Chapter Summaries

Hagoromo learned that Minato had become Konoha’s sole candidate for Fourth Hokage and was assigned to guard him during the transition. He weighed his desire to stay in Konoha with Kushina against his duty, and prepared to return to the battlefield.

• Kushina told Hagoromo that Minato had been confirmed as the only candidate for Fourth Hokage, while both of them remained troubled by Obito and Rin’s fate.
• Hagoromo learned that the Third Hokage had ordered him to serve as Minato’s guard and authorized the guards to kill even Konoha ninja who threatened Minato.
• Hagoromo considered refusing his new mission so he could stay near Kushina, but decided it was too early to leave his duties and that he could help Minato remain vigilant.
• Kushina told Hagoromo that Kakashi was struggling with grief and that Minato intended to send him to the Anbu.
• Hagoromo suggested that Kakashi might be better off staying with Kai, then accepted that he would soon return to the battlefield.

Minato formed a new guard squad with Hagoromo, Aburame Shibi, and Akimichi Chōza, then led Konoha forces in a frontal assault to drive Iwagakure out of the Land of Grass. The chapter ended with Iwagakure ninja debating whether Minato or Hagoromo was faster as the squad leader fled after recognizing Hagoromo as the White Yaksha.

• Minato assembled Hagoromo, Aburame Shibi, and Akimichi Chōza as his new guard squad and assigned Kakashi Hatake to the Anbu.
• Minato's squad returned to the battlefield as Konoha shifted its forces toward confronting Iwagakure in the Land of Grass.
• Minato briefed his squad on a frontal assault meant to pressure Iwagakure into retreating from the Land of Grass.
• Minato and Hagoromo led Konoha's attack while Aburame Shibi handled reconnaissance and Akimichi Chōza provided defense.
• Iwagakure ninja recognized Minato as the Yellow Flash and argued over whether Hagoromo was faster before their squad leader identified him as the White Yaksha and fled.

Hagoromo struggled to keep up with Minato during a Konoha attack, while Iwagakure targeted him for his past role in the deaths of the Third Lightning Shadow and Huangtu. The assault ended with Minato’s Team covering the retreat, and Hagoromo remained focused on his exhausting guard duty.

• Hagoromo chased Minato through the battlefield as the Yellow Flash struck Iwagakure ninja and repeatedly vanished ahead of him.
• Iwagakure ninja recognized Hagoromo as the White Yaksha and recalled Ōnoki’s order to prioritize killing him.
• Hagoromo cut through an Earth Flow Wall with Chidori Sharp Spear and fought alongside the insect-covered enemies and Akimichi Chōza.
• Hagoromo, Chōza, and their teammate withdrew after locating Minato, keeping close to him as his guards.
• A whistle signaled the end of Konoha’s attack, and Minato’s Team stayed behind to cover the retreat.

After Iwagakure retreated from the Land of Grass, Konoha shifted its focus to Kumogakure as the war neared its end. During a lull before redeployment, Minato struggled to add Wind Release to the Rasengan while Hagoromo worked on his own arm.

• Minato's Team supported Minato during Konoha's repeated attacks on Iwagakure's supply-starved forces, and Iwagakure withdrew to the Land of Earth.
• Konoha and Iwagakure effectively entered a ceasefire, leaving the Land of Grass as a buffer and Kumogakure as Konoha's only remaining enemy.
• Konoha prepared to redeploy most of its forces to the Land of Rice Fields, and Minato's Team waited among the last units to leave.
• Minato tried to develop a Wind Release Rasengan but could not find a way to prevent it from injuring its user.
• Hagoromo carved something into his left arm with a scalpel, drawing blood.

Hagoromo experimented with engraving technique formulas into his arm to develop a new Lightning Release technique, while Minato warned him about the physical strain. Before they could test the idea further, Minato's Team received orders to leave for the Land of Rice Fields immediately and set out.

• Hagoromo carved technique formulas into his left forearm under local electric anesthesia as part of a small-scale experiment.
• Minato cautioned Hagoromo about the technique's burden, and Hagoromo said he would avoid harming his body.
• Minato helped Hagoromo clean and bandage his arm after the experiment.
• Akimichi Chōza and Aburame Shibi informed Minato that the team's departure for the Land of Rice Fields had been moved up.
• Minato's Team confirmed they were ready and immediately left for the Land of Rice Fields.

