Chapter Summaries

Uchiha Gin was summoned by Senju Hi Shin, who revealed that Hydrangea was Amegakure’s powerful Number Two and asked what she wanted from him. After Gin explained her request and the danger of a wider war, Hi Shin began weighing Konoha’s chances against the other great nations, and Gin warned that she was underestimating the enemy.

• Uchiha Hikari treated Reimu more gently after the bedding incident, while Uchiha Gin teased Senju Itama and was punched by her.
• Sarutobi Toru arrived as an Anbu messenger and summoned Uchiha Gin to meet Senju Hi Shin.
• Uchiha Gin brought expired strawberry milk to the Hokage Building and greeted Senju Hi Shin for the New Year.
• Senju Hi Shin gave Uchiha Gin a dossier identifying Hydrangea as Amegakure’s Number Two, but Gin said he already knew her background.
• Uchiha Gin explained that Hydrangea wanted to study under Senju Hi Shin, who grew excited about exploiting the brewing conflict before Gin reminded her that other great nations could intervene.
• Senju Hi Shin counted Konoha’s fighters against the enemy forces, and Uchiha Gin warned that the Gin-Kin Brothers alone could defeat her.

Uchiha Gin exposed Senju Hi Shin’s declining strength and helped her realize that splitting her damaged soul had weakened her. After warning her against Konoha joining the war outright, he left the Hokage Building with a New Year’s red envelope and returned home to find Miroku cleaning.

• Uchiha Gin trapped Senju Hi Shin in his Philosophy Space illusion, and she woke up furious after enduring it.
• Uchiha Gin explained that Senju Hi Shin had lost strength because Living Corpse Reincarnation and splitting her soul had left her with only about seventy percent of her Soul Power.
• Senju Hi Shin gave Uchiha Gin a New Year’s red envelope after he agreed to look for a solution, and he warned her that Konoha could suffer heavily if it entered the war.
• Uchiha Gin left the Hokage Building carrying the trash, tricked Sarutobi Toru into taking it, and returned home to find Miroku cleaning while Reimu worked lazily.
• Uchiha Gin told Senju Itama that Senju Hi Shin had given him the red envelope as a New Year’s gift.

Hydrangea visited Amegakure’s struggling intelligence outpost in Konoha, reported that she had found a way to cure Hanzo, and then joined Uchiha Gin’s household as his apprentice. The Great Elder received her message in Amegakure, but the Yata Crow’s eggs began glowing and exploding in his office.

• Hydrangea scolded Oboro and the middle-aged Rain shinobi over their failing grilled fish restaurant and dictated a report for the Great Elder saying she had found a way to cure Hanzo.
• Oboro summoned the Yata Crow to carry the scroll to Amegakure, then shared gossip about Uchiha Gin that revealed rumors had mistakenly implicated Hydrangea.
• Hydrangea sampled the crowded Snack Street stalls, visited Uchiha Gin’s home, and accepted his red envelope while meeting Miroku and Uchiha Hikari.
• Uchiha Hikari welcomed Hydrangea and offered her an empty room, but Hydrangea said she had already bought an apartment using village funds.
• The Great Elder received Hydrangea’s message and celebrated the news, unaware that the Yata Crow’s eggs were glowing until they cracked and popped in his office.

Uchiha Chiri took Little Miroku shopping for their New Year’s hot pot, where Miroku discovered that Uchiha Gin’s red packet contained a legendary unlimited-meat card. They met Nonō at the vegetable market, where she joked that she was Miroku’s older sister by the same father.

• Uchiha Chiri invited Uchiha Eimi to Uchiha Gin’s home for hot pot, and Eimi gave Little Miroku a red packet and a milk bun.
• Uchiha Chiri took Little Miroku to an Uchiha butcher shop, where Miroku opened Uchiha Gin’s red packet and found the Infinite Meat Card.
• The butcher shop employee confirmed that the card let Miroku get unlimited free meat at Uchiha butcher shops throughout the Ninja World.
• Uchiha Chiri and Little Miroku met Nonō bargaining for vegetables for the orphanage’s New Year’s feast.
• Nonō accepted a red packet from Uchiha Chiri and introduced herself to Little Miroku as her older sister from the same father but a different mother.

