Chapter Summaries

Kimimaro defeated Temari and the other Sunagakure students who challenged him, demonstrating his ability to evade attacks without sight and disarm Temari. The rooftop challenge ended with Gaara arriving and facing Kimimaro.

• Temari attacked Kimimaro with Wind Release, but he evaded her invisible blades by sensing their movement without relying on sight.
• Kimimaro countered Temari's close-range attacks and used a bone whip to snatch her Three-Star Fan, prompting her to surrender.
• Temari joined Rasa and Kankuro to watch Kimimaro defeat the students who challenged him, while word spread that he had beaten the academy's entire student body.
• A Sunagakure student who had challenged Kimimaro earlier returned, but Kimimaro kicked him toward the rooftop exit again.
• Gaara caught the student with sand, entered the rooftop, and stood facing Kimimaro.

Rasa reluctantly agreed to let Gaara challenge Kimimaro after Temari and Soji persuaded him that they could stop Gaara if he lost control. Gaara and Kimimaro entered the fight with hopes and expectations beyond simply winning, and the chapter ended as their first battle began.

• A Sunagakure student called Gaara a monster and fled, while Rasa rebuked Gaara for defying his order to stay home.
• Temari told Rasa she had invited Gaara because she believed he could win for Sunagakure, but Rasa initially refused to let him fight.
• Soji offered to help Rasa restrain Gaara if he went berserk, and Rasa agreed to the challenge match.
• Gaara hoped victory would earn his father's affection and help him become friends with Kimimaro, while Kimimaro felt that Gaara would be his future rival.
• Kimimaro revealed his bone spikes, and Gaara turned his gourd into swirling sand before Kimimaro charged into the attack.

Kimimaro tested Gaara’s sand attacks and defenses, then broke through his sand wall only to discover Gaara’s Sand Armor could absorb and repair damage. Kimimaro decided to stop holding back and began transforming his Shikotsumyaku, leaving the fight poised to escalate.

• Kimimaro dodged Gaara’s sand attacks to gauge their strength, then dispersed a massive sand wave and concluded its attacks and restraints were manageable.
• Kimimaro fired Ten Finger Bullet at Gaara, and Gaara’s automatic sand defense blocked the bones, revealing the strength of his sand wall.
• Kimimaro charged through Gaara’s controlled sand and broke his sand wall, but his strike only pierced Gaara’s Sand Armor and caused no lasting injury.
• Kimimaro tore open Gaara’s Sand Armor with a stronger attack, but Gaara’s sand repaired it before he could follow up.
• Kimimaro announced he would reveal the Kaguya Clan’s Ancestral Bloodline Regression Shikotsumyaku, then released Chakra that turned his bones gray.

Kimimaro revealed his regressed gray Shikotsumyaku, a deadly power that could corrode Chakra, and used it to overcome Gaara’s sand defenses. The fight continued with Gaara stunned as more of his sand slipped beyond his control.

• Soji explained that Kimimaro’s Shikotsumyaku had regressed toward Kaguya Otsutsuki’s power, but the transformation had caused a dangerous Bloodline Disease that Soji planned to cure after the Pilgrimage of the Nations.
• Rasa, Kankuro, and Temari reacted with alarm to Kimimaro’s gray bone spurs, while Soji admitted he envied Kimimaro’s ancestral regression.
• Kimimaro charged Gaara and deflected his Rapid Sand Shower without being struck.
• Gaara failed to regain control of the scattered sand, and Kimimaro cut through the sandstorm protecting him.
• Soji explained that Kimimaro’s gray Shikotsumyaku corroded the Chakra infused in Gaara’s sand, leaving the sand lifeless and beyond Gaara’s control.

Kimimaro defeated Gaara after breaking through his sand attacks, but Gaara’s blood-triggered madness began to take hold. As his body partially transformed into Shukaku’s form, Soji remained confident that Kimimaro could handle him.

• Gaara lost control of much of his sand, then used Sand Binding Burial and Sandstorm Funeral in a desperate attempt to trap and crush Kimimaro.
• Kimimaro broke free with Bone Sword Dance, wounded Gaara, and sent him flying with a palm strike, winning the match.
• Seeing the blood covering him, Gaara began to lose his mind and repeatedly muttered about blood.
• Rasa urged Soji to help stop Gaara, but Soji chose to wait, trusting Kimimaro’s strength.
• Gaara roared as his right arm and the right side of his face transformed into monstrous features, entering his Possession Body state.

