Chapter Summaries

Uchiha Yoru learned that Uchiha Mikoto had awakened Izanagi for him, while Tsunade uncovered the village's secret Wood Release research and decided to join the plan. The chapter left Tsunade grieving over the village's betrayal of the Senju and Uchiha, and recognizing that Uchiha Yoru had tried to protect them.

• Uchiha Mikoto confessed that she had lied about Izanagi's cooldown before falling asleep in Uchiha Yoru's arms, and Uchiha Yoru realized the technique gave him another safeguard.
• Orochimaru told Tsunade that the village intended to research Wood Release, and Tsunade said she would join the plan after returning.
• Tsunade learned that Senju clan members had been approached about the research and told Senju Ki that she would take part rather than let the clan be divided.
• Tsunade examined pale liquid and research data, confirmed they contained the First Hokage's cells, and realized the Wood Release project had already begun in secret.
• Tsunade mourned the village's betrayal of the Senju and Uchiha and recalled that Uchiha Yoru had warned her and borne the village's schemes alone.

Konoha’s leaders debated the Wood Style Plan and placed it under Root’s control, while Uchiha Yoru said farewell to Nagato and urged him to use his Rinnegan to bring change to the Shinobi World. As Yoru prepared to return to Konoha, he found that Jiraiya had taken Yahiko as his disciple and would remain in the Land of Rain.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi and the other leaders agreed that the Wood Style Plan would proceed, with Tsunade in charge and Root controlling the research.
• Uchiha Yoru told Nagato he could not take him to Konoha, gave him a book and concealing contact lenses, and urged him to look beyond any one village or country.
• Nagato revealed that he would give Uchiha Yoru his Rinnegan, but Yoru rejected the offer and warned him to hide his eyes until he was strong enough.
• Jiraiya arrived with Yahiko and explained that he had taken him as a disciple while remaining in the Land of Rain after Tsunade and Orochimaru returned to Konoha.
• Uchiha Yoru told Jiraiya that Konoha’s withdrawal from the war zone left important parts of the Land of Rain under its control.

Uchiha Yoru’s choices reshaped the futures of Nagato, Konan, and Yahiko, while political maneuvering around the Land of Rain battle divided the Uchiha Clan. In Konoha, Tsunade recognized the village’s plans for the Medical Department and developed ideas for a technique derived from the Yin Seal as she tried to comfort Uzumaki Mito.

• Konan chose to return with Uchiha Yoru, Nagato stayed in the Land of Rain to train under Uchiha Yashiro, and Yahiko planned to become Jiraiya’s disciple.
• Jiraiya gave Uchiha Yoru the Needle Jizo scroll to make amends for the credit the village had taken from him and his allies.
• Uchiha Yoru concluded that the Uchiha Clan Head’s suppression of him would win the front-line Uchiha Elite to his side and anticipated taking control of the clan.
• Uchiha Fugaku confronted his father over undermining Uchiha Yoru, but the clan leader defended his plan to divide responsibility between them and appointed Fugaku vice minister of the Konoha Military Police Force.
• Tsunade dismissed the Medical Department post as a way to redirect attention from her battlefield record, while Uzumaki Mito worried about Senju members seeking to study Hashirama’s Wood Release.
• Tsunade shared her mature ideas for Yin Seal derivative ninjutsu with Uzumaki Mito, outlining the direction that would become the Hundred Healings Technique.

Tsunade recruited Uzumaki Mito to help refine a forbidden technique while secretly investigating Tobirama Senju’s unfinished Wood Release research and suspecting Konoha’s elders had continued it. Meanwhile, Uchiha Yoru organized the Medical Department, and the chapter ended with Uzumaki Kushina inviting him and Uchiha Mikoto to meet Uzumaki Mito and Tsunade.

• Tsunade praised Uzumaki Mito and persuaded her to help research the Yin Seal technique, then examined Tobirama Senju’s records and concluded Konoha’s elders might have continued his Wood Release experiments.
• Uchiha Yoru addressed the Medical Department’s staff, established hospital triage rules, and arranged for the Konoha Military Police Force to enforce them.
• Uzumaki Kushina and Uchiha Mikoto visited Uchiha Yoru after the meeting, and Kushina teased him about the female Medical Ninja working under him.
• Konan brought Uchiha Yoru documents, and he praised her work after bringing her back from the Land of Rain.
• Uzumaki Kushina complained that Uchiha Yoru’s wartime contributions had earned him only a Deputy Head position while Minato Namikaze was being rewarded, and Yoru warned her not to discuss it outside.
• Uzumaki Kushina invited Uchiha Yoru and Uchiha Mikoto to meet Uzumaki Mito, adding that Tsunade likely had something to discuss with him.

