Chapter Summaries

Watanabe Kenshin proposed killing the Land of Lightning and Land of Earth envoys to disrupt their alliance, but Chiba argued that the tactic would unite them and laid out a plan to strengthen Sunagakure instead. Chiba left Kenshin speechless by explaining why Sunagakure would remain allied with Konoha and how it could help deter the other nations.

• After reading intelligence scrolls about the Land of Lightning and Land of Earth, Watanabe Kenshin warned that the balance among the nations was about to collapse.
• The Third Hokage asked Kenshin for a solution, and Kenshin suggested killing both nations' envoys to make them distrust each other.
• Chiba rejected Kenshin's proposal, arguing that it would push the Land of Lightning and Land of Earth closer together, and advocated returning captured young ninja to strengthen Sunagakure.
• Chiba explained that a stronger Sunagakure could restrain the Land of Earth and make both it and the Land of Lightning hesitate to attack Konoha.
• When Kenshin suggested Sunagakure might join the other two nations against Konoha, Chiba argued that Sunagakure needed Konoha to survive and would not choose that path.
• Kenshin was left stunned and speechless by Chiba's reasoning.

Chiba explained how three overlapping three-country balances could contain the great nations, but Watanabe Kenshin challenged whether Sunagakure’s young shinobi could pose a real threat to Iwa. Chiba left Kenshin’s accusation hanging by pointing out that he had never said the young shinobi would be sent to the battlefield.

• Watanabe Kenshin searched for a flaw in Chiba’s plan despite recognizing its strategic logic.
• The Third Hokage prepared to approve Chiba’s plan after understanding how it used distrust among the nations to prevent alliances.
• Watanabe Kenshin argued that Sunagakure’s young shinobi lacked the combat power to make Iwa wary.
• Watanabe Kenshin praised Chiba’s planning while asking him to explain why he had overlooked the young shinobi’s limited strength.
• Chiba replied that he had never said the young shinobi would be sent to the battlefield.

Chiba explained that returning Sunagakure's young ninja would provide manpower for village-defense duties, allowing Sunagakure to deploy stronger forces while building goodwill and reinforcing the alliance. Watanabe Kenshin was convinced by Chiba's plan, and the Third Hokage laughed at Chiba's scheming.

• Chiba told Watanabe Kenshin that the young Sunagakure ninja would return to take over routine defense duties, freeing experienced ninja for offensive operations.
• Chiba cited the intelligence scroll, which showed that Sunagakure still had many Elite Chunin- and Jonin-level ninja, including Jonin assigned to noncombat duties.
• Chiba proposed giving Sunagakure the intelligence scroll as well, to demonstrate Konoha's goodwill and put pressure on Sunagakure to honor the alliance.
• Chiba explained that returning the children could improve Sunagakure's view of Konoha and make other villages wary of allying with Sunagakure if it betrayed Konoha.
• Watanabe Kenshin could find no flaw in the plan and was fully convinced, while the Third Hokage laughed at Chiba's scheming.

After Chiba exposed Watanabe Kenshin’s biased objections, the Third Hokage entrusted Kenshin with returning Sunagakure’s prisoners and eliminating enemy ninja near Konoha. Chiba worried that Kenshin might mishandle the important missions.

• Watanabe Kenshin admitted he had no objections to Chiba’s plan and felt ashamed of letting his dislike cloud his judgment.
• The Third Hokage assigned Kenshin to escort the Sunagakure prisoners home as Nara Shikaku prepared to leave for the front lines.
• Chiba reminded the Third Hokage that the prisoners might need to be returned in batches and that enemy ninja were still lurking outside Konoha.
• The Third Hokage ordered Kenshin to prepare Shikaku’s bait operation and eliminate the enemy ninja within three days.
• Watanabe Kenshin accepted the assignments with renewed determination, while Chiba worried he might ruin the prisoner-return plan.

Chiba decided to secretly join the operation against hostile ninjas near Konoha and went to seek someone who could help him. Meanwhile, Yukina challenged her father for the right to participate in missions, and he agreed to let her try once.

