Chapter Summaries

At Training Ground Number 42, Hagoromo found Rock Lee training despite his injuries and helped him recover with Yang Release Chakra and a secret pill. He gave the last pill to Might Guy to strengthen him, hoping he could protect Neji on future missions.

• Hagoromo and Neji found Rock Lee training one-handed at Training Ground Number 42, despite his recent injury, while Might Guy encouraged him.
• Might Guy explained that Rock Lee had asked for training so he could protect his comrades, and Hagoromo agreed to help him recover before he continued.
• Hagoromo used Yang Release Chakra to treat Rock Lee and fed him a pill to heal hidden injuries and protect his future growth.
• Might Guy told Rock Lee to sit and absorb the medicine, then thanked Hagoromo for his help.
• Hagoromo gave Might Guy the last pill, explaining that he wanted him strong enough to protect Neji on future missions outside Konoha.

Rock Lee felt the effects of Hagoromo’s medicine and received a medicinal bath recipe from him through Might Guy. Hagoromo and Might Guy began a Taijutsu match, which left Rock Lee and Neji watching closely as Might Guy prepared to raise the stakes by opening the Sixth Gate.

• Rock Lee noticed his physical condition had improved, and Hagoromo gave Might Guy a recipe for medicinal baths to deepen the medicine’s effects.
• Might Guy challenged Hagoromo to a Taijutsu match, and Hagoromo told Neji and Rock Lee to watch carefully.
• Might Guy opened the Fifth Gate and attacked Hagoromo, who countered with rapid Sun-Character Straight Punches and forced Guy to retreat.
• Rock Lee found that he could follow their movements clearly, while Neji used his Byakugan to study their Chakra flow.
• Might Guy warned Hagoromo that he would need to be careful, then opened the Sixth Gate as the match intensified.

Hagoromo sparred with Might Guy, then helped Karin study Tobirama Senju’s Water Release manual. After Karin practiced until dusk, Hagoromo took her and Shizune home and planned to invite Naruto and the others for dinner.

• Might Guy opened the Sixth Gate and sparred with Hagoromo, who used his footwork and Link: Gen Mountain Form to counter Guy’s attacks.
• Might Guy left the spar inspired, and Hagoromo asked Neji to stay and help him while Rock Lee began basic physical training.
• Hagoromo went to Karin’s training ground and found her studying Tobirama Senju’s Water Release manual with Shizune.
• Hagoromo explained and demonstrated the manual’s Water Release techniques to Karin and Shizune.
• Karin practiced until nearly dark, and Hagoromo said they would go home and invite Naruto and the others for dinner.

Naruto asked Hagoromo how to strengthen Wind Release: Rasengan, and Hagoromo suggested coordinating with the Nine-Tails. Jiraiya visited to ask about the Akatsuki, then tried to interest Naruto in Mount Myōboku, but learned Naruto and Sasuke had already signed a summoning contract with Sansan.

• Naruto asked Hagoromo how to increase the Wind Release output of his Rasengan, and Hagoromo suggested using a Shadow Clone or working with the Nine-Tails.
• Naruto entered the Sealing Space to speak with the Nine-Tails, and Jiraiya arrived to ask Hagoromo about the Akatsuki member from their recent mission.
• Hagoromo told Jiraiya that the Akatsuki member was a madman with a useful ninja tool who had been tasked with capturing summoned beasts.
• Naruto emerged from the Sealing Space and reacted with disgust when Jiraiya introduced himself as the Toad Sage.
• Jiraiya offered to help Naruto sign a Mount Myōboku contract, but Naruto refused and said he and Sasuke had already signed a contract with Sansan.

Naruto tested how much Wind Release Chakra he could add to his Rasengan while coordinating with Kurama. After his first attempt burst apart, he tried again with Kurama's Chakra and formed a shuriken-shaped Rasengan.

• Naruto told Hagoromo that Kurama had agreed to help him test his technique.
• Naruto demonstrated his Wind Release: Rasengan to Jiraiya and began adding more Wind Release Chakra at Hagoromo's direction.
• Naruto's first attempt exploded because Kurama's Chakra did not keep pace, knocking Jiraiya into the grass.
• Naruto coordinated with Kurama and gained a tail of Tailed Beast Chakra.
• Naruto tried again and shaped the Rasengan into a shuriken.

