Chapter Summaries

Neji Hyuga defeated the Akatsuki and Amegakure shinobi, then appointed Tenten ruler of the Land of Rain as he began preparing to unify the Shinobi World. He ordered Akatsuki to kill the Land of Rain’s Daimyo and nobles, marking the start of a new government.

• Deidara, Sasori, Kakuzu, Kisame Hoshigaki, and Amegakure Jonin tested themselves against the Hyuga Branch Family members and were defeated or overwhelmed.
• Neji Hyuga told Tenten that he planned to become Hokage and lead Konoha in conquering and unifying the Shinobi World, with Tenten governing the Land of Rain.
• Neji Hyuga appointed Tenten ruler of the Land of Rain, placed Konan as her aide, and made Akatsuki the country’s special forces under Nagato and deputy leader Itachi Uchiha.
• Neji Hyuga ordered Nagato and Itachi Uchiha to kill the Daimyo and every noble in the Land of Rain, and named Amegakure the new capital.
• Neji Hyuga announced that Tenten and the administrators would implement his plans for the Land of Rain and declared that a new era had begun.

Tenten successfully governed the Land of Rain until Neji Hyuga challenged her to consider how the entire Shinobi World could share resources and prosper. She broadened her vision, and the chapter ended with her advisers proposing ways to address the Land of Sand’s desertification while Neji encouraged them.

• Tenten administered the Land of Rain, punished fraud, and planned to develop crops suited to its damp climate.
• Neji Hyuga visited Amegakure’s offices and asked Tenten how a unified Shinobi World could solve the Land of Sand’s water shortage and food-production problems.
• Tenten realized she had focused too narrowly on the Land of Rain and canceled policies that did not fit a world-spanning, long-term approach.
• Tenten told the advisers, Konan, and Neji Hyuga that their task was to govern the entire Shinobi World for humanity’s future.
• The advisers proposed using greenery from the Land of Fire and transporting excess water from the Land of Rain to address the Land of Sand’s desertification, and Neji Hyuga urged them to speak freely.

Neji Hyuga learned that the Hyuga Main Family planned to kill him after the Chunin Exams, while Tenten briefly returned to Konoha to defeat Kankuro before hurrying back to govern the Land of Rain. The chapter left Hiruzen Sarutobi resolved to kill Neji as he watched Tenten leave.

• Neji Hyuga strolled through Konoha's lantern festival, joined Naruto, Ino-Shika-Cho, and Sakura for the festivities, then left before the fireworks.
• A Hyuga Branch Family member told Neji that the Hyuga Main Family had allied with Hiruzen Sarutobi and planned to deal with him after the Chunin Exams; Neji said he would handle the clan after becoming Hokage.
• Neji used Tenten's Flying Thunder God mark to remind her that her Chunin Exam match was about to begin, and Tenten arrived moments before forfeiting.
• Tenten overwhelmed Kankuro with a pursuing rain of ninja tools, prompting him to surrender and earning her the victory.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi and Orochimaru watched Tenten's technique, and Hiruzen resolved to eliminate Neji; Tenten then used the Flying Thunder God to return to work.

Gaara’s sudden transformation into the One-Tail Shukaku triggered Orochimaru’s attack on Konoha, while Neji’s Steel Colossus fought Shukaku. Hiruzen Sarutobi died fighting Orochimaru, and after the invasion and funeral, Neji walked into the meeting to select the next Hokage.

• Neji Hyuga knocked Gaara unconscious, causing the One-Tail Shukaku to emerge as Kabuto Yakushi’s Temple of Nirvana Technique put spectators to sleep.
• Orochimaru revealed himself in the VIP seats, took Hiruzen Sarutobi hostage, and trapped them inside the Four Violet Flames Battle Formation as Sand and Sound Ninja attacked Konoha.
• Neji Hyuga summoned a fifty-meter Steel Colossus that struck Shukaku and stayed behind to fight it while Neji went to watch Hiruzen’s battle.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi sealed the First Hokage and Second Hokage, then tried to cripple Orochimaru, but Orochimaru used an Advanced Flesh-Repair Pill to recover and killed Hiruzen.
• Orochimaru escaped as Konoha’s clan ninjas fought the invaders, and after Hiruzen’s funeral Neji Hyuga entered the meeting to select the next Hokage.

After Hiruzen Sarutobi's death left Konoha exposed to threats, the advisors backed Jiraiya for Fifth Hokage, but Neji Hyuga demanded a place in the election. Jiraiya withdrew and proposed Tsunade instead, and Neji accepted the challenge to compete for the votes.

• Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado urged Jiraiya to become Fifth Hokage while Danzo Shimura silently acknowledged Neji Hyuga's strength.
• Neji Hyuga entered the Hokage's Office and announced that he wanted to become Hokage.
• Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado argued that Neji was unqualified, while Homura explained that the Jonin would ultimately choose the Hokage.
• Danzo Shimura nominated Neji for the Hokage election, citing his strength and his role in resolving the tailed beast crisis.
• Jiraiya declined to run and said he would bring Tsunade back as a more suitable candidate.
• Neji Hyuga told Jiraiya to let Tsunade compete with him for the votes.

Neji Hyuga returned to the Hyuga Clan compound and offered to remove the Caged Bird Seal from Branch Family members who chose freedom. After the clan divided over his offer, Neji ordered the Main Family and its supporters, including their descendants, to receive the seal instead, leaving them protesting.

• Neji Hyuga told the gathered Hyuga Clan that he had solved the Caged Bird Seal and created a new taijutsu system, and several Branch Family members revealed their unmarked foreheads.
• Takashi Hyuga invited Branch Family members who wanted freedom to stand with Neji, and the Fifth Elder attacked them by trying to activate their seals.
• Takashi broke the Fifth Elder's arm, and Branch Family members chose sides, with many joining Neji and others remaining with Hiashi Hyuga.
• Hiashi Hyuga asked Neji not to harm their clansmen, but Neji ordered Takashi to seal the Main Family, its supporters, and their descendants.
• Neji said he would give Branch Family members the ninjutsu to apply the seal and let them decide whether to use it, prompting protests from the Main Family and its supporters.

As the reformed Hyuga Clan settled into a new era, Neji Hyuga entered the Jonin vote to compete with Tsunade for Hokage. Kakashi Hatake worried that the election concealed Neji’s larger ambitions, while Might Guy decided to support him; the chapter ended with Tsunade confronting Neji.

• The Hyuga Clan abolished the distinction between its main and branch houses, and branch members used the Caged Bird Seal against former main-house members.
• News spread that Tsunade would return to run for Hokage against Neji Hyuga, whose power and reputation still seemed small beside hers.
• Neji told Takashi Hyuga that the election would gather Konoha’s Jonin and give them a chance to change their destinies.
• Kakashi Hatake suspected Neji’s candidacy was tied to his stated goal of conquering every country and making their shinobi villages as peaceful as Konoha.
• Might Guy decided to vote for Neji, and Neji entered the Hokage Building as the Jonin gathered.
• Tsunade confronted Neji, asking if he was the brat trying to take the Hokage position from her.

Tsunade confronted Neji Hyuga over his bid for Hokage, and he condemned Konoha’s leadership before promising to unite the Shinobi World by force. Tsunade rejected his candidacy and entered the election square, leaving the Jonin divided over Neji’s accusations.

• Tsunade arrived with Jiraiya and demanded to know why Neji Hyuga wanted to become Hokage.
• Neji Hyuga blamed the Third Hokage and the clans around him for Konoha’s corruption and the Uchiha Clan’s destruction.
• Neji Hyuga said he would conquer the Sand Village and other shinobi villages to end war, while Tsunade and the Jonin dismissed his plan.
• Tsunade refused to let Neji Hyuga become Hokage, and Neji accused her of preserving the system she despised.
• Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado escorted Tsunade into the election venue as the Jonin reacted to Neji’s accusations.
• Kakashi Hatake brought Might Guy into the election square, and Neji Hyuga entered with Takashi Hyuga.

At Konoha’s Hokage election, Hyuga Neji objected to an immediate vote and demanded that the candidates present their policies first. His challenge exposed how his candidacy could change who was allowed to compete for Hokage, while Shikaku Nara arranged a cautious show of support for Neji from the Akimichi Clan.

• Koharu Utatane began the vote after Tsunade and Hyuga Neji arrived, but Neji objected and called for candidates to explain their policies before voting.
• A Jonin agreed that Neji’s request was reasonable, as Konoha’s past Hokage selections had largely excluded open competition.
• Shikaku Nara realized that Neji’s candidacy could break the traditional monopoly on the Hokage position, and Inoichi Yamanaka asked him what troubled him.
• Shikaku Nara and the Ino-Shika-Cho Clans decided that Choza Akimichi would cast a vote for Neji as a precaution and a gesture of goodwill.
• Shikaku Nara considered whether Neji might seize power if he lost, then wondered if choosing Neji outright could lead Konoha into a new era.

Neji Hyuga and Tsunade presented their plans for becoming Hokage, and Neji’s hardline promises won over the Jonin. The chapter ended with Tsunade, Jiraiya, Koharu Utatane, and Homura Mitokado reacting in alarm to Neji’s speech.

