Chapter Summaries

After New Krypton subdued Apokolips and dealt with the Guardians of the Universe, Zeus warned He-El that future cosmic fusions could bring other powerful enemies. He-El ordered Zeus to prepare defenses and destructive devices at places where those forces might appear.

• Zeus, the Olympian Gods, and New Krypton's forces returned through a Space Bridge after subduing Apokolips and incorporating the Green Lantern Corps into the Seven Lantern Corps.
• He-El ordered the returning forces to settle the additional living beings who had appeared across New Krypton's territory.
• Zeus urged He-El to prepare for powerful pantheons and cosmic forces that might arrive in future fusions.
• Zeus explained that people and planets often appeared where their counterparts had existed or traveled, citing Apokolips and Oa Star.
• He-El assigned Zeus to investigate likely arrival points, establish defenses and self-destruct devices, and eliminate threats quickly if necessary.

He-El oversaw the resettlement of beings displaced by the second cosmic merger as Superman Clark Kent, Green Lantern Hal Jordan, and Batman Bruce Wayne discussed New Krypton's rule. He-El invited them to join New Krypton and help with future mergers, or leave the Milky Way, and ended by identifying Superman as his son.

• New Krypton transported newly arrived beings to safe planets in the Milky Way, and He-El watched the resettlement from space.
• Superman Clark Kent brought Green Lantern Hal Jordan and Batman Bruce Wayne to meet He-El, and the two visitors compared him with the He-El from their universe.
• Green Lantern Hal Jordan criticized New Krypton's dictatorship, while Batman Bruce Wayne questioned whether its order could last under one ruler.
• He-El said he had created the peaceful order because he wanted to, not to govern humanity, and offered the visitors a choice to join New Krypton or leave the Milky Way.
• Green Lantern Hal Jordan questioned why Superman could remain a superhero, and He-El replied that Superman was his son.

Superman Clark Kent confronted He-El, his father, while Green Lantern Hal Jordan and Batman Bruce Wayne asked to see the dead Superman from their universe. He-El opened a Space Bridge to the corpse, and the three visitors stepped through, with He-El following them.

• Hal Jordan and Bruce Wayne learned that Clark Kent was He-El’s son, while Clark angrily refused to acknowledge He-El as his father.
• He-El dismissed Clark, who then asked where the Superman inside the sun had been taken.
• He-El explained that the Sun-Eater had possessed Superman’s corpse and that Superman’s consciousness was truly dead.
• Bruce and Hal asked to see Superman one last time, grieving the loss of the last remaining member of their Justice League.
• He-El opened a Space Bridge to Superman’s corpse, and Hal, Bruce, and Clark stepped through before He-El followed.

Batman Bruce Wayne, Green Lantern Hal Jordan, and Superman Clark Kent fought the Sun-Eater in the Large Magellanic Cloud and freed the merged-universe Superman’s body. The two Supermen merged, and Clark told his friends that he was their Clark Kent too.

• He-El brought Batman Bruce Wayne and Green Lantern Hal Jordan to the Large Magellanic Cloud, where they found the merged-universe Superman’s body inside the Sun-Eater.
• Superman Clark Kent approached the body, waking the Sun-Eater, which blasted him with a solar flare.
• Batman Bruce Wayne, Green Lantern Hal Jordan, and Superman Clark Kent joined forces against the Sun-Eater while He-El watched.
• The Sun-Eater tried to flee, but Green Lantern Hal Jordan trapped it in a green energy barrier as Batman Bruce Wayne and Superman Clark Kent gained the advantage.
• The merged-universe Superman’s body broke apart and merged into Superman Clark Kent, who told Batman Bruce Wayne and Green Lantern Hal Jordan that he was their Clark Kent too.

Superman Clark Kent urged Green Lantern Hal Jordan and Batman Bruce Wayne to form a new Justice League to protect Earth during future cosmic fusions. He-El rejected the idea and seized Clark, leaving Hal and Bruce to witness him being punished.

• Superman Clark Kent acknowledged that he was not the Superman Hal Jordan and Bruce Wayne had known, but said he shared their desire to protect Earth.
• Green Lantern Hal Jordan and Batman Bruce Wayne described how they had lost their homes and felt stranded in an unfamiliar universe.
• Superman Clark Kent invited Hal Jordan and Bruce Wayne to join a new Justice League, with other heroes expected to arrive through future cosmic fusions.
• He-El appeared behind Superman Clark Kent, grabbed him by the neck, and forced him down for trying to establish a Justice League without New Krypton's authority.
• Green Lantern Hal Jordan and Batman Bruce Wayne recoiled as Clark screamed in pain, and Hal tried to explain that Clark had only been suggesting a response to the coming cosmic fusion.