Tsunade discovered that Hashirama’s body regenerated after she removed tissue, then reluctantly prepared to cooperate with the village’s research while resenting its elders. At the Senju home, she discussed Uchiha Yoru’s support for the Medical Department and revealed that she had invited him and Mikoto to examine their bodies, with Mikoto’s eyes as the real concern.

• Tsunade removed tissue from her grandfather’s body and found that his vitality was already restoring it.
• An ANBU member told Tsunade that the Hokage had prepared the research staff, equipment, and laboratories, and she angrily ordered him to warn the elders not to intrude on Senju territory.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi, Shimura Danzō, Mitokado Homura, and Utatane Koharu discussed Tsunade’s outburst and planned to begin the experiment the next day while remaining alert to renewed war.
• Uzumaki Kushina brought Uchiha Yoru and Uchiha Mikoto to meet Uzumaki Mito, who questioned Yoru about the Konoha Military Police Force and its cooperation with the Medical Department.
• Uchiha Yoru explained that the force supported the Medical Department, while Tsunade defended his contributions and criticized the village for failing to recognize him.
• Tsunade told Yoru and Mikoto that she had invited them to discuss the Scroll of Seals and examine their bodies, though Yoru understood that she really wanted to inspect Mikoto’s eyes.

Tsunade examined Mikoto’s newly awakened Mangekyō Sharingan and let her and Kushina choose forbidden techniques from the Scroll of Seals. After drugging Yoru to question him about Wood Release, Tsunade apologized, kissed and hugged him, gave him the First Hokage’s Necklace, and asked what he knew.

• Tsunade examined Mikoto’s Mangekyō Sharingan, warned her to avoid using it for six months, and gave her medicine to ease its strain.
• Tsunade brought out the Scroll of Seals and let Kushina and Mikoto take it outside to choose a forbidden technique.
• Tsunade tested Yoru’s reaction to Wood Release, then kissed and drugged him so she could question him about what he knew.
• Tsunade showed Yoru a sample she believed contained Hashirama’s Wood Style cells and apologized for making him bear things alone.
• Tsunade kissed Yoru’s forehead, hugged him, and placed the First Hokage’s Necklace around his neck while blessing him to become the first Uchiha Hokage.
• Tsunade asked Yoru to explain what he knew about Wood Release.

Uchiha Yoru discussed Konoha’s hostility toward the major clans with Tsunade, who urged him to focus on strength and reassured him that he did not have to face the village’s darkness alone. Tsunade agreed to teach Yoru the basics of the Flying Thunder God Technique and approved Kushina and Mikoto’s forbidden-technique choices, while the women later reflected on their bonds with him.

• Uchiha Yoru told Tsunade that Konoha’s higher-ups feared the major clans and had worked to weaken them, and Tsunade condemned their policies.
• Tsunade embraced Uchiha Yoru, reassured him that he was not alone, and told him to focus on training as his chakra grew and his Bloodline Disease neared a cure.
• Uzumaki Kushina chose the Mutual Multiplication Exploding Tag, and Tsunade agreed to provide her with its scroll after warning her about its risks.
• Uchiha Mikoto chose Genjutsu: Dark Walking Technique, while Kushina persuaded Tsunade to let Yoru study the Flying Thunder God Technique so she could learn alongside him.
• Uzumaki Mito teased Tsunade about teaching the Uchiha techniques once designed against them, while Kushina privately admitted her feelings for Yoru and Tsunade focused on her Wood Style research.

Uchiha Mikoto offered Uchiha Yoru her Mangekyō eyes and resolved to grow stronger for him. In Konoha, Tsunade confronted the Hokage and Root over the Wood Style research project, secured authority over it, and exposed Shimura Danzō’s misconduct.

• Uchiha Mikoto told Uchiha Yoru she would give him her Mangekyō eyes, but he declined and encouraged her to grow stronger alongside him.
• Tsunade arrived at the Wood Style research base, claimed command of the project, and ordered that no one laugh during research.
• Shimura Danzō invoked Root and the Hokage’s orders, so Tsunade threw a tray at him and asserted the Senju Clan’s authority over the project.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi, Mitokado Homura, and Utatane Koharu confronted Tsunade, but she challenged their claim to speak for the village before the major clans had been consulted.
• Hiruzen gave Tsunade full authority over the research and placed ANBU, Root, and Senju security under her command.
• Tsunade accused Danzō of taking what the Senju had not given, prompting Hiruzen to order him back to the Hokage’s Office while Tsunade reflected on his actions involving Kushina, Nawaki, the Land of Grass, and the Wood Style cells.

