Chapter Summaries

Yun Chuan challenged Musashi to a sword duel, and the two clashed in a display of deadly iaijutsu. After Musashi was overwhelmed by Yun Chuan’s first strike, he drew a second blade and revealed Niten Ichi-ryū, determined to keep fighting.

• Musashi recognized that Yun Chuan had come seeking a fight, and the two prepared to draw their swords in the tea room.
• As the tea boiled over, Musashi and Yun Chuan launched simultaneous iaijutsu strikes that collided with explosive force.
• Yun Chuan overpowered Musashi’s first defense and forced him to his knees, but Musashi drew a Kodachi and attacked again.
• Yun Chuan identified Musashi’s two-sword style, and Musashi named it Niten Ichi-ryū before declaring that he would get serious.

Yun Chuan defeated and killed Musashi in a duel, then invited Yoshitaka to join him against Hanzo. After Yoshitaka agreed, Yun Chuan received a new Ichimaru Gin template for killing Musashi.

• Musashi challenged Yun Chuan to a duel, and Yun Chuan answered with Xinyou Swordsmanship.
• Yun Chuan broke Musashi’s katana and wounded him with the broken blade, while Musashi dodged instead of carrying out their mutual-kill strike.
• Musashi warned that Hanzo would lead the Land of Rain into the abyss, and Yun Chuan killed him.
• Yun Chuan asked Yoshitaka to come with him, and Yoshitaka agreed after asking to see Musashi off.
• Yun Chuan gained the Ichimaru Gin [Soul Reaper Academy] template after killing Musashi.

Chiyo planned to intensify Sunagakure’s campaign in the Land of Rain after learning Konoha had suffered a devastating attack, while Rasa questioned whether they should secure the Rain’s cooperation. Chiyo dismissed the concern and proposed offering trade, as a cold wind swept through the tent.

• Chiyo welcomed Rasa to the encampment and reflected on her grandson Scorpion and the family portrait she had ruined.
• Chiyo proposed expanding Sunagakure’s plundering in the Land of Rain, prompting the jonin to warn that it could drive the Rain to ally with Konoha.
• Chiyo revealed intelligence that the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki had gone berserk and Konoha had suffered severe losses, then argued that Konoha’s weakened position would make the Land of Rain submit.
• Chiyo confirmed that Sunagakure had not violated her ban on slaughter and discussed securing medicine and other supplies from the merchant Baiyu.
• Chiyo outlined plans to break Orochimaru’s defenses and invade the Land of Fire, then told Rasa to offer the Land of Rain future trade in exchange for its support.
• A cold wind blew rain into the tent, and Chiyo felt a stabbing pain as she breathed it in.

A violent gale tore through the Sunagakure meeting tent, and a masked-looking attacker descended from the storm and struck the gathered sand ninja. Rasa survived a near-fatal slash, but many of the others were cut down as the assault began.

• A sudden, debris-filled windstorm battered the tent, and Chiyo warned the others to defend against an enemy attack.
• Rasa used his gold dust to shield a sand ninja from flying debris, but sharp fragments wounded him.
• Chiyo sensed an approaching threat and opened a scroll as a tornado ripped away the tent roof.
• An attacker carrying a blade and a cat on his head landed in the tent, then used a kusarigama strike to slice through the rain and wind.
• Rasa blocked with gold dust but suffered a deep abdominal wound, while many sand ninja were decapitated or cut in half.

Hanzo confronted Chiyo in the Sunagakure camp, blaming the Sand Ninja for slaughtering civilians and declaring that he would stop making concessions. As Sand Ninja rushed to attack him, Ibuse burst from beneath the ground.

• Chiyo summoned three of Chikamatsu's Ten Puppets and sent a blade-wielding puppet against Hanzo, who tested its strength before pulling away.
• Hanzo accused Chiyo and Sunagakure of killing civilians and showed her the corpse of a Sunagakure puppet corps member.
• Chiyo denied ordering the slaughter and warned Hanzo that someone might be trying to provoke him.
• Hanzo rejected Chiyo's explanation, declared that he would meet Sunagakure on the battlefield, and prepared to leave.
• Sand Ninja taunted Hanzo and charged him, but Jiyun watched as Ibuse erupted from beneath the camp.

Hanzo and Ibuse ambushed the Hidden Sand forces from underground, while Chiyo struggled to protect her people from the salamander’s poison. Hanzo’s black cat then destroyed Chiyo’s puppet with a blast of air, leaving Hanzo furious and the Sand shinobi stunned.

