Chapter Summaries

An Anbu report linked the missing villagers and ninja to Orochimaru’s residence, prompting Hiruzen Sarutobi to lead the clan heads there to investigate. Tang Ping suspected Danzo and Sarutobi Shinnosuke had engineered the accusation to eliminate Orochimaru as a Hokage candidate, while Orochimaru prepared to leave after placing his Heavenly Cursed Seal on Anko.

• An Anbu reported to Hiruzen Sarutobi that the missing villagers and ninja had been taken to Orochimaru’s residence.
• Tang Ping suspected Danzo and Sarutobi Shinnosuke had joined forces to frame Orochimaru and ruin his chances of becoming Hokage.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi ordered the Anbu to surround Orochimaru’s laboratory and invited the clan heads to witness the investigation.
• Orochimaru asked Anko whether she would leave the village with him, then knocked her unconscious and placed his Heavenly Cursed Seal on her neck.
• Orochimaru walked toward his underground laboratory as the Anbu watched, and a group of uninvited guests arrived at his mansion.

Hiruzen Sarutobi led a group into Orochimaru’s mansion and found villagers and Konoha ninja imprisoned in its basement, then pursued Orochimaru through a secret passage to his underground laboratory. Faced with his disciple’s human experiments and his own role in Orochimaru’s path, Hiruzen summoned Enma and prepared to fight him.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi entered Orochimaru’s mansion with Anbu and others to investigate the villagers’ disappearances, while Tang Ping and Hinata Cang Yue suspected Danzo and Sarutobi Shinnosuke were plotting against Orochimaru.
• The group found villagers and Konoha ninja locked in the basement cells, and an Anbu discovered a secret passage.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi rushed through the passage toward Orochimaru’s laboratory, with Tang Ping and Hinata Cang Yue following him.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi found Orochimaru dissecting a Konoha ninja and confronted him about experimenting on people from the village.
• Orochimaru blamed Hiruzen Sarutobi for sending him to Root, and Hiruzen acknowledged his own responsibility.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi summoned Enma, who criticized him for ignoring the danger in Orochimaru, and prepared to fight his disciple.

Tang Ping and Hinata Cang Yue watched Orochimaru escape after Hiruzen Sarutobi appeared to hold back, then followed him to see Kakashi intercept him. Orochimaru evaded Kakashi’s attack and exposed the Sharingan in his left eye before noticing something was wrong.

• Tang Ping and Hinata Cang Yue watched Hiruzen Sarutobi and Orochimaru fight, and Cang Yue criticized Hiruzen for repeatedly holding back.
• Orochimaru used a sound-wave secret technique to incapacitate Hiruzen Sarutobi and the Anbu, then killed one Anbu member and escaped.
• Tang Ping revealed that he had let Orochimaru detect them, then saved the surviving Anbu so they could witness Hiruzen holding back.
• Tang Ping and Hinata Cang Yue followed Orochimaru through a secret exit and watched Kakashi confront him.
• Orochimaru evaded Kakashi’s Lightning Blade, cut his mask open, and saw the Sharingan in his left eye before a snake revealed something was amiss.

Tang Ping accepted a mission to pursue the wounded Orochimaru, while Danzo planned to use the pursuit to eliminate Tang Ping. The story left off as Kakashi and a bound young man arrived with the heads of the shinobi clans, beginning the next act of the unfolding scheme.

• An Exploding Tag planted by the Third Hokage wounded Orochimaru, who suppressed Kakashi with genjutsu and escaped into the forest.
• Tang Ping and Hinata Cang Yue emerged from Orochimaru's cave, and Tang Ping used his exchange with Kakashi as a performance for the watching Root Ninja.
• Utatane Koharu ordered Tang Ping to pursue Orochimaru and bring him back or kill him, and Tang Ping accepted while declining to guarantee success.
• Danzo decided to cooperate with Orochimaru to ambush Tang Ping, but Kakashi arrived at the Hokage Office with a bound young man and the heads of various shinobi clans.

Kakashi brought Kinoe, a Root experiment who possessed Wood Release, before Hiruzen and Konoha’s clan heads, exposing Danzo’s secret experiments. Hiruzen claimed control of Kinoe, renamed him Yamato, and prepared to investigate the matter while assessing his Wood Release.

• Hiruzen praised Kakashi for retrieving Kinoe, while the gathered clan heads demanded an explanation for the appearance of Wood Release.
• Danzo recognized Kinoe and questioned how Hiruzen had learned of him; Hiruzen accused Danzo of using Hashirama’s corpse for experiments.
• Danzo defended the experiments as being for Konoha, but the clan heads insisted Kinoe be placed under the Hokage’s control.
• Hiruzen ordered Danzo to hand Kinoe over to the village and declared that Kinoe would henceforth be called Yamato.
• Hiruzen promised the clan heads an Anbu investigation, then turned his attention to confirming Yamato’s Wood Release abilities.