Nonō bought vegetables for the orphanage but found the Uchiha Butcher Shop out of fresh meat, so Miroku gave her the meat from her own scroll to make up for an earlier insensitive remark. Uchiha Chiri and Miroku went to the Inuzuka kennel looking for meat for their hot pot, where Tsume Inuzuka mistook their request and began to undress.

• Nonō met Miroku at the vegetable market, accepted her candy, and headed to the Uchiha Butcher Shop to buy meat for the orphanage.
• Miroku learned that Nonō had grown up in an orphanage, felt guilty about boasting of her parents, and gave Nonō her scroll of meat.
• After the kennel ran out of meat, Uchiha Chiri took Miroku to the Inuzuka kennel, where Tsume Inuzuka recognized Chiri's rare membership card.
• Uchiha Chiri and Miroku tried to select dogs for hot pot, alarming Tsume and the kennel's dogs.
• Uchiha Chiri asked Tsume whether the kennel sold meat, and Tsume misunderstood her question and started to unzip her top.

Uchiha Gin hosted a New Year hot-pot dinner with his family, Reimu, and Senju Hi Shin, whose arrival brought teasing and family banter. An urgent front-line report reached Hi Shin before the gathering ended, and Gin learned the news would disrupt his plans to teach Human Body Modification.

• Uchiha Chiri explained that the premium beef for the hot pot had been bought as ransom for Tsume Inuzuka and Blackmaru, whom Inuzuka Yuzu had rescued.
• Senju Hi Shin and Uchiha Eimi arrived, and Reimu learned that Hi Shin was the powerful decision-maker behind Konoha.
• The family ate hot pot together, while Senju Itama asked after Second Brother and Hi Shin said he was busy attending the Hokage's banquet.
• Sarutobi Toru delivered an urgent front-line report to Hi Shin, who shared the scroll with Gin.
• Gin read the report and realized he could not postpone his Human Body Modification class until after the fifteenth day of the New Year.

Uchiha Gin performed a grotesque mechanical modification on Inuzuka Yuzu’s injured dog, Ginmaru, while tutoring Hydrangea, then heard that Hiruzen planned to intervene in the war between the Land of Earth and the Land of Rain. The chapter ended with Hiruzen visiting Danzo at Root and questioning the flickering light in his office.

• Uchiha Gin replaced Ginmaru’s necrotic parts with mechanical weapons and blades, and Inuzuka Yuzu invited him to dinner before Hydrangea reminded him about their tutoring session.
• Hydrangea warned Uchiha Gin not to pursue Inuzuka Yuzu and then fell down the stairs, prompting him to remark that her body would cushion the fall.
• Uchiha Gin overheard two Sarutobi clan ninja discussing Hiruzen’s intention to intervene in the war between the Land of Earth and the Land of Rain.
• Uchiha Gin wondered whether Monkey planned to use the war to train troops and recalled the progress Minato, Kushina, and the others had made with Nine-Tails Chakra.
• Hiruzen visited Danzo’s office at Root and complained that the flickering lightbulb had soaked his pants with tea, while Danzo defended it as style.

Hiruzen and Danzo discussed Iwagakure’s impending attack on Amegakure and learned that Sunagakure had developed AI Puppets. Meanwhile, Tsunade and Orochimaru reunited with their undercover teammates in Sunagakure, where they discovered that Dan Katō had become a Sand Jonin and Might Duy had a newborn child; the chapter ended with news that Sakumo had made himself a wife.

• Danzo showed Hiruzen intelligence that Ōnoki was leading Iwagakure’s forces toward Amegakure and that Hanzo might be seriously injured.
• Danzo argued that Sunagakure would not let Amegakure fall and revealed that it had developed a new generation of AI Puppets, including one pictured with Hatake Sakumo.
• Tsunade and Orochimaru reached Sunagakure and met Dan Katō, who revealed that he had become a registered Sand Jonin.
• Might Duy burst into the hideout, and Orochimaru attacked him before Dan Katō stopped them and explained that Duy had recently become a father.
• Might Duy said Sakumo’s news was even more surprising, and Dan Katō revealed that Sakumo had made himself a wife.

