Chapter Summaries

Hyuga Ningyuan, Yūhi Kurenai, and Might Guy graduated as Class Five and were assigned a female Uchiha Jonin as their captain. She rushed out of the classroom before introducing herself, leaving the new team to chase after her.

• Shōhoku Sōun announced the graduating students’ team assignments and urged them to care for their comrades and serve the village.
• Might Guy joined Ningyuan and Yūhi Kurenai, explaining that Lord Hokage had granted him special approval to graduate despite failing the Three Body Techniques exam.
• Yūhi Kurenai gave Guy a novel to read, and he eagerly accepted it while waiting for their captain.
• Kakashi led Class Seven as a Special Jonin, startling Uchiha Obito and revealing that his rapid advancement came with the Ning Organization’s resources and his father’s guidance.
• A female Uchiha Jonin called for Class Five, then leaped out the window; Ningyuan and Kurenai followed her, while Guy was left trailing behind.

Uchiha Mikoto led Ningyuan, Yūhi Kurenai, and Might Guy out of the village, introduced herself, and explained that their team would be an all-purpose squad. She left them preparing for a practical exercise after discovering they had brought no ninja tools and each requested an unusual weapon.

• Uchiha Mikoto led the three Genin on a four-hour run to a nearby town and taught them how speed could help in missions and combat.
• Uchiha Mikoto introduced herself and asked the three to share their names, interests, dislikes, and dreams; Ningyuan joked about a friend named Misaka Mikoto, while Yūhi Kurenai and Might Guy described their aspirations.
• Uchiha Mikoto explained that the team’s skills in medical ninjutsu, genjutsu, taijutsu, and ninjutsu were meant to make them capable in every direction.
• Uchiha Mikoto noticed the Genin had no ninja tool pouches and offered to lend them tools, but Might Guy requested nunchaku, Ningyuan asked for a spear, and Yūhi Kurenai wanted a folding fan.
• Uchiha Mikoto set a ten-minute preparation period for a forest exercise, declaring that the first person eliminated would treat the others to a meal.

Ningyuan defeated Uchiha Mikoto in a spar by using a spear to overwhelm her Kunai and prevent her from using Ninjutsu or Genjutsu. Afterward, Mikoto copied his spear technique, discovered its power, and was astonished by Ningyuan's ability to heal her wounds instantly.

• Ningyuan offered the team members equipment from Mikoto's Ninja Tool Pouch, while Guy and Yūhi Kurenai declined.
• Mikoto began the spar early and caught Might Guy in her Sharingan, but Ningyuan attacked her with a spear fitted with the Short Dagger.
• Ningyuan forced Mikoto to retreat, disarmed her, and stabbed her shoulder before explaining how the spear had overcome her shorter weapon.
• Mikoto copied Ningyuan's spear movements with her Sharingan and quickly demonstrated the weapon's speed and force.
• Ningyuan told Mikoto he had made the spear himself and credited Zhao Zilong as his inspiration.
• Mikoto discovered Ningyuan had healed her wounds completely and reconsidered his reputation as merely skilled in Medical Ninjutsu.

Uchiha Mikoto took her team on a D-Rank land-reclamation mission and discovered that the Land of Fire’s schools taught Chakra to ordinary students on a vast scale. She realized the country’s education and training system could threaten Konoha’s relevance, while Ningyuan and Yūhi Kurenai knew the organization was also secretly identifying gifted students for specialized training.

• Uchiha Mikoto explained the team’s D-Rank mission to help reclaim land outside a town, and Might Guy accepted the work.
• Might Guy saw the town’s modern infrastructure, while Mikoto reflected on Konoha’s refusal to adopt changes such as newspapers, paved roads, and internet access.
• Uchiha Mikoto’s team found the mayor, who assigned them to carry stones down a hillside starting the next day.
• Uchiha Mikoto noticed that the clerk Niu Sheng had Chakra and learned that his school taught Chakra theory to ordinary students.
• Niu Sheng revealed that his grade had four classes of seventy students and over a hundred students with Chakra, but his school taught liberal arts and science rather than ninja techniques.
• Uchiha Mikoto feared that the Land of Fire’s widespread education system could endanger Konoha, while Ningyuan and Yūhi Kurenai knew gifted students were secretly selected for specialized training.

