Recaps

Kakashi examined Neji Hyuga's powerful Lesser Flesh-Repair Pill, wary of its unknown risks, while Might Guy vouched for its effects. Neji gave Kakashi and Guy two pills and left, and Kakashi realized Guy had become much stronger after Neji's guidance.

• Kakashi doubted that Neji Hyuga had developed the Lesser Flesh-Repair Pill himself and worried that the pill's value could put Neji in danger.
• Might Guy praised the pill's effects and tried to eat another, but Kakashi stopped him and told him to save it for an emergency.
• Neji gave Kakashi and Might Guy two Lesser Flesh-Repair Pills, including the one Guy had already taken, and told them to buy more next time for five hundred thousand ryo each.
• Might Guy vowed to take an S-rank mission to support Neji's business, while Kakashi relaxed after Neji left.
• Kakashi noticed his injuries from sparring with Guy and asked whether Neji had guided Guy in taijutsu.

Neji returned to the forest near the Naka River and began practicing Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall as a way to build himself a home. When his Iron Body-focused clone consciousness objected to pausing training, Neji convinced it that Earth Style research would lead to Steel Release, leaving him intrigued by the idea of a future clash with Wood Release and Susanoo.

• Neji found a forest near the Naka River where he planned to live during his six years at the Ninja Academy.
• Neji copied Kakashi's hand seals and chakra flow to perform Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall for the first time, complete with lifelike dog heads.
• Neji studied nature and shape transformation, drawing on his deep understanding of energy to analyze the technique.
• Neji's Iron Body-focused clone consciousness gave him a headache for interrupting Iron Body training to study Ninjutsu.
• Neji explained that Earth Style practice would help him develop Iron Body into Steel Release, which persuaded the clone consciousness and sparked his interest in a future battle against Wood Release and Susanoo.

Neji Hyuga used Earth Style to build and harden a complete courtyard, then continued training Iron Body while waiting for income from his Flesh-Repair Pills. He expected Might Guy to recognize the pills’ value after facing a life-threatening situation and to buy them in the future.

• Neji Hyuga studied Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall and used Earth Style: House Construction Technique to create a fully equipped courtyard without hand seals.
• Neji Hyuga applied Earth Style: Hardening Technique to strengthen the courtyard and explained that he could also use it to petrify enemies.
• Neji Hyuga decided not to offer Might Guy unsolicited advice about his training and spending.
• Neji Hyuga continued training Iron Body despite lacking money for daily necessities, expecting sales of his Lesser Flesh-Repair Pills to bring in money soon.

Neji headed out to fish after learning he had been assigned to Class A at the Ninja Academy, and Tenten chased him down to thank him for helping her. The two became friends and classmates, and Neji took Tenten to dig for earthworms.

• Neji saw the Academy notice and learned that enrollment would begin in three days and he had been assigned to Class A.
• Tenten spotted Neji leaving and followed him to thank him for helping her two days earlier.
• Neji told Tenten his name and accepted her offer to treat him to food another time, since he was going fishing.
• Tenten asked to join Neji, and he agreed to let her come along despite her not having a fishing rod.
• Tenten learned that Neji was also in Class A, asked to call him Neji, and declared they were friends.
• Neji and Tenten headed out to dig for earthworms.

Neji Hyuga took Tenten fishing at a tributary of the Naka River, where she gathered bait and firewood and helped prepare their catch. The pair began grilling fish for lunch, with Tenten repeatedly marveling at Neji’s skills.

• Tenten helped Neji Hyuga dig up earthworms, and he wrapped them in a large taro leaf before leading her through the forest to the Naka River tributary.
• Neji Hyuga tried fishing while Tenten made a small water-filled pit and gathered firewood, but the fish stole the bait without biting the hook.
• Tenten fell asleep in the shade and woke to find several large fish flopping in her pit, then grabbed a crucian carp and praised Neji for catching them.
• Neji Hyuga cleaned and skewered the fish after correcting Tenten’s attempt to roast one without preparing it.
• Tenten worried that they had no way to start a fire, so Neji Hyuga used Chakra to ignite dry leaves, and they began grilling the fish with seasonings.

