Chapter Summaries

Asuka dismissed Hashirama Senju’s suggestion that he seek the Hokage Position while Kushina and Ichikishimahime fought upstairs. Meanwhile, nobles circulated stories and photographs of Asuka’s deeds through the Land of Fire, hoping to win his favor and improve his prospects in the coming Hokage election.

• Ichikishimahime taunted the Orange Cat, and their fight wrecked the room until Kushina switched in and sealed Ichikishimahime’s limbs.
• Hashirama Senju asked Asuka whether he would compete for the Hokage Position, but Asuka refused and considered urging Hashirama or Tsunade to take the role instead.
• A noble in the Land of Fire capital received photographs and a letter describing Asuka rescuing people and killing a noble, then wondered whether the story was meant to influence the Hokage election.
• Nobles in the Land of Waves sent letters and photographs to their relatives in the capital, hoping to spread Asuka’s deeds and earn his goodwill.

The Fire Daimyo summoned Uchiha Asuka to the capital after hearing he had saved the Land of Waves, while Konan and Pakura discussed his growing reputation. At Asuka’s residence, Tsunade prepared to leave and entrust Kushina’s care to him, and Hashirama Senju offered to teach Asuka a technique in exchange for money.

• The Fire Daimyo read a report about Uchiha Asuka saving the Land of Waves and ordered him to accompany a delegation to the capital.
• Konan and Pakura discussed Asuka’s recent actions, and Konan said she would go to Konoha for the organization’s mission.
• Danzo received the Daimyo’s order for Asuka to travel to the capital and dismissed it as unimportant.
• Tsunade arrived at Asuka’s residence, said she was leaving, and asked him to look after Kushina.
• Hashirama Senju invited Tsunade to play dice, then accepted Asuka’s offer of two million in exchange for teaching him a ninjutsu.

Tsunade gambled with the disguised Hashirama Senju, grew suspicious of his identity, and left determined to investigate him. Hashirama kept his identity secret to spare her pain, while Tsunade used the Telescope Technique to try to uncover who he was.

• Tsunade challenged the disguised Hashirama Senju to several rounds of dice, but neither of them won or lost, and she stormed out.
• Hashirama told Asuka he hid his identity to keep Tsunade from suffering another loss.
• Tsunade questioned Uchiha clansmen and Mikoto about the stranger at Asuka's Residence, then realized he was not an Uchiha and that his Chakra felt familiar.
• Tsunade borrowed the Crystal Ball from Sarutobi Hiruzen and prepared to use the Telescope Technique to investigate the stranger's Chakra.

Tsunade discovered that the man living downstairs at Uchiha Asuka’s house was her grandfather, Hashirama Senju, and confronted Asuka to learn how he had returned. Asuka revealed the Uchiha planned to make Hashirama Hokage again by repeatedly resurrecting and killing him, prompting Tsunade to attack.

• Tsunade used a Crystal Ball to watch a disguised Hashirama Senju investigate Naka Shrine and recognized him as her grandfather when he returned to his original appearance.
• Tsunade rushed to Uchiha Asuka’s room and demanded to know who was downstairs; Asuka admitted the man was her grandfather.
• Asuka told Tsunade that Hashirama did not want to make her sad, and he led her to Naka Shrine to explain.
• Asuka said the Uchiha had resurrected Hashirama to make him Hokage, and that Elder Ili’s plan involved trapping him in an endless cycle of resurrection and death.
• Tsunade denounced the Uchiha for treating people cruelly and attacked Asuka.

Asuka tried to explain why the Uchiha planned to revive Hashirama, but Tsunade attacked him in a rage. He exploited her hemophobia to stop the fight, then covered her with his robe and continued arguing that the Uchiha loved Konoha.

• Tsunade attacked Asuka at Naka Shrine, furious that the Uchiha intended to revive Hashirama and control him.
• Asuka dodged Tsunade’s blows, then pressed her nose and exposed her to blood, triggering her hemophobia and making her collapse.
• Asuka covered the trembling Tsunade with his gambling robe while the watching Uchiha wondered whether the two enemies had become close.
• Tsunade remained angry as Asuka explained that the Uchiha had chosen Hashirama because she did not want to become Hokage and the clan could not appoint an Uchiha.
• Asuka used the Water Gun Technique to wash the blood from Tsunade’s face and insisted that the Uchiha loved Konoha.

Tsunade learned that Hashirama Senju had truly been resurrected, while Asuka and Ryoichi discussed how his return could affect the Hokage succession. Asuka tried to dissuade Tsunade from resurrecting Dan and Nawaki, but his blunt insult about Nawaki left him facing her killing intent.

