Chapter Summaries

Katsuo replaced his own eyes with the damaged One-Tomoe Sharingan and began nurturing them with Sage Spring Water. He gave Orochimaru an arm of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path to study while keeping Uchiha Madara’s remains secret, leaving their research partnership cautiously limited.

• Katsuo gouged out his own eyes and implanted the One-Tomoe Sharingan, using the Mystical Palm Technique to fuse them with his eye sockets.
• Katsuo could see only in a blur, and Orochimaru said the eyes should improve as they recovered.
• Orochimaru licked up Katsuo’s blood, and Katsuo let him collect it after warning him not to use it foolishly.
• Katsuo gave Orochimaru an arm of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path to study as a strange, woodlike creature connected to the hidden enemy.
• Katsuo kept Uchiha Madara’s remains from Orochimaru, wary that Orochimaru might use them for Impure World Reincarnation.

Katsuo confronted Mitokado Homura over his defiance of the Third Hokage's orders and used his murderous presence to frighten the Hokage Advisor into backing down. Katsuo remained wary of Konoha's response, but he hoped to stay because his family and friends were there.

• Mitokado Homura questioned Katsuo about altering Konoha's agreement with the Cloud Shinobi, and Katsuo admitted he had done so.
• Katsuo challenged Homura to explain why Konoha had waited until after he dealt with the demigod to confront him.
• Katsuo suddenly appeared before Homura, whose fear grew as he saw Katsuo's bloodshot, deathlike eyes.
• Katsuo straightened Homura's glasses and warned him that Konoha must not come after his life, and Homura promised to relay his words to the Hokage.
• After Homura left, Katsuo reflected that he still wanted to remain in Konoha for his loved ones, but would leave if the village pushed him too far.

Konoha’s troops celebrated their victory and prepared to leave the Land of Rain, honoring their fallen comrades and praising the commanders who led them. Katsuo arrived at the banquet and took the seat of honor as the gathering recognized him as the figure who had ended the war.

• The Yūhi Clan Head led the Konoha elites in pouring out their first cups to honor their fallen comrades.
• The Yūhi Clan Head toasted the troops, and Uchiha Sheng and others praised his leadership before the Yūhi Clan Head credited Katsuo with defeating the demigod and ending the war.
• Katsuo entered the banquet with Jiraiya, Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Nawaki, while the guests whispered about his blinded eyes and showed him deep respect.
• Katsuo asked where his seat was, and the Yūhi Clan Head designated the seat of honor for him.
• Katsuo hesitated briefly, then sat in the seat of honor.

After celebrating the war’s victory with the allied clans, Katsuo rejected several women sent to his tent and continued studying the Yin Seal. He began investigating whether the Daoist School’s three dantians could store Chakra, but Orochimaru’s return interrupted his first discovery.

• Katsuo raised a toast at the banquet, praised the Yūhi Clan Head, and drank with the assembled clans before leaving early.
• A young Yūhi Clan kunoichi tried to seduce Katsuo, but he ordered her to leave because he loved someone else.
• Katsuo turned away a Nara Clan kunoichi and a Fūma Clan woman who came to his tent afterward.
• Katsuo studied the Yin Seal and compared it to the upper dantian from his previous life’s Daoist teachings.
• Katsuo tested whether Chakra could pass through the middle dantian and noticed that a small amount seemed to disappear, but Orochimaru returned before he could investigate further.

Katsuo enlisted Orochimaru’s help to return to Mount Myōboku and steal another source of power. After sneaking in alone, he discovered that the toads were secretly training Sage Chakra to defeat him.

• Katsuo challenged Orochimaru’s contempt for desire, then asked him to help return to Mount Myōboku for a mysterious treasure.
• Orochimaru revealed he had stored plenty of Jiraiya’s blood, and Katsuo used it to summon and control a toad.
• Katsuo sent Orochimaru to wait while he released the summoning and slipped alone into Mount Myōboku.
• Katsuo sensed two figures cultivating Sage Chakra near the Toad Spring and spotted heaps of people petrified by failed training.
• Katsuo realized Mount Myōboku was preparing to take revenge for his earlier thefts and the harm done to Gamamaru.

Katsuo discovered Mount Myōboku was secretly training fighters in Sage Mode to help take revenge on him, so he attacked a training session to steal a rare black rod. He killed one cultivator and left another facing him in terror.

