Chapter Summaries

Moriyue and Kaede’s group encountered the Akatsuki’s Hidan and Kakuzu while supporting the effort to rescue Gaara. The fight began with Kaede and Moriyue countering Hidan’s attack, but Kakuzu neutralized Moriyue’s electromagnetic cannon, leaving the group facing two powerful enemies.

• Kaede brought Moriyue and the others safely to the ground as Hidan and Kakuzu attacked.
• Moriyue warned Kazeki to stay back and provide long-range support, while Kaede’s two Takigakure companions crouched in fear.
• Moriyue and Kaede struck Hidan’s scythe with a Wind Blade and an electromagnetic cannon, sending it flying and shocking Hidan into releasing it.
• Kakuzu offered to spare their lives if they handed over Kaede, but Moriyue answered with an electromagnetic cannon that Kakuzu’s tentacles stopped.
• Hidan began introducing himself as a Jashinist, but Kaede interrupted him with a Scale Blade that sent him flying.

Moriyue used a shadow clone and a lightning attack to lure Kakuzu into revealing a trap, then appeared to die in Kakuzu’s fire-and-wind blast. As Kakuzu turned to capture the tailed beast Jinchuriki, Moriyue struck him from behind with a lightning-fast attack.

• Kazeki’s attacks failed to hurt Kakuzu, while Ando was repeatedly overwhelmed by his tentacles.
• Moriyue sent a shadow clone at Kakuzu and charged from the front, but Kakuzu secretly extended tentacles underground and trapped him.
• Kakuzu’s masks engulfed Moriyue in a blast of fire, and Ando stopped Kazeki from rushing to his aid.
• Kakuzu believed Moriyue had been killed and turned his attention to the tailed beast Jinchuriki.
• Moriyue suddenly appeared behind Kakuzu and unleashed a rapid strike, saying he also liked having heart-to-heart talks.

Moriyue wounded Kakuzu and tore out one of his hearts, but Kakuzu continued pursuing as Kazeki carried the unconscious Moriyue away. After a Takigakure ninja sacrificed himself to save Kaede from Hidan’s Blood Death Art, Kaede joined Kazeki’s group as they fled toward Gaara’s forces.

• Moriyue tricked Kakuzu with his Clone Technique, resisted Kakuzu’s tendrils with lightning, and tore out one of his hearts.
• Kazeki carried the exhausted Moriyue away and called for Ando while Kakuzu entered a berserk state.
• Hidan activated Blood Death Art against Kaede, inflicting matching wounds on her with an iron spike.
• A Takigakure ninja revealed he had taken Kaede’s place, urged her to escape to Kumogakure, and stayed behind as she fled.
• Kaede caught up with Kazeki’s group, and the girls vowed to repay Kakuzu as they ran toward Gaara’s forces.

After Kakuzu and Hidan abandoned their pursuit, Kazeki, Moriyue, Ando, and Kaede recovered in Konoha and quickly left before Danzo could stop them. They returned safely to Kumogakure after robbing several bandits along the way.

• Gaara thanked Konoha's allies for helping Sunagakure, while Kurenai spotted Kazeki and her companions fleeing Kakuzu and Hidan.
• Asuma recognized the Akatsuki members, and Kakuzu chose to retreat rather than fight the gathered Konoha and Sunagakure forces.
• Kazeki woke in a Konoha hospital after dreaming that Moriyue had sacrificed himself to save her, and Ando urged the group to leave Konoha.
• Moriyue, Kazeki, Ando, and Kaede left without contacting Konoha's leaders, and the hospital staff and guards received orders forbidding their departure only afterward.
• Danzo learned that the group had escaped and regretted that his dispute with Tsunade had delayed him.
• Moriyue's group avoided the Akatsuki on their journey and robbed several bandits before reaching Kumogakure.

Moriyue returned to Kumogakure injured after the exam and recovered in the hospital while Kaede asked him to train her so she could become stronger. Yugito Nii arrived to visit him and found herself in a tense standoff with Kazeki and Kaede, leaving Moriyue trapped among them.

