Chapter Summaries

Minato secured protection for the Summer Cicada steamships and then visited Senju Takeoto, who was struggling with the investigation into Azure Guard General’s family. After Minato admitted he might have killed Azure Guard General, Takeoto decided to resign as Kyoto Advisor and return to the village, trusting him as her cousin-in-law.

• Bai Cun announced that Minato would protect the Summer Cicada steamships, and all four ships sold, helping fund the ocean-going shipyard at Dadu Port.
• Minato arrived at the Kyoto Building and found Senju Soushou waiting outside the advisor’s office, urging him to help Takeoto review the investigation.
• Takeoto explained that the killer’s powerful Fire Release had burned the victims’ bodies and destroyed evidence, while Clan Head Ishijima had compared the scorched area to Uchiha Madara’s handiwork.
• Minato told Takeoto that Qian Kong’s Wood Release was progressing well, then advised her to consider resigning as Kyoto Advisor after the turmoil passed.
• Takeoto asked Minato whether he had killed Azure Guard General, and Minato replied, “It could be.”
• Takeoto said she would resign in a week or two, return to the village, and trust Minato.

Minato led a Konoha team to Waterfall Hidden Village to help its Seven-Tails Jinchuriki, Mei, whose seal had deteriorated after she fought rogue Rain Ninja. After learning that the attackers had ring-patterned eyes, Minato suspected Nagato was involved, and the chapter ended as the Takikage prepared to open Mei’s prison at Minato’s request.

• Minato assembled Hana, Senju Chihiro, Akimichi Jirokuma, and Senju Zihua for the urgent mission to assist the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki.
• Ao met the Konoha team at the waterfalls and guided them through Waterfall Hidden Village to the Takikage Building.
• The Takikage explained that Mei’s seal had begun leaking chakra after she fought rogue Rain Ninja with ring-patterned eyes, leading Minato to suspect Nagato’s involvement.
• The Takikage led Minato’s team to the prison where Mei was confined, and an insect leg struck the sealed bars when he called to her.
• Minato told the Takikage to open the prison, and the Takikage agreed because he trusted Jiraiya’s disciple.

Minato and Senju Chihiro subdued the rampaging Seven-Tails Jinchuriki, Mei, and Minato warned Chomei about the Rinnegan. The fight revealed that Wood Release had reappeared, while Qian Kong was left injured and Hana treated him.

• The Seven-Tails Jinchuriki broke out of the prison and flew into the sky, forcing Minato and Qian Kong to pursue her.
• Minato struck the Jinchuriki with a Big Ball Rasengan and severed her insect wings with a chakra-infused kunai.
• Senju Chihiro used Wood Release to bind the Jinchuriki and drain the Seven-Tails' chakra, allowing Minato to seal it and restore Mei's consciousness.
• Minato spoke with Chomei inside the sealing space, warned it about the Rinnegan, and urged it to treat Mei well.
• Ao recognized that Wood Release had reappeared, while Hana treated Qian Kong's chakra burns and Minato suspected his teammates were becoming close.

At the Konoha Jonin Meeting, Senju Chihiro earned unanimous approval for his rank after awakening Wood Release, while Senju Takeoto resigned as Kyoto Advisor and Akimichi Torifu took her post. Later, Minato studied Chihiro’s Shikkotsu Forest sage technique and discovered a way to heal minor wounds with Sage Art Chakra.

• Akimichi Torifu announced that Senju Chihiro, Yamanaka Inoichi, and Uchiha Yashiro were up for jonin confidence votes, and Chihiro received unanimous support.
• Akimichi Torifu announced Senju Takeoto’s resignation as Kyoto Advisor, and the jonin voted to make Akimichi Torifu the new advisor and Senju Takeoto a Jonin Squad Leader.
• Chihiro asked Minato and Hana to help him master the Shikkotsu Forest Sage Body, then demonstrated how he absorbed Natural Energy using sage mucus.
• Minato explained his Mount Myōboku sage technique to Chihiro and examined the healing properties of the Shikkotsu Forest mucus.
• Minato used Sage Art Chakra to heal a cut on his hand, realizing he had learned a way to perform minor self-healing in battle.