Hatake Sakumo struggled to carve a Power furnace core to save his pregnant wife, Hotaru, and told his companions how Sunagakure's research had led him to her. The chapter ended with his memories of meeting and naming the artificial puppet Hotaru, while her current condition remained fragile.

• Hatake Sakumo failed to carve another crystal core, and Shu told him he had applied for a meeting with Second Kazekage Shamon to seek help for Hotaru.
• Hatake Sakumo visited Hotaru, who was held in an incubation chamber, then met with Might Duy, Dan Katō, Tsunade, and Orochimaru.
• Hatake Sakumo explained that Shu's research aimed to create living, self-aware puppets called Yorha, powered by the legendary Angel Heart.
• Hatake Sakumo recalled how his knife skills helped the team develop a core from Chakra-rich ore discovered near the Dragon Pulse.
• Shu activated the test-version puppet 2B, and Hatake Sakumo renamed her Hotaru after she identified him as her master.

Hatake Sakumo revealed that his puppet wife Hotaru was pregnant and running out of power, prompting Orochimaru to suggest Yin-Yang Release might have given her life. As the group learned that Iwagakure had declared war and discussed their Sunagakure missions and the Yorha Legion, they left with Hotaru's fate unresolved and the war still brewing.

• Hatake Sakumo told Tsunade and Orochimaru that he loved Hotaru, an artificial puppet, and insisted she was pregnant with his child.
• Might Duy and Dan Katō confirmed they had seen Hotaru's enlarged belly, while Hatake Sakumo explained that her power furnace was nearly depleted.
• Orochimaru recalled Uchiha Gin's lesson that Yin-Yang Power could create life, giving Hatake Sakumo a possible way to save Hotaru.
• Dan Katō received news that Iwagakure had declared war, and Tsunade and Orochimaru inspected the infiltration missions of Dan Katō, Might Duy, and Hatake Sakumo.
• Hatake Sakumo described the Yorha Legion's strength and revealed that Sunagakure's young Sasori was learning puppet-making and swordsmanship from him.
• After Hatake Sakumo and the others departed, Dan Katō returned to insist that the books Tsunade mentioned had been Jiraiya's and that he had not read them.

Shu, Sasori, and Hatake Sakumo arrived in Rōran and met Queen Sana before visiting Shamon, the Second Kazekage. Sakumo asked Shamon for help with Hotaru, and Shamon revealed that a puppet becoming pregnant was not without precedent.

• Shu led Hatake Sakumo and Sasori through the desert toward Rōran, while Sakumo carried Sasori through the sandstorm.
• Queen Sana met the group, picked up Sasori, and escorted them into Rōran while teasing Shu.
• Shu and Sakumo surrendered their weapons before entering Shamon’s tower, where Sakumo recognized the Dragon Pulse’s energy.
• Shamon questioned Shu about his father Ebizo, then asked Sakumo about his knife skills and the Angel Heart puppet.
• Sakumo explained that Hotaru had entered standby mode after becoming pregnant, and Shamon stopped him before revealing that the situation had precedent.

Uchiha Gin was revealed as the legendary puppet expert Shamon had described, and he arrived at the reception just as Shu planned to ask him to repair Hatake Sakumo’s cybernetic wife. Gin recognized Sakumo wearing a face modeled after his own and teased him about his exploits.

• Uchiha Gin ate fruit in a private room while Yeye and Orianne threatened him with knives after he asked whether they could get pregnant.
• Shamon revealed that the mysterious creator of the Angel Heart puppet was Uchiha Gin, who had taught him puppetry and remained his friend.
• Shu decided to contact Gin for help repairing Hotaru and improving the Yorha Corps, while Hatake Sakumo tried to avoid meeting him in disguise.
• Shamon announced that Gin was already nearby, and Gin entered the reception room, startling Shu, Sana, Sasori, and Hatake Sakumo.
• Gin noticed Sakumo’s resemblance to his own face, gave Sasori five hundred jin of lemon candy, and teased Sakumo about operating machines.

