Chapter Summaries

Li Yao’s Wind Style Clone used the Slash Barrier to withstand the Third Kazekage’s Iron Sand attacks, then escaped the Kazekage’s attempt to trap and exhaust him. He overwhelmed the Third Kazekage with Flowing Wind Armor and a storm of Cutting Strikes, leaving him bleeding heavily.

• The Third Kazekage unleashed Iron Sand Rainstorm, but Li Yao’s Wind Style Clone protected himself and the buried Sasori with Slash Barrier, annihilating the Iron Sand senbon.
• The Third Kazekage attacked with Iron Fang and Iron Sand Boundary, but the barrier destroyed both attacks.
• The Third Kazekage buried the barrier in Iron Sand to drain Li Yao’s Chakra, but Li Yao cut his way free with Wind Release: Slash Wave while carrying Sasori.
• Li Yao’s Wind Style Clone revealed Flowing Wind Armor and challenged the Third Kazekage, who fell silent after realizing his Iron Sand could not stop him.
• Li Yao unleashed a torrent of Cutting Strikes that tore through the Third Kazekage and drenched the surrounding sand in blood.

Li Yao’s Wind Style Clone defeated the Third Kazekage and discovered from his memories how he had survived the Five Kage’s attack. The Third Kazekage had sacrificed a Human Puppet Clone to Ōnoki’s Dust Release and secretly directed Sunagakure’s war efforts from the village.

• Li Yao’s Wind Style Clone slashed the Third Kazekage repeatedly but kept him alive, then carried him high into the sky.
• The clone transformed into Kimura Yao and confronted the Third Kazekage, who was shocked that he had survived Ōnoki’s Dust Release.
• When the Third Kazekage refused to explain his survival, Li Yao’s Wind Style Clone used Rinnegan Pupil Power Chakra to read his memories.
• Li Yao learned that the Third Kazekage had secretly created a powerful Human Puppet Clone by nourishing a puppet with his Chakra for years.
• The Third Kazekage had sent that clone to die in his place during the Five Kage’s battle against Li Yao, while his true body remained in Sunagakure.
• The Third Kazekage had secretly manipulated Sunagakure’s response after his supposed death, helping the village consolidate power and attack Iwagakure alongside Konoha.

Li Yao’s Wind Style Clone learned the principles of the Puppet Sealing Method while watching Sasori turn the Third Kazekage into a human puppet. After Sasori tested the puppet’s Magnet Release, Li Yao invited him to return to Sunagakure when he became Kazekage and develop Puppet Ninjutsu.

• Li Yao’s Wind Style Clone decided to spare Sasori so he could continue developing Puppet Ninjutsu.
• Li Yao’s Wind Style Clone gave Sasori the Third Kazekage’s corpse and asked him to demonstrate his Human Puppet Technique.
• Sasori used his prepared puppet and Puppet Sealing Method to absorb the Third Kazekage’s corpse over several hours.
• Li Yao’s Wind Style Clone determined how Sasori’s method differed from the Third Kazekage’s and identified the strengths and weaknesses of each.
• Sasori tested the completed human puppet’s Magnet Release techniques, though its power was limited by his Chakra reserves.
• Li Yao’s Wind Style Clone invited Sasori to return to Sunagakure and promised to support his research after becoming Kazekage.

Li Yao’s Wind Style Clone arranged for Sasori to return to Sunagakure after he became Kazekage, while secretly binding Sasori to a Flying Thunder God contract. On the journey to Sunagakure, Li Yao tested the Perfect Transformation Jutsu and found it could hide Chakra, though it left him vulnerable while he restored his power.

• Li Yao’s Wind Style Clone promised Sasori that he would become the Fourth Kazekage and ensure Sasori could return safely to the village.
• Li Yao’s Wind Style Clone forced Sasori into a Flying Thunder God contract, which Sasori could not detect after the mark disappeared.
• Li Yao sent a spirit-controlled seagull to find Shinnō and traveled toward Sunagakure with Little Yezi.
• Li Yao’s Shadow Clone used the Puppet Sealing Method to transform into a seagull and eliminate its Chakra signature.
• Li Yao recognized that restoring the converted Spiritual Energy and physical energy would leave him exposed in a fight, and turned to developing other ways to conceal Chakra.