• Chiba regretted leaving without asking to join Nara Shikaku's Bait Operation and concluded he had to take part secretly.
• Chiba decided Watanabe Kenshin could not be trusted to ensure his participation and judged he needed an ally because the mission would be dangerous.
• Chiba turned away from his cabin and headed into the village to find someone he expected to be on an Alert Mission.
• Yukina asked Hyuga Shinsuke to let her participate in missions if she could defeat him.
• Hyuga Shinsuke agreed to one challenge and warned Yukina that failure would mean she could never leave the house.

Chiba visited the Konoha Gate Guard Post and reunited with Kanno Satoru, Aso Sasuke, and Kusunoki Masaru, friends who had often helped him shirk guard duty. Their banter reminded Chiba that he had come for a reason, but the trio warned that guards were forbidden from leaving the village.

• Kanno Satoru welcomed Chiba and chatted with him at the guard post.
• Chiba reflected on his friendship with Kanno Satoru and his guilt over using him and the others as bait during the Chunin Exams.
• Aso Sasuke and Kusunoki Masaru joined them, and the three friends puzzled over why Chiba kept getting caught slacking off.
• Chiba explained that knowing how he was caught would let him avoid being caught, and the trio finally understood.
• Kanno Satoru warned Chiba that guard personnel were forbidden from leaving the village, prompting Chiba to remember why he had come.

Chiba learned that Hirohiko had rushed back toward the Uchiha Clan’s territory and hurried after him, while Kanno Satoru gave Chiba a box of dumplings. As Chiba left, an Anbu arrived and asked to speak with Kanno Satoru, Aso Sasuke, and Kusunoki Masaru.

• Chiba asked where Hirohiko had gone and learned that he had rushed back toward the Uchiha Clan’s territory.
• Worried that something had happened to the Uchiha Family, Chiba set off to find Hirohiko.
• Kanno Satoru stopped Chiba and gave him a box of the same three-color dumplings he regularly saved for him.
• After Chiba left, an Anbu appeared and confirmed that Kanno Satoru, Aso Sasuke, and Kusunoki Masaru were the people he sought.

Chiba entered the sparsely populated Uchiha Clan Grounds, thinking about why so many Uchiha had been sent to the front lines. He realized he did not know where Hirohiko lived, and abruptly hid when two men approached, leaving their identities unknown.

• Chiba entered the Uchiha Clan Grounds and noticed how few people remained in the settlement.
• Chiba considered the Uchiha Clan's political isolation and the possible reasons they had been deployed to the front lines.
• Chiba realized he had never asked where Hirohiko lived and decided to look for someone to ask.
• Two men turned onto the path toward Chiba, and he instinctively jumped over a wall to avoid them.
• Chiba wondered why he had hidden as the men's voices reached him.

Kushina cared for her pregnant friend Mikoto Uchiha and discussed her plans to propose to Minato with her. After the two parted, Chiba realized he had forgotten to prepare proposal ideas, then spotted Hirohiko entering the residential district and hurried after him.

• Kushina and Mikoto Uchiha reminisced about their friendship and joked about whose future child or student would become more impressive.
• Kushina told Mikoto Uchiha she had mentioned proposing to Minato to her disciple Taki Chiba but had not worked out how to do it.
• Mikoto Uchiha said she and Fugaku had chosen the name Itachi for their child.
• Chiba hid until Kushina and Mikoto Uchiha had passed, then realized he had not come up with any proposal ideas.
• Chiba spotted Hirohiko darting into the Japanese-style residential district and hurried after him.

Chiba followed Hirohiko to his shabby home and discovered that Nao was seriously ill and that Hirohiko had returned from his mission to care for her. Realizing that asking Hirohiko to help with the dangerous Return Mission and Bait Operation could put him at risk, Chiba left to find another way.

• Chiba followed Hirohiko to a dilapidated house at the edge of the Uchiha compound and wondered why Hirohiko lived there.
• Chiba saw Hirohiko tending to the blind, gravely ill Nao and brewing medicine for her.
• Nao and Hirohiko discussed her illness, her failed treatments, and Hirohiko's absent mission; Hirohiko became agitated when she mentioned Nobuhiko.
• Chiba learned that Nao's illness had resisted treatment from Doctor Watanabe and Yuriko, and he realized his Medical Ninjutsu could not help her.
• Chiba decided not to ask Hirohiko to join the dangerous mission and left to seek another solution.

