Recaps

Izuna shared stories and advice with the Uchiha children, prompting his listeners to imagine the hardships behind his lost memories, while a faint voice briefly surfaced in his mind. As Konoha’s Commercial Street flourished and young ninja gathered around him, they recognized that Izuna’s trusting nature left him vulnerable and agreed to watch over him.

• Older Uchiha watched Izuna tell stories at the training ground, while Madara glared at them and the children pressed Izuna for details about his adventures.
• Izuna explained that recovering a lost name meant remembering who he was and what he lived for, and his words moved the children and the observing Uchiha.
• A distant voice told Izuna, “We made a promise... Izuna,” and “You have to stay alive,” but the voice vanished before he could identify it.
• Izuna continued telling adapted stories from his previous life, while his listeners wondered whether he was hiding the hardships he had endured.
• Izuna walked through the newly thriving Commercial Street, accepted gifts, advised merchants, and spent time with young ninja from other clans.
• Inuzuka Dobin, Hyuuga Haruhi, Nara Shikyou, Yamanaka Iharu, Akimichi Gaku, Aburame Hin, Sarutobi Sasuke, and others discussed Izuna’s innocence and vulnerability, then agreed to look out for him.

Izuna visited the Hokage Building to watch Hashirama and Madara struggle with paperwork, but ended up advising them on clan disputes and Konoha’s development. He agreed to return as a part-time adviser in exchange for three-colored dango, while Madara and Hashirama treated his ideas as important and urged him not to share them casually.

• Hashirama and Madara pulled Izuna into helping resolve a dispute between the Nara and Yamanaka clans over a shared training ground.
• Izuna suggested a system for applying for time slots in advance, coordinating their use, and penalizing violations, which Hashirama and Madara approved.
• When they showed him Konoha’s infrastructure disputes, Izuna proposed three- and five-year plans, staged projects, district planning, and a Planning and Construction Committee.
• Izuna explained that the clans could compare costs and benefits and seek a third solution instead of forcing a choice between two competing demands.
• Hashirama and Madara praised Izuna’s ideas and told him to keep them from outsiders until they could implement them properly.
• Izuna agreed to return to advise them in exchange for three-colored dango, beginning his part-time work at the Hokage Building.

Master Matsuda’s imitation of Izuna’s biwa performance captivated nobles in the Land of Fire’s capital and drew the daimyo’s attention. The daimyo asked Tobirama to help bring Izuna’s music to the capital as a way to improve Konoha’s image, leaving Tobirama unsure whether Izuna would agree.

• Master Matsuda took a passage from Izuna’s performance to the capital, where musicians disagreed over its unorthodox style and younger performers tried unsuccessfully to imitate it.
• Master Matsuda played his rough imitation at a noble banquet, and the nobles praised the music after learning it came from Uchiha Izuna in Konoha.
• Tobirama recalled how Izuna’s street performance had changed the Land of Fire minister’s view of ninja and helped him see them as people rather than tools.
• The daimyo summoned Tobirama and explained that Izuna’s music could help soften the nobles’ distrust of Konoha and create goodwill toward the village.
• Tobirama recognized the opportunity but wondered whether Izuna would agree to perform for the daimyo.

Tobirama received a request from the Land of Fire's daimyo for a Konoha shinobi to perform music and wondered whether Izuna would accept. Meanwhile, Izuna bought a fine biwa and quickly began adapting his fingerstyle guitar techniques to it.

• Tobirama considered the daimyo's music commission a potential insult to Konoha but decided to bring it to Izuna before rejecting the opportunity.
• Izuna visited a musical instrument shop and found a well-preserved dark red biwa hidden behind the counter.
• Izuna paid the shopkeeper gold coins for the biwa despite its being a family heirloom.
• Izuna practiced the biwa daily and quickly mastered its strings using fingerstyle techniques and his shinobi reflexes.

Izuna used his pipa to teach children from different clans music and playful training, drawing them together across Konoha. Hashirama secretly watched the outing and left inspired by the peaceful future it represented.

