Chapter Summaries

Shin discovered that the Uchiha had mistaken his ideas for a plan to expand their influence, and learned that the plan would soon be announced with him assigned as a team instructor. Meanwhile, marriage plans stirred the Uchiha and Hyuga households, while Nawaki paid off a portion of Tsunade’s gambling debts.

• Aoko asked Shin and Fugaku when they planned to marry, then scolded Fugaku for hesitating to marry Mikoto.
• Shin called Chiken and learned that the Uchiha believed his ideas meant changing their reputation, controlling core technology, and winning over Konoha’s clans so they could rule.
• Shin discovered the other Uchiha already knew about the supposed plan, which the Third Hokage had agreed to announce soon, and cried out when he heard he would become a team instructor.
• Hyuga Sakura asked Nao when she would marry, and Nao’s reaction revealed her feelings for a certain Uchiha; Sakura suspected the marriage tests could lead to a major incident.
• Debt collectors confronted Nawaki over Tsunade’s gambling debts, and he handed them his wallet before they fled with it.

Uchiha Shin taught the Ino-Shika-Cho trio three lessons through hotpot, a bell-grabbing exercise, and a dreadful dinner. The trio learned to stay calm under pressure and accept the consequences of their choices.

• Shin served the trio a deceptively mild tomato hotpot and taught them that they could choose a more comfortable option under the same conditions.
• Shin tested the trio at the training ground by making them flee as he pursued them with bells, and all three were eventually caught.
• Shikaku, Choza, and Inoichi reflected on how they could have escaped Shin more effectively.
• Shin served the trio Stargazy Pie as their third lesson, and Shikaku and Inoichi secretly sealed away the fish heads before Shin ordered them to eat another plate.

Sakumo and Shizune welcomed their son, Kakashi, while the Allied forces recaptured the ruins of Whirlpool Country and debated Uchiha Shin’s role in the war. The Third Hokage decided to keep Shin in Konoha, and Haru left with a secret letter as the village’s bell rang and the Ino-Shika-Cho trio ran for their lives.

• Sakumo named his newborn son Kakashi and played with him while Shizune watched happily.
• Konoha and Sunagakure recaptured the ruins of Whirlpool Country after a night of fighting.
• Danzo questioned Uchiha Shin’s intelligence and achievements, but the Third Kazekage, Chiyo, Tsunade, and Jiraiya defended him.
• The Third Hokage decided to keep Uchiha Shin in Konoha, then handed Haru a secret letter.
• The bell rang across Konoha, and the Ino-Shika-Cho trio desperately ran after their techniques bought them only one extra second.

Shin confronted the Hyuga main-family elders and demanded an end to the Caged Bird Seal, overpowering them when they refused. Afterward, he left with Nao and considered which other entrenched powers in Konoha needed to be challenged.

• Shin received a secret letter from Anbu Haru, became furious about the danger facing Grandma Mito, and later arrived at the Hyuga Clan compound.
• Shin presented the Hyuga elders with a proposal to end the Caged Bird Seal, but Shunkei, Asaka, Shūraku, and Mutō unanimously objected.
• Shin revealed his Mangekyō Sharingan and threatened the elders, then proposed marrying into the Hyuga Clan as grounds to influence its traditions.
• Nao accidentally broke a vase while eavesdropping, and the elders tried to fight Shin as he transformed his hands into white dragon heads.
• Meitoku confronted Chiken at the Grass Country camp and demanded that he rein in Shin, but Chiken called Shin and then refused to intervene.
• Shin defeated the Hyuga elders, took Nao by the hand, and left while considering which roots in Konoha to remove next.

Shin, Nao, Kaoru, and Nawaki used a movie shoot as cover to infiltrate Root headquarters, destroy its intelligence and documents, and make the operatives doubt what they had witnessed. The team left the burned-out base behind and met at Ichiraku Ramen, where Shin explained how blurred the line between reality and perception could be.

• Shin and Nawaki staged an elaborate fight above Root headquarters while Nao and Kaoru kept the Anbu and Root operatives from interrupting the shoot.
• Shin had Nawaki use Wood Release to send massive roots through Root headquarters, then set them ablaze with Great Fire Annihilation.
• Shin, Nao, Kaoru, and Nawaki left the burned-out headquarters as the Root operatives found the scene gone and questioned whether they had seen a Genjutsu.
• At Ichiraku Ramen, Shin explained that people lived within their own perceptions, while Nawaki, Kaoru, and Nao reacted to his words.

Shin secretly made Root’s headquarters appear destroyed night after night, driving its agents to the brink and spreading rumors that the place was haunted. A videotape exposed Team One’s filming as a cover for the real events, but the Third Hokage and Danzo interpreted its message differently and remained unable to trust Root’s reports.