Hiruzen Sarutobi ordered Danzo to appease the Senju after Root’s attack on Tsunade and Uzumaki Kushina threatened the village’s trust with its clans. Tsunade struck a deal with Orochimaru to share research data from their Wood Release laboratories, while Uchiha Yoru planned to use his contact with Orochimaru to find Root’s secret experiments and secure Yamato and the First Hokage’s cells.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi reprimanded Danzo over Root’s attack, ordered Root to keep a low profile, and forbade further action against Uzumaki Kushina.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzo, Mitokado Homura, and Utatane Koharu suspected that Uzumaki Mito was backing Tsunade and considered stabilizing the Senju while waiting for Mito’s health to worsen.
• Tsunade oversaw the Wood Release research base and agreed to let Orochimaru conduct work for Root in exchange for every report and experimental result from Root’s secret laboratory.
• Uzumaki Kushina told Uchiha Mikoto and Uchiha Yoru that the village leadership had planned the Wood Style project and that several clans were involved.
• Uchiha Yoru inferred that Danzo might discover Yamato during Root’s secret experiments and decided to use his ninjutsu exchanges with Orochimaru to locate the laboratory and obtain Wood Release cells.

Uchiha Yoru demonstrated that he had learned the Flying Thunder God Technique, but its enormous Chakra cost left it as a trump card rather than a reliable tool. He joined Kushina and Mikoto at the Chunin Exam, where he and Minato recognized that the crowded gathering reflected growing unrest among the nations.

• Uchiha Mikoto ended her spar with Uchiha Yoru and Uzumaki Kushina, then explained that she was still mastering Yoru’s Lightning Chakra Mode.
• Uzumaki Kushina tested Yoru’s Flying Thunder God Technique and discovered that each movement consumed a great deal of Chakra; she resolved to find a way to reduce the cost.
• Uzumaki Kushina spoke of her fear of becoming a monster after sealing the Nine-Tails, and she silently vowed to master its power and protect Yoru.
• Uchiha Yoru, Mikoto, and Kushina went to the Chunin Exam, where they met Minato Namikaze and Nako Uzumaki.
• Uchiha Yoru and Minato Namikaze observed the many foreign visitors and feared that tensions among the hidden villages could lead to another war.

Uchiha Yoru used the Sharingan’s hypnosis to plant doubts about the Sarutobi Clan and the Third Hokage in Asuma Sarutobi and other young Konoha ninja. After the Chunin exams, he continued training Kakashi and prepared to introduce him to another Uchiha prodigy, while Jiraiya returned to ask Tsunade for a favor involving Minato Namikaze.

• Asuma Sarutobi angrily left the Chunin exam venue after hearing outsiders criticize his father, and Uchiha Yoru’s Shadow Clone secretly watched the youths.
• In the forest, Asuma overheard two masked foreign ninja accuse the Third Hokage and the Sarutobi Clan of consolidating power, and doubts about his family took root.
• Uchiha Yoru revealed that he had hypnotized the youths and planted faint seeds of suspicion, then declared that it was time for the Uchiha to take their turn.
• After the exams, Uchiha Yoru told Kakashi he would teach him Chidori once his neural response and dynamic vision met the required standard, and promised to introduce him to a young Uchiha genius.
• Jiraiya returned to the Senju Clan with Minato Namikaze and gifts, and Tsunade told him to state the favor he had come to request.

Jiraiya brought Minato Namikaze to Tsunade for guidance on the Flying Thunder God Technique, but Tsunade refused because the people who could help were preparing to divide the Nine-Tails. After Jiraiya and Minato left, Tsunade discussed the coming transfer with Uzumaki Mito, while Uchiha Yoru later found Uchiha Mikoto waiting for him in the dark.

• Jiraiya and Minato Namikaze asked Tsunade for help with the Flying Thunder God Technique’s formula and transmission problems, and Minato shared his research scroll.
• Tsunade refused to provide guidance from her grandmother or Uzumaki Kushina and told Minato to inform Konoha’s elders that the Nine-Tails would be transferred in a few days.
• Tsunade criticized the village’s elders for treating the Senju as obstacles and suggested that Minato use better Chakra Metal for the technique’s transmission.
• Jiraiya and Minato left, and Jiraiya promised to help Minato obtain Chakra Metal for his experiments.
• Tsunade spoke with Uzumaki Mito about dividing the Nine-Tails, and Mito warned Tsunade to keep her heart steady as she pursued strength.
• Uchiha Yoru studied Lightning Style techniques before Uchiha Mikoto entered his room and nervously called his name.

