Chapter Summaries

Soseki and Yugito fought in the tournament final, trading powerful attacks until both appeared nearly exhausted. Soseki released the Chakra stored in his Yin Seal, prompting the Two-Tails to lend Yugito more power and leaving the battle poised to intensify.

• Yugito borrowed the Two-Tails' Chakra and attacked Soseki with enhanced speed, claws, and Chakra techniques.
• Soseki used ninjutsu and the Third Gate to counter Yugito, and they fought at close range until both were covered in wounds.
• Soseki and Yugito acknowledged that their Chakra was nearly depleted, but Yugito said she could borrow more from the Two-Tails.
• Soseki released the Chakra stored in his Yin Seal, and the Two-Tails angrily offered Yugito another share of its power.

Yugito fought Soseki after Matatabi flooded her with Chakra, but Soseki used a giant slug, acid attacks, and the Flying Thunder God Technique to overwhelm her. He struck her with a Big Ball Rasengan, sending her crashing into the arena wall.

• Matatabi gave Yugito a surge of Chakra, and Yugito unleashed a massive fireball that forced Soseki underground.
• Yugito attacked Soseki's hiding place, but he countered with corrosive acid and summoned a giant slug to assist him.
• Soseki pressured Yugito with coordinated Rasengan attacks and the slug's precise acid blasts, while Yugito asked Matatabi for a way to counter him.
• Matatabi used Spirit Cat Howl to distract Soseki briefly, and the slug split into smaller slugs, one of which marked Yugito with the Flying Thunder God formula.
• Soseki teleported to Yugito and hit her with a Big Ball Rasengan, blasting her into the arena wall.

Shimizu Soseki defeated Yugito after revealing his Sage Mode and using a hidden attack strategy. When Yugito lost control and began to release the Two-Tails, Soseki sealed it back inside her, ending the battle.

• Yugito entered One-Tail Mode and overwhelmed Soseki with her speed, while he evaded her using teleportation.
• Soseki used a Shadow Clone and a hidden slug to catch Yugito off guard, then struck her with Sage Art: Giant Spiraling Sphere.
• Yugito realized Soseki's real body had been hidden inside his Summoning Beast, but Soseki used Sage Mode and the Eight Gates to overpower her.
• Yugito's Chakra surged as she tried to break the seal and unleash the Two-Tails.
• Soseki appeared before the unconscious Yugito and used the Four Symbols Seal to contain the Two-Tails again.

After Soseki won the Chunin Exam by sealing the Two-Tails, the Raikage and Kitsuchi discussed plans to kill him in the coming war. Both Hidden Cloud Village and Hidden Stone Village saw Soseki as a growing threat and began considering ways to counter his Flying Thunder God Technique.

• The Third Hokage announced Soseki as the Chunin Exam winner, and spectators from various countries celebrated his victory and recognized Leaf Village's strength.
• Dodai told the Raikage that several small countries had contacted Leaf Village, but the Raikage focused on Soseki as a future threat to Hidden Cloud Village.
• The Raikage, A, and Dodai planned to exploit Soseki's Chakra limits and use rumors to pressure him into staying behind during a retreat before ambushing him.
• Morihiru suggested that the Tsuchikage use Dust Release to kill Soseki, and Kitsuchi agreed that his father would ambush him if they could determine which battlefield he would enter.

The Third Hokage and Rasa agreed to an alliance that included supplies, and Rasa asked for Soseki to visit Hidden Sand Village after the war. As the Chunin Exam results were posted, Soseki met with his friends and a dangerous-looking man asked to speak with him.

• Rasa requested supplies at market price as part of an alliance, and the Third Hokage agreed to provide them alongside intelligence and military support.
• Rasa asked the Third Hokage to send Soseki to Hidden Sand Village for an exchange, but the Hokage deferred the visit until after the war.
• The Chunin Exam results were posted, listing Soseki, Kurenai, Asuma, Guy, and Yugito among those who passed.
• Soseki and his companions joked that Hidden Cloud Village had left early because it could not undo the seal on Yugito.
• Baki arrived and spoke about possibly becoming comrades with Soseki, then a Hidden Sand shinobi declared that he would follow Soseki.
• A dangerous-looking man approached and asked to borrow Soseki's time.

Orochimaru brought Soseki to examine Mizuki, who was suffering a severe rejection reaction after receiving Hashirama cells. Soseki agreed to study the cells and Orochimaru’s experimental records to find a way to save him.

