Chapter Summaries

Soji defeated the Seven Ninja Swordsmen after shielding Raiga Kurosuki from his suicidal lightning attack, then assessed the swordsmen’s poor coordination for the Third Mizukage. The Third Mizukage assigned Karatachi Yagura to train them and invited Soji to join his Anbu, just as Soji’s Ice Mask cracked.

• Raiga Kurosuki unleashed Lightning Release: Lightning Burial, and Soji used Ice Crystal Barrier to protect them both, taking a slight injury as the barrier was damaged.
• Raiga Kurosuki accepted defeat, and the crowd celebrated Soji after the referee declared him the victor over the Seven Ninja Swordsmen.
• Soji released the restrained swordsmen, who were taken away for medical treatment, then returned to the stands and greeted Mei Terumi and Genji.
• Soji told the Third Mizukage that the Seven Ninja Swordsmen lacked coordination, and Genji asked whether he had a solution.
• The Third Mizukage assigned Karatachi Yagura to improve the swordsmen’s teamwork, then invited Soji to join his Anbu.
• Soji was caught off guard by the invitation, and a crack appeared across his Ice Mask before he could answer.

After nearly having his Byakugan exposed by damage to his Ice Mask, Soji declined the Third Mizukage’s offer to join Kirigakure’s Anbu. As he prepared to return with Mizuki Fuukaze, Kaguya Sora approached him and revealed that he knew Soji was from the Hyuga Clan.

• Lightning left a crack in Soji’s Ice Mask, but he repaired it before anyone could see the Byakugan beneath it.
• Soji accepted medical treatment and politely refused the Third Mizukage’s offer to join the Anbu, saying he needed time to study his clan’s ninjutsu.
• Mizuki Fuukaze felt relieved by Soji’s refusal and planned to move the Yuki Clan’s Ice Release scrolls into Soji’s home.
• Mei Terumi said goodbye to Soji before leaving with Genji, and Soji followed Mizuki Fuukaze toward the Yuki Clan.
• Kaguya Sora stopped Soji’s group and invited Soji to visit the Kaguya Clan the next day.
• Kaguya Sora whispered that he knew Soji was from the Hyuga Clan, leaving Soji stunned.

Hyuga Soji met with Kaguya Sora and Kaguya Mei after they discovered his identity, and learned that his use of the Gentle Fist in battle had exposed him. The Kaguya brothers agreed to keep his identity secret while he continued staying with the Yuki Clan to master Ice Release.

• Soji worried that Kaguya Sora had exposed his identity to Kirigakure, but decided to visit the Kaguya Clan the next morning instead of fleeing.
• At Kaguya Sora's home, Soji revealed his face and introduced himself as Hyuga Soji to Sora and his younger brother, Kaguya Mei.
• Soji explained that he had come to Kirigakure to learn Ice Release, and asked how the brothers had recognized him.
• Sora and Mei told Soji that his Gentle Fist techniques resembled the Kaguya Clan's dances, allowing them to identify his fighting style.
• Soji declined Sora's offer to join the Kaguya Clan, choosing to remain with the Yuki Clan to master Ice Release.
• Sora promised that the Kaguya Clan would conceal Soji's identity as long as he did not harm Kirigakure, and Mei agreed.

Soji secured the Kaguya brothers’ support for his Mizuki Ember identity, then learned that the Kaguya Clan faced a growing Bloodline Disease tied to its Shikotsumyaku. After questioning them about the disease’s history and spread, he prepared to share some information in exchange for their confidence and a chance to study the kekkei genkai.

• Kaguya Sora and Kaguya Mei agreed to call Soji Mizuki Ember and support him in Kirigakure.
• Kaguya Mei revealed that the Kaguya Clan’s Shikotsumyaku had developed a serious Bloodline Disease, and Kaguya Sora said it was increasingly common among younger clan members.
• Soji asked about the disease’s history and learned that it had not appeared during the Warring States Period or in Kaguya Sora’s father’s generation.
• Kaguya Sora and Kaguya Mei explained that most younger members who awakened the Shikotsumyaku developed the disease, while older members were less severely affected.
• Soji promised to keep the Kaguya Clan’s information secret and asked the brothers to keep secret what he was about to tell them.

Hyuga Soji explained that the Hyuga and Kaguya clans depended on each other, and that their separation had led to declining Byakugan purity and the Kaguya Clan’s Bloodline Disease. He agreed to investigate a cure using the Kaguya Clan’s resources and began listing the research equipment he wanted.