• Madara suggested that Izuna take the Uchiha children to a riverside meadow, where Izuna taught them to sing and play music.
• Izuna invited children from the Hyuga, Inuzuka, and Akimichi clans to join the lesson, and children from other clans later joined as well.
• Izuna led the growing group on rambles and games around Konoha, mixing laughter with basic physical training.
• Hashirama followed the sound of the pipa to a lake and saw Izuna leading dozens of children from different clans in songs and boat rides.
• Hashirama noticed adult shinobi from many clans quietly watching over the children, then left without interrupting, encouraged by the sight of them playing together.

After the Land of Fire daimyo invited Izuna to perform biwa music at a celebration, Izuna embraced the chance to improve Konoha’s standing and devised a plan to stir up opposition before his performance. He sent Uchiha Shinya to inflame conservative biwa masters, confident that the controversy would make his appearance more impactful.

• At a dessert shop, Izuna learned that Sarutobi Sasuke’s son was named Hiruzen, while several friends asked Izuna to include their children in his young squad.
• An Anbu summoned Izuna to the Hokage Building, where Tobirama explained the daimyo’s invitation and Hashirama and Madara initially objected to Izuna performing for nobles.
• Izuna reacted with dismay that a minister had seen Konoha’s poor condition, then insisted that the performance could help the village build a better relationship with the Land of Fire.
• Izuna decided Konoha should not accept the invitation too eagerly and planned to heighten conservative biwa masters’ objections to his unorthodox music.
• Izuna recruited Uchiha Shinya to infiltrate Master Matsuda’s gathering and act as a fervent critic of Izuna’s playing.
• Izuna explained to Hashirama, Madara and Tobirama that the backlash would lower expectations and make his eventual performance more explosive.

Izuna planned to challenge the Capital’s musical conservatives with a fingerstyle biwa performance, arguing that music’s emotional power—not inherited rules—defined orthodoxy. The chapter ended with Madara worrying over Izuna’s nightly eye-removal ritual and his failed attempts to activate the Mangekyō Sharingan while Tobirama searched for a way to keep the eye connected safely.

• Izuna told Madara he planned to adapt a famous fingerstyle piece to prove his unconventional biwa playing could meet his own standard of musical orthodoxy.
• Madara warned Izuna that the Capital’s conservatives would judge him by rigid traditions, but Izuna said he would overwhelm them with technical skill they could not dispute.
• Madara admired Izuna’s hidden sharpness, and Izuna returned to tuning his biwa and working out the arrangement.
• Madara watched Izuna remove his left eye for its nightly storage in nutrient fluid, as Tobirama had instructed to preserve the eye and prevent damage to the socket.
• Madara remembered that Izuna had secretly tried to activate his Sharingan during Madara’s recovery, but Tobirama had been unable to analyze or reproduce the Mangekyō Sharingan.
• Madara worried that Tobirama’s work on stabilizing the eye’s connection to Izuna’s body could take a long time.

Hashirama, Madara, and Tobirama planned a carefully delayed reply to the daimyo’s invitation while Izuna prepared his musical performance. Uchiha Takashi set out for the Capital with instructions to travel slowly, and Izuna was told to add etiquette training to his preparations.

• Hashirama, Madara, and Tobirama agreed to delay Konoha’s reply so Izuna could prepare and the Capital’s anticipation could grow.
• Tobirama proposed sending Uchiha Takashi, whose standing and straightforwardness would represent Konoha while signaling Uchiha support for Izuna.
• Madara and Hashirama approved Takashi as the messenger and instructed him to take half a month to reach the Capital.
• Takashi accepted the mission, received the sealed reply and funds, and left for the Capital with instructions to travel slowly.
• Madara told Izuna to begin etiquette and posture lessons, while Tobirama warned that the Capital’s political challenges would be difficult.

Izuna began an exhausting etiquette course with the strict Third Elder, Uchiha Emiko, after Madara arranged for her to teach him. Though Izuna dreaded the lessons, Madara reminded him that formal manners would help when they reached the Capital, and Izuna resolved to endure them.

