Chapter Summaries

Obito, Rin, and Might Guy faced Manda, but Soseki arrived and severely injured the giant snake. As other teams heard Manda’s cry, Baki led his Sunagakure teammates toward the center, hoping to secure a victory while they had the chance.

• Manda swallowed an Iwagakure genin, then threatened to eat Obito, Rin, and Might Guy.
• Obito and Might Guy tried to fight Manda, but their attacks failed to hurt it meaningfully.
• Soseki arrived, identified himself as a contractor of the slugs, and attacked Manda with a spinning blue sphere, making it roar in pain.
• Mei Terumi suspected Soseki had injured Manda and worried that Zabuza would be in danger.
• Baki saw that Soseki had injured Manda, then led his Sunagakure team toward the center to try to win while they could.

Soseki outmaneuvered Manda by provoking the giant snake into swallowing a Shadow Clone carrying a Flying Thunder God kunai and Exploding Tags. He forced Manda to promise to spare every Leaf Village ninja it encountered during the exam, then left with Asuma and the others.

• Soseki kept attacking Manda while evading its attempts to throw him off, and the snake battered the forest in frustration.
• Manda slammed its head into the ground and a hill, but Soseki repeatedly returned to its reach.
• Manda shed its skin to escape Soseki, then swallowed what it believed was Soseki, only to find the real Soseki unharmed.
• Soseki revealed that the swallowed Shadow Clone had left Exploding Tags and a specially made Flying Thunder God kunai inside Manda, then demanded that it spare Leaf Village ninjas during the exam.
• Manda agreed to spare them, and Soseki, Asuma, Obito, Rin, and Kurenai left while Asuma warned that Manda might seek revenge.

Tsuchi’s Hidden Stone team blamed Shimizu Soseki and Leaf Village for their losses, then decided to target Asuma Sarutobi’s team instead. In the Central Tower, Yugito grew angry that Soseki had not honored their wager, while revealing that the Two-Tails feared his soul.

• Tsuchi learned that Manda had let Soseki’s team pass and concluded that Leaf Village had rigged the exam.
• Tsuchi persuaded the Hidden Stone ninjas to wait for Asuma Sarutobi’s team and ambush them.
• Yugito complained that Soseki had not appeared after her team broke the Forest of Death record to win their wager.
• Samui dismissed Soseki’s reputation, but Yugito said the Two-Tails sensed a faint tailed-beast aura and feared his soul.
• Yugito vowed to make Soseki face the consequences of breaking their agreement.

Zabuza attacked three Hoshigakure shinobi to lure Shimizu Soseki into a trap, but three powerful Hidden Rain shinobi intervened and drove him off. Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato escorted the injured Hoshigakure shinobi toward Soseki, with Yahiko hoping to observe the Leaf shinobi who seemed to share their ideals.

• Zabuza revealed that he had used the injured Hoshigakure shinobi as bait to draw Shimizu Soseki into a trap.
• Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato arrived and fought Zabuza, who was forced to retreat after their combined attacks.
• The Hidden Rain trio declined to pursue Zabuza to avoid attracting attention.
• The Hoshigakure shinobi admitted they needed treatment and decided to seek help from Shimizu Soseki.
• Yahiko offered to escort them and told Konan and Nagato that he wanted to observe Soseki, though he would not yet reveal their organization’s ideals to the great countries.

At a campsite where ninja examinees from different villages had found refuge, Yahiko inspired the gathered genin to believe in their potential, and Soseki treated three injured Star Hidden ninjas. The group discussed Soseki’s apparent risk-taking against Zabuza until Asuma revealed that Soseki could still defeat him despite spending much of his Chakra.

• Examinees from several villages gathered at a hidden campsite and praised the Leaf Village for treating them with respect, while lamenting the Hidden Mist Village’s cruelty.
• Yahiko urged the genin to believe in themselves and unite, then jokingly introduced himself as an ordinary passerby.
• Three Star Hidden ninjas explained that Rain Hidden ninjas had rescued them from Zabuza, and the injured examinees called for Soseki to treat them.
• Soseki healed the three Star Hidden ninjas with Yang Release Chakra and explained that he had recognized Zabuza’s plan to drain his Chakra.
• Yahiko praised Soseki’s courage, but Asuma said Soseki could still beat Zabuza despite having used more than half his Chakra, leaving everyone silent.

