Chapter Summaries

Lu Li advised Itachi on ways for the Uchiha Clan to escape extermination by abandoning its demand for the Hokage position and using its famous bloodline to build political alliances and influence. He proposed extending those alliances beyond Leaf Village, but stopped before explaining how the Uchiha could protect themselves from Leaf Village’s retaliation.

• Itachi asked Lu Li for advice because he had been close to preparing to massacre his clan.
• Lu Li told Itachi that the Uchiha should stop fixating on becoming Hokage and seek power and wealth through other means.
• Lu Li suggested that the Uchiha arrange marriages with Leaf Village’s major clans to gain political ties and make an attack on them dangerous.
• Itachi recognized that the Uchiha’s Sharingan bloodline could attract clans beyond Leaf Village, and Lu Li proposed spreading it through marriages and male clan members fathering children abroad.
• Itachi worried that Leaf Village would retaliate, and Lu Li began explaining that the Uchiha first needed to secure their position before he abruptly stopped.

Lu Li persuaded Itachi to abandon his plan to massacre the Uchiha Clan and instead seek a peaceful path that would strengthen the clan’s position in Konoha. They agreed that an external threat could unite the village and restore the Uchiha Clan’s standing, though Lu Li left to consider how to carry out that part of the plan.

• Itachi pledged to work for Lu Li if he helped save the Uchiha Clan, while reserving the right to protect Leaf Village from destruction.
• Itachi explained the Uchiha Clan’s escalating conflict with Konoha, his agreement with the Third Hokage, and his plan to wipe out his clan.
• Lu Li told Itachi to persuade his father to abandon rebellion and suggested strengthening the clan through marriage alliances.
• Lu Li warned Itachi not to underestimate his father, who might also possess the Mangekyo Sharingan, and urged him to speak honestly with him.
• Lu Li proposed creating an external threat so the Uchiha Clan could defend Konoha and regain influence, but said he needed to work out the plan’s details.
• Lu Li left after asking Itachi for a way to contact him, and Itachi prepared to speak with his father.

Itachi considered Lu Li’s proposal for the Uchiha Clan to leave Konoha, while Akatsuki discussed recruiting Lu Li and Kakuzu insisted on testing him. After Lu Li collected a bounty at an underground exchange, he came face to face with Kakuzu.

• Itachi secretly asked Lu Li about his worst-case plan, and Lu Li suggested that the Uchiha Clan leave Konoha and establish an independent village.
• Itachi gathered the fallen Anbu’s bodies and belongings after Lu Li departed.
• At an Akatsuki meeting, Pain ordered Kakuzu to recruit Lu Li, and Kakuzu secured permission to test him first.
• Lu Li killed an Explorer, then exchanged the body of Fūjin, a Stone Village Missing-nin, for his bounty at an underground exchange.
• Kakuzu arrived at the exchange, and Lu Li recognized him as an Akatsuki member as Kakuzu confirmed Lu Li’s identity.

Lu Li fought Kakuzu outside the exchange and effortlessly endured his Earth Grudge Fear attacks. When Kakuzu tried to stop him, Lu Li broke through a reflected blast, cut him in half, and launched lightning spears at his hearts.

• Kakuzu and Lu Li left the exchange before their fight could damage it.
• Kakuzu tested Lu Li with Wind Release, but Lu Li evaded the attack and struck back with nearly instantaneous lightning.
• Kakuzu surrounded Lu Li with three Earth Grudge Fear constructs and attacked with a combined Wind and Fire technique followed by Water Release, but Lu Li emerged unharmed.
• Kakuzu withdrew his constructs and prepared a combined attack, but Lu Li charged through its blast behind an invisible barrier.
• Lu Li cut Kakuzu in half with his blade and fired lightning spears at the three hearts in Kakuzu's right hand and at his main body.

Lu Li accepted Kakuzu’s invitation to visit the Akatsuki and met its members, including Orochimaru, at a remote meeting. After learning the organization’s plans to collect the Tailed Beasts, Lu Li agreed to contribute in exchange for access to intelligence and secret techniques, and Pain assigned him to work with Kakuzu.

• Kakuzu revealed that he had attacked Lu Li to test his strength before inviting him to join the Akatsuki, and Lu Li agreed to visit after negotiating the terms.
• Kakuzu led Lu Li to a cave and gave him a Vermilion ring; Lu Li learned to use the Illusionary Body Flicker Technique with Chakra and joined the remote meeting.
• Lu Li met Pain, Konan, Kakuzu, Orochimaru, Sasori, Biwa Juzo, and another Akatsuki member at the Outer Path Statue.
• Pain explained the Akatsuki’s plans to gather funds, expand its mercenary work, dominate the world, and begin collecting Tailed Beasts.
• Lu Li said he would help the Akatsuki in exchange for useful intelligence and secret techniques, and Pain assigned him to work with Kakuzu.