• Tsunade recognized Hashirama Senju after he proved himself with Wood Release, then examined him to make sure he was not being controlled.
• Asuka asked Ryoichi what the family planned to do about Hashirama Senju and Danzo, and Ryoichi said he would consult the Great Elder the next day.
• Ryoichi privately considered leaking news of Hashirama Senju's survival to put pressure on Konoha's leaders.
• Tsunade asked Asuka about Dan and Nawaki, and he offered to explain the Impure World Reincarnation and urged her not to resurrect them.
• Asuka said resurrecting Hashirama Senju served the Uchiha's survival, then called Nawaki dumb and provoked Tsunade's killing intent.

Danzo sought support from Konoha’s clan heads for his bid to become Hokage, while Asuka and Tsunade argued with Hashirama about the Uchiha’s place in the village. The chapter ended with Tsunade punching Asuka through a window after accusing him of lusting after her since childhood.

• Danzo pressed Hyuga Hiashi to openly support his Hokage bid, but Hiashi refused and blamed his caution on the Uchiha.
• Asuka told Hashirama that Konoha’s clans unfairly blamed the Uchiha, while Tsunade explained the Uchiha’s power and their history with the Police Force.
• Hashirama said he supported the Uchiha becoming Hokage and proposed that Fugaku marry women from every clan to secure support.
• Asuka suggested that a woman could become Hokage and asked Hashirama to imagine the Senju using Susanoo-Clad Buddha.
• Tsunade punched Asuka through a window and accused him of desiring her since he was four years old.

Asuka argued with Tsunade about the Hokage succession and the Uchiha Clan’s need to keep Danzo from taking power. At the candidate assembly, their bickering escalated when Asuka apparently severed Tsunade’s hands, shocking Hyuga Mengmeng.

• Asuka told villagers that the Hokage candidates would be chosen for the daimyo’s appointment and worried about Danzo becoming Hokage.
• Tsunade said the villagers’ attitude toward the Uchiha showed there was little danger, but Asuka argued that the clan needed a Fifth Hokage or Hashirama Senju to protect its standing.
• Tsunade chased Asuka after he insulted her age, and their fight sent them rushing toward the Hokage Building through a cloud of dust.
• Asuka burst through the conference-room doors and took a seat beside Hyuga Mengmeng, while Tsunade sat beside him and pinched his thigh.
• Asuka tapped the diamond-shaped mark on Tsunade’s forehead, and Hyuga Mengmeng saw that both of Tsunade’s hands had been severed.

During the Hokage candidate vote, Asuka’s strange Mangekyo ability baffled Tsunade and Hyuga Mengmeng while Danzo tried to rally support. The Uchiha and Hyuga clans secretly voted for the long-dead Hashirama Senju, and the first such ballot stunned the assembly.

• Hyuga Mengmeng saw Asuka holding Tsunade’s severed hands, slapped himself in disbelief, and apologized to Danzo after Hiashi rebuked him.
• Tsunade examined her healed wrists and recognized Asuka’s Mangekyo as the source of the ability, while Mengmeng saw her hands moving from her legs and slapped himself again.
• Danzo ended his speech and called for votes; Hiashi and Asuka wrote their own names on their ballots before Hiashi used his Byakugan to discover the Uchiha had voted for Hashirama Senju.
• Hiashi changed his ballot to Hashirama Senju and directed the Hyuga clansmen to do the same, while they considered persuading other neutral clans to join them.
• As the votes were read, the count reached Hashirama Senju, shocking the assembly because he had been dead for many years.

During Konoha’s Hokage vote, Hashirama Senju unexpectedly received hundreds of votes, unsettling Danzo and shocking Tsunade. The Great Elder revealed that the Uchiha planned to prepare the villagers for Hashirama’s return and have Elder Iri impersonate him.

• Danzo ordered the vote reader to continue after Hashirama Senju received a vote, then took over counting as the hall murmured.
• Tsunade realized Hashirama’s vote total had exceeded what the Uchiha could cast alone and suspected multiple clans were backing him.
• Elder Iri accepted the Uchiha clan members’ admiration while claiming Danzo’s predicament was fate’s arrangement.
• The Great Elder told Asuka that he had written to the Land of Fire’s daimyo about Hashirama and planned to prepare villagers to see him again.
• The Great Elder suggested that Iri impersonate Hashirama Senju, while Danzo’s tally remained ahead of Hashirama and Hiruzen, who were tied for second.
• Hiruzen looked at Hashirama’s vote total and reflected that he and Danzo together might still have fewer votes than the person in fourth place.

After Konoha’s vote for Hashirama Senju stirred village memories and rumors, Uchiha Mikoto went to speak with Asuka about his Mangekyō and the clan’s future. She saw a familiar red figure in his house, and the chapter ended with her asking whether it was really Kushina.

