Chapter Summaries

Chiba faced Maki, a formidable Kumogakure ninja, and judged him too dangerous to leave unchecked while Hirohiko and Yukina were nearby. Maki outmaneuvered Chiba with a lightning technique, leaving Chiba frozen and exposed.

• Maki evaded Chiba’s attack and maintained a guarded stance that offered no openings.
• Chiba watched Maki from concealment, assessed his strength as S-Rank, and decided not to pursue the other Kumogakure team because Hirohiko might encounter Maki.
• Chiba emerged from hiding after recognizing that waiting longer could make him reveal an opening.
• Maki studied Chiba, smiled, and used a lightning technique that froze Chiba before his transformation into lightning dissipated.

Chiba outmaneuvered Maki with a series of clones and elemental traps, but Maki’s Lightning Clones kept catching him off guard. The chapter ended as stone spears shot toward the paralyzed Maki.

• Maki pierced Chiba with a Lightning Clone, but Chiba spoke from behind him as the impaled boy transformed into an Earth Clone that trapped Maki’s hand in rock.
• Chiba kicked Maki in the face, but Maki’s body burst into lightning and paralyzed him with another Lightning Clone.
• Maki punched Chiba, whose body turned into electrified water that paralyzed Maki in turn.
• The rock figure behind Maki formed stone spears and launched them at him with Earth Release, Charging Rock Spear.

Chiba outmaneuvered Maki with a layered clone-and-earth-spear attack, but Maki revealed that he had survived as a third Lightning Clone and caught Chiba from behind. Maki explained how Chiba’s careful tactics exposed his hiding place, then prepared to cut his throat.

• Chiba’s Earth Clone restrained Maki while a Water Clone and rock spears struck what appeared to be Maki’s body.
• Maki’s apparent body dispersed into electricity, and he grabbed Chiba from behind with a blade at his throat.
• Chiba realized Maki had used a third Lightning Clone and had mistaken it for Maki’s real body after the earlier clones were destroyed.
• Maki explained that Chiba’s Earth Style Jutsu revealed his position and narrowed the area where Maki could search for him.
• Maki said he wished Chiba belonged to Kumogakure, then tightened his grip and prepared to slash.

Hirohiko and Yukina learned that Iwa had been wiped out while Chiba fought a powerful Kumogakure ninja, and they set out to intercept the forces that had split off. At the camp, Chiba revealed that he had anticipated Maki exposing his position and triggered the Exploding Tags he had planted around them.

• Yukina told Hirohiko that Kumogakure had split its forces and Iwa had been completely wiped out.
• Yukina reported that Chiba was locked in combat but not in immediate danger, prompting Hirohiko to hurry to his aid.
• Yukina tore up her map and decided to go with Hirohiko to track and intercept the Kumogakure forces.
• Chiba stopped Maki from killing him and asked whether Maki had wondered if he anticipated his position being exposed.
• Maki noticed the Exploding Tags igniting around them as Chiba's eyes flared with emerald flames.

Dodai, Kuroi, and Saroi raced to intercept Iwa’s intelligence unit while Maki stayed behind to face the enemy. A tremendous explosion erupted in the forest, and Kuroi turned pale after sensing what had happened.

• Kuroi and Saroi worried that Maki would be vulnerable without a sensory ninja, but Dodai insisted they would only hinder him in battle.
• Dodai ordered Kuroi and Saroi to continue toward Iwa’s intelligence unit, reminding them that abandoning the mission would waste Maki’s sacrifice.
• A huge explosion lit up the forest and sent a blast wave and debris toward the three Kumogakure ninja.
• Dodai raised an Earth Wall to shield Kuroi and Saroi, then ordered Kuroi to sense the situation.
• Kuroi extended his senses and turned pale.

Dodai and his team realized Teacher Maki had likely been defeated and prepared to face two powerful approaching chakra signatures. An ambush caught Saroi in steel wires, and a Dragon Fire Technique engulfed him as Dodai cried out.

