Chapter Summaries

Mo Xingchen took the disillusioned Kakashi through Konoha and showed him how Anbu members and shopkeepers treated him with deference. He then persuaded Hiruzen Sarutobi to promote Kakashi to Chunin, leaving Kakashi stunned that his new rank had been obtained in exchange for snacks.

• Mo Xingchen teased Kakashi as they walked through the commercial district, where shopkeepers eagerly offered Mo gifts.
• Mo Xingchen led Kakashi to the Hokage Building and made a concealed Anbu Ninja buy him cigarettes in exchange for the gifts.
• Mo Xingchen gave the remaining snacks to Hiruzen Sarutobi and requested a Chunin promotion for Kakashi.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi agreed to promote Kakashi and handed Mo Xingchen the promotion document.
• Mo Xingchen gave Kakashi the document, and Kakashi followed him out in disbelief at becoming a Chunin for a few bags of snacks.

Mo Xingchen took Kakashi to a weapons shop and bought him a full set of expensive Jonin-grade equipment, then explained why he ignored other people’s opinions. The chapter left Kakashi pondering Mo Xingchen’s example as they walked through the village.

• Mo Xingchen took Kakashi to the Spinning Spinning Spinning shop and ordered a full Jonin combat kit for him, with the bill sent to the Hokage’s Office Building.
• Kakashi objected to accepting equipment worth one million ryo, but Mo Xingchen told the shop owner to pack it and send it to the Hatake family.
• Kakashi asked why villagers and Anbu feared Mo Xingchen, and Mo Xingchen said they feared his strength and the consequences of making him unhappy.
• Mo Xingchen gave Kakashi half a Popsicle and told him that people should live for themselves rather than shape themselves to please others.
• Mo Xingchen pulled down Kakashi’s mask and put the melting Popsicle in his mouth, then used Kakashi’s early graduation as an example of choosing his own plans over others’ expectations.

Mo Xingchen challenged Kakashi’s beliefs about strength and village rank, leading Kakashi to connect his father’s reputation with Mo’s ideas. Meanwhile, Orochimaru tried to avoid his teacher after stealing vegetables, then went to Hiruzen Sarutobi to request the Scroll of Seals, leaving Hiruzen defending his expertise in ninjutsu.

• Mo Xingchen told Kakashi that strength mattered more than strangers’ approval and that rank did not determine a ninja’s strength.
• Kakashi concluded that his father had been strong like Mo Xingchen, and Mo praised him for understanding.
• Orochimaru arrived at Qiūqiū Farm, learned that his teacher was angry about stolen vegetables, and pretended to be outraged before leaving with Katsuyu.
• Orochimaru told Katsuyu they should avoid his teacher, then headed to the Hokage Building to obtain a Forbidden Jutsu for Minato.
• Orochimaru asked Hiruzen Sarutobi for the Scroll of Seals, and Hiruzen questioned his research before protesting that he was the Professor of Ninjutsu.

Orochimaru visited Hiruzen Sarutobi to request a Forbidden Jutsu catalog, then tried to hide his role in the theft of Mo Xingchen’s vegetables. He expected Minato Namikaze to take the blame, but the chapter ended with Kakashi reconciling with Hatake Sakumo.

• Orochimaru bluntly told Hiruzen Sarutobi that being called the Professor of Ninjutsu did not make him skilled at developing new techniques, and Hiruzen gave him the Scroll of Seals catalog.
• Orochimaru and Katsuyu tried to avoid Mo Xingchen at Konoha’s gate, but Mo Xingchen stopped them and explained that he was looking for a shop to open a tavern.
• Orochimaru asked whether their school taught divination, and Mo Xingchen said he could use it to investigate the recent vegetable theft and identify the culprit.
• Orochimaru arrived at the farm, handed Minato Namikaze the catalog, and signaled for him to confess to the theft in his place.
• Kakashi told Hatake Sakumo that Mo Xingchen had taught him many things and admitted he had been wrong to blame his father.

Kakashi announced that he had become a Chunin through Mo Xingchen’s exchange of snacks with the Hokage, and Mo Xingchen planned to open the Dragon Gate Inn with his friends as staff. The group prepared to help renovate the inn, while Minato confessed that he had damaged Mo Xingchen’s vegetable garden and received an unexpectedly lenient response.

