Chapter Summaries

Daimyo Zhang Ba arranged to distribute drugged grain to the Land of Waves’ citizens as part of his effort to change the country’s fate. Meanwhile, Uchiha Asuka investigated the streets at night and found the hungry boy from earlier, leaving him with food and a ridiculous story about Yuhi Kurenai.

• Zhang Ba told his kneeling informant that the latest medicine had been mixed into grain for the Free Cafeteria, but warned him to keep it away from children’s food.
• Uchiha Asuka, Yuhi Kurenai, and Shisui discussed whether the Land of Waves’ citizens were being controlled, then Asuka set out alone to investigate.
• Asuka headed into a dark alley, prompting Kurenai to suspect he was seeking a cheaper establishment and Shisui to wonder if he had gone the wrong way.
• Asuka encountered the little boy carrying gnawed bones for his parents and offered him a Honey Mustard Family Bucket on Kurenai’s behalf.
• Asuka claimed Kurenai wanted to be a mother and had begged him to deliver the food, then told the boy that ninja matured early.

Uchiha Asuka and his team investigated a child’s claim that people in the Land of Waves were growing thinner despite free meals, then followed him to a vast industrial complex. The chapter ended with the group discovering brightly lit factories behind a wall and a pungent odor Yuhi Kurenai recognized from offshore.

• Uchiha Asuka, Yuhi Kurenai, and Shisui spoke with a hungry boy, who said children could only eat leftovers at the free cafeteria and that people who ate its meat died.
• The boy said his parents and neighbors had grown less hungry over the past six months, while Uchiha Asuka found no clear cause in his and Yuhi Kurenai’s physical conditions.
• Uchiha Asuka decided the team should investigate the cafeteria and claimed Shisui’s earlier suggestion supported the plan.
• The boy led the team through a hole beneath a tall wall, where they found incandescent lamps and enormous factories beyond it.

Asuka and Kurenai discovered that the Land of Waves citizens were starving despite being offered free meals, and Yuichi begged the Konoha ninjas to help his family and country. Asuka accepted the boy’s makeshift payment and declared himself his contractor.

• Asuka and Kurenai watched Land of Waves workers leave the factory and head to the Free Cafeteria, where Yuichi urged his parents to eat the fried chicken he had received.
• Yuichi’s father spat out the chicken and dismissed it as bad, while Yuichi tasted it and cried out that the food was good; nearby workers ignored him and continued toward the cafeteria.
• A worker collapsed from hunger, and Asuka realized the man had seemed healthy moments earlier; Kurenai joined him as he investigated what was happening.
• Yuichi accused the Konoha ninjas of serving the nobles, but Kurenai comforted him with candy and an apple, and he begged them to help.
• Yuichi offered seashells, pebbles, a broken picture book, and a wooden kunai as payment, and Asuka accepted the book and identified himself as the Uchiha Clan Police Force Fifth Squad Captain and a Hidden Leaf Village combat-type jonin.

Uchiha Asuka defended his plan to take a private mission and learned that Zhang Ba’s supposed utopia was poisoning and starving its citizens. After hearing Yuichi’s plea, Asuka headed to confront the daimyo, leaving Yuichi hopeful that his family and people could be saved.

• Shisui tried to stop Uchiha Asuka from accepting a private mission, but Asuka cited an old agreement with Hashirama Senju that allowed the Uchiha to take private jobs.
• Uchiha Asuka showed Shisui and Yuhi Kurenai a comic about the Uchiha, and Kurenai chose to pretend she had heard nothing about its creators.
• Yuichi described how Zhang Ba seized property, opened cafeterias, built factories, and caused workers to faint and die from exhaustion.
• Uchiha Asuka realized that the citizens were being affected by a toxin that dulled their appetite and judgment, while Yuichi explained that no shinobi would challenge the daimyo.
• Uchiha Asuka headed toward the island’s center despite Yuichi’s warnings, and his cyan glow inspired Yuichi to beg him to save his family and the people.

Asuka, Shisui, and Yuhi Kurenai confronted the Land of Waves’ daimyo, Zhang Ba, after discovering that his citizens were being manipulated and exploited. Asuka recognized Zhang Ba’s scheme and drew his sword, leaving the confrontation about to turn violent.

• Yuhi Kurenai questioned whether saving a country counted as an S-Rank mission, while Shisui warned that abandoning their assignment could send them to prison.
• Asuka and his team found a crowd of citizens armed with tools and bottles gathered to protect Zhang Ba.
• Zhang Ba confronted the three Konoha ninja and demanded to know why they had sneaked into his factory.
• Asuka challenged Zhang Ba’s claim that he fed his citizens, while the crowd praised the daimyo for providing them with full meals.
• Zhang Ba explained that he had earned the citizens’ support and quoted a saying about becoming Hokage through everyone’s acknowledgment.
• Asuka concluded that Zhang Ba had seized power and controlled the population, then drew his Kusanagi Sword and threatened him.

