Chapter Summaries

Shikaku read the plan for the Hokage-controlled Sky Patrol Department, which Naruto intended to use to deter the powerful from abusing the weak. As Daren Yi toured the Sacred Gate estate with the Konoha 11, he began plotting trials for Ino Yamanaka and Shikamaru Nara after overhearing their complaints.

• Shikaku read that the Sky Patrol Department would be led by the Konoha 11, answer only to the Hokage, and patrol Konoha and the Land of Fire.
• Naruto said the department would arrest even the Daimyo if he committed a crime, and explained that its immediate purpose was to deter powerful people from oppressing the weak.
• Daren Yi walked with the Konoha 11 through the Sacred Gate headquarters estate and considered how Konoha's political transformation might change Naruto and its clans.
• Ino Yamanaka quietly complained about Daren Yi's sinister smile, and Daren Yi decided that she and Shikamaru Nara would face trials he had already scheduled.

Daren Yi taught Ino Yamanaka powerful Yin Release techniques based on the legacy of the Nine Snake Empress and revealed the tragic fate behind them. Ino vowed to complete the unfinished Forbidden Chapter and fight the Otsutsuki alongside her friends.

• Daren Yi offered Ino Yamanaka and Shikamaru Nara ancient secret techniques, and Shikamaru cautiously kept his distance.
• Daren Yi gave Ino Yamanaka a forehead flick that implanted the Nine Snake Empress's Yin Release techniques in her mind.
• Ino studied the techniques and recognized that they far surpassed the Yamanaka Clan's Mind Transfer Jutsu.
• Daren Yi told Ino that the Nine Snake Empress had been captured by the Otsutsuki Clan and left the final Forbidden Chapter incomplete.
• Ino vowed to inherit the Nine Snake Empress's hatred and regrets, complete the Forbidden Chapter, and help defeat the Otsutsuki.

Daren Yi gave Shikamaru and Choji incomplete secret techniques, warning Shikamaru about the risks of his shadow-based power while revealing Choji’s path to an Indestructible Golden Body. Shikamaru feared the technique’s hidden dangers, while Choji eagerly embraced the idea of eating Chakra Metal to strengthen his body.

• Shikamaru apologized to Daren Yi, who dismissed his concern about being petty.
• Daren Yi passed Shikamaru a shadow-based secret technique featuring a monstrous Emperor Cthulhu manifestation and warned him not to access its deeper power.
• Shikamaru panicked when the technique’s vision transformed into a red-haired monster, and Daren Yi told him to use his intelligence to perfect the incomplete technique.
• Ino Yamanaka reflected sadly on the incomplete techniques and the buried eras they seemed to evoke.
• Choji learned that he could consume Chakra Metal, fuse metal particles into his body, and pursue an Indestructible Golden Body.

Daren Yi encouraged Kabuto Yakushi to help improve a versatile secret technique, then agreed that Rock Lee could learn it as well. Rock Lee’s chakra-free precision training inspired Neji and led Daren Yi to consider refining the Eight Inner Gates into a permanent, safer state.

• Daren Yi praised Kabuto Yakushi’s intellect and asked him to work with Choji, Neji, Rock Lee, and the others to repair and improve the secret technique.
• Kabuto Yakushi accepted the task, promising to give it everything he had.
• Rock Lee demonstrated three miniature water figures fighting on a water arena balanced on one finger, using no Chakra and dividing his attention among them.
• Sasuke confirmed with his Mangekyō Sharingan that Rock Lee’s feat relied entirely on taijutsu, while Neji drew inspiration for advancing his techniques.
• Daren Yi connected Rock Lee’s exploration of the Eight Inner Gates to the idea of reinforcing the body’s meridians and making the gates permanently usable.
• Daren Yi told Rock Lee that he could cultivate the secret technique too.

Daren Yi explained how Rock Lee could use Chakra Metal and urged Shino Aburame to pursue genetic modification of the Aburame Clan’s Kikaichū. He left Shino excited by the possibilities and directed him, Sakura Haruno, and Kabuto Yakushi to study Medical Ninjutsu under Tsunade.

• Daren Yi told Rock Lee that mastering the Chakra Metal technique suited his Eight Inner Gates training, and Rock Lee eagerly continued battling with his water clones.
• Daren Yi advised Kabuto Yakushi to improve his Medical Ninjutsu under Tsunade and directed Sakura Haruno and Shino Aburame to study with her as well.
• Shino questioned how Medical Ninjutsu related to his clan’s techniques, and Daren Yi proposed genetically modifying Kikaichū using knowledge and equipment from Konoha Anbu.
• Daren Yi explained that the Aburame Clan could repeatedly combine advantageous traits from other organisms and rebuild its insect swarms after experiments.
• Shino admitted that his clan had avoided genetic technology because of its sensitivity, but Daren Yi noted that Tsunade had pioneered the field and was its leading authority.

