Chapter Summaries

At Hinata’s graduation ceremony, Hiashi quietly reflected on his care for her while the top graduates continued to receive their honors. Kiba and Akamaru celebrated together after Kabuto revealed Akamaru’s image on Kiba’s kunai, and Shikaku worried that Shikamaru’s resemblance to him might limit his son’s growth.

• Hanabi asked Hiashi whether he was disappointed in Hinata’s ranking, and Hiashi said Hinata might do even better if she changed her personality.
• Itachi announced Ino Yamanaka in sixth place, prompting Inoichi’s friends to warn him not to diminish his daughter’s achievement.
• Akamaru rushed onstage before Kiba, and Kabuto cheered them up by showing that Akamaru’s likeness had been carved onto Kiba’s honorary kunai.
• Itachi announced Shikamaru Nara in fourth place, and Shikaku worried that his son was imitating him instead of finding his own way to surpass him.

Shino Aburame received third place at the Ninja Academy graduation ceremony, while Utaka Aburame attended after gaining control of his poisonous insects. The ceremony then set the stage for Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha to decide the top two rankings in an arena match.

• Soji reflected on Shikamaru's intelligence as Shikamaru received fourth place.
• Itachi announced Shino Aburame as the third-ranked graduate, and Shino accepted a silver Glory Kunai.
• Ino teased Shikamaru about missing out on the silver Kunai, while Sakura admired it and Hinata focused on Naruto's chance at the top honor.
• Utaka Aburame told Shibi Aburame he was content with his life and could now control the poisonous insects in his body.
• Itachi announced that Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha would determine first and second place in an arena match.
• Kushina and Minato watched Naruto take the stage, while Fugaku Uchiha and Mikoto Uchiha watched Sasuke and discussed his chances.

Kakashi watched the graduation ceremony while worrying about mentoring Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura, and discussed the upcoming test with his fellow instructors. Naruto and Sasuke stepped into the arena and declared they would settle who was stronger, leaving the crowd eager for their final battle.

• Kakashi worried that Naruto and Sasuke might fail his test and considered going easy on his assigned team, which also included Sakura.
• Asuma, Might Guy, and Kurenai joined Kakashi, and they discussed their student teams and the upcoming competition.
• Kakashi redirected Might Guy from challenging him by pointing their attention toward the final match.
• Naruto and Sasuke entered the arena as the crowd focused on the first-place contest between them.
• Sasuke vowed to defeat Naruto, and Naruto declared that he would win as the spectators cheered.

Naruto and Sasuke began their graduation match, with Naruto quickly taking control through fast Wind Style techniques and careful planning. After two exchanges, Sasuke was injured and struggling while Naruto remained largely unharmed, leaving Naruto with a clear advantage.

• Naruto and Sasuke declared their determination to win, while their friends and the returning Neji, Rock Lee, and Tenten gathered to watch.
• Kabuto started the match, and Naruto opened with Gale Palm, forcing Sasuke to retreat before following up with a kick that sent him sliding back.
• Sasuke activated his Two-Tomoe Sharingan and attacked with Flower Phoenix Fire Technique, but Naruto used shuriken and subtle movements to conceal his hand seals.
• Naruto unleashed Great Breakthrough at close range, sending Sasuke flying and leaving him scraped, cut, and close to the arena's edge.
• Naruto maintained a decisive advantage after the first two exchanges, while Sasuke's earlier confidence gave way to a grim expression.

Naruto’s rapid improvement let him overwhelm Sasuke in their ongoing academy match, while Soji sensed that Asura’s Chakra had awakened in Naruto and suspected Indra’s Chakra had awakened in Sasuke. The rivals escalated to B-rank ninjutsu, and their Wind Blade Technique and Great Fire Annihilation collided as the spectators awaited the outcome.

• Kiba noticed Naruto had improved far more than Sasuke since their last fight, and their companions realized Sasuke might soon lose.
• Naruto and Sasuke resumed their close-range exchange, and Soji sensed Asura’s Chakra awakening in Naruto and suspected Indra’s Chakra had awakened in Sasuke.
• Naruto used six Shadow Clones to assault Sasuke, who countered several attacks but was kicked near the arena’s edge.
• Sasuke stood his ground and declared that he would defeat Naruto, and Naruto answered that he intended to do the same.
• Naruto used Wind Blade Technique while Sasuke used Great Fire Annihilation, and the two B-rank attacks collided before the spectators.