San Die investigated South Guard Road and discovered that the South Guard General used High-Yield Seeds and currency-only taxes to drive farmers off their land. After rescuing fleeing farmers and bringing his family to Liangju Town, he reported what he had seen, and Minato decided to end the seed trade with the South Guard General’s residence.

• San Die used Genjutsu to stop samurai from killing fleeing farmers, then killed them after seeing severed heads tied to their waists.
• After rescuing several groups of farmers, San Die avoided nearby Konoha ninja and returned to his village to urge Dong Chang to flee with him.
• Dong Chang refused to leave because his family would face guilt by association, so San Die took his own family to Bumper Guard Road.
• In Liangju Town, San Die presented his investigation report to Minato, Guangxia, and Song Yi.
• Minato decided to end the High-Yield Seeds trade with the South Guard General’s residence, and Guangxia agreed to arrange it.

Minato assessed Autumn Fruit’s ninja forces and chose a service contract system to address divided loyalties without copying Konoha’s methods. He then turned his attention to South Guard Road, where its general had used Autumn Fruit’s High-Yield Rice Seeds to cause trouble.

• San Die brought Saigawa to Minato, and Saigawa recalled his training and missions with him.
• Saigawa reported that Autumn Fruit had more than 320 chunin and eleven jonin, but some had been recruited by others or were disloyal.
• Minato rejected declaring war on South Guard Road and refused to control Autumn Fruit’s ninjas with Konoha-style pursuit and indoctrination.
• Minato ordered Saigawa to introduce mandatory service periods of three years for genin, five for chunin, and ten for jonin, with chakra-sealing as punishment for breaking the terms.
• Minato asked Summer Cicada to draft the agreements and resumed studying South Guard Road, intending to teach its general a lesson.

Minato organized the Winter Chill Organization to help Autumn Fruit create an escape route for South Guard Road's farmers. Xiong Jiang agreed to help the East City Lord stop the migration, but Song Yi and San Die confronted him before he could continue.

• Minato explained that Winter Chill would use force when other methods failed and planned an Arc of Hope to lead farmers to Bumper Guard Road.
• The East City Lord learned Autumn Fruit was recruiting workers across the region and feared punishment if too many farmers left.
• The City Lord appealed to Xiong Jiang with promises of wealth and women, and Xiong Jiang agreed to help him.
• Xiong Jiang stole Autumn Fruit's meeting records, knocked out an employee, and handed him to the City Lord's warriors.
• San Die used Genjutsu against Xiong Jiang, but his old back injury helped him break free as Song Yi confronted him over betraying the guild.

Minato watched San Die and Song Yi fight Xiong Jiang, an Autumn Fruit-trained ninja who had broken his service agreement. After intervening, Minato sealed away Xiong Jiang’s chakra and fired him, intending to use him as a warning to other Autumn Fruit ninjas.

• Minato decided to test San Die and Song Yi against Xiong Jiang, who rejected his ten-year Service Period Agreement and accused Autumn Fruit of betrayal.
• San Die used Genjutsu to misdirect Xiong Jiang, and Song Yi attacked with Wind Cutter Technique, but Xiong Jiang broke free and counterattacked.
• San Die’s second Genjutsu made Xiong Jiang believe he had slashed her throat, allowing her to stab his abdomen; Xiong Jiang trapped her kunai with his abdominal muscles and nearly struck her head.
• Minato stopped Xiong Jiang, crushed his wrist, and used the Tongue Root Service Seal to remove his chakra.
• Minato renamed the technique the Divine Saliva Throat Mystery Service Termination Seal, fired Xiong Jiang, and planned to use him as a warning to Autumn Fruit’s other ninjas.