• Root investigated the supposed destruction of its headquarters, questioned villagers, and suspected a massive Genjutsu after finding no evidence of the incident.
• Shin dismissed accusations against himself and his allies, then secretly restored Root’s headquarters to its burned state whenever cameras stopped recording.
• Root agents confronted the Uchiha Clan Grounds, and Shin decided to intensify his nightly haunting of their headquarters.
• Half a month later, Root had been psychologically battered by the hauntings, and Shin admitted that Team One had filmed that night but not at Root headquarters.
• The Third Hokage and Danzo watched a videotape that showed Team One’s filming and only a brief shot of Root’s intact entrance, then argued over whether Shin had issued a warning or rewritten reality.

Shin harassed Root while the Third Hokage dealt with Danzo and negotiated with Kirigakure. In the Land of Lightning, White Zetsu used the revelation that Kirigakure’s previous Mizukage had been controlled to sow distrust between the daimyo and the Third Raikage, then staged Wesker sightings to deepen the conflict.

• Shin returned to Root headquarters in disguise and left its members terrified, prompting Danzo to confront the Third Hokage about the attacks.
• The Third Hokage reviewed information on Kirigakure’s new Fourth Mizukage, Karatachi Yagura, and resolved to return to Konoha to handle Shin.
• The Third Raikage learned that his Anbu still had no leads on Blue B and vented his frustration by striking down a tree.
• White Zetsu Numbers One, Three, Four, and Five told the Land of Lightning’s daimyo that Kirigakure’s previous Mizukage had been controlled and warned him about the T-Virus leak.
• The daimyo confronted the Third Raikage about his relationship with Wesker and the source of the serum, and the two men parted in mutual suspicion.
• White Zetsu planned to intensify the rift between the daimyo and the Third Raikage, then disguised himself as Wesker and staged sightings with G-Virus serum.

Sarutobi Hiruzen and the Third Kazekage negotiated a ceasefire with Karatachi Yagura, demanding an explanation and tax exemptions from the Land of Water. The first day ended without an agreement, as Yagura offered five years of tax exemption and the Kazekage insisted Sunagakure should receive better terms.

• Karatachi Yagura arrived at the former Whirlpool Country and met Sarutobi Hiruzen and the Third Kazekage before the negotiations began.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen demanded an explanation for the previous Mizukage’s actions, while the Third Kazekage affirmed Sunagakure’s alliance with Konoha.
• Yagura tried to weaken the alliance, but the Third Kazekage explained how trade, railways, and development had tied Sunagakure and Konoha together.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen and the Third Kazekage proposed tax exemptions, and Yagura bargained down from their demand of eight years to five.
• The Third Kazekage rejected Yagura’s offer of equal terms with Sunagakure, and the first day of negotiations ended in a tense standoff.

The Kage negotiations reached an agreement on the Land of Water’s import tax exemption, but arguments over war reparations turned into a fight. In Konoha, Shin trained the Anbu, defeated the four Hyuga elders, and declared that he wanted to subvert the entire ninja world.

• Yagura and the Third Kazekage agreed to six years of import tax exemption for the Land of Water, then clashed with the Third Hokage over war reparations.
• The Third Hokage, Yagura, and the Third Kazekage began fighting after their negotiations broke down.
• Shin used Susanoo to train the Anbu and warned them that they would face his technique again if they did not improve.
• Shin fought the four Hyuga elders, disrupted their Rotation by overturning the ground, and defeated them with his Lightning Four-Strike Combo.
• Shin told two Hyuga elders that he intended to subvert the entire ninja world.

Shin helped abolish the Caged Bird Seal system and signed an engagement agreement with Hyuga Nao, positioning her to become the Hyuga Clan’s future head. The chapter ended with the Hyuga elders realizing that the engagement could force the clan to accept a female successor.

• Shin prevented newborn branch family members from receiving the Caged Bird Seal and organized a gathering to oppose the system.
• Meitoku returned to Konoha, saw branch family members protesting, and abolished the Caged Bird Seal system.
• Shin announced his engagement to Hyuga Nao and said she would become the Hyuga Clan’s future head.
• Nao signed the engagement agreement, followed by Meitoku, Hyuga Sakura, and Uchiha Aoko.
• The Hyuga elders realized that Shin’s support for Nao could challenge the clan’s traditions and inheritance system.

Shin pressed the Hyuga main family to accept Nao as its future clan head, while the Third Hokage rushed back from ceasefire negotiations after hearing the marriage news. Chiyo returned to Sunagakure with her family and found Sasori had transformed a truck into a giant puppet, though it could not talk.

