Chapter Summaries

Minato infiltrated Hawk Guard General’s shops with Boli G Lang’s Toad Concealment Technique, setting fires and stealing thousands of light bulbs. The guards found no trace of an intruder and reported the apparently undetectable technique to the daimyo.

• Minato persuaded Boli G Lang to conceal him inside his mouth and carry him into the noble residential district.
• Boli G Lang entered the first shop and hypnotized its sleeping clerks, allowing Minato to emerge unseen.
• Minato staged an electrical fire, sealed several thousand light bulbs into a scroll, and escaped with Boli G Lang.
• Minato and Boli G Lang set a second shop ablaze, while Hawk Guard General’s residence failed to find Ukyo Daibu Sanhan.
• The guards discovered that light bulbs had been stolen, and Hyuga Sankai concluded that an advanced infiltration technique had been used.
• Hyuga Sankai and the other guards decided to report the arson and theft to the daimyo.

Minato protected Da Jian and his father, then helped the Cicada of Summer Merchant Guild replace its light bulb supply. Jiraiya suspected Minato was behind two officials’ deaths but accepted the daimyo’s S-Rank investigation mission himself, leaving Minato to investigate his own crimes with Team Jiraiya.

• Minato killed six men who attacked Da Jian and his father, then summoned Haneina to treat Da Jian’s injured father.
• Haneina operated on Da Jian’s father, and Da Jian later returned to work at the Summer Cicada Shop grinding the trademarks off Land of Lightning light bulbs.
• Jiraiya visited the shop and learned that Minato was practicing the Summoning Technique with Boli G Lang.
• Jiraiya confronted Minato about the deaths of Sakyo Dayu and Ukyo Daibu and connected both men to the light bulb trade.
• Jiraiya revealed that he had accepted the S-Rank mission to investigate the fires and Ukyo Daibu’s death, intending for Team Jiraiya to carry it out.

The Hawk Guard General hired a bounty ninja to investigate the shop fires and kill people connected to the Cicada of Summer Merchant Guild, including Minato Namikaze and Uzumaki Shinmen. At Castle Keep, the daimyo assigned Jiraiya and his team to find the missing Ukyo Daibu, bringing Minato face-to-face with the General.

• The Hawk Guard General learned that his subordinate had found no evidence about Ukyo Daibu's disappearance or the fires at the two shops, and he blamed the Cicada of Summer Merchant Guild.
• The Hawk Guard General ordered his Guardian Ninja captain to contact the Underground Exchange, and a bounty ninja later agreed to take the investigation and assassination contracts for higher fees.
• The Hawk Guard General accepted the bounty ninja's terms, including extra payment if Jiraiya was kept away, and the bounty ninja threatened to kill him if the mission went wrong.
• The daimyo summoned the Hawk Guard General to Castle Keep and announced that Jiraiya and his team had received an S-Rank Mission to find Ukyo Daibu.
• Jiraiya assured the Hawk Guard General that his team would find Ukyo Daibu, while Minato Namikaze silently resolved not to back down from the General again.

Minato Namikaze presented the case against Xi Bie to the daimyo, while the Hawk Guard General asked to delay action against the Land of Lightning Merchant Guild. The daimyo chose to let the conflict between the ninjas and the Hawk Guard General play out, and the general set a trap for Tsunade to draw Jiraiya away.

• Minato Namikaze told the daimyo and the Hawk Guard General that Ukyo Daibu Sanhan had argued with Xi Bie over losses in the light bulb business and accused Xi Bie of the murder.
• The daimyo hesitated to authorize a search or interrogation because of the recent peace agreement with the Land of Lightning, and the Hawk Guard General requested several days to search for Ukyo Daibu himself.
• The daimyo learned that the Guard Generals benefited from light bulb sales while the Cicada of Summer Organization paid more taxes, then decided to let the ninjas and the Hawk Guard General contend with each other.
• The Hawk Guard General ordered a subordinate to set up a gambling trap for 'Sheep Tsunade' so Jiraiya would have to rescue her.

