Chapter Summaries

Lin Ke used the Delicate Illness Extraction Technique to treat Rock Lee and said he should recover in about a month. That evening, Lin Ke investigated why shadows created from other people collapsed after consuming Tailed Beast Chakra, but his experiment with Sasuke failed to solve the problem.

• Lin Ke examined Rock Lee's injuries and used the Delicate Illness Extraction Technique to correct the damage caused by the Eight Gates Formation.
• Lin Ke told Rock Lee and Might Guy that Rock Lee should recover in about a month, and they tearfully thanked him.
• Lin Ke noticed that shadows created from other people collapsed after consuming Tailed Beast Chakra and reasoned that their stamina might be the cause.
• Lin Ke tested his theory with Sasuke at the Seventh Training Ground, but Shadow Sasuke still shattered after consuming a Tailed Beast Chakra Cube.
• Lin Ke cast the Delicate Illness Extraction Technique on Sasuke and returned home to continue researching the shadows.

Orochimaru’s experiments showed that transplanting Lin Ke’s genetic material could not let others use Natural Energy, and Kimimaro survived a transplant only by losing his powers. As Orochimaru prepared to move bases and begin new experiments, he abandoned Kimimaro to Danzo, while the Akatsuki discussed Lin Ke’s ability to summon the dead.

• A transplant test subject died as Orochimaru concluded that Lin Ke’s secret was not in his bloodline or genetic material.
• Orochimaru ordered Kabuto to preserve some cultivated material, destroy the rest, and prepare to move the Original Body to the Northern Base for experiments on Cursed Seal subjects.
• Kabuto explained that Kimimaro had survived the transplant but lost his chakra, Shikotsumyaku, and ability to use the Cursed Seal transformation.
• Orochimaru decided to give Kimimaro to Danzo as a gift, and Kabuto told Kimimaro he had been abandoned and gave him the last two suppressants.
• The Akatsuki discussed Lin Ke’s ability to summon the dead from the Pure Land, and the masked man vanished after learning that Itachi had failed to capture him.

After Konoha and Sunagakure concluded their peace negotiations, Lin Ke sold his apartment and moved, while Temari and her brothers remained in Konoha under the treaty. The chapter ended with Lin Ke celebrating his move at Barbecue Q and regretting how much the feast was costing him.

• Lin Ke explained that Konoha’s peace talks had dragged on over disagreements about reparations, prisoners, and whether to seize the Land of Rivers, before the Third Hokage and the Daimyo secured a treaty.
• Temari told Lin Ke that she, Kankuro, and Gaara would stay in Konoha under the new treaty, then asked whether he was moving.
• Lin Ke confirmed he had sold his apartment and moved, but declined Temari’s dinner invitation and left with a Body Flicker.
• Lin Ke celebrated his move at Barbecue Q with Yuan Wei, Xia, Second Pillar, Haruno Sakura, and others.
• Lin Ke watched Akimichi Choji and the jonin spend freely, including Yuhi Kurenai drinking shochu, and worried about the bill.

Lin Ke was assigned to lead and supervise Sunagakure’s genin team, including its Jinchuriki, while the Hokage and his advisors argued over how much control to impose on him and the tailed-beast hosts. Meanwhile, Shimura Danzō secured the Daimyo’s backing for his plan to become the next Hokage.

• The Third Hokage assigned Lin Ke an S-Rank mission to guide a Sunagakure genin squad and supervise its Jinchuriki.
• Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura warned Lin Ke that he could eliminate a Jinchuriki if necessary, and he accepted the assignment before leaving.
• The Third Hokage rebuked his advisors for their distrust of Lin Ke and affirmed his belief that Lin Ke could bridge the gap between Konoha and Sunagakure.
• Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura argued that the Jinchuriki should be controlled directly, while the Third Hokage defended his decision to trust Lin Ke.
• At the Shimura Residence, the Land of Fire Minister told Shimura Danzō that the Daimyo supported his plan and would back him as the next Hokage.
• Shimura Danzō reflected on the treaty and Lin Ke’s concessions, believing he was finally poised to defeat the Third Hokage.

Lin Ke met his new students, Kankuro, Temari, and Gaara, as their Guidance Jonin and tested them at the Seventh Training Ground. He left them beaten by his powerful shadows and confident in his own strength.

• Lin Ke entered Room 201, introduced himself as the trio's Guidance Jonin, and told Kankuro, Temari, and Gaara to meet him at the Seventh Training Ground.
• Lin Ke announced a bell test and revealed that it had already begun, as shadows gathered around the group.
• Lin Ke's shadows overwhelmed Kankuro and Temari with rapid attacks and shattered Gaara's Sand Shield.
• After about a minute, Lin Ke recalled his shadows and reflected on their strengths and weaknesses.

