Chapter Summaries

Sarutobi Hiruzen faked unconsciousness and withdrew from the battle as the other four Kage attacked Uchiha Liuyun. Liuyun survived their assault by using Susanoo, but the fight continued with the Kage still facing him.

• Inoichi Yamanaka carried the supposedly unconscious Sarutobi Hiruzen away as the Third Tsuchikage and Fourth Raikage rushed to intercept Liuyun.
• Ōnoki changed his technique to increase A’s weight, and A’s punch shattered Liuyun’s elbow bone and sent him crashing into a mountain.
• The Third Mizukage and Third Kazekage attacked Liuyun in the mountain, while Hatake Sakumo left the battlefield after Hiruzen withdrew.
• Liuyun emerged with a bloodied arm that had already healed, then covered himself with Susanoo bones despite having lost an eye.
• The Fourth Raikage struck Liuyun’s Susanoo, but Liuyun mocked him as the weakest Kage and sent the Kazekage’s iron sand coffin flying with a skeletal-arm strike.
• The Third Mizukage launched the Great Waterfall Technique at Liuyun.

Liuyun advanced Susanoo into its mature form and killed the Third Mizukage with a sweeping sword strike. The remaining Kage and their forces faced another attack as Liuyun prepared to strike again.

• The Third Tsuchikage's Dust Release collided with Susanoo's sword, but the Black Armored Demon God emerged unharmed.
• Liuyun transformed Susanoo into its mature Crow Tengu Armor form as the Third Tsuchikage called four Elite Jonin to reinforce the Kage.
• Liuyun targeted the Fourth Raikage, but the Raikage's escape brought him toward the Third Mizukage, whose Water Barrier and Night's Ice Release slowed the sword strike.
• Liuyun's Sword Qi split the Third Mizukage and Night in two, making the Third Mizukage the first Kage to die in the battle; the Fourth Raikage was only grazed and sent flying.
• The Sword Qi cut through trees and split a mountain, prompting the Third Kazekage's two Elite Jonin to hesitate before fleeing as Liuyun raised Susanoo's sword again.

Liuyun endured the combined attacks of the Third Kazekage, Third Tsuchikage, and Fourth Raikage, then escaped the Tsuchikage’s Dust Release by tunneling underground. The three Kage saw him emerge unharmed from a Black Dragon, just as he announced that the battle was about to end.

• The Third Kazekage trapped Liuyun’s Susanoo in iron sand, and the Third Tsuchikage increased its weight until it crushed Susanoo into the ground.
• The Fourth Raikage struck Susanoo with a powerful kick, but only broke a small piece of armor and injured his own leg.
• Liuyun suffered intense pain in his right eye from sustaining his mature Susanoo, while the Third Tsuchikage fired Dust Release and appeared to decompose him.
• A Black Dragon erupted from the ground and attacked the Third Tsuchikage, but the Fourth Raikage knocked it away and warned that Liuyun had survived.
• The three Kage watched the Black Dragon spit out an unharmed Liuyun, who declared that the battle was about to end.

Liuyun activated Sage God Mode and overwhelmed the three fleeing Kage, killing the Sand and Stone ninja who tried to hold him back. The Third Kazekage, the Third Tsuchikage, and the wounded Fourth Raikage escaped, while Liuyun's Sage Chakra ran out and he prepared to return to Hidden Sound Village.

• Liuyun released the power of his Yang Seal, and the three Kage fled from his immense Chakra.
• Liuyun struck the Fourth Raikage and sent him flying, but two Sand Village Elite Jonin blocked his pursuit with Wind Release.
• The Third Kazekage chose to flee with the Third Tsuchikage and the injured Fourth Raikage, leaving the two Sand Jonin behind to die.
• Liuyun killed the two Sand Jonin, then evaded the Hidden Stone Jonin's Mountain Earth Technique and killed him as well.
• Liuyun formed black clouds for Lightning Release: Dragon Arrival, but the three Kage escaped beyond the cloud cover.
• Liuyun let the Kage go as his Sage Chakra returned to the Yang Seal, then decided to return to Hidden Sound Village to rest.

After the Five Kage’s defeat, Ōnoki and the Third Kazekage discussed how to respond to Uchiha Liuyun and manage the fallout. Ōnoki planned to involve Konoha and the Land of Fire, suspecting they had benefited from Liuyun’s attacks.