• Katsuo hid his presence and watched two cultivators train under a blue toad, learning that Mount Myōboku was recruiting people to fight him.
• Katsuo decided to seize the black rod that could expel chaotic Natural Energy from a person's body.
• Katsuo opened the Sixth Gate and used the Body Flicker Technique to kick the blue toad hundreds of meters away, knocking the rod loose.
• Katsuo blasted apart one cultivator's Fire Release attack, evaded another's Water Release, and killed its caster with a knee strike.
• The remaining cultivator demanded to know who Katsuo was, but Katsuo charged at him without answering.

Katsuo escaped with the black rod after fighting the toads, then discovered it could disrupt Sage Chakra. He left Orochimaru with instructions to protect Konan and their other associates before heading into the Death Forest to train in seclusion.

• Katsuo struck a half-sage with Leaf Great Whirlwind, seized the black rod, and escaped through Orochimaru's Summoning Technique as the toads arrived.
• Shenmiao ordered the toads to investigate the attack and prepare to confront Katsuo in Konoha, while Shinen demanded that Jiraiya be summoned.
• Katsuo and Orochimaru tested the black rod and found that it violently disrupted Chakra; Katsuo explained that it could knock away Natural Energy and potentially end Sage Mode.
• Katsuo told Orochimaru he would not return to Konoha and asked him to bring Konan out of the Uchiha Compound, train her Paper Release, and watch over Might Duy and Son.
• Katsuo gave Orochimaru his token and said he would enter seclusion in the deepest part of the Death Forest.

Katsuo asked Orochimaru to protect a child before fleeing Jiraiya’s angry summons. In Cloud-Lightning Gorge, the young A trained obsessively to avenge his father and defeat Katsuo, then renewed his resolve after his Second Grandfather rebuked him.

• Katsuo worried that Konan and Might Duy could be targeted because of their ties to him, but recognized how fiercely his followers would defend his people.
• Orochimaru agreed to take care of the child, and Katsuo used the Body Flicker Technique to escape Jiraiya’s furious call.
• The young A trained in Cloud-Lightning Gorge, pushing his speed and Lightning Release Armor while lamenting that he was too weak to avenge his father and defeat the Demon God.
• A’s Second Grandfather scolded him for despairing and urged him to inherit lightning’s fearless will.
• A accepted medicine for his injuries and vowed to surpass his father and personally kill his enemy.

Konoha welcomed its returning ninja, but Uchiha Katsuo stayed away and sent Mikoto a bizarre love letter instead. Mikoto treasured it, then learned that a crowd of women was also waiting for Katsuo to return.

• The Third Hokage and cheering villagers welcomed the ninja army home, while Mikoto, Kushina, and Konan searched for Katsuo.
• Uchiha Sheng gave Mikoto Katsuo's letter and explained that Katsuo would not return yet.
• Mikoto read Katsuo's awkward love letter, blushed at its declarations, and found his warning to stay away from Fugaku on the reverse.
• Mikoto met Konan and Kushina, who had learned from Nawaki that Katsuo was away on a mission.
• Kushina pointed out a crowd of women waiting for Katsuo, and Mikoto spotted Uchiha women eager to welcome him too.

As Konoha waited for Uchiha Katsuo to return, Hiruzen Sarutobi struggled with whether to confront him and ordered Anbu to find him for the Wind-Fire Battlefield. An army from Mount Myōboku then reached Konoha, demanding Katsuo and declaring that he must die.

• Mikoto, Kushina, Konan, and Nawaki made plans to leave and meet again the next day while villagers waited for Uchiha Katsuo.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi told the crowd that Katsuo could not return yet, then ordered Anbu to find him and send him to reinforce the Wind-Fire Battlefield.
• A small toad summoned the Three Great Sages of the Toad Clan, who brought a force of giant creatures and three figures from Mount Myōboku.
• The toad army charged toward Konoha, panicking the villagers, while two jonin stood in its path.
• An old toad ordered Gamabunta not to attack and said they had come to demand Katsuo and make him die.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi arrived, stopped the toads, and asked why Mount Myōboku had come to Konoha.

Mount Myōboku's army confronted Konoha and demanded Uchiha Katsuo, but Hiruzen Sarutobi denied sheltering him and Jiraiya confirmed he had fled. After sensing no trace of Katsuo, the toads began their Sage Art: Toad Chorus, leaving Konoha facing an imminent attack.

• The Old Toad demanded that Hiruzen Sarutobi hand over Uchiha Katsuo, accusing him of killing toads and stealing their sacred treasures.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi refused to shield Katsuo and said he was not in Konoha, offering to let Mount Myōboku search the village.
• Jiraiya confirmed that Katsuo had fled overnight, while Orochimaru listened from hiding with Konan.
• The toads and the three Sage Art practitioners sensed Konoha but found no trace of Katsuo.
• The Old Toad signaled the toads to swell their bellies, and they began the Sage Art: Toad Chorus as Hiruzen Sarutobi prepared to fight.

