Chapter Summaries

Shin and Tamaro learned that Luotai’s attacker was tied to the shadow guard, while Tamaro realized a dangerous enemy had escaped. Takahara Yū returned to Hiroyama and asked him to find Uzumaki Enma, leaving him to wonder what she intended and recall how they had once conspired together.

• Shin took the baby from Luotai, and Tamaro carried the unconscious Enma after Luotai reported that an attacker had come to avenge the shadow guard.
• Tamaro recognized the attacker as likely connected to the shadow guard who had escaped, and regretted letting him get away.
• Kuroo Sanjō reached the abandoned warehouse, where he told Wūwū Liánběi and the others that Tamaro had cut off his arm.
• Takahara Yū visited Hiroyama, discussed her return for the Summer Festival, and asked him to help find someone in exchange for a wager.
• Hiroyama examined Yū’s scroll and learned it identified Uzumaki Enma as a sixteen-year-old sealing prodigy in the Land of Hot Water.
• Hiroyama decided to find Enma and keep him under watch, then remembered how he and Yū had once killed the Yakuza boss and changed the Yuhara Pleasure Quarter.

Mokushō took Madara, Hashirama, and Tobirama into Inari Shrine’s Divine Realm, where Hashirama saw the Light Veins and learned that Mokushō was the Inari God. Tobirama grew suspicious that Mokushō’s offer to help them train might also involve spiriting them away.

• Mokushō led Hashirama, Madara, and Tobirama through Inari Shrine’s Torii into his Divine Realm, where a gigantic willow stood at the center.
• Hashirama sensed the Light Veins and touched one, feeling its warmth and hearing the world’s living sounds.
• Izuna revealed that Mokushō was the Inari God, and Mokushō explained that gods were monsters who could choose to become Shikigami.
• Mokushō said he brought the group to the Divine Realm because its abundant Natural Energy could help their training.
• Tobirama recalled that spiriting away meant going missing and suspected Mokushō might be luring them into his realm for another purpose.

In the Divine Realm, Mokushō gave Madara, Hashirama, and Tobirama protective Omamori and they began cultivating, but Madara struggled to see the Light Veins that Tobirama glimpsed while petting a fox. As the Summer Festival approached, Mokushō told the frustrated Madara to visit the book market, where he might find the answer he was seeking.

• Mokushō accused Tobirama of suspecting he had brought them to the Divine Realm to imprison them, made Tobirama apologize, and gave the three men Omamori that let them enter and leave freely.
• The four explored the vast Divine Realm and settled in to cultivate; Tobirama saw the golden Light Veins after relaxing while petting a fox, while Madara could not see them despite repeated attempts.
• A week passed as the Summer Festival drew closer, and Hashirama tried gambling at the Inari Shrine but lost because of his bad luck.
• Madara brooded over his inability to see the Light Veins and worried that he had no place in the peaceful setting, while Izuna went to an eating contest.
• Mokushō found Madara by the river and advised him to visit the annual book market with Izuna, suggesting he might find the answer he sought there.

Madara met Takahara Yū at the book market, where her knowledge of the connections among books and people unsettled him and led him to reflect on the value of struggle and happy endings. He arranged to meet her later using a Shadow Clone, then left the market with Izuna, Hashirama, and Tobirama.

• Izuna, Hashirama, and Tobirama wandered through the book market while Madara browsed alone and wondered why people valued books.
• Takahara Yū approached Madara and traced connections among books, historical figures, and Madara’s rejected marriage alliance, prompting him to question who she was.
• Madara used Genjutsu to leave Yū and planted a Sharingan Suggestion that would draw her to him that night; Yū killed a man who tried to grab her.
• Madara read books until dusk and realized that happy endings mattered because of the struggles that came before them, thinking about how meeting Hashirama had shaped his life.
• Izuna found Madara reading the final volume of The Tale of Naruto, and the brothers joined Hashirama and Tobirama to leave the market.
• Tobirama gave Izuna sweet cakes, and Madara dragged Hashirama away, apparently to fight, while a Shadow Clone went to meet Yū.