• Madara woke Izuna and took him to Uchiha Emiko’s residence for his first etiquette lesson.
• Emiko made Izuna repeat his entrance properly, then corrected his sitting posture and taught him to walk with precise steps.
• Izuna finished the morning lesson exhausted and returned home to find Madara waiting with lunch.
• Madara told Izuna that afternoon lessons would cover greetings, precedence, conversation, and tea etiquette, with more subjects to follow.
• Izuna accepted that he would have to endure the lessons to face the people waiting to mock him in the Capital.

Izuna completed an intensive etiquette lesson with Uchiha Emiko, then reunited with the children who had come to visit him. He returned home resolved to continue training, understanding that etiquette could help protect him and pursue his goals.

• Izuna impressed Uchiha Emiko with his precise manners, and she recognized his pride and determination beneath his controlled behavior.
• Uchiha Takuma, Uchiha Hinata, and more than a dozen children gathered outside Emiko's courtyard to find Izuna.
• Emiko ended Izuna's lesson early and told him to look after his unexpected guests, reminding him that he still had much to learn about etiquette.
• Izuna joined the children, reassured them, and led them to an open space by the training ground to spend time together.
• Izuna returned home and told Madara he was glad the children had visited and would continue his lessons the next day.
• Madara explained that etiquette was armor rather than a shackle, and Izuna agreed before heading to the kitchen for dinner.

Uchiha Shinya, Matsuda Hōshi, and the leaders in Konoha and the Capital recognized that a sudden wave of praise for Izuna was a political trap meant to make him and Konoha fail at the Spring Banquet. Izuna rejected the idea of withdrawing and decided to meet the heightened expectations by making the banquet his solo concert.

• Shinya found that public curiosity and praise for Izuna had overwhelmed the conservative criticism he had tried to encourage, so he sent a warning to Konoha through the Summoning Technique.
• Matsuda Hōshi hurried to Konoha and warned Izuna that biwa masters might use the intense expectations to condemn him as a heretic.
• Madara informed Hashirama about Shinya’s report, while the daimyo and Tobirama concluded that someone was manipulating public opinion to humiliate Konoha and test the daimyo’s stance.
• The daimyo proposed spreading word that Izuna was ill or injured so he could avoid the Spring Banquet, and Tobirama said he would discuss the plan with Hashirama and the Uchiha Clan Head.
• Izuna thanked Matsuda for offering to teach him traditional biwa music, but said he wanted to learn from different styles without seeking the masters’ approval.
• Izuna declared that he would perform at the Spring Banquet and turn it into his own solo concert.

Izuna recognized Black Zetsu’s role in stirring up trouble in the Capital and began planning a spectacular Genjutsu performance to turn the Spring Banquet into a counterattack. After studying biwa music with Matsuda Hōshi, he asked Madara to help find a way to create a large-scale illusion.

• Izuna used his map to locate Black Zetsu in the Capital and suspected he had engineered the Uchiha Jonin incident and the current public-opinion crisis.
• Izuna decided to turn Black Zetsu’s trap into a stage for a dazzling performance and wondered whether the Uchiha had a large-scale Genjutsu array.
• Izuna thanked Matsuda Hōshi and studied traditional biwa techniques and Heikyoku modes with him until late in the evening.
• Madara noticed Izuna’s reaction to Black Zetsu and resolved to ask him about it later.
• Izuna asked Madara about a wide-area Genjutsu for the Spring Banquet, and Madara agreed to look into whether one could be used.
• Madara reminded Izuna to absorb Matsuda’s lessons, visit the Third Elder, and prepare his song, leaving Izuna lamenting how busy he would be.

Madara told Hashirama and Tobirama that Izuna planned to accept the Capital’s invitation and expose himself to danger at the Spring Banquet, confident he knew who was stirring up trouble. Hashirama and Madara agreed to protect him, while Hashirama privately worried about Izuna’s unknown past and the burden others placed on him.

