Chapter Summaries

Kakashi learned that Rin was alive but in a vegetative state, preserved by Soseki until the Three-Tails revived so it could be sealed inside her. Soseki told Kakashi to hide the truth from the Hidden Mist Village, then proposed a plan to surround and kill the Mizukage.

• Kakashi traveled to Soseki's mansion at midnight to learn about his promised reward.
• Soseki led Kakashi into a hidden underground chamber, where Kakashi found Rin preserved inside an ice coffin.
• Soseki explained that Rin was in a vegetative state and that he had kept some of the Three-Tails' Chakra active inside her.
• Soseki said Rin could be revived by sealing the reborn Three-Tails inside her, but warned Kakashi to keep her survival secret from the Hidden Mist Village.
• Kakashi vowed to act painfully strong, and Soseki proposed surrounding and killing the Mizukage.

Soseki’s team planned an independent operation to draw out and kill the Mizukage in retaliation for Hidden Mist Village turning Rin into a Tailed Beast weapon. They prepared to lure away Hidden Mist’s forces and use barriers and their secret abilities, while Kakashi revealed that his Sharingan had evolved.

• Soseki told his team that the Hokage would neither support nor stop their attack on the Mizukage, and they agreed to proceed.
• Soseki proposed provoking a conflict between Hidden Mist Village and Hidden Cloud Village, then using Jiraiya’s army to force Hidden Mist to deploy its remaining troops.
• Soseki explained that his team would need to hold off the Mizukage’s personal guards and take turns maintaining barriers to prevent the Mizukage from escaping.
• Mizuki offered to use his undisclosed Dark Release to lure the Mizukage into breaking through the barrier, while Soseki warned the team about Yagura and other possible reinforcements.
• Kakashi revealed that Rin’s final gift had evolved his Sharingan, prompting Guy to ask what the new power could do.

After Hidden Mist Village mobilized against Hidden Cloud and Leaf, Soseki attacked Mizukage-sama’s camp at night over the village’s use of Rin as a tailed-beast weapon. Mizukage-sama survived the opening strike and faced Soseki, Kakashi, and their team, realizing they intended to kill him.

• Mizukage-sama ordered Crescent to lead four thousand ninja against Hidden Cloud Village after hearing it had provoked them.
• After Leaf forces appeared at the border, Mizukage-sama sent Yagura with another four thousand ninja to prepare defenses and avoid starting a war.
• Soseki and Hyuga Shin watched from the shadows as the Hidden Mist forces assembled, and Soseki said they would attack after nightfall.
• Soseki struck Mizukage-sama’s tent with a spinning Chakra Shuriken, wounding his arm and severing many meridians before Mizukage-sama escaped with Ice Release Armor.
• Soseki confronted Mizukage-sama over turning Rin into a tailed-beast weapon, while Kakashi defended Rin and accused him of treating her as insignificant.
• Mizukage-sama recognized that Soseki’s group had established a barrier and intended to surround and kill him.

Soseki fought the Mizukage inside a barrier while Guy and Asuma held back the Hidden Mist ninjas outside. Soseki’s enormous attack forced the Mizukage out of his ice technique, but the fight continued as the Mizukage waited for reinforcements.

• The Hidden Mist ninjas at the camp mobilized to protect the Mizukage and summon returning jonin, while Guy and Asuma blocked their path.
• The Mizukage used Ice Release: Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals to attack Soseki from every angle, but Soseki sheltered behind an Earth Release barrier.
• Soseki shattered the frozen world, but the Mizukage used the remaining ice fragments to launch reflected beams at him.
• Soseki formed a massive Chakra sphere and detonated it, nearly destroying the barrier and forcing both fighters to shield themselves.
• The Mizukage emerged from the ice and cursed Soseki for risking both their lives, then decided to stall until reinforcements arrived.

Soseki used Sage Mode and the Eight Gates to overwhelm the Mizukage inside the barrier, but the Mizukage exploited a weakness in the barrier to break through and attack Mizuki. The chapter left Mizuki struck by the Mizukage’s Four Pillar Heaven technique.