Uchiha Gin revived Hotaru and discovered that Hatake Sakumo’s puppet wife was carrying a child, which he believed had been cloned from Sakumo’s genes. After checking Hotaru’s maintenance manual, Gin realized she had no cloning function and questioned where the child had come from.

• Uchiha Gin used his Mutated Byakugan to examine Hotaru and found a life-nurturing organ and a Dragon Pulse-powered furnace.
• Gin restored Hotaru’s power, awakened her, and restrained her when she greeted him with insults.
• Hotaru told Gin that the child was Master’s and that she was both the child’s father and mother.
• Gin told Hatake Sakumo that he was the child’s biological father and Hotaru its mechanical mother, leaving Sakumo stunned.
• Gin examined Hotaru’s maintenance guide, saw that it listed no cloning function, and wondered where the child had come from.

Uchiha Gin visited Chiyo after helping Hatake Sakumo restore Hotaru, and Shu revealed that a technician named Victor had worked on Hotaru’s creation. Chiyo hinted that she had discovered suspicious newcomers in Sunagakure, then asked Gin whether he had really brought a mother and daughter home in search of family.

• Shu congratulated Hatake Sakumo and promised a red envelope for the child, while Uchiha Gin assured Sakumo that Hotaru’s energy supply would last for decades.
• Shu affirmed that Hatake Sakumo would always be his friend, even as Gin suspected Shu had begun to question Sakumo’s identity.
• Shu told Gin that the technician Victor had helped create Hotaru, and Gin asked to meet him.
• Uchiha Gin and Shu visited Chiyo, who sent Shu flying outside after he mocked her youthful appearance.
• Chiyo plied Gin with fruit wine and hinted that she had found interesting newcomers in the village, but Gin dismissed her warnings.
• Chiyo asked Gin whether he had really brought home a mother and daughter who had traveled far to search for family, and Gin treated it as another joke.

Uchiha Gin investigated Victor’s disappearance and discovered that the missing researcher had secretly studied human modification and cloning. An invitation signed by Jigen suggested Victor had joined a group promising eternal life, leaving Gin with a new lead on Hotaru’s origins.

• Chiyo told Uchiha Gin that Sunagakure’s young fighters and Puppet Legion could stand against their enemies.
• Shu reported that Victor had vanished, and Uchiha Gin joined him in searching Victor’s home.
• Uchiha Gin found a hidden Storage Scroll inside a Prosthetic Limb and summoned an operating table from it.
• Shu and Uchiha Gin discovered Victor’s secret research into human modification and cloning, including documents about Hotaru’s Clone origins.
• Uchiha Gin found an invitation promising researchers eternal life and saw that Jigen had signed it.

Uchiha Gin learned that Jigen’s cult had recruited Victor, then returned to Konoha while Sakumo and his companions prepared to withdraw from Sunagakure. Sakumo departed with his group, but Baki returned the next day claiming that a silver-haired swordsman had killed him, as Chiyo recognized the likely attacker.

• Uchiha Gin concluded that Jigen’s followers had taken Victor and warned Shu not to waste resources searching for him during the war.
• Uchiha Gin returned to Konoha with melons and told Uchiha Hikari and Senju Itama about Hotaru’s pregnancy and Sakumo’s plans.
• Sakumo, Dan Katō, Orochimaru, Tsunade, and Might Duy agreed to withdraw after suspecting Sunagakure had begun exposing spies, and Danzo approved their evacuation.
• Sakumo left Sunagakure with Hotaru and the others after promising Sasori he would return, while Might Duy’s group missed their carriage.
• Baki returned to Sunagakure and reported that a silver-haired ninja with a short sword had killed Sakumo while covering the team’s escape.
• Chiyo recognized the description as matching a particular ninja, but the chapter ended before she named him.