Uchiha Mikoto learned that the Land of Fire’s schools taught Chakra for peaceful, productive work rather than combat, and Ningyuan explained how Konoha’s assumptions about Chakra and ninja employment might be wrong. He then proposed a detailed Uchiha Police Force reform, leaving Mikoto eager to put his ideas into practice.

• Uchiha Mikoto questioned Niu Sheng about his education and learned that his school taught Chakra for strengthening the body, respect for life, and care for the environment, not combat.
• Ningyuan explained that Chakra had been created for peace and argued that Konoha’s use of it for warfare was the strange practice; he also pointed out that ninjas could work for salaries rather than depend only on missions.
• Ningyuan proposed organizing Uchiha officers into Civilian Police, Ninja Police, Armed Ninja Police, and an Economic Crime Investigation department, with bonuses tied to public order and crimes exposed.
• Ningyuan proposed separate police ranks, promotions, and a merit system with public awards, and Uchiha Mikoto became excited about implementing the reforms.

Uchiha Mikoto returned to the Uchiha compound determined to become captain of the police force so she could carry out Ningyuan’s reform plans. After learning that Fugaku had been chosen as clan head largely because the other candidates were dangerous radicals, she began reconsidering their engagement, but decided to test Ningyuan’s ideas before making a decision.

• Uchiha Mikoto dismissed her teammates after they returned to Konoha and hurried home to pursue her plans for the police force.
• Mikoto told Uchiha Sanrong and Uchiha Fugaku that she wanted to become captain instead of Fugaku, and Fugaku agreed to give up the position.
• Mikoto persuaded Sanrong to invite the clan elders to their home, since clan rules barred women from attending meetings on clan grounds.
• Sanrong explained that Fugaku had been chosen as clan head because the other available candidates, Uchiha Zhang Huo and Uchiha Yan, were radicals.
• Mikoto began questioning her engagement to Fugaku but decided to reform the police force and test Ningyuan’s ideas before deciding whether to break it off.

Uchiha Mikoto won the contest to become captain of the Uchiha Police Force and used her inaugural speech to promise to investigate why the force was disliked in Konoha. The chapter ended with the gathered Uchiha rallying behind her and preparing to assemble at Police Force headquarters.

• Uchiha Sanrong called a clan meeting and proposed that Uchiha Mikoto become captain of the Uchiha Police Force, prompting Uchiha Zhang Huo and Uchiha Yan to object.
• Uchiha Fugaku defeated Uchiha Yan in the first match, while Mikoto recognized that Yan had tried to wear Fugaku down for Zhang Huo.
• Mikoto defeated Zhang Huo with a spear, and the crowd learned that the painful substance on its tip was salt rather than poison.
• Fugaku surrendered to Mikoto, and Sanrong announced that she would inherit his position as police force captain.
• Mikoto promised to investigate the Police Force's poor reputation and called on its members to gather at headquarters, winning the crowd's support.

Uchiha Mikoto introduced a sweeping reform of the Uchiha Police Force, renaming it the Konoha City Security Bureau and restructuring its departments, uniforms, and salaries. The reforms were set to officially begin in seven days, while the bureau continued its security work.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi learned that Uchiha Mikoto had won the competition for police chief and ordered the Anbu to keep watch on the Uchiha Clan.
• Mikoto gathered the Police Force and announced that it would be renamed the Konoha City Security Bureau and adopt the Land of Fire Security emblem.
• Uchiha Sanrong recognized that borrowing the Land of Fire's name could give the bureau political protection without surrendering its independence.
• Mikoto presented new departments, uniforms, and a fixed-salary system, then explained the bureau's duties and regulations to the gathered officers.
• Mikoto announced that the reforms would begin in seven days after the custom uniforms arrived, and she confirmed that security work would continue in the meantime.

The Uchiha Security Bureau’s reforms won public support, and its Economic Crime Investigation Division exposed corruption in Konoha’s Mission Management Office. Hiruzen Sarutobi publicly accepted responsibility and promised to resign after the investigation, while the sole unarrested clerk, Yūhi Shinku, was left to run the office and sensed trouble ahead.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi learned that the Uchiha had formed an elite Armed Ninja Police and ordered Sarutobi Shin to monitor them for weaknesses.
• Uchiha Hui and Uchiha Zhi arrested Sarutobi Cong and Sarutobi Xiang for skimming Mission Gold, explaining that their investigation found five of the office’s six employees involved.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi admitted the accused were all Sarutobi clan members, condemned the corruption, and said he would resign after the case concluded.
• The crowd discovered that Yūhi Shinku was the only Mission Management Office clerk left, and he felt uneasy about what might happen next.