• Soseki and the Mizukage used their respective teleportation abilities to evade each other’s attacks inside the barrier.
• Soseki opened the Fifth and then the Sixth Gate, using his increased speed and strength to pursue and injure the Mizukage.
• The Mizukage hid in his alternate dimension while Soseki destroyed the ice crystals that served as his escape routes.
• The Mizukage sensed cracks in the barrier around Mizuki and chose that spot as his way out.
• The Mizukage emerged, endured Soseki’s attacks, and used Ice Release: Four Pillar Heaven to shatter Mizuki’s inner barrier and strike him.

Soseki and his allies turned the battle against the Mizukage, who was ultimately killed after falling for Soseki’s Genjutsu. As the Mizukage died, he ordered the Hidden Mist Village forces not to seek revenge and to surrender.

• Mizuki held the Mizukage in place, allowing Soseki to kick him into the barrier, and Kakashi used his spatial ability to take the Mizukage’s right arm.
• Fuguki and Raiga arrived, but Raiga fled and declared he would become a Rogue Ninja after seeing Soseki’s strength.
• The Mizukage prepared to use Absolute Zero, while Soseki revealed that the Mizukage had been deceived by Genjutsu.
• The Mizukage broke the illusion and halted his Forbidden Jutsu, but Soseki’s hand pierced his chest.
• The dying Mizukage told the Hidden Mist Village not to avenge him, to surrender, and to return to the Land of Water after the war.

Shimizu Soseki killed the Third Mizukage and prepared to leave after declaring his revenge complete, but Yagura challenged him with the Water Mirror Technique. Soseki overwhelmed Yagura by forcing the mirror image to copy his Chakra-intensive attack, then fled with the Flying Thunder God as another powerful Chakra approached.

• Shimizu Soseki killed the Third Mizukage, and the Hidden Mist ninja were left stunned while the Leaf group reacted to his strength.
• Shimizu Soseki announced that he had achieved his revenge and began to leave, but he stayed behind after deflecting a water cannon to face its attacker.
• Yagura arrived, saw the dead Mizukage, and challenged Shimizu Soseki despite the Hidden Mist ninja urging him not to fight.
• Yagura used the Water Mirror Technique, but Shimizu Soseki made his copied Chakra sphere grow until Yagura was forced to dispel the technique.
• Shimizu Soseki's uncontrolled Chakra sphere engulfed Yagura and blasted away nearby Hidden Mist ninja, then Soseki threw it toward an approaching Chakra and fled with the Flying Thunder God.

After Shimizu Soseki killed the Third Mizukage, the blast’s aftermath revealed that Yagura’s uncontrolled ninjutsu had caused much of the destruction. News of the Mizukage’s death spread across the Shinobi World, where the other villages reassessed the threat Soseki posed and Rasa arranged for Pakura to invite him to a postwar exchange program.

• Crescent Moon found Yagura buried headfirst after the blast, and Yagura admitted his ninjutsu had gone out of control and that he had destroyed the Mizukage’s body.
• News that Soseki had killed the Third Mizukage spread across the Shinobi World, alarming the other villages.
• A and Dodai discussed Soseki’s strength, and Dodai urged A to stay with B for protection.
• Ōnoki told the Hidden Stone leaders that waiting was the best way to deal with Leaf Village, while Rōshi and Kitsuchi feared Soseki’s growing power.
• Rasa decided to put the exchange program with Leaf Village on the agenda and assigned Pakura to invite and accompany Soseki, disappointing Baki.

Obito learned that Rin had died and pushed himself to continue training, while the aftermath of Soseki killing the Third Mizukage brought the Five Great Shinobi Countries toward peace talks. As Soseki arrived at the Land of Iron conference, Miroku approached him and the meeting inside grew hostile.

• Madara told Obito that Soseki had killed the Third Mizukage, the man Madara called the culprit behind Rin's death, and Obito resumed training after accepting that Rin was dead.
• Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan discussed the end of the war and worried that Hanzo might oppose their growing peace organization.
• Soseki arrived at the Land of Iron peace conference with his companions and heard other villages credit him with ending the war.
• Miroku, the Priestess of the Land of Demons, approached Soseki and asked to speak with him.
• A and Ōnoki traded insults inside the conference hall, with A angrily confronting Ōnoki over the Stone Village's role in his father's death.

At the peace conference, Danzo forced the Hidden Mist Village to stop making accusations and helped the villages settle terms. Afterward, he told the Third Hokage he would nominate Orochimaru as his successor, then revealed to Ryoma that his apparent change of heart was part of a strategy to conceal his threat.