Lin Ke beat his new Sunagakure subordinates into accepting him as their sensei, then sold Temari a one-minute meeting with Baki and tried to expand his business contacting the dead. Half a month later, while Lin Ke Squad handled low-level cleanup missions, an Anbu summoned Lin Ke to meet the Third Hokage, hinting that the team might soon leave the village.

• Lin Ke tested Kankuro, Temari, and Gaara in combat, made them call him Lin Ke-sensei, and offered to trade money or ninjutsu for meetings with the dead.
• Temari paid Lin Ke one hundred thousand ryo to summon Baki, and Baki briefly spoke with his former students before returning to the Pure Land.
• Lin Ke tried to recruit other dead ninja through Summoning Jutsu and call Karura, but received few responses and found none of the three siblings' mothers.
• Half a month later, Lin Ke had Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara clean the Nanga River while he rested and discussed their lack of higher-rank missions.
• An Anbu summoned Lin Ke to meet the Third Hokage, and Lin Ke told his subordinates to gather at the Seventh Training Ground that afternoon.

After assassins killed the Land of Rivers Daimyo and his ministers, the Rebels seized much of the country. Lin Ke accepted an S-Rank mission to escort the Daimyo’s Son back to the capital and prepared to leave Konoha, wary that several factions might be involved.

• Konoha Anbu assassins infiltrated the Land of Rivers Daimyo’s residence, killed the guards and the Land of Rivers Ninja protecting him, and marked the completed mission in a notebook.
• Lin Ke read that the Rebels had occupied more than a third of the Land of Rivers after the Daimyo and several ministers died.
• The Daimyo’s Son asked Lin Ke to escort him to the capital, and Lin Ke agreed to the S-Rank mission despite the country’s dangerous situation.
• Lin Ke considered who might have benefited from the assassination and wondered why Konoha would accept the mission if the Land of Fire had been responsible.
• Lin Ke used the Body Flicker Technique to return home and prepared to depart with his subordinates the next day.

Lin Ke escorted the Daimyo's Son into the war-torn Land of Rivers, where they encountered signs of devastation and an attempted ambush. Meanwhile, Yakushi Kabuto confronted Shimura Danzō in Konoha over their agreement to provide intelligence about Lin Ke.

• Lin Ke told Gaara to let their pursuers follow them, and Gaara later dealt with hostile people waiting in a canyon.
• The group reached a town scarred by fighting, passed monks cremating the dead, and camped in the forest for the night.
• Yakushi Kabuto met Shimura Danzō in Konoha and asked whether he would keep supplying intelligence about Lin Ke.
• Shimura Danzō hesitated to attack Yakushi Kabuto because Orochimaru's information about the Cursed Seal tempted him to preserve their agreement.

Yakushi Kabuto exchanged Kimimaro for cooperation with Shimura Danzō, who arranged their next meeting in the Land of Rivers. Later, Lin Ke received Shimura Danzō’s secret request to hand over the Daimyo's Son, but rejected it and kept the real message scroll.

• Yakushi Kabuto offered Shimura Danzō a Cursed Seal test subject and presented Kimimaro as a survivor who had lost his power but gained regenerative abilities.
• Shimura Danzō accepted Kimimaro and agreed to hold their next exchange in the Land of Rivers.
• Lin Ke’s group camped in the forest while Gaara slept, and four Konoha Anbu arrived with a coded scroll.
• Lin Ke deciphered Shimura Danzō’s request to hand over Daimyo's Son and recognized the visitors as Root.
• Lin Ke destroyed a replacement scroll, concealed the real one, and dismissed the Root ninja without agreeing to Shimura Danzō’s request.

Lin Ke investigated the disappearance of vagrants and children after a boy said they had been promised food, shelter, money, and training. He uncovered a Sound Ninja Village recruitment operation and learned its base was about twenty kilometers away.

• A hungry boy told Lin Ke that homeless children had been lured away and offered to guide him for one thousand ryo.
• Lin Ke arranged for Temari and Daimyo's Son to rest at an inn while he followed the boy to a residence on the edge of town.
• Lin Ke's shadows captured a man inside the residence, and Lin Ke used the Hell Viewing Technique to interrogate him.
• The captive revealed that he was a Sound Ninja Village ninja recruiting test subjects and that their base was about twenty kilometers away.
• Lin Ke knocked the captive unconscious and brought the boy inside, planning to deal with the Sound Ninja Village ninjas in town before visiting the base.

