdrive.
"If the culprit was from the Kaguya Clan, how did they infiltrate the Uchiha stronghold? We have a traitor! Someone like Obito who opened the gates?"
Despite uncovering the real culprit behind the massacre, Gin didn't feel much emotional turbulence — after all, he wasn't that Uchiha Gin.
What mattered most now was figuring out his own current power level — it was a matter of survival. After all, the original Gin couldn't even beat Madara before his Sharingan awakened at age ten.
That kind of combat level… was deeply concerning. Gin quickly reviewed the strength hierarchy from the inherited memories.
Since terms like genin, chūnin, and jōnin weren't yet in use, battle ranks were roughly classified as:
Leader = Kage-level
Elder = Pseudo-Kage
Commander-in-Chief = Elite Jōnin
Captain = Jōnin
Regular fighter = Special Jōnin / Chūnin
Fodder = Genin
Tajima, Butsuma, Uzumaki Ashina of the Uzumaki Clan, and Sarutobi Yukimura of the Sarutobi Clan were all likely Kage-level.
Each clan's second-in-command and elders were pseudo-Kage — able to temporarily rival a Kage when burning through their life force.
Gin's captain, Uchiha Fūka, had unlocked three tomoe in his Sharingan, putting him around Elite Jōnin to Jōnin level. Ryōichi and others had two tomoe — likely Special Jōnin or Chūnin level.
As for the original Gin… things were grimm.
He hadn't even awakened his Sharingan. His taijutsu was average, kenjutsu barely passable, and the only ninjutsu he knew was the merciful and non-lethal "Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu." His only competent skill was decent shuriken accuracy.