Minato sent Jiraiya to investigate Tsunade’s suspicious eight-million-ryo gambling debt while Jirokuma’s group collected a new shipment of light bulbs from the Uchiha factory. On the return trip, Kakuzu ambushed the group, and Haneina rushed to Kyoto for reinforcements.

• Haneina told Minato that Tsunade had been surrounded over eight million ryo in gambling debts, and Minato sent Jiraiya to help her.
• Minato warned Jiraiya that the debt seemed suspicious, so Jiraiya took Boli G Lang and a Gourd Toad in case they needed to summon Minato or Jiraiya for help.
• Jirokuma and three companions traveled to the Empty District, where Fugaku showed them the expanded Uchiha light bulb factory and said it had produced two thousand bulbs.
• Jirokuma’s group sealed the bulbs and started back toward Kyoto, but Kakuzu confronted them on the road and claimed he had once ambushed Hashirama Senju.
• Senju Soushou and the others retreated as Haneina hurried to Kyoto for reinforcements, since they were no match for Kakuzu.

Minato arrived as Kakuzu threatened Yoshimaru and fought him so Soushou could evacuate the injured Yoshimaru and Qian Kong. Minato summoned Gourd Toad to reverse summon Jiraiya and held Kakuzu off with Earth Release while the toad began the process.

• Kakuzu seized Yoshimaru with his detached, thread-connected arm, but Minato struck with a Wind Release kunai and forced him to let go.
• Minato and Kakuzu clashed with Metal Storm Style One and Wind Release: Pressure Damage, while Soushou gathered Yoshimaru and Qian Kong to escape toward Kyoto.
• Minato told Soushou to find Haneina for treatment, then remained behind to face Kakuzu, who identified Minato as his target.
• Minato summoned Gourd Toad and asked it to reverse summon Jiraiya from Mount Myōboku, buying time for the process.
• Minato used Triple Earth Flow Wall to withstand Kakuzu's Pressure Damage, then leaped out with a Trident Kunai as Gourd Toad retreated.

Minato and Jiraiya drove off Kakuzu after Jiraiya rescued Minato and Tsunade from a devastating attack. On the way back, Jiraiya offered to take Minato to meet the Great Toad Sage and begin learning Mount Myōboku's sage techniques.

• Minato struck Kakuzu with wind blade kunai, but Kakuzu survived and attacked with combined Wind Release and Fire Release techniques.
• Jiraiya arrived with Tsunade and rescued Minato from Kakuzu's attack, then summoned Gamabunta to fight.
• Jiraiya and Gamabunta ignited a vast wave of Toad Oil, forcing Kakuzu to flee; Jiraiya pursued him and later returned with a broken mask.
• Minato told Jiraiya that his chakra reserves were strong but his techniques lacked power against formidable opponents.
• Jiraiya explained that Minato might need village approval for forbidden techniques and offered to take him to meet the Great Toad Sage to learn sage techniques.

After Kakuzu’s failed attempt to kill Minato, Hawk Guard General recruited Shi Qu to help eliminate Minato and the Cicada of Summer Merchant Guild. Meanwhile, Jiraiya and Minato were reverse-summoned to Mount Myōboku.

• Kakuzu confronted Hawk Guard General, killed a Guardian Ninja for his Wind Release heart, and left after declaring their agreement settled.
• Hawk Guard General ordered the dead Guardian Ninja buried with compensation for his family, then invited Shi Qu to a banquet.
• Hawk Guard General showed Shi Qu the Cicada of Summer Merchant Guild’s Stove Fire and Battery Talismans and warned that they threatened the Land of Earth’s coal trade.
• Hawk Guard General and Shi Qu agreed to pool funds for an S-Rank mission, with Stone Hidden Village tasked to kill Minato and destroy the Cicada of Summer Merchant Guild.
• Boli G Lang reverse-summoned Jiraiya and Minato to Mount Myōboku.