• Kakashi told Hatake Sakumo and the others that he had become a Chunin after Mo Xingchen traded snacks to the Hokage.
• Mo Xingchen announced that he would open the Dragon Gate Inn on the South Market commercial street and assigned Hatake Sakumo, Orochimaru, Kushina, Minato, and Kakashi to work there.
• A wealthy young woman offered Mo Xingchen a shop on the street she owned, and Mo Xingchen celebrated by offering to cook for everyone.
• Hatake Sakumo, Orochimaru, and Kushina urgently tried to stop Mo Xingchen from cooking, while Katsuyu praised his food and drew their angry rebukes.
• Orochimaru redirected Mo Xingchen’s attention to Minato, who apologized for damaging the vegetable garden during ninjutsu practice.
• Mo Xingchen dismissed the damage as minor, shocking Orochimaru, who had expected him to demand a ritual burial for the vegetables.

Minato Namikaze learned the Flying Thunder God Technique early, while Orochimaru eased his resentment by openly beating him during training. Kushina tried to trade snacks for a Chunin promotion from Hiruzen Sarutobi, but left the Hokage's Office upset and later told Mo Xingchen what had happened.

• Mo Xingchen let the damaged vegetable garden matter drop, and Minato Namikaze began learning the Flying Thunder God Technique ahead of schedule.
• Orochimaru used training as an excuse to beat Minato Namikaze until his resentment faded.
• Kushina brought snacks to Hiruzen Sarutobi and asked him to promote her to Chunin, but he told her she would need to take the exam.
• Kushina left the Hokage's Office in tears, and Hiruzen Sarutobi ordered Shinnosuke to ban snacks from the office while eating more himself.
• Mo Xingchen found Kushina sitting sadly at the farm, and she told him Hiruzen Sarutobi had eaten her snacks, refused her promotion, and yelled at her.

After learning Kushina had been upset over her failed attempt to trade snacks for a Chunin rank, Mo Xingchen blamed Danzo and helped her ambush him. They left the unconscious Danzo in a compromising pose in the Hokage's Office, where Hiruzen Sarutobi discovered him the next morning.

• Mo Xingchen convinced Kushina that Danzo was responsible for her grievance and invited her to help ambush him.
• Mo Xingchen and Kushina waited on Danzo's route home, where Kushina acted as bait and Mo Xingchen knocked him unconscious with a brick.
• Mo Xingchen carried Danzo and Kushina to the Hokage's Office, stripped Danzo, and posed him facing the office doors before returning to the tavern with Kushina.
• Kushina excitedly recounted the ambush to Orochimaru and the others and suggested they target Hiruzen Sarutobi next.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi arrived at the Hokage's Office the next morning and found Danzo posed there.

Danzo woke up naked in the Hokage's Office and accused Mo Xingchen of attacking him without cause. After Hiruzen explained that Danzo had been caught up in Mo Xingchen's joke involving Kushina and Kakashi, Danzo demanded an explanation and dragged Hiruzen off to seek Mito.

• Hiruzen found Danzo sprawled naked in the office, let him wake up, and offered him tea.
• Danzo complained that Mo Xingchen had attacked him despite Danzo not provoking him this time.
• Hiruzen asked whether Danzo had met anyone before losing consciousness, and Danzo recalled encountering Kushina Uzumaki on his way home.
• Hiruzen explained that Mo Xingchen had used snacks to bargain for Kakashi's promotion and that Kushina had copied a joke, revealing why Danzo had been knocked out.
• Danzo demanded that Hiruzen help him get an explanation from Mito and pulled him out of the office.
• Anbu Ninja appeared in the hallway after the two left and speculated that Mo Xingchen had done it again.

Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo visited Mito Uzumaki to complain about Mo Xingchen, but learned that he had overpowered the Nine-Tails and was at least as strong as Hashirama Senju. They left realizing Konoha had little means of stopping him if he turned against the village.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo visited Mito Uzumaki and asked her to rein in Mo Xingchen for his repeated clashes with Danzo.
• Mito Uzumaki said she could not control Mo Xingchen and revealed that he had defeated her after she released the Nine-Tails.
• Mito Uzumaki explained that Mo Xingchen had refused to become the Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki and had instead subdued the beast himself.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi asked about Mo Xingchen's strength, and Mito Uzumaki said he was no weaker than her husband.
• Danzo warned Mito Uzumaki against giving Mo Xingchen the Nine-Tails, but her question about what they could do to stop him left Danzo shaken.

Hiruzen Sarutobi accepted that Mo Xingchen could not be controlled and settled Danzo’s dispute by promoting Kushina to Chunin. A month later, Mo Xingchen opened the Dragon Gate Inn, where Tsunade-backed medicinal wine drew an eager crowd of customers.