Soseki recognized Nagato as a possible Uzumaki Clan descendant and offered to introduce him to Sister Kushina, but Nagato declined to protect his secret and his friends. A day later, Soseki and his companions approached the Central Tower, where Zabuza and the Iwagakure genin were lying in wait.

• Soseki sensed Nagato's Chakra and suggested that his red hair and powerful Chakra marked him as an Uzumaki Clan descendant.
• Soseki invited Nagato to meet Sister Kushina, but Nagato refused because he feared exposing his eyes and endangering Yahiko and Konan.
• Nagato called Yahiko and Konan his family, and Soseki welcomed him as a friend.
• A day later, Tsuchi spotted Zabuza setting traps near the Central Tower and was caught when Zabuza backed into him.
• When Soseki and his companions approached, Zabuza focused on them, while Tsuchi decided to let them fight and hoped Iwagakure would benefit.

Soseki defeated Zabuza after Zabuza trapped Asuma and Kurenai, then helped wipe out the Rock shinobi who tried to ambush the Leaf team. Tsuchi survived by hiding, but Soseki knowingly let him escape, leaving him terrified and blaming Zabuza for the deaths.

• Asuma, Kurenai, and Soseki discussed the political impact of their mission before Zabuza detonated Exploding Tags and trapped Asuma and Kurenai in water prisons.
• Soseki used Flying Thunder God to kill Zabuza within seconds while Tsuchi watched from hiding.
• Rock shinobi arrived to attack the Leaf team, but Asuma and Kurenai emerged from the water prisons and killed them after more Exploding Tags went off.
• Asuma realized someone was missing, and Soseki deliberately let the frightened Tsuchi escape.
• Tsuchi blamed Zabuza and the Leaf Village for the Rock shinobi's deaths as Soseki, Asuma, and Kurenai headed for the tower.

After Soseki arrived at the Central Tower, Yugito learned that he had killed Zabuza during the exam and challenged him to defeat her in the official matches. Outside, Morihiru discovered that all the Iwagakure examinees except Tsuchi had died, and collapsed in shock.

• Yugito confronted Soseki about arriving late, and the other examinees explained that he had stayed behind to save them.
• Samui asked whether Soseki had fought Zabuza, and Asuma revealed that Soseki had killed him in under ten seconds.
• Yugito declared that she would defeat Soseki in the official matches and left.
• Morihiru learned that six Iwagakure examinees had been severely injured by Zabuza and might never become ninja again.
• Giant Rock told Morihiru that Tsuchi was the only Iwagakure examinee who had passed and that everyone else was dead, causing Morihiru to collapse.

Tsuchi told Morihiru that Zabuza had forced the Iwagakure team into an ambush, where Shimizu Soseki killed Zabuza within seconds using the Flying Thunder God Technique. Mui explained that his praise of the Leaf Village was meant to help him gain control of the Grass Village and ultimately bring it into Iwagakure’s sphere of influence.

• Tsuchi told Morihiru that Zabuza had coerced the Iwagakure genin into attacking Shimizu Soseki, and admitted that he fled when the fight began.
• Tsuchi said Shimizu Soseki and his clone appeared beside Zabuza and killed him with a flurry of kunai; Morihiru recognized the Flying Thunder God Technique and ordered Tsuchi not to reveal it.
• Morihiru questioned Mui about praising the Leaf Village, and Mui said he wanted to avoid their hostility while seeking control of the Grass Village.
• Mui proposed bringing the Grass Village fully into Iwagakure’s embrace, and Morihiru agreed that the Leaf Village’s reaction would be wonderful.
• Morihiru told Mui to reduce contact with Iwagakure so the Leaf Village would not suspect their plan.

Biwa Juzo and the Hidden Sand delegation reacted to Shimizu Soseki’s defeat of Zabuza and his role in the exam results. Soseki then told Kushina about Nagato, who remained unwilling to meet her.

• Biwa Juzo learned that Shimizu Soseki had defeated Zabuza in seconds, and Kiri relayed Mei Terumi’s account of the fight.
• Biwa Juzo reasoned that Soseki had countered Zabuza’s Silent Killing Technique, then cursed Zabuza for dying without harming him.
• Baki told Nakayoshi and the Hidden Sand ninja that he had seen Soseki injure Manda and suggested Soseki had forced it to stop attacking the Leaf examinees.
• Soseki told Kushina he had encountered Nagato, and she accepted that Nagato did not want to meet her.
• Soseki praised Nagato’s strength in his thoughts and compared himself humorously to Uchiha Madara.