After struggling with his defeat by Xiong Jiang, San Die developed a Yin Release technique that turned his hair into Genjutsu butterflies. The next day, Minato taught him to use Yin Release Chakra, and the team reached East Garrison City as Xiong Jiang arrived there too.

• Minato told San Die and Song Yi how they could have improved their responses during the fight with Xiong Jiang.
• Unable to sleep, San Die experimented with Yin Release Chakra and discovered he could turn severed hair into flying Genjutsu butterflies.
• Minato watched San Die’s breakthrough and considered the name Genjutsu Butterfly Release for the technique.
• Song Yi noticed San Die’s hair had turned white, and Minato spent the morning teaching him to use Yin Release Chakra.
• Minato, San Die, and Song Yi reached East Garrison City, where Xiong Jiang also arrived after limping there with blistered feet.

After Autumn Fruit sealed Xiong Jiang’s chakra, the City Lord abandoned him, and he returned to his village with nothing. As he reflected on the life he had lost, a woman from the City Lord’s residence stabbed him to death.

• Xiong Jiang told the City Lord and the South Guard General’s Guardian Ninja that three masked Autumn Fruit agents had defeated him and sealed his chakra.
• The Guardian Ninja confirmed the seal was beyond his ability to undo, and the City Lord ordered his servants to throw Xiong Jiang out.
• Xiong Jiang wandered East City, realized he had lost his status and savings, and returned to his abandoned village home.
• Xiong Jiang recalled leaving with Guangxia and the pleasures he had enjoyed before his chakra was sealed.
• A woman who had once served Xiong Jiang at the City Lord’s residence stabbed him in the back, and he died wondering who had sealed his chakra.

Minato and his team used a warning and Genjutsu to keep the City Lord of East Garrison City from disrupting Autumn Fruit’s mass departure, then cleared the border forces so the refugees could reach Bumper Guard Road. The South Guard General learned that Autumn Fruit had taken thirteen thousand serfs and ordered the execution of the East Garrison City Lord.

• The City Lord of East Garrison City recalled his samurai after San Die’s Genjutsu convinced him that Autumn Fruit’s group was a smokescreen for an attack, but he found the Guardian Ninja dead and obeyed Minato’s warning to stay inside.
• Autumn Fruit’s group grew from over three thousand people in East City to seven thousand after crossing South Completion City, whose City Lord sent a scroll to the South Guard General.
• Minato let Song Yi and San Die defeat the samurai and wandering ninjas guarding the border as Autumn Fruit’s group entered Bumper Guard Road.
• The South Guard General learned that Autumn Fruit had taken thirteen thousand of his serfs, destroyed the scroll, killed an intelligence samurai, and ordered the execution of the East Garrison City Lord.

Senju Chihiro used Wood Release to expand Liangju Town into a city for Minato’s arriving people, while Konoha investigated a South Guard General’s mission concerning a murdered Guardian Ninja and the migration of 13,000 farmers. Nara Shikaku arrived in South Guard Road and began investigating the killing, whose perpetrators were reportedly three ninjas wearing Snowflake Masks.

• Guangxia urged Senju Chihiro to build enough homes for Minato’s 13,000 people, and Chihiro used Wood Release to create rows of houses despite being exhausted.
• Minato arrived, renamed the expanded settlement Liangju City, and ordered its official name changed.
• Nara Shikaku told Akimichi Torifu that the South Guard General had issued an S-Rank Mission after a Guardian Ninja was killed and 13,000 people migrated to Bumper Guard Road with Autumn Fruit.
• Akimichi Torifu sent Nara Shikaku, Yamanaka Inoichi, and Akimichi Choza to investigate the Guardian Ninja’s murder in South Guard Road.
• The South Guard General claimed Autumn Fruit had helped farmers flee and killed samurai at the border, but admitted there was no evidence identifying the killers beyond reports of three ninjas wearing Snowflake Masks.
• Nara Shikaku promised to use the Yamanaka Clan’s ability to examine the dead and began a thorough investigation.