Uzumaki Kushina spent the night with Uchiha Yoru before her transformation into a Jinchuriki, wanting him to remember who she was beforehand. After returning home, she resolved to face becoming a monster without regrets, while Tsunade worried over clan research and growing tensions across the Shinobi World.

• Uzumaki Kushina disguised herself as Uchiha Mikoto and spent the night with Uchiha Yoru, then revealed her identity and explained that she wanted him to remember her before she became a monster.
• Uchiha Mikoto prepared breakfast and spare clothes for Uzumaki Kushina, teased the pair, and left to buy her thigh-high stockings.
• Uchiha Yoru treated Uzumaki Kushina's sore foot with Medical Ninjutsu, and Kushina used her own body to heal her other injuries.
• Uzumaki Kushina returned home and avoided Tsunade's questions about her scent before washing up.
• Uzumaki Kushina promised herself that she would protect Uchiha Yoru, Tsunade, Uchiha Mikoto, and her family after becoming a Jinchuriki.
• Tsunade worried about the Wood Style Plan, Orochimaru's research and child experiments, and rising conflicts across the Shinobi World.

Tsunade encouraged Kushina to embrace her coming role as the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki while she and Mito confronted the danger posed by Senju radicals and the Wood Style Plan. At the Hatake compound, Yoru introduced his new disciple Shisui to Kakashi and assigned Konan to train them.

• Tsunade gave Kushina Minato's Flying Thunder God notes and urged her to recognize his strengths alongside Yoru's.
• Tsunade encouraged Kushina to prepare for becoming the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, and Kushina resolved to ask Mito to seal more of its power into her.
• Tsunade admitted that Senju radicals were pressing to continue the dangerous Wood Style Plan, and Mito agreed to confront them before they forced Tsunade to act alone.
• Mito said she would seal sixty percent of the Nine-Tails' power into Kushina and summon the radical Senju clan members to make their choice.
• Yoru introduced his disciple Shisui to Kakashi at the Hatake compound and asked Konan to give the two boys special training.

Uchiha Yoru trained Kakashi and Uchiha Shisui while Konan told them about his books and reported on Nagato. As Uchiha Yoru anticipated the coming White Fang Incident and Third Shinobi World War, Shimura Danzō shut down Orochimaru’s Wood Style experiments and sent him to infiltrate Kumogakure and provoke an Eight-Tails rampage; Hiruzen Sarutobi then reviewed the ban and worried over the risks of Tsunade’s research.

• Uchiha Yoru had Konan train Kakashi and Uchiha Shisui in reflexes by firing paper shuriken at them, then praised her Paper Release and advised her to study Wind Style with Kushina.
• Konan told Uchiha Yoru that Nagato was doing well under Senior Eight and had been invited by Yahiko to join him.
• Konan read Kakashi and Uchiha Shisui passages from the latest My Struggle books, while Uchiha Yoru reflected that the White Fang Incident and the Third Shinobi World War were approaching.
• Shimura Danzō ended Orochimaru’s failed Wood Style experiments and assigned him to infiltrate Kumogakure, use his identity and Copy Wheel Eye, and trigger an Eight-Tails rampage.
• Orochimaru left the experimental chambers running on backup power as the base was sealed, and Hiruzen Sarutobi stamped the project forbidden before questioning the need for human experimentation in Tsunade’s research.

Tsunade and Uzumaki Mito faced pressure from Senju radicals to continue the dangerous Wood Style Plan, while Tsunade asserted control over the clan and kept the trials voluntary. Uchiha Yoru later warned Tsunade that someone was plotting against White Fang, and she recognized the threat as part of Konoha’s efforts to weaken major clans.

• Tsunade told the Senju assembly that Wood Style experiments had repeatedly failed, while radicals demanded that the clan fund the project and volunteer for trials.
• Uzumaki Mito explained the plan’s costs and dangers, and only seven radicals ultimately volunteered for the final experiment.
• Tsunade used her Shadow-level chakra to silence the assembly and forbade anyone from forcing a relative, especially a child, to participate.
• Uchiha Yoru visited Tsunade’s laboratory, comforted her, and disclosed intelligence that someone was preparing to move against White Fang.
• Tsunade dismissed the threat as consistent with Konoha leaders’ efforts to weaken the major clans.

