Chapter Summaries

Minato learned that White Zetsu, not Danzo, had given Suikazan Fuguki Konoha’s spy list and realized Uchiha Madara was already making plans in Mist Hidden Village. He forced Fuguki to become his subordinate in a secret organization called Winter Chill.

• Minato exiled Suikazan Fuguki to increasingly deep parts of the sea until Fuguki agreed to answer his questions.
• Suikazan Fuguki revealed that White Zetsu had supplied the detailed list of Konoha’s spies.
• Minato recognized that Uchiha Madara’s plans for Mist Hidden Village posed a greater danger than Danzo’s involvement would have.
• Minato told Suikazan Fuguki to alert him the next time he encountered White Zetsu and planned to visit the Mariana Trench to develop his Exile Technique.
• Minato refused to release Suikazan Fuguki and named him a subordinate in the secret organization Winter Chill.

Suikazan Fuguki passed White Zetsu’s tip about Konoha spies to ANBU, then watched them attack Minato Namikaze and the Ino-Shika-Cho trio. White Zetsu offered to remove Fuguki’s Flying Thunder God mark, but Minato appeared beside them and seized White Zetsu’s wrist.

• Suikazan Fuguki found a message naming Minato Namikaze, Nara Shikaku, Yamanaka Inoichi, and Akimichi Choza, and sent the intelligence to ANBU.
• ANBU attacked the trio at their warehouse, but Boli G Lang weakened their Water Release by spreading Toad Oil.
• White Zetsu urged Suikazan Fuguki to kill the young Ino-Shika-Cho clan heads and offered to replace Fuguki’s marked shoulder and arm.
• White Zetsu reached for Fuguki’s shoulder, then realized Minato’s Flying Thunder God technique differed from Tobirama Senju’s.
• Minato appeared beside Suikazan Fuguki and grabbed White Zetsu’s wrist.

Minato punished Suikazan Fuguki and helped Nara Shikaku, Yamanaka Inoichi, and Akimichi Choza defeat the Mist Hidden Village ANBU. He then tracked two White Zetsu, but both killed themselves before he could question them, so he sealed their bodies and left.

• Minato marked White Zetsu with his Flying Thunder God formula, let him escape, and sent Suikazan Fuguki to spend a day two thousand meters beneath the sea as punishment for failing to warn him.
• Minato arrived at the warehouse and rescued Akimichi Choza from a Kaguya Clan ninja, then used Flying Thunder God to kill the remaining Mist Hidden Village ANBU.
• Minato told Nara Shikaku, Yamanaka Inoichi, and Akimichi Choza that White Zetsu had exposed Konoha's spy network and warned them about his unmatched intelligence-gathering abilities.
• Minato sensed a new development and went to a beach, where one White Zetsu explained that Minato's formula differed from Tobirama Senju's and could not be removed safely.
• A second White Zetsu killed himself when Minato appeared, and the White Zetsu on the beach also killed himself; Minato sealed both bodies in separate scrolls.

Minato explained how White Zetsu had exposed Konoha’s spy network and planned to follow Suikazan Fuguki to gather intelligence. In Mist Hidden Village, Dong Xi and his three operatives escaped under the cover of a mission, only to meet Minato at their destination in Kyoto.

• Nara Shikaku reflected on the gap between ordinary ninja and powerful shinobi as he and his companions waited for Minato.
• Minato returned with White Zetsu’s sealed corpse and explained that it had caused Konoha’s intelligence leaks by infiltrating undetected.
• Minato planned to lie low before following Suikazan Fuguki again to learn how Konoha could rebuild its espionage network in the Land of Water.
• Suikazan Fuguki ordered Dong Xi to gather the operatives named in a mission scroll and retrieve an intelligence scroll in Kyoto, prompting Dong Xi to realize they had been exposed.
• Dong Xi and his three operatives disguised themselves with Mist Ninja Headbands, passed through the village gates, and traveled to the mission site in Kyoto.
• Minato appeared at the stern of their boat and introduced himself as Konoha Special Jonin Minato Namikaze.

