Chapter Summaries

After recovering from pufferfish poisoning, Uchiha Asuka headed to the Medical Department for a repair mission and learned that his unconventional escort tactics had put off his former teammates. Uchiha Ryoichi then told him that several people, including Mikoto, had been hospitalized with pufferfish poisoning.

• Asuka woke with food poisoning after eating pufferfish, while Fei Fei identified it as pufferfish poisoning and warned that Mikoto might also be in danger.
• Fei Fei explained that Asuka's teammates had stopped inviting him on missions after he stashed an escort target in Ryūchi Cave and carried the target to safety like a package.
• Asuka accepted a D-Rank mission to repair the Medical Department's damaged outer wall.
• Ryoichi rushed to check on Asuka after hearing that pufferfish poisoning had affected several villagers, then said Mikoto had been hospitalized.

Danzo gave a speech defining a “scientific Will of Fire” as a way to promote village loyalty without pressuring people to have children. He then began arguing that widows should also be viewed scientifically, leaving the gathered villagers confused.

• Asuka overheard that many villagers had been hospitalized with pufferfish poisoning and headed to the Medical Department.
• The Orange Cat complained that Asuka was still taking D-Rank missions, and Asuka explained that his Anbu assignment kept him from leaving the village.
• Danzo gathered villagers for a speech about the scientific Will of Fire, prompting Asuka to wonder whether he was defending Orochimaru.
• Danzo said that choosing not to have children did not mean someone lacked love for the village, and suggested childless villagers might donate their wealth to it after death.
• Danzo criticized people who judged widows for not remarrying and said the group of widows should be viewed scientifically, leaving the villagers silent and bewildered.

Danzo addressed Konoha’s widows and defended the choices he had made in his youth before praising Orochimaru’s commitment to science. He claimed Orochimaru’s research showed that having two children best supported longevity, prompting Asuka to leave in disgust.

• Danzo reflected on losing the chance to become Third Hokage and said he would have made the same choice again.
• Kakashi and Might Guy arrived after racing through the village, and Shukaku explained that he had helped Guy beat Kakashi at rock paper scissors.
• Danzo asked the villagers to consider Orochimaru’s merits, and Asuka told an Uchiha clansman that Orochimaru kept his promises and was generous.
• Danzo presented Orochimaru’s research data and claimed it concluded that having two children was best for longevity.
• Asuka squeezed out of the crowd and spat toward the platform in disgust at Danzo’s claim.

Asuka visited the Medical Department amid a wave of pufferfish poisonings, despite dismissing his own symptoms as food poisoning. He found Uchiha Mikoto unconscious after she secretly ate all the pufferfish, while Fugaku and Itachi had avoided being poisoned.

• Medical Ninjas reported a growing outbreak of pufferfish poisoning, and the Vice Minister learned that Asuka had also been affected but had not sought treatment.
• Asuka praised the Vice Minister’s bald head, then revealed he had accepted a D-rank mission to paint the Medical Department’s walls.
• The Vice Minister told Asuka that Uchiha Mikoto was foaming at the mouth after eating too much pufferfish, so Asuka went to her ward.
• Asuka found Mikoto unconscious and learned that Fugaku had left for official business while Itachi was caring for his younger brother.
• A female Uchiha told Asuka that Mikoto had secretly eaten all the pufferfish herself, and Asuka wondered why she had eaten so many.

Asuka treated Uchiha Mikoto after she passed out from eating poisonous pufferfish, singing while detoxifying her. Mikoto woke up furious after realizing Asuka had tricked her into eating the fish and swore he would face retribution.

• Asuka sang beside unconscious Mikoto while using medical ninjutsu to remove the pufferfish toxin, claiming his song could wake her.
• In a distorted, dreamlike space, Mikoto encountered a singing tree that struck her after she threw a stone at it.
• Mikoto woke in the hospital after her bed was overturned, and Asuka claimed she had attacked him while unconscious.
• Mikoto remembered Asuka repeatedly urging her to eat poisonous pufferfish and cursed him before saying he would face retribution.

Asuka visited Uchiha Mikoto in the hospital, then went to paint the Medical Department’s peeling wall. When villagers praised his work as a sign of leadership, the Vice Minister took over the job to gain the same admiration.

• Uchiha Mikoto invited Asuka to eat at her home after he teased her about surviving the pufferfish he had served her.
• Uchiha Itachi arrived with Sasuke to visit Mikoto, while Asuka left to retrieve his paint bucket and explain her condition to the Vice Minister.
• Asuka used chakra to walk up the Medical Department’s wall and began painting its peeling section as villagers watched and praised him.
• The Vice Minister was inspired by the villagers’ admiration, took Asuka’s brush and paint, and paid him before insisting on finishing the wall himself.
• Asuka jumped down as villagers began praising the Vice Minister for personally tending to the department’s wall.