Hiruzen Sarutobi and the elders decided to continue Hashirama Cell experiments after seeing Yamato use Wood Release, then removed Danzo from Root while Hiruzen took temporary control. Tang Ping and Hinata Cang Yue pursued Orochimaru, and Tang Ping intervened when Orochimaru’s trap threatened Kakashi.

• Yamato demonstrated Wood Release, and Hiruzen Sarutobi and the elders concluded that Hashirama Cell transplantation could produce powerful ninja and agreed to continue the experiments.
• Konoha announced that Danzo would temporarily give up Root, with Hiruzen Sarutobi managing it while seeking to reproduce Yamato’s transplantation success.
• Tang Ping and Hinata Cang Yue followed the Anbu’s trail to find Orochimaru, and Tang Ping sent Hinata Cang Yue to observe while he approached alone.
• Kakashi and the Anbu attacked Orochimaru, and Kakashi pierced him with Chidori Sharp Spear before Orochimaru escaped using Earth Body Replacement.
• Orochimaru’s snakes ambushed the Anbu and Kakashi, but Tang Ping used Flame Finger to destroy the snake about to bite Kakashi.

Tang Ping confronted Orochimaru, who wanted his blood, and drove off the snake swarm while Kakashi evacuated the poisoned Anbu. Orochimaru recovered with an enhanced Healing Potion and joined forces with Root ninja to surround Tang Ping, setting the stage for a serious fight.

• Tang Ping refused Orochimaru's offer to trade forbidden techniques for his blood and activated Flame Garment as Kakashi withdrew with the poisoned Anbu.
• Orochimaru unleashed a swarm of snakes, which Tang Ping burned away before striking Orochimaru's Earth Body Replacement with Flame Finger.
• Root ninja surrounded Tang Ping, who mocked them and challenged the injured Orochimaru's ability to threaten him.
• Orochimaru revealed that he had recovered with an enhanced version of Tang Ping's Healing Potion and prepared to fight alongside Root.

Tang Ping fought Orochimaru and Root, repelling their attacks until Orochimaru’s flame-resistant Crimson Flame Snake bit him. Orochimaru waited for his poison to take effect, while Tang Ping remained calm.

• Tang Ping’s Fire Release overwhelmed Orochimaru’s Yomi Swamp and kept Root’s attacks at bay.
• Tang Ping unleashed Great Serpent Mower, but Orochimaru blocked it with Triple Rashomon.
• Tang Ping charged Orochimaru and struck an Earth Body Replacement, while Root Ninjas joined the fight.
• Root Ninjas lit Exploding Tags and charged Tang Ping, who killed them with Flame Finger before the tags detonated.
• A Crimson Flame Snake bit Tang Ping through his Flame Garment, and Orochimaru revealed that Root had commissioned it and that he had injected it with poison.
• Orochimaru waited for the poison to work, then sensed that something was wrong.

Tang Ping fought Orochimaru, countering his poison and ninjutsu before entering Sage Mode and forcing him out of hiding with Sage Arts. The battle ended with Orochimaru summoning a scapegoat to evade Tang Ping’s extended Ama-no-Murakumo Sword.

• Orochimaru attacked Tang Ping with venomous snakes, but Flame Garment burned them before they could reach him.
• Tang Ping used Fire Pillar Formation to engulf Orochimaru, while Elementalization and the Nirvana Technique let him remove the poison from his own body.
• Orochimaru survived the flames by shedding his scorched skin, then probed Tang Ping about his apparent immunity to venom.
• Tang Ping gathered Natural Energy as Orochimaru bombarded him with Earth and Fire Release techniques, then entered Sage Mode.
• Tang Ping used Sage Art: Earth Fire Technique to force Orochimaru out from underground and thrust at him with Sage Art: Ama-no-Murakumo Sword.
• Orochimaru barely dodged the sword and bit his finger to summon a scapegoat.

Tang Ping fought Orochimaru and Manda with Sage Arts, but Orochimaru escaped the magma-filled battlefield. Tang Ping and Hinata Cang Yue pursued him and heard a huge battle ahead, though they had not yet discovered who was fighting.

• Orochimaru summoned Manda and offered him three hundred sacrifices to hold Tang Ping back.
• Tang Ping used Sage Art: Earth Fire Burning City, engulfing the battlefield in flames and magma and forcing Manda to retreat.
• Orochimaru escaped the attack, and Hinata Cang Yue reminded Tang Ping that they had not completed the village's mission.
• Tang Ping and Hinata Cang Yue tracked Orochimaru for nearly half a day using the Tenseigan.
• At night, they heard a huge battle ahead and hurried toward it.

