Chapter Summaries

Minato met with Fugaku and Mikoto to discuss the Uchiha Clan’s declining income and its worsening relationship with the village. He refused to ask Senju Takeoto to favor the Uchiha, but proposed that Fugaku build a new source of wealth by manufacturing electrical appliances.

• Fugaku explained that the village had restricted Uchiha ninja to Military Police Force duties, leaving the clan with low-paying assignments and increasing pressure to collect fines.
• Minato described the resulting cycle of reduced missions and growing village resentment, then suggested the Uchiha share control of the Military Police Force with the village.
• Fugaku rejected the proposal, arguing that the village would infiltrate the force while continuing to exclude Uchiha ninja from ordinary missions.
• Minato said he would not trouble Senju Takeoto by asking her to recommend Uchiha ninja, since her impartiality had helped her succeed as Kyoto Advisor.
• Minato showed Fugaku a light bulb and explained that other clans earned wealth through businesses, then offered to advise the Uchiha on manufacturing electrical appliances.

On New Year, Minato learned that the Uchiha Clan’s dwindling businesses had driven Fugaku to pursue the Land of Lightning’s light bulb industry. After a failed intelligence mission cost two Uchiha lives, Minato proposed traveling there for an academic exchange with inventor Todiwa.

• Minato was fined 200 ryo by two Uchiha Military Police Force ninja for resting his foot against a roadside wall, and he refused to accept an exemption from Uchiha Yashiro.
• Minato spent the afternoon with Kushina and Shinmen, then heard from Fugaku that an Uchiha mission to investigate the Land of Lightning’s light bulb factory had failed and killed two clansmen.
• Fugaku explained that the Uchiha Clan’s Exploding Tag and ninja tool businesses had declined, leaving its lower- and middle-ranked ninja in financial hardship.
• Minato advised Fugaku to build research expertise rather than rely on stolen intelligence, but Fugaku said the clan could not afford to wait for researchers to develop.
• Minato proposed accompanying Adviser Takeoto to the Land of Lightning after New Year to meet inventor Todiwa for an exchange of knowledge about electromagnetism, and Fugaku agreed.

Minato, Shinmen, and Senju Chiki developed a Fire Release Sealing Talisman that steadily produced flames, then demonstrated it as a Stove Fire Talisman at Ichiraku Ramen. The talisman earned Minato a system reward that raised his chakra reserves to 506, the level of an elite jonin.

• Takeoto showed Shinmen the Uzumaki Clan's Mask Hall and warned Minato that Fugaku Uchiha might be seeking a task recommendation quota, which Minato said he had refused to provide.
• Minato asked Senju Chiki to help the Cicada of Summer Organization develop Fire Release household ninjutsu using the Ten Lines Sealing Technique.
• After a week of work, Chiki created a talisman that steadily produced a flame for at least ten hours.
• Minato and Shinmen demonstrated the Stove Fire Talisman to Teuchi by using it to heat the soup pot at Ichiraku Ramen.
• The system rewarded Minato with 50 chakra units, raising his reserves from 456 to 506 and giving him the chakra reserves of an elite jonin.

Teuchi supported Senju Chiki as her Stove Fire Talismans became a popular household product, while Orochimaru learned Minato’s Ten Lines Sealing Technique and created a Candle Talisman. Orochimaru delivered the Third Hokage’s letter for Tsunade to Minato, and Minato saw a new product opportunity for the shop.

• Teuchi encouraged Senju Chiki to keep selling Stove Fire Talismans, and she offered to teach his daughter Ayame to refine chakra.
• Senju Chiki’s shop attracted strong demand after the Stove Fire Talisman was improved to burn for twelve hours.
• Orochimaru studied a Stove Fire Talisman and learned from Chiki that Minato had developed the Ten Lines Sealing Technique.
• Orochimaru visited Minato, saw his electric motor experiment, and gave him the Third Hokage’s letter for Tsunade.
• Orochimaru used the Ten Lines Sealing Technique to make a Candle Talisman, prompting Minato to consider it as another shop product.

