The glaring "Eliminated" mark on the dossier stood out starkly. Senju Itama, a son of Senju Butsuma, had been sniped, signaling the war's escalation to a fever pitch.
For Uchiha Gin, still adjusting to his new identity, the idea of killing a child under ten was unthinkable.
But given the circumstances, he could only take it one step at a time.
"The Hagoromo clan took out the Senju's third son. We need to step it up!" Uchiha Fuka said, rallying the team as they reviewed the documents.
"Is it really okay to target kids this young?" Gin whispered to Uchiha Ryoichi beside him, unable to hold back. He got a baffled look in return.
"Weren't you the most gung-ho about this mission? Charging ahead, getting us exposed, and forcing us into a long fight with the Senju just to break free?" Ryoichi asked, puzzled.
Gin cursed inwardly. Though he'd inherited the original's memories, the shock and short time left him overlooking key details of the original's actions.
Most people wouldn't fully identify with a character from a story they'd watched—they'd see it as an outsider.
"I saw him do it" doesn't mean "I did it," he thought.
Embarrassed, Gin pointed to his bandaged head. "I took a punch from a Senju and smashed my head on a rock. My recent memories are a mess. Sorry about that."
Seeing the injury, Ryoichi nodded understandingly. Given Gin's skill level, surviving a full-force Senju punch without his organs rupturing was a miracle.
Relieved to have dodged suspicion, Gin used the dossier review as a chance to dive back into the original's memories.
But from a few years back, they were fragmented—like a glitchy old VCD, taxing to piece together.
After a moment, Gin snapped back, a faint glimmer in his eyes. The original's reckless behavior finally made sense.
Orphaned at eight due to the war, Gin had been taken in by Uchiha Tajima, not yet clan head at the time.
Two years later, Tajima became clan head, married, and had kids, treating Gin like his own son.
More a son than a nephew, teenage Gin took on the role of protector to Tajima's children as they were born.
But war spared no one. Enemies didn't hesitate to cut down children if they stood in the way.
During one attack on Uchiha territory, Tajima had led the young fighters to the front, leaving the women and children behind. Gin stayed as guard for Tajima's wife and kids.
Outmatched, he was floored in an instant. The ruthless enemy forced his eyes open, slaughtering Tajima's wife and three young sons before him.
"Useless. Not even opening your eyes. A waste like you might as well live," the killer mocked, laughing at the ashen-faced Gin.
They massacred the territory, sparing only the numb, screaming Gin—too weak to ever threaten them.
When they left, Gin knelt among the corpses for three days, oblivious to the rot setting in.
Tajima returned to the carnage, his Sharingan weeping blood.
By sheer luck, his eldest, Madara, and second son, Izuna, had been old enough for battle and accompanied him, sparing them.
Tajima never blamed Gin, the sole survivor. To him, the trauma had broken the boy—living or dead, it hardly mattered.
"It adds up, but these memories feel off—like they're too neatly tragic," Gin grumbled.
The Uchiha had investigated, but with limited means and the enemy's tracks covered, it went nowhere. No ninjutsu traces—just physical wounds. The case went cold.
The original Gin, an eyewitness, hadn't grasped the attack method—only that someone used "weapons" drawn from their body. In the dark, he couldn't tell more.
But as aer who'd devoured Naruto, Gin saw it instantly: bones as weapons.
Across the series, only Kaguya—sealed on the moon—or the Kaguya clan, exiled overseas by the Uchiha and Senju, fit that bill.
His mind raced with theories. "If the Kaguya did it, how'd they infiltrate Uchiha land? A traitor? Someone like Obito leading them in?"
Though he'd uncovered the culprits, Gin felt little emotional pull—he wasn't the original.
His priority was assessing his strength—his lifeline. The original couldn't even beat a ten-year-old, unawakened Madara.
Worried, he gauged his level from memory.
Without later ranks like jonin or chunin, strength tiers were roughly: leader, elder, general captain, captain, and regular fighter.
Roughly: leader (Kage-level), elder (pseudo-Kage), general captain (elite jonin), captain (jonin), fighter (special jonin/chunin), and fodder (genin).
Clan heads like Uchiha Tajima, Senju Butsuma, Uzumaki Ashina, and Sarutobi Sasukemura were Kage-level.
Second-in-commands and elders were pseudo-Kage—capable of matching Kage-level if they burned their lives.
Captain Uchiha Fuka, with three-tomoe Sharingan, sat between elite jonin and jonin. Ryoichi and the others, with two-tomoe, were special jonin or chunin.
The original Gin was pitiful: no Sharingan, mediocre taijutsu, passable kenjutsu, and ninjutsu limited to a weak "Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu." His only decent skill was shuriken accuracy.
Overall: fodder.
Trash-tier.
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