Chapter Summaries

Uchiha Asuka questioned whether the Great Elder knew something about Kushina and asked Fei Fei if memories could be sealed before their mission to Rōran. Fei Fei insisted no such technique existed, but privately hinted that it might be able to make people lose their memories.

• At a breakfast stall, Uchiha Asuka worried that reviving Kushina could expose secrets she had learned inside Fei Fei's body.
• Uchiha Asuka asked Fei Fei whether it could seal memories, and Fei Fei said the Ninja World had no such Sealing Technique.
• Fei Fei recalled Minato Namikaze's Rōran mission and argued that the mission party had lost their memories rather than had them sealed.
• Uchiha Asuka realized his mission was to Rōran and headed for the village meeting point, planning to seek another way to protect secrets.
• Fei Fei privately considered that memory loss might serve the same purpose as sealing memories and thought of Minato Namikaze and Kushina.

Asuka waited for his late escort party and met a flashy noble who doubted Konoha’s decision to assign him as the lead jonin. Asuka led the group out of Konoha toward the Land of Fire’s border, while the Anbu hinted that his past escort missions had left companions shaken.

• Asuka waited at Konoha’s gate and speculated with Orange Cat about the identity of the person he was assigned to escort.
• Anbu arrived late with a flamboyantly dressed noble, who complained that Konoha had sent only an Uchiha jonin to protect him.
• Asuka assured the noble that he had a one hundred percent success rate and that Konoha had sent its strongest available lineup.
• Asuka registered the party at the gate and led the escort mission toward the Land of Fire’s border.
• Anbu members whispered that a companion on Asuka’s previous escort mission had felt too guilty to keep his reward and had sworn off escorting with him again.

Tsunade assigned Uchiha Asuka to escort a group of travelers as a test of his unusual approach to sacred lands, then reviewed reports about Kushina, the Uchiha Clan, and Danzo’s rumors. As the slow-moving group rested near Konoha, Asuka began telling his nervous client a story about the love between the Six Paths Sage and a White Snake.

• Tsunade dismissed Shizune’s concerns about drinking in the Hokage Office and explained that she had assigned Asuka to test whether he could make escort missions easier.
• Shizune reported that Kushina remained unconscious, the Uchiha Clan showed no signs of division, and Danzo had spread rumors about the clan.
• Tsunade reviewed the history of rumors against the Uchiha Clan and concluded that Danzo had spread them during both the Second Grandfather’s and her own eras.
• Asuka and the travelers moved slowly through the Village North Grove and stopped to rest in a relatively safe area.
• Asuka approached the fat client and offered to entertain him with a supposedly true Uchiha clan story about the Six Paths Sage and a White Snake.

Asuka entertained a crowd by inventing a lurid story about the Six Paths Sage, his mother, and the White Snake Sage, presenting it as Uchiha history. The White Snake Sage sensed the tale, realized it concerned her, and angrily confronted Ryūchi Cave over the distorted record.

• Asuka began telling the crowd a fabricated tale about the Six Paths Sage and his younger brother, and the listeners mistook it for a familiar snake romance.
• Asuka said the Six Paths Sage fell in love with Habaki, who was killed by his mother, and later fought his mother after a toad revealed the truth.
• Asuka claimed the Six Paths Sage met the White Snake Sage, opened Baohe Pharmacy with her, and was guided into sealing his mother with his brother.
• Asuka concluded that the younger brother founded the Hyuga Clan while the Six Paths Sage and White Snake Sage continued running their pharmacy.
• The White Snake Sage sensed that a story involving her was being told, looked toward Asuka, and angrily denounced the distorted history.

Uchiha Asuka spun a tale about the Six Paths Sage to make a mission target curious about Ryūchi Cave, then had Ichikishimahime take the man there as a guest. The Konoha Ninja were left wondering how to continue their mission now that their target had vanished.

• Uchiha Asuka told the fat man that people connected to the Six Paths Sage were still alive, including White Maiden, the founder of Ryūchi Cave.
• Asuka claimed the fat man had an affinity with a sage and summoned Ichikishimahime, who appeared and complained that the White Snake Sage had scolded her for smelling of instant noodles.
• Ichikishimahime demanded that Asuka withhold instant noodles for a week, then grabbed the fat man and transported him to Ryūchi Cave.
• Asuka told the Konoha Ninja that he had prepared the fat man for the trip with a historical love story, leaving them to face the problem of their missing mission target.