He-El confronted Superman Clark Kent over his proposal to establish a Justice League, while Green Lantern Hal Jordan and Batman Bruce Wayne explained that Superman wanted to help newcomers from fused universes integrate with New Krypton. He-El spared Superman and ordered Batman to help create a bridge between New Krypton and other universes, leaving the newcomers’ survival in their hands.

• He-El grabbed Superman Clark Kent, and Green Lantern Hal Jordan and Batman Bruce Wayne tried to explain that Superman had only wanted to help protect Earth during future universe fusions.
• He-El revealed that his forces had defeated Darkseid and occupied Apokolips, shocking Green Lantern Hal Jordan and Batman Bruce Wayne.
• Batman Bruce Wayne explained that Superman’s proposed Justice League would serve as a communication bridge to help beings from fused universes trust and integrate with New Krypton.
• He-El released Superman Clark Kent, declared that New Krypton was his, and threw Superman toward Green Lantern Hal Jordan and Batman Bruce Wayne.
• Batman Bruce Wayne bowed to He-El, who ordered him to help establish the bridge and made him responsible for whether beings from other universes survived.

Superman Clark Kent revealed that He-El had killed the Justice League, explaining the deep rift between them. Batman Bruce Wayne and Green Lantern Hal Jordan resolved to become Earth’s final line of protection and hope.

• He-El left through the Space Bridge after choking Superman Clark Kent, while Batman Bruce Wayne and Green Lantern Hal Jordan reflected on New Krypton’s conquest of Apokolips.
• Green Lantern Hal Jordan helped Superman recover, and Superman admitted that his relationship with He-El was poor.
• Superman Clark Kent said he wished he did not share He-El’s bloodline, then revealed that He-El had killed the entire Justice League.
• Batman Bruce Wayne proposed that they become Earth’s final bridge of protection, and Green Lantern Hal Jordan agreed.

He-El incorporated the Calabash Brothers two-dimensional universe’s operational logic into the He-El Universe, and its inhabitants gained insights when his hand linked their wonders to the pagoda. He then investigated three abnormal Traversal Vortexes and discovered that the clone sent to the Naruto universe had run into trouble.

• Superman Clark Kent established a department under New Krypton to manage beings from other universes and lead superheroes in quelling unrest.
• After Lucy reported that the Calabash Brothers universe inspection was complete, He-El reached into it and transmitted its underlying data through the Ninety-Nine-Story Heaven-Ascending Pagoda.
• The New Dynasty’s wonders revealed different paths to people across the realm, who gained varied insights before He-El withdrew his hand.
• He-El integrated the two-dimensional universe model into his own universe and granted Lucy and Doctor Manhattan partial operational authority over it.
• He-El examined the first abnormal Traversal Vortex and found the Naruto universe, where his Iron Body-trained clone had encountered a problem.

He-El entered the Naruto universe to investigate why his stand-in had not awakened its past-life memories, then broke through the mental barriers and took control of four-year-old Neji Hyuga. At Hizashi Hyuga’s funeral, Hiashi Hyuga kept vigil for his brother despite the Main Family elders’ contempt for the Branch Family.

• He-El discovered that his stand-in had become a native of the Naruto universe without recalling its past life, and he merged with it to break its mental shackles.
• Neji Hyuga screamed in pain at Hizashi Hyuga’s funeral and fainted while clutching the Caged Bird Seal on his forehead.
• Hiashi Hyuga checked Neji Hyuga’s pulse and had a Branch Family woman take care of him.
• The chapter recounted how Hizashi Hyuga had been killed and his body surrendered to Kumogakure in place of Hiashi Hyuga after an attempt to kidnap Hinata Hyuga.
• A Main Family elder urged Hiashi Hyuga to leave the funeral, but Hiashi Hyuga stayed to keep vigil for Hizashi Hyuga.

He-El awakened in four-year-old Neji Hyuga’s body, inheriting Neji’s resentment toward the Hyuga Clan and the rage of a clone consciousness that had died in the One Piece universe. He decided to pursue those grievances and conquer the Naruto universe, but the chapter ended when someone entered his room to ask how he was feeling.