• Soji told Kaguya Sora and Kaguya Mei that the Hyuga Clan’s Byakugan purity had declined since the clans lost contact.
• Soji and the brothers connected the Kaguya Clan’s Bloodline Disease to the weakening influence of Hyuga blood, and Mei recalled that their grandmother had belonged to the Hyuga Clan.
• Sora revealed that his child had developed Bloodline Disease after awakening the Shikotsumyaku, leaving the brothers desperate for a solution.
• Soji said that solving the Kaguya Clan’s problem would also benefit the Hyuga Clan, then asked the brothers to fund experiments and provide research equipment.
• Sora sent Mei to fetch paper and a pen, and Soji wrote down a long list of equipment he wanted the Kaguya Clan to obtain.

Soji arranged to help the Kaguya Clan research a cure for its Bloodline Disease and asked Orochimaru for bloodline research materials. After the Kaguya Clan gathered the equipment, Soji told Mizuki Fuukaze he would take missions to raise Mizuki Ember’s rank before beginning the research.

• Soji gave Kaguya Sora and Kaguya Mei a long list of instruments and agreed to begin researching the Kaguya Clan’s Bloodline Disease once they had built a laboratory.
• Back at the Yuki Clan’s residence, Soji summoned a little black snake to deliver Orochimaru a letter asking for research guidance.
• Orochimaru read Soji’s letter, sent him bloodline research materials, and kept their partnership and the transplanted Byakugan secret from Danzo.
• Soji studied Orochimaru’s materials and trained in Ice Release while waiting for the Kaguya Clan to gather its equipment.
• After Kaguya Mei notified him that the equipment was ready, Soji told Mizuki Fuukaze he would take missions to raise Mizuki Ember’s ninja rank, and she supported the plan.

Soji researched the Kaguya Clan’s Shikotsumyaku and Bloodline Disease while secretly using Kaguya members to complete Mizuki Ember’s Kirigakure missions. Near the end of the year, he revealed the disease’s cause and said he had found two possible solutions.

• Soji asked Kaguya Sora to collect blood samples from every clan member and sort them by Shikotsumyaku and Bloodline Disease status.
• Kaguya Mei delivered the samples after working through the night, and Soji began studying them while continuing to pose as Mizuki Ember in Kirigakure.
• Over the following months, Soji conducted research at the Kaguya base and had clan members carry out the missions credited to Mizuki Ember.
• Near the end of the year, Soji told the clan guard that he had found the cause of Bloodline Disease, prompting Kaguya Sora and Kaguya Mei to hurry to the research base.
• Soji explained that a corrosive substance in the blood increased with Shikotsumyaku strength, while a neutralizing substance diminished across generations, and he announced that he had found two methods to address the disease.

Soji completed two research projects over two years: a serum for the Kaguya Clan’s Bloodline Disease and a method for implanting Kaguya cells into himself. He began the serum trial on Kaguya Sora’s son, leaving the results unknown.

• Soji explained that a powerful physique could address the root cause of the Kaguya Clan’s Bloodline Disease, while a neutralizing substance in his blood might treat its symptoms.
• Kaguya Mei brought Soji more Kaguya Clan blood, which Soji used both to study a serum and to attempt to implant Kaguya cells into himself.
• After two years of research, Soji completed both projects and presented the serum to Kaguya Sora and Kaguya Mei, briefly tricking them into thinking he had dropped it.
• Kaguya Sora brought his own son, who suffered from Bloodline Disease, to be the first serum recipient, despite Kaguya Mei’s reservations.
• Soji had Kaguya Sora’s son lie on the equipment and prepared to inject him while the brothers watched anxiously.

Soji treated Kaguya Lan’s Bloodline Disease with a serum made from Soji’s blood and promised the Kaguya Clan enough doses for its other patients. After confirming Lan’s recovery, Soji left Kirigakure with Little Gold to secretly transplant the Shikotsumyaku Cells he had prepared.

• Soji injected Kaguya Lan with serum, neutralizing the corrosive substance causing his Bloodline Disease and restoring his strength.
• Kaguya Lan demonstrated that he could use Shikotsumyaku, and Soji confirmed the serum was working while recommending daily examinations for a week.
• Kaguya Sora pledged the Kaguya Clan’s unconditional help to Soji, who agreed to provide forty-two more serum doses over six months using his own blood.
• Soji explained that the serum would treat current patients but could not guarantee their descendants would avoid Bloodline Disease; Kaguya Sora accepted that renewed contact after the war might be necessary.
• After confirming Kaguya Lan’s recovery on the seventh day, Soji told Mizuki Fuukaze he was testing a ninjutsu technique and left Kirigakure with Little Gold for their first meeting place.

Soji injected Kaguya Corpse Bone Pulse Cells on a remote island, hoping to awaken the Shikotsumyaku, but instead the procedure increased his Byakugan’s purity and granted it a new ability. The chapter left Soji discovering Byakugan: Pressure after the power knocked the Golden Eagle out of the sky.