Minato and Nara Shikaku rebuilt Konoha’s spy network in Mist Hidden Village, leaving Dong Xi undercover under Suikazan Fuguki’s authority. On the voyage home, Minato reviewed the growth of his four organizations and recognized Winter Chill as the force that kept the other three in line.

• Nara Shikaku told Dong Xi that only four Konoha spies remained and gave him a new cipher, instructing him to stay undercover and send intelligence from Mist Hidden Village.
• Minato and Nara Shikaku discussed the hardship and importance of spy work, then set off for Konoha after completing their mission.
• Suikazan Fuguki assigned Dong Xi to gather intelligence for Mist Hidden Village, and Dong Xi pledged loyalty to the Village Hidden in Blood Mist despite remaining a Konoha spy.
• Minato calculated that his chakra had risen to 1,283 units through his organizations’ work and concluded that his strength was approaching his future wartime level.
• Minato reflected that Spring Flower handled education, Summer Cicada handled industry and commerce, Autumn Fruit handled agriculture and animal husbandry, and Winter Chill served as the feared enforcer for all three.

After returning from the Land of Water, Minato revealed White Zetsu’s role in compromising Konoha’s spy network, and Nara Shikaku privately told Hiruzen that Minato had mastered Flying Thunder God. Minato then met Senju Chihiro and took him to see Orochimaru, confident that his offer would persuade the wary teacher to help.

• Nara Shikaku reported that a humanoid creation called White Zetsu had exposed Konoha’s spy network, and Minato presented its corpse to Hiruzen Sarutobi, Shimura Danzo, and Mitokado Homura.
• Hiruzen praised Minato, Shikaku, Yamanaka Inoichi, and Akimichi Choza for completing the S-Rank Mission and promised their rewards within three days.
• Nara Shikaku privately told Hiruzen that Minato had mastered Flying Thunder God and had forced Suikazan Fuguki into a deal to obtain intelligence about the spies.
• Hiruzen considered the challenges of countering White Zetsu and rebuilding the spy network, along with his desire to obtain the Uzumaki Clan’s secrets without alienating Kushina or Minato.
• Minato met Senju Chihiro outside the Hokage Building and took him to see Orochimaru, assuring him that Orochimaru would trade fairly for an offer he could not refuse.

Minato secretly brought Senju Chihiro to Orochimaru’s laboratory and traded a White Zetsu corpse for access to the results of its research, hoping Chihiro could learn Wood Release. Danzo then asked Orochimaru to accelerate his own Wood Release research, and agreed to let him study another forbidden technique in exchange.

• Minato secretly took Qian Kong to Orochimaru’s laboratory in the Death Forest, where he presented Orochimaru with a White Zetsu corpse from the Land of Water.
• Minato asked Orochimaru to share the White Zetsu research results with Senju Chihiro so Chihiro could pursue Wood Release, and Orochimaru accepted the trade.
• Minato and Qian Kong left, and Orochimaru began examining the White Zetsu corpse before Aburame Ryūma arrived on Danzo’s behalf.
• Orochimaru met Danzo at Root’s base, where Danzo revealed that Minato had mastered the Flying Thunder God and demanded Wood Release within two years.
• Danzo agreed to let Orochimaru see another forbidden technique from the Book of Sealing in exchange for speeding up his Wood Release research.

Minato Namikaze and Nara Shikaku were promoted to jonin after the Jonin Meeting approved them. Minato gave Kushina a Flying Thunder God kunai, and they agreed to keep his key techniques secret after she revealed that the Third Hokage had asked her to record Uzumaki sealing techniques in the village's Book of Sealing.

• Nara Shikaku told Minato that the Jonin Meeting would vote on their promotions, and the two attended the meeting at the Hokage Building.
• Hatake Sakumo presented Shikaku's mission record, and the jonin approved his promotion to jonin.
• Hatake Sakumo presented Minato's accomplishments and abilities, and the jonin approved his promotion to jonin before hearing an intelligence briefing about the Land of Water.
• Minato and Shikaku agreed to visit Liangju Town the next day to investigate Minato's livestock gigantification industry.
• Minato gave Kushina a Flying Thunder God kunai and hid another behind the Death God Mask as a trap for anyone who touched it.
• Kushina told Minato that the Third Hokage had asked her to write Uzumaki sealing techniques into the Book of Sealing, but she had left out the Dead Demon Consuming Seal; Minato urged her to keep it secret.