• Shin defended Nao from the Hyuga main family and demanded an answer by the day he became Hokage.
• Asaka said the Uchiha had won over most of the village's ninja clans, and Shunkei warned that the Hyuga had little time to change.
• Yagura agreed to pay Konoha five billion ryo in war compensation in exchange for a five-year tax exemption, and Konoha and Kirigakure signed a ceasefire agreement.
• The Third Hokage heard about the marriage contract, the prospect of a female Hyuga clan head, and the abolition of the main and branch families, then hurried back to Konoha.
• Chiyo, Mamba, and Anko raced home to Sunagakure in time for the new year and found Sasori assembling a pile of mechanical parts.
• Sasori used the Puppet Technique to transform a truck into a red-and-blue humanoid puppet and lamented that it still could not talk.

Sasori asked Chiyo, Mamba, and Anko to make Optimus Prime talk, and they comforted him about his lonely childhood. Meanwhile, Shin’s prank on the Hokage Rock and his village-wide broadcast made the Third Hokage faint, while Shin asked Madara and Reanimated Hashirama whether they would show themselves in Konoha.

• Sasori told Chiyo, Mamba, and Anko that he wanted Optimus Prime to talk and play with him, and they embraced him and promised he would not be alone much longer.
• Shin supervised Kushina, Minato, and the Ino-Shika-Cho trio as they painted the Hokage Rock, then made them finish when the Third Hokage’s vehicle approached.
• The Third Hokage saw his painted statue, endured Shin’s fireworks and village-wide broadcast, and fainted from rage after Haru reported that Uchiha Shin was missing.
• Haru escorted the Third Kazekage toward the Hokage Building while Shin hid with Madara and Reanimated Hashirama and asked whether they would show themselves in Konoha.
• Madara refused to appear in Konoha, saying his presence would frighten its people, especially Tobirama’s disciples, and Reanimated Hashirama stopped trying to persuade him.

Shin asked Madara and Hashirama what would happen if an Uchiha and a Hyuga had a child, explaining that the child died young in every future he had seen. They concluded that resolving the bloodline conflict might require the Tenseigan and confronting Kaguya, but Shin left without a solution.

• Shin brought Madara and Hashirama back to help him deal with Konoha's higher-ups, then asked Hashirama about his habit of spoiling Tobirama.
• Shin told Madara and Hashirama that his and Nao's child died young in every future he had seen, and they traced the problem to a conflict between the Sharingan and Byakugan bloodlines.
• Madara suggested the Byakugan might evolve into another eye, and Shin explained his theory that Hamura's Chakra sustained the seal on Kaguya.
• Hashirama suggested taking Madara's original Rinnegan from Black Zetsu, but Shin said someone other than its original owner could not use its full power.
• Shin concluded that defeating Kaguya and obtaining the Tenseigan offered no clear way to save Nao, then dispelled the barrier and left.

Shin and Nao spent a date at the Naka River before the Third Hokage summoned them to discuss the Hyuga clan’s family system and Shin’s political future. Shin agreed to seek the Hokage position and proposed Nao as his successor in the Scientific Combat Department as the Hokage planned a major reorganization after the war.

• Shin met Nao at the Naka River, where DJ White Zetsu interrupted their date and Nao sparred with Shin.
• After waking, the Third Hokage summoned Shin and Nao and asked whether they could resolve the Hyuga issue.
• Shin said he could resolve it once he became Hokage, while the Third Hokage planned to nominate him in five years and reorganize Konoha’s upper ranks after the war.
• The Third Hokage confirmed that Root would be included in the reorganization, and Shin offered to resign as head of the Scientific Combat Department and recommended Nao as his successor.
• Shin insisted that he wanted authority to remove Konoha’s entrenched corruption, and the Third Hokage agreed.

Shin became the sole director of Konoha’s new Internal Investigation Department, an organization meant to root out corruption among the village’s leaders. He sent his three disciples on a mission that fit his plans, while Danzo remained suspicious of Shin and unaware that his schemes had been uncovered.

• Danzo’s subordinates admitted they could find no evidence or confront the people responsible for the missing Hashirama cells, and Danzo vowed to catch Uchiha Shin.
• Shin learned from White Zetsu that Danzo was waiting to be caught in the act, then gave White Zetsu a case of G-Virus to deliver to Kumogakure.
• The Third Hokage established medical education and Internal Investigation departments, naming Tsunade director of the first and Shin director of the second.
• Shin warned Konoha’s leaders that he would be watching them, while Danzo suspected the appointment and Nawaki’s Wood Release were part of a trap.
• Shin gave Shikaku, Inoichi, and Choza S-rank mission documents; after rejecting missions to assassinate him and find Kusanagi swords, he accepted a safer mission aligned with his plans.

