Chapter Summaries

Sai tried to build friendships by following advice from books, while Uchiha Cheng and his friends discussed Sasuke and their training. Kakashi was discharged and assigned to train Uchiha Cheng, and Sakura told Uchiha Cheng that Sai had insulted her with a nickname.

• Uchiha Cheng, Naruto, and Sakura reassured Sai that they would help him form bonds, and Sai said he believed Sasuke still cared about his companions because Sasuke had become angry when Sai criticized Uchiha Cheng.
• Sai read that nicknames could strengthen friendships and called Sakura “Ugly Woman” when she approached him by the river, making her angry and causing her to leave.
• Uchiha Cheng welcomed Kakashi out of the hospital with flowers, then accompanied him to Tsunade, who assigned Kakashi to train Uchiha Cheng in ninjutsu.
• Uchiha Cheng celebrated the training assignment at home, and Sakura explained that Sai had insulted her, prompting Uchiha Cheng to offer to beat Sai up.

Uchiha Cheng advised Sai about giving people hurtful nicknames, then trained with Kakashi to develop his Wind Style Chakra. After struggling to shape it into a cutting blade, he sought help from Asuma, who refused to teach him and left him wondering why.

• Uchiha Cheng visited Sai and explained that nicknames should not target someone’s shortcomings before they had built a close relationship.
• Uchiha Cheng left early to meet Kakashi and train in a distant valley, where Kakashi taught him about Chakra nature transformations.
• Uchiha Cheng discovered that his Chakra nature was Wind Style, but he struggled to shape his wind into a blade.
• Kakashi brought Yamato to help with training, and Uchiha Cheng eventually stirred the leaves with a powerful gale but could only mark a leaf with his wind blade.
• Kakashi suggested that Uchiha Cheng learn from Asuma, so Uchiha Cheng visited him with gifts and asked for help.
• Asuma refused Uchiha Cheng, who chased after him and offered all his savings as tuition.

Asuma agreed to teach Uchiha Cheng Wind Style chakra transformations, but the training paused when Yamato led the team on a mission to investigate grave robbers at the Fire Temple. The team found signs that a coffin had been opened, and the missing guide suddenly reappeared as they prepared to inspect it.

• Asuma agreed to help Uchiha Cheng learn Wind Style chakra transformations, with Kakashi and Yamato assisting until the team received a mission.
• Yamato explained that the team had been sent to investigate repeated grave robberies at the Fire Temple, where four important tombs were located.
• At the temple, Yamato suspected the robbers wanted the corpses for the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu, and the guide vanished while leading the team through the dark tombs.
• The team found all four tombs and learned they belonged to former members of the Guardian Shinobi Twelve.
• Sakura found that one coffin had been pried open, and as Yamato, Uchiha Cheng, and Sakura prepared to inspect it, the missing guide appeared.

Uchiha Cheng and the others investigated the attack on Fire Temple while suspecting Danzo’s involvement. During a shift change, they discovered that the guards had been knocked unconscious and one of the Guardian Shinobi’s coffins had vanished.

• Uchiha Cheng and his companions found the guide unconscious in the tomb, and Chiriku joined them as they tried to revive him.
• Chiriku and Asuma revealed that they had both belonged to the Guardian Shinobi Twelve, four of whom were buried at Fire Temple.
• Yamato suspected the incident might not be Akatsuki’s work, while Asuma and Uchiha Cheng privately agreed that Danzo could be involved.
• Tsunade ordered Shizune to arrange for unfamiliar Anbu personnel to monitor Danzo as Uchiha Cheng’s group remained at Fire Temple.
• When Yamato’s group went to relieve the guards, they found them unconscious and discovered that one coffin was missing.

Uchiha Cheng and his team confronted Fēng Yàn and two other enemies who had been stealing the coffins, and they suspected the attackers were sent by someone in Konoha, possibly Danzo. The battle continued as the team coordinated their abilities, with Uchiha Cheng facing a woman skilled in illusion techniques.

• Uchiha Cheng and Yamato watched the remaining coffins, but another monster vanished, prompting Yamato to suggest reporting their findings to Lady Tsunade.
• The attackers returned for the coffins and were caught in Yamato's Wood Release trap, revealing Fēng Yàn, who trapped the team in a powerful wind cage.
• Uchiha Cheng used some of the Nine-Tails' power to break through the cage, and the team escaped by attacking one point together.
• Two more enemies appeared, and Asuma pointed out that their abilities seemed tailored to the team, strengthening their suspicion that someone from Konoha, possibly Danzo, had sent them.
• Yamato warned the team to protect one another, and they began fighting together as Yamato helped Sakura attack while Uchiha Cheng confronted a woman skilled in illusions.