• Dodai recognized the possibility that Taki Chiba had defeated Teacher Maki and resolved to continue the mission.
• Kuroi sensed two powerful chakra signatures rushing toward the team, and Dodai ordered everyone to prepare for battle.
• Four shuriken and steel wires trapped Saroi against the Rock Wall as he threw Dodai clear of the snare.
• Four kunai pinned the shuriken, and tiny flames raced along the wires and exploded around Saroi.
• Dodai cried out as the fireball swallowed Saroi.

Dodai watched Saroi die after the Uchiha boy’s attack, then recognized the boy’s Three Tomoe Sharingan and saw Kuroi fall under genjutsu as a Hyuga girl attacked him. Dodai saved Kuroi with Lava Style: Protective Membrane Jade, but a blade was already descending toward him.

• Saroi urged Dodai to run before dying from the flames consuming him.
• Dodai identified the attacker atop the rock wall as an Uchiha boy wielding the Three Tomoe Sharingan.
• Dodai warned Kuroi to close his eyes, but Kuroi fell under genjutsu as a Hyuga girl appeared behind him with a kunai.
• Dodai used Lava Style: Protective Membrane Jade to shield Kuroi from the girl's kunai.
• Dodai heard a weapon being pulled from the rock wall and turned too late to avoid a blade descending toward him.

Maki lay mortally wounded after Chiba survived his last explosive attack by using Rock Transformation. As Maki’s life faded, Chiba faced the dying Kumogakure man, who demanded to know his name.

• Maki collapsed after the explosion left most of his body burned and unable to fight.
• Maki reflected on his life and wondered whether he had bought enough time for the three young ninja.
• Chiba emerged from the shattered rock shell, coughing after nearly suffocating inside it.
• Chiba surveyed the devastated clearing and regretted trusting Hirohiko’s description of the Exploding Tags as “relatively strong.”
• The dying Maki fixed Chiba with an authoritative stare and demanded to know his name.

Chiba survived the explosion that devastated Maki and reflected on how the Kumogakure ninja had outmaneuvered him before running to support Hirohiko. Maki died without learning Chiba’s identity, while Chiba remained committed to concealing it and pressed on without resting.

• Chiba assessed Maki’s catastrophic injuries and confirmed that the old Kumogakure ninja was dying.
• Chiba realized Maki had outmaneuvered him with a third Lightning Clone, and that he had survived only by detonating Exploding Tags while using the Rock Transformation Technique.
• Maki asked Chiba whether he was Hatake Kakashi, but Chiba refused to reveal his name and replied that his name was not that long.
• Maki’s eyes lost focus and he died as Chiba turned away.
• Chiba raced to find the markers Hirohiko and Yukina had left, intending to support Hirohiko and continue toward his destination without resting.

Chiba treated his burns while reconsidering the risks to the Fate Alteration Plan and calculating where the remaining Kumogakure ninja might have gone. Nearby, Hirohiko and Yukina trapped a Kumogakure ninja in a resilient sphere and tried to destroy it, while Yukina watched for Chiba.

• Chiba treated his burns and worried that the battle’s unexpected developments had pushed the Fate Alteration Plan onto an unknown path.
• Chiba reasoned that Kakashi’s group could continue along its original route and decided to catch up with Hirohiko before searching for the remaining Kumogakure ninja.
• Hirohiko nearly killed a Kumogakure ninja, but blood interrupted his Sharingan genjutsu and the enemy’s technique trapped the ninja inside a resilient sphere.
• Yukina confirmed that the sphere resisted ordinary weapons and moved aside as Hirohiko prepared a Wind Release attack.
• Hirohiko unleashed Wind Release: Gale Slash at the two spheres while Yukina kept watch toward the forest where Chiba had gone.

Chiba raced toward the grassland after realizing the most dangerous of the three possible enemy responses had occurred. He found Hirohiko’s signal at a Rock Wall and changed course to join the fight.

