Chapter Summaries

Sunagakure announced a second Joint Chunin Exam, drawing villages across the Shinobi World to the event. As the teams arrived in the desert, Kumogakure’s unusual transports and Yotsuki Dana’s dramatic entrance stunned the young ninja, including Kakashi, Might Guy, and Uchiha Obito.

• Sunagakure announced the second Joint Chunin Exam, and the major villages agreed to participate as Kitano Izumi helped expand the event.
• Kumogakure chose Uzumaki Hirohiko to lead its team and selected Tiexiong Daquan and other promising young contestants.
• Mabui’s Iwagakure team endured a sandstorm for days before reaching Sunagakure’s desert reception point, where Konohagakure’s team had also arrived.
• Kumogakure’s contestants landed in jade-white Transport Pods, astonishing the other teams, and Uzumaki Hirohiko said one more person was still coming.
• Yotsuki Dana floated down from the sky, leaving Kakashi, Might Guy, and Uchiha Obito stunned by his appearance.

As the teams traveled through the desert to the Joint Chunin Exam, Yotsuki Dana teased the young Konoha squad and effortlessly foiled Obito’s prank. The chapter ended with Dana carrying the unconscious Obito after retaliating with One Thousand Years of Death and a fake threat involving six hundred billion Explosive Tags.

• Dana floated alongside the traveling teams while Hirohiko and the young Konoha ninja watched him.
• Obito complained about Dana showing off, while Guy admired his physique and Kakashi reconsidered how powerful the Shinobi World’s strongest ninja might be.
• Minato told Kakashi to watch where he was looking, and Kakashi obeyed because his father had told him to listen to Minato.
• Obito transformed into an Iwagakure ninja and crept toward Dana to land One Thousand Years of Death on him.
• Dana dodged Obito’s attack, struck him with the technique, and pretended to attach six hundred billion Explosive Tags to his back.
• Obito fainted from pain and fright, and Dana carried him while telling Hirohiko that he had only meant to scare him.

Yotsuki Dana arrived in Sunagakure for the upcoming competition and explored the village while waiting for its opening. After frightening Uchiha Obito at a restaurant, Dana accidentally triggered Obito’s Sharingan and left him terrified of him.

• Yotsuki Dana arrived in Sunagakure, met the Third Kazekage and Fourth Mizukage Karatachi Yagura, and attended a banquet.
• Yotsuki Dana sampled Sunagakure’s food and met Minato Namikaze, Kakashi, Might Guy, and Uchiha Obito at a roadside restaurant.
• Uchiha Obito argued with Kakashi and challenged Yotsuki Dana, who scared him with a punch that stopped just short of his nose.
• Minato Namikaze moved Uchiha Obito out of the way, and Obito awakened a one-tomoe Sharingan from fright.
• Uchiha Obito’s excitement over his Sharingan faded when Yotsuki Dana tore apart a roast chicken skewered on a steel pipe, leaving Obito cowering in the corner.

Yotsuki Dana watched Sunagakure prepare for the Second Joint Chunin Exam as the village filled with Kitano Trading Company advertisements and visiting teams and Kage. The exam began with a desert-crossing challenge that heavily favored Sunagakure, leaving the other Kage displeased.

• Kitano Trading Company ads covered Sunagakure, and Dana secretly enjoyed the publicity they brought his company.
• Dana visited Kumogakure's team and learned that Hanzo had sent his three adopted Amegakure disciples, Salamander Rain Scorpion, Salamander Yusan, and Ibuse Yui, to compete.
• Ōnoki and Hatake Sakumo arrived in Sunagakure, joining Karatachi Yagura and Dana as four of the Five Great Villages' Kage gathered for the exam.
• At the opening ceremony, the Third Kazekage announced that contestants would race across the Great Desert with only one kilogram of supplies.
• Dana and the other Kage recognized that the first round strongly favored Sunagakure, while most contestants were stunned by the announcement.

Sunagakure dominated the first round of the test, claiming six of the seventeen qualifying places, including the top four. The test ended when the seventeenth-place Amegakure squad returned, leaving all remaining squads eliminated.

• Pakura, Sasori, and Baki completed the course in two and a half days, taking first place for Sunagakure.
• Sunagakure squads took the next three places, while a Konohagakure squad finished fifth and another Sunagakure squad placed sixth.
• Sunagakure claimed six qualifying spots, while four Kumogakure squads arrived together to take twelfth through fifteenth place.
• The Kakashi Squad finished sixteenth, and the Rain Ninja squad took seventeenth place.
• The seventeenth-place Amegakure squad returned to Sunagakure, ending the test and eliminating every squad still in the desert.