Jiraiya summoned Minato's Team to the Land of Rice Fields and assigned them to hunt Kumogakure forces who might infiltrate Konoha's lines as the front was reorganized. He warned the team about the ab Combination and singled out Hagoromo, whose role in the Third Lightning Shadow's death made him a likely target.

• Jiraiya summoned Minato's Team from the former Iwagakure front to the Land of Rice Fields, where Orochimaru was preparing to leave for Konoha.
• Jiraiya explained that Konoha would straighten its front line and withdraw from unnecessary clashes with Kumogakure.
• Jiraiya assigned Minato's Team to eliminate Kumogakure ninja who hid near Konoha's lines or infiltrated them during the operation.
• Jiraiya warned Minato's Team about the powerful ab Combination, including the Third Lightning Shadow's son and the Eight Tails Jinchuriki.
• Jiraiya cautioned Hagoromo in particular, and Hagoromo realized Kumogakure would target him for killing the Third Lightning Shadow.

Minato’s Team cleared Kumogakure stragglers near the front before Aburame Shibi detected two distant enemies whose presence terrified his Kikaichu. The team abandoned its routine targets and pursued them, leaving Hagoromo uneasy when he realized who they might be.

• Konoha sent Minato’s Team to eliminate dangerous enemies and clean up the battlefield near the Kumogakure front.
• Aburame Shibi detected a lone enemy hiding in a tree, and Minato teleported to him and slit his throat.
• Aburame Shibi sensed two distant enemies and reported that his Kikaichu felt intense fear and dread.
• Minato’s Team left the ordinary enemies behind and headed toward the two powerful targets.
• Hagoromo recognized the likely duo and felt unsettled that they had encountered them instead of Old Man.

Minato’s team tracked two Kumogakure ninja, whom they believed included the Eight Tails Jinchuriki and the future Fourth Raikage, and prepared to attack. The chapter ended as Hagoromo launched a lightning-charged arrow at Nii Yugito, the newly revealed Two Tails Jinchuriki.

• Hagoromo identified A as the likely future Fourth Raikage and Killer B as the Eight Tails Jinchuriki, prompting Minato to prioritize the Jinchuriki while sparing A if possible.
• Aburame Shibi sensed that one of the two approaching enemies had far stronger chakra than the other, but Minato kept the team’s plan unchanged.
• Minato’s team found two young Kumogakure kunoichi, and Minato recognized that one was a major threat despite having no intelligence on them.
• The stronger kunoichi was revealed to be Nii Yugito, Kumogakure’s new Two Tails Jinchuriki, while the other was the Chunin Samui.
• Hagoromo drew an iron bow and fired a lightning-charged arrow at Nii Yugito’s head.

Hagoromo’s long-range Iron Arrow struck Nii Yugito, but the wounded Jinchuriki transformed into the Two-Tails and attacked him with a Tailed Beast Ball. Minato rescued Hagoromo and Aburame Shibi, while Aburame Shibi sent his insects to drain the beast’s chakra.

• Hagoromo sniped Nii Yugito with an electrically accelerated Iron Arrow, and she fell with a grave chest wound.
• Minato warned that Yugito was still alive as the Two-Tails’ chakra surged through her and pulled the arrow from her shoulder.
• Samui fled to seek help while Yugito transformed into the Two-Tails, which prepared a Tailed Beast Ball aimed at Hagoromo and Aburame Shibi.
• Hagoromo shot two Lightning Arrows into the Two-Tails’ left eye, but failed to interrupt its attack.
• Minato transported Hagoromo and Aburame Shibi to Akimichi Chōza, and Aburame Shibi covered the Two-Tails with insects as its Tailed Beast Ball exploded nearby.

Minato’s team battled the Two Tails after Hagoromo’s surprise strike failed to stop its transformation. As the beast charged Hagoromo, he prepared a sealing technique and ordered everyone to retreat.

• The Two Tails fired a Tailed Beast Ball, while Shibi’s Kikaichu swarm failed to absorb its chakra and burned to ash.
• Minato judged that Kumogakure would soon send reinforcements and ordered the team to continue its attack.
• Chōza enlarged himself, Minato summoned Gamabunta, and Hagoromo kept attacking the Two Tails with iron arrows.
• The Two Tails swept Gamabunta aside, knocked Chōza away, and charged at Hagoromo.
• Hagoromo reached into his Ninja Tool Pouch and told Minato and the others to retreat at least two hundred meters.