The younger brother of the Land of Honey's daimyō was taken by Uchiha Asuka to Ryūchi Cave, where Ichikishimahime and Tagorihime offered him a chance to learn sage arts. He agreed to begin their trial by renovating the cave's dilapidated temple.

• The Land of Honey's daimyō's younger brother realized Uchiha Asuka had brought him to Ryūchi Cave instead of escorting him home and shouted in protest.
• Ichikishimahime told him Asuka alone could decide when he would return, while Tagorihime and another woman startled him by appearing from the mist.
• Ichikishimahime demonstrated her Natural Chakra by blasting a distant hill into starlight, and the man asked to learn the technique.
• Tagorihime set the first trial as renovating the temple within a month, with payment allowing him to proceed if he failed.
• The man resolutely headed to the temple, while the three women discussed changing later trials to making furniture or paying for it.

Uchiha Asuka’s escort team lost their noble client when Asuka let people from Ryūchi Cave take him away, but Asuka insisted the mission would still succeed. The Anbu continued toward the Land of Honey ahead of him, planning to report the strange start to the village.

• The Anbu confronted Asuka after their noble client vanished, and Asuka assured them the target was safe and the mission would be completed.
• Asuka cited his mission record and his ambition to become Hokage, but the Anbu hesitated when they remembered his low Anbu mission success rate.
• The tall, thin captain chose to continue the escort mission and asked Asuka what the team should do next.
• Asuka told the Anbu to travel ahead to the Land of Honey while he took his time along the way, and they departed using ninja methods.
• The captain agreed the team should report the incident to the village, then led the Anbu onward toward the Land of Honey.

Uchiha Asuka explained to Fei Fei why he had sent the mission targets to Ryūchi Cave, linking the arrangement to the White Snake Sage’s prophecy and the Uchiha’s supposed affinity with the cave. He left Fei Fei with a story about Uchiha Madara forcing Ichikishimahime into a Summoning Contract as they walked toward the Land of Honey.

• Asuka told Fei Fei that Ryūchi Cave was a suitable place to protect the mission targets because it welcomed humans and did not belong to a clan.
• Asuka explained that the White Snake Sage’s prophecy predicted a Child of Destiny who would bring peace or disaster, and that the Uchiha would help prevent Ryūchi Cave’s reputation from being ruined.
• Fei Fei concluded that Asuka was the Uchiha who would turn the Child of Destiny into a good person, but Asuka clarified that the White Snake Sage had considered several Uchiha.
• Asuka recalled that Uchiha Madara had forced Ichikishimahime to sign a Summoning Contract after she came to Konoha.
• Asuka and Fei Fei continued along the road toward the Land of Honey while discussing Madara’s strength.

Asuka arrived in the Land of Hot Water and pretended to be an orthodox Jashin follower sent to guide the cult's members. Nearby, a Cloud Ninja team recognized him and decided to report his presence and wait for orders rather than risk confronting him.

• Asuka explained to the Orange Cat that true Jashin believers should repeatedly sacrifice themselves where they received Jashin's approval.
• A Jashin Cult member approached Asuka, who claimed his Sharingan was a Heavenly Eye granted by Jashin and introduced himself as Jashin's messenger.
• Cloud Ninja discussed whether to avenge He Siyi by killing Asuka, then recalled their mission to kill the younger brother of the Land of Honey's daimyo and blame Konoha.
• The Cloud Ninja captain decided they would report Asuka's presence to their village and wait for instructions, avoiding a fight with him.

Uchiha Asuka posed as an emissary of Jashin and persuaded a believer that a business franchise would sever his past-life Karma and make him wealthy. The believer accepted the offer and set off to introduce Asuka to other Jashin followers.

• Cloud Ninja watched Asuka hypnotize a passerby and debated whether Konoha or the Uchiha were more overbearing.
• Asuka convinced a young Jashin believer that he had been sent by Lord Jashin and would sever Karma for free.
• Asuka told the believer his past-life Karma came from having been a lazy man who starved, and said he needed to become wealthy to clear it.
• Asuka handed the believer a franchise proposal for Tobi Meatballs and Uchiha Fried Chicken Shop, promising no initial investment and limited risk.
• The believer decided to introduce Asuka to other Jashin followers and ran off in the opposite direction from him.