Uchiha Cheng and his companions fought enemies who had stolen their comrade’s coffin, but one woman’s mastery of all five Chakra natures made her a formidable opponent. The enemies abruptly withdrew before the group could capture them, leaving the stolen coffin still to be recovered.

• A woman repeatedly changed her appearance and tried to kiss Uchiha Cheng, who punched her after she copied Sakura’s face.
• Uchiha Cheng, Asuma, and Yamato gained the upper hand and recognized the scent of soil from Lord Hoku On’s hidden tomb, confirming their opponents had taken the coffin.
• Asuma trapped an enemy in a wind vortex and wounded him with spinning kunai while Uchiha Cheng watched and learned from the fight.
• Uchiha Cheng faced the woman as she used Wind, Fire, Water, and Lightning Style, then revealed she could wield all five Chakra natures.
• The enemies suddenly vanished after receiving an urgent message, and Yamato stopped Uchiha Cheng from pursuing them.

After the coffins were stolen, Uchiha Cheng and his team returned to Konoha and received a new mission to investigate the theft at the Fire Temple alongside Anbu. As the team traveled, Sai recovered away from them and struggled to decide where his loyalties belonged.

• Yamato and Asuma explained that the enemies had focused on capturing Uchiha Cheng, and the group returned to Konoha after finding no clues.
• Sakura discovered Sai's injury and treated him, but Danzo later took Sai away to recover, leaving him off the next team.
• Tsunade assigned Uchiha Cheng and his companions to a special unit with Anbu members to investigate the stolen coffins at the Fire Temple.
• Uchiha Cheng asked Yamato about the enemy with five Chakra natures, and Yamato suggested the abilities might have come from experimentation.
• An Anbu member told Uchiha Cheng that the Guardian Shinobi Twelve had once attempted a coup, prompting him to wonder if it was connected to the stolen coffins.
• Sai reflected on his growing attachment to Uchiha Cheng and the others while recovering, and Yamato reviewed the team's plans as they neared the Fire Temple.

Uchiha Cheng and his companions trained under Asuma’s guidance after Sora joined their group, while the Anbu tracked down Danzo and a captured Rain Ninja. Tsunade began Danzo’s interrogation, but Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu arrived as it started.

• The Anbu followed clues north as Yamato’s group prepared to pursue their targets.
• Yamato introduced Sora as Sai’s replacement, and Asuma helped the group learn each other’s abilities and practice team formations.
• Asuma trained Uchiha Cheng in Wind Release, and Uchiha Cheng shattered wooden stakes with his chakra.
• The Anbu captured Danzo and a Rain Ninja and brought them before Tsunade for judgment.
• Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu arrived as Tsunade began Danzo’s interrogation.

Tsunade failed to force Danzo to explain his meeting with Rain Ninja, exposing how little authority she held over the village’s elders. During a village assembly, Sora attacked Tsunade and fled as a coordinated assault began, leaving Uchiha Cheng torn between pursuing Sora and helping defend the village.

• Tsunade questioned Danzo about his meeting with Rain Ninja, but Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu defended his right to remain silent and challenged her surveillance of him.
• Uchiha Cheng told Asuma what he had witnessed, and Asuma offered to share something about Cheng’s father.
• Sora attacked Tsunade during her public assembly, then fled as other concealed attackers struck the village.
• Tsunade raised the village alert level to Level One and assigned Shikamaru to plan the operation.
• Uchiha Cheng caught up with Sora and demanded to know who had sent him, but Sora insisted Cheng should help protect the village instead.
• Sakura fought an Earth Release expert while Naruto noted that Cheng had gone after Sora and suspected the attackers were connected to Danzo.

Uchiha Cheng fought Sora, then returned to Konoha as the coup and invasion spread, with a mysterious force driving Sora and others to destroy the village. As Kakashi and Yamato tried to contain the Nine-Tails power surging inside Uchiha Cheng, the enemy’s devastating Raimu Raijin barrier threatened everyone within it.

• Uchiha Cheng fought Sora, whose flames and totem escape left Uchiha Cheng unable to learn the reason for his revenge.
• Asuma faced the resurrected Nan Shin, Sai To, To U, and Bei Yin, while Yamato rushed to support him and Kakashi kept watch.
• Uchiha Cheng abandoned his pursuit of Sora and returned to Konoha, where he joined Sakura and the others against the Earth Release ninja.
• A cloaked person urged Sora to destroy Konoha, while enemy forces established a barrier around the village and Tsunade was pinned down in battle.
• Uchiha Cheng’s Nine-Tails power began to run wild, so Kakashi attempted to seal it and Yamato restrained it with Wood Release.
• The enemy’s Raimu Raijin barrier threatened to pulverize everyone and everything caught inside it.