Li Yao's Wind Style Clone returned to Sunagakure alone after an attempted assassination, alarming Advisor Elder Watanabe, who feared Fūgyō had come back for revenge. Watanabe ordered Chiyo and Ebizo brought in, believing only they could stop and capture him if he attacked.

• Sunagakure guards spotted Fūgyō approaching and sent Teach, Gara, and Yōi to support him.
• Fūgyō gave Teach and the others the day's entry hand seal, warned them that the enemy might be in the sky, and rushed through Yixiantian toward the Kazekage Building.
• Ninja from the high-ranking clans saw Fūgyō return alone and hurried to report to Advisor Elder Watanabe.
• Watanabe learned that Fūgyō had returned alone and concluded the assassination had failed, though he could not tell whether Fūgyō intended revenge.
• Watanabe ordered his subordinates to fetch Chiyo and Ebizo, the only people he believed could stop Fūgyō.

Li Yao's Wind Style Clone reported that Nanjiro and Yamada had died fighting a powerful Clay Explosion Release shinobi, but Watanabe accused him of killing them and pushed for memory probing. Chiyo and Ebizo arrived and fell silent under Watanabe's pressure, leaving the confrontation unresolved as Chiyo asked Fūgyō to explain what had happened.

• Li Yao's Wind Style Clone went to Watanabe's office after learning the Kazekage was away, while Watanabe secretly watched him and prepared to confront him.
• Watanabe demanded to know why Fūgyō had returned alone, and Fūgyō claimed Nanjiro and Yamada had been killed by a mysterious Clay Explosion Release shinobi.
• Watanabe rejected Fūgyō's account and implied he would have to submit to memory probing to prove his innocence.
• Chiyo and Ebizo entered the office, and Watanabe accused Fūgyō of murdering his companions, forcing them to choose sides.
• Chiyo and Ebizo remained silent as Watanabe provoked Fūgyō, but Chiyo looked up when Fūgyō repeated that he had not killed Nanjiro and Yamada and asked him to explain what happened.

Li Yao's Wind Style Clone persuaded Chiyo and Ebizo that a powerful Clay Explosion Release ninja threatened Sunagakure, while Watanabe tried to force him into memory probing. After Chiyo left to search for the missing Third Kazekage, Li Yao discovered Sasori had poisoned the Kazekage's puppet clone and took research scrolls, preparing for his original body to act.

• Li Yao's Wind Style Clone described the mysterious ninja who had attacked other villages, alarming Chiyo and Ebizo about a possible threat to Sunagakure.
• Watanabe demanded that Li Yao's Wind Style Clone submit to memory probing and sealing, but Li Yao agreed only to undergo it at a jonin meeting convened by the Kazekage.
• Chiyo realized the Third Kazekage was absent and left with Ebizo and two Anbu squads to search for him and her grandson, while warning Watanabe not to target Fūgyō.
• Li Yao's Wind Style Clone infiltrated the secret chamber beneath the Third Kazekage's home and found the Kazekage's puppet clone poisoned and dead.
• Li Yao's Wind Style Clone concluded Sasori had killed the puppet clone, collected several puppet research scrolls, and planned to wait for Chiyo to report the Third Kazekage missing before his original body acted.

Watanabe struggled to respond to the Third Kazekage’s disappearance while Fūgyō gained support from powerful clans. After Chiyo returned with evidence of a battle and no sign of the Kazekage or Sasori, a voice announced that the Third Kazekage was dead and its speaker had killed him.

• Watanabe ordered every Anbu member to search for the missing Third Kazekage along the route to the Feudal Lord’s Mansion.
• Shinji told Watanabe that Fūgyō had met nightly with twenty jonin, including five from three clans outside the Three Great Clans, undermining Watanabe’s plan to frame him.
• Watanabe abandoned his plan to force Fūgyō into a memory inspection and waited for news from the Third Kazekage and Chiyo.
• Chiyo and Ebizo returned with evidence of a major battle at an oasis, but found no trace of the Third Kazekage or Sasori.
• As Sunagakure prepared to search for them, a voice over the loudspeakers declared that the Third Kazekage was dead and that the speaker had killed him.

