Chapter Summaries

Ye Liangnai judged the Border Army representatives who had stormed Daimyo City over stolen military pay and then let them take revenge on the Three Vice Presidents of Shimizu Trading Company and their accomplices. The square was left bloodied, and the Minister of Justice feared the consequences of the executions.

• Ye Liangnai summoned the protest representatives and questioned the Border Army warriors about their disturbance in Daimyo City.
• The Minister of Justice recited the punishment for the warriors, but Ye Liangnai reduced it to five strokes because they had been driven to desperation.
• Ye Liangnai ordered the broken blades brought out and told the Border Army representatives to take revenge.
• The Border Army representatives attacked and executed the Three Vice Presidents of Shimizu Trading Company and their accomplices.
• The warriors thanked Ye Liangnai for avenging their fallen brothers, while the Minister of Justice nervously questioned the consequences.

Ye Liangnai executed the officials responsible for widespread embezzlement, including the Minister of War, as prisoners and onlookers begged him to stop. After Ye Liangnai threatened those pleading for mercy, Village One Husband confronted him and warned that continued executions would turn the Land of Water's court into a place of bloody rule.

• Ye Liangnai ordered the execution of Shimizu Trading Company's three vice presidents and sent the Border Army representatives back to the frontier with a message of support.
• Ye Liangnai read the Minister of War's crimes, including embezzling military pay and funds from eight areas, and had him beheaded.
• Ye Liangnai continued listing officials' crimes and ordering their executions until the square became covered in corpses and blood.
• The Minister of Justice and others begged Ye Liangnai to stop, but he accused them of shielding one another and left the remaining prisoners in despair.
• Village One Husband, a third-rank Protocol Department Inspector, warned Ye Liangnai that further killing would harm the court and asked him to stop.

Ye Liangnai punished corrupt officials, reorganized the Land of Water’s government, and filled its vacant posts by recruiting talent from allied nations. After returning to Kirigakure, he declined Mei Terumi’s offer to guide a new class of graduates.

• Ye Liangnai spared the remaining prisoners from execution but sent them to the frontier, appointed Village One Husband as Minister of Etiquette and Minister of Inspection, and warned officials against future corruption.
• News of Ye Liangnai’s purge spread, and the Land of Water’s people supported him while the Shimizu Trading Company recognized that even his own associates were not above punishment.
• Ye Liangnai worked with officials to fill vacant posts and recruited applicants from allied nations with citizenship, welfare benefits, and strict treason penalties.
• Within seven days, Ye Liangnai restored the court’s operations, established the Inspection Department, and revised the criminal code to restrict officials’ conduct.
• Half a month after the executions, Ye Liangnai returned to Kirigakure, where he told Mei Terumi he had forgotten her request not to make a spectacle of the affair.
• Mei Terumi offered Ye Liangnai a new class of graduates to guide, but he declined after seeing the thirty-two graduates’ results.

Ye Liangnai discussed the limits of lasting peace with Nagato, who had traveled through the war-torn lands beyond the Five Great Nations. Nagato left reassured and mentioned that Orochimaru’s research had caused alarm near the Land of Rice Fields, leaving Ye Liangnai to decide who would investigate.

• Mei Terumi accepted that Ye Liangnai wanted to take it easy and returned to her government work because Kirigakure had no successor for her as Mizukage.
• Ye Liangnai went fishing until Nagato and Konan arrived with a scroll about civilians displaced by war whom Nagato wanted Kirigakure to shelter.
• Nagato told Ye Liangnai that his allied nations had brought stability but that he had found war, poverty, and suffering elsewhere in the ninja world.
• Ye Liangnai argued that permanent peace was impossible and urged Nagato to focus on doing his best for his own generation.
• Nagato said Ye Liangnai’s words eased his mind, then asked whether Ye Liangnai or he should deal with the panic caused by Orochimaru’s research near the Land of Rice Fields.