Nara Shikaku, Yamanaka Inoichi, and Akimichi Choza investigated the killings and farmer migrations across the South Guard Road, discovering that Autumn Fruit’s influence had devastated the region and drawn people toward Bumper Guard Road. They reached a rapidly expanding Liangju Town, where they spotted Senju Chihiro overseeing the construction of an unfamiliar gatehouse.

• Yamanaka Inoichi used mind-transfer techniques on the East City Lord and learned that three masked figures had threatened him, while a white butterfly and a supposed Divine Revelation had prompted him to recall the city’s samurai.
• Nara Shikaku concluded that the killers were connected to Autumn Fruit and warned his companions that Minato would not apologize or bow to the South Guard General.
• The trio heard that Autumn Fruit’s farmer migration had emptied West City and that the samurai sent to stop the farmers had been slaughtered.
• The West City Lord said the farmers continued fleeing toward Bumper Guard Road, while Konoha had returned conflicting missions to both sides.
• The trio traveled along Bumper Guard Road, saw hopeful farmers heading west, and found Liangju Town nearly three times larger than before.
• Yamanaka Inoichi spotted Senju Chihiro at the entrance to town, overseeing construction of an unfamiliar gatehouse, and the trio went to investigate.

Minato oversaw Liangju City’s first reinforced-concrete pillars and planned a skyscraper, while Nara Shikaku abandoned his mission to investigate him and accepted refrigeration research as a business opportunity. Shikaku left the city intending to write a report that would satisfy everyone and prevent the South Guard General from pursuing the matter.

• Qian Kong explained the reinforced-concrete construction and its equipment to Nara Shikaku, who studied Minato’s process manual.
• Minato inspected the pillars, urged the workers to compact the concrete, and announced plans for a ten-story skyscraper and taller buildings in Liangju City.
• Minato showed Shikaku, Akimichi Choza, and Haiichi around Liangju City, and Shikaku saw the town’s growth and hopeful residents.
• Shikaku told Minato he was about to fail his S-Rank mission, and Minato offered him refrigeration research to develop into a business.
• Three days later, Minato received a system reward for a breakthrough in refrigeration theory, and Shikaku later left Liangju City to write a report that would close out the investigation.

Ebizo and Rasa received an S-Rank mission from the Land of Wind Daimyo to seize High-Yield Wheat and Tomato seeds from the Land of Fire. As Minato prepared to expand High-Yield Wheat production and control the seeds sold by Autumn Fruit, a Sand Ninja battalion crossed into the Land of Fire to carry out the raid.

• Ebizo explained to Rasa the Daimyo's wealth and the Sand Hidden Village's dependence on his funding as they entered the Daimyo's Castle Keep.
• The Daimyo tasked Ebizo and Rasa with stealing High-Yield Wheat and Tomato seeds from the Land of Fire for eight million ryo.
• Minato learned that High-Yield Wheat had been successfully developed and planned to breed seeds that could not be saved for replanting.
• Minato told Guangxia he would establish a showcase town in Zhawei Road and sell High-Yield Wheat seeds to northern countries.
• A Sand Ninja battalion crossed the border into the Land of Fire with a transport Puppet Elephant and orders to seize the seeds and withdraw quickly.

Ebizo led a Sand ninja force into Liangju City to steal high-yield seeds, but Minato Namikaze intercepted them in the rice fields. As Minato fought to protect the seedlings, Rasa figured out how to disrupt his Flying Thunder God Technique by covering his Trident Kunai with Gold Dust.

• Ebizo received intelligence from a Sand spy and ordered the force to seize tomato seeds before High-Yield Wheat seeds.
• Minato confronted the Sand ninja for trampling rice seedlings, while San Die used her Yin Seal to trap weaker enemies in Genjutsu.
• Minato and Song Yi used Flying Thunder God Kunai to attack the Sand force, and Minato cut apart puppets and defeated their masters.
• A Sand Puppet Master called Minato “Konoha Yellow Fang,” angering him enough to intensify his attacks.
• Rasa identified Minato’s reliance on Trident Kunai and used Gold Dust to cover the kunai embedded in the ground.