Kimimaro defeated Gaara in their challenge match, and Soji later sought Gaara out privately during a Sunagakure festival. The chapter ended with Soji sitting several meters away from the wary Gaara and commenting on the stars.

• Gaara entered the Possession Body state and charged Kimimaro, who met him with his Dance of the Spiraling Spear as the sun set.
• Kimimaro won the clash, and Gaara collapsed unconscious after his transformed arm scattered into sand.
• Soji and Rasa restrained Gaara and forced One-Tails Shukaku back inside him, while Temari and Kankuro carried Gaara home.
• Kimimaro's victory completed the three little ones' Graduation Trial Mission, and Soji stayed in Sunagakure with them for several more days.
• Soji found Gaara alone during a village festival and explained that his three disciples had asked him to visit.
• Gaara kept sand ready in case Soji attacked, but Soji sat at a distance and remarked that watching the stars from the desert seemed nice.

Soji told Gaara a story revealing that his mother, Karura, had chosen to save him and that her love still protected him through his sand-controlling power. Gaara stopped his attack after Soji offered the sand’s automatic protection as proof, though the truth of the story remained unverified.

• Soji sat with Gaara beneath the stars and began telling him about a powerful woman who risked her life to give birth to her youngest son.
• Soji described how the woman’s husband and younger brother blamed the boy for her death, and how the boy’s uncle both loved and hated him before dying by his hand.
• Gaara recognized his family’s story in Soji’s tale, became emotionally unstable, and transformed part of his body while insisting Soji was lying.
• Soji told Gaara that his mother had named him out of love and hoped he would cherish himself and protect others.
• Gaara sent a surge of sand at Soji, but Soji argued that the sand’s instinctive protection came from Karura rather than Shukaku.
• The sand stopped just short of Soji, and he concluded that Gaara believed his account.

Soji told Gaara that his mother Karura had loved him and left behind the sand-controlling power that had protected him, helping him overcome his despair and suppress Shukaku. He urged Gaara to seek peace with Shukaku and pursue becoming a Perfect Jinchuriki, leaving Gaara determined to follow his advice.

• Gaara learned from Soji that Karura had loved him and that her power had protected him, then regained control of his body from Shukaku.
• Soji advised Gaara to communicate with Shukaku and explained that Bunpuku had lived peacefully with the One-Tails and left Gaara the marks that formed the character for love.
• Gaara thanked Soji and vowed to become a Perfect Jinchuriki, while Soji told him to live well and vanished using the Body Flicker Technique.
• The ninjas monitoring Gaara found him calm, and Gaara went home resolved not to disappoint Soji.
• Soji returned to his lodging, wondering whether his advice would help Gaara become a Perfect Jinchuriki.

Soji left Sunagakure after helping Gaara change and giving Chiyo the Hiruko puppet, then encountered Orochimaru and Yakushi Kabuto in the Land of Wind. As Kabuto silently judged Soji to be far more dangerous than he appeared, the group’s next destination remained ahead.

• Gaara became more cheerful and made his first friends outside his family after Soji helped him, while Soji left Gaara to shape his own future.
• Soji gave Chiyo the Hiruko puppet, and she accepted it with heartfelt thanks because it reminded her of Sasori.
• Soji and the three kids departed Sunagakure and headed toward the Land of Wind’s border, discussing Gaara’s transformation.
• Orochimaru’s venomous snakes blocked the road, and Orochimaru and Yakushi Kabuto emerged to meet Soji.
• Soji greeted Orochimaru as his teacher, while Yakushi Kabuto studied Soji and concluded that his ordinary appearance concealed exceptional danger.

Soji met with Orochimaru, who asked him to arrange Yakushi Kabuto’s return to Konoha with a high-ranking position. Soji agreed to make Kabuto a jonin and a Ministry of Education director, intending to place him under Itachi’s supervision and put his skills to work.

• Orochimaru dismissed the snakes monitoring Soji’s group and explained that he had come to ask for help.
• Soji admitted that the Night Duke, who could use the Flying Thunder God Technique, was someone he trusted and could send in his place.
• Orochimaru introduced Yakushi Kabuto and asked Soji to arrange his entry into Konoha with the highest status possible.
• Soji read Kabuto’s record of spying across the four major ninja villages and recognized that his past service could earn him a high position despite his ties to Danzo.
• Soji offered Kabuto the rank of jonin and a director’s post in the Ministry of Education, planning to put him under Itachi’s supervision.

Soji took Kabuto under his command and led him and the three little ones toward Kirigakure, where Kabuto warned him about the village’s dangerous Bloody Mist Policy. Meanwhile, Deidara destroyed Orochimaru’s base while trying to help Sasori track him, and Sasori resolved to discipline his reckless partner.