Asuka posed as a messenger of Jashin at a Hot Spring Inn, using hypnosis and money to give war-scarred civilians strange instructions and win their trust. Kumogakure ninjas watched from across the street and debated exposing him, but feared the consequences.

• A former layabout received two hundred taels from Asuka and left believing Jashin had given him startup money to farm.
• An old man entered the inn to test whether Asuka was truly Jashin's messenger, and Asuka hypnotized him into believing he had been a child who died young in a past life.
• Asuka gave the old man money, told him to start a business and adopt a child, then straightened his hunched back with a painful slap.
• The old man left the inn walking upright and announced that he would adopt an orphan, prompting the crowd to grow more tempted by Jashin's guidance.
• Kumogakure ninjas watched the crowd and wondered what Konoha was doing, but one warned the others not to expose Uchiha Asuka if they wanted to survive.

Asuka drew crowds to the Hidden Hot Springs Village by offering free Karma severance, while a Kumogakure squad misread his actions as a diversion for an escort mission. Asuka revealed his plan to reform the Jashin Cult, leave Hidan homeless, and dissolve the Evil God Organization.

• People from across the country, including monks, crowded around Asuka to receive free Karma severance, while Cloud Ninjas watched him from a nearby building.
• The Cloud captain concluded that Asuka had come to distract them while his companions slipped past their ambush, and Mu doubted the explanation but stayed quiet.
• Asuka spotted the Kumogakure squad watching him and continued helping the believers as the Orange Cat woke on his head.
• Asuka told the Orange Cat that he wanted to give the believers hope, leave Hidan without a home, and disband the Evil God Organization.

Asuka persuaded a Fire Temple monk to break his precepts and start a business, claiming that giving away the profits would help him understand pain and behold the Buddha. The monk accepted Asuka’s flyer and set off for the Rain Country to help its starving people.

• Orange Cat noticed that the Cloud Ninja spying on Asuka had vanished from the building across the street.
• A Fire Temple monk asked Asuka, whom he mistook for an envoy of Jashin, how he could sever his Karma and behold the Buddha.
• Asuka told the monk that he needed to understand pain by helping suffering people, and persuaded him to break the Fire Temple’s precept against doing business.
• Asuka instructed the monk to help ten civilians, collect cloth as payment, and sew the patches onto his robe to protect himself from the abbot.
• Asuka gave the monk advertisements for Uchiha Fried Chicken Shop and Tobi Meatballs and sent him to the Rain Country to aid its starving people.
• The monk tucked the flyer into his robes, bowed to Asuka, and resolved to set out despite fearing the abbot’s reaction.

Cloud Ninja raced to intercept Konoha’s escort team, while the Konoha ninja approached the Land of Lightning without realizing their noble charge was missing. The Cloud leader, baffled by the team’s impossible speed, concluded that their informant had betrayed them.

• The Cloud captain hurried his team away from Hidden Hot Springs Village, worrying that Konoha’s group might be traveling faster than expected.
• Three days later, the Konoha team reached the Land of Lightning’s border and chose to continue toward the Land of Honey rather than wait for Asuka.
• The Konoha leader remembered that Asuka had sent the noble to Ryūchi Cave, leaving the team to escort nothing, while his companions struggled to explain their sense that someone was missing.
• The Cloud Ninja received reports that Konoha’s team had raced through successive ambush locations and reached the border ahead of them.
• A Cloud Ninja suspected their informant had provided false intelligence, and the leader declared that something was definitely wrong with the informant.

Three Konoha Anbu disguised as commoners reached the Land of Lightning border, where Cloud Ninja mistook their presence for a diversion protecting a hidden infiltration route. The Cloud Ninja captain attacked them, convinced he had uncovered Konoha’s scheme, while Asuka was still expected to follow the same road.

• The Cloud Ninja ambushed the three disguised Konoha Anbu and realized their group did not match the intelligence about the escort mission.
• The Anbu claimed they had come shopping, then turned back to avoid a clash and planned to reunite with Uchiha Asuka.
• The Cloud Ninja captain decided their excuse was a ploy to draw his squad away while another person infiltrated with the noble.
• The captain claimed a Konoha man had crossed the border marker and ordered his squad to attack the three Anbu.
• The Cloud Ninja captain charged and punched at the Anbu as they protested that they were already leaving.

