Chapter Summaries

Hirohiko’s explosive traps failed to slow the Third Raikage for long, and he realized his unfinished trap could not overcome the Raikage’s nearly invincible defense. The Third Raikage burst through the smoke and appeared behind Hirohiko, poised to deliver a fatal punch.

• The Third Raikage followed Hirohiko’s trapped path, enduring the explosions with his Lightning Release Chakra Cloak.
• Hirohiko saw that his traps had barely delayed the Raikage and prepared to face him with his Three Tomoe Sharingan.
• The Third Raikage recognized Hirohiko’s large trap formation was unfinished and concluded the boy had exhausted his plans.
• The Third Raikage scattered the smoke with a burst of power and rushed behind Hirohiko.
• Hirohiko spotted the Raikage’s clenched fist behind him and froze as the fatal blow approached.

The Third Raikage struck at Hirohiko as Hirohiko’s attempt to use the Substitution Technique failed. Yukina felt an ominous premonition, hurried into the primeval forest, and found something that left her stunned.

• The Third Raikage recognized Hirohiko’s physical clone and drove his lightning-wreathed fist toward Hirohiko’s original body.
• Hirohiko struggled to move as he feared for Chiba and Yukina, and the Third Raikage’s fist landed.
• Yukina activated her Byakugan despite the pain and worried that something had happened to Hirohiko and Chiba.
• Yukina rejected the possibility that her allies had been defeated and hurried toward the primeval forest.
• Yukina entered the forest and froze in shock at what she saw.

Hirohiko unexpectedly blocked the Third Raikage’s punch, but the impact left him badly injured and unable to move. As the Third Raikage attacked his other clone, Hirohiko released a cloud of red smoke, which the Raikage’s Black Spotted Vulture charged into.

• Hirohiko crossed his hands in time to block the Third Raikage’s punch, shocking both the Raikage and the other Hirohiko.
• Hirohiko realized the blow had badly hurt his hands, cheek, and feet, leaving him disoriented and struggling to move.
• The Third Raikage recovered and struck the other Hirohiko with a lightning-charged sweep, nearly cleaving him in two.
• Hirohiko bit down on the satchel at his shoulder and released red smoke that engulfed the area around him.
• The Third Raikage unleashed Lightning Release, Black Spotted Vulture, sending a black lightning leopard into the red mist.

Yukina followed Hirohiko’s hidden code to a trapped location in the forest, despite her Byakugan failing and her vision worsening. As she descended, Hirohiko used a clone and Water Release to imprison the Third Raikage, while a rocky pillar burst from the red cloud.

• Yukina found Hirohiko’s code and identified a dangerous trap beneath a branch, but her Byakugan failed and her vision darkened.
• Yukina lowered herself along a Steel Wire, determined to reach what Hirohiko had left and worried about him and Chiba.
• The Third Raikage struck a Hirohiko clone with Black Lightning, then noticed another clone turn into water.
• Hirohiko appeared beside the Third Raikage and used the water clone to pin his hand before trapping him in the Water Prison Technique.
• A rocky pillar erupted from the red cloud pierced by the Third Raikage’s black lightning.

The Third Raikage broke Hirohiko’s Water Prison trap and cut through his clones before striking what he believed was Hirohiko’s real body. The chapter ended with the Raikage realizing that the person he had pierced had his own face.

• The Third Raikage deduced that Hirohiko’s Water Prison Technique and stone pillar were meant to hold him in place for a combined attack.
• A falling scroll was destroyed by the lightning, and the Third Raikage’s Lightning Release Chakra Mode burst free of the Water Prison Technique.
• The Third Raikage dispelled Hirohiko’s clone, then appeared behind the two Hirohikos on the pillar and cut them down with lightning blades.
• The Third Raikage pivoted and stabbed the figure behind him through the chest, convinced he had killed Hirohiko.
• The Third Raikage looked at the impaled figure and saw his own face.