• He-El woke with a splitting headache as Neji Hyuga’s memories and the clone consciousness’s rage overwhelmed him.
• He-El explained that the Caged Bird Seal had trapped the clone consciousness before it could awaken and may have affected its soul.
• He-El promised to seek justice from the Hyuga Clan and Konoha, and to use Iron Body to fulfill the clone consciousness’s rage.
• He-El realized that Chakra might have caused him to become a trinity of Neji Hyuga, the clone consciousness, and his own reduced consciousness.
• He-El chose to stay in the Naruto universe and conquer it rather than leave or avoid the unknown effects of Chakra.
• Someone opened He-El’s room door and asked how his body was.

He-El struggled with Neji Hyuga’s hatred of the Main Family as Hiashi Hyuga visited him. The chapter explained that Hizashi Hyuga’s death was the result of a political confrontation between the Hyuga Clan and Konoha’s leadership, and ended by describing the painful lesson Konoha had imposed on the clan.

• Hiashi Hyuga visited He-El, who ordered him to leave while suffering from the thoughts and hatred he had absorbed from Neji Hyuga.
• Hiashi Hyuga recognized that Neji blamed him for Hizashi Hyuga’s death and watched the boy with sadness.
• The chapter recounted how Konoha’s weakness after the Nine-Tails Rebellion made unity and an end to the war essential to Hiruzen Sarutobi.
• The Hyuga Clan’s absence from the peace treaty celebration, held on Hinata Hyuga’s birthday, deepened its conflict with Konoha’s leadership.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi used the Kumogakure envoy crisis to force the Hyuga Clan to hand over Hizashi Hyuga, disciplining the clan through a political confrontation.

Hiashi Hyuga reflected on how his choices had led to Hizashi Hyuga’s death and how the Hyuga Clan had been forced to accept the political outcome. When he offered to have Neji Hyuga taught the Gentle Fist, Neji rejected the offer and dismissed the technique as useless.

• Hiashi Hyuga remembered how the village’s political pressures had made Hizashi Hyuga the only acceptable person to hand over to Kumogakure.
• Hiashi Hyuga felt guilty that his leadership and absence from Hinata’s birthday celebration had left the Hyuga Clan isolated and led to his younger brother’s death.
• Hiashi Hyuga decided not to attend the Hokage’s office during his vigil for Hizashi Hyuga, despite knowing his protest would change nothing.
• Hiashi Hyuga told Neji Hyuga that someone would teach him the Gentle Fist and that he no longer needed to train with Hinata.
• Neji Hyuga refused the offer, saying he had no intention of learning the Gentle Fist.

He-El rejected learning the Hyuga Clan’s Gentle Fist and planned to build his strength through Iron Body training. After reviewing Hizashi Hyuga’s inheritance, he bought provisions and medicinal herbs to prepare for an intensive training regimen.

• He-El decided to avoid the Gentle Fist because it provoked Neji Hyuga’s thoughts and chose to rely on his own techniques and Iron Body instead.
• He-El found Hizashi Hyuga’s inheritance, including 74.2 million ryo, several ninjutsu scrolls, and a formula he planned to adapt for repairing training injuries.
• He-El left the Hyuga Clan compound and arranged regular deliveries of meat and milk from Konoha vendors.
• He-El bought nourishing medicinal herbs for three million ryo, ate ramen, and returned home to prepare for training.

Neji Hyuga experimented with medicinal herbs to create a formula that replenished blood and restored his body, then used its effects to begin training an improved Iron Body. After brutally conditioning himself against a tree, he pursued the Steel Soul Iron Body method developed from He-El's knowledge.

• Neji Hyuga arranged for his groceries to be left at a warehouse because guards barred outsiders from entering the Hyuga Clan grounds.
• Neji Hyuga tested a meridian-repairing medicine, then adjusted herb proportions in seven pots to make formulas for replenishing blood, boosting Ki, and restoring his body.
• Neji Hyuga drank the potent formulas and drove his Chakra and blood through his body to intensify his muscles.
• Neji Hyuga repeatedly rammed a large tree with Iron Mountain Lean until both shoulders were badly injured.
• Neji Hyuga continued training Iron Body using an improved internal method aimed at uniting mind and body as Steel Soul Iron Body.