• Madara sent a Shadow Clone to the Hokage Building and told Hashirama and Tobirama that Izuna had decided to accept the Capital’s invitation and face his opponents at the Spring Banquet.
• Tobirama objected to Izuna’s decision, but Madara said Izuna knew who was behind the public-opinion campaign and planned to make the banquet his “solo concert.”
• Hashirama decided to help clear Izuna’s path and protect him, and Madara agreed to stand by Izuna; Tobirama reluctantly accepted their decision.
• Madara and Hashirama exchanged barbed remarks about whether Izuna was a child, while Tobirama withheld the news from the daimyo until Madara learned the identity of the conspirator.
• After Tobirama left, Hashirama reflected on his difficulty understanding others, Izuna’s growing influence, and the unknown pain behind Izuna’s carefree smile.

Izuna revealed Black Zetsu’s thousand-year conspiracy to Madara and Hashirama, explaining that he was manipulating events in the Capital to resurrect Kaguya. They decided not to expose their knowledge prematurely, and Izuna resolved to attend the Spring Banquet and defeat Black Zetsu’s campaign against him.

• Izuna asked Madara to take him to the Hokage Building to tell Hashirama about the mastermind in the Capital, while insisting that Tobirama stay away.
• Izuna explained Black Zetsu’s origins, his alterations to the Uchiha Stone Tablet, and how the Infinite Tsukuyomi would drain the world to revive Kaguya.
• Madara reacted with rage at learning that Black Zetsu had manipulated the Uchiha and the Senju, while Hashirama calmed him and confirmed that Black Zetsu was stirring up trouble against Izuna in the Capital.
• Izuna warned that Black Zetsu was difficult to detect, nearly immune to ordinary attacks, and capable of escaping, so they needed to prepare before confronting him.
• Madara and Hashirama chose not to question Izuna about how he knew so much, and Izuna insisted he would attend the Spring Banquet and decisively win the battle of public opinion.

Izuna urged Madara and Hashirama to prepare against Black Zetsu, revealing that Black Zetsu had secretly watched him near Konoha. While Madara worked on a large-scale Genjutsu and Hashirama went to fetch Mito, Black Zetsu built public excitement for Izuna’s performance at the daimyo’s Spring Banquet, intending to ruin him and destabilize Konoha.

• Izuna asked to learn Sealing Jutsu from Mito, and Hashirama agreed to visit the Uzumaki Clan Compound.
• Izuna warned Madara and Hashirama to hide their knowledge of Black Zetsu, then revealed that Black Zetsu had watched him near Konoha until two days earlier.
• Izuna urged Madara to develop a large-scale Genjutsu and Hashirama to fetch Mito while he prepared the sheet music.
• In the Land of Fire’s capital, Black Zetsu possessed people and spread praise for Izuna to heighten anticipation for the Spring Banquet.
• Black Zetsu planned to humiliate Izuna at the banquet, turn the nobility against Konoha, and rekindle conflict within the village.

Izuna studied Heikyoku with Matsuda Hōshi and realized that its stories erased the lives and perspectives of ninja. He considered adapting The Tale of the Heike into a stage play told through a ninja’s eyes, then returned home and asked Madara whether he had found a suitable Genjutsu.

• Izuna listened as Matsuda Hōshi performed The Tale of the Heike and recognized how closely it resembled the history he remembered from his previous life.
• Izuna concluded that Heikyoku depicted ninja as indistinct tools and considered turning the concert into a play that gave them a central role in the story.
• Izuna asked Matsuda Hōshi about ninja in The Tale of the Heike, then continued the lesson by hearing about Nasu no Yoichi and the fan.
• Izuna returned to the Uchiha compound, found Madara studying a worn scroll, and asked whether he had found a suitable Genjutsu.

Izuna proposed adapting The Tale of the Heike into a ninja-perspective stage play, using music and Genjutsu to portray war and its overlooked victims. Madara agreed to help recruit performers and arrange a mission, while Izuna began outlining the production despite his many other obligations.