• Moriyue and his companions returned to Kumogakure and went to the hospital, where the nurse questioned his injuries and the unfamiliar Takigakure ninja with them.
• Kaede reflected on the Akatsuki Organization and her teammate's sacrifice, then asked Moriyue to help her train.
• Moriyue told Kaede to recover and reminded her that she needed to report to Lord Raikage as a Takigakure ninja.
• Kazeki stopped Kaede from holding Moriyue's hand and insisted that his recovery and Kaede's unresolved business came first.
• Yugito Nii arrived to see Moriyue, and Ando fled the tense room, leaving Moriyue with the three women.

Moriyue returned alive from the exam with Kaede, a Jinchuriki from the Hidden Waterfall Village, and Yugito Nii took Kaede to speak with the Raikage. Darui sent Moriyue the ninjutsu scrolls he had wanted, while Yugito faced pressure from shadowy figures to serve Kumogakure as its weapon.

• Moriyue reunited with Yugito Nii, who reassured him that surviving the exam mattered more than passing it.
• Moriyue told Yugito that he had encountered Kaede during an attack by a powerful enemy, and Yugito agreed to take Kaede with her and speak to the Raikage.
• Yugito told Moriyue to recover and ignore village rumors, then left him books on ninjutsu research.
• Darui sent Moriyue several scrolls containing techniques he had previously wanted, and Moriyue recognized them with delight.
• Yugito told Darui she had persuaded the Raikage to let Kaede stay without causing trouble, then left through a window.
• Shadowy figures told Yugito to focus on becoming Kumogakure's strongest weapon, and Yugito rejected their reminders while watching the hospital.

Moriyue used the forbidden jutsu Super Regeneration to heal his wounds and then returned home to begin researching new techniques. He left the story eager to develop forbidden jutsu, using Shadow Clones to study many sources at once.

• Moriyue learned that Takigakure’s waterfalls might hold clues to the legendary Talismans and decided to visit once he recovered.
• Moriyue used Super Regeneration, rapidly healing his wounds at the cost of life force that left him weak and turned his hair white.
• Kazeki witnessed Moriyue’s recovery and chose not to stop him from using another forbidden jutsu.
• Moriyue left the hospital with his scrolls, while Kaede and Kazeki began chatting together about Takigakure and the Seven-Tails.
• Moriyue gathered books and scrolls at home, summoned Shadow Clones, and set them to researching ninjutsu and forbidden jutsu.

Moriyue's attempt to develop a forbidden jutsu restored his human body but left him transformed into a Jibaku Cat. Kaede found him and carried him off, while Kazeki waited with Yugito for their training.

• Moriyue struggled to develop a forbidden jutsu, using the Dog Talisman's power and Lightning Release as the talisman gradually merged with his body.
• Moriyue used the jutsu to reconstruct his body, then discovered he had become a small black-and-white Jibaku Cat.
• Kaede arrived to bring Moriyue to train, mistook the cat for a pet, and grabbed and sniffed him.
• Kazeki asked Kaede where Moriyue was, and Kaede said she had found the little cat instead.

Moriyue, trapped in kitten form, endured the women’s relentless petting and escaped when Yugito Nii suggested neutering him. As the group discussed Moriyue’s absence and their performance in the exam, he listened nearby while they resolved to grow stronger.

• Kaede passed Moriyue to Kazeki, who rubbed his fur and tried repeatedly to press down his upright tail.
• Yugito Nii examined Moriyue and suggested he should be neutered, prompting him to break free and fend off Ando.
• Kaede arrived and said Moriyue had not shown up, while Kazeki urged the others to let their captain rest.
• Yugito Nii reviewed the group’s exam performance and said their strength remained inadequate.
• The three lowered their heads as they recalled their helplessness against Kakuzu and Hidan and recognized their need to improve.

Yugito Nii set Kazeki, Ando, and Kaede the task of catching Moriyue before nightfall, while threatening to have him neutered. Moriyue escaped their pursuit and unexpectedly drew on Chakra to break free of Kazeki, leaving her wondering whether she had imagined it.