Uchiha Asuka watched the Medical Department’s Vice Minister painstakingly repaint a wall while Uchiha Itachi delivered Uchiha Mikoto’s invitation to a celebratory meal. The Vice Minister suspected Asuka had used genjutsu on Mikoto, and Asuka ended the chapter wondering whether Jiraiya’s toad companions might outrank him as Konoha’s strongest genjutsu users.

• Uchiha Itachi left the hospital carrying Sasuke and found Uchiha Asuka watching the Vice Minister slowly repaint the Medical Department’s wall for an audience of villagers.
• Uchiha Itachi told Uchiha Asuka that Uchiha Mikoto planned a banquet for her recovery and wanted to thank him by inviting him to future meals.
• The Vice Minister questioned whether Uchiha Asuka had used genjutsu on Uchiha Mikoto, warning that her invitations seemed suspicious given their strained relationship.
• Uchiha Asuka denied using genjutsu, and the Vice Minister noted that he had found no trace of it but still thought Mikoto’s behavior was unusual.
• Uchiha Asuka claimed Jiraiya’s genjutsu could surpass his and wondered whether Jiraiya’s toad companions were Konoha’s true top genjutsu experts.

Asuka worried that the scroll’s promised genjutsu guidance might summon Jiraiya or a toad, but Uchiha Saburo assured him that he was Konoha’s top genjutsu expert. As the Great Elder dragged him toward a clan meeting to make everyone eat Mikoto’s chive dumplings, Asuka decided to use the scroll anyway.

• Asuka called out to Uchiha Saburo and asked whether Jiraiya was really the village’s top genjutsu expert.
• Uchiha Saburo explained that Mikoto had made him a mountain of chive dumplings, so he had brought pots to the clan meeting and planned to make the clan eat them together.
• Uchiha Saburo said he would hold clan meetings every two days until they finished the dumplings, and he made Asuka carry two pots.
• Uchiha Saburo told Asuka that he was currently the village’s number one genjutsu expert and dismissed Jiraiya’s abilities.
• Asuka read the scroll’s guidance and wondered whether its description of an unruffled fighter who might die at worst referred to Jiraiya.
• After Uchiha Saburo said the toads had refused Konoha Forehead Protectors, Asuka decided to activate the scroll and see what it summoned.

At Naka Shrine, Uchiha Saburo brought a mountain of dumplings to cook for the clan meeting and defended the idea as a way to honor fallen clansmen. The Uchiha gathered around the pots, ready to eat dumplings that Saburo called “regret.”

• Uchiha Mado and Ryoichi discussed the ancestral teachings and the Great Elder’s authority to interpret them.
• Uchiha Saburo and Asuka arrived carrying large pots, and Saburo summoned a huge mountain of dumplings.
• Ryoichi recognized the dumplings as ones Mikoto had made for Saburo.
• A young clansman questioned whether cooking at the shrine would disrespect its memorial tablets.
• Uchiha Saburo argued that eating dumplings at Naka Shrine would comfort the fallen clansmen who had protected them.

Uchiha Asuka attended a clan meeting where the Uchiha debated how to produce a Hokage while the Great Elder reminisced about his failed plan to connect Whirlpool Mito with the previous Clan Head’s father. The Great Elder revealed that the Nine-Tails’ rampage derailed the plan and turned him into a cautious mediator.

• Uchiha Asuka ate dumplings with the Great Elder, who blamed their uneven flavor on the regrets of dead Uchiha heroes.
• The Great Elder presided over a clan meeting about how the Uchiha could produce a Hokage as the jonin passionately repeated decades of debate.
• The Great Elder recalled that his proposal to find Whirlpool Mito a companion had won approval at a clan meeting.
• The previous Clan Head persuaded his father to visit Whirlpool Mito, but the Nine-Tails went berserk as the older man entered the Senju House and frightened him away.
• The Great Elder said the failed plan damaged his confidence, leading him to stop making proposals and become a moderate peacemaker.

At a clan meeting, Asuka learned that Uchiha Fugaku had once tried to become Senju Tobirama’s disciple to improve the Uchiha Clan’s standing. The Great Elder explained that Tobirama rejected Fugaku but accepted Kagami the next day, leaving Fugaku so dispirited that he stopped proposing ideas at meetings.

