Chapter Summaries

Li Yao traveled toward the Land of Fire to find Uzumaki survivors and learn Sealing Technique, while Kusagakure forced a red-haired woman to heal wounded ninja by letting them bite her. The chapter ended with the exhausted woman collapsing beside her starving daughter.

• The Third Hokage decided to bring Sarutobi Gekko along to ensure Li Yao could be killed.
• Li Yao questioned who had exposed his location, then set out for the Land of Fire to find Uzumaki Clan survivors and learn Sealing Technique.
• Li Yao outlined his plan to solve his Chakra problem, build a Tailed Beast-level reserve, capture the Third Hokage, and eventually destroy Konoha.
• At Kusagakure's rear headquarters, the medical captain made the red-haired woman heal wounded ninja by biting her, while refusing treatment to those too injured to fight.
• The red-haired woman returned to a cabin and collapsed, and her young daughter moved her onto the floor, saved two Rice Balls, and waited for her to wake.

Li Yao discovered that Kusagakure was holding a red-haired Uzumaki medical ninja and set out to find her. At the camp, the woman and her daughter Yezi saw golden chains cover the area and realized their clansmen had come to save them.

• The Red-haired Woman gave Yezi most of their rice ball and tried to comfort her despite their desperate captivity.
• Li Yao questioned a Takigakure shinobi and learned of a red-haired medical ninja at Kusagakure's front-line headquarters.
• Li Yao took the shinobi with him and killed the other two after draining their Chakra.
• The Red-haired Woman returned to the cabin and feared that Kusagakure would eventually kill her and Yezi.
• Golden chains spread across Kusagakure's camp, and the Red-haired Woman recognized them as a sign that their clansmen had come to save them.

Li Yao destroyed the Grass Ninja camp and rescued the Red-haired Woman and Yezi, who mistook him for an Uzumaki clansman. He discovered someone from Konoha had secretly watched him and resolved to fight back against anyone who came after him, while the mother and daughter embraced him in gratitude.

• The Red-haired Woman carried Yezi toward Li Yao, believing the Golden Chakra Chains meant Uzumaki clansmen had come to save them.
• Li Yao used his Adamantine Sealing Technique to drain the Grass Ninja's Chakra and kill them throughout the camp.
• Li Yao sensed a mysterious observer using a secret technique from the sky and concluded that someone from Konoha had been watching him.
• Li Yao resolved to retaliate against future attackers, though he still feared Ōnoki's Dust Release.
• Li Yao approached the Red-haired Woman and Yezi, who embraced him after mistaking him for an Uzumaki clansman; he accepted their misunderstanding.

Li Yao rescued Kumori and Yezi from the Grass Ninja and took them toward the Land of Waterfalls, hoping to learn about Sealing Techniques. Kumori offered to lead him to an Uzumaki Clan inheritance stronghold that might hold the clan’s accumulated knowledge.

• Li Yao carried Kumori and Yezi away on the Black Iron Giant Eagle while Dan Katō secretly followed and resolved to kill Li Yao.
• Li Yao shared food with Kumori and Yezi, who introduced themselves and thanked him for saving them.
• Li Yao asked how much basic knowledge of Sealing Techniques Kumori and Yezi knew, and Kumori mistook his purpose for preserving the Uzumaki Clan’s legacy.
• Kumori told Li Yao she knew of an inheritance stronghold containing the clan’s Sealing Technique and barrier technique knowledge.

Li Yao learned that the Uzumaki Clan had left an inheritance stronghold in the Land of Whirlpools and slaughtered the Grass and Takigakure ninja guarding the border while gathering their Chakra. As he headed toward the stronghold, Konoha prepared the Five Kage Assassination Plan and concealed the Uzumaki survivors from Mito Uzumaki.