Black Zetsu approached Orochimaru with offers of forbidden knowledge, but Orochimaru demanded a transplantable Main Family Byakugan in exchange for studying the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu. Black Zetsu agreed and left to obtain the eyes, while Orochimaru planned how to study them.

• Black Zetsu revealed his Wood Release to convince Orochimaru to hear his offer.
• Orochimaru asked why Yotsuki Dana was so powerful, leaving Black Zetsu unable to answer.
• Orochimaru demanded a transplantable Byakugan from the Hyuga Main Family as his price for a deal.
• Black Zetsu agreed to bring Orochimaru a Byakugan and asked him to learn the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu.
• Orochimaru accepted and, after Black Zetsu sank into the wall, considered ways to detect him and clone Byakugan for research.

The second Joint Chunin Exam began its second test, Duel, with far fewer contestants remaining after the first test. The match order was to be decided by drawing lots, leaving the duels yet to begin.

• After three days of rest, the contestants gathered in the circular arena for the second test.
• The Third Kazekage announced that the test was called Duel.
• Dana wondered what Sunagakure would use for the third round and thought duels would limit its chance to exploit home-field advantage.
• Sunagakure had the team leaders draw lots to determine the order of the matches.

Sasori overwhelmed Obito by controlling three puppets at once and trapping him in Black Ant. Obito was left pinned by the puppet’s steel needles as the spectators reacted to his quick defeat.

• Sasori released three puppets, surprising the spectators.
• Obito mistook Sasori’s three-puppet technique for a clone or transformation trick.
• Sasori’s puppets attacked with poisoned needles and drove Obito into a defensive scramble.
• Obito’s attacks missed, and his earlier chakra use left him struggling to respond.
• Black Ant caught Obito and trapped him with steel needles pressed against his neck.

Dana met Ichikishimahime, who said the White Snake Sage had invited him to Ryūchi Cave and had been waiting for him. Ichikishimahime urged him to come with her.

• Dana sensed Ichikishimahime approaching and dodged when she tried to hug him.
• Ichikishimahime introduced herself and said the White Snake Sage had invited Dana to Ryūchi Cave.
• Ichikishimahime hugged Dana's arm, sniffed him, and said he smelled like the Sage.
• Dana pushed her away and asked whether she planned to bite him.
• Ichikishimahime said she could never bite him and told him to come with her.

Dana returned to the restaurant in Sunagakure and found Hirohiko washing dishes because the group had been short on money. After reimbursing him and explaining that he had gone to Ryūchi Cave, Dana left the story with researchers dissecting a pale corpse in Sunagakure's secret research facility.

• Dana returned to the closed restaurant and learned that most of his companions had left.
• Dana found Hirohiko washing dishes because the group had been 3,000 short on the bill.
• Dana reimbursed Hirohiko for both group meals and entrusted him with returning the contestants' money.
• Dana told Hirohiko that he had visited Ryūchi Cave for personal business.
• Researchers dissected a deathly pale corpse inside Sunagakure's secret research facility.

The contestants began the Great Sand Escape in a vast desert basin as Sunagakure's encirclement troops pushed inward. Kakashi encountered Sasori, who recognized him as Hatake Sakumo’s son and challenged him, while the observers watched from above and waited for hidden forces to appear.

• Tiexiong Daquan and Pakura searched the basin for comrades, while Yotsuki Dana and Ōnoki monitored the contestants from the sky.
• Contestants near the basin’s outskirts encountered Sunagakure’s powerful encirclement troops, and Might Guy ran deeper into the basin to avoid them.
• Kakashi recalled an earlier clash with a Rock Ninja and cautiously investigated suspicious movement in the sand.
• Sasori emerged with puppets, identified Kakashi as Hatake Sakumo’s son, and vowed to kill him and turn him into a puppet.
• Might Guy encountered Salamander Yusan and Ibuse Yui, and a fight began in the basin.
• Ōnoki joined the Third Kazekage and Hatake Sakumo at the arena’s edge, where they discussed searching for someone and said they expected to find them soon.

Kakashi was poisoned during Sasori’s attempt to kill him, but Might Guy carried him to the encirclement force before Sasori and Pakura could stop them. As the exam’s final melee began, Dana summoned Kumogakure reinforcements, while the Third Kazekage, Ōnoki, Hatake Sakumo, and Minato Namikaze set their plan in motion.