Asuka confronted Land of Waves daimyo Zhang Ba over his citizens’ dwindling food and harsh exploitation, then followed him away from the crowded plaza to fight. Zhang Ba revealed his plan to sacrifice citizens for the prosperity of future generations, and Asuka used Okuninushi to transform his perception before Zhang Ba evaded a massive sword strike.

• Asuka blocked Zhang Ba’s attack and accused him of starving the citizens, while a chef tried to ambush Asuka and fell under his Sharingan genjutsu.
• Asuka and Zhang Ba’s clash damaged the roof, and Shisui, Yuhi Kurenai, and Shukaku struggled to restrain the citizens rushing to help their daimyo without seriously hurting them.
• Asuka and Zhang Ba moved their fight from the crowded plaza to an empty beach to avoid injuring civilians.
• Zhang Ba swallowed pink pills, explained that he exploited citizens and accepted their deaths to secure resources and prosperity for future generations, then attacked Asuka with immense strength.
• Asuka activated Okuninushi, making Zhang Ba see him as a little crab, but Zhang Ba dodged the sword aura that struck the beach.

Asuka confronted Zhang Ba, the Land of Waves daimyo, whose plan to save the country relied on a drug that made citizens smile while worsening their condition. Zhang Ba took the drug and transformed into a powerful fighter, while Shisui and the others witnessed the battle and faced citizens defending him.

• Asuka confronted Zhang Ba over his plan to reduce poverty by letting people die, then cut through Zhang Ba's katana and severed two of his fingers with the Kusanagi Sword.
• Zhang Ba used Water Dragon Bullet Technique, but Asuka's Mangekyo ability sliced the Sea Dragon apart before it struck him.
• Zhang Ba swallowed his Smiling Suicide Pills and explained that he had created them from poisonous plants after losing hope of changing the Land of Waves.
• The drug transformed Zhang Ba and greatly increased his strength and speed, allowing him to force Asuka back with a punch.
• At the square, Yuhi Kurenai and Shisui watched the Sea Dragon get cut apart, while a citizen ran toward Zhang Ba and the cook accused Shisui of destroying the country's hope.
• Shukaku kicked the cook away and challenged his claim that Zhang Ba had brought hope to the people.

Uchiha Asuka defeated Zhang Ba after confronting him over his plan to sacrifice the people of the Land of Waves, then promised to help the country. As Zhang Ba died by his own hand, Asuka trapped him in a Mangekyō illusion of the prosperous future he had dreamed of, where the people honored him.

• Asuka used Susanoo to overpower Zhang Ba and condemned his plan to drug the people and sacrifice them for the Land of Waves' wealth.
• After Asuka promised to help the country, Zhang Ba rose despite his fatal injuries and chose to die by his own hand so Asuka would not be blamed for killing the daimyo.
• Zhang Ba called Yuichi over, placed a kunai in the boy's hand, and pushed it into his own chest as the people gathered.
• Asuka activated his Mangekyō Sharingan and showed the dying Zhang Ba an illusion of a prosperous Land of Waves celebrating his twentieth year as daimyo.

Asuka insisted that Zhang Ba had committed suicide and denied responsibility for the daimyo’s death, while the Land of Waves’ nobles thanked him for saving them. With the country left without a ruler, Asuka proposed that Cat Granny become its next daimyo, and the Ninja Cats considered the idea.

• Asuka denied using genjutsu to make Zhang Ba kill himself, and Yuhi Kurenai and Shisui questioned what had happened.
• Asuka recorded his mission expenses and declared the mission a failure because Zhang Ba had harbored no ill intentions toward Konoha.
• The Land of Waves’ nobles thanked Asuka, who threatened them with an illusion to keep them from spreading stories about his involvement.
• Asuka asked the nobles to name a successor to Zhang Ba, then summoned the Ninja Cats when they suggested he take the role himself.
• Asuka listed Cat Granny’s qualifications for becoming daimyo, and the Ninja Cats discussed the proposal and asked him to build a bridge.

After the Daimyo died, Asuka warned the nobles to describe it as an ordinary suicide and discussed the Daimyo’s failed dream with Zhang Ba. Asuka left with Yuhi Kurenai, while the nobles mistook his warnings for a bid to become Fifth Hokage and decided to publicize him.

• Asuka told the nobles not to blame him or Daimyo Zhang Ba for the Daimyo’s death and left the beach after his mission failed.
• Zhang Ba asked why the Daimyo had to die, and Asuka said the Daimyo had failed everyone while pursuing his ideals.
• Asuka told Yuhi Kurenai that he admired Uchiha Madara and joked that Hashirama’s admirers would faint if they saw him appear unexpectedly.
• The nobles concluded that Asuka was protecting his chances of becoming Fifth Hokage and considered using their connections to publicize him.