Hiruzen Sarutobi tried to contain the Mission Gold scandal by arranging an investigation of Orochimaru’s secret base, then assigned Uchiha Mikoto’s team a C-Rank investigation mission. The team set out to check a suspected spy base in the woods west of the village.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi ordered Sarutobi Shin to cut ties with the five embezzlers and plant some of the stolen money in their homes.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi decided to send Uchiha Mikoto’s team to investigate Orochimaru’s secret base, with support teams nearby in case of trouble.
• Uchiha Mikoto’s team arrived at the Hokage Office Building, where Yūhi Shinku offered them a C-Rank investigation mission.
• Yūhi Shinku explained that shadows had been seen in the woods west of the village and that the mission’s rank would rise if the suspected spy proved to be a ninja.
• Uchiha Mikoto accepted the mission and led her team toward the suspected base.

Ningyuan realized Hiruzen Sarutobi might be forced from office and arranged for Orochimaru and other allies to return to Konoha. When Hiruzen led the clan heads to investigate Orochimaru’s hidden base, they found a brightly lit research institute whose green interior contradicted Hiruzen’s expectations of horrific experiments.

• Ningyuan reconsidered his plans after connecting the Uchiha reforms and corruption investigation to Hiruzen Sarutobi’s possible removal, and he urged Orochimaru, Tsunade, and Hatake Sakumo to return while Minato secured the front lines.
• Mikoto’s group located a concealed underground base, and Mikoto summoned the Ninja Cat Tribe to request reinforcements and notify Hiruzen Sarutobi.
• Hiruzen arrived with over a hundred ninja and clan leaders, and Hyuga Hiashi identified Orochimaru among the four people inside the base.
• Hiruzen led the group through a well-lit underground railway tunnel to the institute, where Yamashiro Aoba calmly opened the enormous door.
• Hiruzen entered expecting to see evidence of human experimentation, but the institute’s green interior left the gathered ninja shocked and admiring.

Orochimaru revealed that he had developed extraordinarily high-yield crops to combat hunger, winning the support of Konoha’s clan heads and civilians while Hiruzen Sarutobi watched his influence collapse. When Hiruzen confronted him over nine thousand people taken from Root, Orochimaru explained that he had secretly resettled them rather than using them in Wood Release experiments, leaving Hiruzen publicly defeated and their teacher-student bond effectively ended.

• Orochimaru explained that witnessing hunger during the Second Shinobi World War had led him to research food crops, and Shiranui Genma described the dramatic yields of his improved rice and other plants.
• Mikoto and the clan heads confirmed that high-yield crops had spread through the Land of Fire and praised Orochimaru, while Hiruzen grew furious that his former student had researched food instead of Wood Release.
• Hiruzen realized Orochimaru’s popularity and the pending investigation threatened his hold on Konoha, then began planning how to preserve influence after stepping down.
• Hiruzen accused Orochimaru of taking six thousand adults and three thousand children from Danzo’s Root for Wood Release research, but Orochimaru admitted taking them and named the towns where he had resettled them.
• Orochimaru said he had relocated the people because Danzo and Hiruzen had pressured him to conduct dangerous experiments, and the assembled clan heads accepted his explanation.
• Orochimaru knelt and apologized to Hiruzen, who embraced him and admitted defeat; Orochimaru’s faint smile left their teacher-student relationship at an end.

Hiruzen Sarutobi resigned over the Mission Gold corruption scandal, and Orochimaru became Konoha’s Fourth Hokage. Orochimaru immediately proposed replacing missions with strength-based subsidies and creating an Inspection Department, leaving Hyuga Hiashi and Uchiha Fugaku uneasy about what his reforms would mean for their clans.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi accepted responsibility for the Mission Gold scandal, stepped down, and handed the Hokage Hat to Mitokado Homura to oversee the selection.
• Jiraiya, Uchiha Fugaku, and Hyuga Hiashi withdrew from the Hokage election, leaving Orochimaru as the sole candidate.
• Orochimaru accepted the Hokage Hat and said he would skip a succession ceremony while Konoha notified the Daimyo.
• Orochimaru announced that Konoha would stop accepting missions and instead distribute subsidies according to ninja strength.
• Orochimaru created an Inspection Department to investigate corruption and appointed Aburame Shibi as its first Minister, directing him to study mathematics at Kyoto University.
• Hyuga Hiashi and Uchiha Fugaku grew uneasy as Orochimaru began offering opportunities to the smaller Ninja Clans.