Spiral Zetsu’s meatball shop kept losing money, prompting Black Zetsu to demand that it falsify the ledger. After beating it for a clumsy attempt, Black Zetsu discussed Uchiha Asuka’s mission and wondered about the events unfolding at Ryūchi Cave.

• Spiral Zetsu worried about the shop’s losses and recalled Uchiha Asuka’s idea to open franchise stores.
• Black Zetsu scolded Spiral Zetsu over the losses, then noticed its ledger and asked it to falsify the books.
• Spiral Zetsu changed a 6,000-ryō loss into a profit, and Black Zetsu beat it for making the fraud obvious.
• Black Zetsu told Spiral Zetsu that Uchiha Asuka had left the Hidden Hot Springs Village for the Land of Lightning, while the other Konoha Ninja had already fought a powerful opponent near the border.
• Black Zetsu looked toward Ryūchi Cave and saw a fat man painting walls to train in Sage Arts, then called the cave full of liars.

Uchiha Asuka defeated a Jashin Cult leader and convinced the civilians of Hidden Hot Springs Village that he was Jashin’s true messenger. After extracting the location of the cult’s headquarters, he headed there to confront its leaders, while the villagers considered forming a new Jashin Cult.

• Asuka presented himself as Jashin’s messenger and persuaded the villagers that the middle-aged cult leader had been exploiting them for money.
• The middle-aged man accused Asuka of being a fraud and began revealing his identity, but Asuka used his Sharingan to incapacitate him.
• Asuka extracted the location of the Jashin Cult’s headquarters from the man and headed northeast from Hidden Hot Springs Village.
• The villagers discussed whether the old cult would be disbanded and decided to start a new Jashin Cult.

Asuka and Fei Fei easily destroyed the Jashin Cult’s headquarters and discussed whether immortality was possible. They traveled toward the Land of Lightning, wary of ambushes and wondering how Asuka would fare against the Raikage.

• Asuka and Fei Fei defeated the Jashin Cult in less than half a day and razed its headquarters without drawing Jashin’s appearance.
• Asuka told Fei Fei that their next destination was the Land of Honey, which meant crossing the Land of Lightning and potentially facing Kumogakure.
• Asuka explained that he had attacked the cult because he was curious whether people could truly survive any injury, and Fei Fei argued that supposed immortality must have limits.
• Fei Fei recalled how Ono Maki’s ten thousand Iwagakure ninja killed the Third Raikage, then asked whether Asuka could withstand a similar assault.
• Asuka said he did not know if he could defeat the Third Raikage but believed he could escape, while he searched the forest for signs of danger and companions’ markings.

Uchiha Asuka and Orange Cat decided not to rescue the three Konoha ninja because they believed the group was not in mortal danger. While fleeing Cloud Ninja, the Kurama Clan captain discussed the White Fang’s choice to save comrades and urged his teammates to keep pursuing their mission before returning to the village.

• Orange Cat worried that Asuka was ignoring the three ninja, but Asuka said they could return to the village if they were in danger.
• The exhausted trio continued evading Cloud Ninja, and a teammate asked whether the Kurama Clan’s past conflict with the Uchiha Clan explained why Asuka had not come to help.
• The Kurama Clan captain dismissed the idea that Asuka was acting out of spite and explained that ninja usually had to prioritize missions to avoid causing losses for the village.
• A teammate argued that comrades should be saved even if doing so broke the rules, prompting the captain to explain that the White Fang had not been wrong to save people, despite the consequences.
• The captain said the village still had to put missions first until a leader capable of breaking the rules appeared, then ordered the trio to keep running for two more days.

Asuka entered the Land of Lightning alone and noticed Cloud Ninjas hiding nearby, but they feared confronting him and chose to report his arrival to the Raikage while continuing their mission. After standing in the road for half an hour, Asuka and his cat complained that the Cloud Ninjas would not come out to question them.

• Asuka walked openly into the Land of Lightning after spotting Cloud Ninjas concealed in a nearby forest.
• The Cloud Ninjas recognized Asuka and debated how his strength compared with the Raikage and the Eight-Tails.
• The Cloud Ninjas realized Asuka had come alone and decided not to expose themselves or jeopardize their mission to stop Konoha ninjas from bringing the Land of Honey Noble into the Land of Lightning.
• A Cloud Ninja decided to report Asuka's arrival to the Raikage while the others continued watching for the noble.
• After half an hour standing on the road, Asuka and his orange cat complained that the Cloud Ninjas were still hiding instead of asking their business.