Soseki apologized to Baki for their wager before the Third Hokage announced the preliminaries for the 217 Chunin Exam passers. After checking the group assignments, Soseki realized Tsuchi’s lone Hidden Rock Village team member faced a group that could readily gang up on him.

• Soseki approached Baki to apologize, but the Hidden Sand Village shinobi covered for Baki and insisted the wager had no real loser.
• The Third Hokage announced that 217 shinobi had passed and that sixteen arena matches would select the 32 participants in the main tournament.
• Soseki found that he was in Group Five with shinobi from Hidden Cloud, Hidden Sand, Hidden Mist, Hidden Star, Hidden Hot Water, and Hidden Rain villages.
• Asuma said his own group had six Leaf Village shinobi and noted that Tsuchi might be targeted by the other competitors.
• Soseki examined Tsuchi’s group and realized its members could cooperate to eliminate Hidden Rock Village’s only remaining contender.

Nii Yugito dominated the first tournament match, while Shimizu Soseki drew the other villages’ attention in the fifth. The Sand Ninja’s exaggerated praise of Baki left the watching Baki panicked as the match against Soseki began.

• Nii Yugito defeated the other candidates in the first match with taijutsu and mouse-shaped flames, prompting Soseki to tell Asuma she was a Jinchuriki.
• The next matches went mostly to the strongest candidates, while Tsuchi won a brutal fourth match after the Third Hokage’s deliberate arrangements.
• Soseki began the fifth match as five Cloud Ninja charged him and urged candidates from other villages to help wear him down.
• The other villages’ candidates attacked the Cloud Ninja instead, and the Sand Ninja claimed Baki could defeat Soseki without intelligence.
• Baki noticed the other villages looking at him with admiration and reverence and began to panic.

The preliminary arena matches continued as Soseki and Baki were swept into awkward displays of Leaf-Sand cooperation, while Natsuhoshi of Hoshigakure advanced with a decisive victory. The chapter left Asuma confident he could defeat Natsuhoshi, though Soseki warned that she might be able to fly.

• Soseki and a Leaf Village genin advanced without fighting, prompting the other shinobi to speculate about his influence and the Leaf-Sand relationship.
• Baki entered the eighth match under suspicion that he was secretly powerful, then accepted Leaf Village genin’s help against the Hidden Cloud Village and secured a slot alongside his Sand companion.
• Mei Terumi, Asuma, Kurenai, Might Guy, Samui, and other competitors advanced through later matches.
• Obito challenged the contestants in the thirteenth match but was quickly burned and knocked down by Sabina’s lightning technique.
• Natsuhoshi of Hoshigakure defeated the remaining contestants and advanced alongside Sabina, impressing the audience with her strength.
• Asuma claimed he had identified Natsuhoshi’s weakness, and Soseki asked whether she could fly.

As the Kage prepared to attend the Chunin Exams’ final matches, Natsuhoshi asked Soseki to examine her unusual condition. He discovered that her Star-powered Chakra was dangerously overactive, but she refused treatment that would prevent her from using the technique and vowed to bring him its source in a few years.

• Soseki reassured Asuma and Kurenai that the visiting Kage were unlikely to join forces and attack Leaf Village.
• Natsuhoshi approached Soseki and asked him to examine her, while Kurenai initially tried to steer her toward Konoha Hospital.
• Soseki used a Chakra Thread to examine Natsuhoshi and determined that her Chakra was excessively active and slowly harming her body.
• Soseki offered to suppress the activation with a seal, but explained that Natsuhoshi would then be unable to use Hoshigakure’s secret technique.
• Natsuhoshi declined the seal for now and promised to bring Soseki the source of her Chakra in a few years.

Soseki trained Asuma for the Chunin Exams and considered using a clone to study dangerous powers without risking his own body. Fifteen days later, the public exams began, bringing villages and leaders together as Yahiko dreamed of a future peace.

• Soseki explained that he would train Asuma's reactions and mental resilience by repeatedly attacking him with the Flying Thunder God Technique and shuriken.
• After training, Soseki decided that a perfect clone might let him experiment with dangerous powers and saw the Third Shinobi World War as an opportunity.
• Fifteen days later, Kurenai and Asuma arrived at the public Chunin Exams, where Asuma learned the Hokage had used the Telescope Technique to show his training failures.
• Yahiko told Nagato to wash his underwear after Nagato apologized for leaving the competition early, then voiced his hope of holding a grander exam for peace.
• Kitsuchi represented the Stone Village because Ōnoki had twisted his back, while the Third Hokage teased his absence and Rasa was relieved that the attention fell elsewhere.