Minato brought Shikaku and his teammates to Bumper Guard Road and Liangju Town, where he arranged support for a major grain-transport road and showed Shikaku the scope of his enterprises. The chapter ended with Minato asking Shikaku to examine newly bred plow oxen for ways to improve them further.

• Minato secretly left Flying Thunder God kunai near Konoha and in the Capital City of Bumper Guard Road before meeting Grand Minister Nan Song and the Bumper Guard General.
• Minato proposed building a high-standard road from Liangju Town to the capital, and Nan Song agreed that the General's Residence would contribute five million ryo toward the fifteen-million-ryo project.
• Minato said the Cicada of Summer Merchant Guild would raise the remaining funds and share road toll revenue with the General's Residence at a one-to-two ratio.
• Minato took Shikaku, Choza, and Haiichi to Liangju Town, where Shikaku saw its inns, Konoha ninja guards, and connections with the Hyuga Clan.
• Guangxia told Minato about the successful high-yield cabbage trials and ongoing potato tests, and Minato described potatoes' potential as a staple and for making starch and vermicelli.
• Minato showed Shikaku plow oxen twice the normal size and asked him to identify ways to improve their breeding.

Minato recruited the Ino-Shika-Cho clans to develop giant livestock and high-yield feed so meat could become more affordable. Shikaku accepted the partnership, and the group agreed on a plan and profit shares.

• Minato asked Choza whether the Multi-Size Technique could enlarge animals permanently, and Choza explained that they would return to normal when the user died.
• Minato told Shikaku he wanted to breed meat animals to make meat more accessible, and Shikaku connected the plan to Minato’s proposed transportation improvements.
• Choza eagerly backed the project after hearing about cheap meat, and Shikaku agreed to join on behalf of the Ino-Shika-Cho three clans.
• Shikaku proposed combining breeding with chakra-containing feed and starting with chickens, while Minato received a 50-unit chakra reward from the system.
• Minato proposed that he find giant Summoning Beasts, Shikaku develop high-yield chickens, and the Autumn Fruit Trading Company handle sales; Shikaku accepted the profit shares.

Minato left Liangju Town after Nara Shikaku finished assessing the Autumn Fruit Organization, then traveled to Kyoto to meet Senju Takeoto and manage the Cicada of Summer Merchant Guild. After arranging a new construction subsidiary and giving Shinmen a Flying Thunder God Kunai, Minato headed toward Turtle Island in the Land of Lightning to find giant Summoning Beasts.

• Nara Shikaku returned to the village to research growth-promoting Secret Medicine with Akimichi Choza, while Minato traveled to Kyoto.
• Minato visited Senju Takeoto, told her he had become a jonin, and learned about Qian Kong, Jiraiya, and Tsunade.
• Minato instructed Shinmen to establish a construction subsidiary and build a road from Liangju Town to the capital city of Bumper Guard Road.
• Minato gave Shinmen a Flying Thunder God Kunai and said he could use it to summon Minato in an emergency.
• Minato hid a Flying Thunder God Kunai in Spring Blossom Ninja Academy and set out for Turtle Island in the Land of Lightning to find giant Summoning Beasts.

Minato infiltrated Turtle Island with Boli G Lang and used the Contract Seal to steal its weaker Summoning Beasts. Dodai suspected the powerful, absurd thief was Minato, while the Cloud ninja searched for clues.

• Suikazan Fuguki showed Minato intelligence locating Turtle Island off the eastern coast of the Land of Lightning.
• Minato and Boli G Lang searched the sea, and Boli G Lang found Turtle Island and secretly entered it.
• Minato arrived on Turtle Island and used the Contract Seal to capture a giant duck and transport it to Mount Myōboku.
• Minato returned to Turtle Island and stole numerous weak Summoning Beasts, including pigs, sheep, chickens, ducks, and donkeys.
• Dodai, Bubi, and Ei Yano Yu investigated the theft, and Dodai concluded that Minato was the likely culprit.