• The Third Kazekage asked Ōnoki what to do after the Mizukage died and the Raikage and Hokage were seriously wounded, and Ōnoki said they needed to regroup and prepare for war.
• Ōnoki advised the Third Kazekage to consider halting the war with Konoha, then identified Sand, Waterfall, and Cloud as likely targets if Uchiha Liuyun continued pursuing tailed beasts.
• The Third Kazekage accused Ōnoki of abandoning Sand Village, and Ōnoki promised Hidden Stone would not stand by while its allies faced danger.
• Ōnoki agreed to notify Hidden Mist Village about the Mizukage’s death, while the Third Kazekage would take the wounded Raikage home and contact Cloud Village.
• Ōnoki said the Five Kage’s defeat must be kept secret, then urged the Third Kazekage to pressure the Land of Fire and Konoha with the Wind Country daimyo.
• Ōnoki accused Sarutobi Hiruzen of deliberately taking a hit and claimed Konoha had let Uchiha Liuyun weaken the other great nations; the Third Kazekage agreed Konoha should be dragged into the conflict.

After the Five Kage’s defeat by Uchiha Liuyun, Sarutobi Hiruzen joined a meeting with the Five Nations’ daimyo and village leaders to discuss what to do next. The meeting ended with Hiruzen defying the other nations and declaring Konoha would not accept blame or intimidation.

• Sarutobi Hiruzen told Mitokado Homura that the lack of news likely meant the Four Kage had lost to Uchiha Liuyun.
• Three days later, the Five Nations’ daimyo and the five village Kage met by communication screen, where Karatachi Yagura introduced himself as the newly appointed Fourth Mizukage.
• The Third Tsuchikage admitted that Uchiha Liuyun had surpassed Kage-level strength and that the Five Kage could not defeat him.
• The Third Kazekage accused Sarutobi Hiruzen of deliberately withdrawing early and raised suspicions about his ties to Uchiha Liuyun.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen defended himself, said Liuyun had never targeted Konoha, and challenged the other nations to face Konoha if they wanted war.

The Five Kage and the daimyos discussed how to stop Uchiha Liuyun, and the Third Tsuchikage proposed gathering the remaining five Tailed Beasts as bait for a trap. Sarutobi Hiruzen realized they meant to use Kushina Uzumaki and ended the meeting in fury.

• Sarutobi Hiruzen and the Land of Fire's daimyo rejected attempts to blame Konoha for the conflict with Uchiha Liuyun.
• The Third Tsuchikage proposed protecting the remaining five Tailed Beasts together and using them to lure Uchiha Liuyun into a trap.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen opposed gathering the Jinchuriki, while the Fourth Raikage, Fourth Mizukage, and Third Kazekage supported the Tsuchikage's plan.
• The Third Tsuchikage revealed that Uchiha Liuyun would come for the bait, and Sarutobi Hiruzen realized they intended to use Kushina Uzumaki.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen warned that harming Kushina would bring many deaths, flipped the table, and told the Land of Fire's daimyo the meeting was over.

Sarutobi Hiruzen refused to hand Kushina Uzumaki over to the Four Nations, who planned to use her as bait for Uchiha Liuyun, and prepared Konoha for war. Late at night, he visited Kushina to ask her to arrange a meeting with Liuyun.

• Sarutobi Hiruzen rejected the Four Kage's demands and declared that Konoha would not surrender Kushina Uzumaki.
• The Four Nations threatened to invade Konoha and seize Kushina, then ended communications with the Land of Fire.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen ordered Konoha to prepare for an all-out war against the Four Great Shinobi Villages.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen visited Kushina late at night and asked her to arrange a meeting with Uchiha Liuyun.
• Kushina told Sarutobi Hiruzen that Liuyun would not see him, so he explained the Four Nations' plan and his opposition to it.

Sarutobi Hiruzen told Kushina that the Four Great Nations wanted to use her to threaten Liuyun, and Kushina sent Liuyun a letter asking him to return. Liuyun arrived at Konoha before noon and reunited with Kushina, who rushed into his arms.

• Sarutobi Hiruzen explained the Four Great Nations' plan to use Kushina against Liuyun, and Kushina agreed to contact him.
• Kushina told Sarutobi Hiruzen that Liuyun would come, then prepared for his return while remembering his powerful seal on the Nine-Tails.
• Liuyun arrived at Konoha's gates, where a Chunin recognized him and hurried to notify the Hokage.
• Kushina spotted Liuyun outside their home, dropped her groceries, and leaped into his arms.

Liuyun returned to Konoha and reunited with Kushina, spending the day teasing her and sharing a meal at her home. They ended the afternoon flirting on the sofa, with Kushina kissing him to stop his teasing.

• Liuyun and Kushina reunited and joked about his compliments while the Anbu watched them from a distance.
• Kushina and Liuyun went home with the groceries she had bought and prepared eighteen dishes together.
• The two ate a large meal, then cleared the table and relaxed together on the sofa.
• Liuyun teased Kushina about losing weight and accused her of secretly sniffing him.
• Kushina blushed, bit Liuyun's lips to silence him, and the two began kissing and touching each other.