Danzo managed Konoha’s affairs while awaiting the daimyo’s decision on the Fifth Hokage, and he reviewed reports about Tsunade, the Uchiha, and the Land of Waves. At the Uchiha clan meeting, the elders kept the younger jonin in line as Ma Dou and Ryoichi discussed Iri’s experiment, which was nearing a critical stage.

• Danzo lamented Konoha’s weakened state, took charge of its administration, and read reports including one about Uchiha Asuka’s suspected Mangekyō ability.
• Uchiha jonin gathered outside Naka Shrine, where the crippled elders had laid out food and announced that clan meetings would now use words instead of fists.
• When a scruffy clansman demanded a fight, Ryoichi kicked him away and challenged the younger jonin to sit down and eat.
• Ma Dou asked where Asuka and Iri had gone, and Ryoichi said Iri’s experiment had reached a critical stage and was progressing smoothly.
• Ma Dou and Ryoichi predicted that people who frequently spoke of the First Hokage would soon lose sleep over Iri’s experiment.

Uchiha Asuka returned to Konoha and attended a clan meeting where the Uchiha argued over who should become Hokage. Meanwhile, Yuhi Kurenai bought a Blue Great Buddha doll and Uchiha Ili prepared to test his decades-long research, ending with an apology to Hashirama Senju.

• Uchiha Asuka returned to Konoha with Yuhi Kurenai and Shisui, then headed to the Uchiha Clan Grounds while Kurenai went to report the mission.
• Yuhi Kurenai visited a Hashirama Senju merchandise shop and paid extra to buy a Blue Great Buddha doll ahead of the other customers.
• The shop owner sold Kurenai a sample doll while secretly revealing that his business funded Kumogakure's spies and village expenses.
• Uchiha Asuka joined the clan meeting, where the elders debated whether the Third Hokage or someone else should take the vacant Hokage position.
• Uchiha Ili hinted that his research was connected to stories Asuka had told children, then led the elders to his laboratory after the meeting.
• Uchiha Ili looked at Hashirama Senju's photograph and apologized for troubling him for the sake of the Uchiha.

Uchiha Ili used a modified Impure World Reincarnation technique to revive Hashirama Senju without a sacrifice, and the Uchiha elders told him they were being discriminated against in the village. Hashirama suspected his younger brother Tobirama was responsible for their grievance.

• Uchiha Ili explained why he had developed a modified version of Impure World Reincarnation and performed the jutsu on Hashirama Senju’s portrait.
• Hashirama Senju appeared alive and without the cracks associated with Impure World Reincarnation, stunning the Uchiha elders.
• Hashirama Senju realized he had been summoned by Uchiha clansmen again and criticized them for researching such jutsu.
• The Great Elder praised Uchiha Ili, while Hashirama tried to work out why the elders were upset.
• Uchiha Asuka told Hashirama that villagers discriminated against the Uchiha and would not let them become Hokage.
• Hashirama suspected that Tobirama had driven the Uchiha to lodge their complaint.

Hashirama Senju listened to the Uchiha elders’ complaints and learned that they had revived him to become the Fifth Hokage after Nine-Tailed Night. The plan faltered when Hashirama realized he had been revived as a Paper-man.

• Hashirama Senju heard the Uchiha elders describe decades of mistreatment and acknowledged their strong ties to the village.
• Hashirama Senju learned from Asuka that it was Konoha Year 51, that Minato Namikaze had died, and that Tsunade was not available to become the Fifth Hokage.
• The Uchiha elders asked Hashirama Senju to serve as Hokage again and explained the damage and political crisis caused by Nine-Tailed Night.
• The elders rejected Hashirama Senju’s offer to bring Tsunade back and insisted that he was their preferred choice.
• Hashirama Senju pointed out that he could not serve as Hokage in his current state, and Asuka realized he had been revived as a Paper-man.

Asuka spoke with the resurrected Hashirama Senju, who learned what had happened to Konoha and his family after his death. As the Uchiha elders prepared to release his soul, Hashirama asked to remain alive for a few more days.

• Asuka urged Hashirama to stay alive, but Hashirama said the dead should not interfere in the affairs of the living.
• Asuka suggested reviving Tobirama, then told Hashirama about events after his death, including Tobirama's death, Tsunade's hemophobia, and a blue giant saving the Uchiha Clan.
• Hashirama suspected Madara had survived and was secretly living among the Uchiha.
• The Uchiha elders apologized and said they had decided not to rely on Hashirama, while Ili prepared to undo the resurrection jutsu.
• Hashirama stopped Ili and said he wanted to live for a few more days.