Naruto completed a powerful but unfinished Rasenshuriken, and Hagoromo explained that they would later work on making it throwable. The next day, Hagoromo took Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata to accept a bandit-clearing mission, where they ran into Kabuto Yakushi.

• Jiraiya watched Naruto use the Rasenshuriken as Hagoromo explained that it was only halfway developed and was meant to attack cells with fine Wind Release needles.
• Hagoromo told Naruto not to use the technique unless necessary and said he would help refine it, then announced that the group would resume missions the next day.
• Naruto showed off the unfinished technique to Sasuke, and Hagoromo told his disciples to prepare for missions while Hinata offered to organize their supplies.
• Hagoromo took Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata to the Hokage Building, where Naruto persuaded him to choose a C-rank bandit-clearing mission for its speed and location.
• After Hagoromo received the mission documents, Kabuto Yakushi greeted him and asked whether he had started teaming up for missions.

Hagoromo met Kabuto Yakushi and explained the requirements for Chunin promotion to Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata. He then led his team toward a mission site, turning the journey into physical training and threatening the last person to arrive with handstand push-ups around Konoha.

• Hagoromo spoke with Kabuto Yakushi, who said he was doing missions with his former teammates until the new term began.
• Naruto asked why Kabuto was still a Genin, and Hagoromo and Hinata explained the promotion requirements and the importance of teamwork.
• Hagoromo set off with Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata for their mission and told them to travel using physical stamina rather than Chakra.
• Hagoromo warned that whoever arrived last would have to do handstand push-ups around Konoha, so Naruto sprinted ahead and Sasuke followed.
• Hagoromo told Hinata to practice the Eight Trigrams Step as she pursued Naruto and Sasuke.

Hagoromo’s team began a mission to capture the bandits on Wild Boar Mountain, with Sasuke planning the assault and Hinata scouting their cave. Naruto drew the bandits out while Sasuke infiltrated the cave, where he confronted two men fighting over the loot and then got caught in Naruto’s Wind Release.

• Hagoromo explained that the team had to disable the bandits in their cave and hand them over to the client.
• Sasuke assigned Naruto to create a frontal diversion and Hinata to scout the cave with her Byakugan.
• Hinata found twenty-one bandits inside and became embarrassed after spotting two men with their pants down in a smaller cave.
• Naruto sent Shadow Clones to provoke and attack the bandits while Sasuke slipped inside.
• Sasuke found the two men grappling over the loot and slashed both across the neck with a kunai.
• Naruto used Great Breakthrough in the enclosed cave, and Sasuke shouted at him for unleashing Wind Release there.

Hagoromo’s team captured a group of bandits, but Naruto’s careless use of Wind Release filled their cave with its foul smell and earned him a punishment from Hagoromo. After the team returned to Konoha, Hagoromo told Naruto and Sasuke to keep an eye on each other before reporting to Hiruzen Sarutobi.

• Naruto’s Wind Release defeated the remaining bandits but filled their cave with a terrible smell, so Sasuke left Naruto to tie them up.
• Naruto led the bound bandits out, and Hagoromo warned him to consider his surroundings before using Ninjutsu and punished him with a village walk alongside Sasuke.
• Hagoromo’s team handed the bandits over to their merchant client and returned to Konoha without further trouble.
• After they reported the mission, Hagoromo told Naruto and Sasuke to keep an eye on each other before training the next day.
• Hagoromo went to Hiruzen Sarutobi’s office, where they discussed the students’ progress and their future missions.

Hiruzen Sarutobi told Hagoromo that Konoha would host joint Chunin Ninja Exams as Kumogakure sought to unite the Five Great Nations against Akatsuki. After Kumogakure lost the Two-Tails on a mission, Hiruzen and Hagoromo prepared to use the exams to strengthen Konoha’s position and accelerate Naruto and the others’ training.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi told Hagoromo that Konoha would host joint Chunin Ninja Exams with the Five Great Nations, smaller villages, and Otogakure attending.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi explained that the Fourth Raikage had invited Iwagakure and Sunagakure after Kumogakure independently pursued Akatsuki.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi revealed that Kumogakure had lost the Two-Tails during its mission after the Two-Tails Jinchūriki proposed going.
• Hagoromo inferred that Kumogakure wanted to unite the Five Great Nations against Akatsuki, and Hiruzen Sarutobi said Sunagakure had also requested help because its One-Tail Jinchūriki was unstable.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi decided Naruto and the others should take part in the exams, and Hagoromo resolved to speed up their training.