• Orochimaru assigned Kabuto to follow Soji’s instructions in Konoha before leaving to evade Sasori.
• Soji told Kabuto that their next stop was Kirigakure, and Kabuto warned him about the village’s purges and the Hozuki Clan’s endangered position.
• Kabuto accepted that Soji was prepared for Kirigakure’s dangers and joined Soji and the three little ones on their journey.
• Kabuto organized the three little ones’ meals, routines, and training, and he was shocked by their strength.
• Soji’s group crossed the sea and arrived in the Land of Water while Sasori and Deidara found Orochimaru’s base in the Land of Wind.
• Deidara’s Explosive Clay destroyed the base and its evidence, allowing Orochimaru to escape, and Sasori decided to discipline Deidara.

Soji used his Mizuki Ember identity and the Golden Eagle to deter Obito while traveling toward Kirigakure with the Konoha delegation. When Obito learned Mizuki Ember had returned, he ordered Kirigakure’s Anbu not to provoke him and abandoned his plan to frame the Hozuki Clan and attack the delegation.

• A Golden Eagle’s cry woke Kabuto aboard the ship, and Soji told him it was only a bird passing overhead.
• Soji revealed that he had brought out his Mizuki Ember identity to draw Obito’s attention and keep him from acting against the Konoha delegation.
• Mizuki Ember rode the Golden Eagle toward Kirigakure and scolded it for crying before they reached the Land of Water.
• A Kirigakure Anbu reported to Karatachi Yagura that Mizuki Ember was circling near the village, and Obito ordered the Anbu to monitor him without making the first move.
• Obito realized Mizuki Ember’s return threatened his plan to frame the Hozuki Clan and kill the Konoha delegation, so he decided to abandon it.

Hozuki Mangetsu struggled to find a way to save the Hozuki Clan from Karatachi Yagura and Obito's suppression after the clan's past inaction left it isolated. With Mizuki Ember's return briefly calming Kirigakure, Mangetsu proposed seeking help from someone he was reluctant to approach.

• Mizuki Ember's return drew attention away from Soji's delegation and temporarily halted persecution in Kirigakure, giving the Hozuki Clan a brief reprieve.
• Hozuki Mangetsu and the clan's leaders met to discuss their impending destruction, while Obito prepared to target the isolated clan.
• The Hozuki leaders failed to find a solution, and Mangetsu proposed asking a powerful outsider for help.

Hozuki Mangetsu decided to seek Mizuki Ember’s help to save the Hozuki Clan, despite the elders’ objections about the price. As Mangetsu secretly traveled to meet him, Soji was startled by a white-haired youth emerging from the river and froze him with Ice Release.

• Hozuki Mangetsu told the Hozuki Clan elders he would offer Mizuki Ember anything in exchange for protecting their clan.
• The elders argued over the cost of asking for help, then reluctantly agreed to Mangetsu’s plan after he challenged them to negotiate themselves.
• Mangetsu left Kirigakure secretly while the elders concealed his absence from Karatachi Yagura’s watchers.
• Mangetsu entered a stream and traveled through the waterways to evade the Anbu guarding Mizuki Ember.
• Soji strolled beside the river, intending to keep Obito’s attention on Mizuki Ember while his real body entered Kirigakure.
• A white-haired youth appeared in the water and grabbed at Soji, who shoved him beneath the surface and froze him with Ice Release.

Hozuki Mangetsu secretly met Soji to ask for help saving the Hozuki Clan, but Soji mocked the clan’s desperate position and questioned what it could offer him. Mangetsu had yet to secure Soji’s agreement when the chapter ended.

• Soji realized the frozen figure was Hozuki Mangetsu, freed him, and took him onto the Golden Eagle to avoid Kirigakure's Anbu.
• Hozuki Mangetsu angrily confronted Soji for freezing him, and Soji insisted Mangetsu owed him a favor for showing restraint.
• Hozuki Mangetsu explained that he had used the Hozuki Clan's Water Transformation Technique to evade the Anbu and privately ask Soji for help.
• Soji reminded Mangetsu that the Hozuki Clan had refused to help the Yuki and Kaguya Clans when they were in danger.
• Hozuki Mangetsu offered to accept any condition, but Soji argued that the weakened Hozuki Clan had little to offer in return for opposing Karatachi Yagura and Kirigakure.