• Sasori ambushed Kakashi with a fourth puppet and poisoned his leg, then continued attacking with Pakura’s help when she arrived.
• Might Guy rescued Kakashi, intercepted Sasori and Pakura’s pursuit, and threw the poisoned Kakashi toward the encirclement force, where the fall broke two of his ribs.
• Sasori and Pakura reached the central dune, where they joined Tiexiong Daquan, Salamander Yusan, and Might Guy in the final melee.
• Dana contacted the Third Raikage, confirmed there had been no border trouble, and decided Kumogakure’s elite support force should arrive early.
• Dozens of Kumogakure shinobi used the Heavenly Transfer Technique to arrive at the exam, startling the contestants and Sunagakure’s forces.
• The Third Kazekage and Ōnoki met Hatake Sakumo and Minato Namikaze, then Minato and Hatake Sakumo used Flying Thunder God-marked weapons to transport the four away.

Dana discovered that Ōnoki, the Third Kazekage, Hatake Sakumo, and Minato Namikaze had attacked Blue B in the East Sea while Sunagakure let fifty Kumogakure elites enter the village. Unable to strike back without endangering the crowd, Dana left Sunagakure in Sage Mode and declared that the war had begun.

• Ōnoki arrived with the Third Kazekage, Hatake Sakumo, and Minato Namikaze, then ordered them to act quickly against a target in the East Sea.
• At the examination, Tiexiong Daquan, Might Guy, and Sasori remained as the final three contestants, while Pakura had been poisoned and eliminated.
• Dana met Dodai and Kumogakure's fifty reinforcements, then sent Dodai to protect their contestants and gather the Amegakure contestants.
• Sunagakure unexpectedly invited the Kumogakure force into the village, prompting Dana to suspect a trap and fly over Sunagakure to search for hidden enemies.
• Blue B called for help from the East Sea and reported that Ōnoki, Hatake Sakumo, the Kazekage, and another attacker were there; the Third Raikage moved to go to him.
• Dana warned Blue B about the attackers' space-time ninjutsu, but Blue B's signal went silent, and Dana left Sunagakure in Sage Mode, declaring that the war had begun.

Hatake Sakumo, Minato Namikaze, Ōnoki, and the Third Kazekage attacked Blue B and used spatial ninjutsu to move him between distant locations, preventing Kumogakure’s reinforcements from reaching him. The Third Raikage and Yotsuki Dana prepared for war as Blue B’s capture became increasingly likely.

• Blue B sent a warning to Kumogakure, but Hatake Sakumo, Minato Namikaze, Ōnoki, and the Third Kazekage overwhelmed him with attacks.
• When Kumogakure’s reinforcements approached, Hatake Sakumo transported Blue B to an unfamiliar island, and Minato brought Ōnoki and the Third Kazekage there to continue the assault.
• The Third Raikage learned Blue B’s location had shifted to the North Sea, then ordered his fighters toward the Land of Fire and declared that war had begun.
• Yotsuki Dana told Dodai to organize the follow-up in Sunagakure and bring the contestants back, then headed for the Land of Earth as he and the Third Raikage planned how to pressure their enemies.
• Blue B’s location changed again to the Land of Rainbow, and the Golden Little Katsuyu on him was killed before Kumogakure’s third wave of reinforcements could arrive.

Kumogakure launched a surprise attack on Konoha and sent the Third Raikage into the Land of Fire to seize a valuable prisoner. He hoped to trade that prisoner for Blue B, whose life depended on how quickly he could act.

• Kumogakure mobilized its Heavenly Transfer Technique bases and began bombarding Konoha with Transport Pods.
• Shikaku Nara ordered Konoha to raise its Four Violet Flames Formation barriers and evacuate civilians as the pods exploded against the defenses.
• The Third Raikage and his Cloud Ninja ambushed a Konoha patrol, killing the Uchiha captain and his teammate before intercepting their message.
• The Third Raikage explained that he had entered the Land of Fire to capture a valuable prisoner and secure Blue B's return, while the bombardment distracted Konoha.

The Third Raikage fought Might Duy’s force while Yotsuki Dana raced to counter the enemy’s plans, building a temporary Heavenly Transfer base and teleporting to the Land of Earth’s capital. The chapter ended as Dana struck Red Rock City from the sky, triggering alarms and a rush to protect the Daimyo.

• The Third Raikage ordered his Cloud Ninja to split off toward the city and confronted Might Duy and Enma as they tried to block his advance.
• Yotsuki Dana built a temporary Heavenly Transfer base in the desert and told Dodai to bring the Kumogakure personnel and Amegakure participants back to the village.
• Dana used the base to teleport to the capital of the Land of Earth, while Kitsuchi led over a thousand Hidden Rock shinobi east toward the Land of Lightning.
• Dana flew over Red Rock City and crashed into it like a meteor, prompting the city to announce an enemy attack and call for the Daimyo’s protection.