• Orochimaru revealed that Mizuki had received the First Hokage’s cells after seeking greater power and the ability to cultivate senjutsu.
• Soseki learned that the Third Hokage and Danzō had previously conducted deadly Hashirama-cell experiments, which had driven Tsunade away from the Third Hokage.
• Soseki released Orochimaru’s seal to observe Mizuki’s condition, and Mizuki’s right arm rapidly grew into a tree before Soseki resealed it.
• Soseki concluded that Mizuki needed either powerful Mental Energy to suppress the cells or a way to resolve his bodily rejection reaction.
• Soseki asked to study the Hashirama cells and past experimental records, and Orochimaru agreed to provide them.

Soseki and Orochimaru successfully treated Mizuki, awakening his Wood Release, and Soseki offered to help him develop it further. Two days later, the Third Hokage declared war and assigned commanders and specialized units to Konoha’s eastern and western fronts.

• Soseki and Orochimaru operated on Mizuki, who awakened Wood Release and gained enough chakra to practice sage techniques.
• Soseki proposed developing Wood Release himself and telling others that he had taught it to Mizuki, and Mizuki eagerly agreed to help.
• The Third Hokage announced that the Cloud and Stone Villages were preparing to send troops, then officially declared war.
• The Third Hokage appointed Danzo and Orochimaru to command the western and eastern fronts, with Torifu Akimichi and Namikaze Minato as their deputies.
• The Third Hokage assigned leaders to Konoha’s reconnaissance, surprise assault, strategy, sensory, and medical logistics units, and confirmed that Jiraiya and Tsunade were returning.

As war preparations intensified, Soseki reassured the women at Konoha Hospital that he could survive on the front lines and gave them kunai to summon his help. He joined the Eastern Front’s deployment as Orochimaru addressed the assembled shinobi and led them toward war.

• Miyoshi, Kotoko, and Yumiko worried that Soseki would fight on the front lines, but he reassured them and gave them marked kunai in case they needed rescuing.
• Soseki met Misa and Daxiong at the hospital, and Daxiong agreed to abandon his plan to graduate early after Soseki nodded.
• Soseki gave Misa a kunai for emergencies and left to join the eastern deployment.
• Asuma told Soseki and Kurenai that the eastern and western lines each had ten thousand shinobi, with special units bringing the total deployment to twenty-three thousand.
• Orochimaru addressed the assembled shinobi and called on them to follow him in defending their home.

Soseki discovered a large Hidden Cloud force closing in on a Hyuga squad and used the Mind Transfer Jutsu to warn Hiashi directly. The chapter ended as Soseki alerted Hiashi to the danger and urged him to avoid the enemy.

• Maruboshi Kosuke explained the realities of war as Soseki’s group prepared for their patrol.
• Soseki used Sage Mode to detect around three hundred Hidden Cloud ninja and a nearby Konoha squad of about thirty people heading toward them.
• When the group could not quickly warn the approaching squad, Soseki used the Mind Transfer Jutsu to send his spiritual body toward them.
• Soseki found Hiashi and Hizashi’s Hyuga squad, entered Hiashi’s consciousness, and warned him about the Hidden Cloud force ahead.

Soseki warned Hiashi that a force of three hundred Cloud ninja was approaching, and the Hyuga scouting team fled but was discovered. Soseki organized reinforcements and an ambush at Thunderclap Gorge, while promising to keep the Cloud ninja from noticing it.

• Soseki alerted Hiashi to the approaching Cloud force, and Hiashi ordered the Hyuga team to erase their traces and retreat.
• Toroi learned that the fleeing Leaf ninja included Hyuga and ordered his force to pursue them.
• After the Hyuga were spotted by a Ninja Hawk and a tracker, Hiashi asked Soseki to find reinforcements and vowed to destroy his eyes rather than let the enemy take them.
• Soseki told the camp that Hiashi and the Hyuga team were being pursued, and the Leaf ninja agreed to send reinforcements despite the danger.
• Soseki chose Thunderclap Gorge as the ambush site and said he would prevent the Cloud ninja from discovering the ambush.

Toroi led the Hidden Cloud squad in pursuit of the Hyuga ninja, unaware that Leaf Village had prepared an ambush at Thunderclap Gorge. After the trap devastated his force, Soseki used the controlled Ninja Hawk to distract Toroi and killed him with a Rasengan.