Madara captured Takahara Yū and Ringo Hayato after they attacked him, then learned that they were hired assassins who offered intelligence in exchange for their lives. Yū revealed that nobles in the Land of Lightning had manipulated the Chinoike Clan into targeting Madara, and she had joined his side to help Rūqí and the clan.

• Madara confronted Takahara Yū in the Rear Grove of Benzaiten Shrine, where she and Ringo Hayato fought him and tried to escape.
• Madara used Susanoo to subdue Yū and Ringo, damaging the shrine grounds, and then questioned them while Benzaiten demanded compensation for the damage.
• Yū admitted that she and Ringo had been hired by nobles from the Land of Lightning and the Land of Water to assassinate people, including Madara.
• Yū recited the targets and details on the assassination list, then explained that Rūqí had hired her to approach Madara and offer her intelligence.
• Yū revealed that the Land of Lightning nobles had poisoned the Daimyo, framed the Wūwū Clan, and pressured them to send Wūwū Liánběi to assassinate Madara.
• Yū said Wūwū Liánběi possessed the True Codex Ketsuryūgan and explained that she had chosen to help Rūqí and the Chinoike Clan.

Yū negotiated with Madara to protect the Chinoike Clan in exchange for two of the Land of Lightning’s Divine Artifacts, while Madara and Hashirama debated how to respond to a planned assassination. Later, Izuna and Tobirama argued over Izuna’s knowledge of the future before a brief Susanoo appearance led them to a shrine.

• Yū offered Madara the Chinoike Clan’s allegiance, and he agreed to help in exchange for two Divine Artifacts; he freed her and Ringo Hayato and vanished as a clone.
• Madara told Hashirama that an assassination was planned for the Summer Festival and argued that force might be needed to end the threat, while Hashirama defended his commitment to peace.
• Izuna told Tobirama that Namikaze Sōichi’s child had been found safe, and Tobirama confronted Izuna about his knowledge of the child’s future and his suggestion that Tobirama take a disciple.
• Izuna ran from Tobirama, and their chase turned into a scuffle in the forest until a blue Susanoo rose nearby and quickly disappeared.
• Izuna and Tobirama found a trail of destruction leading toward a shrine and went to investigate.

Izuna and Tobirama investigated Madara’s fight at the shrine, and Izuna revealed that Namikaze Sōichi’s grandson would become the Flying Thunder God user known as the Yellow Flash. After Izuna disappeared, Tobirama found a golden-eyed version of him beneath a torii, where a strange power opened a passage to another world before Tobirama lost consciousness.

• Izuna and Tobirama learned from Benzaiten that Madara had captured a male and female assassin behind the shrine and damaged its grounds.
• Tobirama questioned Izuna about recommending Namikaze Sōichi’s child, and Izuna said the child’s grandson would master the Flying Thunder God Technique and become the Yellow Flash.
• Izuna accidentally revealed that Tobirama had gravely wounded Uchiha Izuna, then fled after Tobirama teased him.
• When Izuna failed to return to the inn, Tobirama found him beneath a torii, but the golden-eyed figure claimed to be Uchiha Izuna and bound Tobirama with vines.
• The figure used a genjutsu to make Tobirama recognize him, then opened a rift through the torii to an ancient shrine path, and Tobirama blacked out.

Tobirama and the others discussed how to protect the Summer Festival from assassination, and Izuna proposed hiring Enma to set up a barrier. Mokushō supplied gambling winnings to fund the plan, and Izuna prepared to approach Enma privately as a merchant rather than negotiate with the Uzumaki Clan as a country.

• Tobirama came to his senses when Izuna called his name, and the two returned to the inn for dinner.
• Madara told Hashirama, Izuna, and Tobirama about the nobles’ assassination list, and they agreed that the Land of Hot Water needed stronger security for the Summer Festival.
• Izuna suggested using Barrier Ninjutsu, and Tobirama proposed hiring an Uzumaki practitioner or asking Enma to arrange it.
• Mokushō returned with a pile of gambling winnings, while Tobirama discovered Hashirama had packed a scroll full of unnecessary belongings and dragged him off to reprimand him.
• Izuna decided to approach Enma privately and use the money to commission a protective formation without making it an official negotiation between countries.