Lin Ke gathered intelligence about the war and infiltrated Orochimaru’s Northern Base, where he confronted Yakushi Kabuto. Kabuto asked Lin Ke to spare his life as Lin Ke and Uchiha Fugaku cornered him.

• Lin Ke paid a boy for an account of the war zone’s violence and learned how its ongoing conflicts sustained ninja villages.
• Lin Ke interrogated three Sound Ninja Village ninja with Genjutsu, killed them, buried their bodies, and left.
• Yakushi Kabuto recorded Orochimaru’s experiments, which suggested that Cursed Seals could balance Natural Energy but that Natural Energy interfered with Chakra-based abilities.
• Lin Ke confronted Kabuto at the Northern Base and asked whether Orochimaru was there, while shadows surrounded Kabuto.
• Uchiha Fugaku appeared from the opposite corridor, and Kabuto offered his knowledge in exchange for his life.

Lin Ke defeated Yakushi Kabuto and learned that Orochimaru and Shimura Danzō had been collaborating on experiments and gathering information about him. Meanwhile, the Third Tsuchikage ordered Akatsuki to eliminate the Rebels in the Land of Rivers, leaving the rebellion under threat from Iwagakure’s covert intervention.

• Lin Ke sealed Yakushi Kabuto, questioned him, and learned Orochimaru planned to arrive in the Land of Rivers for experiments and a meeting with Danzo.
• Kabuto revealed that Orochimaru and Danzo had long collaborated, sharing information about Lin Ke and his genetic material.
• Lin Ke ordered Baki to bind Kabuto and learned that Danzo had obtained Orochimaru’s Cursed Seal.
• The Third Tsuchikage reviewed intelligence about the Land of Rivers’ rebel leader and judged his proposed alliance with Iwagakure to be a threat and an attempt to avoid control.
• The Third Tsuchikage ordered Iwagakure’s Anbu to notify the Akatsuki Organization to eliminate the Rebels in the Land of Rivers.

Lin Ke captured Yakushi Kabuto at Orochimaru’s base and sent a signal for Konoha reinforcements. In Konoha, the Third Hokage and his advisors discussed Danzo’s actions in the Land of Rivers and the Daimyo’s conditions for supporting a new Hokage.

• Lin Ke had Uchiha Fugaku seal the base’s research materials for the Cipher Division and release its prisoners.
• Uchiha Fugaku warned Lin Ke about Orochimaru, planted a Sharingan Genjutsu in Yakushi Kabuto’s eyes, and returned through Rashomon.
• Lin Ke escorted Yakushi Kabuto to the hotel and requested aid from Konoha after discovering Orochimaru’s base.
• The Third Hokage asked Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu what they knew about events in the Land of Rivers.
• Mitokado Homura said the advisors would watch Danzo and reported that the new Daimyo would support Jiraiya or Tsunade as Hokage if Konoha stopped interfering in the Land of Rivers.

Lin Ke’s escort encountered Land of Rivers ninja who revealed that the country’s capital had fallen and its forces had surrendered. Meanwhile, Sasori and Deidara crossed the border to carry out their mission, leaving the Daimyo’s Son’s fate unresolved.

• Lin Ke noticed the Land of Rivers ninja’s suspiciously late arrival and kept his subordinates away while the Daimyo’s Son spoke with their leader.
• The middle-aged ninja attacked the Daimyo’s Son, but Lin Ke’s shadows subdued all twenty-six Land of Rivers ninja.
• Lin Ke asked the Daimyo’s Son to decide what to do with the captured attackers, and the middle-aged ninja revealed that the capital had fallen three days earlier and the country had surrendered.
• Sasori and Deidara arrived at the Land of Rivers border and discussed completing their mission and meeting the person sent to Orochimaru’s side.

Lin Ke protected the Daimyo's Son as the Land of Rivers Ninja tried to force him to die, then continued toward the capital after killing them. Meanwhile, Shimura Danzō investigated Orochimaru's ruined base and withdrew with Root, while Orochimaru watched, wary that Yakushi Kabuto had been captured.

• The middle-aged Land of Rivers Ninja told the Daimyo's Son that Konoha had killed the Daimyo and ministers, then urged him to die for the country.
• Lin Ke's shadows killed the Land of Rivers Ninja, and the Daimyo's Son asked to visit the capital and see the country's future.
• Lin Ke's group burned the bodies and resumed escorting the Daimyo's Son and Yakushi Kabuto toward the capital.
• Shimura Danzō learned that an unknown expert had killed the defenders at Orochimaru's base and taken its research materials.
• Shimura Danzō ordered Root to destroy the base and proceed to the capital, while Orochimaru watched from a distant branch and wondered who had captured Kabuto.