• Toroi ordered his Hidden Cloud squad to pursue the Hyuga ninja faster after Sith suggested their target might include someone from the Hyuga Main Family.
• Soseki told Hiashi that he had taken control of the Ninja Hawk, then alerted the Leaf Village ambush team as the Hidden Cloud approached Thunderclap Gorge.
• Exploding Tags triggered a rockslide and killed nearly a third of the Hidden Cloud force, after which the Leaf ninja and Hyuga group attacked the survivors.
• Toroi tried to break through with his Magnet Release, and his Shuriken tore apart a Chunin who had been struck by one.
• Soseki sent the controlled Ninja Hawk at Toroi, disrupted his movements, and killed him with a Rasengan.

Shimizu Soseki and the Leaf forces annihilated a Cloud shinobi unit at Thunderclap Gorge, saving the Hyuga squad with few casualties. At central headquarters, Orochimaru decided to publicize Soseki’s victory, while Jiraiya worried it would make him a target.

• Soseki killed Magnet Release Troy, then evaded three Cloud jonin who charged him.
• Maruboshi Kosuke rallied the Leaf ninja to coordinate their attacks, wiping out the remaining Cloud shinobi at Thunderclap Gorge.
• Hiashi thanked Soseki for saving the Hyuga squad and promised to help him; Soseki asked him to support the Leaf Village’s war effort.
• Yamanaka Takeharu reported to Orochimaru and Jiraiya that reinforcements from four camps had rescued the Hyuga and defeated the Cloud unit with fewer than ten Leaf casualties.
• Orochimaru ordered the victory publicized to raise morale and strike at the enemy, while Jiraiya warned that doing so would make Soseki a target.

After Killer B’s Tailed Beast Bomb devastated a Leaf force, Leaf’s commanders debated how to counter the Eight Tails Jinchuriki and his ally A. Minato proposed that he and Soseki work together, leaving the response unresolved.

• The Raikage learned that Toroi’s three-hundred-man force had been wiped out by Soseki and ordered A and Killer B sent to the battlefield.
• Half a month later, Soseki returned to camp and went with Rin to treat around 170 wounded ninja using his summoned slug.
• Kurenai told Obito that Killer B had killed more than a hundred ninja with a Tailed Beast Bomb before Minato transferred the following attacks away.
• Jiraiya, Minato, and Orochimaru discussed the threat posed by Killer B and A, while Orochimaru warned against deploying Kushina or leaving Jiraiya to face the Raikage.
• Minato suggested that he and Soseki work together to counter Killer B and A.

Minato, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru discussed how to counter Killer B and A, then summoned Soseki to ask him to fight alongside Minato. Soseki agreed to take the field and was told to stay and practice coordinating with Minato ahead of Kumogakure's next attack.

• Minato argued that Soseki could hold out against Killer B by exploiting the limits of his transformations while Minato kept A occupied, but Jiraiya and Orochimaru warned that the Kumogakure pair's coordination was the greater threat.
• At the field hospital, Rin praised Soseki's skill, while Yamanaka Takeharu summoned him urgently to meet Orochimaru.
• Orochimaru explained that Killer B's Tailed Beast Bomb threatened the camp and that Minato needed Soseki's help to counter the Eight Tails Jinchuriki.
• Soseki agreed to fight alongside Minato, saying he would do his utmost to work well with him.
• Orochimaru told Soseki to stay with Minato and practice coordinating because the Raikage was likely to attack again soon.

Soseki and Minato devised a Flying Thunder God strategy to counter the Cloud Village's AB Combo and tested it against Jiraiya. As their training ended, a summons indicated that fighting on the front lines was beginning again.

• Minato proposed several extravagant names for his and Soseki's combination before Soseki redirected their discussion to battle tactics.
• Soseki suggested marking each other with Flying Thunder God formulas so they could teleport together and exploit two-on-one openings against A and B.
• The Raikage praised A and B's Guillotine Drop training and ordered them to focus on taking down Minato, whom he considered their greatest threat.
• Five days later, Soseki and Minato used their coordinated teleportation tactics to corner Jiraiya during a training match.
• Jiraiya's communication snake vanished, and he concluded that the war on the front lines was starting again.

Orochimaru assigned Minato and Soseki to face the Cloud Village’s jinchuriki, while the Leaf forces prepared for the approaching battle. Minato and Soseki ambushed A, and Killer B reached his wounded brother only to discover Flying Thunder God markings on him.