Kushina stayed in Konoha after Minato and the others departed for Kyoto, while Shinmen and Minato resumed work at their Kyoto shop and accepted a Rank A mission in the Land of Lightning. Disguised as a merchant guild, Minato’s team investigated the country’s electrical development and infiltrated Lei Ze School, where Fugaku spotted Guardian Ninja guarding the Invention Building.

• Kushina watched Minato, Shinmen, and the others leave Konoha, then went to run the Cicada of Summer Sealing Scroll Shop with Qianxi.
• In Kyoto, Shinmen brought new Stove Fire and Candle Talismans to the shop, and Fugaku arrived with a mission scroll for a Rank A mission in the Land of Lightning.
• Minato led Fugaku, Akimichi Jirokuma, and Haneina toward the Land of Lightning, promising to arrange more training before the summer Chunin Exams.
• The team disguised themselves as members of a small merchant guild and traveled through the Land of Lightning, observing towns, electric lighting, and the capital.
• Minato and the others disguised themselves as students and entered Lei Ze School; Fugaku warned Minato that at least four squads of Guardian Ninja were inside the Invention Building.

Minato infiltrated Todiwa’s research building and traded the Electric Motor’s principles for the Tungsten Filament Light Bulb manufacturing process. After arguing about Battery Talismans and power grids, Minato and Todiwa became research partners, and Todiwa took him to the confidential archives.

• Fugaku used Genjutsu on a student assistant to get Minato and the others into the Invention Building.
• Todiwa saw the Electric Motor and hurried to meet Minato, who explained its principles on a blackboard.
• Minato introduced himself as Men Shui and offered to trade the Electric Motor for the Tungsten Filament Light Bulb manufacturing process.
• Todiwa agreed to the exchange and proposed becoming Minato’s research partner.
• Minato and Todiwa argued over Battery Talismans and transmission grids until they recognized each other as kindred spirits.
• Todiwa took Minato to the Invention Building’s confidential archives to share the light bulb manufacturing process.

Minato studied Todiwa’s tungsten light bulb research before escaping Kyoto after the daimyo’s Guardian Ninja tried to detain him. At a canyon the next day, Cloud ninja led by Ei Yano Yu caught up with Minato and Fugaku’s group, and Minato stayed behind so the others could escape.

• Minato examined Todiwa’s classified research documents while Todiwa studied the electric motor Minato had brought.
• A daimyo’s Guardian Ninja ordered Minato to leave the archives, then tried to take him to Castle Keep for questioning, but Minato escaped with the Substitution Technique.
• Minato reunited with Fugaku, Uchiha Yashiro, and the others outside Lei Ze School, and they fled Kyoto while Fugaku and Yashiro used Genjutsu to delay pursuers.
• Cloud Hidden Village sent four squads after the infiltrators, hoping to capture an Uchiha ninja and trade his corpse for Clan Head Tsuchishin’s corpse.
• Ei Yano Yu and Dodai caught up with Minato’s group at a canyon, and Minato told Fugaku to leave while he stayed behind to face them.

Minato Namikaze fought Ei Yano Yu and Dodai while his teammates escaped, using a new kunai technique to badly wound Dodai. When Cloud reinforcements led by the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki Bubi arrived, Minato retreated, leaving Ei Yano Yu furious and Dodai injured.

• Ei Yano Yu charged Minato Namikaze with Lightning Release Chakra Mode, but Dodai protected him from Minato's first Metal Storm attack with a rubber ball.
• Dodai ordered Ei Yano Yu to close the distance while Cloud ANBU circled behind Minato, and Minato summoned Gamaken to guard his rear.
• Minato used Turbulent Metal Storm: First Style, making kunai collide midair and change direction to bypass Ei Yano Yu's rubber-ball defense.
• The redirected kunai pierced Dodai's shoulder, severed his left arm, and cut his side before Ei Yano Yu could protect him.
• Bubi arrived with Cloud reinforcements, so Minato withdrew as Gamaken's summoning ended; Ei Yano Yu supported the wounded Dodai and glared after him.