Shin took the Ino-Shika-Cho trio to the capital of the Land of Fire for an S-rank mission investigating the death of the daimyo’s wife, Moto. The daimyo begged Shin to find the murderer, while Shikaku concluded that even a powerful daimyo feared the Konoha Grim Reaper.

• Shin bid farewell to Nao at Konoha’s North Gate, then made the Ino-Shika-Cho trio run as he chased them.
• The Third Hokage reviewed Shin’s document listing smugglers and illegal border-crossers and wondered why Danzo had not reacted.
• Shin named his team Big Shots Squad and explained that the mission was tied to the death of the daimyo’s wife and an effort to target the Guardian Shinobi Twelve.
• At the Daimyo Estate, Shin waited while the grieving Daimyo of the Land of Fire mourned Moto and made phone calls.
• The daimyo clung to Shin and pleaded with him to find Moto’s murderer, and Shikaku reflected that the daimyo feared the Konoha Grim Reaper.

Shin tested his students’ observations of the Land of Fire’s daimyo before White Zetsu secured funding from the Land of Lightning’s daimyo by posing as Chris. Shin then took his students through a neon-lit street owned by Keisuke and led them to meet him on the building’s hundredth floor.

• Shin asked Inoichi, Shikaku, and Choza what they had seen in the Land of Fire’s daimyo, then rewarded them with books, a grappling hook, and extra chicken legs.
• White Zetsu told the Land of Lightning’s daimyo that three members of the organization were injured, prompting the daimyo to offer financial support.
• White Zetsu and the Land of Lightning’s daimyo agreed that the country would fund the organization with one to two billion ryo annually in exchange for clearing out the bioweapons virus.
• Shin woke his students and showed them a large neon-lit street modeled on Konoha’s Shopping Street, explaining that Keisuke owned it.
• Shikaku recognized Keisuke’s importance as the Ninja World’s richest merchant, and Shin took his students by elevator to meet him on the hundredth floor.

Shin visited the monitoring floor in the Land of Fire’s capital, put Keisuke on an intense running regimen, and began considering ways to improve the population’s fitness. In Kumogakure, Ji modified the G-Virus while the Third Raikage pursued research into chakra-blocking metal, and Shin questioned whether his organization needed a name.

• Shin showed the Ino-Shika-Cho trio that the hundredth floor monitored the Land of Fire’s capital, then teased Keisuke about his weight and promised to help him lose it.
• Keisuke ran thirty laps through the capital, drawing a growing crowd of runners, while Shin decided that improving the Land of Fire’s physical fitness was important.
• Ji rejected brain replacement and tissue transplantation as ways to counter the G-Virus and began modifying the virus instead.
• The Third Raikage learned Ji had made progress and reviewed Kumogakure’s verified chakra conversion formula, resolving to import more chakra-blocking metal from the Umbrella Corporation.
• White Zetsu reported Ji’s progress to Shin, who asked whether their organization had a name and argued that a mysterious organization should keep its name unknown.

Shin investigated the Guardian Shinobi Twelve and learned that the Shimura clan planned a major transaction, then led Ino-Shika-Cho to investigate the daimyo’s wife’s murder. He located the suspected killer hiding inside the Daimyo Estate.

• Shin secretly approached the Guardian Shinobi Twelve but found their defenses so poor that he abandoned his plan to eliminate them.
• Shin met Keisuke, learned the Shimura clan would trade with Lai Hong in a week, and encouraged Keisuke to continue exercising.
• Several black-robed figures bribed Konoha’s North Gate guards and headed north toward the Land of Fire’s capital.
• Shin took Ino-Shika-Cho to investigate the daimyo’s mission and explained that the woman who killed Moto had become a threat who needed to be brought to the daimyo.
• Shin entered Sage Mode, sensed the woman’s location, and discovered that she was hiding inside the Daimyo Estate.

Shin let the daimyo decide what to do with Maki, who had killed Moto, and the daimyo sentenced her to lifelong imprisonment. After helping his disciples learn from the tragedy, Shin turned his attention to the remaining threat behind the Ninja World's chaos.

• The daimyo told Shin how he had killed his elder brother to claim power and marry Moto, while Maki later poisoned Moto out of jealousy and grief.
• Shin urged the daimyo not to make a choice he would regret, and the daimyo lowered his blade as Maki confessed to killing Moto.
• Shin sent Ino-Shika-Cho outside and warned the guards not to interfere while the daimyo faced Maki alone.
• The daimyo sentenced Maki to lifelong imprisonment, and Choza, Shikaku, and Inoichi reflected on the lesson over grilled meat.
• Shin secretly watched his disciples find their resolve, then identified Black Zetsu as the true culprit behind the Ninja World's prolonged chaos and vanished beneath the moonlight.