• Villagers reminisced about Hashirama Senju as Uchiha Asuka and Hyuga Meng Meng joked about the Hyuga vote and Asuka’s sketchbooks.
• Uchiha Mikoto learned that Uchiha Fugaku had not attended the meeting where the clan voted for Hashirama Senju, and she worried about the elders’ secretive plans and Danzo’s pressure.
• Mikoto decided to visit Asuka to discuss his Mangekyō Sharingan, but hesitated over her personal grievances with him and Fugaku.
• Mikoto saw a red figure in Asuka’s window and entered the courtyard, while Asuka and the Orange Cat discussed her transformations.
• Asuka initially shut the door on Mikoto, but opened it again, revealing a red figure that led Mikoto to ask, “Are you really Kushina???”

Uzumaki Kushina, inhabiting Fei Fei's body, reunited with Uchiha Mikoto at Asuka's house and confided in her. Mikoto tested whether Kushina was really the Orange Cat by inventing trouble with Uchiha Fugaku, and the chapter ended with Kushina urging her to divorce him.

• Uchiha Mikoto entered Asuka's house after a red-haired figure resembling Kushina invited her inside.
• Kushina asked the Orange Cat what she could reveal, then told Mikoto about her recent experiences.
• Mikoto pretended Uchiha Fugaku was giving her the silent treatment, and Kushina smashed a hole in the wall in anger.
• Kushina urged Mikoto to confront Fugaku or divorce him and headed for the door to intervene.
• Uchiha Mikoto used the Body Flicker Technique to stop Kushina and concluded that she was the Orange Cat.

Kushina tried to convince Mikoto that she was the real Kushina, whose soul had been living in Fei Fei the cat, while Asuka's careless remarks further angered Mikoto. To prove her identity, Kushina used sealing techniques on Mikoto, leaving Asuka upstairs curious about what was happening.

• Kushina urged Mikoto to stand up to Fugaku, then blamed Asuka for Mikoto's unhappiness.
• Asuka defended Fugaku and said he supported Mikoto divorcing him, making Mikoto furious.
• Asuka lifted Fei Fei, and she reminded him that she was a married woman before Mikoto tried to leave.
• Kushina stopped Mikoto and explained that her soul had been residing in Fei Fei's body and could emerge while the cat slept.
• Kushina used sealing techniques to immobilize Mikoto and began demonstrating her abilities as Asuka listened from upstairs.

Uchiha Mikoto pieced together the Uchiha Clan’s possible role in Nine-Tailed Night and feared that the Hawks were plotting to seize power. Asuka told her the clan had only one pair of Mangekyo Sharingan at present but at least six pairs in the future, leaving her overwhelmed by the clan’s hidden strength.

• After recovering from the Sealing Techniques, Mikoto concluded that three pairs of Mangekyo had appeared during Nine-Tailed Night and suspected the Uchiha Hawks had planned the attack.
• Mikoto kept her suspicions to herself, fearing that telling Fugaku or the village would deepen divisions and endanger the clan.
• Mikoto admitted to Kushina that she had lied about her relationship with Fugaku and worried he might support a proposal at the clan meeting.
• As Mikoto prepared to leave Asuka’s home, she asked how many pairs of Mangekyo the Uchiha possessed, and Asuka said the clan currently had only his pair.
• Asuka predicted at least six pairs of Mangekyo in the clan’s future, and Mikoto collapsed to her knees, convinced the Hawks had far more power than they let on.

Uchiha Mikoto worried that the Uchiha Hawks might force Fugaku into their plans, then saw a man she believed was Hashirama Senju and learned that other villagers had seen him too. Inspired by Mikoto’s words, mothers across Konoha urged their clan-head husbands to consider supporting Hashirama if he truly had returned, leaving Shikaku to wonder whether a momentous change was coming.

• Uchiha Asuka questioned the Orange Cat about what it had told Uchiha Mikoto, and the cat said it was getting along well with Kushina and planned to keep sharing her body.
• Uchiha Mikoto wondered whether the Hawks might coerce Fugaku and whether the Great Elder knew of their plans, then encountered a man in red armor who called himself a child of the Uchiha and asked for the Senju Clan Land.
• Uchiha Mikoto heard villagers say they had also seen the First Hokage, gathered details, and went to speak with friends.
• Nara Yoshino told Shikaku that she hoped he would consider supporting a suitable Hokage candidate for their son’s sake, and Shikaku understood that she believed Hashirama Senju might be alive.
• Mothers across Konoha used pillow talk to urge their clan-head husbands to support Hashirama Senju if he had returned, hoping to keep their children from war.

Hashirama Senju investigated Madara while staying with Tsunade, troubled by the changes he sensed in his old friend. Shizune reported seeing someone who looked like Hashirama asking for directions to the Senju Clan Land, leaving him suspecting an impostor.