• Yugito Nii praised the trio’s resolve and assigned them to catch Moriyue before nightfall, adding that she planned to have him neutered.
• Moriyue fled at full speed, determined to protect himself, while Kazeki, Ando, and Kaede began the chase.
• Kazeki spotted Moriyue hiding among black jars, and Ando pursued him with a net before revealing that he had used a clone.
• Moriyue ran into Kazeki and accidentally touched her, but she grabbed him and prepared to rub his fur off.
• Moriyue drew on his newly accumulated Chakra, broke free of Kazeki’s hands, and vanished as she wondered if a cat could really use Chakra.

Moriyue escaped Kazeki and the others after unlocking his body’s potential, but the effort drained his Chakra and left him hungry. After eating at a restaurant, he was caught by Kaede, Kazeki, and Ando, and the chase ended at night with the three finally grabbing him.

• Moriyue escaped Kazeki and lamented that his Chakra was depleted, then searched for food rather than rummaging through garbage.
• Moriyue entered a small restaurant, used the menu to request milk, and drank the bottle the owner gave him.
• Kaede found Moriyue using phosphor powder, and Moriyue tried to escape by kicking at her as Kazeki and Ando blocked his way.
• Moriyue fought Kazeki, Kaede, and Ando until dusk, with neither side gaining the upper hand.
• Moriyue pretended to collapse from exhaustion, and Kazeki, Kaede, and Ando scooped him up as night fell.

Yugito Nii praised the group’s teamwork and recruited Moriyue, Kazeki, and Ando into her guard unit, with training set to begin the next day. Moriyue tried and failed to escape while she carried him home, then realized she might be warmer than he had thought.

• Yugito Nii cleaned Moriyue and praised the group for working together during the test.
• Yugito Nii told Kazeki and Ando that they would join her, along with Moriyue, after discussing it with Darui.
• Ando eagerly accepted, while Kazeki checked that the decision would not cause trouble with Darui.
• Yugito Nii told Kaede that training would begin tomorrow and criticized her crude use of Tailed Beast power.
• Kazeki and the others left without realizing they had forgotten Moriyue, and Yugito Nii carried him home.
• Moriyue repeatedly tried to escape Yugito Nii, then wondered if his little Yuzu teacher was not as cold as she seemed.

Moriyue explored Yugito Nii’s unexpectedly cozy home and saw photographs revealing her happy childhood and the devastation war brought to her family. As Yugito Nii fed and petted him, she let slip that she was exhausted by complicated relationships, leaving Moriyue wondering who had pressured her.

• Yugito Nii brought Moriyue into her pink, plush-filled room and went to get them food.
• Moriyue examined photographs showing Yugito Nii as a baby, enjoying a happy childhood, and later standing wounded among the ruins of a burned home.
• Yugito Nii caught Moriyue looking at the photographs, moved him away from the desk, and asked whether he had seen anything private.
• Yugito Nii gave Moriyue warm milk and bread, then stroked him while saying she envied cats and wished she could become one.
• Moriyue quietly endured Yugito Nii’s petting and wondered what had caused her recent stress.

Moriyue returned home after spending the night in cat form with Yugito Nii, then resumed his forbidden jutsu research. By dawn, he had revived one of Kakuzu’s hearts and prepared to test its black tentacles through a transplant.

• Moriyue left Yugito Nii’s home in cat form, changed back into a human at his own house, and sealed away the transformation jutsu prototype.
• Moriyue worked through the night on his forbidden jutsu research as lightning flashed outside.
• Moriyue used runes and a specimen to investigate the black tentacles of one of Kakuzu’s hearts, which he had removed from Kakuzu.
• Moriyue revived the heart and decided to transplant it into himself to test its tentacles.

Moriyue tried to transplant a heavily modified heart made from tentacles and forbidden jutsu, but it began draining his body and transforming into something unknown. As he fought it in a cycle of absorption and recovery, Kazeki respected his note and continued training with Yugito Nii.

• Moriyue postponed training with Kazeki and the others, shut himself in, and prepared to transplant the modified heart.
• The black tentacles wrapped around Moriyue and rapidly drained his flesh, blood, Chakra, and life force.
• Moriyue used his life force and Reverse to recover and reclaim Chakra, but the tentacles grew suckers and red-and-black pupils.
• Moriyue and the tentacles entered a stalemate, repeatedly draining and restoring his body.
• Kazeki saw Moriyue's note, chose not to disturb him, and returned her attention to Yugito Nii's training.