• Kumori told Li Yao that the Uzumaki Clan had prepared an inheritance stronghold in the Land of Whirlpools, and Li Yao decided to go there after gathering more Chakra.
• Li Yao sent Shadow Clones through the Grass Ninja strongholds and drained and killed the Grass and Takigakure ninja along the border.
• Dan Katō reported the massacre to Biwako, who ordered him and Akira Inuzuka not to report that Kumori and Yezi Kamon were Uzumaki survivors to Konoha.
• The Third Hokage learned that Li Yao was heading to the Land of Whirlpools and decided to begin the Five Kage Assassination Plan once Li Yao found the stronghold.
• The Third Hokage collected four scrolls from Mito Uzumaki that could form the Four Red Yang Formation and waited for the other four Kage to confirm their participation.

Ōnoki and the other Kage accepted the Daimyo’s proposal to join forces against Li Yao after the Third Hokage’s letter convinced them he could inherit powerful techniques. The Five Kage began mobilizing for an ambush in the Land of Whirlpools while Li Yao traveled there unaware.

• Ōnoki learned from the Anbu that the Daimyo of the Land of Fire had sent the other great nations letters urging them to kill Li Yao.
• Ōnoki studied the Third Hokage’s account of Kimura Yao’s history and feared Li Yao could keep acquiring powerful jutsu through body-snatching reincarnation.
• Ōnoki agreed to the joint attack, and the Third Kazekage, Third Mizukage, and Third Raikage also accepted, demanding cells from Li Yao afterward.
• The Third Hokage devised an ambush in the Land of Whirlpools after receiving the four Kage’s replies, while Dan Katō relayed Li Yao’s location to them.
• The Five Great Nations sent their Kage and guard ninjas toward the Land of Whirlpools as Li Yao traveled there slowly with Kumori and the other refugee.

Li Yao, Kumori, and Little Yezi found the Uzumaki Clan’s Inheritance Stronghold beneath a mound in the ruined Land of Whirlpools. As they descended, Dan Katō confirmed their location and set the plan in motion, while the Five Kage waited at sea in a tense alliance.

• Li Yao flew with Kumori and Little Yezi over the sunken Land of Whirlpools, and Kumori resolved to help revive it by becoming stronger.
• Kumori used a sealing technique to open a stairway beneath a grassy mound, revealing the Uzumaki Clan’s Inheritance Stronghold.
• Li Yao, Kumori, and Little Yezi entered the stronghold as Dan Katō watched from above and confirmed their souls were descending inside.
• Dan Katō flew toward the sea, where the Five Kage had gathered, and declared that the plan could begin.
• The Third Kazekage mocked Ōnoki, and Hiruzen Sarutobi intervened before their guards could start a fight.

The Third Hokage persuaded the Five Kage to coordinate a ten-minute ambush against Li Yao using the Four Red Yang Formation. Meanwhile, Li Yao reached the Uzumaki Clan’s Inheritance Chamber and hesitated at its faint barrier after Kumori and Little Yezi passed through it; Kumori watched him expectantly as he prepared to try.

• Dan Katō reported Li Yao’s location, and the Third Hokage proposed trapping him with the Four Red Yang Formation.
• The Third Hokage gave the four other villages control of the formation’s scrolls, and the Five Kage agreed that Li Yao had to die within its ten-minute limit.
• The Third Hokage sent four guards to deploy the barrier while Dan Katō marked their routes and the group advanced toward Li Yao.
• Li Yao found a faint golden barrier around the Inheritance Chamber, but Kumori and Little Yezi walked through it without noticing.
• Little Yezi called Li Yao inside, and Kumori looked at him pleadingly as he decided to test whether he could cross the barrier.

Li Yao entered the Uzumaki Clan’s inheritance chamber by matching its barrier Chakra and studied the fundamentals of Sealing Techniques. He learned that Spell Scripts came from Nature Energy and realized his Devouring Seal Array had failed because its circuit was unstable, leaving him to seek other ways to understand and correct it.

• Li Yao replicated the chamber barrier’s Chakra and safely passed through it, convincing Kumori that Uzumaki blood flowed through him.
• Little Yezi found a scroll about Basic Sealing Techniques, and Li Yao began studying it while Kumori and her daughter gathered the chamber’s scrolls.
• Li Yao learned that Sealing Techniques combined Basic Spell Scripts derived from Nature Energy into stable circuits, then infused those circuits with specific will.
• Li Yao realized his Devouring Seal Array had failed because its Spell-Script Circuit was unstable and that sensing Nature Energy could help him find its flaws.
• Li Yao learned that, since he could not sense Nature Energy, he would need to study Basic Spell Scripts and understand how their properties opposed or reinforced one another.