Orochimaru assigned Konoha’s clans to newly established departments and ordered a full investigation into the missing Mission Gold, including Hiruzen Sarutobi’s possible involvement. He then planned to send Jiraiya undercover and appoint nine-year-old Hyuga Ningyuan as front-line commander, leaving Jiraiya stunned by the decision.

• Orochimaru assigned the Kurama Clan to urban planning, the Akimichi Clan to construction, the Inuzuka Clan to traffic, the Nara Clan to research, the Yamanaka Clan to intelligence, and the Uchiha Clan to security, while appointing Hyuga Ningyuan as Medical Department Minister.
• Orochimaru ordered Uchiha Fugaku and Aburame Shibi to jointly investigate the missing Mission Gold, pursue the case without exception, and monitor the Sarutobi Clan while avoiding false accusations.
• Jiraiya challenged Orochimaru’s plan to investigate their former teacher, but Orochimaru insisted that the missing funds demanded accountability and Jiraiya fell silent.
• Orochimaru told Fugaku and Shibi to report corruption to him, then learned from Jiraiya that Hiruzen Sarutobi had halted an earlier push against Sunagakure and that the enemy had since adapted to Minato’s Flying Thunder God.
• Orochimaru planned to remove Jiraiya as commander-in-chief and send him undercover near Hiruzen Sarutobi, explaining that he needed someone he trusted to watch their teacher.
• Orochimaru named nine-year-old Hyuga Ningyuan as the new front-line commander, arguing that Sunagakure would underestimate him, and Jiraiya reluctantly accepted the decision.

Hiruzen Sarutobi and his allies plotted to undermine Orochimaru, while Hyuga Hiashi learned that Ningyuan had been named commander-in-chief of the Land of Wind front. Hiashi suspected Orochimaru was setting Ningyuan up to take the blame for defeat, and decided the Hyuga Clan would send elite forces to ensure victory.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi, Utatane Koharu, and Mitokado Homura discussed striking first against Orochimaru, but agreed to wait for him to make mistakes they could criticize.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi argued that Orochimaru’s lack of a Hokage inauguration ceremony could cost him the villagers’ recognition, and the others considered spreading rumors.
• Ningyuan told Hyuga Hiashi that Orochimaru had appointed him commander-in-chief of the Land of Wind front.
• Ningyuan explained that Orochimaru might be using him as a scapegoat if the stalled war ended in defeat, and Hiashi agreed that Minato would otherwise bear the blame.
• Hyuga Hiashi decided to send some of the Hyuga Clan’s elite to the front with Ningyuan, determined that they could not afford to lose.

Orochimaru rapidly reorganized Konoha by creating civil departments and public services, while Hiruzen Sarutobi and his companions discovered how much the new Hokage had changed the village. After Orochimaru demanded control of Root and rejected the elders’ claims to authority, Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura resigned from their positions.