Tenten got lost in the forest, and Neji Hyuga escorted her home after they spent the day grilling fish. The next morning, Tenten found Neji again and offered to help furnish his bare courtyard, and Neji agreed to go shopping with her.

• Tenten woke late, realized she had forgotten the way out of the forest, and Neji Hyuga carried her back to Konoha's residential area.
• Neji Hyuga returned to the Naka River tributary for fish, added them to his courtyard pond, and resumed training Iron Body.
• The next morning, Tenten wandered into the forest looking for Neji Hyuga, and he saved her from a green snake.
• Tenten shared meat buns and sesame balls with Neji Hyuga, and he carried her back to his courtyard.
• Tenten saw how sparsely Neji Hyuga lived and offered to buy furnishings with her spending money, and he agreed.

Tenten and Neji Hyuga stocked their forest courtyard with furniture and appliances, then realized they had no electricity. Neji proposed building a wind-powered generator tower, and he planned to teach Tenten Chakra and prepare her for the ninja academy while they worked on it.

• Tenten bought household goods and a calf at the market while Neji Hyuga carried their purchases back to the courtyard.
• Tenten arranged the new furniture and discovered there was no electricity for the appliances.
• Neji Hyuga suggested hiring construction workers to build a wind-powered generator tower, but Tenten offered him money instead.
• Tenten decided she and Neji Hyuga should build the tower themselves, and Neji agreed.
• Neji Hyuga said he would teach Tenten Chakra and help prepare her for the ninja academy before cooking in the courtyard.

Neji explained Chakra’s origins to Tenten and encouraged her to question what she heard and seek the truth for herself. He then prepared to teach her how to extract Chakra.

• Tenten asked Neji to teach her how to jump between trees by extracting Chakra.
• Neji described Chakra’s alien origins and how it became a weapon after people disagreed about how it should be used.
• Tenten wondered whether Chakra could let her and Neji know each other’s thoughts, then struggled to explain her feelings about that.
• Neji told Tenten to investigate different perspectives and judge whether information, including his own, was true.
• Tenten promised to uncover the truth, and Neji began to teach her how to extract Chakra.

Neji Hyuga taught Tenten and the Little Buffalo Calf how to extract and circulate Chakra, then fed them after their first practice. Over the next two days he continued instructing them, until it was time for the Ninja Academy to begin.

• Neji Hyuga guided Tenten through her first Chakra extraction using the method he had designed.
• Neji Hyuga also taught the Little Buffalo Calf to follow Chakra circulating through its body.
• Tenten finished practicing, felt energized, then grew hungry and ate beef with Neji Hyuga and the Little Buffalo Calf.
• Neji Hyuga taught Tenten and the Little Buffalo Calf Chakra-extraction basics over the next two days, before the Ninja Academy began.

Tenten waited at a crossroads for Neji so they could go to the Ninja Academy together, while her father grew jealous and suspicious of their closeness. Neji arrived, and Tenten introduced him to her father, who privately opposed the bond between them.

• Tenten's mother prepared her lunch after Tenten's attempt to cook ended in a mess.
• Tenten's Father insisted on escorting her to the Ninja Academy, but she waited for Neji instead.
• Tenten told her father about fishing, buying furniture, and making plans with Neji, prompting him to worry that Neji had used her allowance and become too intimate with her.
• Tenten's Father saw Neji emerge from the forest and recognized him as a Hyuga, then inwardly rejected the idea of Neji taking his daughter away.
• Tenten greeted Neji happily and introduced him to her father.

Neji Hyuga walked Tenten and her father to the Ninja Academy, where Tenten tried to make Neji feel less alone after learning about his parents. The chapter ended with Neji spotting a blond child sitting alone on a swing.

• Tenten pulled Neji toward the Ninja Academy, and her father joined them despite her initial objections.
• Tenten's Father asked Neji about his parents, and Neji explained that his mother died giving birth to him and his father died by suicide before the Hyuga Clan and Lord Hokage handed over his body to Kumogakure.
• Tenten offered to share her father with Neji, but Neji told her to cherish her own father, easing her father's fear.
• The three arrived at the Ninja Academy, where Neji noticed a blond child sitting alone on a swing and watching families come and go.