Minato rescued Yoshimaru and the others from Cloud ANBU, then led the team to the Empty District. There, he persuaded Fugaku to reform mining by using ninjutsu to process ore, and Fugaku asked him for further guidance.

• Minato arrived in time to kill three Cloud ANBU, while the remaining Cloud ninjas fled after realizing their reinforcements had failed to catch up.
• Minato explained that he had cut off Dodai's arm before withdrawing from the fight against the Cloud forces, including Bubi, the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki.
• Haneina treated Yoshimaru and the others, and Minato carried the injured Yoshimaru as the team traveled through the Land of Hot Water and into the Land of Fire.
• Minato and Fugaku reached the Empty District and began planning how to produce tungsten filament light bulbs.
• Minato urged Fugaku to teach miners basic Earth and Fire Release techniques to improve ore processing, and Fugaku agreed to the mining reforms.
• As the Uchiha Clan began researching ninjutsu-based ore processing, Minato gained 30 chakra units, and Fugaku asked him to explain his ideas for reform in detail.

Minato persuaded Fugaku to look beyond Konoha’s limited opportunities and use the Uchiha Clan’s ninjutsu to build a light-bulb business. The clan completed its first tungsten filament light bulb, and Minato predicted it would eventually carry the Uchiha crest.

• Minato explained to Fugaku that the Uchiha should expand its opportunities by making a bigger market instead of fighting for a larger share of Konoha’s missions.
• Minato told Fugaku he would pursue the Hokage position as a means to transform Konoha from a militaristic organization and put Chakra to productive use.
• Minato proposed that the light-bulb factory operate through the Cicada of Summer Merchant Guild, with the guild taking twenty percent of profits and the Uchiha Clan receiving eighty percent.
• Fugaku assembled Uchiha acquaintances, Mikoto, and Yashiro to develop a manufacturing process using Earth Release and Fire Release to produce tungsten filament bulbs.
• Half a month after returning to the Land of Fire, the Uchiha completed their first tungsten filament light bulb and tested it with a Battery Talisman.
• Minato received twenty Chakra units for the achievement and joked that Fugaku should practice shuriken techniques to prepare for counting money.

Xi Bie confronted the Fire Country distributors after learning that the Cicada of Summer Merchant Guild was selling new, affordable light bulbs, and ordered an investigation into their source. Meanwhile, the Uchiha Clan’s shop sold out and earned a large profit, while Minato gained Chakra from reforms and urged Fugaku to expand bulb production.

• Xi Bie told the distributors not to sell light bulbs to the Cicada of Summer Merchant Guild and announced plans to compete with its secondhand bulb shop.
• Ukyo Daibu Sanhan reported that the Cicada of Summer Merchant Guild was selling brand-new bulbs, and Xi Bie ordered an investigation after confirming the news.
• On the shop’s fifth day, Minato closed early because all the light bulbs and Battery Talismans had sold out.
• Uchiha Mikoto calculated that the shop had earned 4 million ryo in sales, leaving the Uchiha Clan about 1.2 million ryo after costs and the guild’s share.
• Minato received Chakra rewards for the Autumn Fruit Organization’s high-yield rice seeds and the Uchiha Clan’s commitment to the light bulb industry.
• Minato encouraged Fugaku to expand bulb manufacturing, and Fugaku agreed that the clan should seek income beyond village fines.

Fugaku presented Minato’s light-bulb business as a way to improve the Uchiha Clan’s finances and escape its dependence on poorly paid missions. The elders argued over his plan, and Clan Leader Ishijima supported letting willing young Uchiha try it.

• Minato taught Fugaku the Ten Lines Sealing Technique and urged the Uchiha Clan to make Battery Talismans and expand its light-bulb workshop.
• On the way back to Konoha, Fugaku learned that the Empty District’s light-bulb production could not keep up with the shops’ sales.
• Fugaku called a Uchiha Clan meeting, where Clan Leader Ishijima reported that the Third Hokage and Hyuga Clan would not help restore the Uchiha’s village missions.
• Fugaku demonstrated a light bulb and explained how its sales could provide income and reduce the clan’s reliance on Military Police Force missions.
• The Great Elder smashed the bulb and demanded that Fugaku take action against Hiruzen Sarutobi, but Ishijima rejected an operation and defended Fugaku’s plan.
• The Second Elder questioned whether the village would allow Uchiha to leave the Military Police Force, while Ishijima argued that a small group of willing young Uchiha should be allowed to try the business.