Mount Myōboku toads attacked Konoha with a village-wide sound-wave genjutsu and demanded that Konoha reveal Uchiha Katsuo’s whereabouts. Hiruzen Sarutobi rejected their threats but stripped Katsuo of his Konoha status, leaving Jiraiya and Tsunade disillusioned with the village leadership.

• The Mount Myōboku toads used a sound-wave genjutsu that incapacitated villagers across Konoha, then warned Hiruzen Sarutobi to report Uchiha Katsuo’s whereabouts.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi stripped Katsuo of his status as a Konoha villager and warned the toads that Konoha would fight back if they threatened the village again.
• The Old Toad withdrew the Mount Myōboku toads rather than escalate the confrontation.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō discussed branding Katsuo an SS-rank Rogue Ninja and blaming him for the conflict.
• Jiraiya and Tsunade were appalled by Konoha’s treatment of Katsuo, and Tsunade helped the weary Jiraiya return to the village.
• Utatane Koharu backed designating Katsuo a Rogue Ninja and criticized Hiruzen Sarutobi for previously tolerating him.

At the Jonin Council, Utatane Koharu argued that Uchiha Katsuo’s actions had endangered Konoha and demanded accountability, while Uchiha Feng and Yamanaka Seiun challenged her accusations. The council grew sympathetic to Katsuo as members learned he had given all the war reparations to his comrades and their families.

• After the villagers were awakened, Danzo ordered subordinates to blame Uchiha Katsuo for the genjutsu and turn public opinion against him.
• The next afternoon, Konoha’s active jonin gathered for a full council to discuss Katsuo’s actions and possible punishment.
• Utatane Koharu accused Katsuo of defying the Hokage, destabilizing peace, and risking another war.
• Uchiha Feng defended Katsuo’s wartime service and rebuked Koharu for portraying his victory as a failure.
• Yamanaka Seiun revealed that Katsuo had taken none of the war reparations and had distributed them among those who fought and the families of the fallen.
• Several jonin praised Katsuo’s loyalty, and the council’s mood turned against Koharu.

Hiruzen Sarutobi put Uchiha Katsuo’s banishment from Konoha to a vote, arguing that protecting him from Mount Myōboku would endanger the village. The vote overwhelmingly favored peace, and Uchiha Feng left the meeting as Uchiha Sheng saw the result confirmed.

• A wounded jonin praised Lord Katsuo and condemned Konoha’s decision to release the Cloud Shinobi, until Shimura Danzō tried to silence him and Uchiha Sheng and the Uchiha Second Elder defended his right to speak.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi argued that Katsuo’s conflict with Mount Myōboku could threaten Konoha’s villagers and weaken the war against the Land of Wind, while Utatane Koharu reinforced his case.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi offered to withdraw his order barring Uchiha Katsuo from Konoha if a majority opposed it, and Uchiha Sheng collected the jonin’s secret ballots.
• Uchiha Feng asked to leave the meeting and departed with his eldest son after Hiruzen Sarutobi overruled Shimura Danzō’s attempted objection.
• Uchiha Sheng opened the ballots and found that more than ninety percent favored peace, while he wondered whether his father had already known the outcome.

The Third Hokage’s peace resolution passed, and Uchiha Katsuo was officially banished from Konoha until he resolved his ties with Mount Myōboku. Deep in the Death Forest, Katsuo began experimenting with Natural Energy and senjutsu, but his first attempt ended with a Shadow Clone knocking him unconscious; he then prepared to try again.

• Mitokado Homura announced that the peace faction had won sixty percent of the vote, and the Third Hokage imposed the Banishment Decree on Uchiha Katsuo.
• An angry Uchiha Elite Jonin protested the decree, and the Uchiha Second Elder ordered the clan members to leave the meeting.
• Orochimaru and Tsunade departed, while the Uchiha Great Elder stayed behind and reluctantly agreed to help the Third Hokage keep the clan under control.
• Deep in the Death Forest, Katsuo cleared a small area and decided to pursue senjutsu by absorbing Natural Energy.
• Katsuo used Shadow Clones to experiment, but a clone absorbed too much Natural Energy, exploded, and sent the energy surging into Katsuo.
• Katsuo lost control of the Natural Energy until a Shadow Clone struck the back of his head with the Sage Smiter, after which he recovered and began the experiment again.