• Mifune tried to calm the arguing delegates, but A and Ōnoki continued trading insults.
• Genji accused the Leaf Village of provoking the Hidden Mist Village, and Danzo rebutted his claims before threatening to send Soseki there again.
• The Hidden Mist delegation backed down, and the Cloud and Stone villages quickly agreed to settlement terms.
• Danzo reminded the Third Hokage about his promised resignation and proposed Orochimaru as Hokage; the Third Hokage said he would consider it.
• After the Third Hokage left, Ryoma praised Danzo's act, and Danzo explained that he was concealing his intentions while waiting for an opportunity.

Miroku asked Soseki to help stop Moryo, a demon prophesied to threaten the world next May, and Soseki agreed to arrive before then. After the war ended, Soseki and his comrades returned to Leaf Village, said goodbye as their squad disbanded, and Soseki began considering his next stage.

• Miroku told Soseki and the others that someone would break Moryo's seal and use the demon's power to rule the world.
• Miroku said her vision showed Soseki saving the world and asked him to come to the Land of Demons before next May; Soseki agreed.
• Soseki explained that he believed Miroku because he sensed a demonic aura and said he would report the threat while drawing on his experience fighting demons.
• Soseki and his comrades returned to Leaf Village after the war and celebrated surviving while mourning those who had died.
• Soseki's squadmates thanked him, said their farewells as the team disbanded, and left to return to their lives.
• Soseki went home, reflected on the bonds he had formed, and decided to consider his next stage.

Kurenai and Shizune openly discussed why they loved Soseki and worried that he hid his weaknesses behind his strength. They decided to make him a celebratory meal that evening so he would not be alone.

• Kurenai and Shizune met in the park and admitted that they both liked Soseki.
• Kurenai praised Soseki's kindness and diligence, while Shizune recalled his courage and dedication to studying.
• Kurenai worried that Soseki saw them as ordinary friends, but Shizune pointed out that he had allowed them special closeness.
• Kurenai and Shizune agreed to make Soseki a celebratory meal because they thought he might be lonely.

Kurenai reunited with her father at home and discussed Soseki's possible candidacy for Hokage, then decided to have dinner with him. At Tsunade's home, Shizune cooked while Tsunade and Jiraiya caused their usual trouble, and Shizune said she would cook for Soseki instead of feeding Tsunade.

• Kurenai returned home, embraced Kurenai Yuhi, and shared a meal he had cooked for her.
• Kurenai Yuhi asked whether Soseki intended to become Hokage, and Kurenai said she would support whatever he chose.
• Kurenai told Kurenai Yuhi she would spend dinner with Soseki, leaving her father upset about being alone.
• Tsunade summoned Jiraiya to help clean while Shizune prepared dinner at their home.
• Jiraiya praised Soseki's reputation, and Shizune nearly called him her own before Tsunade teased her.
• Shizune refused to feed Tsunade and said she would cook for Soseki, while Tsunade punched Jiraiya into the wall.

Soseki hosted Shizune and Kurenai for dinner, but one friend after another arrived until their meal became a lively gathering. After everyone thanked him for his help, Soseki sat beneath the night sky, hoping the happy scene would never be destroyed.

• Soseki reviewed his plans to obtain Chakra from the One-Tail, Two-Tails, Five-Tails, and Seven-Tails.
• Shizune and Kurenai came to Soseki's home to prepare dinner and thank him for caring for them during the war.
• Mizuki and Kakashi arrived, and more friends joined, turning dinner into a banquet where they thanked Soseki for his support.
• Kushina and Minato watched the gathering from the roof, then left without disturbing the group.
• After the banquet, Soseki sat in the courtyard and said he did not want anyone to destroy the beautiful scene.

Soseki was summoned to the Hokage Tower, where the Third Hokage asked him and Minato to choose who should succeed him as the Fourth Hokage. The Third Hokage rejected the Sannin as candidates and declared that Soseki and Minato were the two most suitable choices, leaving them to answer.

• Soseki considered gaining Yakumo Kurama’s Genjutsu Creation ability and reflected on how Izanagi might have influenced Madara and Obito.
• An Anbu ninja summoned Soseki to the Hokage Tower, and Soseki teleported there with the Flying Thunder God Technique.
• The Third Hokage showed Soseki books inspired by his comments about Ōnoki and the western front.
• Minato arrived, and the Third Hokage asked him and Soseki to recommend a successor for the Hokage position.
• Soseki and Minato proposed Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru, but the Third Hokage ruled each out and named the two of them as the best candidates.