Li Yao discovered that the Five Kage had joined forces to hunt him and fled with Kumori and Little Yezi, using Shadow Clones to split the pursuit. He left Kumori and Little Yezi with a clone as he drew the enemy away, while Little Yezi decided to go after him.

• Li Yao sensed an enemy watching from above and hurried out of the secret chamber with Kumori and Little Yezi.
• He sent Shadow Clones flying in different directions to confuse the pursuers and scout their abilities.
• Li Yao identified the approaching pursuers as the Five Kage and realized they were tracking his movements.
• Li Yao split from Kumori and Little Yezi, leaving them inside a Black Iron Giant Eagle with a Shadow Clone while he drew the enemy away.
• Kumori told Little Yezi that Li Yao had left to protect them, but Little Yezi asked the Shadow Clone to take her after him.

Li Yao was trapped with Kumori and her mother inside the Four Red Yang Formation, a huge barrier prepared with Mito Uzumaki's Chakra. As the Five Kage and their allies closed in, Li Yao failed to break the barrier and prepared to fight while both sides sent clones into battle.

• Li Yao dispelled his Shadow Clones after realizing the enemy could identify them, but the Four Red Yang Formation activated before Kumori and her mother could escape.
• The Third Hokage let Ayase the Married Woman enter the barrier despite Biwako's objections, and the Five Kage joined Dan Katō, Sarutobi Gekko, and Ayase to hunt Li Yao.
• Li Yao struck the barrier with a compressed Water Release sphere and tried the Adamantine Sealing Technique, but neither method damaged or absorbed it.
• Li Yao created seven Shadow Clones to attack the approaching group, while his clone with Kumori and her mother made five more and drew Chakra from the giant scroll.
• Dan Katō identified Li Yao's real body on the Ink Eagle, so the Five Kage created clones to engage Li Yao's Shadow Clones while they charged toward him.

Li Yao's Shadow Clones engaged the Five Kage, resisting their Genjutsu counters and revealing which Kage posed the greatest threats. As the Four Red Yang Formation weakened, the Kage found ways to bypass Li Yao's clones and close in on his real body.

• Li Yao's five Shadow Clones cast the Perception Deprivation Technique, but each of the Five Kage countered it with their own abilities.
• Li Yao's Lightning Release Chakra Mode let his clones overwhelm Hiruzen Sarutobi's Shadow Clone, while the Third Kazekage's Iron Sand destroyed another clone and the Third Mizukage's Black Water pinned one down.
• Li Yao retreated on the Ink Eagle and sent his remaining clones after the Kage to delay them until the Four Red Yang Formation failed.
• Ōnoki, the Third Kazekage, and the Third Raikage took to the air; the Third Raikage revealed that the Mysterious Peacock Method had let him fly and strengthened his Lightning Release Chakra Mode at the cost of his lifespan.
• The Third Mizukage seeped underground as Black Water and rapidly spread toward Li Yao's real body, beyond the reach of his Chakra-depleted clones.

Li Yao’s clones fought the Four Kage while Sarutobi Gekko opened all Eight Gates and destroyed two of Li Yao’s clones with Evening Elephant. Li Yao split his chakra among new clones to keep the Kage occupied, but the Third Raikage broke through toward him.

• Li Yao’s Shadow Clones pressured the Third Hokage as Kato Dan’s Spirit Body helped him defend, while other clones moved against Ayase the Married Woman and Sarutobi Gekko.
• Sarutobi Gekko opened the Eighth Gate and used Evening Elephant to shatter two of Li Yao’s Shadow Clones, alarming Li Yao with the attack’s range and power.
• Li Yao created five chakra-rich Shadow Clones and sent them to intercept the Five Kage while he flew along the barrier on the Ink Eagle.
• Li Yao’s clone trapped Ōnoki behind ink needles reinforced with lightning, while another traded Iron Sand Shower attacks with the Third Kazekage.
• Li Yao’s clone raised the Third Mizukage from underground, but the Mizukage turned elemental and attacked with Black Water serpents.
• The Third Raikage ignored a clone’s attacks and flew toward Li Yao, so the clone abandoned interception and flew to attack Ōnoki instead.