Minato discovered Todiwa’s High-Power Electric Motor test ship and negotiated to take one as a dividend for his earlier invention. After Minato vanished with the ship, the harbor guards realized it had disappeared.

• Minato found a concealed Battery Talisman-powered Electric Motor aboard a fast test ship and learned that Todiwa had developed it.
• Todiwa celebrated the successful test, then met Minato and recognized him by his real name.
• Minato offered Todiwa a place in the Cicada of Summer Merchant Guild, but Todiwa said the Daimyo owned his research and its results.
• Todiwa suggested Minato take a spare Electric Motor by force and agreed to keep his identity secret.
• Minato gave Todiwa a gunpowder formula, then vanished with the ship before the guards noticed it was gone.

Minato introduced an electric-motor ship to Summer Cicada and assigned Bo Cun to build a shipping association, then delivered giant livestock Summoning Beasts to Shikaku for research. After several days of rest, Minato was summoned to the Hokage Building.

• Minato demonstrated a high-power electric motor and propeller to Shinmen and Bo Cun, then urged Summer Cicada to develop electric transport and recruit Lightning Release ninja.
• Shinmen appointed Bo Cun to lead the Cicada of Summer Shipping Association and organize its shipbuilding, research, river, maritime, and dock divisions.
• Minato traveled to Konoha and gave Shikaku six giant livestock Summoning Beasts and a contract scroll for managing them.
• Shikaku accepted the task of researching the animals despite his doubts about raising livestock as a young clan head and Hokage Assistant.
• Minato returned home and slept for several days before an ANBU came to summon him to the Hokage Building.

Minato told the Third Hokage that he had taken the Cloud Hidden Village’s six Summoning Beasts and experimental ship, then refused to return them. The Third Hokage assigned him to handle rising border conflicts while considering how to negotiate with the Cloud Hidden Village.

• The Third Hokage gave Minato a mission to investigate the stolen property, but Minato admitted he had taken it and said the ship had been dismantled and the Summoning Beasts were his.
• Minato refused the Third Hokage’s demand to return the property, so the Third Hokage sent him to manage conflicts near the border between the Land of Hot Water and the Land of the Moon.
• The Third Hokage questioned Nara Shikaku, who explained that he was researching Livestock Gigantification with the Summoning Beasts and suspected the Cloud Hidden Village had blamed Konoha by process of elimination.
• The Third Hokage told Nara Shikaku to keep the Summoning Beasts ready to return if necessary, then learned that the ship had been found at the Cicada of Summer Merchant Guild in Kyoto.
• The Third Hokage decided to wait for the outcome of Minato’s border mission before negotiating, while Nara Shikaku expected Minato to show no mercy to the Cloud Hidden Village’s forces.

Minato Namikaze led Akimichi Dōtō and Inuka Agito on a mission to protect Konoha squads near the Land of the Moon border from Cloud ninja. After witnessing a village devastated by a clash between Cloud ninja and Konoha shinobi, Minato said he had lost only a little patience and located a Cloud ninja battalion.

• Minato met Akimichi Dōtō and Inuka Agito at Konoha's gates and explained their mission to guard Konoha squads from Cloud ninja pressure.
• Akimichi Dōtō advised Minato to locate the Cloud force and warn nearby squads rather than order them to abandon their missions, but Minato proposed attacking the force instead.
• Minato sent out one hundred Shadow Clones to search the border region, while Akimichi Dōtō and Inuka Agito created smaller groups of clones.
• Minato and his teammates reached a village where Cloud ninja had killed three Konoha ninja and more than a dozen villagers.
• Minato left money for the villagers and departed; when Akimichi Dōtō told him not to blame himself, Minato said he had only lost a little patience.
• Minato detected that one of his Shadow Clones had found a Cloud ninja battalion and led the others toward it.