Li Yao attacked Sunagakure alone from the sky, announcing that he had killed the Third Kazekage and provoking the village into fighting back. Rasa failed to reach him, and Li Yao’s relentless Clay Flying Bird bombardment left Sunagakure overwhelmed and caused heavy destruction and casualties.

• Li Yao announced that the Third Kazekage was dead, taunted Sunagakure, and said Sasori was alive.
• Watanabe ordered the Sand Ninja to attack Li Yao, but their Siege Crossbows could not reach him as he climbed higher.
• Chiyo rejoiced at learning Sasori was alive, while Rasa’s uncle urged him to seize the chance to become the next Kazekage.
• Rasa flew toward Li Yao on Gold Dust and intercepted some Clay Flying Birds, but Li Yao’s focused attacks forced him to retreat and protect people on the ground.
• Ebizo coordinated the village’s defenses and evacuation as Sand Ninja tried to intercept the Clay Flying Birds.
• Li Yao’s continuing bombardment overwhelmed Sunagakure’s defenses, destroyed buildings, and caused severe civilian casualties and losses among the clans.

Pakura joined the defense of Sunagakure and saw Li Yao's Wind Style Clone repel the Clay Flying Birds with powerful Wind Release. As the bombardment continued and the village's defenders neared exhaustion, Li Yao's clone headed toward Chiyo to attack the enemy while Ebizo urged Chiyo to retreat to the shelters.

• Yōi sent Pakura to support Fūgyō, and Pakura reluctantly left her sister to counter the Clay Flying Birds with Scorch Release.
• On her way to Fūgyō's position, Pakura noticed that the Ten Great Clans' districts were under heavier attack and saved villagers with her Scorch Release.
• Pakura watched Li Yao's Wind Style Clone detonate the Clay Flying Birds with Wind Style Slashes, then agreed to defend his position while he went to attack the enemy in the sky.
• Li Yao's bombardment continued for five minutes, leaving Sunagakure ablaze and Chiyo's Ten Puppets damaged as despair spread among the defenders.
• Ebizo told Chiyo that most civilians had reached the shelters and urged her to withdraw there with the others.

Li Yao's Wind Style Clone spent three minutes compressing a terrifying Wind Release technique while Chiyo and the others defended him from the Clay Flying Birds attacking Sunagakure. With the sphere completed, he prepared to strike the airborne enemy, while Chiyo hoped the technique would save the village and become a lasting inheritance.

• Li Yao's Wind Style Clone arrived at the Kazekage Building and told Chiyo he needed three minutes to prepare a ninjutsu that could defeat the enemy in the air.
• Chiyo, Ebizo, Watanabe, and the surviving jonin agreed to protect Li Yao's Wind Style Clone and intercept the Clay Flying Birds during his preparation.
• Bunpuku suppressed Shukaku in the prison and said he trusted his companions to drive the enemy away.
• Chiyo sensed the immense power of Li Yao's Wind Style Clone's compressed Wind Release and suspected it had reached the level of Kekkei Tōta.
• After three minutes, Li Yao's Wind Style Clone completed a small, transparent sphere that filled Chiyo and the others with dread.
• Chiyo offered to carry Li Yao's Wind Style Clone closer to the airborne enemy, but he refused, told everyone to clear the area in front of him, and prepared to attack.

Li Yao’s Wind Style Clone killed the enemy with Wind Style: Vacuum Flash, securing Sunagakure’s support for Fūgyō as Fourth Kazekage. While the exhausted village celebrated, Li Yao freed Shukaku from Bunpuku and unleashed the One-Tails, leaving the clone to face it.