Naruto and Sasuke walked on their hands through Konoha as punishment, drawing attention from Kiba and Shino. Shino realized the two had likely already graduated as ninja, leaving Kiba and Shino to confront the widening gap between them and their classmates.

• Kiba and Shino spotted Naruto and Sasuke walking on their hands through the village and learned they were being punished.
• Kiba laughed and blocked Naruto and Sasuke, while Shino estimated that they were not training.
• Shino stepped aside, causing Kiba to tumble and giving Naruto and Sasuke a chance to hurry away.
• Shino noticed Naruto and Sasuke wore Konoha Ninja Forehead Protectors and concluded they had probably graduated.
• Kiba decided to ask his big sister to train him, while Shino left after reflecting on the difference in their strength.

Hagoromo trained Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata for the upcoming Chunin Ninja Exams, where shinobi from the Five Great Shinobi Villages and smaller villages would compete. He planned to build their strength and field experience, while considering Hazy Moon Sage Mode as a way to improve Naruto and Sasuke quickly.

• Hagoromo overwhelmed Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata during bell-taking practice, despite their increasingly smooth teamwork.
• Hagoromo explained that the Chunin Ninja Exams would take place in a few months and would include the Five Great Shinobi Villages and smaller villages.
• Naruto excitedly imagined defeating the other participants, while Sasuke and Hinata warned that the exam would likely include formidable young ninja and veteran Genin.
• Hagoromo told his students he would arrange missions suited to their abilities so they could gain combat experience.
• Hagoromo considered Hazy Moon Sage Mode for Naruto and Sasuke and wondered what Sansan was doing while absorbing the Seven-Tails' Chakra.

Hagoromo accepted a C-rank escort mission for Professor Kenzaburo, who planned to survey an abandoned village on the eastern coast of the Land of Fire. Kenzaburo reacted strangely to Hagoromo and the students, and he let out a heavy breath after they left, leaving the reason for his mission unclear.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi assigned Hagoromo to escort Professor Kenzaburo to the Land of Fire's eastern coast and suggested Naruto visit his mother's ancestral land.
• Hagoromo gathered Naruto, Sasuke, and the others, then met Kenzaburo at Konoha's guesthouse.
• Kenzaburo explained that he planned to spend three days surveying stone tablets and ancient runes in abandoned Sea-View Village.
• Naruto complained that the mission involved looking at rocks rather than fighting pirates, while Sasuke pulled him aside.
• Hagoromo noticed Kenzaburo's reactions suggested he knew about Konoha's clans, but agreed to depart with him the next morning.
• After Hagoromo and the students left, Kenzaburo let out a heavy breath.

Hagoromo led Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata as they escorted Kenzaburo east from Konoha, where they fought off an ambush. That night, the team noticed suspicious clues linking Kenzaburo’s leather bag to the attackers and stayed alert as they neared their destination.

• Hagoromo led Naruto, Sasuke, Hinata, and Kenzaburo out of Konoha and continued east on foot.
• During the journey, Hagoromo told Naruto to stop tiring Kenzaburo with questions and slow the group’s pace.
• Hinata detected four armed people hiding in a forest, and Naruto and Sasuke defeated and captured them while Hagoromo guarded Kenzaburo.
• At camp, Hinata reported chakra fluctuations in Kenzaburo’s leather bag, and Sasuke pointed out signs that the attackers were not ordinary bandits.
• Hagoromo told the team to remain alert because mission ranks could be misleading, as they expected to reach their destination the next day.

Hagoromo’s squad escorted Kenzaburo to a ruined village, where he found a hidden chamber and revealed that he had used the daimyo’s name to get Hiruzen Sarutobi’s attention. The chapter ended with Hagoromo questioning why Kenzaburo had gone to such lengths instead of speaking to Hiruzen directly.

• Hagoromo arranged the squad’s combat formation as they entered the abandoned village with Kenzaburo.
• Kenzaburo examined a stone tablet and searched for a hidden chamber beneath a rocky area that Hinata detected was hollow.
• Sasuke showed Hagoromo a broken shell bearing markings like those on weapons carried by a group they had encountered earlier, and Hagoromo demanded an explanation from Kenzaburo.
• Kenzaburo said he trusted Hiruzen Sarutobi rather than Konoha and had invoked the daimyo’s name to make Hiruzen send someone he trusted.
• Hagoromo questioned why Kenzaburo had not simply approached Hiruzen directly.