Hirohiko used a powerful Sharingan genjutsu to make the Third Raikage pierce himself, then struggled with the pain and blood loss caused by his Mangekyō Sharingan. He left the Water Prison Technique in his Water Clone’s hands and prepared to continue the fight before the genjutsu wore off.

• The Third Raikage realized he had fallen under Hirohiko’s genjutsu and saw the illusion shatter as the Water Prison’s pressure returned.
• Hirohiko saw the Third Raikage’s chakra and lightning settle while blood streamed from his left eye.
• Hirohiko wondered why the genjutsu had been placed in his eye and why its power had come at the cost of Brother Tsubaki’s death.
• Hirohiko formed a Water Clone and transferred control of the Water Prison Technique to it.
• Hirohiko looked toward the scattered Kunai and Steel Wire and prepared to act before the genjutsu wore off.

Hirohiko struggled to finish a deadly trap while injured and weakened, but the Third Raikage broke free of the Water Prison Technique with an explosion of lightning. The blast destroyed Water Clone Hirohiko and raced toward Hirohiko as he worked on the trap.

• Hirohiko bandaged his bleeding left eye with his last Medical Chakra bandage and used its stored chakra to slow the bleeding.
• Hirohiko carefully began fastening nearly fifty Steel Wires to a metal clasp, ready to detonate the trap if the Third Raikage escaped.
• The Third Raikage realized he was caught in Hirohiko's genjutsu and closed his eyes, believing he could no longer move.
• The Third Raikage expanded his Lightning Release Chakra Cloak into a lightning sphere and exploded it, shattering the Water Prison Technique.
• The lightning and water arrows pierced Water Clone Hirohiko and surged toward the crouching Hirohiko.

Hirohiko escaped the Third Raikage’s attack and revealed that his true trump card was a wire-and-explosive-tag trap. He detonated the trap and followed it with the Flame Dragon White Waterfall Technique, engulfing the Third Raikage in a towering pillar of flame.

• Hirohiko broke free of the genjutsu and used the Body Flicker Technique to evade the Third Raikage’s water arrows and lightning bolts.
• The Third Raikage noticed that Hirohiko had retreated and launched toward him, believing the genjutsu had left him vulnerable.
• Hirohiko’s first pebble drew the Third Raikage toward a decoy trigger, while a second pebble knocked the first into the real trap’s loop.
• Exploding Tags ignited around the Third Raikage and merged into a blazing white fireball that blasted Hirohiko backward.
• Hirohiko released the Flame Dragon Fire Technique, and its four flames struck the fireball and triggered a greater explosion.
• The fireball erupted upward as a towering pillar of flame through the Flame Dragon White Waterfall Technique.

Hirohiko watched his Flame Dragon White Waterfall Technique erupt into a pillar of fire and believed its concentrated blast had struck the Kumogakure ninja. As the ninja’s hand emerged from the flames wrapped in a blue Chakra cloak, Hirohiko’s confidence gave way to horror.

• Hirohiko was hurled across the grass by the blast and shielded himself from the wave of scorching debris.
• Hirohiko saw the pillar of fire and believed his newly developed technique had directed its destructive force into the Kumogakure ninja above it.
• Hirohiko recalled how the ninja had used Lightning Release Chakra and pain to break his genjutsu, recognizing his careful preparation and lethal fighting style.
• Hirohiko grew uneasy and doubted whether his technique could hurt the seemingly unbeatable opponent, then tried to steady himself.
• A hand wrapped in a blue Chakra cloak emerged from the pillar of fire and reached toward Hirohiko.

Hirohiko used a Rock Skin-covered companion as a decoy to survive the Third Raikage’s attack and discovered a crack in his Lightning Release Chakra Cloak. He launched another combination technique at the Raikage, who was struck by the blazing white pillar of fire.

• Hirohiko watched the Third Raikage emerge unharmed from the flames and believed he had no way to escape or injure him.
• The Third Raikage charged at Hirohiko and stabbed through a Rock Skin-covered companion that Hirohiko had used as a substitute.
• Hirohiko pulled back with two Shadow Clones and spotted a small crack in the Raikage’s Lightning Release Chakra Cloak.
• Hirohiko and his Shadow Clones combined Wind, Water, and Fire Release techniques into a blazing white fire tornado.
• The Third Raikage’s lightning cloak burst outward as the pillar of white fire slammed into him.

The Third Raikage defeated Hirohiko by cutting through his Toad Oil Flame Explosion Charge and piercing his chest. Hirohiko believed he had failed to delay the Third Raikage or protect Chiba and Yukina as his consciousness faded.

• The Third Raikage split Hirohiko's Toad Oil Flame Explosion Charge with a lightning-fast strike and pierced Hirohiko's chest.
• Hirohiko's two Shadow Clones and the Rock Skin figure dispersed, revealing that the Third Raikage had been tricked while Taki Chiba remained in the primeval forest.
• The Third Raikage lamented having to kill a child and told Hirohiko he had been remarkable.
• Hirohiko blamed himself for failing to hurt the Third Raikage, buy Chiba time, or protect Yukina, then began losing consciousness.

As Hirohiko’s life ebbed away, memories of his childhood and the promises he made to Nao filled his fading consciousness. He regretted that he could no longer return to her.

• Hirohiko’s Sharingan faded as he succumbed to his injuries and lost consciousness.
• Hirohiko remembered being too late to say goodbye to his teammates after class.
• Hirohiko recalled Nao asking whether he would stay by her side forever, and promising that he would.
• Nao told Hirohiko to come back no matter what happened before leaping from the rooftop.
• Hirohiko regretted that he could no longer stay with Nao as his memories disappeared into darkness.

Yukina’s worsening eye pain and weakness left her trapped in darkness, where she discovered something beneath her as a battle erupted nearby. The Third Raikage believed he had killed Hirohiko, but Hirohiko suddenly seized him and detonated a final attack.

• A tremor knocked Yukina from the Steel Wire, and she struggled with growing weakness and pain in her eyes.
• Yukina sensed Hirohiko and tried to endure the pain without triggering his traps.
• Yukina crushed something on the ground and stared in shock at what lay beneath it.
• The Third Raikage confirmed that Hirohiko’s heart had stopped and pulled his hand from the boy’s chest.
• Hirohiko suddenly grabbed the Third Raikage and detonated a blazing explosion around them.

Hirohiko used the Mutual Multiplication Exploding Tag to unleash a devastating chain of explosions against the Third Raikage. As the blasts lit the grasslands, Kitsuchi ordered Iwa’s forces to begin the final step of their plan.

• Hirohiko clung to the Third Raikage and slashed the bloodied Exploding Tag, triggering the Mutual Multiplication Exploding Tag technique.
• Hirohiko thought of his friends and loved ones, said farewell, and closed his eyes as the first explosion engulfed him and the Third Raikage.
• Explosions multiplied at the same location, forming an enormous fireball and sending scorching shockwaves across the grasslands.
• Kitsuchi and another Iwa shinobi saw the flashes from the battlefield where Yanzhen, Michiko, Magane, and Nonō were on a mission.
• Kitsuchi ordered the final step of the plan, and the other Iwa shinobi wondered why they were acting before locating the person they sought.

The Third Raikage survived the Mutual Multiplication Exploding Tag Jutsu and realized his fight against the young Uchiha would be difficult. At the forest clearing, Yukina disabled Hirohiko’s trap and found the bloodied ground where Chiba had been.

• The Third Raikage escaped the explosions and recognized them as Tobirama Senju’s Mutual Multiplication Exploding Tag Jutsu.
• The Third Raikage recalled the Second Raikage’s warning about Tobirama’s Forbidden Jutsu and saw that his right hand was badly injured.
• The Third Raikage became wary of the young Uchiha and worried that things might go wrong on Dodai’s side.
• Yukina stood amid the trap and realized that Hirohiko’s important thing was connected to Chiba.
• Yukina used the hidden mechanism to disable the trap, then touched the blood-soaked mud and looked beyond its reach.

Yukina discovered that Chiba was missing after finding the bloodstain and medical supplies Hirohiko had left behind, while the Third Raikage assessed the devastating explosions and prepared for another threat. The chapter ended as emerald-green flames appeared behind the thinning smoke.

• Yukina examined the blood, bandages, and sealing scrolls and realized Hirohiko had left Chiba behind while facing an urgent danger.
• Yukina noticed that Chiba was missing from the scene despite the bloodstain showing where he had been severely injured.
• The Third Raikage studied the crystallized crater and recognized the power of the trap and the Mutual Multiplication Exploding Tag.
• The Third Raikage sensed that the battle was not over and felt an unease he remembered from fighting the Eight-Tails.
• A gust cleared much of the smoke, and the Third Raikage saw two clusters of emerald-green flames flare into view.

The boy recognized the Third Raikage as an exceptionally dangerous opponent while his Shadow Clones struggled to heal a critically injured boy. As the treatment required at least five more minutes, the Third Raikage launched an attack.

• The boy recognized the Third Raikage through the fading black smoke and recalled his formidable defenses and combat strength.
• Two Shadow Clones appeared beside a badly injured boy, whose charred Rock Skin was breaking away as one clone treated him with special Medical Chakra.
• A Shadow Clone reported that the medicine had healed the boy’s heart wound and stopped his bleeding, but his right lung was still recovering and he needed at least five more minutes of treatment.
• The main body asked if the injured boy could be healed enough to survive, but the clone insisted he had to be fully healed or he would die.
• The guard clone shouted a warning as high-speed lightning rushed toward the boy, and an explosion followed when he turned.

The Third Raikage assessed Taki Chiba’s rapid recovery and increased speed before the two clashed again. Chiba launched a surprise attack, but the Raikage countered with a lightning blade as Chiba was left unable to dodge.

• The Third Raikage concluded that Taki Chiba had recovered from his earlier injuries and had grown much faster.
• The Third Raikage struck through a Shadow Clone and saw the unconscious Uchiha Clan brat behind it, with signs that Chiba had treated his injuries.
• Chiba used a faster Body Flicker Technique to appear behind the Third Raikage and attack him.
• The Third Raikage baited Chiba into a full-force punch, then raised a lightning blade to strike him while he was airborne.

Taki Chiba fought the Third Raikage, using a carefully timed feint and kunai throw to create an opening. The Third Raikage realized Chiba was not using a jutsu, but his elbow strike was already coming down.

• Taki Chiba dodged the Third Raikage’s Lightning Blade by twisting aside in midair.
• The Third Raikage recognized Chiba’s feint and noticed the Exploding Tag on his kunai, anticipating an escape jutsu.
• Taki Chiba threw the kunai past the Third Raikage’s face, drawing his attention and delaying his elbow strike.
• The Third Raikage realized Chiba had used the throw to buy time and drove his lightning-charged elbow downward.
• The Third Raikage saw that Chiba’s raised right hand held a fist rather than forming any jutsu’s hand seals.

Taki Chiba appeared trapped in midair as the Third Raikage prepared to finish him with a lightning elbow and Black Spotted Vulture. The Third Raikage recognized that he had misjudged Chiba’s Exploding Tag Kunai just as Chiba emerged from the smoke and struck his left cheek.

• The Third Raikage assessed Chiba’s apparent lack of escape and prepared to hit him with his elbow and Black Spotted Vulture.
• The Third Raikage doubted whether Chiba’s predicament was real, then concluded that Chiba had already lost when he ignored the Exploding Tag Kunai.
• An explosion of white smoke appeared behind the Third Raikage, revealing the Exploding Tag Kunai he had dismissed.
• Chiba’s foot burst through the smoke and slammed into the Third Raikage’s left cheek with Monster Strength.