Chapter Summaries

Pain and the other Akatsuki Paths defeated Hanzo after he fought them at Amegakure’s Training Ground. Tang Ping watched from hiding with Hinata Cang Yue and Yamaa Koji, then left with them and the stolen ninjutsu scrolls and documents.

• Konan sensed something as Pain led the Akatsuki group to confront Hanzo, who recognized Yahiko and demanded to know why he had returned.
• Hanzo ordered his guards to attack, but the Asura Path destroyed the Amegakure Anbu with missiles and absorbed the flames of Hanzo’s Exploding Flame Array.
• Hanzo fought the five Paths with his sickle, but Pain pulled him in with Banshō Ten'in and blasted him away with Shinra Tensei.
• The Paths pinned Hanzo down with black rods that disrupted his Chakra, and Pain declared that he would protect Amegakure before preparing to kill him.
• Tang Ping judged the Rinnegan’s power overwhelming and left with Hinata Cang Yue and Yamaa Koji, who carried stolen scrolls and documents.

Tang Ping, Hinata Cang Yue, and Yamaa Koji returned from Rain Country with Hanzo’s hidden valuables and reached the prosperous southern Land of Rivers. After collecting Guren from Starting Point Orphanage, they returned to Tenshukaku, where several guests were waiting to see them.

• Tang Ping’s team escaped Rain Country with Hanzo’s treasures, using disguises and Yamaa Koji’s strength to transport the haul.
• The team crossed into the Land of Rivers and saw how the United Fruit Trading Company had transformed the southern region with river works, reclaimed farmland, and refugee settlements.
• The United Fruit Trading Company’s overflowing grain stores and limited fleet made shipbuilding and food transport pressing concerns.
• Tang Ping and the others arrived at Jiangxin Island, hid their gains, and took the graduated Guren back to Tenshukaku.
• Several guests who had been waiting at Tenshukaku requested an audience soon after the group returned.

Hōzuki Mangetsu asked Tang Ping to save the Hōzuki Clan from the conflict with Karatachi Yagura, offering the clan’s allegiance to Tenshukaku if their resistance failed. Terumi Mei revealed that she supported the offer partly because she hoped the alliance might one day harm Konoha, and Tang Ping questioned whether Mangetsu could commit the clan.

• Terumi Mei explained that the Hōzuki Clan was resisting Karatachi Yagura but was likely to lose against him and his allies.
• Hōzuki Mangetsu asked Tang Ping to shelter the surviving clansmen if the resistance failed, and Tang Ping questioned why he should get involved.
• Mangetsu offered his own loyalty, then promised that the Hōzuki Clan would join Tenshukaku if Tang Ping saved them.
• Tang Ping asked Terumi Mei why she was helping the Hōzuki Clan, and she cited the distinction between Tang Ping and Konoha and revealed her knowledge of the Land of Rivers.
• Tang Ping asked whether Mangetsu had the authority to pledge the Hōzuki Clan, signaling interest in the proposal.

Tang Ping negotiated terms with Hozuki Mangetsu for the Hozuki Clan to join the Tenshukaku if its rebellion failed, then discussed expanded trade with Terumi Mei. He left by summoning the Tenshukaku’s senior figures for a meeting.

• Tang Ping considered absorbing the Hozuki Clan and agreed to intervene if its rebellion failed, provided the clan abandoned its name for ten years, followed Tenshukaku regulations, and handed over copies of its ninjutsu and knowledge.
• Hozuki Mangetsu accepted all three conditions on behalf of the Hozuki Clan.
• Terumi Mei asked to expand trade and acquire weapons, Exploding Tags, and Soldier Pills.
• Tang Ping agreed to expand ordinary trade and seek more shipwrights, but said he had few channels for military goods.
• Tang Ping summoned Uchiha Mei, Uchiha Shizuka, Uzumaki Kasumi, Yakushi Nonō, and the other Tenshukaku leaders to a meeting.

Tang Ping assigned plans for extracting the Hōzuki Clan and expanded Tenshukaku’s trade and research work. He expected the clan’s rebellion to fail and ordered preparations to bring its members out afterward.