• Asuka made Ichikishimahime eat fried chicken again, but agreed to let her cook breakfast the next day.
• Fei Fei explained that she transformed into Kushina to eat more cat food with less Chakra.
• Hashirama told Tsunade he had gathered information on Madara but still could not understand why Madara had later tried to destroy their shared dream.
• Tsunade reassured Hashirama that the villagers would likely treat the Uchiha vote for him as a joke and that he could hide if his identity was exposed.
• Shizune reported that a person in red armor who looked like Hashirama had asked her for directions to the Senju Clan Land.
• Hashirama denied asking Shizune for directions and wondered who was impersonating him and why.

Mikoto confronted Asuka about her theory that the Uchiha radicals orchestrated Nine-Tailed Night, but Asuka refused to reveal what he knew. Meanwhile, Danzo investigated reports of someone impersonating Hashirama, and Iri entered a clan meeting after boasting that his imitation was flawless.

• Fugaku gathered the Uchiha clan's principal jonin to discuss Mikoto's encounter with the First Hokage and its possible consequences.
• Mikoto questioned Asuka about the radical clansmen, then accused his faction of plotting Nine-Tailed Night and hiding Mangekyo users.
• Asuka denied Mikoto's assumptions and refused to explain what had really happened, so Mikoto decided to investigate him further.
• Danzo read reports of a man suspected of being the First Hokage repeatedly asking villagers about the Senju, Uchiha, and local businesses.
• Iri arrived at the Uchiha clan grounds for the meeting and privately boasted that no one in Konoha could imitate Hashirama better than he could.

News that Hashirama Senju might have been resurrected spread through Konoha, leaving the Hyuga and Uchiha clans stunned after they backed his bid for Hokage. Sarutobi Hiruzen and Danzo suspected an outsider was behind Hashirama’s return, while Hyuga Hiashi struggled to explain why his clan had committed itself so fully.

• Konoha’s villagers bought Hashirama Senju dolls, while ninja and other clans speculated that the Hyuga and Uchiha had inside knowledge about his resurrection.
• Hyuga Hiashi cursed the Uchiha for drawing his clan into supporting Hashirama, and Uchiha clansmen wondered whether their leaders had made an agreement with him.
• Spies from other villages heard the Uchiha’s speculation and sent reports home that Hashirama Senju had been resurrected.
• Danzo interrupted Sarutobi Hiruzen in the Hokage Office, and Hiruzen told him to verify Hashirama’s return and identify who was behind it.
• Hyuga Hiashi told his Elders that the Uchiha had set the Hyuga up, but the Elders pressed him to explain whether Hashirama had truly returned and how the clan should prepare.

Uchiha Ili persuaded the Uchiha clan to support Hashirama Senju becoming Hokage again by arguing that Hashirama would regard the clan’s suffering as his greatest regret. The clan increasingly rallied behind Ili, giving Hashirama’s candidacy a chance as the village faced the possibility of Danzo or Sarutobi Hiruzen taking office.

• Uchiha Fugaku questioned the clan about Hashirama Senju’s resurrection and their vote for him, while Ili and the elders denied the clan’s involvement.
• Fugaku asked Ili what the clan should do if Hashirama had truly been resurrected, and Ili began arguing that Konoha’s leaders had tried to erase Hashirama’s legacy.
• Ili smashed a chair through the hall’s wall and pointed the clan toward Hashirama’s face on the partly repaired Hokage Rock.
• Ili declared that the Uchiha’s suffering had been Hashirama’s greatest regret and argued that the clan needed a Hokage who would treat them fairly.
• Uchiha Saburo, Uchiha Ryoichi, Uchiha Mado, and Uchiha Asuka publicly recognized Ili’s position, and more clansmen joined their support for Hashirama.

Hyuga Hiashi and the Uchiha considered backing Hashirama Senju, while Danzo confronted Fugaku over rumors that Hashirama had been resurrected. Asuka blamed Orochimaru and used a talking cat to accuse Danzo of causing Senju Nawaki’s death, ending with Asuka explaining that Nawaki had died after ignoring a warning about a trap.

• Hyuga Hiashi agreed that the Hyuga Clan would follow Hashirama Senju, and Danzo arrived at the Uchiha meeting with Root ninja.
• Danzo asked Fugaku why the Uchiha had voted for Hashirama before rumors of his resurrection spread, but Fugaku denied knowing whether the resurrection was real.
• Asuka blamed Orochimaru for Hashirama’s resurrection and the Wood Release ninja, claiming Orochimaru was Hashirama’s successor who still loved Konoha.
• Asuka used cat ears to let the Uchiha understand Mikoto’s blue cat, which berated Danzo for making accusations without evidence.
• The cat accused Danzo of causing Senju Nawaki’s death, and Danzo angrily insisted Nawaki had died by stepping on a trap.
• Shisui asked Asuka how Nawaki had died, and Asuka said Nawaki ignored his warning and stepped on an Exploding Tag.