• Li Yao’s Wind Style Clone pierced the enemy with Vacuum Flash, and the falling Clay Flying Birds confirmed the enemy’s death.
• Sunagakure’s ninjas cheered for Fūgyō, while Pakura resolved to surpass him and Rasa accepted that he had lost his chance to become Kazekage.
• Li Yao broke into Bunpuku’s prison, removed the seal, extracted Shukaku, and left as Bunpuku died.
• Shukaku formed outside the prison and silenced the celebrating village, whose ninjas were too exhausted to fight.
• Li Yao watched Shukaku appear and left, expecting his Wind Style Clone to defeat and suppress the One-Tails.

Shukaku broke free and rampaged through the village, while the exhausted Sand ninjas struggled to stop him. Li Yao's Wind Style Clone blocked Shukaku's attack, then pretended to sacrifice his lifespan as he flew off to draw Shukaku away from the village.

• Shukaku escaped, and Chiyo ordered the young villagers into shelters while the remaining ninjas moved to drive him out.
• Chiyo called for Rasa to use Magnet Release against Shukaku, but Ebizo pointed out that Rasa lacked the Chakra to help.
• Shukaku fired a Refined Air Bullet at the Kazekage Building, and Li Yao's Wind Style Clone sliced it apart with Wind Release: Shattering Gale.
• Li Yao's Wind Style Clone claimed he would stop Shukaku even at the cost of his life, and his hair turned white as he appeared to draw on his lifespan for Chakra.
• Li Yao's Wind Style Clone flew toward Shukaku, telling Chiyo to protect the village while he led the beast away.

Li Yao's Wind Style Clone overwhelmed Shukaku and provoked him by claiming the Nine-Tails had received far more Chakra. Shukaku survived being decapitated, leaving Li Yao to suspect that Shukaku was a special kind of Chakra lifeform.

• Li Yao's Wind Style Clone cut off Shukaku's arms and wounded him, then struck his chin to knock a forming Tailed Beast Bomb into the sky.
• Li Yao's Wind Style Clone drove Shukaku away from Sunagakure with repeated punches and split apart Shukaku's wind-and-sand attack.
• Shukaku engulfed Li Yao's Wind Style Clone in sand and tried to seal him, but the clone cut his way free.
• Li Yao's Wind Style Clone taunted Shukaku by saying the Nine-Tails had received most of the Tailed Beast Chakra, enraging Shukaku into preparing another Tailed Beast Bomb.
• Li Yao's Wind Style Clone severed Shukaku's head, but Shukaku's head reformed from sand.

Li Yao's Wind Style Clone cut through Shukaku's Tailed Beast Bomb and proved that Shukaku could not overpower him. When Shukaku fled, the clone sliced him in half at the waist, leaving the arriving Sand shinobi stunned and unsure whether Fūgyō needed their help.

• Shukaku recovered from having his head severed, then formed and fired a Tailed Beast Bomb at Li Yao's Wind Style Clone.
• Li Yao's Wind Style Clone split the Tailed Beast Bomb with Wind Style: Slash Wave, sending its halves exploding behind him.
• Chiyo sent Ebizo to retrieve the Black Pot and led recovered shinobi, including Yōi and Pakura, toward the battle to support Fūgyō.
• Shukaku refused to gather more Chakra for another Tailed Beast Bomb and tried to flee from Li Yao's Wind Style Clone.
• Li Yao's Wind Style Clone sliced Shukaku at the waist as he leaped away, shocking Chiyo's group and the other Sand shinobi.

Li Yao's Wind Style Clone overwhelmed Shukaku with repeated cutting attacks until the Tailed Beast surrendered and agreed to be sealed. Chiyo's group then sealed Shukaku inside the black teapot, while Li Yao's clone considered how to study the Tailed Beasts' powers.

• Li Yao's Wind Style Clone discovered that Shukaku regenerated through its Spell Scripts, then repeatedly cut it apart with Cutting Strikes and Slash Waves.
• Shukaku's body shrank as its regeneration consumed soul power, and it surrendered, agreeing to become a Jinchuriki to stop the attacks.
• Chiyo and Ebizo watched the fight, and Chiyo told the others to seal Shukaku once Fūgyō had finished.
• Li Yao's Wind Style Clone stopped attacking and resolved to have Sasori study Shukaku's Chakra recovery and reincarnation after it was sealed.
• Chiyo gave Li Yao's Wind Style Clone the black teapot, and he activated its sealing formula and pulled Shukaku inside.