• Hinata Cang Yue proposed using a submerged ship and an island to move Hōzuki Clan members away from Kirigakure in two stages, and Tang Ping approved the plan.
• Tang Ping asked Uchiha Shizuka about arms-trading contacts, and she offered access to the Ninja Cat Clan’s materials and sales channels; Tang Ping decided Tenshukaku would enter the arms business.
• Uzumaki Kasumi reported that her Soldier Pill research was nearly complete, and Tang Ping encouraged her to finish it.
• Tang Ping assigned Yakushi Nonō to contact Sunagakure for procurement and spread legends about Mou Ryō, tying her work efficiency to the orphanage’s funding.
• Tang Ping declared that the Hōzuki Clan would fail against the Fourth Mizukage’s forces and told everyone to prepare for its members to become Tenshukaku’s prey.

Yagura trapped the Hōzuki Clan in a revolt that Obito had secretly engineered, while Tang Ping and Hinata Cang Yue watched Obito and Zetsu from nearby. Tang Ping chose to wait until the battle ended before moving to claim the Hōzuki Clan’s prize.

• Hōzuki Yuma confronted Yagura outside the Mizukage Building, demanding that the Hōzuki Clan recover what it had lost.
• Yagura surrounded the Hōzuki Clan with Kirigakure forces, branded them rogue ninjas, and activated a barrier to contain the fighting.
• Obito and Zetsu watched the uprising unfold, and Obito insisted that Zetsu call him Madara as he vowed vengeance on Kirigakure for Rin’s death.
• Tang Ping and Hinata Cang Yue spotted Obito and Zetsu from a nearby building, and Tang Ping concluded that Obito had manipulated Yagura and the Hōzuki Clan.
• Hinata Cang Yue asked whether they should rescue the Hōzuki clansmen, but Tang Ping said they would wait until the battle ended.

Karatachi Yagura crushed the Hōzuki Clan’s rebellion and ordered the extermination of its settlement. Tang Ping and Hinata Cang Yue watched the massacre, waiting for the right moment to intervene and take people away.

• Karatachi Yagura revealed that he had become the Three-Tails’ Jinchuriki, overwhelmed Hōzuki Yuma, and killed him as the rebellion ended.
• Karatachi Yagura ordered the deaths of the rebels’ families, and Kirigakure Anbu headed for the Hōzuki Clan’s settlement.
• Tang Ping and Hinata Cang Yue watched as Suikazan Fuguki led the Anbu in slaughtering the settlement’s residents, with Kisame Hoshigaki among them.
• Tang Ping said they would wait while the Anbu screened the settlement’s people, and Hinata Cang Yue’s Tenseigan suddenly turned toward a direction.

Tang Ping and Hinata Cang Yue prepared boats to evacuate Hōzuki Clan members while Hōzuki Mangetsu tried to hold off Kirigakure Anbu. The fleeing clansmen suffered catastrophic losses, and Mangetsu faced Suikazan Fuguki as the Anbu closed in.

• Hōzuki Mangetsu fought Suikazan Fuguki to keep the Kirigakure Anbu occupied while Kisame led two squads after the fleeing clan members.
• Kisame and the Anbu attacked the fleeing Hozuki Clan members with ninjutsu, killing over a thousand before the survivors fought back.
• Tang Ping and Hinata Cang Yue reached a river bend two kilometers east of the settlement, where Hinata Cang Yue used her nine fox tails to retrieve five hidden boats.
• Tang Ping refused Hinata Cang Yue's offer to kill Hōzuki Mangetsu, expecting the evacuation's scale to teach him the cost of trying to save everyone.
• Hōzuki Mangetsu realized the Anbu were using the fleeing group to draw out and eliminate the clan's remaining fighters as Suikazan Fuguki raised Samehada to strike him.

Tang Ping and Hinata Cang Yue intervened as Kara mercenaries to help Hōzuki Mangetsu escape Kirigakure's pursuit, but they refused to protect the entire clan. After heavy losses during the flight, the survivors reached their boats, and Kara delayed further pursuers before withdrawing, leaving Kirigakure's Mizukage's office in an uproar.