• Chiba chose to search north-northeast for the enemy teams, planning to change direction if he found no sign of them.
• Chiba recalled the three possible enemy responses and the corresponding plans, recognizing that Plan F required him to face at least five enemies while Hirohiko intercepted a detouring force and Yukina provided support.
• Chiba spotted a rock spear marked with Hirohiko’s Windmill Technique and realized Hirohiko had intercepted the detouring team.
• Chiba smiled, changed direction, and sprinted toward the Rock Wall.

After surviving the explosion by pretending to be defeated, Nonō reverted to her original appearance and recorded an intelligence assessment of Taki Chiba for Danzo. She left the clearing in disguise, while a faint cracking sound came again from the apparently motionless figure in the crater.

• Nonō emerged from beneath the fallen trunk, treated her superficial wounds, and found a blackened Kumogakure ninja in the crater.
• Nonō used hand seals to transform from the white-haired Iwa boy into a golden-haired young woman.
• Nonō wrote down her assessment of Taki Chiba, rating his total base stats at 62–63 and judging him a terrifying genius at eleven years old.
• Nonō decided to deliver the intelligence to Lord Danzo, changed into a nun's habit, and vanished after checking that the Iwa ninja nearby could not wake.
• A faint cracking sound came from the crater after Nonō had left, though the blackened figure remained motionless.

Chiba reunited with Yukina and Hirohiko, who had failed to harm the two Kumogakure ninja sealed inside pale yellow spheres. Recognizing the spheres as Dodai’s Lava Style: Protective Membrane Jade, Chiba drew Kento’s Ninja Sword to test its weakness.

• Hirohiko’s Wind Style: Gale Slash, weapons, and Yukina’s attacks failed to damage the Protective Membrane Jade or reach the trapped Kumogakure ninja.
• Chiba arrived and found Yukina and Hirohiko facing the two sealed enemies.
• Chiba identified the spheres as Dodai’s Lava Style: Protective Membrane Jade and examined their toughness and defenses.
• Chiba stepped back, drew Kento’s Ninja Sword, and used Kento’s Sparrow Flash against the sphere.

Chiba's sword strike cut into Dodai's Protective Membrane Jade but failed to wound him seriously, so Chiba decided to destroy the barrier with the Exploding Tags. Inside, Dodai grieved Maki's death and sensed that the enemy was preparing to attack.

• Chiba used Sparrow Flash to cut a narrow slit across the Protective Membrane Jade, but it quickly healed and left only a small bead of blood on his sword.
• Chiba realized the strike had barely grazed Dodai, then asked Hirohiko what he meant by something stronger.
• Dodai mourned Maki, forced himself to regain his composure, and prepared to sense the enemy and Kuroi's condition.
• Chiba, Hirohiko, and Yukina retreated behind an Earth Wall after agreeing to use the Exploding Tags against the spheres.
• Dodai sensed the attack and widened his eyes in horror.

A seemingly resurrected black-clad attacker ambushed Chiba and nearly stabbed Hirohiko, but Chiba broke free of the paralysis, struck him away, and raised stone pillars to protect his companions. The Rock Wall then crumbled, revealing the attacker in the distance.

• The black figure appeared behind Chiba and paralyzed him with an electrified hand before slamming his head into the ground.
• The attacker prepared to stab Hirohiko with a Lightning Kunai and said he was avenging Saroi.
• Chiba, partly covered in Rock Skin, struck the attacker and sent him flying across the grass.
• Chiba used Earth Release: Earth Core to raise pillars beneath Hirohiko and Yukina, lifting them out of danger.
• Chiba challenged the attacker as the Rock Wall crumbled and revealed him twenty or thirty meters away.

Chiba’s clone saved him, Hirohiko, and Yukina from Raijin Maki’s lightning-fast attack, but the group faced Maki as he revealed himself to be alive and prepared to fight. Maki ordered Dodai and Kuroi to escape with vital intelligence, and the chapter ended with Chiba warning his companions to stay focused as Maki advanced.