The Third Hokage accepted that he could no longer keep up and sent Sarutobi Gekko and Ayase, possessed by Dan Katō, to hunt Li Yao. As the Kage pressed Li Yao’s clones and approached his real body, the Third Raikage began to suspect that contact was the condition behind Li Yao’s ability to learn Ninjutsu instantly.

• Sarutobi Gekko destroyed Li Yao’s Shadow Clones, and the Third Hokage ordered Dan Katō to possess Ayase and protect her from Li Yao’s Genjutsu.
• Ayase formed an Ink Great Bird and flew toward Li Yao’s real body while Sarutobi Gekko rushed after him and the Third Hokage withdrew toward the barrier’s edge.
• Ōnoki evaded Li Yao’s Shadow Clone and conserved Chakra, while the Third Kazekage and Third Mizukage used large-area attacks to pressure Li Yao’s other clones.
• The Third Raikage reached Li Yao’s real body, but Black Iron Chains stopped him from closing in, and both fighters avoided risking a direct clash.
• Li Yao attacked the Third Raikage with One-Finger Nukite, but the Third Raikage dodged and wondered whether contact allowed Li Yao to learn Ninjutsu instantly.

Li Yao defended himself against the Five Kage’s assault by using Wood Release and Black Iron Chains, but he lost his right arm and the battle became a stalemate. Meanwhile, his Shadow Clones uncovered a Konoha Ninja whose sensory ability could locate Li Yao’s real body, as Ayase the Married Woman attacked the Chakra-supplying clones.

• Li Yao used Wood Release to obstruct Sarutobi Gekko, but the Third Raikage struck him and severed his right arm before Li Yao replenished his Chakra and defended himself with Black Iron Chains.
• Li Yao repaired his shoulder with Wood Release but could not regenerate his arm, then formed a wooden barrier that blocked the Third Kazekage’s iron sand while he held off Sarutobi Gekko.
• Dan Katō identified Li Yao’s Shadow Clones as the source of his replenished Chakra, and Ayase the Married Woman flew toward Kumori and her daughter while the Third Raikage went to help Ōnoki.
• Li Yao’s Shadow Clone withdrew the Black Iron Giant Eagle and sent five Ink Eagles in different directions, allowing Kumori and her daughter to land safely.
• Li Yao’s Shadow Clone fought Ayase the Married Woman and deduced that a motionless Konoha Ninja was responsible for locating Li Yao’s real body and blocking Genjutsu.

As the Five Kage tried to finish Li Yao before their barrier fell, his Shadow Clones kept supplying Chakra to his trapped main body. Kumori went to help Li Yao while leaving Little Yezi at the barrier’s edge, and the chapter ended with the Third Hokage hiding inside the barrier and preparing to escape if the fight turned against him.

• Kumori left Little Yezi at the barrier’s edge and ran toward Li Yao’s main body, determined to help him survive.
• The Third Raikage told Ōnoki to attack Li Yao’s main body while he held off a Shadow Clone, but two more clones intercepted Ōnoki.
• Li Yao’s Shadow Clones kept using a scroll and the Shadow Clone Technique to gather and transfer Chakra, prompting Dan Katō to urge Ayase the Married Woman and the other Kage to stop them.
• Ayase the Married Woman moved toward Little Yezi to draw out more of Li Yao’s clones, but Dan Katō warned her that Li Yao would not spend Chakra protecting the mother and daughter.
• Dan Katō left Ayase the Married Woman and told the Mizukage and Third Raikage to hunt the clones supplying Chakra to Li Yao’s main body.
• The Raikage Guard found the Third Hokage inside the barrier, where he claimed he was preparing a forbidden technique while Biwako remained ready to help him escape.