• Tang Ping and Hinata Cang Yue rescued Hōzuki Mangetsu from Suikazan Fuguki and identified themselves as Kara, hired to intercept pursuers rather than protect the clan.
• Hinata Cang Yue fought off Kirigakure Anbu with her Chakra Blade while Tang Ping and she held back and let Hōzuki Mangetsu leave with about a hundred clansmen.
• Tang Ping and Hinata Cang Yue eventually forced Suikazan Fuguki and his Anbu to retreat, then followed the blood-strewn route toward the clan's escape.
• Tang Ping and Hinata Cang Yue found Hōzuki Mangetsu's group fighting Kisame while thousands of clansmen crowded onto five crude boats.
• Kisame withdrew after learning Fuguki had retreated, and Tang Ping and Hinata Cang Yue delayed Kirigakure's follow-up forces with traps and ambushes before withdrawing.
• Kirigakure's Mizukage's office erupted after Kara completed its mission and retreated.

Obito ordered Zetsu to investigate the Shell Organization after learning it had interfered with Kirigakure’s mission against the Hōzuki Clan. Uchiha Mei arrived to evacuate the surviving refugees, but grief-stricken Hōzuki members confronted the extraction team as they boarded.

• Obito emerged in Karatachi Yagura’s office, suspected the Shell Organization could threaten his plan, and ordered Zetsu to gather more intelligence.
• Tang Ping and Hinata Cang Yue escorted roughly fifteen hundred survivors, including many non-Hōzuki, to an island after sea beasts sank two of their boats.
• Uchiha Mei arrived with a fleet and led her Uchiha to the island, where she proved her identity with her Sharingan and met Hōzuki Mangetsu.
• Uchiha Mei told Hōzuki Mangetsu to get everyone aboard quickly, and the survivors began moving toward the ships.
• A furious Hōzuki clansman blamed the extraction team for his wife’s death, and more survivors joined in as Mangetsu shielded the child beside him.

Uchiha Mei brought the Hozuki Clan safely from Kirigakure to the Land of Rivers, where Tang Ping welcomed them and received their techniques and summoning scroll. With the Water Transformation Secret Technique in hand, he planned to develop an elementalization ability based on his Lava Release.

• Uchiha Mei's guards killed the people who rushed toward her, and Hozuki Mangetsu convinced her it had been a misunderstanding.
• The Hozuki Clan boarded the fleet, which slipped away before Kirigakure Anbu arrived to search the island.
• Tang Ping waited at Jiangxin Island Harbor because he wanted to study the Water Transformation Secret Technique and adapt it into elementalization.
• Uchiha Mei and Hozuki Mangetsu arrived with the Hozuki Clan, and Mangetsu handed Tang Ping the clan's techniques and summoning scroll.
• Tang Ping promised to protect the Hozuki Clan, and Mangetsu accepted that the clan would give up its name and become part of the Tenshukaku's Military Police Force.
• Tang Ping returned to the Tenshukaku to begin working on elementalization.

Tang Ping demonstrated Elementalization and the newly completed Nirvana Technique, revealing their powerful defensive and recovery effects but enormous Chakra costs. With both techniques in hand, he felt confident enough to take on a dangerous matter himself.

• Tang Ping used Elementalization, turning his body into magma and letting Uchiha Mei's kunai pass through him, then explained its high Chakra consumption and classified it as an S-Rank Forbidden Technique.
• Tang Ping joked about having kunai stuck in his back, and Hinata Cang Yue and Uchiha Mei promptly attacked him with a barrage that left him badly wounded.
• Tang Ping used the Nirvana Technique to reform his body from magma and flames, healing his injuries and restoring his appearance at a steep Chakra cost.
• Tang Ping explained that Nirvana Technique drew inspiration from Orochimaru's Orochi-Style Substitution Technique and relied on Elementalization to achieve rebirth through fire.
• Tang Ping concluded that the two techniques greatly improved his chances of survival and decided to personally handle an important matter.