Minato Namikaze defeated Ebizo and forced Rasa to flee after Sand ninja tried to steal High-Yield Seeds and damaged Minato’s rice fields. Konoha’s leaders kept Minato out of the ensuing diplomacy, while Sand Hidden Village approved Rasa’s proposal to abandon missions when its ninja encountered the Yellow Flash.

• Minato transferred Rasa’s Gold Dust away, killed Ebizo after breaking through his puppet doubles, and demanded compensation for the ruined rice fields.
• Minato told Hiruzen Sarutobi, Hatake Sakumo, and Shimura Danzo that Sand ninja had tried to steal High-Yield Seeds and asked to join Sakumo’s diplomatic visit to Sand Hidden Village.
• Hiruzen refused to let Minato take part in the diplomatic response, warning that his involvement could provoke Sand Hidden Village.
• Rasa endured criticism in Sand Hidden Village and proposed that its ninja abandon missions when they encountered Minato, the Yellow Flash.
• Chiyo fell silent, the Sand jonin accepted Rasa’s proposal, and Minato felt relieved when he heard of the resolution.

Zha Wei General saw the machinery and infrastructure transforming the Land of Fire and grew alarmed about the changes driven by Minato Namikaze. He warned the daimyo that a drastic upheaval was near, while Minato ordered Summer Cicada to monitor him in Kyoto.

• Minato showed Zha Wei General Autumn Fruit's High-Yield Wheat harvesters and explained that the wheat seeds could only be planted for one season.
• Zha Wei General returned home, brooded for a day, and chose to travel to Kyoto by carriage rather than accept a truck.
• On the road, Zha Wei General saw trucks and concrete roads, then witnessed Kyoto's new buildings and broad streets.
• Zha Wei General privately warned the daimyo that Minato was bringing a drastic upheaval to the Land of Fire and said there was still time to reverse it.
• After Summer Cicada reported Zha Wei General's arrival in Kyoto, Minato decided to return there and ordered the guild to watch him.

General Zha Wei warned the Daimyo that Autumn Fruit’s control of High-Yield Seeds threatened the Land of Fire’s food supply and noble rule, and the Daimyo moved to summon Konoha’s leaders. After Minato learned of the summons, he went to Mount Myōboku, where Boli G Lang told him the Great Toad Sage had a prophecy about major changes tied to the Child of Prophecy.

• General Zha Wei urged the Daimyo to seize control of Autumn Fruit before Winter Wheat planting because its non-reusable seeds could give the company control of the Land of Fire’s food supply.
• General Zha Wei showed the Daimyo Summer Cicada’s towering Kyoto office building and argued that Minato Namikaze had become a threat to the Daimyo’s rule.
• The Daimyo ordered a Guardian Ninja to summon Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzo, and Akimichi Torifu agreed to notify them.
• Minato heard about the Daimyo’s request for Danzo and used Flying Thunder God to travel to Mount Myōboku.
• Boli G Lang told Minato that the Great Toad Sage had awakened from a prophetic dream about major changes to the Land of Fire and Konoha tied to the Child of Prophecy.

The Great Toad Sage warned Minato that Konoha might fracture and urged him to prevent a civil war. After learning that Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo had left for Kyoto with ANBU, Minato set out to investigate, suspecting the danger lay there.

• The Great Toad Sage prophesied that Konoha could fracture, trigger a civil war, and bring the Third Ninja World War closer, then fell into a deep sleep.
• Minato considered who would support him if he broke with Konoha and concluded that only Kushina and Senju Chihiro would stand with him in an outright fight.
• Kushina told Minato she was fed up with the village's Barrier Team and would choose him over Konoha.
• Takeoto told Minato that Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo had left for Kyoto with many ANBU, and Minato vanished to investigate ahead of them.
• Kushina complained that she could not leave Konoha, while Takeoto told her Minato would need to become Hokage before she could travel freely.