Minato visited Mount Myōboku, where the Great Toad Sage prophesied a future of compulsory ninjutsu education and accepted him as a student. Fukasaku began teaching Minato about Natural Energy, while Boli G Lang was also allowed to start learning Sage Arts.

• Jiraiya introduced Minato to the Great Toad Sage, who dreamed of a future speech about nine-year compulsory ninjutsu education and said the ninja world would change for the better.
• Jiraiya asked Fukasaku and Shima to teach Minato senjutsu, and Fukasaku agreed to train him to sense Natural Energy on Mount Myōboku.
• Jiraiya left Mount Myōboku, and Fukasaku brought Minato to the Toad Oil Waterfall to explain Sage Art Chakra and the dangers of absorbing too much Natural Energy.
• Minato asked if Boli G Lang could learn Sage Arts, and Fukasaku said the young toad could begin encountering Natural Energy early.

Minato sensed Natural Energy with toad oil and began learning Mount Myōboku’s Sage Arts, but struggled to absorb it safely without assistance. After reflecting on how Natural Energy from the earth and atmosphere might differ, he began to grasp a way to harmonize them, and Boli G Lang warned Fukasaku that Minato had absorbed too much again.

• Minato sensed Natural Energy through the toad oil, but Fukasaku struck him awake when he began transforming into a toad.
• Minato practiced Sage Arts for several days and learned to combine Natural Energy with his physical and spiritual energies to form Sage Art Chakra.
• Fukasaku told Minato to try absorbing Natural Energy without toad oil, but Minato struggled with the weaker perception and dangerous transformations.
• Minato refused Shima’s insect-based lunch and gave it to Boli G Lang, then wondered whether Mount Myōboku’s training method was unsuitable for many ninjas.
• Minato reasoned that Natural Energy from the earth and atmosphere might correspond to yin and yang, and that harmonizing them could make absorption easier.
• Boli G Lang sensed a disturbance, woke Fukasaku, and warned him that Minato had absorbed too much Natural Energy.

Minato mastered a new Sage Mode by balancing Natural Energy from above and below with his physical and spiritual energy. He tested his enhanced abilities and prepared to teach Boli G Lang, while learning that his Sage Mode lasted only five minutes for now.

• Minato gathered two distinct streams of Natural Energy in his abdomen and balanced them with his physical and spiritual energy, stopping his petrification and awakening Sage Mode.
• Fukasaku recognized Minato's unusually smooth Sage Mode, while Minato discovered his chakra reserves had doubled to 1,516 units and named his art the Two Forms Sage Technique.
• Minato tested his boosted speed and strength, moving too quickly for Boli G Lang to follow and lifting a stone frog statue more than ten meters tall.
• Minato explained his understanding of sage arts to Fukasaku and offered to teach Boli G Lang, while Fukasaku warned that Sage Mode lasted five minutes.
• Minato entered Sage Mode in fifteen seconds and resolved to practice until he could activate it instantly.

Minato returned from mastering Sage Mode to find the Cicada of Summer Merchant Guild losing sales amid coordinated price wars, while a bounty had been placed on his head. As he investigated the threat in Kyoto, Shi Qu told the Hawk Guard General that Stone Hidden Village had sent a powerful ninja to deal with Minato.

• Minato revealed his Sage Mode to Jiraiya, gave him a scroll of his insights, and said he could activate Sage Mode in about fifteen seconds.
• Shinmen told Minato that rival guilds had slashed light bulb and coal prices, threatening the Summer Cicada Shop’s income and cash flow.
• Minato rejected Shinmen’s suggestion to kill the merchants behind the price wars and began reviewing the Kyoto shops’ ledgers.
• After nightfall, Minato used his enhanced senses to gather intelligence around Kyoto.
• Shi Qu met the Hawk Guard General and said Stone Hidden Village had sent a powerful ninja to kill Minato.