• Madara found the Five Senses Labyrinth: Mirage technique, and Izuna decided it could switch illusions in time with his music if five users coordinated closely.
• Izuna told Madara he wanted to retell The Tale of the Heike as a stage performance that brought the ninja perspective and the horrors of war into view.
• Madara suggested recruiting willing ninja through a cooperative mission, and Izuna estimated that the production might need about sixty people.
• Madara agreed to coordinate with Hashirama and recruit across the clans, while asking Izuna to prepare a detailed script outline and division of work.
• Madara reminded Izuna to continue learning Heikyoku from Matsuda Hōshi and Sealing Jutsu from Mito, alongside his performance preparations.
• That night, Izuna stayed up in the Uchiha Residence study, writing and sketching his stage-play plan.

After weeks of preparation, Izuna and his escort left Konoha for the Capital, where he was to perform his musical stage play at the Spring Festival. As the city came into view, Madara and Hashirama grew alert, and Izuna steeled himself for the performance.

• Black Zetsu watched Izuna's routine near Konoha, saw no unusual preparations, and continued building public anticipation in the Capital.
• Uchiha Takashi delivered Konoha's response to the Daimyo, who ordered a ceremonial procession to escort Izuna and his party to the Capital.
• Izuna, Madara, and Hashirama departed Konoha with Uchiha Takashi, officials, and nearly sixty ninja serving as visible and hidden guards.
• During the journey, Izuna practiced his music and reviewed the stage play while discussing the performance and Genjutsu coordination with Madara and Hashirama.
• As the procession neared the Capital, Madara and Hashirama became alert, and Izuna tightened his grip on his pipa and prepared to arrive.

Uchiha Izuna prepared for his performance at the Capital’s Spring Festival, adjusting the undersized platform and coordinating with the participating ninja. After a night of restful sleep, he walked toward the stage as the crowd gathered, ready to begin.

• Madara watched Uchiha Izuna stay outwardly composed as their convoy entered the Capital amid a roaring crowd, while Izuna privately fought his panic by focusing on music.
• Izuna inspected the festival platform, found it too small for his planned performance, and asked Hashirama to enlarge it with Ninjutsu before the show.
• Izuna rehearsed with the five Uchiha on the Genjutsu team and confirmed instructions with the other participating ninja.
• Izuna went to bed on time, then woke the next morning, dressed formally, checked his biwa, and packed his marked sheet music.
• Madara and Hashirama joined Izuna before the performance, and Izuna walked toward the platform as the crowd watched.

Izuna opened his performance of "The Tale of the Heike" with a genjutsu spectacle depicting the decline of the Taira clan. After the illusion left the Daimyo and the crowd stunned, Izuna plucked the biwa’s first string to begin the tale.

• Izuna warned the crowd that his performance would use Uchiha Genjutsu and other ninja techniques, and promised Konoha colleagues would keep everyone safe.
• Izuna signaled five Uchiha elites, who helped darken the square as his voice introduced the bells of Gion Monastery and the impermanence of all things.
• Izuna conjured a glowing camellia tree and a shower of flowers, then showed the Taira’s Ageha butterfly struggling before it vanished among the petals.
• The illusion faded and the light returned, leaving the crowd and the Daimyo stunned and silent.
• Izuna plucked the biwa’s first string, beginning his rendition of "The Tale of the Heike."

Izuna tested a way to steer and accelerate a Great Fireball with Chakra wire and Wind Release, creating a long-range attack that stunned the Uchiha clan members secretly watching him. After discovering the crowd, he ordered clan members with suitable Chakra natures to begin training in the technique, while Madara watched and left him to teach.

• Madara noticed Uchiha clan members secretly following Izuna to the training ground and chose to observe rather than intervene.
• Izuna experimented with a wire-linked Shuriken and Chakra to alter a Great Fireball's path, eventually steering it through a sharp turn.
• Izuna used Wind Release to accelerate a guided Great Fireball across the sky and into a distant forest, astonishing the gathered Uchiha.
• Izuna discovered the crowd on his System Map and called out clan members with fire and wind Chakra natures.
• Izuna ordered the suitable clan members to practice the guided Great Fireball, then had Uchiha Takashi begin first.
• Madara watched Izuna take charge of training and left, considering the larger changes that might follow.

Izuna presented a streamlined adaptation of The Tale of the Heike that added invented stories about ninja to portray them as people rather than tools. The performance began with the young ninja guarding Taira no Shigemori’s sons, while the audience watched their bonds form and reacted to the portrayal.