• Orochimaru ordered the Leaf forces to follow the prewar plan and told the jonin that Minato and Soseki would handle the jinchuriki, with Jiraiya backing his decision.
• Minato took command of the main camp and instructed Inuzuka Gaku and Akimichi Todo to steer their troops away from the central battlefield and scatter marked kunai.
• A charged at Minato, who used a shadow clone and Flying Thunder God to evade him, while an Eight Tails tentacle intercepted Minato’s strike.
• Soseki manipulated a kunai with Chakra Threads, struck A with a Super Big Ball Rasengan, and gravely injured him.
• Killer B rushed to A in his partial tailed beast transformation and noticed Flying Thunder God markings on his brother’s body.

Soseki and Minato caught A pretending to be unconscious and used his own tactic against him, triggering a chaotic battle with the Cloud ninja. Soseki exposed Killer B’s tentacle clone and prepared to seal the severed octopus leg as the fight continued.

• Killer B shielded A from Soseki and Minato’s Big Ball Rasengan, but A was also battered when Killer B’s tails bound him.
• Soseki and Minato explained that they had seen through A’s feigned unconsciousness, and Soseki teleported A into the Leaf camp.
• The Leaf and Cloud ninja clashed as Killer B began forming a Tailed Beast Bomb and Minato rushed to transport it away.
• A attacked Soseki alongside a tentacle clone disguised as Killer B, but Soseki’s Genjutsu made A mistake the Third Raikage for him.
• A was struck and left badly injured, while Soseki realized Killer B had transformed the severed tentacle into a clone and saw a chance to seal it.

Shimizu Soseki used Flying Thunder God, Sage Mode, and the first three gates to overpower A and Killer B, forcing the Hidden Cloud fighters to confront how strong he was. A tore away the flesh bearing Soseki’s teleportation formula and landed a counterattack, but Killer B said his real body was nearly spent as the brothers prepared one last move.

• A ordered Killer B to keep firing Tailed Beast Bombs at Namikaze Minato while they attacked Soseki.
• Soseki evaded A and Killer B with Flying Thunder God as they destroyed his marked kunai, but A charged toward a Leaf Village Chunin to force a direct confrontation.
• Soseki joined with his Shadow Clone, entered Sage Mode, opened the first three gates, and struck A with a punch that sent him flying.
• Killer B used his octopus-leg clone and tentacles to protect A, but Soseki struck both brothers and left the Cloud ninja watching in dismay.
• A tore away the flesh bearing Soseki’s Flying Thunder God formula, then punched Soseki when a teleport went awry.
• Killer B warned A that his real body was nearing its limit, and A agreed to one final attack.

Soseki defeated A and Killer B’s coordinated attack, sealed Killer B’s tentacle, and forced the Hidden Cloud forces to retreat. As the retreat began, Minato’s diverted Tailed Beast Bomb exploded inside Hidden Cloud territory.

• A and Killer B used their teamwork to create openings, but Soseki outmatched them and knocked Killer B aside.
• A and Killer B coordinated a Guillotine Drop, using Killer B’s ink to briefly prevent Soseki from escaping with the Flying Thunder God Technique.
• Soseki used Sage Art: Paper Body - Slime to evade the attack, then sealed Killer B’s tentacle with Sage Art: Demon Sealing Seal.
• A admitted defeat and ordered the Hidden Cloud forces to retreat, with Killer B preparing a barrage of Tailed Beast Bombs to cover them.
• Minato’s diverted Tailed Beast Bomb exploded inside Hidden Cloud territory, devastating the surrounding landscape.

Minato and Soseki led the Leaf forces to victory against the Cloud Ninja, forcing Killer B to sacrifice most of the Eight Tails’ body to cover the retreat. When Jiraiya and Orochimaru returned to camp, they learned that the battle had been reported as a sweeping triumph and Killer B as dead.

• Killer B transformed into the Eight Tails to hold off Minato and Soseki while A and the surviving Cloud Ninja retreated.
• Minato ordered the Leaf forces to attack, and they defeated Killer B after a prolonged fight.
• Soseki told Minato he had recognized that the Eight Tails had left behind a clone, and Minato explained that the beast would need one or two years to recover.
• Orochimaru and Jiraiya returned from their battle with the old Raikage and found the camp decorated to celebrate a major victory.
• A Leaf ninja told Jiraiya and Orochimaru that Soseki had suppressed the AB Combo, Minato had redirected the Tailed Beast Bomb, and Killer B had been killed.
• Hyuga Hiashi considered having Hizashi or his child become Soseki’s student, while Uchiha Yashiro praised his clan head’s judgment.