Ye Liangnai considered how his forces could preserve peace and anticipated trouble from artificial humans, while Kainojirou and Orochimaru each pursued plans to destabilize the ninja world. Nagato and Konan confronted Orochimaru at his base and demanded to know about his deal with Kainojirou.

• Ye Liangnai explained that his subdued allies and Kirigakure units would help maintain order, and he planned to build a Wood Release artificial human corps.
• Kainojirou, an elderly lame man in the Land of Silkworms, hoped to use Orochimaru’s technique and corpses to create turmoil and change who ruled the ninja world.
• Orochimaru told Kabuto Yakushi that he had given Kainojirou the mature Impure World Reincarnation technique because chaos would provide test subjects and further his pursuit of immortality.
• Kabuto warned Orochimaru that powerful Chakra signatures had been detected near the base, and Orochimaru assumed Ye Liangnai’s people were watching him.
• Konan and Nagato arrived at Orochimaru’s base, and Nagato demanded to know what deal Orochimaru had made with Kainojirou.

Nagato learned that Orochimaru had supplied Kainojirou with the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu, then attacked Orochimaru, who escaped by blowing up his base. Kainojirou launched a simultaneous assault on the Five Great Ninja Villages, while Kirigakure received news that a huge rebel army was marching toward it.

• Nagato questioned Orochimaru about Kainojirou and learned that the scientist planned to conquer the ninja world using the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu.
• Nagato and Konan attacked Orochimaru, but Kabuto Yakushi triggered explosives that collapsed the base and let Orochimaru escape.
• Nagato and Konan emerged from the ruins and decided to warn Ye Liangnai about Orochimaru.
• Kainojirou sent Xiu Yi, Genji, Bing San, and Hama Yon with White Zetsu armies to attack Konoha, Sunagakure, Iwagakure, and Kumogakure, while he targeted Kirigakure.
• Kirigakure learned that forces from the Land of Waves, the Land of Tides, the Land of Rivers, and other countries had gathered tens of thousands of ninja and were marching toward the village.

After learning that Kainojirou was leading an invasion toward the Land of Water, Ye Liangnai eagerly took command of Kirigakure’s defense while Mei Terumi organized the response. Kirigakure mobilized twenty thousand ninja and allowed this year’s graduates to assist with supply transport under protection.

• An Anbu reported that Kainojirou and forces from the Land of Waves were advancing toward the Land of Water, and Ye Liangnai reacted with excitement.
• Mei Terumi called an emergency council after learning the enemy was less than a thousand li away and could arrive within two or three days.
• Ye Liangnai warned the assembled jonin not to underestimate the enemy, and Mei Terumi assigned him supreme command with Ao as chief of staff and intelligence captain.
• Mei Terumi organized twenty thousand ninja into combat, intelligence, sensory, medical, and special operations units, appointing Yagura, Yugito, Kisame Hoshigaki, Zabuza, Juzo Biwa, and Utakata as division commanders.
• Mei Terumi rejected Ye Liangnai’s proposal to send the new graduates into battle but agreed to let them transport supplies with capable ninja protecting them.
• Kirigakure assembled its troops and departed for the battlefield under Ye Liangnai’s leadership.

Ye Liangnai organized Kirigakure’s twenty-thousand-strong army and faced a sixty-thousand-strong alliance led by small nations. After Anjuurou and Hamagoro rejected his ultimatum and invoked Lord Kainojirou, Ye Liangnai ordered a retreat, prompting the alliance to mock him and charge with confidence.

• Ye Liangnai divided the army into combat, intelligence, sensory, and medical corps, then led it to the Land of Water’s border and selected one hundred samurai for logistics.
• A coalition of more than a dozen small nations arrived, and Ye Liangnai warned Anjuurou and Hamagoro to reconsider opposing him.
• Anjuurou and Hamagoro refused Ye Liangnai’s offer and declared that Lord Kainojirou would defeat him.
• The alliance commander ordered nearly sixty thousand troops to attack Kirigakure’s twenty thousand shinobi.
• Ye Liangnai ordered his army to retreat, and the alliance mocked him as weak before surging forward.