• Izuna explained that he had shaped the story around key events in the Taira’s fortunes and added ninja stories, and Matsuda Hōshi worried that the inventions would provoke criticism.
• Uchiha Takuma appeared onstage, and Hashirama used Wood Release to expand the platform into a stage as the audience applauded.
• Taira no Shigemori introduced Shintarō, Takuichi, and Shinrei as the guards of his sons, and Taira no Sugemori mocked the ninja until he and Takuichi traded insults.
• The performance showed the ninja and the young Taira masters laughing, playing, and growing close while remaining respectful in front of the adults.
• The audience discussed the ninja’s bond with the Taira children as a way of cultivating loyal retainers, while the Daimyo watched Izuna with understanding.

Izuna’s play showed how the Taira’s growing power led Kiyomori to retaliate violently after Sukemori was beaten by Fujiwara no Motofusa’s attendants. Shinrei, troubled by the consequences and unable to warn the Taira openly, spoke with Tokuko, who revealed the political burdens awaiting noblewomen and the misery of abandoned Shirabyōshi.

• The audience’s distrust of the ninja softened as Shinrei’s kindness toward the Taira children won the women’s sympathy.
• Shintarō, Takuichi, and Shinrei left their clan to serve the Taira, where Shintarō befriended Koremori and Takuichi bonded with Sukemori despite their squabbles.
• Sukemori rode past Fujiwara no Motofusa’s procession without paying his respects, and Motofusa’s attendants beat and humiliated him.
• Kiyomori ordered three hundred mounted samurai to attack Motofusa’s procession, smash his ox cart, and cut off his attendants’ topknots.
• Shinrei worried that the Taira’s retaliation would bring trouble, but Shintarō and Takuichi dismissed her concerns and she left the training ground.
• Tokuko told Shinrei about Moriko’s political marriage and her own impending marriage to ten-year-old Narihito, while Shinrei considered the limited freedom of ninja and the plight of Gio and Gijo.

Shinrei overheard Shigemori’s strained exchange with Kiyomori and confided in her fellow ninjas, who reminded her to leave clan affairs alone. As the dispute faded and Kiyomori departed for Itsukushima, Shinrei grew closer to Tokuko, while she continued to witness how those around the Taira were treated at the family’s whim.

• Shinrei overheard Kiyomori mock Shigemori after Shigemori reported dismissing the men involved in the attack on Motofusa and sending Sukemori to Ise.
• Shinrei told Shintarō and Takuichi what she had heard, and they urged her not to concern herself with the Taira’s affairs.
• Shigemori resigned as Major Counselor and handed responsibility for Narihito’s coming-of-age ceremony to Munemori, while Kiyomori left the Capital for Itsukushima.
• Tokuko began seeking Shinrei’s company, sharing her worries about marrying Narihito and giving Shinrei small gifts, while Arimori grew jealous of their time together.
• Shinrei saw Kiyomori summon Gio and Gijo again, realizing he had called them to keep the newly arrived Hotoke Gozen from being lonely.

Six years after joining the Taira, Shinrei and the others attended a ceremony at Itsukushima Shrine, where Taira no Kiyomori prayed for Tokuko to conceive an imperial heir. Shinrei reunited with Tokuko, learned she feared a child would suffer, and watched the younger generation’s playful rivalries continue.

• Shinrei saw Gio living as a nun, while Koremori explained to Takuichi why powerful Warrior Monks could intimidate the Taira.
• Six years passed, and the Taira fleet arrived at Itsukushima, where Koremori danced and Taira no Kiyomori declared that Tokuko’s conception was the ceremony’s foremost purpose.
• Shinrei spoke privately with Tokuko, who admitted she thought it might be better not to have a child because the child could suffer.
• Sukemori awkwardly tried to keep Tokuko company, and Tokuko told Shinrei and Takuichi that he had fallen for one of her attendants.
• Takuichi teased Sukemori and fought with Shintarō, leaving Shinrei to intervene in their squabbles.