Katsuo attacked Kirigakure and killed several members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist before confronting the Third Mizukage. He threatened to destroy the village unless its leaders revealed the locations of the remaining swordsmen, leaving Kirigakure’s defenders terrified and powerless.

• Katsuo killed Munashi Jinpachi and Jinin Akebino as they tried to flee.
• Katsuo killed Kushimaru Kuriarare in front of the Third Mizukage, who rushed to confront him.
• Katsuo blocked the Third Mizukage’s attack and warned him not to interfere with his hunt for the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.
• Katsuo summoned a huge water sphere over Kirigakure and demanded the locations of Suikazan Fuguki, the Thunder Sword wielder, and the Hiramekarei wielder.
• A Kirigakure clan powerhouse revealed that he knew where the Thunder Sword was, and the Third Mizukage pleaded for Katsuo to withdraw his technique.
• Katsuo withdrew the water sphere and warned the Third Mizukage not to lie, leaving the Mizukage too afraid to resist.

Katsuo spent years trying to develop a lasting Sage Mode, improving his Sage Chakra conversion but failing to stop Natural Energy from leaving his body. He finally emptied nearly all his Chakra into the Yin Seal to test a new approach, leaving himself dangerously weak in the forest.

• Katsuo used the Yin Seal to limit his available Chakra and successfully transformed it into Sage Chakra, greatly increasing the power of his Fire Release.
• After converting all the Chakra in the Yin Seal, Katsuo discovered that his Sage Mode weakened as Natural Energy separated from his Chakra.
• Over the next half year, Katsuo improved his conversion speed and found that prolonged exposure to Natural Energy had strengthened his physique.
• After a year of failed experiments, Katsuo wondered whether forcing Natural Energy into Chakra was the wrong approach and decided to start again from the source.
• Two years and half a month after beginning his experiments, Katsuo poured almost all his Chakra into the Yin Seal and climbed a tree to avoid ferocious beasts, leaving his Sharingan shut down and himself extremely weak.

Katsuo lost his Chakra and secluded himself in the Death Forest to learn how to keep Natural Energy in his body. After five years, he developed permanent Sage Chakra and transformed his body into a Sage Body.

• The Land of Wind and the Land of Fire tacitly ended their war without signing a peace treaty.
• Katsuo, left without Chakra, sensed Natural Energy and learned to draw a trace into his body, but it would not stay.
• Katsuo discovered that combining Natural Energy with his spiritual and physical energy required complete focus, then created a trace of Sage Chakra that could not escape his body.
• Katsuo used Shadow Clones to multiply his Sage Chakra, steadily increasing its amount over the following years.
• By his fifth year of seclusion, Katsuo had used Sage Chakra to transform his mortal flesh into a Sage Body.

After nine years of seclusion, Katsuo filled his Yin Seal with Sage Chakra and discovered that directing it into his Middle Dantian created eight elemental spheres he called Dao Balls. He wondered whether they could form a metal attribute as well.

• Katsuo’s Sage Chakra awakened the Sage Spring’s immense Life Force, strengthening his body and letting him absorb Natural Energy without entering Sage Mode.
• Over seven years, Katsuo’s extraction of Natural Energy devastated the Death Forest, until his Uzumaki Yin Seal filled and the extraction eased.
• In the ninth year, Katsuo saturated the Sage Chakra in his body and Yin Seal, then sensed his Middle Dantian.
• Katsuo poured Sage Chakra into his Middle Dantian and produced eight spheres of water, yin, yang, fire, earth, wind, lightning, and wood.
• Katsuo identified the spheres as manifestations of his own power, named them Dao Balls, and wondered where the metal attribute was.

Katsuo tested the powers of his eight Dao Balls and concluded that they let him wield abilities beyond ordinary shinobi arts. After roughly ten years in seclusion, he sent a powerful Water Clone to travel the shinobi world and kill the people he had marked for death.

• Katsuo examined the arrangement of his eight Dao Balls and realized that the missing metal attribute occupied an empty position.
• He tested the Dao Balls, using lightning, wind, wood, fire, earth, and water powers to destroy trees, fly, and manipulate the surroundings.
• Katsuo discovered that the Wood Dao Ball drained water and life force from nearby plants, while the other Dao Balls could absorb their corresponding elements.
• After about ten years of seclusion, Katsuo wondered whether the Third Shinobi World War had begun and decided he had unfinished business.
• Katsuo created a powerful Water Clone with twenty percent of his Sage Power and ordered it to travel the shinobi world and kill his targets.