Chapter Summaries

After facing Team 1’s challenge, Aozora spent his day off training his Yang Eye, Body Flicker Technique, and Fire Release before attempting to complete Outer Body Incarnation and learning Invisibility Jutsu. Merit could not complete the Divine Ability, and his strong fire attribute evaporated the invisibility membrane, leaving him with a misty appearance instead.

• Team 1 declared that they would catch up to Team 3, prompting Aburame Shibi to warn Sai, Gekko Hayate, and Aozora not to slack off.
• Aozora spent the morning cultivating his Yang Eye, practicing Body Flicker Technique, and refining his Fire Release ninjutsu.
• Aozora used all seven merit drops on Outer Body Incarnation, but it remained incomplete because he lacked crucial knowledge.
• Aozora learned the Chakra circulation method for Invisibility Jutsu, but his fire attribute evaporated the membrane and produced mist instead of invisibility.
• Aozora concluded that he might balance his Chakra after completing True Fire of Samadhi and decided to have ethereal-looking clothes tailored.

Uchiha Aozora signed the Ninja Crow Clan’s contract and summoned a powerful Red-eyed Crow, then tested its abilities in a prolonged fight. The Heavenly Book revealed that the Summoning Jutsu could support Beast Taming and Outer Body Incarnation, but Aozora hesitated to practice either because both involved splitting his soul.

• Aozora wrote his name on the Ninja Crow Clan’s Contract Scroll and learned the Summoning Jutsu.
• Aozora summoned a giant Red-eyed Crow and tested its speed, strength, and durability by attacking it with shuriken, fire, and close combat.
• The Red-eyed Crow kept fighting until the summoning ended, and the Heavenly Book revealed the Beast Taming and Outer Body Incarnation inheritances.
• Aozora learned that Summoning Jutsu contracts could be adapted into master-servant contracts to control beasts or form an incarnation’s soul core.
• Aozora returned home and accepted the inheritance, then decided to delay practicing the abilities because they required splitting his soul.

Aozora received Shisui’s letter and Cloud ninjutsu scrolls, then joined Team 3 to accept an escort mission. The team prepared to guard President Fujiwara’s valuable goods on the journey to Lianyun City, despite his doubts about their youth.

• Aozora read Shisui’s letter about Uchiha losses at the border and examined the Cloud ninjutsu scrolls, including a Lightning Attribute Body Stimulation Nintaijutsu.
• Aozora met Sai and Team 1 at the mission hall, where Team 1 accepted a C-Rank mission.
• Aburame Shibi chose an escort mission for Team 3 after finding the mission list dominated by bandit-suppression jobs.
• President Fujiwara questioned whether the young Team 3 members could protect his valuable convoy, but Aburame Shibi assured him they could complete the mission.
• Aburame Shibi confirmed that the convoy was headed to Lianyun City and that the job involved ordinary commercial travel amid rampant banditry.
• Aozora reminded Sai not to offend the client after she complained that Fujiwara had looked down on her.

Team 3 escorted Fujiwara Takumi’s caravan north, where Aozora negotiated an upgrade to the mission after Sai spotted rogue ninja. The team defeated the attackers and continued toward Lianyun City, but three clusters of red smoke appeared on the horizon just before they reached their destination.

• Aburame Shibi taught Aozora, Sai, and Hayate about travel, scouting, and setting traps as they accompanied Fujiwara Takumi’s caravan into the Northern Land.
• Sai spotted three rogue ninja trailing the convoy and three more lying in ambush ahead.
• Aozora persuaded Fujiwara Takumi to upgrade the mission to B-Rank and increase the payment, then assigned the team to deal with the six attackers.
• Aozora, Sai, and Hayate defeated the rogue ninja, and Fujiwara Takumi’s Guards collected the bodies before the caravan continued.
• After two more days of travel, Team 3 saw three clusters of red smoke rise on the horizon.

Aozora and Aburame Shibi rushed to answer Team 1’s A-Rank distress signal, where they discovered the team was trapped by Cloud shinobi led by the Jinchūriki Yugito. Shibi ordered Aozora to retreat after a powerful enemy appeared, leaving the rescue team’s fate uncertain.

• Aburame Shibi took Aozora to assist Team 1 while Sai and Hayate continued escorting the caravan to Lianyun City.
• Yugito, Ishida, and Kaminari guarded the mountain stronghold where Aizawa Konan and her team were trapped in mist.
• Hyūga Yō used his Byakugan to report the enemies’ positions and sensed that Yugito had more than ten times Aizawa Konan’s Chakra.
• Aizawa Konan recognized Yugito as a Jinchūriki whose strength was comparable to Kage-level, and Team 1 feared no one could save them.
• Aburame Shibi tracked the battle to Mount Lianyun, ordered Aozora to retreat, and summoned a swarm of insects as a beautiful figure appeared before him.