Muronakao ordered the Shinobi Alliance to pursue Ye Liangnai and capture him before Kainojirou arrived. Ye Liangnai led the Mist Ninja toward their prepared ambush at Moon Gazer Valley, while Anjuurou suspected a trap but followed after the other commanders mocked him.

• Muronakao belittled Ye Liangnai for retreating and ordered the alliance to capture him within three hours.
• Ye Liangnai confirmed that the Mist Ninja had prepared their position at Moon Gazer Valley and explained that the retreat would reduce their losses.
• Yugito, Reiko, and the Mist Ninja welcomed the chance to crush the pursuing alliance.
• Anjuurou warned the other commanders that Ye Liangnai might be leading them into a trap, but they mocked him and charged ahead.
• Hamagoro accused Anjuurou of cowardice, and Anjuurou led his troops after the alliance.
• Ye Liangnai saw that the enemy had followed and said their cooperation suited his plan.

Ye Liangnai’s Mist Ninja forces ambushed the Allied Forces at Moon Gazer Valley, flooding the canyon and slaughtering thousands. As Natsume Yuki struggled with the deaths of young soldiers, Ye Liangnai explained that war had no side with absolute justice and that survival meant killing enemies who threatened them.

• Ye Liangnai and the Mist Ninja prepared for battle at Moon Gazer Valley as the Allied Forces charged into the canyon.
• Hamagoro realized the Allied Forces had entered a trap and tried to lead them in retreat, but Ye Liangnai triggered an enormous flood.
• The emerald wave drowned and crushed thousands of Allied Forces, while Mist Ninja attacked survivors with weapons.
• Natsume Yuki watched the slaughter and questioned whether war had to mean killing, especially when some of the dead were innocent teenagers.
• Ye Liangnai told Natsume Yuki that war had no absolute justice and that people killed enemies to protect their own safety and interests.

Ye Liangnai led the Mist Ninja army to a decisive victory and explained to Natsume Yuki why mercy toward enemies could endanger their comrades. After questioning the captured Anjuurou and Hamagoro about their master Kainojirou, Ye Liangnai left the threat of that master unresolved as Muronakao learned his army had been crushed.

• Ye Liangnai persuaded Natsume Yuki to fight the enemy by arguing that mercy in war endangered Mist Ninja comrades, and Natsume Yuki charged into battle.
• The Mist Ninja army defeated the opposing sixty-thousand-strong force, suffering one hundred injuries and no deaths while killing thirty thousand, injuring fifteen thousand, and capturing fifteen thousand.
• Ye Liangnai taunted the captured Anjuurou and Hamagoro, who claimed their master Kainojirou possessed power Ye Liangnai could not overcome.
• Muronakao waited confidently for news from Anjuurou, but a bloodied, terrified subordinate arrived and reported that their sixty-thousand-strong army had been crushed.

After Ye Liangnai destroyed the Allied Army of sixty thousand with a flood, Zabuza, Hozuki Suigetsu, and Ringo Ameyuri defeated the survivors and captured Muronakao. Ye Liangnai confronted Muronakao and forced him into submission by showing him the severed heads of ten Allied Army captains and demanding information about his master.

• A surviving soldier told Muronakao that Ye Liangnai had lured the sixty-thousand-man army into a canyon and unleashed the lake, wiping them out in less than an hour.
• Zabuza, Hozuki Suigetsu, and Ringo Ameyuri arrived and attacked Muronakao and the remaining Allied Army forces.
• Hozuki Suigetsu severely injured Muronakao, while he and Ringo Ameyuri slaughtered the other survivors.
• Zabuza ordered the others to return to camp, and Hozuki Suigetsu carried Muronakao back to Ye Liangnai.
• Ye Liangnai demanded that Muronakao tell him about his master and showed him the heads of ten Allied Army captains.
• Muronakao saw the heads and submitted, fearing that Ye Liangnai would kill him next.

Ye Liangnai forced Muronakao to become a mole and prepared to lure Kainojirou’s forces into a trap, while Orochimaru watched from afar. In the Land of Fire, Konoha’s army struggled against Impure World Reincarnation soldiers and White Zetsu as Xiu Yi deployed Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki against them.