• Ibuse burst from beneath the Hidden Sand forces, and Chiyo rescued Rasa from its jaws as it swallowed other shinobi.
• Chiyo and the Sand jonin attacked Ibuse with Wind Release, but the giant salamander survived and revealed itself.
• Hanzo stood atop Ibuse as it sprayed poisonous mist, killing several Sand jonin before Chiyo used Three Treasures Suction Crushing to draw the poison away.
• Chiyo sent a sword-wielding puppet to attack Hanzo, but the black cat stopped it with a wind barrier and destroyed it with Cloudburst Bombardment.
• Hanzo accused the black cat of causing the close-range blast on purpose, and the cat pretended innocence.

Jiyun revealed her human form and asserted that she was Tsukimiri Jiyun, not a summoning beast, before helping Hanzo confront Chiyo and the Sand Ninja. As Ibuse’s poison mist was pushed back by their wind wall, Jiyun gathered the storm’s power and unleashed a devastating attack.

• Jiyun destroyed Chiyo’s female puppet and, perched on Hanzo’s head, told the Sand Ninja she was not his summoning beast.
• Jiyun changed from a black cat into a human form, startling Chiyo and the Sand Ninja, and told Hanzo that Yun Chuan had chosen her.
• Jiyun introduced herself as Tsukimiri Jiyun and declared that she had both a given name and a family name.
• Hanzo ordered Ibuse to spray poisonous mist at Chiyo and the Sand Ninja, who countered with a combined Wind Release that drove the mist back.
• Jiyun gathered the wind and rain around herself, compressed their power, and unleashed Stand - Stray Cat - Storm Heavy Cannon.

Jiyun unleashed a poisonous wind attack that broke through the Sand shinobi’s barrier and killed many of them, while Chiyo fought back with her puppets. Rasa was poisoned by Hanzo’s blade, and Chiyo froze as the rain and wind stopped around her.

• Jiyun condensed the poison mist into a venomous dragon that shattered against a wind barrier formed by nearly a hundred Sand shinobi.
• Jiyun turned the scattered poison into needles that pierced the barrier and killed Sand shinobi with corrosive gas and poison.
• Chiyo raised her puppets’ Chakra shields and used Three Treasures Suction Crushing to absorb the poison mist.
• Rasa collapsed after Hanzo’s blade poison spread from his wound, and Chiyo tried to give him a temporary antidote.
• Chiyo found herself unable to move or speak as the wind and rain stopped and the raindrops began to evaporate.

Jiyun trapped Chiyo in a vacuum, forcing her to cut her own throat rather than suffocate. In Dawn City, Yahiko attended swordsmanship class, where Yun Chuan arrived to teach in place of the sick Teacher Acheng.

• Jiyun used her Vacuum Domain to trap Chiyo's head in a sphere without air, while her own hand suffered severe strain.
• Chiyo struggled against the vacuum wall, began to suffocate, and slashed her own throat after looking at Rasa and promising to remember Jiyun.
• Yahiko arrived at the academy's cold-weapons classroom, joked with his classmates, and told Nonō that a pigeon had flown into her house with a letter.
• Yahiko explained to Konan that he had come early because the class was about swordsmanship.
• Yun Chuan entered with a scar-faced man and told the students he would teach the class because Teacher Acheng was sick.

Yun Chuan taught the children kendo and used his precise observations to correct their suburi, while recognizing Yahiko’s sharp instincts and skill with Full Focus Breathing. He asked Yahiko to demonstrate the technique in a fight against Yoshitaka, a former right-hand man of Amegakure’s leader.

• Yun Chuan demonstrated the opening stance, and Yahiko and several other children instinctively stepped back when they sensed his attack.
• Yun Chuan checked the children’s stances, then had them perform repeated suburi swings while he corrected their form and helped Ashe recover his rhythm.
• Yun Chuan explained that his Transparent World vision let him observe the body’s movements and calculate safe training limits.
• Yun Chuan noticed Yahiko’s breathing, asked whether he had mastered Full Focus Breathing, and told him to demonstrate it.
• Yahiko asked whether he would have to fight Yun Chuan, but Yun Chuan pointed him toward Yoshitaka instead.

Yahiko sparred with Yoshitaka, who overwhelmed him with a sudden attack and knocked him down, but Yahiko retaliated and fought back with increasing power. The bout ended with Yahiko unleashing Sun Breathing, First Form: Round Dance, in a blazing strike toward Yoshitaka.