Tang Ping let Orochimaru escape after the defector defeated Jiraiya, while securing Orochimaru’s promise not to reveal Konoha’s intelligence. After reporting back, Tang Ping went alone to a banquet at the Uchiha Clan Grounds, where Uchiha Fugaku had invited him.

• Jiraiya tried to bring Orochimaru back to Konoha, but Orochimaru poisoned him and escaped after exploiting Jiraiya’s reluctance to kill him.
• Tang Ping appeared and told Orochimaru that Konoha’s intelligence could not be leaked; Orochimaru promised not to discuss the village before leaving.
• Jiraiya chose to keep pursuing Orochimaru, and Tang Ping departed with Hinata Cang Yue, reflecting that Mount Myōboku and he had become mortal enemies over the Child of Destruction prophecy.
• Tang Ping and Hinata Cang Yue returned to Konoha, where Tang Ping reassured Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura that Orochimaru would keep the intelligence secret.
• After reporting to Hiruzen Sarutobi, Tang Ping sent Hinata Cang Yue home and went alone to the banquet hosted by Uchiha Fugaku.

Uchiha Fugaku sought Tang Ping’s advice as the clan’s Hawkish Faction grew, but Tang Ping told him to make trouble and Fugaku hesitated. Fugaku then asked Tang Ping to take Itachi as his disciple, leaving Tang Ping stunned and privately fearing the danger.

• Uchiha Fugaku met Tang Ping at the Clan Head Residence while Itachi secretly watched them and then joined their conversation.
• Fugaku explained that more Uchiha were becoming hawkish because the clan had been pushed to the village outskirts and resented the village’s treatment of them.
• Tang Ping advised Fugaku to make trouble, but Fugaku hesitated to follow that advice.
• Fugaku performed a solemn Shizuka and begged Tang Ping to accept Itachi as his disciple.
• Tang Ping sprayed out his tea and thought about how dangerous Itachi’s future actions could be.

Tang Ping agreed to take Sasuke as his future disciple under strict conditions, while Itachi resented the decision and Tang Ping’s support for the Uchiha. Danzo learned of the meeting and began plotting against the Tenshukaku, and Tang Ping soon had to return there because of an emergency.

• Tang Ping told Fugaku he would take Sasuke as a disciple after Sasuke graduated, provided the arrangement stayed secret until then.
• Itachi silently judged Tang Ping’s support for the Uchiha and was displeased that Tang Ping had chosen Sasuke instead of him.
• A Root ninja reported Tang Ping’s meeting with Fugaku to Danzo, who decided to target the Tenshukaku over its growing ties to the Uchiha and its competition with Konoha.
• Tang Ping stayed in the village to watch the fallout from Orochimaru’s defection and the Wood Release discovery, but returned to the Tenshukaku after an emergency arose.

A joint mission of nobles from the Land of Fire, the Land of Water, the Land of Wind, and smaller countries arrived in Tenshukaku to demand that Tang Ping give up the Land of Tea. Tang Ping refused to meet them at once, and the envoys were invited to a banquet that evening, where Tenshukaku prepared another surprise.

• The nobles organized a joint mission to oppose Tang Ping's control of the Land of Tea and arrived in Tenshukaku with more than a thousand escorts and attendants.
• The mission was impressed by Tenshukaku's clean streets, orderly buildings, and hundreds of gliders circling overhead.
• A minister from the Land of Fire complained that Uchiha Tang Ping had not welcomed them, and Uchiha Yashiro escorted the mission to its lodgings.
• Tang Ping deliberately avoided meeting the envoys immediately and arranged a meeting for half a day later.
• That evening, the members of the Joint Mission left their inns for a banquet and encountered a surprise from Tenshukaku.

Tang Ping received the Daimyo’s Joint Mission at Tenshukaku with a deliberate show of force and open contempt, setting the stage for a confrontation over the Land of Tea. The Land of Fire Envoy rebuked him, and the envoys’ planned response began to unfold.

• The envoys arrived at brightly lit Tenshukaku and saw how much the city had grown.
• Tang Ping surrounded the Hokage Building-like Tenshukaku with hundreds of hostile ninjas before ushering the envoys into its banquet hall.
• Tang Ping recognized Asuma Sarutobi and Chiriku among the Land of Fire Envoy’s Guardian Ninja, while other envoys brought capable guards from the Land of Water and the Land of Wind.
• Tang Ping greeted the envoys with deliberate indifference, showing he no longer intended to defer to the nobles.
• The Land of Fire Envoy stood and rebuked Tang Ping, triggering a chain reaction among the mission.