• Muronakao revealed that Kainojirou commanded a hundred Impure World Reincarnation soldiers, including Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha, and agreed to become Ye Liangnai’s mole to survive.
• Ye Liangnai ordered Muronakao taken for treatment and planned to lure Kainojirou’s main force into a trap, while Yugito questioned his scheme.
• Orochimaru read reports about Ye Liangnai and treated Kainojirou as a pawn to test Ye Liangnai’s strength.
• Konoha’s ninjas struggled against Xiu Yi’s Impure World Reincarnation army and ten thousand White Zetsu, while Dan Katō and Senju Nawaki attacked Tsunade.
• Minato Namikaze stopped Jiraiya’s attack on Xiu Yi, and Xiu Yi summoned Kushina Uzumaki from another coffin.

Xiu Yi summoned Tobirama Senju and Shimura Danzō to attack the injured Third Hokage while reanimated ninja kept Konoha’s forces occupied across the battlefield. Naruto and the Konoha 12 fought the reanimated army, as Naruto sensed that someone important might be nearby.

• Xiu Yi summoned Tobirama Senju and Shimura Danzō, then ordered them to kill the Third Hokage.
• Jiraiya fought Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki, while Mitokado Homura came to help him and Tsunade went to assist the Third Hokage.
• Genma Shiranui faced Hayate Gekko, Kakashi faced Hatake Sakumo, and Might Guy challenged Might Duy.
• Hizashi Hyuga fought Neji Hyuga and Hyuga Hiashi, while Shikaku Nara, Inoichi Yamanaka, and Choza Akimichi searched for a way to reach Xiu Yi.
• Naruto and the Konoha 12 battled the reanimated ninja as Sakura Haruno called for the sealing squad to capture defeated enemies.
• Naruto swept through the enemy ranks with Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu and Rasengan, unsettled by the feeling that someone important was fighting nearby.

Naruto protected Hinata as Konoha’s forces faltered against the White Zetsu and reanimated armies, forcing the Third Hokage and other leaders to retreat. At Kirigakure, Kainojirou confronted Ye Liangnai, whose Mist Ninja retreated, and Muronakao asked to lead the charge.

• Naruto nearly charged into enemy lines alone, but Hinata drove back the attackers and saved him from an Impure World Reincarnation ninja.
• A White Zetsu tried to kill Hinata from behind, and Naruto rescued her before retreating with her to Shikamaru Nara.
• Shikamaru Nara saw Konoha’s leaders and strongest fighters struggling against the endless enemy forces, while Xiu Yi ordered the armies to attack.
• The Third Hokage and the other Konoha leaders decided to retreat as their forces began to falter.
• Kainojirou arrived at Kirigakure with an army of reanimated fighters and demanded that Ye Liangnai surrender, but Ye Liangnai refused.
• The Mist Ninja retreated when Kainojirou ordered his army to charge, and Muronakao asked Kainojirou to let him lead the pursuit.

Muronakao took command of Kainojirou’s army of the dead while secretly planning to disappear amid the coming battle, and Wataru Morio prepared to prove himself against Ye Liangnai. Ye Liangnai confronted Kainojirou alone, revealed that Muronakao had defected, and challenged Kainojirou to show his trump card.

• Kainojirou placed Muronakao in command of more than sixty thousand dead and ordered Wataru Morio to cooperate with him.
• Muronakao privately resolved to vanish after the battle and let Wataru Morio direct the fighting while they pursued the Mist Ninja army.
• Wataru Morio dismissed Muronakao’s authority and vowed to defeat Ye Liangnai to make his name in the ninja world.
• Kainojirou realized Muronakao might have defected after noticing that he had arrived without the sixty thousand allied troops.
• Ye Liangnai confronted Kainojirou and confirmed Muronakao’s betrayal.
• Kainojirou threatened to defeat Ye Liangnai with two hidden forces, while Ye Liangnai calmly urged him to reveal his trump card.

