Chapter Summaries

Aozora inherited Earth Release and Earth Shrink, then spent the following days cultivating Earth Release and Izanagi. The chapter ended with Itachi hesitating outside Aozora’s door, holding an incomplete answer to Aozora’s question.

• Aozora accepted the Earth Release inheritance and realized its advanced stages involved transforming his body into earth.
• Aozora inherited Earth Shrink and learned that it used Earth Release to let him move swiftly across the ground.
• Aozora practiced Izanagi, connected a save point for forty seconds, and severed the link when maintaining it consumed too much Chakra.
• Aozora trained Earth Release and Izanagi at home, extending Izanagi’s duration to fifty-three seconds before both techniques became difficult to improve.
• Aozora began practicing Earth Release and Izanagi together, but progress was slow.
• Itachi arrived for his appointment with Aozora, hesitating at the door with a notebook containing only half of his answer.

Aozora challenged Itachi’s belief that Konoha’s leadership meant the Uchiha no harm, using the Second Hokage’s history and Itachi’s love for Sasuke to make him reconsider. Itachi awakened his Blood Eyes, and Aozora left him questioning whether Konoha’s leaders would surrender power to the Uchiha.

• Itachi visited Aozora and asked why he suspected Konoha’s High Command of harboring killing intent toward the Uchiha.
• Aozora argued that the Second Hokage had been wary of the Uchiha and that the Konoha Military Police Force had excluded them from Konoha’s leadership.
• Aozora used his Blood Eyes to make Itachi witness Sasuke being killed by the White-Haired Ninja, and Itachi awakened a single Tomoe in his Blood Eyes.
• Itachi admitted he would never forgive the Second Hokage for killing Sasuke, then agreed that the Second Hokage had ill will toward the Uchiha.
• Aozora pointed to the rise and disappearance of powerful Konoha figures and asked whether the High Command would willingly give up its power to serve Uchiha interests.

Aozora reassured Itachi that the Uchiha Clan still had a chance, accepted him as a disciple, and taught him a secret cultivation technique. Afterward, Aozora considered how to selectively pass on his abilities and build a loyal group amid the clan’s crisis.

• Aozora explained that Konoha’s unequal distribution of power and benefits lay at the root of the conflict with the Uchiha, and reassured Itachi that Fugaku had changed his mind after speaking with him.
• Itachi asked Aozora to guide him as a teacher, and Aozora accepted him as his disciple.
• Aozora assessed Itachi’s skills, then taught him the Foundation Establishment Secret Technique to improve his physical aptitude.
• Itachi practiced the technique, noticed his Chakra dwindling and his body growing stronger, then left at Aozora’s direction.
• Aozora worried that the Uchiha’s disappearances might signal a threat that could bring the clan’s destruction sooner, and planned to build his own forces by selectively teaching his abilities.

Fugaku discovered that Itachi was practicing Aozora’s Foundation Building Technique and grew interested in its potential. Aozora ended his leave and returned to the Konoha Military Police Force, where Fugaku assigned him and three others an important mission and named Shūichi captain.

• Fugaku saw Itachi practicing the Foundation Building Technique and learned that Aozora had taught it to him.
• Fugaku told Itachi to study the technique diligently, believing it might explain Aozora’s rapid growth in strength.
• Kyūdai told Aozora that Fugaku wanted him to return to work, and Aozora agreed that his leave was over.
• Aozora reported to the Military Police Force and met Gen'an, Gen'ka, and Shūichi in Fugaku’s office.
• Fugaku announced an important mission and appointed Shūichi captain, but someone objected.

Aozora accepted command of a mission to investigate the disappearances of Masato and Eita, while Fugaku warned him that an unknown enemy might be targeting the Uchiha Clan. To earn his teammates’ trust, Aozora challenged them to spar at Training Ground 6, where Gen'an attacked him first.

• Shūichi recommended Aozora as captain, and Fugaku appointed Aozora to lead the mission with Shūichi, Gen'an, and Gen'ka.
• Fugaku told Aozora that Masato and Eita had vanished while pursuing a suspect and warned that a hidden enemy might be striking at the Uchiha Clan.
• Shūichi told Gen'an and Gen'ka that twelve-year-old Aozora was stronger than Shisui had been at the same age.
• Aozora invited his teammates to spar at Training Ground 6 so they could get to know one another through battle.
• Gen'an accepted Aozora's challenge and rushed in, and their exchange of blows shook the training ground with sonic booms.