Naruto and Sasuke traded powerful ninjutsu attacks, and Naruto escaped Sasuke’s amplified flames by leaping through the gap created by his own Wind Blade Technique. As Sasuke grew obsessed with defeating Naruto, his Sharingan evolved into its third tomoe, while Soji wondered what Naruto’s awakening Asura Chakra would bring.

• Naruto’s Wind Blade split Sasuke’s sea of flames, but the wind strengthened the flames as they closed in on Naruto.
• Sasuke narrowly dodged Naruto’s Wind Blade and suffered a cut to his cheek.
• Naruto used his two Shadow Clones as a springboard and leapt through the gap between the divided flames, escaping with singed clothes and hair.
• Sasuke realized Naruto was pulling ahead of him and became obsessively determined to win, causing his Dojutsu Power to surge.
• Mikoto Uchiha, Fugaku Uchiha, and Itachi recognized that Sasuke’s Two-Tomoe Sharingan was evolving, while Soji linked the change to Indra Chakra.
• Sasuke’s third tomoe appeared, completing the evolution of his Sharingan.

After Sasuke’s Sharingan evolved into the Three Tomoe, he gained more chakra and took the upper hand against Naruto, but Naruto countered Sasuke’s Fire Style and then filled the arena with Shadow Clones. The fight continued with Naruto’s healing and vast chakra reserves on display.

• Sasuke’s Sharingan evolved into the Three Tomoe, increasing his eye power and chakra reserves, and he charged at Naruto with renewed confidence.
• Sasuke used his Sharingan and taijutsu to suppress Naruto, cut his left arm with a kunai, and launch a Great Fireball Technique.
• Naruto used Air Current Wild Dance to guide Sasuke’s fireball into the sky, impressing Soji with his Wind Style control.
• Sasuke claimed he had seen through Naruto’s plan to use Adamantine Sealing Chains, while Naruto realized Sasuke had merely manipulated his expectations through repeated mimicry.
• Naruto summoned more than twenty Shadow Clones, and the observers saw that his kunai wound had nearly healed.

Naruto overwhelmed Sasuke with repeated waves of Shadow Clones, but agreed to a final head-on fight when Sasuke demanded a fair battle. As Naruto prepared for the showdown, he entered his consciousness space and told the Nine-Tails it was time to pay rent.

• Naruto used successive waves of Shadow Clones to exhaust Sasuke, who struggled to keep his Three-Tomoe Sharingan active and defend himself.
• Sasuke, battered and nearly out of Chakra, challenged Naruto to fight him fair and square.
• Naruto stopped forming hand signs and accepted Sasuke’s challenge, choosing a direct contest over an assured victory through attrition.
• Soji recognized that Indra and Asura’s Chakra had grown more active as Naruto and Sasuke’s rivalry intensified.
• Naruto entered his consciousness space, found the Nine-Tails sleeping inside the sealed cage, and demanded that it start paying rent.

Naruto and Sasuke fought through their final contest, each using their strongest attacks to decide the winner. Naruto overcame Sasuke’s trap and Great Dragon Fire Technique with Nine-Tails Chakra, securing first place among the Ninja Academy graduates.

• Naruto and Sasuke agreed to settle their contest with their strongest attacks after Sasuke’s Chakra began to run out.
• Naruto launched Adamantine Sealing Chains, but Sasuke used Shuriken, steel wires, and Kunai to pin the chains and trap Naruto.
• Sasuke used his remaining Chakra to unleash the Great Dragon Fire Technique at the immobilized Naruto.
• Naruto drew on Chakra he had forcibly collected from the Nine-Tails and tore Sasuke’s fire dragon apart with his hands.
• Naruto defeated Sasuke head-on and claimed first place among the Ninja Academy graduates.

Naruto defeated Sasuke in the Ninja Academy graduation match and was named the top graduate. After the ceremony, Mikoto briefly saw Kushina’s familiar back in the crowd but dismissed the possibility that her friend had returned.

• Naruto broke free of the Adamantine Sealing Chains, dispelled the Nine-Tails' Chakra, and was declared the winner over Sasuke.
• Sasuke collapsed from exhaustion, and Naruto caught and supported him as the spectators cheered.
• Itachi announced Sasuke as second place and Naruto as first, and Kabuto presented them with their Glory Kunai.
• Naruto and Sasuke joined their friends after receiving their rewards, and Itachi closed the graduation ceremony.
• Mikoto praised Naruto and spotted a familiar figure in the departing crowd, but she assumed she had mistaken someone for Kushina and left with Sasuke.