Kainojirou summoned Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju with Impure World Reincarnation, but neither could be controlled, and Madara swiftly knocked Kainojirou down. Hashirama asked whether the ninja world was at war, and Ye Liangnai confirmed that Konoha might be overrun.

• Kainojirou summoned Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju, expecting them to obey his commands.
• Madara Uchiha resisted Kainojirou's control and forced him to his knees with his aura.
• Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju recognized Ye Liangnai, while Kainojirou realized he could not control either of them.
• Ye Liangnai explained that the vast power gap made Kainojirou's control impossible and admitted he had provoked Kainojirou into summoning them.
• Madara Uchiha struck Kainojirou into the ground, then challenged Hashirama Senju to fight.
• Hashirama Senju asked Ye Liangnai whether the ninja world was at war, and Ye Liangnai said Konoha might be overrun.

Ye Liangnai revealed to Madara Uchiha that Black Zetsu had manipulated him and fabricated the Moon's Eye Plan to revive Kaguya Otsutsuki. After Hashirama Senju left for Konoha, Ye Liangnai and Madara headed toward the Mist Ninja battlefield, where Hozuki Suigetsu charged at his resurrected brother.

• Ye Liangnai told Madara Uchiha that he had killed Obito Uchiha and exposed Black Zetsu's manipulation of Madara's plans and the Uchiha Clan's stone tablet.
• Ye Liangnai explained that the Moon's Eye Plan was a lie meant to revive Kaguya Otsutsuki, and that Infinite Tsukuyomi's victims would become White Zetsu.
• Hashirama Senju learned that he was Asura's reincarnation and said he would return to Konoha, warning Madara Uchiha not to endanger the ninja world.
• Madara Uchiha agreed not to act recklessly and followed Ye Liangnai toward the Mist Ninja battlefield to see how strong the current ninjas were.
• Hozuki Suigetsu charged toward his resurrected older brother, Hozuki Mangetsu, while Juzo Biwa recognized six former members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen.

Haku and Kimimaro Kaguya fought the former Seven Ninja Swordsmen, using their abilities to overpower them. Haku captured Kushimaru Kuriarare, while Kimimaro Kaguya impaled Munashi Jinpachi, leaving the battle ongoing.

• Juzo Biwa assigned Ringo Ameyuri, Jurota, and Haku to fight the former Seven Ninja Swordsmen.
• Haku froze Kushimaru Kuriarare and drove back Munashi Jinpachi with Ice Release techniques.
• Haku evaded Munashi Jinpachi’s explosive attack by escaping through a spatial vortex with Kushimaru Kuriarare.
• Kimimaro Kaguya emerged from the vortex and attacked Munashi Jinpachi, whose strikes passed through him.
• Kimimaro Kaguya pierced Munashi Jinpachi with Dance of the Willow, covering his body in bone spikes.

Kimimaro Kaguya defeated and sealed two of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, while Madara Uchiha challenged Ye Liangnai over Kimimaro possessing Obito Uchiha’s Sharingan before tacitly accepting it. As the battle continued, Nakamura Shota confronted Suikazan Fuguki and blasted him back with a sword strike, prompting Fuguki to prepare a counterattack.

• Kimimaro Kaguya fatally wounded Munashi Jinpachi from within, and the Sealing Squad sealed him.
• Madara Uchiha questioned Ye Liangnai about giving Kimimaro Kaguya Obito Uchiha’s Sharingan, and Madara eventually turned away without taking action.
• Kimimaro Kaguya freed Kushimaru Kuriarare and Haku, and the Sealing Squad sealed Kushimaru.
• Haku declined to join the fight against the remaining Seven Ninja Swordsmen, and Suikazan Fuguki charged at Kimimaro Kaguya and the others.
• Nakamura Shota blocked Suikazan Fuguki, struck him flying with Thunderstorm Slash, and followed with another lightning-charged attack.
• Suikazan Fuguki vowed to show Nakamura Shota his strength and make him understand despair.