Aozora suppressed Gen'an in a taijutsu match, then challenged Gen'ka to test their genjutsu. The chapter ended as Gen'ka watched for an opening to cast his technique.

• Aozora blocked Gen'an's attacks without activating his Sharingan, astonishing Shūichi and Gen'ka.
• Gen'an unleashed a frenzied secret technique, but Aozora endured his attacks and was finally kicked away.
• Gen'an admitted he was inferior, and Aozora called for the next opponent.
• Aozora sent Gen'ka forward instead of Shūichi and challenged him to a genjutsu match.
• Aozora offered to stand still while Gen'ka tried to place him under a genjutsu, and Gen'ka searched for the right moment to attack.

Aozora defeated Gen'ka's strongest genjutsu by revealing his Three Tomoe Sharingan, then faced Shūichi in a full-strength battle. Shūichi blocked Aozora's kunai and pressed forward as Aozora retreated.

• Aozora dispelled Gen'ka's chained genjutsu and broke the Hanging Technique with his Three Tomoe Sharingan.
• Gen'ka admitted defeat, while Gen'an and Shūichi were shocked by Aozora's newly revealed Sharingan.
• Shūichi accepted Aozora as captain but challenged him to a serious fight, and Aozora agreed.
• Shūichi charged through Aozora's shuriken as Aozora retreated and threw a fast kunai.
• Shūichi cut the kunai in two and charged again while Aozora leaped backward.

Aozora outmaneuvered Shūichi in a spar and watched him demonstrate a powerful lightning sword technique, then welcomed Gen'an and Gen'ka into their newly formed squad. The squad reviewed its mission to capture Tanaka Shōta, a suspected traitor still in Ōkawa Castle, and Aozora prepared to give his teammates an assignment before they departed.

• Aozora evaded Shūichi's attacks until Shūichi stopped pursuing him to conserve Chakra.
• Shūichi unleashed Lightning Flash Slash, cutting through a boulder, and Aozora praised his improved control while noting his speed remained limited.
• Gen'an and Gen'ka accepted Aozora as their captain after seeing his strength and hearing him acknowledge them as teammates.
• Aozora treated the squad to a meal, then Shūichi briefed them on Tanaka Shōta and the missing ninja Masato and Eita.
• When Gen'an urged the squad to leave quickly, Aozora said they would first carry out a task he had for them.

Aozora led Shūichi, Gen'ka, and Gen'an north to investigate Tanaka Shōta, weighing clues that linked him to the deaths of Uchiha teams while avoiding firm conclusions. After a meal softened the team’s awkward mood, Aozora assigned combat roles and began training them on the road, leaving the investigation unresolved.

• Tsume declined to follow Aozora’s team, despite Danzo’s interest in Aozora, because he feared they would detect the surveillance.
• Gen'an reported that Masato and Eita had recently awakened their Three Tomoe Sharingan, while Gen'ka noted Tanaka Shōta’s past victims were mostly Chunin teams with clan members; Shūichi could not uncover why Tanaka had left ANBU.
• Aozora questioned whether Tanaka could have killed Masato and Eita, but the team could not determine what had happened and continued north.
• Aozora shared his prepared meal with the others, then argued that outdated Ninja Regulations should not strip ninjas of their humanity.
• Aozora learned his teammates’ abilities, assigned them combat roles, and took them to practice by testing their skills against two bandit strongholds.

Aozora and his squad reached Ōkawa Castle and uncovered signs that its intelligence outpost was helping conceal a secret laboratory. In the laboratory, Hiruko continued his experiments and confronted Tanaka Shōta, who warned him that the Konoha Military Police Force’s investigation could expose them.

• Aozora’s squad rested at the Ōkawa Castle intelligence outpost, where Kusakami Daisora provided Tanaka Shōta’s mission record and answered Aozora’s questions.
• After checking their rooms with his Sharingan, Aozora ordered his squad to pretend to sleep while they waited for his command.
• Kusakami Daisora told Kenta to warn Tanaka Shōta and Hiruko to leave, but a shadow attacked Daisora before he could act further.
• Hiruko’s experiment killed a captive and produced another failed tumor, while he chose not to use the captured Uchiha with Three Tomoe as material.
• Tanaka Shōta warned Hiruko that the Konoha Military Police Force had sent another squad and that further deaths could expose the laboratory and implicate Danzo.
• Hiruko restrained Tanaka Shōta with bandages and rejected his claim that Hiruko owed loyalty to Danzo.

Aozora ambushed Hiruko but failed to kill him, and the battle escalated when Hiruko revealed a monstrous Chimera Technique transformation. Hiruko escaped into the sky after attacking Aozora and his team, leaving their confrontation unresolved.