Uchiha Asuka proposed giving Hashirama Senju a normal body by splicing him with a white corpse, helping the Uchiha elders continue their plan to make him Hokage. The system then offered Asuka a mission involving Uchiha Itachi and a reward that could summon his mother for one day, and Asuka accepted the mission.

• Hashirama Senju agreed to resurrection, claiming he wanted to pass the Will of Fire to Tsunade’s great-grandchildren.
• The Uchiha elders argued over Hashirama’s failed experiment and whether they should revive Madara instead.
• Uchiha Asuka proposed using his right eye to splice Hashirama’s body onto a preserved white body.
• The system issued Asuka a mission to defeat Uchiha Itachi and listed a one-day reunion with his mother as a possible reward.
• Asuka reflected on his mother and accepted the mission.

Tsunade returned to Konoha, learned that Kushina was being kept alive by an unknown ninjutsu, and left the hospital without explaining further. Meanwhile, Asuka brought the resurrected Hashirama Senju home, where Tsunade mistook him for a stranger and punched him through a wall before Asuka blamed her attitude on Tobirama.

• Tsunade visited the unfinished Hokage Rock and asked Shizune how much she had won gambling.
• At Konoha Hospital, Tsunade inspected Kushina and concluded that some kind of ninjutsu was forcibly creating her vital signs.
• Asuka brought Hashirama Senju home, where Hashirama used the Transformation Technique and tried fried chicken.
• Tsunade arrived and demanded that Asuka explain Kushina's condition, while Hashirama secretly tried to signal that she was his granddaughter.
• Asuka told Tsunade that Hashirama was her grandpa, and she punched Asuka through the wall before punching Hashirama as well.
• Asuka blamed Tsunade's hostility toward Uchiha on Tobirama, and Hashirama agreed that his brother might have spoiled her.

Asuka explained that Mount Myōboku might hold the means to awaken Kushina, while Tsunade agreed to visit her with him the next day. In the Rain Country, Black Zetsu learned that Hashirama had been revived and decided to watch Konoha’s upcoming Hokage candidate visit the daimyo.

• Hashirama stopped Asuka from confronting Tsunade, and the two men apologized to her.
• Tsunade questioned Asuka about Kushina, and he told her that Mount Myōboku’s Sage’s Mark could help awaken her.
• Asuka said he had shared the information because of Hashirama, and Tsunade arranged to visit Kushina with him the next day.
• White Zetsu told Black Zetsu that Hashirama had been revived and had visited Tobirama’s and Madara’s graves.
• Black Zetsu raged at the news, then White Zetsu suggested watching the Hokage candidate’s trip to the Land of Fire’s capital.

Hashirama Senju walked through the village with Uchiha Asuka, reflecting on the village’s harmony and its problems as Asuka described the Uchiha clan’s failed efforts to gain influence. When Hashirama endorsed Asuka’s proposal that Fugaku marry outside the clan, Uchiha Mikoto kicked them both away.

• Hashirama Senju admired the village’s lively, mostly peaceful streets, but became remorseful when Asuka reminded him of its problems and White Fang’s death.
• Asuka urged Hashirama to become a leader, but Hashirama said the Uchiha needed to produce a Hokage of their own.
• Asuka listed the clan’s competing plans and revealed that he wanted to persuade Fugaku and Mikoto to divorce so Fugaku could marry into another clan.
• Hashirama agreed that an inter-clan marriage could help the Uchiha integrate with the village, and Mikoto overheard their conversation.
• Mikoto kicked Hashirama and Asuka away, then remarked that more people had recently been supporting the evil idea.

Uchiha Mikoto returned home and reconsidered her marriage to Fugaku as she reflected on how he had changed since Nine-Tailed Night. Fugaku revealed that Asuka had proposed a coup, leaving Mikoto newly wary of him and troubled by the growing distance between herself and her husband.

• Asuka complained to Hashirama about being bullied, then denied meddling in Fugaku and Mikoto's marriage and argued that divorce could lead to intermarriage.
• Mikoto returned to the Uchiha grounds and reflected on how Fugaku no longer matched the qualities she had once admired in him.
• Mikoto asked Fugaku about the next Hokage, and he said the Uchiha were unlikely to be considered.
• Mikoto suggested giving Asuka the clan head position and having him intermarry with an outsider, but Fugaku rejected Asuka as dangerous.
• Fugaku told Mikoto that Asuka had suggested a coup to Ryoichi after a clan meeting, and Mikoto was shocked by the revelation.
• Fugaku took Itachi outside, while Mikoto recalled how he had criticized her during the postwar reconstruction instead of helping her and felt that something had changed.