Minato and Kushina, disguised and secretly in Konoha, realized the Anbu had been tracking them since the Ninja Academy graduation ceremony. Minato decided they should meet the Third Hokage to explain themselves and ask him to cover for them, without returning to the village openly.

• Kushina felt guilty about hiding her return from Mikoto, while Minato apologized for choosing to stay with Naruto longer.
• Anbu discovered that Minato and Kushina were unfamiliar faces with no village-gate registration and reported them to the Third Hokage.
• The Third Hokage ordered the Anbu to watch the pair, protect civilians, and bring them in after the graduation crowd dispersed if they remained peaceful.
• After the ceremony, Anbu followed Minato and Kushina toward a secluded area to approach them away from civilians.
• Minato and Kushina realized the Anbu had identified their secret entry, and Minato chose to meet the Third Hokage while keeping their return to the village quiet.

After Minato and Kushina vanished from an Anbu squad’s surveillance, the Third Hokage suspected they had returned and ordered the search stopped. The couple met him the next morning, thanked him for caring for Naruto, and asked him to keep leading the village while supporting Soji’s plans for the Konoha Academy System.

• Minato and Kushina vanished in front of the Anbu squad, and the captain reported the incident to the Third Hokage.
• The Third Hokage suspected the missing couple were Minato and Kushina and told the Anbu to stop investigating.
• Minato and Kushina appeared in the Hokage's Office the next morning and thanked the Third Hokage for raising Naruto.
• The Third Hokage welcomed them back and offered to hand the village over to Minato, but Minato asked him to continue overseeing it for a while.
• Minato asked the Third Hokage to support Soji's future requests concerning the Konoha Academy System.

Minato and the Third Hokage agreed to keep Minato and Kushina’s survival secret while Minato stayed hidden and handled Uchiha affairs through the Third Hokage. Later, as Mizuki Ember, Soji learned that a mysterious Super Civilization Ship had massacred a village in the Land of Water, and its reported details seemed familiar to him.

• Minato told the Third Hokage he would oversee the Uchiha Clan’s affairs and stay hidden while investigating the masked man who attacked during Nine-Tails Night.
• The Third Hokage agreed to keep Minato and Kushina’s survival secret, and they used a Flying Thunder God mark to visit the Hokage’s Office unnoticed.
• After the Ninja Academy graduation and team assignments, Soji focused on a Super Civilization Ship that had attacked an island village in the Land of Water.
• Jinin Akebino reported that all 231 residents from 87 households had been killed, enraging Soji and Pakura.
• Soji ordered Jinin Akebino to describe the ship and its occupants, then realized the details might reveal where it came from.

Soji recognized the ship that had attacked a village in the Land of Water as a vessel from a continent beyond the Ninja World, and he explained that its crew sought an ancient ruin containing the source of their power. He ordered Jinin to track them until the ruin was found, revealing that the treasure there was the power that once ruled the world.

• Soji recalled an amphibious ship from his previous life and concluded that the vessel Jinin described had come from beyond the ocean.
• Soji told Pakura and Jinin that another continent existed beyond the Ninja World and that its people had no Chakra or ninja.
• Soji ordered Jinin to monitor the ship's crew and attack only if they continued destroying places in the Land of Water.
• Soji explained that the crew sought a sealed ancient ruin and needed certain people aboard the ship to open it.
• Soji told Jinin to track the ship without alerting its crew so Kirigakure could seize the ruin's treasure, which he called the power that once ruled the world.

Soji told Pakura and Jinin Akebino about the Gelel Ore Vein, a source of power from an ancient civilization, and ordered Jinin's Anbu squad to track the Super Civilization Ship without alerting its controller. After Pakura offered to intervene, Soji decided he would handle the mission himself, leaving Kirigakure's administration to Genji and postponing other work.

• Soji explained that the Gelel Ore Vein could hold power comparable to the Dragon Vein and had once helped an ancient empire rule the world.
• Jinin Akebino agreed to keep his Anbu squad from acting rashly while they tracked the Super Civilization Ship and searched for the ruins.
• Soji warned Jinin that the squad needed to stay unnoticed so Kirigakure could seize the Gelel Ore Vein when the ship's controller found it.
• Pakura asked who would confront the controller, then volunteered to go herself, but Soji refused her offer.
• Soji announced that he would handle the mission personally and said Genji could review urgent documents while Karatachi Yagura and Mei Terumi were away.