• Mito Uzumaki advised Hiruzen Sarutobi to rely on Mo Xingchen’s goodwill and personal bonds rather than try to control him.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi promised to promote Kushina to Chunin, and Danzo left angrily.
• An Anbu Ninja delivered Kushina her Chunin appointment document and equipment, and a month passed as Minato advanced in the Flying Thunder God Technique and the others trained.
• Mo Xingchen opened the Dragon Gate Inn with a grand celebration attended by Hiruzen Sarutobi.
• Hatake Sakumo advertised Tsunade’s Ten-Great-Supplement Wine and promised refunds, prompting customers to rush to buy it.

Mo Xingchen celebrated the Dragon Gate Inn’s first day of sales by rewarding his staff and arranging gifts for prominent villagers, then noticed Danzo had not sent one. The chapter ended with Danzo waking at Hiruzen Sarutobi’s office after sleeping through the morning, apparently having been set up again.

• Hatake Sakumo reported that the inn had sold out of its Ten-Great-Supplement Wine and earned at least 135 million ryo, and Mo Xingchen promised the staff ten-million-ryo bonuses.
• Mo Xingchen initially excluded Tsunade from the bonuses, but Tsunade insisted she was an official employee, so he told Sakumo to count her in.
• Orochimaru read the gift list and announced that Mito Uzumaki had given ten million ryo, bringing the total gifts to 251.9 million ryo.
• Mo Xingchen instructed Minato to send Mito Uzumaki Green Bamboo Leaf Wine every week and Hiruzen Sarutobi a jar each month, then asked why Danzo was absent from the gift list.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi told Danzo he had slept through the morning at Hiruzen’s office and ordered him to leave.

Danzo suffered a day of humiliating interruptions at the Hokage’s Office and spent the night working at Root, only to find Hiruzen waiting for him when he woke. Over dinner and Mo Xingchen’s wine, Hiruzen realized Danzo had not even visited Mo Xingchen’s newly opened tavern.

• Danzo returned to Root in a fury, berated two Root members, and worked until four-thirty in the morning.
• Danzo slept at the base, but woke to find Hiruzen Sarutobi waiting for him and learned that it was already evening.
• Shinnosuke Sarutobi brought dinner and drinks for Hiruzen and Danzo while Anbu members bet on whether Danzo would return to the Hokage’s Office the next day.
• Hiruzen served Danzo Mo Xingchen’s wine and asked why he kept provoking Mo Xingchen, but Danzo insisted he had never met him.
• Hiruzen asked whether Danzo had visited Mo Xingchen’s tavern after hearing that it had opened, and Danzo said he had not.

Danzo refused Hiruzen’s request to congratulate Mo Xingchen, then spent the night guarding against Mo Xingchen’s supposed attacks. After believing he had won by staying awake past dawn, Danzo discovered that the date had skipped from August 18th to August 20th, leaving him terrified about what happened to the 19th.

• Danzo refused to visit Mo Xingchen, and Hiruzen warned that his absence would make him look bad when everyone else had gone.
• Danzo left the Hokage's Office, returned to Root, and resolved to stay awake so Mo Xingchen could not strip him naked again.
• Danzo guarded himself through the night and celebrated when the clock passed six without Mo Xingchen appearing.
• Danzo found that his documents were dated August 20th and realized the 19th had apparently disappeared.

Danzo learned he had been unconscious for an entire day and reluctantly brought Mo Xingchen money for the tavern’s opening. Hatake Sakumo accepted the payment and gave Danzo a jar of wine on Mo Xingchen’s instructions, leaving Danzo humiliated but unwilling to leave without it.

• Danzo asked a Root member for the date, realized he had lost another full day, and resolved to endure the humiliation for Konoha’s sake.
• Hatake Sakumo opened the tavern and used Shadow Clones to clean while he ate breakfast and drank wine.
• Danzo arrived and told Hatake Sakumo he had brought Mo Xingchen a belated congratulatory gift.
• Hatake Sakumo counted Danzo’s money in front of him and explained that Mo Xingchen had instructed him to give Danzo wine if he brought enough.
• Danzo stormed toward the exit, then returned to take the wine jar before leaving.

Mo Xingchen recoiled from Kushina, Minato, Might Duy, and Might Kai’s matching green bodysuits, then waited for them at the Dragon Gate Inn while they changed clothes. The four returned in casual attire, and Mo Xingchen warmly prepared to meet Kushina’s new friends.

• Mo Xingchen watched Konoha’s New Year bustle until Kushina arrived with Minato, Might Duy, and Might Kai dressed in green watermelon-rind bodysuits.
• Mo Xingchen refused to serve the group in their outfits and retreated upstairs, while Might Duy worried that he was unwelcome.
• Kushina reassured Might Duy and offered to buy him and Might Kai new clothes, then took them shopping with Minato.
• The group returned to the Dragon Gate Inn in casual clothes, and Mo Xingchen poured them iced tea and asked Kushina to introduce her friends.