Kaede trained with Yugito Nii, who urged her to explore Chōmei’s abilities beyond its scales. Meanwhile, Moriyue subdued the tentacles through the help of his sealing chains, then discovered a strange iron gate in his mental world that left him wondering whether he had become a Jinchuriki.

• Kaede recalled winning a battle of wills against Chōmei to earn its recognition, while Ando and Kazeki trained nearby.
• Yugito Nii demonstrated her two-tailed flames and advised Kaede to develop Chōmei’s insect-related powers.
• Moriyue struggled against the tentacles as they damaged his body, until black chains emerged from his chest and drained their Chakra.
• The weakened tentacles left a wing-shaped tattoo on Moriyue’s back, while his chains gained spikes and red markings.
• Moriyue entered his mental world and found a chained iron gate bearing a red eye, prompting him to wonder whether he had become a Jinchuriki.

Moriyue returned to his companions after gaining control of the black tentacles, but his white hair alarmed them because they believed it was a sign that he was dying. Yugito Nii insisted he could not die, and after she was summoned away, hostile shinobi mocked the group for fleeing the Chunin Exams.

• Moriyue tested his ability to summon and control black tentacles, then cleaned up and went to meet Yugito Nii and the others.
• Moriyue rejoined the group at lunch, where Kazeki noticed his white hair and realized it likely showed a loss of vitality.
• Yugito Nii told Moriyue he belonged to her and could not die without her permission, and Moriyue reassured her that he would survive.
• Yugito Nii was summoned away by the Raikage, and several shinobi began insulting the group as deserters who had fled the Chunin Exams.

Moriyue confronted three hoodlums who insulted his squad and invoked Kumogakure’s Law of Mutual Destruction in Commotion. Yugito Nii stopped his punishment by announcing that Lord Raikage wanted to see him, Kazeki, and Ando, and said she had learned about their actions on the way.

• Three hoodlums provoked Moriyue, Kazeki, and Ando by insulting their squad and targeting Moriyue’s closeness to Yugito Nii.
• Moriyue ignored Kazeki and Ando’s warnings and struck one of the hoodlums, triggering punishment under the Law of Mutual Destruction in Commotion.
• A public official prepared to punish Moriyue and the hoodlums, but Yugito Nii arrived and ordered the enforcers to stand down because Lord Raikage wanted to see Moriyue.
• The enforcer struck the three hoodlums while Moriyue went with Yugito Nii, who also summoned Kazeki and Ando and said she had learned about their actions.

Moriyue met the Raikage after Yugito Nii reported his accomplishments in the Chunin Exams, and the Raikage praised his conduct and strength. The Raikage then revealed that the Akatsuki had mistaken one of Moriyue’s teammates for a Jinchuriki and prepared to entrust him with a more important task.

• Yugito Nii told Moriyue that his achievements qualified him and Kazeki for promotion to Chunin and said she would submit their applications to the Raikage.
• Moriyue went alone to the Raikage’s office after Yugito Nii summoned him there.
• The Raikage challenged Moriyue about the trouble he caused during the exams, then praised his defiant response and strength.
• The Raikage told Moriyue that the two Akatsuki members had mistaken one of his teammates for a Tailed Beast Jinchuriki.
• The Raikage indicated that he had a more important assignment for Moriyue.

Moriyue and Yugito Nii accepted an S-rank mission to capture a dangerous creature near Takigakure, with Moriyue suspecting it was connected to Talismans. Before they set out, they celebrated their Chunin promotions with their friends, and Kazeki and Ando both got drunk.

• Moriyue remembered that Ajisai had misidentified Kazeki as the Seven-Tails' Jinchuriki and told Hidan and the others about her.
• The Raikage assigned Moriyue and Yugito Nii an S-rank mission to capture an unusual dangerous creature near Takigakure, and they accepted.
• The Raikage set their departure for three days later and told them to spend the next two days preparing.
• Yugito Nii asked Darui to look after Kazeki, the others, and Kaede while she and Moriyue were away.
• Moriyue and Yugito Nii explained the mission to their friends, then joined them for a celebration at a barbecue restaurant.
• Kazeki became incoherently drunk and clung to Moriyue, while Ando cried as he spoke to Darui about his Chunin vest.