Minato went with Hawk Guard General's Guardian Ninja to investigate a clue about Ukyo Daibu's disappearance, but they ambushed him in the forest. Boli G Lang helped Minato enter Sage Mode, and Minato defeated a hidden Iwa Ninja before facing Explosion Release Hunter.

• A Hawk Guard General attendant told Minato that an attendant of Ukyo Daibu Sanhan had appeared in a town west of Kyoto, and Minato went alone with six Guardian Ninja.
• Minato questioned the Guardian Ninja about their missing Hyuga scout and suspected that they were leading him into a trap.
• Boli G Lang warned Minato of an Exploding Tag, and the Guardian Ninja surrounded him after he dodged the blast.
• The Guardian Ninja captain admitted that they planned to kill Minato because he had threatened Hawk Guard General's wealth, while Boli G Lang supplied Natural Energy.
• Minato entered Sage Mode in fifteen seconds, struck down an Iwa Ninja using Camouflage Concealment, and confronted Explosion Release Hunter.

Minato Namikaze defeated Explosion Release Hunter and the Guardian Ninja sent to kill him, using Sage Mode and Frog Kata. He then headed for Kyoto with Boli G Lang to confront Hawk Guard General.

• Explosion Release Hunter attacked Minato with explosive punches and shuriken, but Minato evaded them using Sage Mode.
• Minato blocked Explosion Release Hunter's punch with Frog Kata, then struck him down with a Sage Art: Super Big Ball Rasengan.
• Minato killed the Guardian Ninja captain and pursued the remaining Guardian Ninja, killing them with Exploding Tags.
• Minato told Boli G Lang that Hawk Guard General had gone too far by sending Guardian Ninja and Iwa Ninja to kill him.
• Minato and Boli G Lang set out for Kyoto to infiltrate Hawk Guard General's residence.

Minato killed the Hawk Guard General in his bedroom and made the death look like an attack by Explosion Release Hunter. As the daimyo ordered Konoha to investigate, Minato arrived in Kyoto with two cartloads of bodies and claimed he had killed the Hunter.

• Minato used Boli G Lang to drag the Hawk Guard General into a giant clam’s esophagus, where he questioned him about his ties to Explosion Release Hunter and the Stone Hidden Village.
• Minato broke the Hawk Guard General’s arms, planted an Exploding Tag on his head, and returned him to his bedroom, where the tag killed him.
• The daimyo’s Guardian Ninja found the Hawk Guard General’s headless body and speculated that an Earth Release specialist had infiltrated and killed him.
• The daimyo ordered Senju Takeoto to have Konoha investigate the murder as an S-Rank Mission, while the two Guardian Ninja could not explain the absence of the others.
• An official reported that Minato had entered Kyoto with two cartloads of corpses, claiming Explosion Release Hunter had killed six Guardian Ninja and Minato had killed the Hunter.

Minato framed Explosion Release Hunter and Shi Qu as the culprits behind Hawk Guard General’s death, then killed Shi Qu and brought the merchant guild’s vice presidents before the daimyo. After returning to the Summer Cicada Shop, Minato met Tung Sze, the new president of the Land of Lightning Merchant Guild, who brought a letter from Mr. Todiwa.

• Minato told the daimyo that Explosion Release Hunter had attacked Hawk Guard General, and Chi Megumi supported the explanation.
• Minato went to the Land of Earth Merchant Guild, killed Shi Qu, and claimed Shi Qu had committed suicide out of fear of punishment.
• The two vice presidents blamed the dead Shi Qu when the daimyo questioned them about the assassination.
• Jiraiya asked Minato about his fight with Explosion Release Hunter and Frog Kata, while Senju Takeoto prepared reports about the incident.
• Tung Sze introduced himself to Minato as the new president of the Land of Lightning Merchant Guild and said Xi Bie had been assassinated.