Fugaku organized Uchiha support for building a light bulb workshop to give the clan income beyond village missions. After Uchiha Ga reported the plan to Danzo, Danzo ordered him to spy on the project and arranged to alert the Land of Lightning, determined to stop ninja from gaining independence from village-controlled missions.

• Fugaku told Uchiha Ga that fifteen young Uchiha would join him in training workers and establishing a Light Bulb Workshop in the Empty District.
• Uchiha Ga met Danzo and reported that Fugaku had partnered with Senju Takeoto and Minato Namikaze to obtain the tungsten-filament bulb process and build a workshop.
• Danzo worried that independent income would weaken the village’s control over ninja through mission assignments, and ordered Uchiha Ga to join Fugaku’s group and gather intelligence.
• Danzo instructed Shen to leak the workshop’s location to the Land of Lightning’s spies and later inform its defense forces.
• Danzo resolved to suppress the Uchiha’s attempt to earn income outside village missions.

Fugaku Uchiha expanded the Empty District workshop, where Uchiha ninja learned assembly-line production of tungsten light bulbs. Meanwhile, Uchiha Ga secretly sent information to Danzo, and Cloud and Lightning Country forces advanced to attack the Uchiha operation.

• Fugaku Uchiha led a group of Uchiha ninja to the Empty District to learn the workshop’s manufacturing methods.
• Uchiha Yashiro taught the smelting group to use Fire Release to refine tungsten ore, and Uchiha Ga quickly mastered the process.
• Fugaku’s apprentices and ninja organized the work into production groups, while a Senju Soushou-led team delivered sealing scrolls and collected more than two thousand light bulbs.
• Uchiha Ga sent a message by crow, hoping Lord Danzo would ease tensions between the Uchiha and the village.
• A Root ninja delivered a dead crow to Cloud and Lightning Country forces, whose commanders learned the Uchiha’s location and ordered an immediate attack.

Uchiha Ga discovered that the attackers at the Light Bulb Workshop were Cloud ninja, and he died shielding Fugaku from their captain. The deaths of his fellow Uchiha awakened Fugaku’s Mangekyo, and he used Amaterasu against the Cloud captain as Minato approached the Empty District.

• Uchiha Ga mistook the approaching attackers for Konoha ANBU until Cloud ninja killed a workshop leader and three apprentices.
• Fugaku Uchiha rallied the Uchiha defenders and sent Mikoto to summon Cat Granny, the Ninja Cats, and the Ninja Crows.
• The Cloud squad captain blinded Fugaku with a lightning-based technique, but Uchiha Ga took the captain’s blade while protecting him.
• Fugaku saw his clansmen dead or dying and awakened his Mangekyo, gaining Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu.
• Fugaku’s black flames engulfed the Cloud captain as Minato neared the Empty District and sensed trouble.

Minato and Hiro crushed the Land of Lightning attackers at the Light Bulb Workshop, but the battle left Uchiha dead and Fugaku awakened his Mangekyo. Minato and Fugaku agreed to uncover the conspiracy and retaliate, and Minato pursued the fleeing attackers using a Senju reconnaissance technique.

• Minato summoned Double Blade Toad Hiro and used Metal Storm Fourth Style to rout the Land of Lightning Guardian forces.
• A squad captain killed two wounded attackers before they could reveal who had organized the invasion.
• Minato returned to the workshop and found Uchiha ninja, Ninja Cats, and Ninja Crows dead; Fugaku had awakened his Mangekyo.
• Fugaku insisted on continuing the Light Bulb Workshop, and Minato proposed changing their approach to deal with their enemies.
• Uchiha Yashiro reported that more than fifty attackers had escaped, so Minato went after them while Fugaku investigated the murders.
• Minato used Tobirama Senju's reconnaissance technique and sensed eight people fleeing north within six hundred meters.