Neji Hyuga and Tenten passed Naruto Uzumaki, who sat alone outside the Ninja Academy, and Neji reflected on Konoha’s treatment of the child. When Neji and Tenten entered Class A, Neji faced the same isolation and whispered hostility as Naruto.

• Tenten asked her father why people called Naruto Uzumaki the Demon Fox, but he said he only knew that families thought Naruto brought bad luck.
• Naruto Uzumaki noticed Neji Hyuga, Tenten, and Tenten's Father and hoped for company, but Neji led the others toward the academy.
• Neji Hyuga thought Konoha had unjustly isolated Naruto and despised the village leaders for allowing it.
• Tenten's Father felt relieved that Tenten had not befriended Naruto, while worrying about her association with Neji.
• Tenten said goodbye to her father and ran with Neji to the Class A classroom, where Neji met discriminatory looks, isolation, and hushed whispers.

Neji Hyuga entered Class A and faced his classmates’ mockery, while Tenten defended him and clashed with Uchiha Bingwei. The teacher arrived before the classroom’s escalating argument could turn into a fight.

• Neji Hyuga sat at the back of Class A as the children whispered about and insulted his appearance.
• Tenten angrily confronted the children, but they continued to mock Neji and praise Uchiha Bingwei.
• Uchiha Bingwei declared Neji his only rival and challenged him to prove whether the Uchiha Clan or Hyuga Clan was Konoha’s greatest noble clan.
• Tenten smashed a desktop with Chakra and rebuked the class for insulting Neji and boasting without ability.
• Neji calmed Tenten, and Uchiha Bingwei briefly praised her before the teacher arrived and the children returned to their seats.

Neji Hyuga and his classmates introduced themselves at the academy before Hiruzen Sarutobi visited and delivered a speech about the Will of Fire. Neji judged Hiruzen’s political failures harshly, foreshadowing that the Hokage’s compromises and suppression of the clans would eventually provoke a backlash.

• Bunta Yamano welcomed Class A and asked each student to introduce themselves and their ambitions.
• The students introduced themselves, including Uchiha Bingwei, who vowed to restore the Uchiha clan’s honor, and Tenten, who promised to defend Neji Hyuga from gossip.
• Neji Hyuga said he had no particular likes or dislikes and planned to unify the world, unsettling his classmates.
• A teacher announced that Hiruzen Sarutobi was coming, and Bunta led the students to the field.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi addressed the assembled children about the Will of Fire while Kakashi Hatake and Might Guy stood behind him.
• Neji Hyuga considered Hiruzen’s political compromises and suppression of the clans responsible for draining Konoha’s strength and risking a backlash.

Neji Hyuga began his first day at the Ninja Academy, where Hiruzen Sarutobi worried over his condition and considered warning the Hyuga Clan. After classes ended, Neji was told that Teacher Yamano wanted to see him in the faculty room.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi watched Neji Hyuga leave the playground and considered how the Hyuga Clan's Caged Bird Seal prevented him from trusting Neji.
• Might Guy praised Neji's strength and stamina-restoring pills, prompting Hiruzen to decide the Hyuga Clan needed another warning.
• Bunta Yamano organized Class A, handed out books, and explained rules while avoiding assigning Uchiha Bingwei and Neji class duties.
• Tenten ate lunch with Neji, while the other boys watched the girls gather around Uchiha Bingwei and Ninomiya Kaido grew heartbroken over Sachiko Egawa.
• Neji attended afternoon lessons, and a student leader told him that Teacher Yamano wanted him in the faculty room.

Neji Hyuga went to see Teacher Bunta Yamano, leaving Tenten in the classroom, where arguments over whether Neji or Uchiha Bingwei was stronger escalated into a challenge. Tenten accepted Bingwei’s offer of a final battle, and the two stood ready to fight.