Izuna persuaded Enma to arrange a defensive barrier for the Summer Festival and signed him to a contract before telling the Land of Hot Water. Izuna then joined Enma, Yuansheng, and Hideki at a traveling kabuki theater, where the performance of Momotaro began.

• Izuna asked Enma to arrange a defensive barrier for the Summer Festival, and Enma agreed despite the risks of taking responsibility privately.
• Izuna produced a prepared contract, and Enma signed it; Izuna said he would approach the Land of Hot Water after Enma surveyed the site.
• Izuna told Enma about his questions regarding the uniform design of shrines, then explained that delaying his offer would make the Land of Hot Water more willing to accept protection.
• Yuansheng and Hideki invited Enma to watch kabuki, and Izuna joined them at the Yuasa troupe's theater in the forest.
• Uzumaki Kyōnosuke welcomed the group and explained the troupe's traditions, while Yuansheng told Izuna they would perform Momotaro.
• The audience quieted as the lights dimmed, the shamisen sounded, and a storyteller began Momotaro.

Izuna watched a play dedicated to his performance of The Tale of the Heike, while Tobirama returned to Konoha and oversaw preparations for a possible war after the Tsuchigumo Clan began relocating to the Land of Hot Water. Tobirama went to investigate a matter involving Senju Tetsugaku and heard villagers say Madara should have become the Second Hokage.

• Izuna watched Momotaro, then learned the next play, The Death of Oda Nobunaga, paid tribute to his performance of The Tale of the Heike.
• Tobirama returned to Konoha and reviewed wartime supply stocks and border reconnaissance plans with Rokuhiko.
• Rokuhiko told Tobirama that Senju Toka had volunteered to lead one of the border survey groups and that Senju Tetsugaku was at the Senju Clan Compound.
• Tobirama left to ask Tetsugaku about the matter, then overheard villagers saying Madara should have been the Second.

Tobirama confronted Tetsugaku over his anti-Uchiha views and explained why Konoha had to belong to everyone, not the Senju alone. Tetsugaku refused to accept the rebuke and blamed the Uchiha, while a faint black shape appeared behind him.

• Tobirama overheard villagers debate whether Madara, Izuna, or Tobirama should become the Second and realized why Tetsugaku had resisted the Uchiha’s growing influence.
• Tobirama visited Tetsugaku at home and asked why he had held up the Land of Whirlpools’ orders and spoken against the Uchiha.
• Tetsugaku admitted he resented the Uchiha’s prominence and believed the Senju deserved to rule Konoha because they had won the war and founded the village.
• Tobirama defended Madara’s role in stabilizing Konoha and argued that the village belonged to everyone who worked for it, not to the Senju alone.
• Tobirama told Tetsugaku that Tōka had been right to remove him from the team and ordered him to reflect before seeking another assignment.
• After Tobirama left, Tetsugaku refused to accept his own fault, blamed the Uchiha for his humiliation, and went to train as a faint black shape flashed behind him.

Tobirama returned to the Land of Hot Water and found Hashirama, Madara, and Izuna at a kabuki performance, where Izuna was asked to sing. Izuna instead announced a comedy routine and transformed one of his clones into Tobirama, leaving Tobirama wondering whether he had been made Izuna’s partner.

• Tobirama helped Mito correct a flaw in her planned ticket-authorization barrier for the Amusement Park.
• Tobirama checked the Hokage Building’s documents, returned to the inn in the Land of Hot Water, and found an invitation to a kabuki performance at Yuasa-za.
• Izuna watched a play inspired by his performance of The Tale of the Heike and found it tedious.
• The host invited Izuna onstage, praised the play, and asked him to sing, but Izuna offered to perform a manzai routine instead.
• Tobirama arrived at the theater and sat beside Hashirama and Madara as Izuna used a clone transformed into Tobirama.

Izuna and a clone disguised as Pseudo-Tobirama performed a manzai routine about gods, ghosts, and evil cults, while the real Tobirama watched from the audience. The routine ended with Izuna playing a cult recruiter who tried to lure Pseudo-Tobirama into becoming a sacrifice.