• Homura Mitokado announced that Tsunade and Neji Hyuga would give speeches before the Hokage election, and Tsunade spoke first.
• Tsunade promised to protect Konoha with her life, and her supporters cheered her enthusiastically.
• Neji Hyuga promised to make Sand Village pay reparations for the Konoha Crush and threatened to incorporate it into Konoha if it could not pay.
• Neji Hyuga promised Uzuki Yugao that he would execute Maki for killing Hayate Gekko, moving Yugao and the Jonin with his pledge to defend Konoha’s people.
• Tsunade, Jiraiya, Koharu Utatane, and Homura Mitokado reacted in alarm to Neji Hyuga’s words.

Neji Hyuga defended a hard-line response to Sand Village and proposed uniting the shinobi world under one country. He ended his speech by declaring that he was stronger than Hashirama Senju.

• Tsunade, Jiraiya, Koharu Utatane, and Homura Mitokado challenged Neji Hyuga’s proposal, warning that war with Sand Village could ignite a Fourth Shinobi World War.
• Neji Hyuga accused the leaders of disregarding the deaths of civilian shinobi and small-clan members, and vowed that Sand Village’s crimes would not go unpunished.
• Tsunade condemned Neji Hyuga’s plan to annex Sand Village, but Jiraiya restrained her as she tried to confront him.
• Neji Hyuga announced that he would merge Sand Village into Konoha and unite the Land of Rivers with the Land of Wind.
• Neji Hyuga outlined a plan to conquer the remaining shinobi villages and establish a single country with unified systems, declaring that he was stronger than Hashirama Senju.

Neji Hyuga laid out his plans for unifying the Shinobi World and investigating corruption before losing the Hokage election to Tsunade. After the vote, he revealed his Sage Mode and summoned a colossal Steel Colossus, leaving the Jonin in fear.

• Neji Hyuga promised to unify the Shinobi World and investigate positions controlled by the Sarutobi Clan, Utatane Clan, and Mitokado Clan.
• The Jonin voted, and the ballots gave Tsunade seventy-five percent and Neji Hyuga about twenty-five percent.
• Koharu Utatane announced Tsunade as the Fifth Hokage, and the Jonin celebrated her victory.
• Neji Hyuga unleashed crushing pressure, entered Sage Mode, and slammed his palms into the ground.
• A Steel Colossus over a thousand meters tall rose behind Neji Hyuga and blocked out Konoha's sun.

Neji Hyuga revealed a Steel Colossus towering over Konoha, confirming that he possessed the power to pursue the Hokage position. As Konoha’s shinobi prepared to evacuate and fight, Jiraiya and the toads recognized Neji’s Sage power as beyond anything they had encountered, and they could not say whether they could win.

• The Jonin saw Neji Hyuga’s Steel Colossus overshadow Konoha, and Shikaku Nara ordered an evacuation and prepared the squads to restrain him.
• Kakashi Hatake and Might Guy reacted in shock as they realized how powerful Neji was.
• Jiraiya summoned Gamabunta and prepared to enter Sage Mode, but Gamabunta warned that the Steel Colossus seemed stronger than the Great Toad Sage.
• Jiraiya summoned Shimakage and Shima, who identified Neji as an Eternal Sage embodying nature itself.
• Jiraiya asked whether they could defeat Neji, and Shimakage and Shima fell silent.

Tsunade and Jiraiya confronted Neji Hyuga and his Steel Colossus, believing they could stop the summon by defeating Neji. After the Steel Colossus effortlessly battered Gamabunta, Katsuyu hesitated to attack Neji and addressed him as her lord, leaving Tsunade frightened.

• Tsunade summoned Katsuyu while Jiraiya and the toads assessed the Steel Colossus, and they decided to target Neji Hyuga.
• Neji ordered the Steel Colossus to avoid excessive damage to Konoha, and the colossus reluctantly agreed to fight.
• Gamabunta struck the Steel Colossus's toe with his blade, but it remained unharmed and kicked Gamabunta into the air.
• The Steel Colossus pierced Gamabunta's stomach with a steel hair and pinned him in the forest outside Konoha.
• Tsunade ordered Katsuyu to attack Neji with Tongue Tooth Sticky Acid, but Katsuyu asked Neji for permission and called him her lord, frightening Tsunade.

Neji Hyuga used the Steel Colossus to overwhelm Konoha’s forces during his coup, defeating Tsunade’s attack and explaining that he intended to rule through fear rather than seek acknowledgment. As Might Guy confronted him over his betrayal, Neji said that the ruthless person before him was his real self.

• Katsuyu’s Tongue Tooth Sticky Acid only left temporary marks on the Steel Colossus, which then transformed the plaza floor into steel and raised spikes that scattered Konoha’s forces.
• Tsunade and Jiraiya attacked Neji Hyuga while Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado launched a combined assault, but Neji’s steel defenses disrupted their attacks and sent Kakashi Hatake flying.
• Neji Hyuga blocked Tsunade’s Monster Strength Fist with his metallic palm and knocked her onto a steel spike, where she activated Ninja Art: Creation Rebirth: Strength of a Hundred Technique to heal herself.
• Neji Hyuga told Tsunade that he would rule through fear and force obedience rather than seek acknowledgment, while Danzo Shimura retreated among the spikes.
• Might Guy opened the Fifth Gate and caught the unconscious but living Kakashi Hatake, then demanded to know why Neji was hurting Konoha.
• Neji Hyuga told Might Guy that the Neji he saw was real and that Guy had never reached his deeper layers.