Lu Li left the Akatsuki meeting to meet Orochimaru in the Land of Rice Fields, while Itachi told Uchiha Fugaku about a plan to save the clan without rebellion. Fugaku embraced the plan and prepared to discuss it with the clan, as Lu Li arrived at the Hidden Sound Village and met a familiar-looking contact.

• Deva Path assigned Orochimaru to partner with Lu Li and Sasori to assist Kakuzu, then ordered the members to prepare for tailed-beast hunts.
• Lu Li secured Kakuzu's agreement to provide small amounts of organizational funding and set out for the Land of Rice Fields.
• Itachi told Uchiha Fugaku that he had awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan and argued that fighting Konoha would doom the clan.
• Itachi shared Lu Li's proposed path forward, and Fugaku enthusiastically agreed to gather the clan's core members to discuss it.
• Lu Li reached the Hidden Sound Village, where Orochimaru had arranged for a familiar-looking person to meet him.

Lu Li met Orochimaru at his Hidden Sound Village laboratory and offered to fund his research in exchange for its results. Orochimaru showed him Kimimaro’s Cursed Seal, leaving Lu Li intrigued by the possibility that the research could connect to his plan to save the Uchiha Clan.

• Yakushi Kabuto guided Lu Li through Orochimaru’s underground base to meet Orochimaru.
• Orochimaru revealed that Danzo and Leaf Village were his largest source of research funding, and Lu Li offered to help fund his projects in exchange for research results.
• Lu Li received a hidden mission to support Orochimaru’s research and noticed its hint about a possible connection to another mission.
• Orochimaru introduced Kimimaro and ordered him to demonstrate the Cursed Seal’s second stage.
• Orochimaru explained that the Cursed Seal used natural energy to give people a power resembling sage techniques.

Lu Li visited Orochimaru’s research base, promised to fund his work on Hashirama Cells, and proposed destroying Konoha. Orochimaru agreed and outlined a tentative plan, leaving the two of them plotting together while Lu Li weighed how far to let it go.

• Lu Li rejected Orochimaru’s curse mark and asked to visit Ryūchi Cave to learn senjutsu, which Orochimaru agreed to arrange.
• Orochimaru showed Lu Li his research, including Hashirama Cells, and Lu Li promised to fund further experiments in exchange for access to the results.
• Lu Li asked Orochimaru whether he wanted to destroy Konoha, and Orochimaru revealed that he had already been preparing such a plan.
• Orochimaru proposed using tailed beasts and recruiting the Hidden Sand Village to attack Konoha, while Lu Li judged the plan unreliable but chose not to expose its flaws.

Lu Li extorted secret techniques from the Raikage, then went to Wave Country to seize Kado’s fortune. After defeating two Explorers and overwhelming Zabuza, Lu Li invited the former Mist swordsman to come with him.

• Lu Li summoned the Thunder Dance Technique from the Raikage, then traded intelligence about the Akatsuki targeting the Tailed Beasts for three more secret technique scrolls.
• Lu Li told Orochimaru he would handle Akatsuki missions and asked him to contact Ryūchi Cave about Sage Techniques.
• Lu Li received only fifty million from Kakuzu and decided to rob Kado, a wealthy shipping tycoon in Wave Country.
• Two Explorers attacked Lu Li at Kado’s estate, and Lu Li killed them with a single slash each.
• Zabuza confronted Lu Li at the estate, but Lu Li’s Conqueror’s Haki overwhelmed him before Lu Li entered the villa and seized Kado’s assets.
• Lu Li offered Zabuza a place with him if Zabuza had nowhere else to go.

Lu Li recruited Zabuza by promising to help him become Mizukage and reform the Hidden Mist Village, then brought him and Haku to Orochimaru’s base in the Land of Rice Fields. A new mission tasked Lu Li with killing Fourth Mizukage Yagura and helping Zabuza become the Fifth Mizukage.

• Lu Li spared Zabuza, took Kado’s fortune, and learned that Zabuza wanted to become Mizukage and reform the Hidden Mist Village.
• Lu Li offered to help Zabuza achieve his ambition, and a hidden mission appeared requiring Yagura’s death and Zabuza’s rise as Fifth Mizukage.
• Zabuza followed Lu Li with Haku, and Lu Li agreed to take them to the Land of Rice Fields.
• Lu Li gave Orochimaru several billion in funding for Hashirama Cells research and introduced Zabuza and Haku as his new subordinates.
• Orochimaru recognized Zabuza and showed interest in training Haku, while Zabuza speculated that Orochimaru and Lu Li planned to fight their way back to Konoha.

Lu Li formed a summoning contract with Ryūchi Cave and arrived there with Orochimaru to learn senjutsu. The White Snake Sage gave him a perilous trial in the depths of the cave, while its revelation that it had once seen a dragon left Tagorihime wondering whether one remained beyond the forbidden northern reaches.