After nearly a month of travel, Lin Ke’s team escorted the Daimyo’s Son to the capital and learned that the Rebels had renamed the fallen Land of Rivers the Land of Valleys. Lin Ke declined the new Daimyo’s invitation to a celebration and prepared to return to Konoha the next day.

• Lin Ke stayed alert as his exhausted team approached the capital with the Daimyo’s Son.
• An old retainer welcomed the Daimyo’s Son, who learned that the Rebels had renamed the country the Land of Valleys.
• The Daimyo’s Son told Lin Ke that the new Daimyo had invited the group to a celebration three days later.
• Lin Ke declined the invitation and decided that his team would rest before setting out for Konoha the next day.
• Lin Ke’s group ate at a restaurant and checked into a hotel while hidden ninja followed them.

Deidara destroyed the Land of Rivers’ capital while Lin Ke and his group fled the bombardment. Sasori intercepted them outside the city, and Lin Ke summoned Baki and Uchiha Fugaku to confront him as Sasori prepared to attack.

• Sasori waited impatiently for Deidara, who demolished the Daimyo's Residence and bombed the surrounding streets from his Clay Owl.
• Lin Ke and Gaara spotted Deidara’s attack, and Lin Ke shielded the inn with an Earth Flow Wall before leading his subordinates out of the capital.
• Lin Ke’s group fled into the wilderness, carrying Yakushi Kabuto, but Sasori stopped them with a senbon and recognized Kabuto.
• Sasori attacked the group, while Kankuro defended himself with Crow and Lin Ke’s side blocked Sasori’s attacks with Rashomon.
• Baki and Uchiha Fugaku emerged to confront Sasori, who coveted Fugaku as a valuable collection and fired his Prosthetic Arm.

Lin Ke learned that Sasori had defeated Uchiha Fugaku and Baki with the Third Kazekage puppet’s Iron Sand, then prepared for the pursuit with Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari. Temari’s attack destroyed Sasori and Deidara’s giant bird, but Sasori remained alive.

• Lin Ke contacted Uchiha Fugaku and Baki, who described how Sasori’s Iron Sand had turned the battle against them.
• Gaara spotted Sasori and Deidara pursuing the group on a giant bird, so Lin Ke stopped to prepare for battle.
• Lin Ke told Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari about Sasori’s puppets and his ability to control a hundred mechanisms.
• Temari summoned Kamatari and used Summoning Technique: Severing Whirlwind Dance to slice the giant bird apart.
• Temari reported that Sasori had survived the attack.

Lin Ke used Spicy Girl to toughen his and his allies’ clothes before Sasori and Deidara launched their attack. The battle left the Third Kazekage puppet badly damaged and Crow destroyed, while Deidara prepared a flying dragon for escape.

• Lin Ke used Spicy Girl to soften and toughen the clothes of Kankuro, Gaara, and Temari, protecting their skin from piercing attacks and poison.
• Lin Ke sensed Deidara emerging underground, and he and his three subordinates leaped away before Deidara’s explosion collapsed the ground.
• Sasori attacked with the Third Kazekage puppet’s Iron Sand, but Spicy Girl hardened a tree trunk to block it and Lin Ke sent the Iron Sand flying back.
• Lin Ke’s shadows damaged the Third Kazekage puppet, while Sasori killed several shadows with his blades and cables before Gaara’s sand briefly trapped him.
• Sasori destroyed Kankuro’s puppet Crow, and Temari pulled Kankuro aside as Kunai from the damaged Third Kazekage puppet struck a wall of sand and its Exploding Tags ignited.

Lin Ke used Spicy Girl and a binding technique to trap Sasori after weathering the puppet master's attacks. Gaara intercepted Deidara as Lin Ke prepared to strike Sasori with a Chakra Scalpel.

• Sasori's explosive kunai blasted Gaara's sand shield and injured Temari and Kankuro, so Lin Ke ordered Temari to retreat with her brother.
• Lin Ke charged Sasori while Gaara held Deidara at bay, and Sasori summoned a hundred Human Puppets to attack him.
• Spicy Girl smashed and deflected the puppets, allowing Lin Ke to pursue Sasori as he leaped away to avoid close combat.
• Lin Ke bound Sasori with translucent runes from his wallet, while Gaara stopped Deidara's rescue attempt by covering his flying dragon with sand.
• Lin Ke leaped above Sasori and formed a Chakra Scalpel, preparing to cut the chakra controlling his Human Puppet body.