Mo Xingchen agreed to hire Might Duy at the Dragon Gate Inn after Kushina asked him to help Duy and Kai improve their living conditions. Duy accepted the job and vowed to protect the inn, while Mo Xingchen welcomed him and Kai as employees.

• Might Duy introduced himself and his son Kai to Mo Xingchen, and Kushina explained how Duy had helped her and Minato with physical training.
• Mo Xingchen told Kushina to stop wearing her tight training bodysuit, and Minato agreed before shrinking under her glare.
• Kushina asked Mo Xingchen to hire Might Duy, and Mo Xingchen offered him work at the inn on the condition that he wear ordinary clothes.
• Mo Xingchen offered Duy a salary of one million ryo a month, and Duy and Kai accepted in shock.
• Might Duy promised to protect the Dragon Gate Inn, and Mo Xingchen told him and Kai to call him Boss.

Mo Xingchen teased Obito Uchiha about his feelings for Rin Nohara and suggested she liked Kakashi, sending Obito into distress. As Obito struggled with jealousy, his Sharingan awakened, though he felt no joy because he believed he had lost Rin.

• Might Duy and Hatake Sakumo grew close through tavern work and talked about fatherhood, while Kai openly competed with Kakashi.
• Rin Nohara and Obito Uchiha came to the tavern to see Kakashi after hearing from Kai that he worked there.
• Mo Xingchen teased Obito about liking Rin, then suggested that Rin liked Kakashi.
• Obito watched Rin shyly lower her head and believed her silence confirmed that she liked Kakashi.
• Overwhelmed by jealousy and heartbreak, Obito awakened his Sharingan at six years old.

Mo Xingchen teased Obito Uchiha and Rin Nohara, then sent them to join Kakashi at a table in the tavern. Obito accused Kakashi of liking Rin, while Might Guy eagerly eavesdropped on their conversation.

• Mo Xingchen joked that Kakashi had fallen for Obito, startling Obito and Rin before inviting them into the tavern.
• Mo Xingchen spotted Kakashi cleaning and sent him to sit with Obito and Rin while Sakumo prepared milk and snacks.
• Might Guy brought the food over and overheard Obito telling Kakashi he would never accept his supposed feelings.
• Kakashi explained that Mo Xingchen had been teasing them and said he liked girls, prompting Obito to accuse him of pursuing Rin.
• Kakashi gave up arguing with Obito and told Might Guy to stop standing there with the tray and eavesdropping.

Kakashi hosted Rin, Obito, and Kai at the tavern, where he revealed that he earned a million ryo a month and had already become a Chunin. Behind the bar, Hatake Sakumo admired Kakashi’s popularity and misinterpreted Mo Xingchen’s joke about Kakashi having a boyfriend.

• Rin explained that she had brought Obito to visit Kakashi at his workplace, while Kai sat down and ate snacks.
• Obito mocked Kakashi for working as a waiter, but Kakashi replied that the job paid one million ryo a month, and Kai confirmed it.
• Rin praised Kakashi, prompting Obito to boast about his Sharingan and plans to graduate early; Kakashi revealed that he was already a Chunin.
• Hatake Sakumo reflected that relaxing with Mo Xingchen had eased his outlook and helped his strength improve.
• Hatake Sakumo noticed Kakashi’s classmates and their apparent interest in him, and Mo Xingchen joked that one was Kakashi’s girlfriend and the other his boyfriend.
• Hatake Sakumo took Mo Xingchen’s joke seriously enough to decide he should lecture Kakashi that night.

Ōnoki and Iwagakure’s senior officials discussed the village’s budget crisis, declining missions, and the Daimyo’s refusal to provide funding. With no clear solution, Ōnoki ordered troublesome ninja to the borders of the Land of Grass and the Land of Rain while waiting for an opportunity to act.

• Kitsuchi told Ōnoki that the Daimyo had rejected Iwagakure’s request for funding and suggested reducing the number of ninja.
• The head of the Anbu reported that missions had sharply declined since Konoha won the Second Shinobi World War, leaving many ninja idle and causing drunken disturbances.
• Ōnoki rejected the suggestion to start a war against Konoha, citing the risk of condemnation and Konoha’s strength, including Mito Uzumaki as the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.
• Ōnoki ordered ninja who caused trouble to be sent to the borders of the Land of Grass and the Land of Rain to contain unrest and increase external pressure.
• Ōnoki urged the officials to work together and wait for an opportunity to advance Iwagakure’s interests.