Chiba weighed how to join the Bait Operation and Return Mission without authorization, deciding he could trust only Hirohiko to help him. After perfecting Gate of Pain Mode and mastering earth transformation, he resolved to act alone and began looking for an excuse.

• Chiba concluded that Yukina and Kushina could not safely join him, leaving Hirohiko as the only person he trusted to help.
• Chiba weighed asking Watanabe Kenshin to select him as bait against secretly joining the mission himself, and judged that Watanabe would likely reject him.
• Chiba perfected Gate of Pain Mode and discovered that it gave him quasi-Kage-level Chakra reserves without any leakage.
• Chiba realized he had mastered earth Nature Transformation and formed Rock Skin over his fist, giving himself a chance to succeed alone.
• Chiba decided to find an excuse to carry out his plan and looked at the battered wooden training post.

Kanno Satoru reflected on Chiba’s relentless training and wondered whether he could endure living and training as Chiba did. He left his family’s dango shop to join Aso Sasuke and Kusunoki Masaru for a mission outside Konoha.

• Kanno Satoru remembered watching Chiba repeatedly smash wooden posts during his training and admired his hard work.
• Kanno Satoru got ready for his mission while wondering whether his own training was enough and how he would cope living alone like Chiba.
• Kanno Satoru’s parents fussed over him as he left the shop, while Kanno Tadashi defended his son’s choice to pursue his ninja dream.
• Kanno Satoru reached Konoha’s gate, met Aso Sasuke and Kusunoki Masaru, and set out with them on a mission beyond the village.

Chiba saw Kanno Satoru, Aso Sasuke, and Kusunoki Masaru leave the village as bait and rushed to the Hokage Building, furious and afraid they would be killed. In the Hokage’s Office, the Third Hokage discussed Watanabe Kenshin’s operation with Hokoma and asked him to stay by his side, just as someone burst through the doors.

• Chiba spotted Kanno Satoru, Aso Sasuke, and Kusunoki Masaru leaving the village and realized they had been sent out as bait.
• Chiba crushed his Konoha Giant Steamed Bun in anger and hurried toward the Hokage Building.
• Hokoma gave the Third Hokage medicine and urged him to rest, but the Third Hokage continued working through his documents.
• The Third Hokage learned from Hokoma that the bait team had departed and the follow-up force would leave soon.
• The Third Hokage asked Hokoma to remain by his side, and someone violently pushed open the office doors.

Chiba confronted the Third Hokage over sending Kanno Satoru, Aso Sasuke, and Kusunoki Masaru as bait, insisting that the plan would get them killed. The Third Hokage refused to interfere with Watanabe Kenshin’s operation, and Chiba ended the argument by calling the Hokage’s confidence in Kenshin’s considerations a joke.

• Chiba rushed into the Hokage's Office and demanded to know why Kanno Satoru, Aso Sasuke, and Kusunoki Masaru had been assigned as bait.
• Chiba pleaded with the Third Hokage to let him leave the village and catch up with the three, but the Hokage said the decision was final.
• Chiba argued that Watanabe Kenshin's plan was flawed, while the Third Hokage insisted Kenshin could handle the operation and would not let their companions die for nothing.
• Chiba stepped back, calmed himself, and called the Third Hokage's faith in Watanabe Kenshin's considerations a joke.

Chiba challenged the Third Hokage’s Bait Operation, arguing that Kanno, Aso, and Kusunoki made suspicious bait and that the ambush plan had a major flaw. The Third Hokage recognized the danger and listened gravely as Chiba explained how the enemy could detect the trap and exploit it to infiltrate Konoha.

• Hokoma urged Chiba to trust the Third Hokage’s plan and explained that two groups were protecting Kanno and the others.
• Chiba insisted the operation would fail because Kanno and the others’ arrangement would expose it.
• Chiba inferred that one group had gone ahead and another would follow Kanno’s team, then proposed that the groups spread out in a fan formation to search and track the enemy.
• Chiba warned that Kanno, Aso, and Kusunoki were too weak to seem like a credible mission team, making them obvious bait to the enemy ninja.
• Chiba explained that the enemy might observe or probe the operation, prepare countermeasures, or use it to infiltrate Konoha, and the Third Hokage grew grave.