Li Yao realized Ōnoki was saving Chakra for a massive Dust Release attack and tried to prepare his defense while waiting for the Third Mizukage. Ayase the Married Woman and Dan Katō then coordinated an assault, leaving Li Yao locked in place as her sealing technique began to spread.

• Li Yao deduced that Ōnoki was waiting for the barrier to vanish before using a powerful Dust Release attack, and considered copying the Third Mizukage’s water-transformation ninjutsu to survive it.
• Dan Katō warned Ayase the Married Woman that Sarutobi Gekko was nearly out of time, and Ayase asked Dan to hold Li Yao still for one second so she could seal him.
• Ayase and Dan abandoned their fight against Li Yao’s Shadow Clone and joined Sarutobi Gekko, who punched a path through the trees and charged Li Yao before collapsing.
• Li Yao was injured by Sarutobi Gekko’s final attacks and recalled his Shadow Clones, expecting the Third Mizukage to approach, but Dan Katō’s Spirit Body entered him and restrained his body.
• Ayase launched the Super Ink Reverse Four Symbols Sealing Technique while Dan burned his soul to keep Li Yao immobilized, and Li Yao countered by using the Adamantine Sealing Technique and Black Iron Chains against Dan.

Uzumaki Kumori saved Li Yao from Ayase the Married Woman's sealing technique, but Ōnoki then trapped Li Yao and the Third Kazekage in a massive Dust Release attack. Both vanished, and the ensuing war devastated Iwagakure while Li Yao's fate remained unknown.

• Uzumaki Kumori dragged Ayase the Married Woman away from Li Yao, and the Reverse Four Symbols Sealing Technique annihilated them both.
• Dan Katō's soul vanished, and Li Yao realized his Spirit Transformation Technique had exposed the Shadow Clone.
• Ōnoki unleashed Dust Style: Limit Removal Technique, trapping Li Yao and the Third Kazekage while the Third Raikage and Third Mizukage escaped with severe injuries.
• Ōnoki, the Third Raikage, and the Third Mizukage left the battlefield, believing Li Yao and the Third Kazekage had been annihilated.
• Sunagakure and Kumogakure turned their forces against Iwagakure, while Kirigakure aided them and Li Yao remained missing.

After a year unconscious, Li Yao’s body began assimilating with White Zetsu cells under Madara Uchiha’s control. The fusion restored Li Yao’s body and awakened him, while Madara and White Zetsu believed they had gained control over his Chakra.

• Madara Uchiha ordered the White Zetsu cells in Li Yao’s body to invade the rest of him, forcing a choice between death and assimilation.
• Li Yao’s instincts chose survival, and his body began fusing with the White Zetsu cells.
• Madara Uchiha sensed his will-bearing Chakra entering Li Yao’s Chakra and believed he had conquered him.
• White Zetsu noticed that Li Yao’s cells seemed to be assimilating the White Zetsu cells, but relaxed after sensing the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path’s Chakra within Li Yao.
• The assimilation finished, restoring Li Yao’s body, and he slowly opened his eyes.

Li Yao awakened in Madara Uchiha’s hideout after White Zetsu had assimilated his body, and realized Madara’s chakra had become fused with his own. Madara recruited him to eliminate threats to a long-term plan, leaving Li Yao unaware that he was only being kept as a backup.

• Li Yao woke up in a secret chamber, covered himself with the Black Iron Feather Cloak, and tested his restored strength.
• White Zetsu was surprised that Li Yao had adapted so quickly to his altered body, while Tobi demanded to know whether he needed to poop.
• Li Yao recognized Madara Uchiha’s chakra fused within his own and realized Madara had saved him to use him as a pawn.
• Li Yao identified Madara and explained that his ninja way was to kill anyone who tried to kill him or make things difficult for him.
• Madara said Li Yao was no longer useful for his original purpose but had earned recognition by fighting the Five Kage together.
• Madara assigned Li Yao to eliminate threats to his long-term plan, and Li Yao agreed as long as the task did not interfere with his revenge against the Third Hokage.