Liuyun learned that the Four Great Nations wanted Kushina as bait to draw him into a trap, and that Sarutobi Hiruzen had joined the Five Kage against him. He told Kushina he had defeated them, then suspected Hiruzen had sent her to ensure he would intervene in the looming conflict.

• Kushina explained that four nations planned to gather the Jinchuriki and Tailed Beasts and had pressured Konoha to hand her over as bait.
• Liuyun learned that Hiruzen had refused to surrender Kushina and that Konoha was preparing for war.
• Kushina became furious when Liuyun revealed that Hiruzen had fought alongside the other Kage, and Liuyun said he had defeated them.
• Liuyun told Kushina he had killed the Third Mizukage, badly injured the Fourth Raikage, wounded Hiruzen, and driven off the Kazekage and Tsuchikage.
• Liuyun suspected Hiruzen had sent Kushina to make him oppose the other nations, while Kushina clung to him and began tugging at his clothes.

Liuyun and Kushina ignored repeated summons from Sarutobi Hiruzen, spent the afternoon visiting Might Duy's family, and enjoyed the cherry blossoms. As Konoha's leaders grew desperate over the approaching war, Hiruzen decided to summon Jiraiya after his advisors urged him to meet Liuyun himself.

• Kushina turned away an Anbu messenger sent by Sarutobi Hiruzen, and Liuyun chose to keep sleeping before visiting Brother Duy.
• Liuyun and Kushina visited Might Duy's home, where they learned Old Duy was away on a mission and Liuyun played with Little Kai.
• Liuyun and Kushina skipped a visit to the Hokage Tower and went to admire the cherry blossoms instead.
• Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu urged Sarutobi Hiruzen to visit Liuyun because the Land of Fire faced enemies on every border.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen delayed going to Liuyun and summoned Jiraiya, while Orochimaru remained missing and Tsunade stayed away from Konoha.

Jiraiya visited Liuyun with Sarutobi Hiruzen and reminisced with him about his wartime achievements and Rain Country disciples. The visit ended in an argument over Konoha’s treatment of shinobi as tools, leaving Jiraiya shaken by Liuyun’s claim that he was one too.

• Jiraiya and Sarutobi Hiruzen visited Liuyun and Kushina, and Jiraiya reminisced about Liuyun’s rapid rise during the Rain Country battlefield.
• Liuyun told Jiraiya that Yahiko and the others had founded Akatsuki to preserve peace, delighting Jiraiya.
• Liuyun revealed that he had defeated the Five Kage when they came to kill him, prompting Sarutobi Hiruzen to explain how Liuyun became an SSS-Rank Missing-nin.
• Liuyun criticized Konoha’s leaders for sacrificing shinobi for the greater good, and Sarutobi Hiruzen said shinobi were born as tools who should endure.
• Jiraiya protested that shinobi were not tools, but Liuyun argued that Jiraiya himself was a useful tool trained to endure pain and injustice.

Sarutobi Hiruzen asked Liuyun to help Konoha withstand the Four Nations’ pressure, but Liuyun challenged him over Konoha’s earlier attempt on his life. Hiruzen offered his own life, Danzo’s, and the senior advisors’ lives to atone, and Liuyun was finally moved.

• Sarutobi Hiruzen described Liuyun as a strong one who had escaped the fate of being a ninja-tool, while Liuyun praised Hiruzen for recognizing reality.
• Hiruzen told Liuyun that the Four Nations were pressuring Konoha and asked him to act, citing the danger to Kushina.
• Liuyun refused to help without confronting Hiruzen about Konoha’s recent attempt to kill him.
• Hiruzen offered to take his own life, then added Danzo and the two senior advisors as sacrifices to make amends.
• Jiraiya and Kushina reacted with shock, while Liuyun was moved by Hiruzen’s willingness to hold himself and Konoha’s leadership accountable.

Liuyun rejected Sarutobi Hiruzen’s offer to sacrifice himself and agreed to resolve Konoha’s crisis by meeting the Four Nations at a Five Kage Summit the next afternoon. Hiruzen and Jiraiya left uncertain about Liuyun’s intentions, while Konoha’s fate rested on what he would do.

• Kushina asked Liuyun to consider Konoha’s efforts to protect her and warned that Hiruzen’s death could turn the village against her.
• Liuyun rejected Hiruzen’s proposed self-sacrifice, said his life and Danzo’s meant nothing to him, and warned that he had plans of his own.
• Liuyun agreed to help Konoha and ordered Hiruzen to convene another Five Kage Summit at three the next afternoon.
• Hiruzen left with Jiraiya, unable to understand how Liuyun planned to settle the crisis with the Four Nations.
• Jiraiya urged Hiruzen not to do anything rash, and Hiruzen reassured him before departing alone.

Liuyun and Kushina teased each other at home after avoiding a pregnancy scare, and Liuyun spent the night cultivating with Shadow Clones. At the Five Kage Summit, Sarutobi Hiruzen yielded the floor to Liuyun, whose arrival startled the other Kage.