Yotsuki Dana seized the Land of Earth Daimyo to force Ōnoki to return Blue B, while Ōnoki and the Third Kazekage defeated Blue B and the allied leaders moved on with their war plans. As Kumogakure faced an Iwagakure vanguard of more than three thousand troops, Yotsuki Qi realized the Land of Iron had joined the attack.

• Yotsuki Dana broke through Red Rock City, found the Land of Earth Daimyo, and took him hostage to demand Blue B's safe return.
• Yotsuki Dana sent the Daimyo back toward Kumogakure in a Transport Pod and used a temporary Heavenly Transfer Base to depart for new coordinates.
• Ōnoki struck Blue B unconscious after nearly an hour of fighting, and the Third Kazekage took custody of him.
• Ōnoki, the Third Kazekage, Hatake Sakumo, and Minato Namikaze discussed attacks across the Shinobi World and separated to carry out their plans.
• Yotsuki Qi learned that more than three thousand Iwagakure troops had broken through from the Land of Iron front and concluded that the Land of Iron had sided with them.

Dana tried to bring Nagato and Kushina back to Kumogakure as the Third Great Ninja War began, but Minato Namikaze appeared and tried to take Kushina. Meanwhile, the Third Raikage advanced toward the Land of Fire’s capital, where Kumogakure’s forces searched for the missing Daimyo, while Konoha’s leaders stuck to their plan.

• Dana told Nagato and Kushina that the Third Great Ninja War had begun and insisted they return with him to Kumogakure for protection.
• Minato Namikaze appeared behind Kushina and attempted to take her, but Dana grabbed her hand and kept her close to prevent her escape.
• Might Duy fought the Third Raikage in the Land of Fire’s forests as the Raikage advanced toward the capital, which was already burning.
• Kumogakure’s reinforcements joined the battle at the Land of Fire’s Daimyo’s Mansion, where the Guardian Shinobi Twelve suffered heavy losses and Kuroki Ryosuke’s team failed to find the Daimyo.
• The Nara clan head ordered Might Duy to observe the enemy from outside the capital and kept Konoha’s existing battle plan in place.

Yotsuki Dana rescued Kushina and Nagato, then concluded that Kumogakure had to break away from the enemy’s planned war and strike at its main artery. As Konoha and Iwagakure prepared to advance, Dana ordered Kumogakure’s scattered forces to retreat and regroup for a counterattack under his command.

• Yotsuki Dana brought Kushina and Nagato to Kumogakure, where Brunhild’s Sealing Squad examined Kushina’s Flying Thunder God mark while Dana stayed in contact with her.
• Yotsuki Dana learned that the Daimyo of the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind were missing from their capitals, and he ordered Kumogakure’s forces to regroup and prepare a counterattack.
• The Third Raikage found the capital of the Land of Fire abandoned, but Yotsuki Dana told him to remain there and said Kumogakure would strike the enemy’s main artery.
• Hatake Sakumo prepared Konoha’s elite vanguard to move across the border after Minato Namikaze reported that he had failed to reach Kushina.
• Kumogakure’s outnumbered forces in the Land of Fields received orders to withdraw to the Land of Soup and establish a defensive line under Yotsuki Dana’s command.

Kumogakure lured Konoha and Iwagakure forces deeper into the Land of Hot Water while the Third Raikage led an assault on Konoha. With the Infinite Fortress tactic, Kumogakure surrounded Konoha in an immense, self-repairing wall system and began preparing to bombard it.

• Kumogakure forces retreated in the Land of Fields and the Land of Hot Water, drawing Konoha and Iwagakure troops along a route of their choosing.
• The Third Kazekage held the Second Joint Chunin Exam closing ceremony while secretly assembling Sunagakure's forces for the war.
• The Third Raikage and eighty-one Kumogakure elites left the Land of Fire's capital and headed toward Konoha, while Mine Taro reported that the Mud Palace Plan was ready.
• Kumogakure's Heavenly Transfer Bases sent troops and supplies outside Konoha, where ninja raised nine fortresses and connecting walls that trapped the village.
• Konoha ninja broke part of the wall with Earth Release: Great Moving Earth Core, but Kumogakure Construction Ninja quickly restored it.
• The Third Raikage ordered a bombardment of Hokage Rock and demanded Blue B, while Shikaku Nara realized Hatake Sakumo's force had advanced deep toward the Land of Lightning.