• Asuka asked the Great Elder whether Uchiha Fugaku had once had ideas for changing the clan’s situation.
• The Great Elder recalled that Fugaku had wanted to become Senju Tobirama’s disciple and rise within the village’s leadership.
• Asuka’s shocked outburst drew the clan meeting’s attention, and Uchiha Ryo explained that Fugaku had proposed the idea when he first joined clan gatherings.
• Ryoichi recounted that Tobirama asked Fugaku which side he would choose in a conflict between the Uchiha and the village, and rejected him after Fugaku chose the clan.
• The Great Elder said Tobirama accepted Kagami the next day after Kagami gave the same answer, and Fugaku withdrew into his home for three days before becoming taciturn.

At the Uchiha clan meeting, a clansman proposed a coup d'état, and Asuka said he might support it if the clan backed his own plan. The clan members opened his scroll to find a proposal called “How the Uchiha Can Produce a Hokage—Scientific Will of Fire Arc.”

• The Great Elder brought out a huge mountain of dumplings and explained that the clan ate them to suppress the pain of its failed plans to produce a Hokage.
• A young Uchiha proposed staging a coup d'état, and the Great Elder angrily rejected the idea and kicked him into a wall.
• Ryoichi explained that the Great Elder reacted more harshly to the proposal because the young man belonged to his branch, while Asuka's coup talk had seemed less serious.
• The Great Elder warned that Uchiha Setsuna's coup had been crushed within minutes and argued that the clan could not succeed without Asuka's support.
• Asuka offered to support a coup if the clan supported his plan, then handed over a scroll outlining his idea for producing a Hokage.

Uchiha Asuka proposed that Fugaku should have more children to strengthen the clan, arguing that his genes had already produced the talented Young Clan Head. The Uchiha jonin grasped how this could increase the clan’s power, though they were left contemplating the personal cost to Fugaku.

• Uchiha clansmen read Danzo’s “Scientific Will of Fire” proposal, which used Orochimaru’s research to argue that women limited the birth rate.
• Asuka asked the Uchiha jonin to assess the Young Clan Head’s talent and used their praise to establish that Fugaku was also exceptionally gifted.
• Asuka suggested that widows might remarry if they found a good man, leading the jonin to realize he wanted Fugaku to divorce and marry widows.
• Asuka clarified that Mikoto limited Fugaku’s potential and argued that Fugaku should father many more talented children for the clan’s benefit.
• The Uchiha jonin saw that more descendants could produce powerful shinobi and disrupt Konoha’s balance, then wondered whether Fugaku would have to suffer for the clan.

Uchiha Asuka proposed finding Fugaku a widow as a concubine to strengthen the clan, but Great Elder Uchiha Saburo rejected the plan for Mikoto’s sake and urged the clan to consider other ways to produce a Hokage. Mikoto heard about the proposal and decided to find a widow for Asuka instead.

• Uchiha Asuka urged the clan to find Fugaku a widow as a concubine so the Uchiha could raise more gifted children and improve their chances of producing a Hokage.
• Uchiha Saburo warned that many Itachi-like children might become distant from their peers and reminded the meeting of Mikoto’s furious dumpling-filled warning after Fugaku had been given a secretary.
• Uchiha Saburo supported the clan’s ambition but refused to pursue concubines, saying Mikoto’s happiness mattered and asking for three years to find another path.
• Uchiha Mikoto heard what happened at the meeting and, while speaking with a red-haired Medical Ninja, decided to find a widow for Uchiha Asuka first.

After the Uchiha clan meeting ended with a feast, the Great Elder questioned Asuka about Izanagi and guessed that he had revived Kushina. The chapter left the Great Elder urging Asuka to marry Kushina, while Asuka insisted the figure he had seen was Fei Fei.

• The Uchiha jonin left the shrine after eating dumplings and discussed how to win Asuka's support without harming Fugaku or Mikoto.
• The Great Elder privately asked Asuka about Ryoichi's death and the clan's forbidden technique, Izanagi.
• Asuka recalled that Ryoichi and Madara had staged their deaths, and the Great Elder explained that Itachi had recently asked about Izanagi.
• The Great Elder connected Kushina's apparent appearance at Asuka's house with his suspicions that Asuka had revived her, and warned him not to depend on Izanagi.
• Asuka clarified that the figure at his house had been Fei Fei disguised as Kushina and said Kushina was still in the hospital.
• The Great Elder urged Asuka to revive and marry Kushina, but Asuka walked away while the old man called after him.

After the Great Elder suggested a match for Uchiha Asuka, Asuka revealed that he had proposed Kushina, leaving Orange Cat astonished and Kushina furious inside its consciousness. Orange Cat then praised the Great Elder’s plan and imagined the strength of their possible descendants.