Hagoromo tried to seal the Two-Tails with a Reverse Four Symbols Seal, but it bounced the scroll back and destroyed it, leaving him drained after he wounded the beast. With Kumogakure forces closing in, Minato’s Team prepared to end the battle and withdraw, having learned that Kumogakure had a new young female Jinchuriki.

• Hagoromo threw a Reverse Four Symbols Scroll at the charging Two-Tails, but it smacked the scroll back toward him as he formed the seals.
• Hagoromo narrowly avoided activating the seal within its own effective range, then the Two-Tails crushed the scroll and its formula beneath its paw.
• Hagoromo charged beneath the Two-Tails and cut its belly with Chidori Sharp Spear, inflicting external wounds before dodging its tail.
• Gamabunta and enlarged Akimichi Chōza drew the Two-Tails’ attention while Minato asked Hagoromo if he could prepare another seal, and Hagoromo refused because he was out of chakra.
• Aburame Shibi warned Minato that a large Kumogakure force was moving, and Minato’s Team recognized that they had to end the battle and leave.

Minato and Hagoromo discussed whether Tailed Beasts could be killed as Minato's Team withdrew from the Two-Tails disturbance. The war between Konoha and Kumogakure continued with little progress, and Jiraiya told Minato that Danzo had begun making new moves within Konoha.

• Minato explained that destroyed Tailed Beasts would eventually revive, while Hagoromo argued that a method to kill them permanently could be found.
• Minato's Team temporarily withdrew after the Jinchuriki transformed, leaving Kumogakure's forces to deal with the enraged Two-Tails.
• The conflict between Konoha and Kumogakure continued despite a slight decline in clashes, and Konoha failed to secure even a brief ceasefire.
• Jiraiya told Minato that Danzo had begun making new moves within Konoha.

As Konoha’s war dragged on, Minato took on more leadership duties while Hagoromo guarded him from threats within the village. Jiraiya revealed that Danzo had entered the Land of Rain with Root and Anbu, and Hagoromo suspected he planned to help Hanzo suppress Akatsuki, though it was already too late to intervene.

• Minato traveled between Konoha and the front lines as he gradually assumed Hokage duties, while Hagoromo watched for threats around him.
• Jiraiya told Minato that Danzo had led Anbu and Root members into the Land of Rain with Hanzo’s permission.
• Jiraiya said Danzo claimed he was using Amegakure to initiate peace negotiations between the Land of Fire and the Land of Earth.
• Hagoromo recalled that Danzo had agreed to help Amegakure suppress domestic rebels and suspected he was targeting Akatsuki with Hanzo.
• Hagoromo and Jiraiya realized Danzo had already reached the Land of Rain, leaving them unable to act in time.

Hagoromo explained why he would not interfere in Danzo’s official actions and planned to return to Konoha as the war neared its end. Jiraiya set aside his concerns, and the chapter ended with Minato and A’s inevitable confrontation looming on the battlefield.

• Hagoromo reminded Jiraiya that Danzo’s actions followed an old agreement and said he would not take on a Rain Country mission as he prepared to return to Konoha.
• Jiraiya accepted that he could not stop Danzo and changed the subject to Minato’s upcoming wedding.
• Minato said he hoped to make up for the hardship Kushina had endured and the time they had spent apart during the wars.
• Jiraiya said Konoha and Kumogakure remained at a stalemate, though he believed the war was nearing its end.
• The chapter foreshadowed a battlefield encounter between Minato Namikaze and A, Kumogakure’s fastest and strongest ninja.

Minato’s team confronted A and Killer B’s Kumogakure team, and Minato and Hagoromo were assigned to face the two brothers. Hagoromo and Killer B began their duel, which ended with Hagoromo revealing a Lightning Release technique that the enemy sensory ninja could not detect.

• Aburame Shibi detected A and Killer B approaching with four other Kumogakure ninja, and Minato chose to meet them head-on.
• A and Killer B identified Minato and Hagoromo as their targets, and both teams prepared to fight.
• Minato assigned Akimichi Chōza and Aburame Shibi to cover him and Hagoromo as they faced A and Killer B.
• Hagoromo warned Minato about A’s Lightning Release Chakra Mode, then objected to Killer B calling him the White Yaksha.
• Killer B drew seven swords and called his technique Eight Swords Style, while Hagoromo gathered Iron Sand into a sword.
• When Kumogakure’s sensory ninja warned that Hagoromo had no detectable chakra, Hagoromo named his technique Chidori Current Second Stage.