• The host gave Izuna an excessively flowery introduction before Izuna and Pseudo-Tobirama took the stage, drawing amused reactions from Hashirama, Madara, and the real Tobirama.
• Izuna and Pseudo-Tobirama joked about ninja, ghosts, and Tobirama's research on the dead, leaving the real Tobirama feeling targeted.
• Izuna teased Pseudo-Tobirama about being elderly because of his white hair, then joked that even confident people could fall for a scam.
• Izuna acted as a low-ranking cult recruiter from the Former Masato Faction and gave Pseudo-Tobirama absurd directions for summoning a Demon God as a sacrifice.
• Pseudo-Tobirama rejected the offer, and Izuna fled the stage after promising to approach him next time with a different scam; the audience laughed as Tobirama watched in dismay.

Izuna repeatedly tried to trick fake Tobirama into going to a cave at Bishamonten Shrine, using disguises and increasingly absurd comedy routines. After Izuna’s fifth attempt ended with a smoke bomb and his familiar invitation, fake Tobirama remained unconvinced, and Izuna thanked the laughing audience.

• Izuna disguised himself as a cult member and then a servant, repeatedly inviting fake Tobirama to the cave while fake Tobirama refused.
• Izuna dressed as an elaborately made-up woman and tried to entice fake Tobirama, then warned he would use stronger methods next time.
• Izuna returned and recited the cave’s location and animal signs until fake Tobirama had memorized them, then promised a brand-new trick.
• Izuna disguised himself as Sugemori from The Tale of the Heike and urged fake Tobirama to sacrifice himself, culminating in a thrown smoke bomb.
• Izuna’s Transformation Technique wore off, and he repeated the cave invitation before fake Tobirama told him to give it a rest and Izuna bowed to the audience.

After his performance, Izuna embarrassed himself in front of the real Tobirama and learned that his plays had influenced both nobles and ordinary people. On the walk from Atago Shrine, he used humor to explain how he coped with losing an eye, leaving Yuansheng smiling and calling his outlook pure sophistry.

• Izuna warned the audience against people who promised a better life in exchange for a price, and Pseudo-Tobirama joked about Izuna's absurdity before learning the real Tobirama was in attendance and dispelling his clone.
• Izuna rejoined Enma, Kyōnosuke, Hideki, and Yuansheng, who explained that nobles praised Izuna's performance and admired the ninja characters in his plays.
• Madara, Hashirama, and Tobirama joined Izuna, and Izuna realized Kyōnosuke was the lord of the Land of Whirlpools before asking who had played Oda Nobunaga.
• As the group walked through the woods, Izuna argued with Yuansheng about using jokes to discuss painful events and said he told such stories to honor people's bravery rather than emphasize their suffering.
• Izuna recounted losing his eye as a child and jokingly scaring his mother with his glowing Artificial Eye, then told Yuansheng that humor helped him keep hardship from controlling his life.
• Yuansheng apologized, then smiled at Izuna's threat to scare him with the eye, calling Izuna's optimistic reasoning pure sophistry.

Hashirama and Kyōnosuke discussed the threat of nobles provoking conflict and agreed the planned Summer Festival assassinations had to be stopped. Enma proposed using the Merchants’ Association to arrange protective barriers for foreign visitors, while Kyōnosuke grew more curious about Izuna’s influence.

• Kyōnosuke asked Hashirama for a Tailed Beast, but Hashirama said they had canceled their plan to capture and seal the beasts.
• Kyōnosuke explained that nobles were trying to reignite conflict among Ninja, and Hashirama revealed a plot to assassinate high-ranking officials during the Summer Festival.
• Madara identified a Chinoike Clan member and a likely Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist member among the assassins, and Kyōnosuke inferred that the plot could serve each country’s political aims.
• Hashirama said Izuna had proposed setting up a barrier, and Enma suggested offering Barrier Ninjutsu to foreign visitors through the Merchants’ Association.
• Enma credited Izuna for guiding him, prompting Kyōnosuke to reconsider Izuna’s importance and wonder why Hashirama and Enma trusted him.