Uchiha Cheng destroyed the invading shinobi’s first barrier and helped Konoha repel the attack, but he suspected a second assault was coming. When the Raimu Raijin barrier began forming again and corpse-made puppets appeared, he joined Yamato to search for their controller, while Sora questioned the cloaked leader about his repeated attempts to speak with him.

• Uchiha Cheng used the Nine-Tails’ power to defeat a barrier caster, destroying the barrier and restoring the defenders’ morale.
• Uchiha Cheng warned the village to stay alert, while Shikamaru arranged medical care and guards and Kakashi joined the search for missing people, including Sakura.
• Naruto captured an enemy shinobi, but the prisoner refused to tell Tsunade who planned the attack.
• Uchiha Cheng found Sakura’s hair ribbon in the mud and continued searching, then discovered that the Raimu Raijin barrier was forming again on a wider scale.
• Uchiha Cheng saw the enemy’s corpse-made puppets and deduced where their controller might be, so he set out with Yamato to find the main body.
• Sora asked the cloaked leader why he kept speaking to him privately about their ideal system.

Sora learned he was a clone of a Jinchuriki and, under the masked man's influence, attacked Uchiha Cheng as the demon fox's power took over. The battle exposed the masked man's identity as Kawama, a living former comrade of Asuma.

• The masked man told Sora he was a Jinchuriki's clone, then urged him to fulfill his mission by destroying the village.
• Sora drew on the demon fox's power and attacked Uchiha Cheng, while Yamato tried and failed to restrain him with Wood Release.
• Yamato targeted the masked man as Uchiha Cheng fought Sora, and Asuma joined Yamato after finding them and recognizing the man's familiar ninjutsu.
• Asuma removed the masked man's mask, and Uchiha Cheng recognized him as Kawama, one of the Guardian Shinobi Twelve who was alive in the real world.

Uchiha Cheng and Yamato restrained Sora’s rampaging Nine-Tails power, but Sakura’s attempt to treat him triggered another, more violent outbreak. With Naruto heading into the forest to check on Asuma’s battle with Kazuma, Uchiha Cheng and the others faced Sora’s renewed rampage.

• Shikamaru restrained Sora with his Shadow Binding Technique, but Sora broke free and injured him before Uchiha Cheng intervened.
• Uchiha Cheng released his Nine-Tails power and, with Yamato ready to contain him, suppressed Sora’s tailed-beast power without losing control of his own.
• Sakura tried to treat Sora’s damaged nerves while Naruto went to check on Asuma and Kazuma’s ongoing fight in the forest.
• Sora’s power reflected onto Sakura, so Uchiha Cheng pulled her away as Sora erupted into an even fiercer rampage.
• Uchiha Cheng rejected the idea that Kazuma controlled Sora’s mind and prepared to restrain Sora’s power again.

Uchiha Cheng helped calm Sora while Asuma confronted Kazuma, who eventually left after Asuma tried to reach him. After returning to a damaged village, Uchiha Cheng visited his injured companions as everyone began rebuilding and preparing for future threats.

• Naruto joined Asuma in fighting Kazuma, while Asuma argued that their past plans for a coup had been wrong.
• Uchiha Cheng restrained Sora and successfully calmed him, then sent Yamato to check on Asuma.
• Kazuma left after Asuma tried to persuade him, and the group returned to the village, where they learned of the battle's casualties.
• Uchiha Cheng visited the cemetery with the others, and they resolved to face future enemies and help rebuild the village.
• Uchiha Cheng encouraged Konohamaru, who was taking a mission to earn money for reconstruction, then visited Kakashi and Sai at Konoha Hospital.

Kakashi’s team was first assigned to travel to the Land of Lightning and warn it about a possible Akatsuki attack on the Eight-Tails, but Tsunade canceled the mission and had them train in the village. She later urgently sent Kakashi, Uchiha Cheng, Sakura, and Naruto to reinforce the Fire Temple, where Akatsuki members had attacked.

• Kakashi told Uchiha Cheng, Sakura, and Naruto that they would travel to the Land of Lightning to check on the Eight-Tails and warn its people about Akatsuki.
• Kakashi later explained that Tsunade had canceled their mission and wanted them to train their individual abilities under his supervision.
• Uchiha Cheng struggled to cut a waterfall with Wind Style Chakra and felt discouraged by his slower progress, but Kakashi urged him to be patient.
• Tsunade urgently summoned Kakashi’s team and sent them to reinforce the Fire Temple, where Akatsuki members were fighting.
• Kakashi led Uchiha Cheng, Sakura, and Naruto toward the Fire Temple; they checked their supplies and saw smoke rising as they arrived nearby.