Uchiha Yoru warned Tsunade that someone planned to target Hatake during a mission, but she dismissed the threat and trusted the old advisers to accept his candidacy for Hokage. Meanwhile, Hiruzen Sarutobi and his advisers adopted Danzo’s plan to exploit Black and White to foment unrest in Kumogakure, while Orochimaru prepared to leave on a secret mission there.

• Uchiha Yoru told Tsunade that someone intended to attack Hatake during a mission, but Tsunade argued that the other villages would not risk ambushing him with powerful shinobi.
• Tsunade and Uchiha Yoru shared a teasing, intimate moment, while Tsunade privately acknowledged her feelings for him and tried to suppress them.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi, Shimura Danzō, Mitokado Homura, and Utatane Koharu discussed weakening Kumogakure and agreed to spread ideas from Uchiha Yoru’s book, Black and White, to provoke unrest in the Land of Lightning.
• The advisers condemned Uchiha Yoru as an evil influence on Uzumaki Kushina, but Hiruzen Sarutobi said they could not yet move against the Uchiha.
• Tsunade and Orochimaru discussed the many shinobi sent to Wood Release experiments, and Tsunade warned Orochimaru not to die on his secret mission to Kumogakure.
• Orochimaru credited Uchiha Yoru with helping him develop new ninjutsu, then left as the first group of experiment volunteers entered the laboratory.

Tsunade’s Wood Release experiment killed every volunteer, deepening her guilt while Uchiha Yoru resolved to obtain Wood Release himself. As Konoha’s leaders continued the trials, Hiruzen set aside Hatake Sakumo’s report and Danzō prepared to push the research further.

• Tsunade warned seven Senju Jonin that their chance of surviving the Wood Release experiment was below one percent, but they entered the trial anyway.
• The first trial killed all its participants, and Tsunade left the laboratory after calling the experiment a slaughter.
• Tsunade drank and wept with Uchiha Yoru, who privately planned to use the Chimera Technique to acquire Wood Release and eventually present Yamato to her.
• Days later, Hiruzen ordered ANBU to keep watching the experiments, rejected Hatake Sakumo’s intelligence report, and said the Wood Release research took priority.
• Danzō condemned the great clans as obstacles to the village and decided that the Wood Release project needed brute force to overcome its research bottleneck.

Uchiha Yoru reassured Uzumaki Kushina that he did not fear the Nine-Tails sealed inside her, and the two grew closer. After witnessing their relationship, Tsunade began plotting to make Yoru her partner and imagined their future children taking Senju and Uchiha surnames.

• Uchiha Yoru carried Tsunade to bed, cared for her, and kissed her before leaving her room.
• Uchiha Yoru used Flying Thunder God to confront Uzumaki Kushina, who had been avoiding him because she feared he would reject her for the Nine-Tails inside her.
• Uchiha Yoru entered Kushina's seal space, mocked the Nine-Tails, and reassured Kushina by destroying its manifestation of leaked Chakra.
• Uzumaki Kushina dressed as a red fox girl for Uchiha Yoru, and the two became intimate while Tsunade listened outside the room.
• Tsunade realized Yoru had used Flying Thunder God to visit Kushina and began imagining using the Hokage position to win him, with their future children bearing Senju and Uchiha surnames.

Uchiha Yoru raided Root’s abandoned Wood Release research base, stabilized five surviving children with the First Hokage’s cells, and arranged for enemy spies to discover evidence of Konoha’s experiments. The resulting exposure alarmed Konoha’s leaders, while Tsunade learned that Yoru was gravely injured and carrying Wood Release cells, and hurried to find him.

• After monitoring Root’s sealed research base for half a month, Uchiha Yoru entered it during the rain and used Forbidden Jutsu: Chimera to absorb Wood Release energy from five children, stabilizing their life signs.
• Rock Shinobi and Cloud Shinobi spies discovered evidence of Konoha’s Wood Release experiments, then detonated Exploding Tags as Root attacked them, destroying the base.
• Uchiha Yoru fled the explosion with severe injuries, and White Zetsu sensed the First Hokage’s Wood Release cells on him before going to report to Lord Madara.
• At Konoha’s Wood Release Experiment Base, Tsunade urged the final Senju Jonin to abandon the trials, while Shimura Danzō defended the failed experiments and received news of enemy spies near the village.
• Katsuyu told Tsunade that Uchiha Yoru was gravely injured and showed her blood containing Wood Release cells, prompting Tsunade to send a secret warning to Kushina and rush to Yoru.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi confronted Shimura Danzō about the exposed experiments, and Danzo promised Root would provoke conflict between Kumogakure and Iwagakure within five years.