The Third Hokage asked Minato and Soseki to choose who should become the Fourth Hokage, and both argued that the other was more suited. Minato accepted the position, while Soseki planned to gain experience as Hokage Assistant and pursue the role later.

• The Third Hokage announced that he was considering Minato and Soseki for the Fourth Hokage position, and both immediately nominated the other.
• Minato argued that Soseki’s wartime contributions, strength, and public support made him the better candidate.
• Soseki admitted that his decisions involving the Hidden Sand Village and the Mizukage operation had been risky and impulsive, and said he was not yet mature enough to lead Leaf Village.
• Soseki privately planned to collect the remaining tailed-beast Chakra and wait for an opportunity to break Leaf Village’s upper structure before becoming Hokage.
• Soseki proposed serving as Hokage Assistant under Minato, and the Third Hokage agreed that Minato should take the position.
• Minato accepted responsibility for becoming Hokage, and the Third Hokage said he would discuss the appointment with the Daimyo and advisors the next day.

The Third Hokage chose Namikaze Minato as his successor, and the Fire Daimyo appointed him Fourth Hokage. In Kumogakure, Yugito collapsed because an enemy seal was deteriorating, so A decided to seek help from Leaf Village.

• Danzo recommended Orochimaru for Hokage, but the Third Hokage rejected him and nominated Namikaze Minato instead.
• Danzo argued that Shimizu Soseki was more qualified, but the Third Hokage explained that Soseki had privately endorsed Minato.
• The Daimyo appointed Namikaze Minato as the Fourth Hokage.
• A learned that Yugito had fainted because the enemy seal placed on her during the Chunin Exams was destabilizing.
• A decided to ask Leaf Village to send Shimizu Soseki or Namikaze Minato to remove the seal, and Dodai suggested inviting one under the pretext of restoring diplomatic relations.

Minato became the Fourth Hokage as the Leaf Village celebrated the end of the war. The new leadership’s first diplomatic task began with the Cloud Village asking Soseki to remove a seal from Yugito, and Minato agreed to help.

• The Third Hokage handed Minato the Hokage hat, and Minato accepted the responsibility before a cheering crowd.
• Kushina congratulated Minato, while Orochimaru brooded over the Third Hokage’s judgment and Jiraiya wondered whether Minato was the prophesied savior.
• Obito watched the inauguration from afar, mocked Madara’s lingering consciousness, and left the Leaf Village with Black Zetsu.
• After the three-day celebration ended, Dodai asked Minato to send Soseki on a diplomatic mission to restore relations with the Cloud Village.
• Dodai revealed that the Cloud Village wanted Soseki to remove his seal from Yugito, and Minato approved the request as a gesture of goodwill.

Samui and Sabina discussed Shimizu Soseki’s arrival in Kumogakure, while the Raikage awkwardly welcomed him as a diplomatic envoy. After A forgot the planned welcome banquet, Dodai took charge of arranging it.

• Samui trained with her Cloud Style blade and questioned Sabina, who declared herself a loyal believer of Soseki.
• Sabina reminded Samui that Soseki had come to Kumogakure and suggested she visit because he could undo Yugito’s seal.
• Soseki noticed Kumogakure’s people admired him rather than hated him, and joined them in criticizing the Hidden Stone Village.
• A approached Soseki intending to challenge him, but Killer B persuaded him to behave as the Raikage.
• A formally welcomed Soseki, then forgot about the planned banquet, so Dodai offered to show Soseki around while he arranged it.

A tried to provoke Soseki into fighting, but Soseki refused and joined the Cloud Village banquet instead. When A and Killer B began fighting, Soseki intervened and froze them both in ice.

• A showed Soseki and his companions Cloud Village training grounds and combat sites, hoping to provoke him into a match.
• A suggested that Soseki relive his Chunin Exam battle with Samui, but Soseki refused, and Sabina was ignored.
• At the banquet, A urged Soseki to drink alcohol, but Killer B knocked A outside with an octopus tentacle.
• A returned and challenged Killer B, and the pair prepared to clash with Lariat.
• At Dodai's request, Soseki caught A and Killer B in an illusion and froze them in ice before they could collide.