Chiba persuaded the Third Hokage to replace Watanabe Kenshin’s flawed bait plan with a new operation centered on Chiba acting as bait. The Third Hokage approved the change and ordered Hokoma to delay the second group’s departure while Chiba explained the details.

• The Third Hokage and Hokoma recognized that Watanabe Kenshin’s plan risked exposing the operation and endangering Kanno and the others.
• Chiba offered to carry out a solo mission, and the Third Hokage reluctantly gave him permission.
• Chiba proposed posing as a lone Konoha ninja heading toward the front lines to draw the enemy’s attention away from Kanno and the others.
• The Third Hokage and Hokoma realized the enemy could be lured into an ambush by making Chiba’s mission appear to be the operation’s true objective.
• The Third Hokage asked Chiba to explain the detailed steps and told Hokoma to delay the second group’s departure because they had a new plan.

The Third Hokage reconsidered his distrust of Chiba and approved his request for another solo mission. Chiba joined Hokoma’s force to support Kanno’s bait team, while an enemy scout spotted the deployment and fled to report it.

• The Third Hokage reread Nara Shikaku’s recommendation that Chiba lead the Bait Operation and reflected on his prophecy-driven doubts and Chiba’s recent performance.
• At Konoha’s gates, Chiba joined Hokoma’s twenty-man team, learned Watanabe Kenshin’s original plan lacked a Radial Search, and realized he had not replenished his ninja tools.
• Hokoma sent the team after Kanno’s group, and the twenty ninja divided into five squads while Chiba raced ahead alone.
• An enemy scout watched the Konoha force depart, concluded that the village was preparing a major move, and vanished to report to his captain.
• A four-person Konoha squad accompanied by a huge wolfdog reached the scout’s former position and continued searching for enemy ninja.

Chiba followed a deliberately conspicuous route away from Kanno and the two Konoha units, hoping to draw the infiltrating enemy ninja into intercepting him and splitting their forces. As he considered the danger to Kanno's group, a paper-tagged shuriken struck near him and an explosion of smoke swallowed him.

• Chiba reasoned that the enemy ninja could attack Konoha's forces, hide, or seize Kanno's group as hostages, but were unlikely to defeat the elite units outright.
• Chiba followed the route the Third Hokage had set so the enemy would learn of his existence and regard him as a crucial mission target.
• Chiba hoped the enemy would divide its forces between intercepting him and holding Kanno's group, allowing the elite unit to rescue them.
• A paper-tagged shuriken grazed Chiba and lodged in the branch ahead of him.
• An explosion of smoke engulfed Chiba as he was about to land.

Chiba survived an explosive ambush and fought a swordsman whose killing intent and strength overwhelmed him. The swordsman revealed a Compound Exploding Tag built into his Curved Greatsword and ignited it while Chiba was locked against the blade.

• An Exploding Tag Kunai detonated at Chiba’s landing point, but his Rock Skin let him withstand the blast with only numb hands.
• A swordsman attacked Chiba from behind with a Curved Greatsword, but Chiba escaped the first strike using the Substitution Technique.
• The swordsman used the Body Flicker Technique to find Chiba and attacked his neck again, but Chiba dodged and blocked a follow-up sweep with his Kunai.
• Chiba recognized that the swordsman’s Curved Greatsword concealed a Compound Exploding Tag, and the swordsman ignited it.

Chiba outmaneuvered the swordsman with Water Clones and trapped him in a Water Prison Technique. The swordsman was left imprisoned as his Curved Greatsword stopped beside Chiba’s cheek.

• The swordsman dismissed Chiba as weak, but blocked three powerful water arrows that burst from the explosion smoke.
• Chiba attacked from multiple directions with Water Clones, leading the swordsman to spin and strike at the decoys.
• The swordsman threw a Kunai into the leaping Chiba, only for all three figures to dissolve into water.
• Chiba descended from above as the scattered water surged around the swordsman, and he completed the Water Prison Technique.
• The swordsman was trapped in a sphere of water while his Curved Greatsword swept to a stop beside Chiba’s cheek.