• Orochimaru established six more departments, and Hiruzen Sarutobi found the Hokage Office Building crowded with staff reorganizing decades of records.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi learned from Yūhi Shinku that Konoha planned free compulsory education, aid for poor families, and public services funded through a new budget allocation.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi hesitated to reveal how to open the sealed room containing Konoha’s secret techniques, then met Orochimaru in a thoroughly renovated Hokage’s office.
• Orochimaru challenged Utatane Koharu’s financial expertise and rejected her and Mitokado Homura’s claim to manage the Finance Department.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi offered to let Orochimaru establish the Finance Department if he left Anbu and Root alone, but Orochimaru demanded Root and agreed to leave Anbu with Hiruzen Sarutobi.
• A bulletin announced that Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura had resigned as elders and retired.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was surrounded by the Armed Ninja Police and confronted with evidence that he had ordered the theft of Konoha funds for his clan. As his former allies abandoned him and he was taken into custody, he learned that Hyuga Ningyuan’s suggestions had helped set the investigation in motion.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi nearly fell outside the Hokage Office Building and met Hyuga Ningyuan, who said he had come to watch a show.
• Uchiha Nanato and the Armed Ninja Police surrounded Hiruzen, declared him a civilian, and revealed that his clan had been arrested and its assets seized.
• Uchiha Nanato accused Hiruzen of directing the embezzlement of more than thirty billion, then awakened his Mangekyo through extreme joy.
• Uchiha Nanato explained that Ningyuan’s conversations with Uchiha Mikoto had inspired Police Force reforms that led to the economic-crime investigation.
• Hiruzen demanded to know why Ningyuan had acted, and Ningyuan said Mikoto’s beauty had distracted him into offering suggestions.
• Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura denied responsibility and withdrew, leaving Hiruzen to spit blood as Uchiha Nanato ordered his arrest.

Tsunade and Hatake Sakumo presented Danzo's confessions, while Ningyuan exposed how he had uncovered Hiruzen Sarutobi's plot to eliminate rivals and preserve the Hokage Position. Hiruzen Sarutobi refused to surrender, and Uchiha Nanato summoned Susanoo as the battle began.

• Tsunade accused Hiruzen Sarutobi of arranging the deaths of Nawaki and Dan Katō and presented Danzo's confession as evidence.
• Hatake Sakumo revealed that he had faked his death, claimed responsibility for killing Danzo, and presented another copy of Danzo's confession.
• Ningyuan explained how he had recognized Hiruzen Sarutobi's hostility toward geniuses and investigated his schemes to suppress or eliminate potential Hokage rivals.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi rejected Ningyuan's demand to surrender, summoned Enma, and challenged Uchiha Nanato to show Susanoo.
• Uchiha Nanato activated Susanoo, and the confrontation around Hiruzen Sarutobi began.

Hiruzen Sarutobi fought Uchiha Nanato’s Susanoo and died, after which Nanato tried to seize power by arresting Orochimaru. Ningyuan opposed the Uchiha Clan’s rebellion, and Orochimaru and Tsunade revealed Wood Release to subdue the attackers, while Hyuga Hiashi discovered Ningyuan had no forehead seal.

• Uchiha Nanato’s Susanoo overwhelmed Hiruzen Sarutobi, who died after warning Orochimaru to keep the Uchiha Clan from abusing power.
• Uchiha Nanato accused Orochimaru of sharing in the Sarutobi Clan’s embezzlement and ordered his arrest without presenting evidence.
• Ningyuan challenged the Uchiha Clan’s unlawful actions, but Uchiha Mikoto and the other Uchiha joined Nanato in surrounding Orochimaru and Tsunade.
• Hyuga Hiashi defended Ningyuan and urged the clan heads to unite against Nanato, while Fugaku tried to win Hiashi’s support by offering him Root.
• Ningyuan condemned the Uchiha Clan and Hiashi for treason, then Orochimaru and Tsunade used Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence to bind the Uchiha and stop Nanato’s Susanoo.
• Hyuga Hiashi noticed that Ningyuan’s forehead bore no seal and chose not to question him.

Hyuga Ningyuan revealed the Ning Organization’s membership, world-unification goal, and expanding control to Konoha’s clan heads. The major clans applied to join, and Ningyuan began explaining that admission would require meeting the organization’s standards.

• Ningyuan led a meeting with Orochimaru, Tsunade, Hatake Sakumo, and Yūhi Kurenai, while Kurenai laid down rules for taking notes and speaking.
• Ningyuan announced that Orochimaru, Tsunade, Hatake Sakumo, Namikaze Minato, and Uzumaki Kushina belonged to the Ning Organization, and he identified himself as its leader.
• Ningyuan declared that the organization sought permanent world peace through unification and revealed that it controlled the Land of Fire and had taken control of the Land of Rain after defeating Hanzō and Danzo’s forces.
• Ningyuan named the Land of Wind, Land of Earth, Land of Lightning, and Land of Water as the organization’s next targets.
• The Nara, Akimichi, Yamanaka, Aburame, Inuzuka, Uzuki, and Tsukiyo clan heads applied to join, and Ningyuan told them they would need to meet the organization’s admission requirements.