Daren Yi transformed Akamaru into a Dragon Wolf and assigned Tenten the Flying Thunder God Technique as the start of her space-time ninjutsu training. He outlined his ambitions for advancing space-time research but admitted that analyzing its deepest principles was beyond him for now.

• Kiba asked Daren Yi for a secret technique for himself and Akamaru, but Akamaru refused Daren's suggestion that he learn swordsmanship and ninjutsu.
• Daren Yi placed a diamond-shaped mark on Akamaru, transforming him into a Dragon Wolf with a future adult form expected to rival 4.8 Fourth Raikages.
• Daren Yi told Tenten to begin studying the Flying Thunder God Technique and later pursue deeper space-time ninjutsu research.
• Daren Yi reflected that Tobirama Senju and Minato Namikaze had lacked time to fully develop the technique and imagined it reaching the heights of the Eight Inner Gates.
• Daren Yi admitted he could not yet analyze the principles behind Kamui and Yomotsu Hirasaka because space-time research was too difficult.

Daren Yi encouraged Hinata to train with Neji and promised Sakura his own genjutsu instruction after Ino offered to share her inheritance. Sakura accepted a demanding training plan that included medical ninjutsu, taijutsu, sealing techniques, and genjutsu, leaving Daren Yi to wonder whether she might develop a strange intelligence-reducing illusion.

• Daren Yi told Tenten he would prepare space-time ninjutsu research materials, while she eagerly vowed to learn the Flying Thunder God Technique quickly.
• Daren Yi encouraged Hinata to follow Neji's training and told her that a great gift awaited them on the moon.
• Ino offered to share the Nine Snake Empress's inheritance with Sakura, but Daren Yi said Sakura was better suited to genjutsu.
• Daren Yi praised Sakura's genjutsu talent and told her to study the fundamentals under Kurenai Yuhi before he taught her Yin Release Genjutsu: Mirror Flower, Water Moon.
• Daren Yi also assigned Sakura medical ninjutsu, taijutsu, and sealing jutsu training, and Sakura agreed despite her strained smile.

Daren Yi and the young prodigies toured the elaborate filming sets for Three Lives, Three Worlds: Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms, where Kyohei Oshiya explained how the crew recreated Warring States-era clan settlements with authentic antiques. Shikamaru admired an antique shogi set but declined Kyohei’s offer to take a prop from the backup warehouse.

• Daren Yi and the young prodigies arrived at the filming site, where Kyohei Oshiya welcomed them and described the production preparations.
• Kyohei Oshiya explained that the crew had built reconstructed clan settlements and a complete filming city modeled on Konoha during Hashirama Senju’s era.
• The group entered the recreated Uchiha Compound, and Shikamaru admired an antique shogi set.
• Kyohei Oshiya revealed that museums and private collectors had supplied the antiques used to furnish the sets.
• Kyohei Oshiya offered to let Shikamaru choose a prop from the backup warehouse, but Shikamaru awkwardly refused.

Naruto presented Daren Yi with a proposal to weave ideas from two books into the television drama Three Lives, Three Worlds: Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms, and Daren Yi approved it. Naruto hired the writing team to revise the script, but Sakura pointed out that most of the cast's roles still needed to be assigned.

• Ino and the other girls mocked Shikamaru for considering stealing supplies from the warehouse.
• Naruto arrived with a manuscript and explained that he had prepared it as a surprise for Daren Yi.
• Daren Yi read Naruto's proposal to incorporate ideas from two books into the television drama and praised him for it.
• Naruto summoned Kyohei Oshiya and instructed him to gather the screenwriters for script revisions.
• Naruto gave the screenwriters copied manuscripts and promised each a Naruto's Wood Style Apartment Property in Konohagakure if their revisions passed review.
• Sakura reminded everyone that, apart from the male lead, the roles had not yet been decided.

Daren Yi explained that the script focused on Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha, leaving Mito Uzumaki with little screen time and no conventional female lead. Sakura accepted the Nine-Tails role after Daren Yi suggested it, while Naruto and Shikamaru questioned the production’s casting and story balance.

• The gray-haired screenwriter said the script was about eighty percent complete but would take longer because of new content.
• The screenwriter told Sakura that Mito Uzumaki had less than one episode of screen time and that the production had no female lead.
• Sakura demanded a script change, but Daren Yi warned her against falsifying the true history of the Shinobi World.
• Daren Yi offered Sakura the role of the Nine-Tails, and she agreed when he suggested another vixen might appear around Sasuke.
• The screenwriters said Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha’s scenes made up more than sixty percent of the production.
• Shikamaru Nara asked who would play Izuna Uchiha and Tobirama Senju.