Hyuga Soji explained why he had to personally handle the Gelel Ore Vein, reassuring Pakura that its power could cause a catastrophic disaster. He invited her to accompany him, then returned to his Mizukage duties while waiting for Jinin Akebino’s Anbu squad to report, determined to claim both the Gelel Ore Vein and the Space-Time Teleportation Array.

• Soji told Pakura that the Gelel Ore Vein could cause widespread destruction if it went out of control, so he would investigate it himself rather than risk his subordinates.
• Soji invited Pakura to join him, and she accepted the idea after teasing him about his past lies.
• Pakura warned Soji that she would bring him another stack of documents, then left the Mizukage's Office.
• Soji reflected that he owed Pakura for her years of service and decided to treat the coming trip aboard the Super Civilization Ship as a sightseeing excursion for her.
• Soji recalled that the Ancient Empire had sealed the Gelel Ore Vein and installed a Space-Time Teleportation Array, and resolved to claim both while awaiting Jinin Akebino's Anbu squad.

Heide and his followers crossed the ocean seeking the sealed Gelel Ore Vein, but learned that the Ninja World’s people wield Chakra without Gelel Ore. Convinced that ninjas were no threat, Heide continued plotting to build an empire, unaware that Soji had already noticed their arrival.

• Heide read the Book of Gelel aboard his Super Civilization Ship while Camilla, Ranke, and Fongwai reported that ninjas could use Chakra without Gelel Ore.
• Heide dismissed Chakra as a substitute power that appeared after the Ancient Empire fell and insisted Gelel Ore remained supreme.
• Heide told his three chief subordinates that finding the sealed Gelel Ore Vein would let them rule both continents.
• Heide ordered his followers to act more cautiously, unaware that their massacre of a village had already drawn Soji’s attention.

Heide and his subordinates attacked a Sunagakure coastal fortress, provoking a second Great Shinobi Village after Kirigakure. Jinin Akebino’s Anbu squad prepared to follow Chiyo’s plan as the battle began, while Soji worried the attackers might be eliminated before finding the Ancient Ruins sealing the Gelel Ore Vein.

• Heide and his subordinates grew reckless after repeatedly encountering weak rogue ninja and sailed toward a Sunagakure fortress.
• Jinin Akebino and his Anbu squad watched the approaching ship and discussed how to keep Sunagakure from joining the search for the Gelel Ore Vein.
• Chiyo proposed a plan, and Jinin Akebino’s squad agreed to carry it out while moving closer to the fortress.
• Heide’s ship stopped offshore, then over a hundred armored super soldiers emerged from the sea and advanced on the fortress.
• The Sunagakure commander ordered about three hundred ninjas to attack, starting a fierce battle with the super soldiers.
• Soji learned of the conflict and worried Sunagakure might destroy Heide’s group before they found the Ancient Ruins.

Seiho Masaga, the Sunagakure commander of a coastal fortress, mistook Heide’s approaching Super Civilization Ship for a merchant or pirate vessel until he saw its overwhelming technology and called for reinforcements. When Heide’s armored super soldiers advanced from the sea, Masaga ordered an attack, beginning a battle as a Kirigakure force approached.

• Seiho Masaga learned that an unfamiliar ship was approaching his fortress and went to inspect it after his subordinate urged him to look for himself.
• Seiho Masaga saw the Super Civilization Ship through a telescope, realized Sunagakure could not match its technology, and sent a messenger hawk to request reinforcements.
• Heide ignored Seiho Masaga’s warning and brought the Super Civilization Ship past the fortress’s warning line before stopping three nautical miles offshore.
• Seiho Masaga held his fire until more than a hundred armored super soldiers emerged from the sea and marched toward the fortress.
• Seiho Masaga ordered his three hundred Sunagakure ninja to attack, starting a fierce battle as a Kirigakure force approached.

Seiho Masaga and Sunagakure’s outnumbered defenders struggled against Heide’s tireless super soldiers, and Seiho exhausted himself with a powerful Wind Release attack. Just as a super soldier was about to kill him, Mist Village Anbu arrived and turned the battle around.

• Heide’s super soldiers overwhelmed Sunagakure’s weapons and wore down the fortress defenders with their strength and stamina.
• Seiho Masaga used Wind Release: Sandstorm, burying or killing many fighters but exhausting his Chakra and leaving Sunagakure badly outnumbered.
• The surviving super soldiers resumed their attack, and one approached the helpless Seiho Masaga to strike him with a hammer.
• A Mist Village Anbu appeared, kicked the attacker away, and saved Seiho Masaga.
• More than a dozen Mist Village Anbu joined the battle and reversed the situation against the super soldiers.