Might Guy opened the Eighth Gate to confront Neji Hyuga over his coup, while Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Shikaku Nara tried to restrain Neji. The Steel Colossus broke their efforts, and the chapter ended as Guy launched Night Guy against Neji’s Iron Body.

• Might Guy opened the Sixth and then the Seventh Gate, demanding to know why Neji Hyuga had chosen a coup despite having the ability to become Hokage.
• Shikaku Nara took the injured Kakashi Hatake away for treatment as Neji warned Guy that he could not withstand the Eighth Gate’s toll.
• Might Guy opened the Eighth Gate, and Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Shikaku Nara attempted to restrain Neji while the Steel Colossus attacked them.
• The Steel Colossus broke the restraints and fought Jiraiya and Tsunade, while Katsuyu rustified beneath Neji’s feet.
• Might Guy used Night Guy, and Neji Hyuga met the attack with Iron Body.

Might Guy unleashed Night Guy against Neji Hyuga, devastating Voting Square and much of Konoha. Neji survived without injury, while Might Guy’s body was destroyed by the attack’s recoil and he fell with his life nearly extinguished.

• Might Guy opened the Eight Gates and charged Neji Hyuga with Night Guy, shattering the steel spikes around them.
• Neji braced himself and took Might Guy’s full-force kick to the chest, triggering a massive shockwave that wrecked buildings and cracked the ground across Konoha.
• Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Shikamaru protected the Konoha ninja from the debris and flying steel.
• Might Guy’s body fractured and burned from the recoil, and he fell to the ground as a charred shell with his life nearly extinguished.
• Neji Hyuga recovered from his red-hot state without a trace of injury, leaving the assembled Jonin stunned.

Neji Hyuga defeated Tsunade and Jiraiya after surviving Might Guy's Night Guy, then declared that he was becoming Hokage. The battlefield fell silent as Tsunade writhed under the Five Elements Seal and Jiraiya lay restrained.

• Might Guy's Night Guy kick destroyed the Hokage Building and cracked the surrounding ground, but Neji Hyuga emerged unharmed.
• Neji Hyuga ordered Tsunade to keep Might Guy alive, and Katsuyu reported that it could sustain him for only five minutes.
• Tsunade and Jiraiya attacked Neji Hyuga with steel, Sage Art: Goemon, and close combat, but he repelled their attacks.
• Tsunade restrained Neji Hyuga so Jiraiya could use Sage Art: Ultra Five Elements Seal on them both.
• Neji Hyuga transferred the seal from himself to Tsunade, leaving her convulsing in agony while he bound Jiraiya with molten steel.
• Neji Hyuga asked the silent battlefield who objected to him becoming Hokage.

Neji Hyuga secured the position of Hokage after defeating Konoha’s challengers and ordered Tsunade to save Might Guy. The Great Slug Sage asked to become his disciple, but Neji refused and offered her a place under his command, which she eagerly accepted.

• Neji Hyuga declared that he would fulfill his duties as Hokage and gave Tsunade medical techniques to preserve Might Guy’s life.
• Tsunade recovered from Neji’s seal and treated Might Guy, while Jiraiya warned her not to challenge Neji again.
• The Great Slug Sage spoke through Katsuyu, praised Neji’s power, and asked to become his disciple.
• Neji rejected the Great Slug Sage as too weak for discipleship but offered to let her work under his command.
• The Great Slug Sage happily agreed to follow Lord Neji.

Neji Hyuga took control of Konoha and issued his first orders as the newly appointed Hokage, including a campaign against the Land of Wind. Jiraiya warned that Neji’s actions could provoke a wider war, and Neji began to challenge Jiraiya’s belief in peace.

• The Great Slug Sage became Neji Hyuga’s subordinate, and Shimakage and Shima delivered the Great Toad Sage’s greetings before leaving.
• A Chunin reported that Sand Village ninjas had escaped from the Anbu prison, and Neji ordered Shikaku Nara to pursue them and prepare to seal Shukaku.
• Neji ordered Danzo Shimura to lead five powerful Hyuga members in taking control of the Land of Wind and killing its daimyo and ministers.
• Neji dismissed Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado as advisers and appointed Jiraiya and Tsunade to replace them.
• Jiraiya objected that attacking the Land of Wind could trigger a war, and Neji asked why Jiraiya had never achieved the peace he sought.