Mei Terumi defeated Tsuchi with her self-developed Lava Release, then Shimizu Soseki overwhelmed Samui with a genjutsu in his official-match debut. The matches left the Hidden Stone Village reeling and Soseki’s tournament campaign underway.

• Tsuchi charged Mei Terumi, but her Lava Release dissolved his stone gauntlet and injured his skin, earning Mei the victory.
• The Mizukage realized Mei had developed her own Kekkei Genkai, while Kitsuchi feared the Hidden Stone Village would be eliminated immediately.
• Shimizu Soseki discussed Mei’s abilities with Kurenai, Asuma, and Ibiki before the referee announced his match against Samui.
• Samui charged Soseki with lightning-enhanced speed, but his Heart Erosion genjutsu made her collapse at his feet.

Shimizu Soseki defeated Samui with Genjutsu, and Might Guy dominated Yugito until she revealed her Jinchuriki power and turned the fight around. The Kage argued over whether Yugito should have been allowed to compete as the Third Hokage calmly accepted her participation.

• Shimizu Soseki put Samui unconscious with Genjutsu, prompting the Raikage and Mizukage to trade taunts about the next match.
• Might Guy faced Yugito and opened the Eight Gates, overwhelming her with a rapid series of kicks.
• Yugito manifested one tail, healed her injuries, broke free, and struck Might Guy hard enough to interrupt his attempt to open the Fifth Gate.
• The Mizukage objected to a Jinchuriki competing, but the Raikage pointed out that the rules did not forbid it and the Third Hokage agreed.
• The Raikage briefly wondered whether Might Guy was the Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki, then dismissed the idea and continued trading barbs with the Third Hokage.

Shimizu Soseki defeated Mei Terumi instantly with Genjutsu, revealing that his abilities extended far beyond Taijutsu. The Chunin Exams continued, and Natsuhoshi used the Mysterious Peacock Method to fly, setting up a possible semifinal match with Soseki if she defeated Asuma.

• Yugito told Soseki to inform Might Guy that she considered him the winner, and Soseki encouraged her to accept the power she had earned through her efforts.
• Mei Terumi faced Soseki in the second round but fell unconscious when his Genjutsu overwhelmed her attempt to break free.
• Baki, Nagato, the Raikage, and Rasa reacted to Soseki's strength, while the Mizukage questioned the Third Hokage's description of him as a Medical Ninja.
• During the fourth match, Natsuhoshi transformed her Mysterious Peacock Method's Chakra into wings and flew, surprising her Hidden Cloud opponent and the watching ninjas.
• Soseki noted that Natsuhoshi could become his semifinal opponent if she defeated Asuma in her next match.

Soseki defeated Baki with a single Genjutsu, while Asuma fought Natsuhoshi in an aerial battle before surrendering. The third round continued with Soseki and Natsuhoshi advancing as Asuma chose not to risk facing Soseki.

• Baki closed his eyes and sent sand clones to attack Soseki, but Soseki defeated him instantly with Genjutsu: Brahma's Melody.
• Sand Village supporters claimed Baki had deliberately lost to preserve Soseki's strength, prompting spectators to speculate about an alliance between the villages.
• Asuma used ash, fire, Chakra Blades, and a Shadow Clone to pressure Natsuhoshi, but his final slash only tore her sleeve.
• Asuma surrendered despite Natsuhoshi believing she had the advantage, reasoning that winning would mean he had to face Soseki.

Rasa watched the Hokage outmaneuver the Raikage and realized how much he still had to learn from his seniors. In the tournament, Kurenai tested Yugito’s resistance to Genjutsu, then Soseki defeated Natsuhoshi with remote-controlled shuriken and the Flying Thunder God Technique.

• The Third Hokage deflected the Raikage’s attempt to obtain Leaf Village training methods by offering him copies of the Will of Fire text, impressing Rasa.
• Kurenai used Cherry Blossom Viewing on Yugito, confirmed she could briefly affect her, then conceded and shared the weakness with Soseki.
• Soseki’s Genjutsu briefly stalled Natsuhoshi but failed to hold her because her Chakra was too active.
• Soseki drove Natsuhoshi into a desperate defense with remotely controlled shuriken, then used the Flying Thunder God Technique to strike her and catch her as she fell.
• The Raikage recognized Soseki’s technique, while the Third Hokage and Mizukage traded remarks about the exams and Zabuza.