• Lu Li signed Ryūchi Cave’s summoning scroll, and Orochimaru arranged for Tagorihime to reverse summon them there.
• Orochimaru left Lu Li with Tagorihime and the White Snake Sage, which was shocked that it could not see Lu Li’s future.
• The White Snake Sage challenged Lu Li to descend into a fissure connected to the Lava Abyss without killing any of Ryūchi Cave’s snakes.
• Lu Li accepted the trial, received a side quest from End Space, and headed north toward the destination.
• The White Snake Sage told Tagorihime it had once seen a dragon, and she wondered whether one might exist in the forbidden northern land.

Lu Li fought his way through Ryūchi Cave and defeated the elder snake Shinya, who unexpectedly asked to become his Summoning Beast. Lu Li agreed, and Shinya prepared to leave the cave with him to prove its strength.

• Lu Li used controlled lightning to paralyze the giant snakes as he advanced into the depths of Ryūchi Cave.
• Shinya attacked Lu Li, but Lu Li powered up and battered the giant snake until it fell still.
• Shinya recovered and resumed talking, so Lu Li praised its strength and compared it favorably with Manda.
• Shinya offered to make a contract with Lu Li so it could see the ninja world and prove it was stronger than Manda.
• Lu Li accepted Shinya as his Summoning Beast, and Shinya insisted it only wanted to demonstrate its strength outside Ryūchi Cave.

Lu Li explored the forbidden chasm in Ryūchi Cave and discovered a dormant Flame Dragon egg absorbing the lava, along with ancient murals that appeared to depict an inheritance. After copying the murals, he returned to Shinya for help reading them, and Shinya reacted gravely.

• Lu Li left Shinya behind and endured the extreme heat as he followed the lava river upstream through the chasm.
• Lu Li found a crimson egg absorbing the lava and withdrew after End Space warned him that he was attempting to awaken the dormant Flame Dragon.
• Lu Li discovered ancient illustrations and writing on the rock wall, copied them, and returned to Shinya without revealing the egg.
• Lu Li showed Shinya the copied murals and asked it to interpret the ancient script.
• Shinya recognized the writing as Ryūchi Cave’s earliest script and asked gravely whether Lu Li had really found those murals in the chasm.

Lu Li discovered the Dragon Transformation Art, an ancient Sage Art cultivation system, in Ryūchi Cave and began training there after passing the cave’s trial. Meanwhile, the Uchiha Clan abandoned its apparent rebellion and pursued marriage alliances, prompting a tense dispute between Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzo over how to respond.

• Shinya identified the murals as a Sage Art system that seemed to predate and underlie Ryūchi Cave’s current teachings, and Lu Li’s tablet revealed the Dragon Transformation Art.
• Lu Li asked Shinya to interpret the cultivation method, then decided to keep its discovery from the White Snake Sage for now.
• Shinya led Lu Li back from the chasm, and the White Snake Sage approved his trial and sent Tagorihime to guide him to a Sage Art training chamber.
• An Anbu reported to Hiruzen Sarutobi that the Uchiha Clan had stopped holding gatherings and that Uchiha Fugaku was arranging marriage alliances for Uchiha Itachi and other clan members.
• Shimura Danzo argued that the Uchiha Clan was concealing its ambitions and urged Hiruzen to act against them, but Hiruzen defended peaceful coexistence and warned Danzo to restrain Root.

Danzo considered provoking the Uchiha Clan into rebellion while Yun Lian helped free Yagura from Uchiha Madara’s genjutsu in the Hidden Mist Village. Lu Li returned from Ryūchi Cave having mastered Sage Mode and demonstrated his Dragon Transformation Art to Orochimaru, but an Akatsuki summons interrupted their discussion.

• Hiruzen dismissed an Anbu report about the Uchiha Clan without ending surveillance, while Danzo resolved to push the clan toward destruction and obtain its Sharingan.
• Yun Lian, Mei Terumi, and Kisame Hoshigaki broke the genjutsu controlling Yagura, who regained his memories and vowed to make Uchiha Madara pay.
• Lu Li left Ryūchi Cave after learning senjutsu and making limited progress with the Dragon Transformation Art, prompting the White Snake Sage to ask Tagorihime to find Shinya.
• Lu Li demonstrated that he could freely enter Sage Mode and manifest dragon-like scales, shocking Orochimaru with how quickly he had mastered senjutsu.
• Orochimaru asked Lu Li for tissue samples to test compatibility with Hashirama Cells, but an Akatsuki ring summoned them before Lu Li could discuss his requirements.

Obito told Nagato that the Fourth Mizukage had escaped his control, prompting Nagato to order Akatsuki to begin collecting tailed beasts and investigate the Hidden Mist Village. Lu Li planned to head toward Cloud Village with Orochimaru to pursue the Two-Tails, while considering how to protect his own interests.