• Uchiha Asuka returned home looking troubled, and Orange Cat guessed that something had happened at the clan meeting before Asuka said the Great Elder had told him things about Kushina.
• Orange Cat praised Kushina as gentle and understanding, while Kushina listened from inside its body and Asuka silently doubted the claims.
• Kushina angrily defended her temperament after noticing Asuka’s disbelief, then both she and Orange Cat asked why the Great Elder had mentioned her.
• Asuka explained that the Great Elder planned to introduce him to someone and had warned that an unmarried woman would not accept him keeping another woman outside the household.
• Orange Cat realized the Great Elder meant for Asuka to pursue Kushina, and Asuka confirmed it.
• Orange Cat praised the Great Elder’s plan and imagined the power of descendants with Uchiha and Uzumaki bloodlines.

Fei Fei worried that Uchiha Saburo might be seeking Uzumaki Kushina’s backing for the Uchiha, then warned Kushina that the clan was too secretive and formidable to investigate easily. Kushina remained determined to uncover which Uchiha had extracted the Nine-Tails from her, while Fei Fei concluded that the Uchiha were a terrifying clan.

• Fei Fei criticized the Uchiha Great Elder for failing to pressure the clan into supporting his ideas and wondered if Saburo was pursuing an Uchiha-Uzumaki alliance through Kushina.
• Fei Fei entered the consciousness space to look for Kushina, but she grabbed him and complained that people had coveted her throughout her life.
• Fei Fei told Kushina that Asuka was not responsible for extracting the Nine-Tails and urged her to investigate the unknown Uchiha behind the attack.
• Kushina insisted she would investigate the incident herself and remembered the Sharingan she had seen that night.
• Fei Fei argued that Fugaku’s inability to provide information to Danzo showed how deeply secretive the Uchiha were, and he called the clan terrifying.

Kushina considered the Uchiha’s hidden Mangekyō secrets and the Orange Cat’s advice to approach a clan higher-up. Meanwhile, Shukaku celebrated his freedom by preparing burnt eggs to taunt the Nine-Tails, and Hashirama asked Tsunade to bring Asuka over.

• Kushina concluded that the village had found no evidence linking the Uchiha to Nine-Tailed Night and reflected on the clan’s concealed Mangekyō users.
• Kushina recalled the Orange Cat’s advice to approach an influential Uchiha such as Asuka to uncover the clan’s secrets.
• Shukaku returned to Asuka’s home and described a story about freedom, then decided to make fried eggs for the Nine-Tails.
• At dawn, Shukaku cooked burnt eggs outside the Senju Clan Land while loudly mocking the Nine-Tails’ confinement.
• Tsunade told Hashirama that a tanuki was frying eggs outside, and Hashirama recognized Shukaku as Sunagakure’s missing One-Tail.
• Hashirama asked Tsunade to have Asuka come over.

Asuka crushed a system scroll labeled Meticulous Guidance and went for a walk, hoping to learn what its reward meant. He ran into Tsunade, who unexpectedly claimed to be Konoha’s Number One Genjutsu Expert.

• Asuka learned that Ichikishimahime had found no records of the Ryūchi Cave Treasure, while the White Snake Sage remained in hibernation.
• Ichikishimahime named Guy Konoha’s top genjutsu expert, judging his chakra to be tiny compared with hers and Kakashi’s.
• Asuka crushed the Meticulous Guidance scroll, waited for an effect, then decided to go for a walk with Ichikishimahime.
• Villagers discussed Asuka’s repeated firings from the Police Force, and he explained that Ryoichi had repeatedly brought him back as a scapegoat.
• Asuka tried to avoid Tsunade, but she stopped him and claimed she was Konoha’s Number One Genjutsu Expert.

Asuka mistook Tsunade for Konoha’s Number One Genjutsu Expert and challenged her, only to discover that her “genjutsu” was a crushing punch. Tsunade told him Hashirama wanted to see him, while Ichikishimahime suggested Tsunade’s real talent was self-hypnosis.

• Asuka checked the system panel and challenged Tsunade to use genjutsu on him.
• Tsunade struck at Asuka with her Chakra-enhanced fist, calling the attack the Grandma Summoning Technique.
• Asuka escaped the punch with a substitution, then asked Tsunade why she had come to find him.
• Tsunade said Hashirama wanted to see Asuka and warned him to keep his tanuki away from the Senju Clan Land’s egg-frying.
• Ichikishimahime told Asuka that Tsunade was exceptionally good at self-hypnosis and wondered whether she used it to face her bad luck.