• Soji flew with the Golden Eagle to its new island home and asked it to guard him while he injected the Corpse Bone Pulse Cells.
• After an agonizing hour of bone growth and retraction, Soji found that his bones had hardened but he still could not use the Shikotsumyaku.
• Soji’s eyes began hurting as his Byakugan’s power increased, confirming that the Kaguya cells had raised its purity.
• Soji’s Byakugan activated on its own and released an invisible pressure that forced the Golden Eagle to crash into its old pit.
• Soji identified the newly revealed ability as Byakugan: Pressure.

Soji discovered the Byakugan's Pressure and tested its strength and range with the Golden Eagle, then prepared to demonstrate a new, powerful taijutsu technique. The chapter ended as he announced the name of his weakened Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack: Void Strike.

• Soji accidentally knocked the Golden Eagle out of the sky with the Byakugan's Pressure, then apologized and promised it grilled wild boar.
• Soji tested the Byakugan's Pressure at different distances and found that it could affect targets up to two hundred meters away, with the strongest effects at close range.
• The Golden Eagle explained that the pressure could suppress an opponent's combat strength, and Soji concluded that it would help him face groups of weaker enemies.
• Soji decided not to test his other new ability on the Golden Eagle because he feared the creature could not withstand his attack.
• Soji asked the Golden Eagle to carry him above the island's tallest stone pillar and announced his weakened Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack, Void Strike.

Soji tested his new Void Strike, then spent time with the Golden Eagle before continuing his research for the Kaguya Clan. As the story shifted to Sunagakure, Sasori resolved to kill the Third Kazekage to avenge his parents.

• Soji used Void Strike to destroy the Golden Eagle's former stone nest and explained that the technique had two stronger forms.
• Soji took the Golden Eagle flying around the Land of Water and rewarded it with a feast of roast wild boar.
• Soji reflected on missing his friends in Konoha but stayed with the Yuki Clan to finish his obligations before returning home.
• After Konoha Year 43 began, Soji resumed researching a serum for the Kaguya Clan, whose abilities had strengthened his Byakugan and might aid his Tenseigan plans.
• Sasori recalled discovering that Sakumo Hatake had killed his parents and blamed the Third Kazekage for sending them to war and later making peace with Konoha.
• Sasori decided to kill the Third Kazekage and avenge his parents.

Sasori lured the weakened Third Kazekage into a trap and killed him, then concealed the death to provoke Sunagakure into war with Konoha. Sunagakure’s leaders chose war amid the crisis, and the Third Ninja World War began spreading across the shinobi world.

• Sasori arranged a false gold-mine discovery and used a controlled jonin to lead the exhausted Third Kazekage out of Sunagakure.
• The Third Kazekage followed Sasori into a pit, where Sasori ambushed and killed him and the jonin.
• Sasori stored their bodies in a sealing scroll and left the scene, intending to keep the Third Kazekage’s death secret.
• After the Third Kazekage went missing, Sunagakure split over whether he was dead and whether to appoint a successor.
• Sunagakure’s leaders chose to start a war while continuing the search, and the Third Ninja World War broke out.

Soji finished supplying the Kaguya Clan with Bloodline Disease serum and prepared to return to Konoha, but the Third Mizukage summoned him to a meeting. There, Kirigakure learned that the Third Ninja World War had begun and decided to join it, and the Mizukage stopped Soji to assign him a mission.

• Soji delivered the final batch of serum to Kaguya Sora and Kaguya Mei, then told them he planned to return to Konoha.
• Kaguya Mei urged Soji to stay in Kirigakure, but Kaguya Sora accepted Soji's choice and promised the Kaguya Clan would shelter him if he returned.
• An Anbu ninja summoned Soji and Mizuki Fuukaze to a meeting called by the Third Mizukage, where Genji and Kirigakure's clan heads also gathered.
• The Third Mizukage announced that the Third Ninja World War had begun and decided Kirigakure would join the conflict.
• After the meeting, the Third Mizukage stopped Soji before he could leave and said he had a mission to assign him.

Soji accepted the Third Mizukage’s mission to infiltrate the Land of Fire, then learned Karatachi Yagura wanted him to fake carrying it out and enjoy a stay in Konoha. Yagura explained that Kirigakure’s war was meant to redirect the village’s internal conflict, leaving Soji thinking of the lone Ninja Academy graduate, Momochi Zabuza.

• The Third Mizukage assigned Soji to infiltrate the Land of Fire, gather intelligence, and potentially cut off Konoha’s reinforcements.
• Soji agreed to the mission because it let him keep his Kirigakure identity while returning to Konoha.
• Karatachi Yagura privately asked Soji to pretend to carry out the mission and treat the trip as a vacation.
• Soji asked Yagura why he opposed the mission, and Yagura said Kirigakure’s war would shift the village’s internal conflict elsewhere.
• Yagura told Soji that only one ninja had graduated from Kirigakure’s Ninja Academy that year, and Soji recalled that the student was Momochi Zabuza.