Three-year-old Hinata exhausted herself training while Hiashi judged her too weak to lead the Hyuga Clan. Hiashi then learned Neji had trained obsessively for days after Hizashi’s death but refused to practice Gentle Fist, and he told the servant not to mind him.

• Hinata collapsed from exhaustion during Gentle Fist training, and Hiashi left after watching her struggle.
• Hiashi reflected on the Hyuga Clan’s precarious place in Konoha and his frustration that Neji, not Hinata, had the talent to lead it.
• Hiashi asked a servant about Neji and learned he had trained almost constantly for four days, slept only five hours in a week, and smashed apart a tree with his body.
• The servant confirmed that Neji had not practiced Gentle Fist since Hizashi’s death.
• Hiashi blamed Neji for neglecting Gentle Fist but acknowledged that he could not force him, then said, “Don’t mind him.”

Neji pushed his four-year-old body through extreme training, using a medicinal formula and Chakra to accelerate recovery and develop Iron Body. Might Guy found him running and, mistaking his appearance for a sign that he was near death, desperately tried to stop him.

• Neji ran his usual route while relying on a blood-restoring, vitality-replenishing formula to endure relentless training and lack of sleep.
• Neji practiced using Chakra to make Iron Body an instinctive process that could train his body even while he moved or rested.
• Might Guy encountered Neji on the running path and was horrified by his skeletal appearance and bloodied bandages.
• Might Guy ran beside Neji, begging him to stop and weeping with concern, while Neji ignored him and kept running.

Two Hyuga Branch Family members visited Neji Hyuga to deliver his Ninja Academy enrollment notice, finding his residence abandoned and learning he had spent two years training obsessively instead of practicing Gentle Fist. Takashi Hyuga knocked at Neji’s gate, and Neji told them to come in.

• Kyuya Hyuga and Takashi Hyuga approached Neji Hyuga’s residence with his Ninja Academy enrollment notice.
• Kyuya wondered why Neji had abandoned Gentle Fist, while Takashi recalled Neji’s father Hizashi Hyuga and lamented Neji’s isolation and relentless training.
• Takashi and Kyuya found the residence eerily silent, overgrown, and covered in dust.
• Takashi knocked on Neji’s gate, and Neji’s voice invited them inside.

Takashi Hyuga and Kyuya Hyuga visited Neji to tell him he would enroll in the Ninja Academy in half a month. Takashi was shaken by Neji’s formidable presence and, after Kyuya left, asked Neji to spar.

• Takashi heard Neji call him inside, then entered the residence with the frightened Kyuya.
• Takashi and Kyuya found Neji practicing in the backyard, where his breathing and movements made Takashi feel overwhelmed.
• Takashi told Neji that he was six years old and would officially enroll in the Ninja Academy in half a month.
• Takashi sent Kyuya back to report to the clan, then respectfully asked Neji to spar.

Neji Hyuga refused Takashi Hyuga’s request to stop his intense training and sparred with him after Takashi insisted on testing his strength. Neji defeated Takashi with one strike and promised to free him from the Caged Bird Seal someday.

• Takashi Hyuga asked Neji Hyuga to spar and urged him to return to Gentle Fist training.
• Neji told Takashi he was no match for him, but Takashi insisted on testing Neji under Hiashi Hyuga’s orders.
• Takashi charged Neji with the Gentle Fist, and Neji moved in front of him before Takashi could react.
• Neji struck Takashi in the chest and blasted him into the courtyard wall, leaving him badly injured.
• Neji ordered Takashi to return and promised to free him from the Caged Bird Seal someday.

Neji Hyuga left the Hyuga Clan compound for the Ninja Academy pre-enrollment examination, having spent all his money on training supplies and refusing to return to the clan. On the way, he scared Tenten unconscious, carried her to the academy, and arrived as Might Guy and a white-haired ninja noticed him.

• Neji Hyuga left the Hyuga Clan compound with his examination notice and belongings, intending not to return.
• Neji Hyuga’s gaunt, bloodshot-eyed appearance frightened people on the road, and Tenten fainted when she saw him.
• Neji Hyuga picked up Tenten and carried her toward the Ninja Academy so she would not miss the pre-enrollment examination.
• Neji Hyuga joined the registration line at the academy while the children and parents fell quiet around him.
• Might Guy came out with a white-haired ninja, and both reacted to Neji Hyuga’s frightening appearance.