Aizawa Konan led Team 1 in a counterattack against the lone Cloud Shinobi guarding their escape route, while Aburame Shibi fought Yugito at the foot of the mountain. Yugito revealed herself as a Perfect Jinchūriki, leaving Shibi facing a dangerous opponent with Kage-level strength.

• Hyūga Yō reported that Yugito and another Cloud Shinobi had left the stronghold, and Aizawa Konan decided to attack the remaining guard despite her injuries.
• Aizawa Konan used Water Colliding Wave against Kaminari, who cut through the waves and exposed Team 1.
• Yugito attacked Aburame Shibi with Chakra claws, but his insects detected and blocked her strikes.
• Aburame Shibi trapped Yugito with Soul Devouring Insects and prepared to seal the Two-Tails' Chakra.
• Yugito unleashed the Two-Tails' power, burned away the insects, and revealed herself as a Perfect Jinchūriki.
• Aburame Shibi recognized Yugito's Kage-level strength and realized the battle had become dangerous.

Aozora tricked the Cloud Shinobi Ishida into lowering his guard, then killed him with the Great Dragon Fire Technique. As Aozora prepared to retreat, several black figures approached.

• Aozora fled from Ishida and pretended to be exhausted and afraid as Ishida pursued him.
• Aozora feigned surrender and persuaded Ishida that he was a cowardly Konoha Civilian Ninja who resented Aburame Shibi.
• When Ishida came within ten meters, Aozora struck him with the Great Dragon Fire Technique and used his Two Tomoe Sharingan to track him through the flames.
• After the forest burned and Ishida collapsed, Aozora finished him with a Mercy Kunai and found that the Heavenly Book showed no reaction.
• As Aozora prepared to retreat, he saw several black figures approaching from the distance.

Kakashi and three ANBU joined Aozora and Aburame Shibi in battle against Yugito, the Cloud Jinchūriki. Yugito continued to overwhelm the Konoha shinobi, while Aozora searched for an opening and Yugito began considering retreat.

• Aozora told Kakashi that Aburame Shibi was fighting a tea-haired enemy at Mount Lianyun, and Kakashi led his ANBU squad to support him.
• Kakashi’s group reached the battlefield and found Aburame Shibi badly wounded and struggling against Yugito’s Two-Tails cloak and ghostly blue fire.
• Yugito asked what happened to Ishida, and Aozora told her that the Cloud Shinobi was dead.
• Kakashi confronted Yugito as three ANBU prepared a sealing technique, but Yugito attacked them with guided fireballs and Kakashi used Water Release to deflect the flames.
• Aozora opened his Two-Tomoe Sharingan and threw kunai and shuriken from the sidelines while Yugito’s relentless attacks kept the Konoha group under pressure.
• Unable to break through the defenders, Yugito began considering retreat.

After Kaminari sacrificed himself, Yugito transformed into the Two-Tailed Demon Cat and unleashed a devastating Tailed Beast Ball. Kakashi, Aizawa Konan, and Aburame Shibi attacked together, and Kakashi charged in with Chidori as Yugito prepared to meet him.

• A Great Waterfall Technique swept Kaminari and the wounded Team 1 down the mountain, and Yugito pulled Kaminari from the torrent.
• Kaminari stabbed himself through the heart after telling Yugito to live, and she transformed into the Two-Tailed Demon Cat.
• Yugito fired a Tailed Beast Ball that carved a huge trench through the battlefield, while the shinobi narrowly escaped its blast.
• Aizawa Konan restrained Yugito with Water Release, Aburame Shibi attacked with insects and a summoned Poison Bee, and Kakashi prepared Chidori.
• Kakashi used his Sharingan and surged toward Yugito with Chidori as Yugito fixed her gaze on him.

Yugito Nii fought Kakashi and the Konoha shinobi while they tried to trap her with a sealing technique. Aozora wounded her with a flying dagger, forcing her to retreat, while he fell before the Konoha group.

• Yugito Nii exchanged blows with Kakashi, tearing through his lightning attack but suffering a serious chest wound.
• Three ANBU ninja formed a sealing cage as Aburame Shibi revealed that he had sent Yugito’s information to Konoha.
• Yugito attacked the Konoha shinobi with a wave of fireballs, and Kakashi, Aizawa Konan, and Aburame Shibi protected the ANBU completing the technique.
• Yugito rushed Aozora, but he threw a flying dagger that pierced her cloak and wounded her near the heart; her claw struck his afterimage, and he crashed down.
• Yugito withdrew, and Kakashi and the others pursued her briefly before stopping and releasing the ordinary sealing technique.