Minato pursued the fleeing Cloud ninja from the Land of Fire into the Land of Lightning, killing their companions and deliberately letting survivors escape to lead him to their leader. The eight remaining ninja reached the Hyakuwei General Estate, where Minato identified the Hyakuwei General as the mastermind behind the rogue ninja battalions.

• Minato tracked the Cloud ninja by sensing vibrations, killing those he encountered with kunai and Rasengan.
• At the border of the Land of Fire, Minato masked himself and attacked the sixteen Cloud ninja who had escaped into the Land of Hot Water.
• Minato deliberately let survivors flee, then followed them through the Land of Hot Water and the Land of the Moon, killing five who sought help.
• The remaining Cloud ninja recognized Minato Namikaze and fled together into the Land of Lightning.
• After Minato killed another Cloud ninja, the eight survivors ran to the Hyakuwei General Estate, and Minato concluded that the Hyakuwei General was behind the rogue ninja battalions.

Minato interrogated and killed Sakyo Dayu, learning that General Hyakuwei had sent ninja to sabotage the Land of Fire’s light bulb factory and that Xi Bie had hired an assassin to target him. Minato destroyed Hyakuwei Road’s light bulb factory, left money for its workers, and departed after calling the attack a small lesson.

• Minato followed Sakyo Dayu home, infiltrated his room, and restrained him while Boli G Lang helped silence him.
• Minato learned that General Hyakuwei had hired 120 wandering ninja and recruited Cloud Hidden Village forces to attack the Land of Fire’s light bulb factory, using information from spies in Konoha.
• Sakyo Dayu revealed that Xi Bie, the Land of Lightning Merchant Guild president, had asked General Hyakuwei for help after attempting to destroy the Land of Fire’s light bulb industry and assassinate Minato Namikaze.
• Minato killed Sakyo Dayu, searched his documents, and found the location of the Hyakuwei Road Light Bulb Factory.
• Minato planted Exploding Tags and destroyed the factory buildings, then left money for the workers before departing Hyakuwei Road.

Hyakuwei General blamed the attacks on the Light Bulb Factory on Fugaku Uchiha or Minato Namikaze and placed bounties on both of them. After Minato killed the fleeing merchant Xi Bie, he returned to Kyoto and noticed apprentice Da Jian acting suspiciously in the sealing scroll shop.

• Hyakuwei General found Sakyo Dayu murdered and the Light Bulb Factory burned, then ordered bounties of twenty million ryo on Fugaku Uchiha and ten million on Minato Namikaze.
• Minato learned that Fugaku Uchiha's Mangekyo had earned him support from the Uchiha Clan, and he helped oversee the factory's reconstruction while keeping Fugaku's eyes secret.
• Cat Granny warned Fugaku and Minato about their bounties, and Minato complained that his was only half of Fugaku's.
• Minato pursued Xi Bie to the Land of Hot Water and killed him after finding the merchant's convoy slaughtered.
• Minato told Shinmen that the factory's destruction would halt light bulb production for a month, then found Da Jian nervously rummaging through talisman supplies.

Da Jian was coerced by Ukyo Daibu Sanhan into planting Exploding Tags at the Cicada of Summer Merchant Guild’s stores, with threats against his father. Minato rescued him, disguised himself as Sanhan, and planned to confront the Hawk Guard General.

• Da Jian found a letter directing him to meet Ukyo Daibu Sanhan, who threatened his father and ordered him to bomb the guild’s three stores with Exploding Tags.
• Minato appeared and killed Sanhan and his guard before they could force Da Jian to comply.
• Minato sealed away the bodies, took their appearances, and ordered the other subordinates to release Da Jian’s father and escort him home.
• Minato shared a lavish late-night meal with Da Jian and reassured him that no one would threaten him again.
• Minato took the Exploding Tags and said he would give the Hawk Guard General a present.