• Obito warned Nagato and Konan that the Fourth Mizukage had broken free of his genjutsu and urged them to deal with him before he regained power.
• Nagato decided Akatsuki would begin collecting tailed beasts immediately and ordered the organization’s members to gather.
• Nagato sent Sasori to capture the One-Tail and Biwa Juzo’s group to investigate the Hidden Mist Village without acting rashly.
• Nagato assigned Orochimaru and Lu Li to capture the Two-Tails and then support the Hidden Mist operation, allowing them to retreat if the mission became impossible.
• Lu Li decided that capturing the Two-Tails could damage his interests and planned to sell Cloud Village valuable intelligence before committing himself.
• Orochimaru asked Lu Li whether he felt loyal to Akatsuki, and Lu Li said he would head north to investigate the tailed beasts while Orochimaru could stay behind to research.

Lu Li negotiated with the Fourth Raikage over intelligence and offered to heal his injured leg in exchange for a secret technique. At Yugito Nii’s training grounds, she attacked Lu Li and transformed into Matatabi, leaving him ready to fight her.

• Lu Li told Zabuza that the Akatsuki planned to target the Hidden Mist Village and proposed making him its hero so he could compete for Mizukage.
• Lu Li threatened the Fourth Raikage with Yugito Nii’s safety to obtain a Legendary Grade scroll and three Epic Grade scrolls, including the Lightning Release Shadow Clone Technique.
• Lu Li told the Raikage that the Akatsuki had sent him to capture the Two-Tails and offered to heal his leg in exchange for the Lightning Release Chakra Mode secret technique.
• Yugito Nii recognized Lu Li as the person who injured the Raikage and attacked him with a Fire Rat Ball.
• Yugito Nii transformed into Matatabi and struck at Lu Li, who blocked her claw with Prison Demon and prepared to beat her.

Lu Li defeated Yugito Nii, drained Matatabi, and traded healing the Fourth Raikage for a Cloud Village secret technique before heading toward Hidden Mist Village. The chapter ended with Yagura pursuing Akatsuki member Biwa Juzo, who was trapped in a fight against the Mizukage.

• Lu Li healed Yugito Nii after the Fourth Raikage and Killer B found her, then accepted the Raikage's secret-technique scroll in exchange for healing his leg.
• The Raikage had Killer B fire an Eight-Tails Tailed Beast Ball beside Lu Li so he could report a battle, and Lu Li left for Hidden Mist Village.
• Zetsu inspected the Cloud Village battlefield and concluded that Pain would need to capture the Two-Tails himself.
• Yagura killed Biwa Juzo's teammate and chased Biwa Juzo, an Akatsuki member, into a misty forest.

Lu Li arrived in time to save Biwa Juzo from Yagura and challenged the Fourth Mizukage, who had become a Perfect Jinchuriki. As Kisame fought Biwa Juzo, Lu Li clashed with Yagura and destroyed the Water Mirror clone, demanding that Yagura show his full strength.

• Yagura used the Water Mirror Technique and Water Gun Bullet to overwhelm Biwa Juzo, then moved in to finish him with Coral Palm.
• Lu Li interrupted Yagura with lightning, rescued Biwa Juzo, and prepared to fight the Fourth Mizukage.
• Yagura questioned Lu Li about Uchiha Madara, while Lu Li denied knowing him and confronted Yagura about being used as a pawn.
• Yagura ordered Kisame to kill Biwa Juzo, and Kisame began suppressing his former senior in battle.
• Lu Li and the transformed Yagura charged at each other, and Lu Li cut through Yagura’s Water Mirror clone before demanding his peak strength.

Lu Li fought Yagura, Mei Terumi, and Yun Lian, overwhelming them as Yagura prepared a more dangerous technique. Meanwhile, Zabuza returned to the Hidden Mist Village and began distributing flyers exposing how Yagura had been controlled and why Zabuza had led his failed uprising.

• Lu Li killed the Water Mirror copy of himself and explained that he and the Akatsuki were only cooperating to meet their separate needs.
• Mei Terumi ambushed Lu Li with Boil Release, but he scattered the mist, wounded her, and cut off one of Yagura's tails before Yagura forced him back.
• Lu Li activated Thunder God Form and challenged Yagura, while the injured Mei Terumi warned that Yagura's next technique could endanger the nearby village.
• Yagura ordered Yun Lian and Mei Terumi to control the battlefield while he faced Lu Li, and Yun Lian's smile revealed that he was an Explorer.
• Zabuza returned to the Hidden Mist Village and told a former junior that he intended to liberate it.
• Zabuza gave the ninja flyers explaining that Yagura had been controlled and that Zabuza's past uprising had aimed to free the village from the genjutsu.