Minato Namikaze ambushed He Yuyi’s Cloud ninja battalion, using Flying Thunder God and powerful Wind Release techniques to slaughter its companies. After demanding information about nearby Cloud battalions, Minato faced He Yuyi, who claimed to have discovered his weakness.

• He Yuyi led more than sixty Cloud ninja toward three Konoha ninja, including Minato Namikaze, Akimichi Dōtō, and Inuka Agito.
• Minato had Dōtō and Agito throw Flying Thunder God kunai, then used the technique to kill the Cloud assault squads from the sides and behind.
• The Cloud ninja formed back-to-back groups, but Minato killed one company with Wind Release: Metal Storm and another with the Wind Cutter Silver Disc Technique.
• Minato demanded that He Yuyi reveal the locations of nearby Cloud battalions in exchange for a quick death.
• He Yuyi pointed out the Trident Kunai beneath Minato and declared that he had found Minato’s weakness.

Minato defeated the Cloud ninja force with Flying Thunder God Guiding Thunder, which redirected He Yuyi’s Storm Release attacks and protected him from harm. After the battle, Minato insisted the mission continued because a Cloud scout had escaped and might regroup with other Cloud ninjas.

• He Yuyi used Storm Release to destroy the Flying Thunder God Kunai, but Minato redirected the beams with Flying Thunder God Guiding Thunder and ambushed the Cloud ninjas.
• Minato’s group wiped out the Cloud force, and Minato killed the wounded He Yuyi after redirecting his final attack.
• Minato explained that the Storm Release corpse might be valuable for a trade with Orochimaru.
• Akimichi Dōtō declared the mission complete, but Minato said a Cloud scout had escaped and needed to be caught before the mission could end.
• Akimichi Dōtō, Inuka Agito, and Yamaru questioned Minato’s reasoning as he insisted they pursue the scout and any Cloud ninjas he might join.

Dodai confronted Konoha over a stolen ship and missing Summoning Beasts, while both sides accused the other of lacking evidence and threatened to compete for missions in the Land of Waves. During the second round of talks, an urgent message from the Cloud Hidden Village arrived for Dodai, leaving the negotiations unsettled.

• Dodai delivered the Land of Lightning daimyo’s demand that Konoha return his ship within a month, but Mitokado Homura denied Konoha’s responsibility and questioned the evidence.
• Dodai accused Konoha of stealing six Cloud Hidden Village Summoning Beasts and threatened that the Cloud and Mist villages would take Konoha’s mission share in the Land of Waves.
• After Dodai left, Hiruzen Sarutobi ordered Danzo to assess the possibility of the Cloud and Mist villages joining forces and protect Konoha’s missions in the Land of Waves.
• Three days later, Dodai claimed that evidence linking the Cicada of Summer Merchant Guild to the ship theft was on its way to Kyoto and accused Konoha of backing the guild.
• Nara Shikaku received an ANBU alert, left the meeting, and returned to tell Dodai that someone from the Cloud Hidden Village had arrived with an extremely urgent matter.

Minato Namikaze’s pursuit of Cloud ninja into the Land of the Moon sparked a dispute between Konoha and Cloud Hidden Village, while he spent a week relaxing in hot springs with his team. Back in Konoha, Minato learned that the village had barred him from leaving for a month, though the reason remained unclear.

• Dodai rejected Konoha’s response to the deaths of more than a hundred Cloud ninja and left, declaring that Cloud Hidden Village should join forces with Mist Hidden Village against Konoha.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi and his advisers debated Minato’s decision to pursue Cloud ninja into the Land of the Moon, while Nara Shikaku and Hatake Sakumo defended his actions.
• Minato and his teammates soaked in hot springs in the Land of Hot Water, where Konoha mission teams came to thank him for eliminating the Cloud battalion.
• After a week, Minato returned to Konoha with his team and noticed that villagers and gate guards were watching him strangely.
• Nara Shikaku told Minato that Konoha had forbidden him from leaving the village for a month, citing complications involving the daimyo’s ship and Cloud Hidden Village’s Summoning Beasts.