• Yun Chuan arranged for Yoshitaka to spar with Yahiko, and Yahiko warned Yoshitaka that he would treat him as a real enemy.
• Yoshitaka used a preemptive attack to batter Yahiko, knock away his bamboo sword, and punch him to the ground.
• Yahiko recovered and kicked Yoshitaka in the groin, then cited Yoshitaka's lessons about deception and ruthlessness.
• Yahiko and Yoshitaka resumed fighting, and Yahiko's attacks grew faster and stronger as Yoshitaka struggled to defend himself.
• Yahiko used Sun Breathing, First Form: Round Dance, with a flaming slash aimed at Yoshitaka.

Yahiko defeated Yoshitaka with a blazing sword strike, revealing a breathing technique Yun Chuan had taught him. Yun Chuan offered the children several breathing styles as a path to strength, while considering ways to help those without innate Chakra attributes; he ended by thinking about teaching Nonō abilities from Ichimaru Gin's template.

• Yahiko used a blazing strike to defeat Yoshitaka, who pretended to be unconscious after suffering a chest burn and cardiac syncope.
• Yun Chuan applauded Yahiko and explained that his strength and speed came from a breathing technique.
• Yun Chuan offered the children Water, Thunder, Flame, Rock, and Wind breathing styles, and invited them to develop styles of their own.
• Yun Chuan considered three paths for children with poor ninjutsu talent: becoming demons, learning breathing techniques, or developing Ninja tools.
• Yun Chuan recalled Nonō's subtle five-senses genjutsu and considered teaching her abilities from Ichimaru Gin's template.

Yun Chuan considered the widening war and his efforts to counter Madara Uchiha, while Jiyun reported that she had failed to kill Chiyo. At Konoha’s camp, Orochimaru praised Danzo for Hanzo’s declaration of war, but Danzo realized his own plan had gone awry just as news arrived that Mito had lost control and Konoha had suffered heavy casualties.

• Jiyun told Yun Chuan that Chiyo had survived and would be difficult to kill again, and Yun Chuan said Hanzo could deal with her.
• Yun Chuan assessed Madara Uchiha’s plans and the conflicts involving Kirigakure, Iwagakure, Sunagakure, and Konoha, and resolved to disrupt Madara’s support and prepare for the coming war.
• Orochimaru praised Danzo after learning that Hanzo had declared war on Sunagakure and proposed an alliance with Amegakure.
• Danzo left Orochimaru’s tent and realized that Hanzo’s attack had gone far beyond his plan, which had been to give Hanzo a pretext to seize power.
• A Konoha jonin reported that the enemy had infiltrated the rear, Mito had gone berserk and lost control, and Konoha had suffered heavy casualties.

Hanzo consolidated control of Amegakure after Musashi’s fall and rejected Konoha’s request for a joint agreement, demanding supplies before he would cooperate. Though he planned to make Orochimaru prove his sincerity, Hanzo recognized that Sunagakure’s next attack could threaten the Land of Rain as well, and his ambitions continued to grow.

• Hanzo learned that more than five hundred followers of Musashi had left with Yoshitaka, but he decided not to pursue them.
• Hanzo dismissed the departing Ninja as cowards and considered assigning the northern border near Earth Country to Yun Chuan.
• Hanzo read Orochimaru’s proposal for a joint document against Sunagakure and rejected it, citing Konoha’s lack of credibility.
• Hanzo instructed his subordinate to tell Orochimaru that Amegakure required supplies before it would cooperate, while he waited for Konoha to show sincerity.
• After the subordinate left, Hanzo acknowledged that Sunagakure’s next assault could endanger the Land of Rain, yet he remained confident and dreamed of rising higher.

Hiruzen Sarutobi and his advisers worried about Konoha’s vulnerability as the Land of Rain declared war on Sunagakure. After learning that Mito Uzumaki had awakened and Tsunade had entered her sealed ward, Hiruzen realized Mito might act on the hatred she sensed in Konoha.

• Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu urged Hiruzen Sarutobi to rest and attend to his family, but he asked for their views on Hanzo’s declaration of war against the Wind Country.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi warned that Konoha was vulnerable to attacks from other great powers and feared the Land of Rain would not withstand pressure from Iwagakure.
• A messenger reported that Mito Uzumaki had awakened and Tsunade had knocked out the guards and sealed the ward with a barrier.
• Tsunade entered Mito Uzumaki’s ward and found her staring at Konoha’s destruction, which Mito sensed was filled with malice.
• Mito Uzumaki dropped to her knees and retched as Tsunade called to her.