Uchiha Gin delivered Hotaru’s son using Kamui and reunited her with Hatake Sakumo, then learned Sakumo had a huge Black Market bounty placed on him by Shu. The chapter left Gin warning that Konoha and Sunagakure might not remain allies as he asked Tsunade about the fermented-rice sweet drink.

• Tsunade admitted she could not safely deliver Hotaru’s child, so Hatake Sakumo asked Uchiha Gin to help.
• Uchiha Gin used Kamui to remove Hotaru’s baby from her one-time cloning device, and Hotaru survived the delivery.
• Hatake Sakumo reunited with Hotaru and named their son Five-Five-Open after Uchiha Gin suggested it as a joke.
• Tsunade revealed that Shu had placed a bounty of 100,255,483 ryo on Hatake Sakumo for supposedly killing Ling Lingqi, and Hotaru had changed her appearance to protect him.
• Uchiha Gin warned the group that Konoha might eventually go to war with Sunagakure, then asked Tsunade about the fermented-rice flavor in his sweet drink.

Uchiha Gin attended the clan meeting with Uchiha Hikari and Uchiha Chiri, then confronted Reimu over her shrine’s sales operation and discovered its sacred sake was purified bathwater. He struck a profit-sharing deal with Reimu, but she later handed him a freshly prepared bottle of genuine chewed sake.

• Uchiha Hikari questioned Uchiha Gin about his frequent hospital visits, and he explained that he had been visiting newborn acquaintances.
• Uchiha Chiri told Uchiha Hikari and Uchiha Gin that Uchiha Setsuna had an illegitimate child, based on gossip from Uchiha Afen.
• Uchiha Gin found Reimu and Little Miroku selling charms, plaques, fortunes, and sacred sake under a sign recommending them in his name.
• Uchiha Gin confronted Reimu, negotiated for seventy percent of the profits, and learned that her sacred sake was made from purified water from the Uchiha bathhouse.
• Uchiha Gin told Reimu to increase production after hearing the sake sold for 88,888 ryō per bottle.
• Reimu caught up with Uchiha Gin and gave him a freshly made bottle, explaining that she had boiled the water for it.

Uchiha Setsuna tried to silence rumors about his illegitimate child by inventing a story that blamed the deceased Uchiha Yashiro, while Uchiha Gin’s student Hydrangea left to return to Rain Country and treat Hanzo. The chapter ended with Danzo arriving at Gin’s house with Mihui Ya and a child, bringing him Strawberry Milk.

• Uchiha Setsuna heard the clan members gossiping about his illegitimate child and abruptly ended the assembly.
• Uchiha Setsuna invented a tragic romance blaming the child on the late Uchiha Yashiro, and Uchiha Zhou agreed to spread the story.
• Uchiha Hikari told Uchiha Gin that the clan now claimed Uchiha Yashiro was the child’s father.
• Hydrangea paid Uchiha Gin for her lessons, received a Chakra Pill, and left to return to Amegakure after learning Hanzo was near death.
• Uchiha Gin admitted he regretted losing Hydrangea as a wealthy student, then welcomed Danzo, Mihui Ya, and a child at his door.

Danzo and Mihui Ya thanked Uchiha Gin for saving their daughter, and he named her Rin Nohara. Later, Gin arranged for Orochimaru to meet Senju Hi Shin as a potential instructor, leaving Hi Shin to question Orochimaru’s appearance and research.

• Danzo and Mihui Ya thanked Uchiha Gin for helping deliver their daughter and asked him to name her.
• After Senju Itama and Uchiha Hikari suggested Cui Fang and Shu Fen, Gin named the baby Rin, and Danzo said she would be Rin Nohara.
• Danzo warned Gin that the world had grown dangerous, and Gin discovered Nonō working in Root as Danzo’s personal assistant.
• Gin visited Ichiraku and met Orochimaru, then brought Senju Hi Shin to serve as Orochimaru’s instructor.
• Senju Hi Shin cooled down with Gin’s Eternal Winter pendant and mocked Orochimaru’s appearance and research-related physiological quirks.