Hashirama and Madara kept Kyōnosuke from questioning Izuna, while Tobirama wondered how Izuna had lost his eyes. Mokushō began teaching Tobirama about Word Spirits and binding techniques, and Tobirama recognized the technique used on a firefly as one Izuna had used before.

• Hashirama and Madara repeatedly redirected Kyōnosuke’s questions about Izuna, while Tobirama stopped Izuna from speaking.
• Kyōnosuke passed along Ashina’s warning that Hashirama should take care of Mito and his grandchild, then watched Hashirama, Madara, Izuna, and Tobirama leave.
• On the road, Tobirama asked Izuna how he had lost his eyes, and Izuna claimed he had injured them on a mission.
• Mokushō explained that Word Spirits used spiritual energy in spoken words and taught Tobirama that names could be used to influence or bind beings.
• Mokushō demonstrated the technique by immobilizing a firefly, and Tobirama recognized it as a technique Izuna had used before.

Tobirama and Izuna learned basic techniques from Mokushō, who explained that Izuna had to trust him completely before he could become a Blessed Instrument and use his original power. Tobirama briefly seemed to lose track of a memory about the battle against Isshiki, then learned that Mokushō’s claim of matching Hashirama rested on his ability to revive without his memories.

• Izuna learned to bind a firefly, and Tobirama followed by sensing Natural Energy and Light Veins to bind one himself.
• Mokushō demonstrated One Line’s defensive Press, cutting Blade, and piercing Swift forms, then explained they were basic applications of mental power and Natural Energy.
• Mokushō said Izuna’s complete trust could make him a Blessed Instrument, and Izuna questioned why Mokushō trusted him so completely despite their recent meeting.
• Mokushō claimed he could fight Hashirama to a draw, prompting Tobirama to struggle to recall whether Mokushō had appeared in the battle against Isshiki.
• Mokushō clarified that he could revive as long as agriculture and commerce existed, but would lose his memories and need a new Contract with Izuna; Tobirama dismissed this as a poor claim to victory.

Mokushō demonstrated curse techniques and explained how Natural Energy, bloodlines, and awakened forms worked. After Madara learned to see Light Veins, he noticed a red glow from Izuna’s Crow Netsuke and discovered it contained a dormant Shikigami, so he proposed taking it to the Shrine.

• Mokushō showed Tobirama and Izuna the Pentagram Array and used written characters to cast a Great Fireball, which Tobirama matched with ninjutsu hand seals.
• Mokushō explained that people could use Natural Energy, though talent and the body’s resistance made Onmyōji training difficult, and warned that awakened Uchiha could be assimilated.
• Mokushō said the Uchiha awakened as tengu and the Senju as tanuki, prompting an argument with Izuna about whether he was a yōkai.
• Madara and Hashirama returned, and Mokushō encouraged Madara to try seeing Light Veins; Madara sensed Natural Energy and noticed a red glow around Izuna’s Netsuke.
• Madara asked Mokushō about the Netsuke and learned a dormant Shikigami was trapped inside it, then suggested they take it to the Shrine.

Mokushō revealed the crow Netsuke to Madara, Hashirama, Tobirama, and Izuna, then summoned Tsukimiyo from it. Tsukimiyo appeared as a masked boy who looked like Izuna and claimed to be their big brother, leaving the group stunned.

• Mokushō realized Madara could see through Tsukimiyo's concealment and brought everyone to the Shrine with the crow Netsuke.
• Mokushō told Madara the Netsuke might have sought Izuna as a Shikigami, while Madara wondered whether someone had planted it to harm Izuna.
• Mokushō entered the Netsuke's world, spoke with Tsukimiyo, and learned that Tsukimiyo planned to appear when Izuna summoned him.
• Mokushō returned to the Shrine and summoned Tsukimiyo from the Netsuke as Madara, Hashirama, Tobirama, and Izuna watched.
• Tsukimiyo introduced himself as the big brother of Madara and Izuna, leaving everyone in stunned silence.