Hagoromo and Minato fought Killer B and A, using Iron Sand and Flying Thunder God to turn the battle against the brothers. Hagoromo deliberately let Killer B’s final blade pierce his chest, leaving his condition uncertain.

• Hagoromo used eight vibrating Iron Sand Whips to trap and wound Killer B as the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki advanced through them.
• A attacked Minato, but Minato used Flying Thunder God to evade him and strike with a kunai and Rasengan.
• Killer B summoned an Eight-Tails tentacle to save A, but Hagoromo pierced it with his Iron Sand Whips and severed it with an extended Iron Sand Sword.
• Minato drove A into the ground while Killer B charged Hagoromo with his seven Lightning Release blades.
• Hagoromo blocked six of Killer B’s blades with a vibrating Iron Sand Shield, then deliberately let the final sword pierce his chest and send him into a tree.

Minato overwhelmed A with Flying Thunder God, then found Hagoromo gravely wounded after Hagoromo abruptly stopped resisting Killer B. As Killer B transformed into the Eight-Tails, Minato prepared to withdraw with Hagoromo, who claimed he still had one final surprise attack.

• Minato struck A with a Rasengan and kunai, but A blocked the kunai and remained unharmed despite being knocked into a crater.
• Minato reached Hagoromo and stopped him from pulling the sword out of his chest, recognizing that his wound was severe.
• Hagoromo told Minato that a new formula had failed, though Minato suspected something abnormal had happened.
• Killer B returned to A, and the two decided to attack Hagoromo and Minato before Killer B began transforming into the Eight-Tails.
• Minato helped Hagoromo prepare to withdraw, but Hagoromo said he still had one final strike that might catch their enemies by surprise.

Hagoromo and Minato coordinated a Flying Thunder God attack on the Eight-Tails while Choza and Aburame Shibi prepared to retreat. A knocked the Eight-Tails aside before Hagoromo’s Railgun hit, severely wounding it, and Minato then teleported the Konoha team away.

• Minato signaled Choza and Aburame Shibi to move closer together as Hagoromo charged his Railgun.
• A attacked Minato, but Minato used a marker on A’s back to teleport behind him and then jump with Hagoromo toward the Eight-Tails.
• A struck the Eight-Tails and sent it flying just before Hagoromo fired, causing the Railgun to hit its shoulder and neck instead of its head.
• Minato teleported to Choza and Aburame Shibi, and the four Konoha shinobi escaped using the Flying Thunder God.

While recovering from severe injuries, Hagoromo learned that Minato would return to Konoha with him as Kumogakure’s new Raikage and the Eight Tails Jinchuriki’s injuries eased the threat on the front. As they traveled home, Hagoromo privately resolved to do something, though the chapter left his plans unknown.

• Hagoromo spent a week recovering in the frontline hospital, where Minato visited and told him Kushina had scolded him over the injury.
• Minato explained that A had become the Fourth Raikage and the Eight Tails Jinchuriki had been seriously injured, reducing Kumogakure’s threat and allowing Minato to return to Konoha.
• Minato said Choza and Shibi would remain at the front, while his guard detail would be replaced and Hagoromo’s next assignment would wait until he recovered.
• Hagoromo was carried into a carriage and traveled toward Konoha with other injured ninja, guarded by Minato.
• As Konoha drew near, Hagoromo remained absorbed in his thoughts, and no one else knew what he was about to do.

While Hagoromo recovered in Konoha Hospital, Kushina visited him daily and discussed her upcoming wedding, which he worried he would miss because of his injuries. After Kushina left, Hagoromo reflected on his age and recovery, then struggled to sleep after eating her lunch.

• Kushina scolded Hagoromo for getting injured while fighting the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, then visited him at the hospital with another handmade lunch.
• Hagoromo told Kushina not to postpone her wedding for him, and she said Minato was handling the simple preparations.
• Kushina said none of her students would attend the wedding, since Hagoromo was injured and Kakashi likely had an Anbu mission.
• Kushina reminisced about how small Hagoromo had been when they first met, then left after reminding him to eat her lunch.
• Hagoromo reflected on having lived for five years while still being fifteen, ate Kushina's lunch, and found himself too energized to sleep.