Li Yao's Wind Style Clone offered Sasori a path to explore immortality through Shukaku and appointed himself acting Kazekage. Meanwhile, Li Yao sensed the Dragon Vein beneath the desert and told Little Yezi what it was.

• Li Yao's Wind Style Clone gave Sasori scrolls about the Third Kazekage's Human Puppet, and Sasori said his dream was eternal life through puppetry.
• Li Yao's Wind Style Clone gave Sasori the teapot containing Shukaku and suggested studying Tailed Beasts to create immortal Tailed Beast Puppets; Sasori left excited to begin.
• After Sasori left, Li Yao's Wind Style Clone called Yōi into the Kazekage Office, where she helped him relax.
• Li Yao continued sensing a faint energy beneath the desert, but Little Yezi could neither see the phantom ruins nor detect the energy.
• Li Yao assured Little Yezi the energy was not Nature Energy and identified its likely source as the Dragon Vein.

Li Yao identified the recurring city-ruin mirages as phantoms of Rōran from a parallel world and inferred that Fugaku’s Mangekyō Sharingan and the Toad Sage’s prophecies saw events from other timelines rather than his world’s future. He realized the Dragon Vein was not truly present and could only study its faint traces before the mirages disappeared, so he stayed to sense them while Little Yezi brought supplies.

• Li Yao recognized the altar’s Sealing Jutsu Formula and Flying Thunder God Kunai, identifying the mirages as the Rōran Ruins from Lost Tower.
• Li Yao connected the faint, untouchable energy to the Dragon Vein and hoped to study its space-time Chakra.
• Li Yao concluded that this Naruto world lacked a real Country of Roran and that the city ruins were phantoms cast from a parallel world.
• Li Yao reasoned that Fugaku’s Mangekyō Sharingan and the Toad Sage’s prophecies showed futures from other timelines, so they could not reveal his actions in this world.
• Li Yao accepted that he could only sense the Dragon Vein’s traces and stayed to study them, while Little Yezi brought him food and water.

As the Dragon Vein’s power intensified, Li Yao and Little Yezi saw Naruto’s team enter the phantom of Rōran’s ruins and hoped the seal’s release would let them cross into that world. When Mukade broke Minato’s seal, the Dragon Vein erupted, but its power passed through Li Yao and Little Yezi without affecting them.

• Li Yao watched the phantom of Rōran’s ruins persist and grow more solid as the Dragon Vein’s energy reached its peak.
• Little Yezi spotted a puppet and four people from inside the phantom, and Li Yao recognized Naruto, Sakura, Yamato, and Sai.
• As Naruto’s team advanced, the overlapping versions of the ruins converged into one, and Li Yao and Little Yezi followed them underground.
• Li Yao and Little Yezi found Minato’s seal on the Dragon Vein as Mukade began absorbing its formula.
• Mukade removed Minato’s Flying Thunder God Kunai, releasing the Dragon Vein, but its energy pierced through Li Yao and Little Yezi without affecting them.

Li Yao used the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu to resonate with the Dragon Vein and travel into the Rōran alternate world, leaving Little Yezi behind. After recovering, he explored the city and discovered that Mukade had turned many of its residents into human puppets.

• Li Yao used the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu to connect with the Dragon Vein and vanished into its power, while Little Yezi remained behind.
• Li Yao's Shadow Clone reassured Little Yezi that the original was safe in another world and might take years to return.
• Li Yao arrived in the Rōran alternate world, recovered from the journey, and credited Tobirama Senju's jutsu for helping him cross space-time.
• Li Yao sent a Shadow Clone to try the Flying Thunder God Technique back to the original world, but the attempt failed because it lacked enough Chakra.
• Li Yao flew invisibly over Rōran and sensed that fewer than five hundred living people remained among its puppet-filled streets.
• Li Yao realized that Mukade had transformed many Rōran residents into human puppets while turning himself into a puppet with a soul.