• Chiba’s clone recalled how Maki’s speed had overwhelmed even its reactions before it dissolved, while Maki’s lightning clones vanished around Chiba and his companions.
• Hirohiko and Yukina thanked Chiba for saving them, then joined him in watching the old Kumogakure ninja emerge as Raijin Maki.
• Dodai and Kuroi recognized Maki as their mentor and grandfather figure, but he rebuked them for losing and ordered them to flee with the intelligence before noon the next day.
• Maki told Dodai and Kuroi to stay out of the battle while he held off Chiba, Hirohiko, and Yukina, and privately vowed to avenge Saroi.
• Chiba warned Hirohiko and Yukina not to lose focus on the two Kumogakure ninja as Raijin Maki approached.

Chiba sent Hirohiko and Yukina back and entered the dangerous critical state of Gate of Pain Mode to face Raijin Maki alone. As they rushed together, Chiba attacked with Twin Sparrow Flash, but Raijin Maki vanished in a flash of lightning.

• Chiba ordered Hirohiko and Yukina to retreat, and they agreed after realizing he had entered the critical state of Gate of Pain Mode.
• Chiba thanked them, strapped on his Ninja Sword, and advanced toward Raijin Maki.
• Raijin Maki judged that his Lightning Clones had been worth the Chakra they cost because they had helped save Dodai and Kuroi.
• Raijin Maki and Chiba charged at each other, covering the remaining distance in an instant.
• Chiba launched Twin Sparrow Flash, but Raijin Maki vanished in a burst of lightning.

Chiba used a coordinated trap to stop Raijin Maki from killing Hirohiko, while Yukina’s sealing scroll unleashed a Water Wall that disarmed him. The water barrier then hid a massive fireball, leaving the attack’s outcome unresolved.

• Raijin Maki moved too quickly for Chiba to track and appeared behind Hirohiko, preparing to stab him with a lightning-covered sword.
• Yukina noticed Raijin Maki behind Hirohiko and reached for a weapon as Hirohiko struggled to react.
• Raijin Maki mistook Hirohiko’s hand gesture for a reach into his Ninja Tool Pouch, but two Exploding Tags began burning behind him.
• Yukina threw a Sealing Jutsu scroll toward Hirohiko, and Chiba shouted to release it.
• The scroll released a Water Wall that swept Raijin Maki’s Ninja Sword aside and formed a barrier between him and Hirohiko.
• A massive fireball exploded from behind the water barrier and sent a blast wave toward them.

Chiba, Hirohiko, and Yukina survived the old Kumogakure ninja’s powerful Exploding Tag by taking shelter behind Chiba’s Water Wall. As the blast faded, Hirohiko and Chiba remained uneasy, while Yukina wondered why Chiba had warned Hirohiko rather than her.

• Chiba braced himself against the blast wave while his Water Wall held back the explosion and protected Hirohiko and Yukina.
• Yukina confirmed she was safe, and Hirohiko realized Chiba’s warning had helped him avoid the old Kumogakure ninja’s attack.
• Hirohiko praised Yukina’s quick use of the Water Wall scroll and worried that he would lose someone important.
• Yukina wondered why Chiba had predicted Hirohiko would be targeted, then deactivated her Byakugan.
• Chiba suspected the old Kumogakure ninja had targeted Yukina to determine whether she belonged to the Byakugan’s main family and feared the ninja had survived.

Chiba, Hirohiko, and Yukina regrouped after their counterattack against the old Kumogakure shinobi, but Yukina faltered from the strain of using her Byakugan. When the smoke cleared, the sight at the center of the explosion made Chiba realize their situation was dangerous.

• Chiba watched the Water Wall collapse and confirmed that Yukina and Hirohiko had survived the explosion.
• Chiba approached cautiously, conserving his dwindling Exploding Tags and covering himself with Rock Skin as he reconsidered the old Kumogakure shinobi's tactics.
• Yukina staggered, and Chiba caught her while warning Hirohiko to remain on guard.
• Yukina explained that her prolonged, intense use of the Byakugan had left her exhausted.
• After the smoke cleared, Chiba, Hirohiko, and Yukina saw the center of the explosion, and Chiba murmured that things were bad.