Kenzaburo told Hagoromo how he had missed the destruction of the Land of Whirlpools and revealed that he had been researching a strange crystal beneath them. Masked attackers then ambushed the group, and their leader confronted Hagoromo while two others moved ahead.

• Kenzaburo recalled that he had been in the Land of Whirlpools before it was destroyed, then learned in the capital that his friend had died in the attack.
• Kenzaburo explained that he and the head of Uzushio Village had researched an irregular black-and-purple crystal with rippled patterns, and showed the group a crest that emitted blue light.
• Explosive-tag shuriken flew at the group, and Hagoromo raised an Earth-Style Wall and ordered Naruto and the others to scatter.
• Hagoromo blocked the attackers pursuing Naruto and the others with Searing Migraine, but their leader answered with Exploding Water Colliding Wave.
• The leader said two of the masked figures would go ahead while the remaining attackers stayed to fight Hagoromo.

Hagoromo, Naruto, and Sasuke fought masked men whose strange, borrowed Chakra drove them into a frenzy. After the team defeated their opponents, Hagoromo and Naruto noted that the men felt like corpses when struck.

• Naruto sent over a hundred Shadow Clones against the masked men while Sasuke charged one of them with his Sharingan activated.
• Hagoromo blocked the masked men’s attacks with Yang Release Armament and noticed their crude, abnormal Chakra.
• Hagoromo shattered the masked men’s Earth Release technique, killed the two who had cast it, and attacked their leader with a fire dragon.
• Naruto and Sasuke combined Rasengan and Chidori to defeat the two men they were fighting.
• Naruto told Hagoromo that his Rasengan had felt like it hit a corpse, and Hagoromo agreed.

Hagoromo learned that the attackers belonged to Remnant Kara and that Kenzaburo had once worked with them before they pursued the emblem he possessed. After Kenzaburo agreed to return to Konoha once they reinforced the seal, Hinata found the hidden entrance, and the group descended into the chamber.

• Hagoromo and Sasuke discussed how the attackers’ chaotic Chakra made them difficult to sense and seal their corpses.
• Kenzaburo identified the attackers as Remnant Kara and explained that they had been his partners until they demanded his emblem a year earlier.
• Kenzaburo gave Hagoromo the emblem and agreed to return to Konoha after they reinforced the hidden chamber’s seal.
• Hinata used her Byakugan to locate a concealed recess, and Hagoromo placed the emblem in it to open the stone door.
• Hagoromo told Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata to protect Kenzaburo as the group entered the dark staircase.

Hagoromo and his companions passed through a chakra-countering corridor and learned that Naruto was a member of the Uzumaki Clan. They reached the next checkpoint, where Kenzaburo explained that anyone entering without the clan crest would face a stronger, nearly flawless mirror image.

• Kenzaburo led Hagoromo, Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata through the chakra-countering rune corridor, where Sasuke's Sharingan was disrupted but Hinata's Byakugan was unaffected.
• Hagoromo resisted the corridor's interference, memorized its runes, and stopped using his perception after Kenzaburo warned him the defenses were meant to deter intruders.
• Kenzaburo questioned why Naruto was unaffected, and Hagoromo revealed that Naruto belonged to the Uzumaki Clan.
• Kenzaburo doubted Naruto's heritage because of his blond hair, while Hagoromo joked that Naruto's bloodline might be stronger than the Uzumaki Clan's.
• Hagoromo used the crest to pass through the stone chamber's checkpoint, and Kenzaburo explained that intruders without it would face a stronger mirror image of themselves.

Hagoromo and the others reached the sealed crystal, which he recognized as a fragment of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. After learning that Kenzaburo planned to destroy the altar if he could not reinforce its seal, Hagoromo warned that the explosion would engulf everything within fifty kilometers.

• Kenzaburo explained that the mirror images were idealized versions of their opponents, and Hagoromo helped Sasuke and Naruto regain their confidence.
• Kenzaburo led the group to the altar, where Hagoromo recognized the chained black crystal as the Rinnegan.
• Kenzaburo said Zhengyan had found the crystal in an ancient battlefield in the Land of Whirlpools, where inscriptions called it the Nine-Eyed Underworld King.
• Kenzaburo revealed that the crest Hagoromo carried would trigger the altar's destruction if thrown into it.
• Hagoromo said he did not know how to reinforce the seal and warned that detonating the altar would engulf everything within fifty kilometers.