Soji refused to personally help the Hozuki Clan but offered Hozuki Mangetsu a way to save it in exchange for serving him. Hozuki Mangetsu misunderstood Soji’s demand and ended the chapter terrified and unable to decide whether to accept.

• Hozuki Mangetsu asked Soji to help the Hozuki Clan, but Soji firmly refused and explained why he would not bring the clan to the Land of Snow.
• Hozuki Mangetsu prepared to return and make final arrangements for his clan, but Soji said he had a way to help if Mangetsu made a sacrifice.
• Soji promised to bring the Hozuki Clan to the Land of Snow if his method failed, then asked Mangetsu to serve only him in exchange for revealing it.
• Hozuki Mangetsu misinterpreted Soji’s offer as a sexual demand, activated the Water Transformation Technique in fright, and agonized over whether to accept.

Soji recruited Hozuki Mangetsu by promising to protect the Hozuki Clan if Mangetsu served him. After hearing Soji’s story about Madara Uchiha and the Uchiha Clan, Mangetsu devised a plan to fake his own betrayal and leave Kirigakure, hoping to shield his clan from the Fourth Mizukage’s persecution.

• Soji explained that Mangetsu would carry out tasks for him and confirmed he would help the Hozuki Clan survive its crisis.
• Mangetsu agreed to serve Soji after clarifying that he would not have to die.
• Soji told Mangetsu how the Uchiha Clan remained in Konoha after Madara Uchiha left alone.
• Mangetsu connected the story to the Hozuki Clan’s conflict with Kirigakure and proposed staging a break with the clan so it could prove its loyalty to the village.
• Mangetsu became convinced of Soji’s intelligence and planned to discuss the scheme with the Hozuki Clan’s leaders.

Soji recruited Hozuki Mangetsu by offering a way to save the Hozuki Clan, then gave him two of Kirigakure’s missing ninja swords. He sent Mangetsu to join the Akatsuki Organization as a spy, leaving Mangetsu set to defect from Kirigakure and gather intelligence for Soji.

• Hozuki Mangetsu thanked Mizuki Ember for helping him find a way to protect the Hozuki Clan and agreed to become his subordinate.
• Soji told Mangetsu he would not need to stay by his side and presented him with two gifts in Storage Scrolls.
• Mangetsu discovered that the scrolls contained the blunt sword Kabutowari and the explosive sword Shibuki, two of Kirigakure’s Seven Ninja Swords.
• After admiring the swords, Mangetsu listened as Soji assigned him to join the Akatsuki Organization and gather intelligence for him.

Soji and Hozuki Mangetsu finalized their deal, with Mangetsu agreeing to organize the Hozuki Clan and contact Akatsuki. After Soji returned to Kirigakure, he encountered the suspicious Aoi Rokushō, whose appearance Yota recognized from the Ninja Academy.

• Soji told Hozuki Mangetsu that Akatsuki intended to seize the Nine Tailed Beasts, and Mangetsu agreed to contact the organization after arranging the Hozuki Clan's affairs.
• Soji kicked Hozuki Mangetsu off the Golden Eagle, and Mangetsu survived the fall by using the Water Transformation Technique to land in a stream.
• Hozuki Mangetsu slipped away through the stream as two Mist Village Anbu squads arrived and found no trace of what had fallen from the sky.
• Soji entered Kirigakure with the three little ones and Yakushi Kabuto, reflecting on how desolate the village had become.
• Soji noticed a green-haired man turn away nervously, and Yota identified him as Teacher Aoi Rokushō from the school.

Soji and his companions recognized former Konoha instructor Aoi Rokushō in Kirigakure and deduced that he had defected, but their escort denied his identity. Soji avoided a confrontation and secretly arranged for Mizuki Ember to act, leaving Obito's scheme to use Aoi against Konoha and the Hozuki Clan thwarted.

• Yota, Haku, and Kimimaro confirmed that the man they saw in Kirigakure was their former instructor, Aoi Rokushō.
• Yakushi Kabuto proposed that Aoi might be a Konoha spy, a Kirigakure spy, or a defector, and concluded he was likely a Konoha missing-nin.
• A mist ninja denied Aoi's identity and warned Soji's group not to damage relations between Kirigakure and Konoha.
• Soji stopped his students from challenging the mist ninja, pretended they had mistaken Aoi for someone else, and continued toward the Mizukage.
• Soji concluded that Kirigakure was hiding Aoi and secretly set Mizuki Ember in motion to act without provoking a direct clash.
• Obito's plan to use Aoi against the Hozuki Clan and Soji's group and to provoke war between Konoha and Kirigakure was left stillborn.