After helping rescue Team 1, Aozora recovered from his injuries and helped seal the Two-Tails' Ghost Fire. As he was carried toward Lianyun City, he worried that the mission had exposed too much of his strength and would force him out of the rear.

• Aizawa Konan treated Aozora's wounds while Kakashi and his ANBU searched the mountain for Team 1.
• Aozora asked Aburame Shibi to retrieve his Chakra Conductive Metal Flying Dagger, Zhanxian, and Shibi returned it to him.
• Kakashi brought Team 1 back and revealed that Aozora had killed a cloud shinobi alone and injured Yugito, leaving the Genin stunned.
• Aozora proposed sealing the largest patches of Ghost Fire in his Fire Sealing Scrolls, and the group contained the flames.
• Yagyū Ichirō and Kurama Saki carried the injured Aozora toward Lianyun City as he worried that his exposed strength would reach the Konoha High Command.

Danzo and Sarutobi Hiruzen discussed Uchiha Aozora’s unusual abilities and agreed to have Root secretly monitor him, while forbidding further action. The chapter ended with Uchiha Fugaku asking Hiruzen about relocation compensation Danzo had promised, leaving Hiruzen unable to meet the demand or deny the promise.

• Danzo told Sarutobi Hiruzen that Yugito Nii was a Perfect Jinchūriki and had been defeated near Lianyun City, so Hiruzen ordered Jiraiya to seal the border and capture her.
• Danzo raised suspicions about Uchiha Aozora’s rapid growth, Two Tomoe Sharingan, and hidden strength, and proposed bringing him into Root.
• Hiruzen rejected Danzo’s proposal to recruit Aozora but agreed to secret surveillance, warning Danzo not to take any further measures.
• Danzo left the Hokage’s Office, and Hiruzen received Jiraiya’s request for more relief funds amid severe casualties from small-scale border battles.
• Uchiha Fugaku asked Hiruzen about relocation compensation Danzo had promised for the Uchiha Clan’s new compound, and Hiruzen realized he could neither deny the promise nor afford the payment.

After returning to Konoha, Aozora recovered and began learning Shisui’s Lightning Release Cell Stimulation Method to improve his speed and physical strength. He completed his first full cycle, but the Heavenly Book absorbed all his Lightning Style Chakra and caused Lightning Fire Golden Body to glow faintly.

• Team 1 and Team 3 returned to Konoha and recorded their missions, including an S-Rank rescue mission for Aozora and Aburame Shibi.
• Aburame Shibi arranged special training for Sai and Hayate while advising Aozora to focus on recovery, taijutsu, and genjutsu.
• After recovering, Aozora began practicing the Lightning Release Cell Stimulation Method Shisui had sent him.
• Aozora endured painful misfires while circulating Lightning Style Chakra, then successfully completed a full cycle on his third day of rest.
• The Heavenly Book absorbed Aozora’s Lightning Style Chakra, and Lightning Fire Golden Body began to shine with a faint golden light.

Aozora inherited the first stage of the Lightning Fire Golden Body and struggled to balance his many cultivation methods with the looming Uchiha-village conflict. When Konoha canceled the Uchiha relocation compensation, Uchiha Yashiro led an angry protest toward the Hokage Building, while Aozora wondered where Clan Head Uchiha Fugaku was.

• Aozora accepted the Lightning Fire Golden Body inheritance and learned its three stages, though only the Stone Body stage had a complete method.
• Aozora practiced the new body-tempering method alongside his other skills, finding that his training left him little free time.
• After a week, Aozora left home for food and found Uchiha Clan Members furious that Konoha had canceled their relocation compensation.
• Uchiha Yashiro condemned the village's decision and led the Clan Members toward the Hokage Building to demand answers.
• Aozora watched the protest begin and wondered why Uchiha Fugaku was absent.

Uchiha Fugaku allowed Yashiro to lead a protest over the canceled relocation compensation so he could test the village leaders’ true attitude toward the Uchiha. As Aozora followed the orderly march toward the Hokage Building, a kunai suddenly flew through the air.

• Sarutobi Hiruzen ordered Mitokado Homura to fetch Fugaku and Utatane Koharu to stop the Uchiha protesters, while Danzo went to assist her.
• At Naka Shrine, Fugaku sent Itachi away, then revealed that he had expected the march and wanted to learn whether the village leaders harbored murderous intent toward the Uchiha.
• Fugaku explained that few ninja were marching and that Yashiro knew where to draw the line, but Itachi grew alarmed at his father’s willingness to risk the Clan Members’ safety.
• Aozora followed the disciplined Uchiha procession through Konoha, noticed villagers fleeing from it, and then heard a kunai whistle through the air.

Aozora witnessed Danzo attack Uchiha Yashiro during the clan’s protest over canceled relocation compensation, but Hiruzen intervened before Yashiro was harmed. Hiruzen and Fugaku then discussed delaying the payment, and the leaders’ urgent rejection of Fugaku’s proposal to halt the relocation confirmed his suspicions.

• Aozora mistakenly threw a kunai at the procession, prompting Uchiha Yashiro and Utatane Koharu to argue over the Uchiha’s protest and the village’s canceled compensation promise.
• Danzo accused the Uchiha of putting their own interests before the war and threatened them with ANBU reinforcements.
• Danzo unleashed a Wind Release attack at Yashiro, but Hiruzen arrived in time to divert it and scolded Danzo.
• Hiruzen apologized to Yashiro and explained that he had meant to postpone compensation because of wartime financial pressures.
• Fugaku arrived, apologized for the protest, and suggested that the Uchiha stop relocating for now; Hiruzen, Danzo, and Koharu immediately rejected the idea.

Fugaku accepted Training Ground 35 as compensation for the Uchiha Clan, but feared Konoha’s leaders intended to destroy the clan. He gave Aozora a scroll and warned him about the coming Chunin Exams, while Aozora used the rest of his vacation to accelerate his training with Shadow Clones.

• Hiruzen assigned Training Ground 35 to the Uchiha Clan and ordered Fugaku to lead his clansmen back.
• Fugaku dismissed the Uchiha, then wrestled with the choice between his clan and Konoha as he feared their conflict would end in bloodshed.
• Aozora questioned Fugaku about organizing the march and criticized how the protest had been conducted.
• Fugaku gave Aozora a scroll containing two Sharingan genjutsu and told him not to disgrace the Uchiha at next month’s Chunin Exams.
• Aozora discovered the scroll’s genjutsu required the Three Tomoe Sharingan, then used three Shadow Clones to train in Fire Release, genjutsu, and the Body Flicker Technique.

Aozora returned from sick leave to find rumors turning civilians against the Uchiha, then spent the next half month completing bandit suppression missions with Team 3. The team signed up for the Chunin Exams, where Aozora discovered that his former classmates were avoiding him because of their families’ prejudice, and he said Team 3 would disband after the exam.

• Aozora overheard civilians repeating malicious rumors about the Uchiha and worried that the clan might be destroyed sooner than expected.
• Aozora, Sai, and Hayate completed four C-Rank bandit suppression missions with Aburame Shibi over half a month.
• Aburame Shibi gave Team 3 Chunin Exam application forms, and all three signed them.
• Aozora arrived at the Chunin Exam venue and saw his former classmates turn away from him, while Sai explained that their families had warned them against associating with the Uchiha.
• Hayate said Aozora was a trustworthy companion but hesitated to continue, and Aozora replied that Team 3 would disband after the exam anyway.

At Konoha’s training grounds, Aozora brooded over the village’s pressure on the Uchiha and Hayate’s decision to stand with his clan. When Hyūga Yō challenged him, Aozora swiftly struck him in the chest with a kunai, leaving the crowd stunned.

• Aozora reflected on his bond with Sai and Hayate, understood Hayate’s choice, and grew angry at Konoha’s leaders for cornering the Uchiha.
• Sai called Aozora’s attention to his match, and he entered the arena to face his former classmate Hyūga Yō.
• Aozora told Yō to surrender, but Yō activated his Byakugan, saw Aozora’s immense Chakra reserves, and charged at him anyway.
• Aozora used Weapon Control to hurl a kunai into Yō’s chest before he could dodge or use a trump card.
• Yō fell bleeding as the crowd fell silent and the Hyūga Clan Members rose in fury.

Aozora defeated Hyūga Yō with a single kunai throw, shocking the spectators and making the shinobi reconsider opposing the Uchiha. As the exams continued, Senbon and Kunai emerged as formidable competitors, and Sarutobi Hiruzen learned they had once served in Root.

• Aozora struck Hyūga Yō in the chest, then explained the wound was not fatal and won the third match.
• The spectators complained about the abrupt fight, while the shinobi and Sarutobi Hiruzen considered the danger Aozora posed.
• Aozora accepted Hayate’s congratulations and stopped Sai from calling him a traitor.
• Senbon overwhelmed Oishi with precise senbon throws, and Oishi collapsed covered in needles.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen asked Danzo whether Senbon and Kunai had been members of Root’s Third Squad, and Danzo said he had given them a chance to return to ordinary life.