Uchiha Cheng and Kakashi’s team reached the Fire Temple, where Hidan and Kakuzu had mortally wounded Chiriku. After the Akatsuki pair escaped with Chiriku’s body, Shikamaru arrived with news of a bounty, but Kakashi and Uchiha Cheng suspected the body had been taken for another reason.

• Uchiha Cheng and his companions reached the Fire Temple and found Hidan attacking Chiriku; Sakura treated Chiriku while Kakashi and Uchiha Cheng confronted Hidan and Kakuzu.
• Sakura confirmed that Chiriku had died, and Kakashi warned Uchiha Cheng not to unleash the Nine-Tails’ power.
• Yamato arrived with reinforcements and announced that their mission was to execute Hidan and Kakuzu, but the Akatsuki members escaped after using a smoke bomb.
• Uchiha Cheng discovered that Chiriku’s body had disappeared and urged the team to pursue the Akatsuki.
• Shikamaru arrived and said Chiriku had a large bounty, suggesting the Akatsuki had taken his body to claim it, though Kakashi and Uchiha Cheng suspected another motive.

Uchiha Cheng, Kakashi, and their companions attacked the bounty exchange where Akatsuki had brought Master Chiriku's corpse, but Hidan and Kakuzu escaped before they could be captured. Asuma tracked the pair down and confronted them, seeking justice for his slain friend.

• Kakashi decided the group should travel together to the bounty exchange, and he explained that powerful shinobi could be targeted with bounties.
• Uchiha Cheng and the others found the exchange surrounded by coffins and corpses, then followed Kakashi's plan to attack its members and Akatsuki.
• Shikamaru restrained the Akatsuki members with the Shadow Binding Technique while Uchiha Cheng fought the exchange's security shinobi.
• Kakashi used the Rasengan during the battle and later explained that Jiraiya had taught it to him, but the group could not find Master Chiriku or capture Hidan and Kakuzu.
• Asuma followed a different trail, found Hidan and Kakuzu resting, and confronted them over their murder of his friend.

Asuma and Shikamaru fought Hidan and Kakuzu while Kakashi and Uchiha Cheng raced to reach them. Hidan’s blood-based curse left Asuma trapped, but Shikamaru pulled him out of danger at the last moment.

• Asuma and Shikamaru split up to fight Hidan and Kakuzu, and Hidan’s attack briefly paralyzed Shikamaru.
• Asuma discovered that Hidan could inflict his own injuries on anyone whose blood he had drunk, while Shikamaru used his shadow to help Asuma sever Hidan’s head.
• Hidan survived decapitation, then ordered Kakuzu to stay back and resumed fighting Asuma and Shikamaru alone.
• Kakashi told Uchiha Cheng that reaching Asuma and the others would take at least thirty minutes, and ordered him to reinforce his skills on the way.
• Hidan drew a Curse Seal with his blood and used the connection to make Asuma and Shikamaru suffer his injuries.
• Asuma fell under Hidan’s control, but Shikamaru used the Shadow Binding Technique to pull him out of the small area before Hidan could strike.

After Asuma died in the battle against Hidan, Shikamaru arranged his funeral while Uchiha Cheng trained under Kakashi. Kurenai returned to Konoha and learned from Shikamaru that Asuma had been killed.

• Uchiha Cheng and Kakashi found Shikamaru beside Asuma's body and learned that Shikamaru had killed Hidan while Kakuzu escaped.
• Kakuzu returned to Akatsuki, where the Two-Tails was sealed, while the Konoha shinobi brought Asuma's body back to the village.
• Shikamaru asked Tsunade to let him oversee Asuma's funeral, and she agreed.
• Kakashi urged Uchiha Cheng, Sakura, and the others to grow stronger, and he later taught Uchiha Cheng a technique for precise long-range cutting.
• Shikamaru completed Asuma's funeral arrangements and coped with his grief at home while his father left him alone.
• Kurenai returned from a mission, met Shikamaru, and learned that Asuma had been killed by Hidan.

Shikamaru grieved Asuma's death, found comfort from his father, and resolved to seek revenge with his former teammates. As Tsunade approved their mission against Akatsuki, Uchiha Cheng asked to join and was given twelve hours to demonstrate enough training progress to qualify.

• Kurenai questioned Shikamaru about Asuma's death, then ran to the cemetery while Shikamaru stayed home with Asuma's lighter.
• Uchiha Cheng and Sakura visited Shikamaru but could not see him, so they left gifts with his father, who comforted Shikamaru as he broke down crying.
• After calming down, Shikamaru resolved to avenge Asuma and gathered his two former teammates to seek the Hokage's approval for a mission against Akatsuki.
• Uchiha Cheng asked Kakashi whether support would be sent to Shikamaru's team and volunteered to join them.
• Tsunade told Uchiha Cheng that he had twelve hours to make sufficient training progress or she would send another team, and Kakashi stayed to help him train.