Soji learned that Kirigakure’s war against Konoha was meant to suppress internal dissent, and Karatachi Yagura wanted the village to lose early so it could preserve its strength and reform. Yagura assigned Soji to spend time in the Land of Fire without restrictions, leaving Soji delighted to accept the easy mission.

• Soji asked Karatachi Yagura how Kirigakure had handled Momochi Zabuza’s slaughter of his graduating class, and Yagura explained that the incident had intensified opposition to the academy’s graduation exam.
• Karatachi Yagura told Soji that the Third Mizukage had used the war to redirect attention from Kirigakure’s internal conflicts and avoid changing his policies.
• Yagura revealed that the Third Kazekage had disappeared and argued that Sunagakure would soon lose to Konoha, while Kumogakure might attack Iwagakure.
• Soji asked what he should do in Konoha, and Yagura told him to appear in the Land of Fire occasionally while otherwise choosing his own activities.
• Yagura promised to provide the Third Mizukage with Soji’s supposed intelligence reports through his position as Head of Anbu, and Soji happily accepted the mission.

Soji told Mizuki Fuukaze about Karatachi Yagura’s opposition to the Third Mizukage’s war and persuaded him that Yagura’s warning was credible. He advised the Yuki Clan to fight cautiously as Kirigakure’s war against Konoha approached.

• Soji visited Mizuki Fuukaze and reassured him that he considered himself a member of the Yuki Clan.
• Soji told Mizuki Fuukaze that the Third Mizukage had ordered him to infiltrate the Land of Fire and disrupt Konoha’s reinforcements.
• Soji explained that Karatachi Yagura had asked him not to carry out the mission because Kirigakure’s war was likely to fail and Yagura wanted to preserve the village’s strength.
• Mizuki Fuukaze accepted Soji’s argument that Yagura’s claims were credible and asked how the Yuki Clan should act during the war.
• Soji advised the Yuki Clan to fight steadily, avoid competing for merit, and not rush ahead.

Soji informed the Yuki and Kaguya Clans about Kirigakure’s war plans and left for the Land of Fire after preparing for two days. He reunited with Minato at the coast, where Minato confronted him over his long absence.

• Soji told Mizuki Fuukaze to keep the news of Kirigakure’s plans secret and warned him that he would leave in three days.
• Soji informed the Kaguya Clan about the war plans and said he might return to Kirigakure after the war, exciting Kaguya Sora and Kaguya Mei.
• After two days of preparations, Soji rode the Golden Eagle across the sea toward the Land of Fire and removed his Mizuki Ember disguise at the coast.
• Soji activated Minato’s Flying Thunder God Kunai, and Minato appeared beside him with a Rasengan fading from his hand.
• Minato scolded Soji for being away for three years, six months, and fifteen days, then walked toward him with clenched fists as Soji stood still to let him vent.

Soji returned to Konoha after three years in Kirigakure and caught Minato up on his experiences while concealing his new power. He discovered that he was still a Special Jonin in Konoha, and asked Minato whether sharing intelligence could earn him a promotion.

• Minato welcomed Soji home and used the Flying Thunder God Technique to bring him back to Konoha.
• Soji dispelled his Shadow Clone and absorbed three years of information about events in Konoha.
• Soji told Minato about his time in Kirigakure but hid that he had implanted Kaguya Clan Corpse Bone Pulse Cells.
• Minato teased Soji about his easy lifestyle and revealed that everyone else on their team had become a Jonin while Soji remained a Special Jonin.
• Soji asked Minato whether providing Konoha with intelligence about Kirigakure could get him promoted.

Soji met Minato and arranged for him to report the intelligence Soji had gathered undercover in Kirigakure, hoping it would secure his promotion to Jonin. Later, the friends gathered to meet the newborn Itachi Uchiha, leaving Soji reflecting on the future massacre and the conflicting loyalties behind it.

• Soji asked Minato to pass his intelligence about Mizuki Ember's infiltration of the Land of Fire to the Hokage, hoping to earn a Jonin promotion.
• Minato visited Soji the next day and brought him to meet Kushina Uzumaki and Uchiha Homura, who was holding his nephew Itachi Uchiha.
• Soji teased Uchiha Homura about secretly taking Itachi outside, and Uchiha Homura retaliated by mocking Soji's Special Jonin rank.
• Minato explained that he had arranged the gathering because the war might keep them from meeting again soon, and urged his friends to stay careful if they went to the battlefield.
• Soji looked at Itachi Uchiha and considered how the future massacre would be judged differently by Konoha and the Uchiha Clan.