• Kushina asked Liuyun if he blamed her, and he reassured her before teasing her about spending the night together.
• Kushina reminded Liuyun that she had nearly lost control the night before, and the two joked about whether she had deliberately left her door unlocked.
• Kushina locked her door and went to sleep, while Liuyun created three Shadow Clones to cultivate Immortal Technique.
• The night passed as Liuyun cultivated, and the scene shifted to Konoha's classified communications room for the Five Kage Summit.
• The Third Tsuchikage urged Sarutobi Hiruzen to hand over the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, but Hiruzen said someone else would speak for Konoha.
• Liuyun entered the communications room, greeted the four Kage, and said he had missed them.

Uchiha Liuyun told the Kage he would stop taking their villages’ Tailed Beasts and Jinchuriki, but refused to return the ones he already held. The Third Tsuchikage’s demand nearly provoked Liuyun into attacking Hidden Stone Village, until the Third Kazekage stopped him to ask his real purpose.

• Uchiha Liuyun dismissed the Third Tsuchikage’s demands for the return of Hidden Stone Village’s Jinchuriki and threatened to visit the village if Ōnoki continued to provoke him.
• Liuyun told the Kage he wanted to ease tensions and would no longer target their villages’ Tailed Beasts or Jinchuriki.
• The Third Tsuchikage demanded the return of all the Tailed Beasts, but Liuyun refused and threatened to deliver the Four-Tails and Five-Tails to Hidden Stone Village himself.
• The Third Kazekage stopped Liuyun from leaving and asked him to explain his real purpose, while privately welcoming the chance to avoid conflict over the One-Tail.

Liuyun threatened the Four Kage into withdrawing their troops and staying out of the Land of Fire for ten years, then left the leaders to debate whether to accept his offer or keep fighting. The Third Kazekage argued for reconciliation, prompting the Fourth Raikage to accuse him of betraying the alliance.

• Liuyun ordered the nations to withdraw within twenty-four hours and warned that he would strike their battlefields if they defied him.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen ended Konoha's video conference in frustration after Liuyun departed.
• The Third Kazekage questioned whether Liuyun would honor his promise to stop targeting the Tailed Beasts, while the Third Tsuchikage insisted their blood debts made peace impossible.
• The Third Tsuchikage argued that the nations could not let Liuyun's threat erase their losses, and the Fourth Raikage agreed with him.
• The Third Kazekage said he favored reconciliation because fighting Liuyun would cost too much, and the Fourth Raikage accused him of betraying the alliance.

The Kage argued over whether to continue the war against Uchiha Liuyun, but the other nations could not provide the forces or strategy needed to confront him. Ōnoki and the Third Kazekage announced their withdrawals, leaving the summit with the war effectively decided in Liuyun’s favor.

• The Third Kazekage said he would risk fighting Uchiha Liuyun only if the other Kage offered a viable plan, and none could.
• Yagura Karatachi asked how Ōnoki would face Liuyun and four Tailed Beasts without withdrawing, and Ōnoki demanded fifty Jonin and fifty Elite Jonin from each allied nation.
• Yagura explained that Hidden Mist Village could not reach the battlefield within Liuyun’s forty-eight-hour deadline, while the Fourth Raikage said Cloud Village also needed three days to arrive.
• The Third Kazekage warned that sending their elites to the battlefield would leave the other nations vulnerable to Konoha.
• Ōnoki announced that Hidden Stone Village would withdraw, and the Third Kazekage announced that Sand Village would withdraw as well.
• The Kage agreed to use the ceasefire to train a new generation and rebuild their forces for a possible war in ten years.

Liuyun discussed Konoha’s war and his ten-year peace deadline with Jiraiya over drinks, rejecting pressure to forgive the Hokage while agreeing to spare the village for Jiraiya’s sake. He planned to stay in Konoha, then passionately praised Kushina as Jiraiya questioned whether the sake had made him drunk.

• Jiraiya invited Liuyun to a tavern and asked why he had refused to resolve Konoha’s war despite his strength.
• Liuyun reminded Jiraiya that the Hokage had joined the other Kage in trying to kill him and said he had already repaid Konoha by securing ten years of peace.
• Jiraiya apologized for pressuring Liuyun and asked him not to seek revenge on the Hokage; Liuyun agreed to give Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru face.
• Liuyun said he would meet the other four Kage in war if they defied his deadline, and he confirmed that he would stay in Konoha for a while.
• Jiraiya mocked Liuyun for respecting Kushina and warned him against indulging women, but Liuyun loudly defended Kushina as gentle, obedient, and generous.
• Jiraiya wondered whether Liuyun had gotten drunk unusually quickly and inspected the sake bottle.