• Ninomiya Kaido told Neji Hyuga that Teacher Bunta Yamano wanted to see him, and Neji headed to the faculty office while Tenten stayed behind.
• After Neji left, the boys and girls argued over whether Neji Hyuga or Uchiha Bingwei was stronger, with the boys claiming Neji could hold Bingwei back with one hand.
• Uchiha Bingwei insulted Neji, and Tenten smashed a desk and demanded that Bingwei apologize.
• Bingwei challenged Tenten to a final battle, and Tenten accepted, calling him a short Uchiha.

Bunta Yamano checked on Neji Hyuga because he thought the boy was being neglected, but Neji explained that his gaunt appearance came from training. Neji learned that Tenten had challenged Uchiha Bingwei and found her after the duel, injured and on the verge of tears.

• Bunta Yamano asked Neji Hyuga whether he was getting enough to eat, and Neji said his thin appearance came from training in a secret technique.
• Bunta Yamano offered to help Neji if he ever had trouble and gave him two pieces of candy.
• Neji returned to class and learned from Inori Kobayashi that Tenten had gone behind the school building to challenge Uchiha Bingwei.
• Neji hurried to the grounds behind the school, where he found Tenten alone with a bloody nose and tears welling in her eyes.

Neji Hyuga comforted Tenten after she exhausted herself fighting Uchiha Bingwei, then secretly tracked Bingwei down as he headed home. The chapter left Neji intercepting Bingwei in an alley outside the Uchiha Compound.

• Neji Hyuga found Tenten weak after her duel with Uchiha Bingwei and helped her recover.
• Neji Hyuga gave Tenten candy, promised to teach her combat techniques, and cleaned the dirt from her face and clothes.
• Neji Hyuga and Tenten left the Ninja Academy, where Tenten's Father took her home after she claimed she had gotten dirty during training.
• After saying goodbye to Tenten, Neji Hyuga used his Byakugan and enhanced sense of smell to track Uchiha Bingwei.
• Neji Hyuga intercepted Uchiha Bingwei in an alley outside the Uchiha Compound.

After defeating Tenten in a fight that left him badly bruised, Uchiha Bingwei confronted Neji Hyuga on his way home and challenged him. Neji’s killing intent froze Bingwei in terror until an Uchiha Ninja appeared and intervened.

• Uchiha Bingwei recalled how he outlasted Tenten and proudly declared himself the winner, though she had beaten him badly.
• Neji Hyuga intercepted Uchiha Bingwei in an alley, but Bingwei accused him of trying to avenge Tenten and challenged him to fight.
• Uchiha Bingwei assumed a combat stance and claimed he could easily defeat Neji despite his depleted Chakra.
• Neji Hyuga unleashed terrifying killing intent, leaving Uchiha Bingwei pale, rigid, and unable to move.
• An Uchiha Ninja appeared behind Uchiha Bingwei and ordered Neji Hyuga to put away his killing intent.

Itachi Uchiha intervened when Neji Hyuga used killing intent to frighten Uchiha Bingwei, but Neji’s presence nearly drove Itachi to awaken his Mangekyō Sharingan. The chapter ended with Uchiha Bingwei terrified and Itachi condemning Neji’s treatment of him, while Neji insisted he had only wanted to be left alone.

• Itachi Uchiha appeared behind Uchiha Bingwei and blocked Neji Hyuga’s killing intent.
• Itachi’s Sharingan nearly transformed into the Mangekyō Sharingan when he sensed the darkness in Neji’s killing intent.
• Neji Hyuga identified himself and said he had only wanted Uchiha Bingwei to stop bothering him.
• Itachi recalled Hizashi Hyuga’s sacrifice and wondered whether Neji had fallen into darkness after his father’s death.
• Neji walked toward them, terrifying Uchiha Bingwei until he collapsed and screamed in panic.
• Itachi told Neji he had gone too far, while Neji said the scare might awaken Uchiha Bingwei’s Sharingan.

Itachi Uchiha condemned Neji Hyuga for failing to honor Hizashi Hyuga’s sacrifice, then attacked him with Tsukuyomi. Neji was trapped in Itachi’s illusionary world, bound to a cross above a sea of blood.