Tang Ping learned that Shen Nong could lead him to the Hidden Sky Village’s world-changing technology, so he organized a mission to capture the doctor and secure it. After tracking Shen Nong to the Land of Lightning, Tang Ping and his companions learned his current location, which left them in a dilemma.

• Tang Ping told his allies about Shen Nong and the Hidden Sky Village, and they agreed to seize its technology.
• Tang Ping, Hinata Cang Yue, Uchiha Mei, and Uchiha Shizuka planned to capture Shen Nong while the others prepared troops, transport, and a research base on Storm Island.
• The four disguised themselves as wandering physicians and traveled to the Land of Lightning to follow Shen Nong’s trail.
• Tang Ping’s group questioned the wealthy merchant whom Shen Nong had refused to treat and learned where the doctor had gone.
• The group discovered Shen Nong was in a place that left them unsure how to proceed.

Tang Ping and his companions traveled to Kumogakure under the guise of doctors, intending to rescue Shen Nong. They arrived safely and met Dodai, who revealed that the village needed doctors.

• Tang Ping, Uchiha Mei, Uchiha Shizuka, and Hinata Cang Yue decided to go to Kumogakure and retrieve Shen Nong by force if necessary.
• Tang Ping used the alias Nomura Maja and posed as a traveling doctor, while the others acted as his assistant and disciples.
• Cloud Ninja invited Nomura Maja to Kumogakure, and Tang Ping insisted that his companions accompany him.
• The group reached Kumogakure and observed the village's mountain buildings, electrical cables, and rough atmosphere.
• Dodai welcomed them at a hospital and said Kumogakure needed many doctors to address its recent problems.

Tang Ping examined Kumogakure’s swelling patients and suggested lowering their temperature to slow the illness. Tsunade independently identified the cause and recommended the same treatment, while Tang Ping’s disguised companions found Shen Nong and began their kidnapping plan.

• Tang Ping examined the patients and suggested cooling them to delay the illness, then went to rest under surveillance.
• Tsunade arrived with Shizune and examined the patients, concluding that an invisible insect was parasitizing them.
• Tsunade recommended a low-temperature environment to buy time for surgery, and Dodai revealed that Nomura Maja had suggested the same method.
• A ordered his men to bring Tang Ping to him, while Tang Ping’s companions found Shen Nong nearby and started their plan to kidnap him.

Tang Ping and his companions launched a covert attempt to capture Shen Nong in Kumogakure, but a sudden summons disrupted their plan and forced them to create a diversion. As Hinata Cang Yue fought A and Tang Ping drew the village’s attention with a dramatic attack, Uchiha Mei and Uchiha Shizuka continued their attempt to seize Shen Nong.

• Hinata Cang Yue led Tang Ping, Uchiha Mei, and Uchiha Shizuka past Kumogakure’s guards and cameras to Shen Nong’s room, where she quietly cut an entrance through the door.
• Two Anbu arrived to escort Tang Ping to the hospital, discovered the inn’s occupants were under genjutsu, and alerted the Raikage, interrupting the capture plan.
• Tang Ping and Hinata Cang Yue withdrew in disguises as Shell Organization members, then broke through a wall when Cloud Ninja sealed the inn’s exits.
• Tang Ping struck the hospital with a Lava Release attack, but Dodai defended it with Lava Release: Rubber Wall as Kumogakure mobilized.
• A, the Fourth Raikage, attacked, and Hinata Cang Yue met him in a rapid close-quarters fight while Dodai ordered the village to surround the intruders and evacuate civilians.
• Tang Ping flew above Kumogakure and began using a theatrical Lava Release technique to draw the village’s attention.

Tang Ping attacked Kumogakure with Meteor Volcano while Uchiha Mei and Uchiha Shizuka captured Shen Nong. He then tore apart the mountainside, causing a massive collapse as both sides regrouped amid the destruction.