After recovering from a frightening vision of the villagers’ malice, Mito gave Tsunade her grandfather’s summoning contract and the Uzumaki sealing scroll, including the perfected Yin Seal. She urged Tsunade to become Hokage, leaving her to consider a path that might also heal her arm.

• Mito saw the villagers’ malice as a mass of black shadows and became violently ill, while Tsunade tried to support her.
• Yakushi introduced herself as a psychologist and explained that Mito’s fear and Chakra exhaustion would ease with rest.
• Mito gave Tsunade the contract scroll for Katsuyu of Shikkotsu Forest and a scroll containing Uzumaki Sealing Techniques and the perfected Yin Seal.
• Mito explained that Katsuyu might be able to heal Tsunade’s arm and that the Yin Seal stored Chakra for healing and combat.
• Mito stroked Tsunade’s head and told her to become Hokage.

Mito urged Tsunade to become Hokage and restore Konoha to a path that valued people over the village, while revealing that she intended to divide the Nine-Tails between herself and Tsunade. The chapter left the pharmacist realizing Mito also planned to keep Kushina hidden as a second Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.

• Mito argued that Hiruzen Sarutobi had led Konoha astray and asked Tsunade to take the Hokage position and change the village.
• Mito told Tsunade that people mattered more than Konoha and urged her to build support through achievements in the war.
• Tsunade realized Mito planned to give her the Nine-Tails, but refused to accept the Hokage position at the cost of her grandmother's life.
• Mito explained that she could split the Nine-Tails into yin and yang halves, give one half to Tsunade, and keep the other inside herself without dying.
• The pharmacist inferred that Mito would make Tsunade the public Jinchuriki while concealing Kushina as another Jinchuriki.

Mito convinced Tsunade to consider becoming Hokage and prepared to protect Kushina before confronting the Nine-Tails. She entered her sealing space and told the Nine-Tails she had come to borrow its Chakra.

• Mito explained to Tsunade that she could lead Konoha toward unity, and Tsunade agreed to give becoming Hokage a try.
• Mito put Tsunade to sleep with a genjutsu and told Kushina that Tsunade would protect her after Mito was gone.
• Mito asked Yakushi to care for the sleeping Kushina, and he agreed.
• Mito entered the sealing space within her body and found the damaged seal around the Nine-Tails had weakened.
• Mito approached the bound Nine-Tails and told it she had come to borrow its Chakra.

Mito split the Nine-Tails into Yin and Yang halves to transfer it to Tsunade, unleashing a devastating burst of Chakra that threw Konoha into panic. As Hiruzen Sarutobi arrived to stop the ritual, Jiraiya-sensei blocked his way, warning that interrupting it would kill Tsunade.

• Mito bound the Nine-Tails with golden chains and tore it into Yin and Yang halves.
• Yakushi tried to capture the escaping Nine-Tails Chakra with a tea kettle, but Mito's ritual erupted in a crimson blast that overwhelmed her and injured the Anbu.
• The Chakra explosion plunged Konoha into panic, and Hiruzen Sarutobi led Anbu toward Konoha Hospital to stop the ritual.
• Jiraiya-sensei realized Mito was transferring the Nine-Tails to Tsunade and blocked Hiruzen Sarutobi from approaching the barrier, warning that interrupting the transfer would kill her.

Hiruzen Sarutobi tried to stop the Nine-Tails transfer ritual because he wanted Kushina Uzumaki to succeed Mito, while Jiraiya refused to let him endanger Tsunade. The conflict escalated into a fight when Hiruzen ordered Jiraiya captured and attacked him with the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique.

• Jiraiya blocked Hiruzen Sarutobi from entering and argued that interrupting the ritual could kill Tsunade.
• Hiruzen argued that Mito and Tsunade had acted without authorization and insisted Tsunade was unsuitable to become the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.
• Hiruzen revealed that he had chosen Kushina Uzumaki to succeed Mito and demanded that Jiraiya move aside.
• Jiraiya refused, saying he could not stand by while Hiruzen hurt Tsunade.
• Hiruzen declared Jiraiya a rebel, ordered the Anbu to capture him, and attacked with the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique.