Chapter Summaries

Nara Kaikei ambushed Kakuzu during the Pig Deer Butterfly team's battle, destroying two of his hearts with [Spiral Shadow Piercing Bullet]. Kakuzu was knocked into a crater by the team's combined attack, and Kaikei speedran the mission despite its failure notice.

• Nara Kaikei saw that Kakuzu had survived the first [Spiral Shadow Piercing Bullet] and held back while Kakuzu pretended to be dead.
• Inoichi Yamanaka sensed that Kakuzu was alive and detected an unseen ninja, prompting Kakuzu to get up and reveal the damage to his chest.
• Kakuzu's black-thread monster emerged and died, so Kakuzu used Wind Style and Fire Style to obscure the battlefield and attack the Pig Deer Butterfly team.
• Nara Shikano, Choza Akimichi, and Inoichi Yamanaka combined their techniques into Human Bullet Tank Rolling Ball and clashed with Kakuzu's Lightning Style: False Darkness.
• Nara Kaikei fired another [Spiral Shadow Piercing Bullet], destroying Kakuzu's mask and another heart as the combined attack smashed Kakuzu into a crater.
• The mission panel reported Kakuzu had left combat and the mission had failed, then credited Nara Kaikei with a speedrun and awarded him a B-Rank [Ninja Scroll].

Nara Kaikei discovered that he could repeatedly claim battle rewards from Kakuzu and opened three Ninja Scrolls, raising his Overall Evaluation to Jonin. Meanwhile, the Pig Deer Butterfly team regrouped after Kakuzu fled, and Kaikei began rethinking how to combine his camouflage and shadow techniques.

• Nara Kaikei realized that defeating Kakuzu multiple times while leaving him alive could earn repeated battle rewards.
• Nara Shikano ordered the injured Choza Akimichi and Inoichi Yamanaka to regroup after Inoichi sensed Kakuzu had fled and the invisible ninja had pursued him underground.
• Nara Kaikei retrieved his Chakra Crystal ring and concluded that he needed to convert Camouflage Concealment into a Yin Release technique to merge it with Shadow Secret Technique.
• Nara Kaikei opened the B-rank scroll and learned Earth Style: Earth Spear, raising his Overall Evaluation from B- Special Jonin to B Jonin.
• Nara Kaikei opened the A-rank scrolls and learned Flame Wind Barrage and the Nature Mask Forging Method.

Nara Kaikei discovered the Nature Mask Forging Method and began planning masks for his imagined Shadow Soldier Corps. After the team regrouped, Nara Shikano summoned Enma to report their encounter with Kakuzu, then explained possible sources of summoning beasts before being reverse-summoned away.

• Nara Kaikei studied the Nature Mask Forging Method, considered using a Chakra Crystal to make masks, and planned masks for several chakra natures.
• The Cross-Generation Pig Deer Butterfly team arrived, and the Old Clan Head confirmed that Nara Kaikei and the other chūnin were unharmed while Choza Akimichi tended his injuries.
• Nara Shikano summoned Enma and asked him to alert Hiruzen about the powerful bounty hunter and arrange for personnel to meet the team.
• Nara Shikano explained that the Summoning Technique was easy to learn but required a suitable beast, suggesting Konoha's ninja hounds or the Yamakami Clan's crows to Nara Kaikei.
• A Reverse Summoning Technique suddenly transported Nara Shikano away before he could finish explaining.

Nara Shikano resumed explaining Konoha’s summoning-beast contracts after reporting to the Hokage, and Minato Namikaze arrived as reinforcement for the bounty hunter mission. At camp that night, Shikano asked Nara Kaikei whether he wanted to speak with Minato.

• Shibi Aburame panicked when Nara Shikano vanished, but Inoichi Yamanaka explained that Enma had used the Reverse Summoning Technique to bring him to Konoha.
• Nara Shikano returned and said the Hokage had ordered the team to continue hunting bounty hunters, with reinforcements on the way.
• Nara Shikano explained how ninja could apply to contract with the Inuzuka Clan’s hounds or the Yamakami Clan’s crows, while Shibi Aburame asked where to apply.
• Minato Namikaze arrived, reported that he could not find the bounty hunter with the unusually large chakra reserves, and gave Choza Akimichi a medical ninjutsu scroll.
• The team continued clearing bounty hunters until nightfall, when Nara Shikano asked Nara Kaikei if he wanted to discuss something with Minato.

Nara Kaikei asked to challenge Minato Namikaze, who agreed to spar with him after they returned to Konoha. The mission team returned to the village after clearing out Bounty Hunters, and Kaikei received an A-Rank Ninja Scroll when the mission was submitted.

• Nara Kaikei admitted to Nara Shikano that he wanted to challenge Minato Namikaze because he was Minato Namikaze.
• Nara Shikano led Kaikei to Minato, but Minato and Inoichi Yamanaka had gone to investigate another group of Bounty Hunters.
• Minato and Inoichi returned with news that the Bounty Hunters were searching for Chinoike Clan descendants and knew nothing about Kakuzu.
• Minato agreed to spar with Nara Kaikei after they returned to Konoha, and the group spent the night keeping watch.
• The Konoha ninja cleared most Bounty Hunters near the Land of Fire's official roads and returned to the village to submit the mission.
• Nara Kaikei returned to his apartment and received one A-Rank Ninja Scroll after his panel registered completion of the A-Rank mission “Tribute.”

Nara Kaikei learned the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique from an A-Rank scroll and integrated it into his Shadow Clone Technique, then discovered that the wood used for Chakra Paper was a Divine Tree Branch. The chapter left him preparing to investigate the rare material for forging Nature Masks.

• Nara Kaikei opened the A-Rank scroll and learned the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique.
• He integrated its method for creating multiple clones into his S-Rank Shadow Clone Technique and summoned a crowd of lazy Shadow Clones.
• Nara Kaikei assigned a Shadow Clone to buy supplies and ask Manten Hall's owner about Chakra Paper materials.
• The Shadow Clone reported that Chakra Paper was made from special Chakra-absorbing wood, which Nara Kaikei recognized as a possible Nature Mask material.
• Nara Kaikei bought a log of the wood, and his panel identified it as an SSS-Rank Divine Tree Branch that absorbed Chakra and drew in Natural Energy.

Nara Kaikei discovered that Chakra Paper wood was connected to the Divine Tree and learned that similar trees grew in the Land of Fire and the Land of Iron, though the branch’s exact origin remained unknown. He crafted a B-Rank Earth-natured Nature Mask, tested its defenses with a Shadow Clone, and slept without noticing that his Strength had increased.

• Nara Kaikei inspected the SSS-Rank Divine Tree Branch and considered whether it came from Hashirama Senju’s Wood Release or the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
• Nara Kaikei paid the Manten Hall owner for information and learned that similar special trees had been found in the Land of Fire and the Land of Iron.
• Nara Kaikei used the Divine Tree Branch and his Chakra Crystal to make an Earth-natured Nature Mask that held Earth Style: Earth Spear.
• Nara Kaikei tested the Nature Mask on a Shadow Clone and found that it could withstand powerful Shadow Stitching Technique attacks while letting the clone use nature-based ninjutsu.
• Nara Kaikei went to bed, and the panel increased his Strength from E- to D- after a day without energy-consuming activity.

Nara Kaikei discovered that conserving his physical strength had raised his Strength attribute, then made new Nature Masks and visited Lady Cat to discuss custom ninja tools. He arrived at her shop and encountered Uchiha Inaho, whom Lady Cat ordered to leave before beginning business with Kaikei.

• Nara Kaikei saw that his Strength had increased after he spent his days resting while Shadow Clones handled tasks and cultivation.
• Nara Kaikei assigned his Shadow Clones various jobs, checked his Precision progress, and made two Nature Masks from the Divine Tree Branch.
• Nara Kaikei lit the cat incense and gave the visiting Ninja Cat Taka a bottle of Catnip Drink.
• Taka brought Nara Kaikei through the Empty Zone to Lady Cat’s shop so he could ask about custom ninja tools.
• Uchiha Inaho confronted Nara Kaikei, but Lady Cat asserted her authority and ordered Inaho out of the tent.
• Lady Cat invited Nara Kaikei to discuss business after Inaho left.

Nara Kaikei commissioned Lady Cat to forge a wakizashi from his Chakra Metal and bought two genjutsu scrolls. He also learned that a rumored Chakra Crystal had recently been purchased by people from the north.

• Nara Kaikei asked Lady Cat to arrange a wakizashi commission, and she agreed to oversee its forging in the Land of Iron because he could not leave Konoha.
• Nara Kaikei provided Chakra Metal and paid a 200,000-ryō deposit toward the one-million-ryō commission, asking Lady Cat to use any leftover metal for Special Kunai.
• Nara Kaikei searched Lady Cat's catalog for advanced Water Release but found only the hand-seal-heavy Water Dragon Bullet Technique.
• Nara Kaikei bought the Mist Servant Technique and Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique scrolls, then learned both jutsu through his panel.
• Nara Kaikei asked about Chakra Crystals, and Lady Cat told him that people from the north had recently bought one rumored on the black market.

Nara Kaikei arranged for Lady Cat to commission a wakizashi and learned that Uchiha Inaho had been grieving the loss of a Summoning Beast companion. Outside the Empty Zone, Kaikei defeated Inaho in a rematch and left him insisting that the Uchiha Clan had not lost.

• Nara Kaikei declined Lady Cat's offer to investigate the Chakra Crystal's buyer and asked her to keep their transaction confidential.
• Nara Kaikei gave Lady Cat his requirements for a wakizashi, and she arranged for a swordsmith in the Land of Iron to prepare a design for his approval.
• Lady Cat explained that Uchiha Inaho had overstepped his authority after losing a Summoning Beast companion, and Nara Kaikei responded that he wanted everyone to follow the rules.
• Uchiha Inaho challenged Nara Kaikei outside the ruins, but Kaikei used the Hell Viewing Technique and sunglasses to thwart Inaho's Sharingan genjutsu.
• Uchiha Inaho attacked with the Great Fireball Technique, but Nara Kaikei burrowed underground, trapped him with the Shadow Binding Technique, and held a kunai to his neck.
• Nara Kaikei declared the fight over and walked away as Uchiha Inaho admitted defeat but claimed that the Uchiha Clan had not lost.

Nara Kaikei agreed to Uchiha Shisui’s challenge after Uchiha Inaho brought him to Kaikei’s home, and the two fought at the Third Training Ground. Kaikei appeared to catch Shisui with a shadow technique, but Shisui escaped using a Crow Clone Technique, triggering a B-Rank mission to defeat or kill him.

• Nara Kaikei returned to Konoha and found Uchiha Inaho waiting outside his home with Uchiha Shisui.
• Kaikei agreed to fight Shisui on the conditions that the conflict stayed between the three of them and Shisui accepted any future challenge from Kaikei.
• At the Third Training Ground, Shisui opened with a Great Fireball Technique and used the flames to conceal his Body Flicker Technique.
• Kaikei slipped into his shadow and then restrained Shisui with the Shadow Binding Technique, thrusting a kunai toward him.
• Shisui’s body split into crows and vanished as he used the Crow Clone Technique, while Kaikei received a B-Rank mission to defeat or kill him.

Nara Kaikei and Uchiha Shisui fought a match that tested Shisui’s ninjutsu against Kaikei’s shadow techniques and tactics. Kaikei outmaneuvered Shisui and ended the match with a kunai at his neck.

• Shisui attacked Kaikei with shuriken, a Fuma Shuriken, and Dragon Fire Technique, but Kaikei blocked the flames with Shadow Shield Technique.
• Kaikei trapped Shisui with Shadow Binding Technique after Shisui’s thread and weapon connected their shadows.
• Shisui summoned crows to disrupt Kaikei’s control, broke free, and retreated before attacking with flaming kunai.
• Kaikei used a Shadow Clone as a decoy and burrowed underground while Shisui launched another barrage.
• Kaikei emerged behind Shisui and restrained him with Shadow Binding Technique, then declared that he had won the match.

Nara Kaikei defeated Uchiha Shisui in a spar and earned a B-Rank Ninja Scroll. The scroll contained a Sharingan-based genjutsu reflection technique, but Kaikei realized his Lacquer Eye might let him use it.

• Nara Kaikei used the Shadow Strangulation Technique to force Uchiha Shisui to admit defeat, earning a B-Rank Ninja Scroll.
• Uchiha Inaho confronted Kaikei, who returned the package and confirmed that he would accept future challenges.
• Uchiha Inaho asked Shisui to train with him so they could plan how to defeat Kaikei next time.
• On his way to Kikyo Castle, Kaikei opened the scroll and discovered Demonic Illusion: Mirror Heaven and Earth Turn, a technique that reflects genjutsu.
• Kaikei noticed that the technique required an eye capable of perceiving and manipulating Mental Energy and suspected his Lacquer Eye could use it.

Nara Kaikei visited Kikyo Orphanage and learned that falling subsidies and rising costs had left it short of money. He proposed earning income through a food business and settled on selling fried chicken near the Akimichi Clan’s home.

• Nara Kaikei overheard Fat Nun and Thin Monk tell Yakushi Nonō that the orphanage’s subsidies had fallen and its deficit was growing.
• Yakushi Nonō told Nara Kaikei she had considered opening a clinic beside the orphanage, but he asked her to hear his own plan.
• Nara Kaikei discussed the orphanage’s available workers and Konoha’s food businesses with Yakushi Nonō.
• Nara Kaikei proposed targeting the Akimichi Clan’s appetite for high-calorie food by selling fried chicken near their doorstep.

Nara Kaikei helped Yakushi Nonō launch Finger-Licking Chicken at Kikyo Orphanage, then delivered the [Lacquer Eye] Jutsu Scroll to the newly retired Nara Shikano and new clan head Nara Shikaku. He received scrolls for the Summoning Technique and Reverse Summoning Technique, learned that permanent space-time effects might require changing the summoning formula, and left with his arranged battle against Minato set for the next day.

• Nara Kaikei taught Yakushi Nonō to make Finger-Licking Chicken and outlined his plan to build a fast-food chain across the ninja world.
• Yakushi Nonō rallied the people at Kikyo Orphanage to produce Finger-Licking Chicken while Nara Kaikei returned to the clan grounds.
• Nara Kaikei found that Nara Shikano had retired and handed the [Lacquer Eye] Jutsu Scroll to him as Nara Shikaku took over as clan head.
• Nara Shikano gave Nara Kaikei scrolls for the Summoning Technique and Reverse Summoning Technique and explained that changing the summoning formula could produce lasting space-time effects.
• Nara Shikano said the Second Hokage's techniques were recorded in the Scroll of Seals and reminded Nara Kaikei that his arranged battle with Minato was the next day.

Nara Kaikei prepared a new, faster Shadow Secret Technique for his spar with Minato Namikaze, while his panel raised his Speed and Strength attributes. Minato struck as soon as their match began, but Kaikei had already spread a shadow net beneath himself, leaving the result unresolved.

• Nara Kaikei studied Minato Namikaze's speed and developed the B-rank Spiral Shadow Binding Bullet with help from Shadow Clones.
• Nara Kaikei's panel increased his Speed to D-rank and raised his Strength attribute after a day of remaining motionless.
• Nara Kaikei bought ninja tools and arrived early at Konoha's Third Training Ground to prepare for the match.
• Minato Namikaze and Nara Kaikei agreed to begin when Minato's kunai hit the ground, then formed the Opposing Seal.
• Minato Namikaze vanished and appeared behind Nara Kaikei, but Kaikei revealed that he had spread a circular shadow net beneath his feet.

Nara Kaikei used traps and Shadow Secret Techniques to outmaneuver Minato Namikaze during their battle. After Minato used the Flying Thunder God Technique four times to evade attacks, Nara caught him with the Flat Shadow Technique.

• Nara Kaikei activated the Shadow Strangulation Technique, but Minato Namikaze escaped with the Flying Thunder God Technique.
• Nara Kaikei used scattered shuriken and a fake Explosive Tag kunai connected by thread to bind Minato with the Shadow Binding Technique and obscure the field with smoke.
• Minato Namikaze evaded Nara Kaikei's hidden wooden spears by using the Flying Thunder God Technique to move into the surrounding woods.
• Nara Kaikei used a buried Flashbang and Explosive Tags to restrain Minato and force him to teleport away from the blast.
• Minato Namikaze returned to the training ground from the opposite side, where Nara Kaikei's second Flashbang forced him to teleport back to the shade beneath a tree.
• Nara Kaikei's Shadow Clone restrained Minato Namikaze with the Flat Shadow Technique.

Nara Kaikei fought Minato Namikaze, whose sensory skills and Fire Style forced Kaikei to abandon his traps and rely on his shadow techniques. Minato eventually conceded the match, and Kaikei received an A-Rank Ninja Scroll.

• Minato Namikaze sensed Nara Kaikei’s hidden clones and destroyed them with Fire Style, prompting Kaikei to dismiss the remaining clones.
• Minato surrounded Kaikei with Fire Dragon Flame Bullet, forcing Kaikei to escape underground and then defend himself with Shadow Shield Technique.
• Kaikei restrained Minato with Spiral Shadow Binding Bullets, but Minato escaped with Flying Thunder God Technique.
• Minato summoned Gama Bunta, then declared the match his loss, triggering a reward of one A-Rank Ninja Scroll for Kaikei.
• Minato praised Kaikei’s techniques and asked about his shuriken attack and shadow bullets.

Nara Kaikei finished his spar with Minato Namikaze and met Kushina Uzumaki, triggering an S-Rank mission to defeat or kill her. He escaped the mission target almost immediately and received an A-Rank Ninja Scroll instead.

• Nara Kaikei and Minato Namikaze praised each other's skills after ending their spar, and Minato revealed that he had used the Flying Thunder God Technique.
• Minato excitedly asked to use Kaikei's proposed names for future techniques, while Kaikei explained that his real technique was Shadow Binding Bullet.
• Kushina Uzumaki arrived in anger over Minato missing their date, and Kaikei's panel announced the S-Rank mission to defeat or kill her.
• Kushina bound Kaikei with Adamantine Sealing Chains, but released him after Minato explained that he had not known about their date.
• Minato pushed Kaikei away from Kushina, and Kaikei completed a speedrun of the S-Rank mission and received an A-Rank Ninja Scroll.

After apologizing to Minato Namikaze, Nara Kaikei opened two A-Rank Ninja Scrolls and learned the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique and Four Symbols Seal, raising his Sage Wisdom to A- and his Overall Evaluation to B+. Meanwhile, Shimura Danzō told Hiruzen Sarutobi about Kaikei’s clash with Minato and sought permission for Root to recruit him.

• Minato Namikaze apologized through a Shadow Clone for Kushina Uzumaki’s actions and offered to help Nara Kaikei if he ran into trouble.
• Nara Kaikei opened Minato’s A-Rank Ninja Scroll and learned the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique, though it did not improve his combat mobility as he had hoped.
• Nara Kaikei opened Kushina Uzumaki’s A-Rank Ninja Scroll and learned the Four Symbols Seal, increasing his Sage Wisdom to A- and his Overall Evaluation to B+.
• Nara Kaikei sent his Shadow Clones to practice and study ninjutsu.
• Shimura Danzō told Hiruzen Sarutobi that Minato Namikaze had clashed with Nara Kaikei and asked whether Root could recruit the young ninja.