• Tang Ping unleashed Meteor Volcano over Kumogakure, and the village's shinobi destroyed many falling magma meteors while others struck buildings and the mountainside.
• Uchiha Mei used her Sharingan to catch Shen Nong in a genjutsu, and Uchiha Shizuka followed with Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique so Mei could seal him.
• After Mei signaled that Shen Nong was captured, Tang Ping flew to the mountaintop and used Lava Release: Great Eruption, Earth Release: Earth-Style Moving Earth Core, and Lava Release: Super Molten Flow River against the pursuing Cloud Ninja.
• Dodai ordered the village's shinobi to evacuate civilians and attack Tang Ping, while Killer B arrived in Half-Tailed Beast Transformation to rescue people trapped under rubble.
• The damaged mountaintop broke away and rolled down, smashing buildings as A and Hinata Cang Yue halted their fight and retreated; afterward, the two sides faced each other across the ruined area.

Tang Ping and Hinata Cang Yue confronted Kumogakure, where Hinata Cang Yue’s devastating Super Almighty Push left A unconscious and forced the Cloud Ninja to stay behind and help their wounded. Tang Ping and Hinata Cang Yue left the Land of Lightning with Tsunade and Shizune following, while Uchiha Mei’s group safely escaped with Shen Nong, completing the operation.

• Tang Ping accused Kumogakure of stealing Cedar Village’s secret technique and declared that the Shell Organization was acting for justice.
• Hinata Cang Yue unleashed Super Almighty Push, killing and injuring Cloud Ninja, knocking A unconscious, and blasting Killer B away.
• Tsunade and Shizune fled the scene, and Tsunade memorized the name Shell before following Tang Ping and Hinata Cang Yue.
• At a stream, Tang Ping spotted Tsunade and Shizune trailing them, and he dismissed Tsunade’s questions about Shell with a claim that they fought for love and justice.
• Tang Ping and Hinata Cang Yue left the Land of Lightning with Tsunade and Shizune behind them, while Uchiha Mei’s group escaped with Shen Nong.

Tang Ping's group learned that the Sky Ninja were hiding beneath the Hidden Sky Village Ruins in the Land of Tea, and Shen Nong's research gave Tang Ping ideas for a new power system. Tang Ping ordered preparations to seize the nearby Land of Tea, and Yakushi Nonō accepted the task of fabricating a reason for the operation.

• Uchiha Shizuka told Tang Ping that the Sky Ninja were hiding beneath the Hidden Sky Village Ruins, and the interrogation of Shen Nong had also yielded his Zero-Tails research and medical forbidden techniques.
• Tang Ping studied Shen Nong's materials and envisioned creating an Extraordinary Organ using God Tree fragments, faith, and imagination.
• Tang Ping ordered a rapid move against the Land of Tea, and Uchiha Mei summoned a Ninja Cat to deliver a letter to Uchiha Yashiro.
• Tang Ping's group planned to seize the Land of Tea to obtain its technology and establish a trade route, using a supposed threat involving 'laundry detergent' as justification.
• Yashiro consulted Yakushi Nonō, who proposed claiming that Mandala Flower Tea in the Land of Tea caused an undetectable viral infection.
• Yashiro offered Nonō an S-rank mission paying one million ryō, and she accepted immediately.

Tenshukaku prepared a lightning invasion of the Land of Tea to seize the Hidden Sky’s technology and bring the country under its control. As Tang Ping’s fleet approached White Fish Port, his forces began a surprise attack on their real targets: a hidden base and the Hidden Sky Village Ruins.

• Rumors that the Land of Tea possessed Mandala Flower Tea as a weapon of mass destruction spread through the shinobi world, and Tenshukaku declared it would intervene.
• Tang Ping stalled Konoha’s efforts to bring him back while the village planned to reclaim Tenshukaku and its holdings.
• Tenshukaku assembled more than a hundred ships and around four hundred shinobi, with Tang Ping commanding the invasion and Yakushi Nonō overseeing intelligence arrangements.
• Yakushi Kabuto volunteered to infiltrate the Land of Tea and gather intelligence for the operation.
• United Fruit’s fleet arrived near White Fish Port, while Tenshukaku’s shinobi raced across the water toward a hidden base and the Hidden Sky Village Ruins.