Daren Yi assigned roles for the film and met Fuyukie Fuji, a rising star whose beauty and talents could not change the Land of Snow’s fate. He then went with Neji to begin Fourth Raikage A’s transformation into the demonic art.

• Daren Yi cast Tobirama as both Tobirama Uchiha and Tobirama Senju, gave Hinata the role of Mito Uzumaki, and assigned Shikamaru and Neji the roles of Tajimna Uchiha and Butsuma Senju.
• Naruto explained that Fugaku was too busy researching the world and the stars to join the production.
• Kyohei Oshiya introduced Fuyukie Fuji as Starlight Entertainment’s rising star and a supporting actor who would sing the film’s opening and ending themes.
• Ino befriended Fuyukie Fuji, while Sakura joined them to watch the screenwriters and keep an eye on her role.
• Daren Yi and Neji went to meet Fourth Raikage A, who had mastered the Light-Dark Transformation Triple Force and was ready to begin his transformation.

Raikage A completed Neji’s Gentle Fist training and received a secret technique, while Daren Yi used the exchange to persuade him that Konohagakure’s factions had interests apart from Naruto’s ideals. A and Daren Yi agreed to friendship between the Four Great Shinobi Villages and the Sacred Gate, leaving Daren Yi intrigued by whether ideals or entrenched self-interest would prevail.

• Raikage A finished his training, and Neji praised his rapid progress in the Ascension Life Burn Gentle Fist Style.
• Neji gave Raikage A a scroll containing the secret technique, which A read with astonishment.
• Daren Yi argued that the Sacred Gate and other Konohagakure groups did not share Naruto’s selfless goals, citing his uncle Imagawa as an example of unequal justice.
• Raikage A concluded that Naruto’s pursuit of a perfect world would lead to betrayal and said the Four Great Shinobi Villages hoped to befriend Konohagakure’s groups.
• Daren Yi accepted A’s offer of friendship and wondered whether the Sage of Six Paths had once conducted a similar experiment with the Ninjutsu Sect.

Three bounty ninja attacked a former member of the Twelve Guardian Ninja and his family, and their pursuit devastated a border city. The old man used ordinary residents as cover and protected his fleeing family from the bounty ninja’s fire, leaving the city burning as both sides disregarded civilian lives.

• Three bounty ninja destroyed the old man’s residence and demanded that his family surrender in exchange for the bounty on their lives.
• The bounty ninja pursued the fleeing family through the city, and the old man’s Earth Flow River crushed houses and swept away residents.
• The old man threatened to keep killing civilians unless the bounty ninja stopped their pursuit, while one of them warned that he was violating the new Hokage’s prohibition.
• The bounty ninja fired three Exploding Fireballs at the fleeing group, and the old man raised an Earth Prison Dome to protect them.
• The blasts collapsed nearby houses and ignited a spreading fire, while neither side tried to save the city’s residents.

Choji Akimichi arrived at a small city as a gigantic figure, crushed three Bounty Ninja, and led the Sky Patrol Department in rescuing survivors. After discovering the noble lord’s responsibility for the slaughter, Choji killed him and ordered the others detained for judgment.

• Choji Akimichi announced his inspection under the Hokage's Order and crushed the three Bounty Ninja who had slaughtered innocents.
• Uchiha and Hyuga squads descended from Choji and rescued survivors from fires and rubble using their coordinated skills.
• The local lord claimed his noble status and ties to the Senju Clan as he tried to avoid blame for the dead townspeople.
• Choji crushed the lord and ordered the Anbu to take the remaining members of his group away for judgment.

Shino Aburame captured the five-member Xuan Yuan Clan bounty-ninja team after their Exploding Insects initially killed several Uchiha ninja. The Sky Patrol Department took the captives away for Shino to study, while a Konohagakure crew filmed the operation for a planned reality-show documentary supporting Naruto's Deterrence Plan.

• Shino and the Anbu surrounded and subdued the Xuan Yuan Clan team after the insects' attack was detected and countered.
• Shino accused the bounty ninjas of killing bartenders and cleaners to conceal their work, explaining that his pursuit was driven by his own ideals, not a mission.
• Shino captured the five with Kikaichū and said he would study their Exploding Insects before conducting their trial.
• The Sky Patrol Department departed beneath a vast swarm of insects as Konohagakure ninja filmed the scene.
• Daren Yi approved the footage while Fuyukie Fuji presented the operation for a documentary and reality show intended to promote Naruto's Deterrence Plan.

Daren Yi and Shikamaru Nara traveled through the Temple of Fire’s vast farmlands as Daren reflected on the temple’s wealth and political ties. He considered how Kakuzu’s later attack on the temple would destroy riches beyond the bounty he collected for Jiraiya.