Tung Sze abandoned opposition to the Cicada of Summer Merchant Guild and negotiated a Stove Fire Talisman distribution partnership with Minato Namikaze, offering twenty million ryo in startup funds. Minato then searched for a site for the Uzumaki Sealing Technique School and arrived at a struggling orphanage, where he offered a donation.

• Tung Sze brought Minato letters from Todiwa that Xi Bie had withheld and proposed selling Stove Fire Talismans in the Land of Lightning.
• Minato agreed to cooperate and asked Tung Sze to fund a Sealing Technique School and talisman factory; Tung Sze pledged twenty million ryo.
• Tung Sze warned Minato that Ōnoki might retaliate over the incident in Kyoto, and the two planned to finalize their agreement.
• Minato searched Kyoto for a school site and chose a struggling orphanage with eighty children.
• The orphanage director, No Aya, told its landlord that an influenza outbreak had exhausted its funds and left six months of rent unpaid.
• Minato offered the orphanage a donation, giving No Aya hope that it could stay open.

Minato bought land beside No Aya’s orphanage and established a school to teach orphans Sealing Technique and other practical skills. Construction began rapidly, and the Spring Bloom Organization was founded to oversee the school and spread ninjutsu education.

• Minato offered to buy the orphanage warehouse and neighboring plantation, then proposed funding a school that would train orphans as Sealing Talisman apprentices for the Cicada of Summer Merchant Guild.
• No Aya agreed to Minato’s conditions, and he arranged food and hired five hundred construction workers to begin building the school.
• Minato showed No Aya the school’s planned areas and directed workers to adjust the site’s earthworks.
• Minato named Da Jian principal and No Aya vice principal, then announced the creation of the Spring Bloom Organization.
• The system rewarded Minato with fifty chakra units after the organization was established, raising his total to 803.

Minato led Jirokuma and Haneina into the Land of Grass to rescue Konoha ninja attacked by Iwa. They found survivors and continued deeper, where Minato's arrival interrupted an Iwa pursuit and left Kunugi Mokume wondering who had summoned Gamahiro.

• Minato accepted a mission to rescue Konoha ninja in the Land of Grass and left Kyoto with Akimichi Jirokuma and Haneina, without summoning Jiraiya.
• The team found five injured Konoha ninja, and Haneina treated them as their captain explained that Iwa forces had devastated his company.
• Kunugi Mokume led nearly ten Konoha ninja across the grasslands while more than sixty Iwa ninja pursued them.
• Yuza and Shirakumo Hayama stayed behind with Mokume to cover the retreat, despite Hayama's grave injuries.
• Minato summoned Gamahiro onto the Iwa pursuers, crushing more than ten of them, while the Iwa ninja realized their attacker was not Jiraiya.
• Mokume recognized the summoning technique but wondered whether Minato Namikaze was the blond ninja standing atop Gamahiro.

Minato Namikaze and his allies defeated a force of Iwa Ninja and rescued Konoha survivors in the Land of Grass. As they reached a river, Kunugi Mokume warned that Han might be a Jinchuriki, but Minato sensed more people fleeing across the river.

• Minato arrived with Gamahiro, rescued Shirakumo Hayama, and stayed behind to fight the Iwa Ninja.
• Minato and Gamahiro attacked together while Kunugi Mokume joined them, and they killed more than twenty Iwa Ninja before finishing off the rest.
• After Haneina treated the wounded, Minato and Kunugi Mokume set out with Haneina and Akimichi Jirokuma to rescue more Konoha ninja.
• Yuza explained to Shirakumo Hayama that Minato's group was an elite assault rescue unit, while the others should escape to the Land of Fire.
• Minato's group rescued a third group of Konoha ninja, but Kunugi Mokume warned them to stop because Steam Ninja Han might be a Jinchuriki.
• Minato sensed people still fleeing across the river.