Tang Ping confronted the Land of Fire Envoy over Tenshukaku’s presence in the Land of Tea, and Uchiha Mei trapped the envoy with genjutsu. When a guard ninja attacked Tang Ping, Yamaa Koji knocked him away, but Hinata Cang Yue sensed a new danger.

• The Land of Fire Envoy demanded that Tenshukaku withdraw from the Land of Tea, and Tang Ping denied responsibility for the deaths of the nobles.
• Uchiha Mei used genjutsu to immobilize the Land of Fire Envoy as Asuma Sarutobi and Chiriku watched in alarm.
• Asuma Sarutobi accused Tang Ping of endangering Konoha by attacking a Daimyo's Envoy, but Tang Ping challenged him to act.
• A guard ninja from Mountain Hidden Village charged Tang Ping, and Yamaa Koji struck him through a table with a single punch.
• Hinata Cang Yue stepped in front of Tang Ping after sensing tremendous danger.

Tang Ping and the others escaped as a Mutual Multiplication Exploding Tag Technique leveled the Tenshukaku, killing the envoys inside. Tang Ping blamed the Joint Mission and demanded an explanation from the Land of Fire envoy, while Asuma realized the attack pointed to Konoha and faced Tang Ping's threat.

• Tang Ping ordered everyone out of the hall after Hinata Cang Yue detected danger, and Asuma and Chiriku escorted the Land of Fire minister outside.
• Thousands of Exploding Tags detonated for five minutes, destroying the Tenshukaku and the surrounding buildings while the other envoys and their guards were caught inside.
• Tang Ping and Asuma recognized the attack as the Mutual Multiplication Exploding Tag Technique, and Asuma suspected Konoha's involvement despite the lack of evidence.
• Tang Ping accused the Joint Mission of trying to assassinate him and demanded an explanation from the Land of Fire envoy, welcoming the conflict with the nobles as a chance to gain wealth and followers.
• Tang Ping challenged Asuma over his allegiance to the Guardian Ninja and threatened to kill him; as the situation turned dire, someone finally made a move.

Uchiha Mei fought Chiriku after he attacked to protect Asuma Sarutobi, and defeated him despite his Natural Energy-enhanced techniques. She left Chiriku gravely wounded, while Tang Ping watched and considered the Fire Temple’s Natural Energy control worth studying.

• Chiriku formed a golden Avalokiteśvara projection and attacked, while Uchiha Mei stepped in to fight him and Yamaa Koji kept Asuma Sarutobi from intervening.
• Tang Ping watched the battle, hoping Asuma would attack so he could beat him, but Asuma chose not to act.
• Uchiha Mei dodged Chiriku’s Chakra fists and pierced his shoulder with Chidori Sharp Spear, but Chiriku continued fighting despite the technique’s paralysis effect.
• Chiriku changed his golden projection into a red Vidyaraja form, and Uchiha Mei combined swordsmanship with Sharingan genjutsu to slip past its fists.
• Uchiha Mei thrust her sword through Chiriku’s abdomen, defeating him as Asuma cried out for her to stop.

Tang Ping spared Chiriku after Uchiha Mei wounded him, then demanded that the Land of Fire Daimyo answer for the alleged assassination and ordered the Joint Mission expelled. As the mission members resisted, Guren used force to drive them out, while carrying out Tang Ping’s private plan to provoke Asuma Sarutobi.

• Uchiha Mei withdrew after piercing Chiriku, and Asuma rushed to treat him with a Healing Potion.
• At Tang Ping’s signal, Hinata Cang Yue prepared to collect Chiriku’s flesh and blood, but Tang Ping rejected her suggestion to capture him.
• Tang Ping told the Land of Fire Envoy to report the incident to the Daimyo and ordered the Joint Mission thrown out.
• Tang Ping planned to use the alleged assassination as grounds for propaganda and expanding the Tenshukaku’s territory.
• When the Joint Mission’s samurai resisted eviction, Guren killed several with crystal kunai and challenged the rest.
• Guren began looking for an opportunity to beat up Asuma Sarutobi, following Tang Ping’s private order.

Guren confronted Asuma after he objected to her killing members of the Joint Mission, then decisively defeated him in a fight. She ordered the Military Police Force to drive the mission out of the Tenshukaku, and the group left without resisting.

• Asuma challenged Guren for killing members of the Joint Mission, and she provoked him into a fight.
• Asuma opened with taijutsu and then used Fire Release: Ash Pile Burning, but Guren countered with her Crystal Release.
• Guren overwhelmed Asuma with taijutsu and Crystal Release, leaving him badly injured and unconscious.
• Chiriku rushed to Asuma, while Guren ordered the Military Police Force to expel the Joint Mission.
• The Joint Mission left the Tenshukaku without resisting.