• Daren Yi dismissed his Shadow Clone after the production crew saved the footage and followed Shino Aburame’s team onward.
• Shikamaru Nara marveled at the Temple of Fire’s extensive rice fields, and Daren Yi agreed that the temple was extraordinarily wealthy.
• Daren Yi reflected on the Temple of Fire’s long-standing economic alliances with the Senju Clan and, after its decline, the Konoha F4 families.
• Daren Yi considered how Jiraiya’s friendship with Asuma Sarutobi might have served the temple’s interests and how Asuma could have become Hokage.
• Daren Yi recalled that Kakuzu killed Jiraiya for a thirty-million-ryo bounty and ruined the Temple of Fire without claiming its vast stores of valuables.

Shikamaru and Daren Yi discussed Naruto's plans for fairer education and imagined how competitive ninja training might become. At Temple of Fire, Daren Yi proposed nationalizing the temple as a Konoha Ninja Academy branch, and its abbot, Jiraiya, arrived unaware of their plan.

• Shikamaru recalled the Land of Fire's unequal access to schools and resources, then decided to leave the problem to his father, Shikaku Nara.
• Daren Yi imagined students across the Land of Fire advancing through martial arts training and competing for places at Konoha Ninja Academy.
• As the group climbed toward Temple of Fire, Shikamaru sensed unusually abundant Nature Energy, and Daren Yi confirmed the mountain was suited to Sage Mode training.
• Shikamaru suggested building an academy branch or nationalizing the mountain, and Daren Yi proposed turning Temple of Fire into a branch campus with Jiraiya as principal.
• Jiraiya hurried out with a group of monks and apologized to Daren Yi and Shikamaru for failing to welcome them sooner.

Daren Yi and Shikamaru arrived at the Temple of Fire with the Sky Patrol Department, whose display of force left Jiraiya and the monks too intimidated to resist. Shikamaru claimed to feel a mysterious connection to the temple, and Jiraiya offered to interpret a fortune for a fee.

• Daren Yi called the monks unwelcome guests, and the Anbu surrounded them with killing intent that cut their skin and terrified them.
• Jiraiya realized the Anbu were each strong enough to threaten him, then feared for the Temple of Fire and tried to think of a way to protect it.
• Daren Yi explained that the Sky Patrol Department's threatening greeting would prevent misunderstandings, then proceeded toward the temple as the monks silently stepped aside.
• Shikamaru introduced himself to Jiraiya as a Sky Patrol Department commander and politely asked for his guidance, while privately considering him a future colleague.
• Jiraiya recalled playing shogi with Shikaku and Asuma, then apologized for mentioning Asuma and followed Daren Yi.
• Shikamaru told Jiraiya he felt destined to have a connection with the Temple of Fire, and Jiraiya suggested drawing fortune sticks for five hundred ryo each.

Daren Yi and Shikamaru Nara gained insights from Jiraiya’s explanation of Buddhist rituals, while Daren Yi confronted Jiraiya about the Temple of Fire’s wealth and exploitation of ordinary people. The group continued toward the temple as Daren Yi laid out the Sky Patrol Department’s accusations.

• Jiraiya explained that sincere offerings and rituals could cultivate the mind, and Shikamaru Nara realized the ideas resembled ninjutsu hand seals.
• Daren Yi was inspired by Jiraiya’s words and reconsidered the connection between rituals, Chakra, techniques, and the Sage of Six Paths.
• Shikamaru Nara adapted Daren Yi’s secret technique, achieved an initial breakthrough, and thanked Jiraiya for the teaching.
• Daren Yi, Shikamaru Nara, and Jiraiya walked toward the Temple of Fire as Sky Patrol Department Anbu forced the other monks to the sides of the path.
• Daren Yi accused the Temple of Fire of exploiting farmers, monopolizing local businesses, issuing tax-exempt ordination certificates, and allowing its monks to grow wealthy while ordinary people suffered.

Shikamaru Nara and Daren Yi confronted the Temple of Fire’s monks with plans to tax and reform the religious order. Shikamaru left the monks agreeing to cooperate while warning that stricter standards could make the Temple of Fire smaller but greater.

• Jiraiya prayed silently as he weighed his responsibilities to Buddhism against the proposed reforms.
• Daren Yi told the Temple of Fire’s elders that Konohagakure planned to tax monks, dismiss most of them, and seize temple assets, then left Shikamaru Nara to negotiate.
• Shikamaru immobilized the elders with his Shadow Possession Jutsu, and the Anbu drew their swords when one monk began to protest.
• An elderly monk agreed that the Temple of Fire would cooperate, dismiss false monks, and distribute its wealth to aid the people.
• Shikamaru thanked the monks and proposed restricting official ordination to those with exceptional spiritual understanding, causing an elder to faint.
• Shikamaru said the Temple of Fire might lose influence under the new standard but could become greater through quality rather than numbers.