• Neji Hyuga explained that Uchiha Bingwei might grow stronger if he overcame his fear, though his ordinary talent limited his chances of awakening the Sharingan.
• Itachi Uchiha thought of Shisui Uchiha’s death and grew anguished that Neji Hyuga did not cherish the peace Hizashi Hyuga had purchased with his life.
• Itachi Uchiha cast a genjutsu on Neji Hyuga, who dismissed him as beyond saving and believed a three-tomoe illusion could not control him.
• Itachi Uchiha activated his Mangekyō Sharingan and used Tsukuyomi, catching Neji Hyuga off guard.
• Neji Hyuga found himself bound to a cross above a sea of blood as black crows filled the sky and merged into Itachi Uchiha.

Neji Hyuga resisted Itachi Uchiha’s Tsukuyomi by shifting its control onto other parts of his divided consciousness, then identified the limits of Itachi’s control. Itachi attacked with Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu, but Neji dismissed his use of Tsukuyomi as wasteful.

• Itachi Uchiha trapped Neji Hyuga on a cross within his Tsukuyomi world.
• Neji Hyuga redirected the effects of Itachi’s control onto the four-year-old Neji Hyuga thought pattern and freed himself from the cross.
• Itachi tried to bind Neji again, but Neji used the One Piece clone consciousness to break free and disperse the liquid cross.
• Neji realized Itachi could only control him once at a time and criticized his shallow use of Tsukuyomi.
• Itachi Uchiha launched Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu at Neji Hyuga, who called the attack a waste of the Tsukuyomi world.

Neji Hyuga resisted Itachi Uchiha's Tsukuyomi and criticized his limited control of the mental world. Neji left the alley after forcing Itachi out of the Tsukuyomi and suggested that Itachi give him his eye in a year or two.

• Neji Hyuga tore through Itachi Uchiha's Fireball Jutsu inside the Tsukuyomi and criticized his use of the mental world.
• Itachi Uchiha attacked Neji with volleys of kunai and shuriken, but Neji dodged every weapon and explained how Itachi could control the Tsukuyomi.
• Itachi froze the air, time, and space around Neji, but Neji resumed moving and suggested more advanced ways to restrain him.
• Itachi could not perform Neji's suggested techniques, and Neji told him to give him his eye in a year or two if he was interested.
• Neji Hyuga forcibly broke out of the Tsukuyomi, walked past Itachi Uchiha, and left the alley.

Tenten endured her classmates calling her “Boss Lady” and worried when Bunta Yamano warned that students involved in private duels could be expelled. After classes, she and Neji Hyuga planned to build their windmill power tower, but they encountered Might Guy training Rock Lee.

• Tenten’s classmates admired her for challenging Uchiha Bingwei and called her “Boss Lady,” while she asked them to stop.
• Tenten and Neji Hyuga agreed to build their windmill power tower after school, and Neji promised to teach her chakra control and combat techniques.
• Bunta Yamano warned the class that duelists and students who watched private duels could be expelled, then told them not to duel privately.
• The students studied Konoha history and ninja theory, and Tenten wondered why Uchiha Bingwei was absent.
• Neji Hyuga told Tenten to keep extracting chakra using the method he had taught her.
• After school, Neji Hyuga and Tenten met Might Guy, who was training Rock Lee on the training ground.

Might Guy asked Neji Hyuga to guide Rock Lee while Guy went on an S-rank mission, and Neji agreed on the condition that Lee help with the windmill tower. Lee was accepted into the Ninja Academy and left under Neji’s temporary care.

• Might Guy praised Neji Hyuga and Tenten, then asked Neji to help train Rock Lee while he was away on a mission.
• Might Guy explained that he had secured Rock Lee’s admission to the Ninja Academy after seeing his determination.
• Rock Lee broke down in tears after realizing Might Guy had believed in him and arranged for his training.
• Might Guy pleaded with Neji to teach Rock Lee while he earned money for Lesser Flesh-Repair Pills on an S-rank mission.
• Neji agreed to give Rock Lee occasional pointers in exchange for helping him and Tenten work on the windmill tower.