• Hiruko emerged from the sealed hall, and Aozora used genjutsu and a kunai barrage to surprise him and the cone-faced twins.
• Aozora attacked Hiruko with a full-power Great Dragon Fire Technique, burning the twins and a summoned creature while Hiruko survived by merging with a monster.
• Gen'an, Gen'ka, and Shūichi joined Aozora as Hiruko rose from the ground atop a two-headed, winged serpent creature.
• Hiruko attacked the group with explosive feathers, but they evaded the barrage and lost sight of him in the smoke.
• Hiruko flew away with the monster, promising to spare Uchiha Shopping Cart's life for now.

Aozora and his team defeated Hiruko’s controlled ninjas, rescued Eita, and discovered the horrors of Hiruko’s underground experiments. In Konoha, Hiruzen and Danzo reacted to the destruction of the Ōkawa Castle Intelligence outpost, while Kento’s arrival at Fugaku’s office ended in a startling sight.

• Aozora’s team defeated Hiruko’s subordinates and searched the burned residence for survivors and intelligence.
• Aozora and Gen'an explored the Underground Laboratory, recovered experimental records, and found Eita bound to a rack with an unknown technique on his forehead.
• Aozora took Eita and Kusakami Daisora back to Konoha, and an ANBU later sent a report from the ruins.
• Hiruzen received confirmation that the Ōkawa Castle Intelligence outpost had been destroyed and summoned the Head of the Military Police Force.
• Danzo voiced suspicion that the Uchiha might defect, but Hiruzen insisted that they would remain part of Konoha.
• Kento reached Fugaku’s office, where Kyūdai tried to stop him, and the doors opened to reveal something that left Kento stunned.

Aozora presented the clans with evidence of Hiruko’s corpse-filled laboratory and raised questions about ANBU’s role in the disappearances. At the Hokage’s Office, Fugaku refused to hand over his subordinates, leaving him and Sarutobi Hiruzen facing off in a tense standoff.

• Kento saw the major clan leaders gathered in the Military Police Minister’s Office before Fugaku went to meet Sarutobi Hiruzen.
• Aozora showed the clan leaders three recovered bodies, including Kiba’s, and described the many corpses and grotesque tumors found in Hiruko’s laboratory.
• Aozora questioned how Hiruko had operated for years without ANBU discovering him, prompting the clan leaders to consider whether they could trust ANBU’s intelligence.
• Danzo confronted Fugaku about the destroyed Ōkawa Castle intelligence outpost, and Fugaku admitted that the Military Police Force had captured its person in charge and destroyed the outpost.
• Danzo accused the Uchiha of treason, but Sarutobi Hiruzen stopped him and demanded that Fugaku surrender the culprit.
• Fugaku refused, saying he trusted his subordinates, and he and Sarutobi Hiruzen faced off as their auras clashed.

Uchiha Fugaku confronted Sarutobi Hiruzen over the Ōkawa Castle ANBU outpost and demanded an explanation for its corruption and the deaths of village ninja. At a public meeting, Uchiha Aozora presented evidence of Hiruko’s experiments and accused high-ranking ANBU members of selling out Konoha ninja and supporting Forbidden Jutsu research.

• Sarutobi Hiruzen initially trusted Fugaku’s judgment but demanded a reason for the Uchiha’s actions, while Danzo urged him not to be naive.
• Fugaku told Sarutobi Hiruzen that the Ōkawa Castle outpost had colluded with Hiruko and murdered village ninja, and said the village deserved an explanation.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen learned that Fugaku had gathered victims’ families to assist the investigation and ordered them, Fugaku, and Uchiha Aozora brought to the Grand Meeting Room.
• Aozora reported that his team had attacked Hiruko’s base, presented a Sealing Scroll containing flesh tumors, and said further evidence remained in the underground laboratory.
• Aozora questioned how Hiruko had built his laboratory and concealed hundreds of missing ninja, then accused high-ranking ANBU members of selling out ninja and supporting human experimentation and Forbidden Jutsu research.

Aozora challenged Sarutobi Hiruzen and Danzo over the suspected collaboration between Danzo and Hiruko, then exposed how the dead intelligence chief might have been killed by the forbidden Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal. The meeting ended with clan representatives demanding that ANBU members’ tongues be inspected.

• Aozora accused a senior ANBU official of selling out Konoha Ninja to support Hiruko’s forbidden research, and Danzo dismissed the accusation as Uchiha slander.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen proposed taking custody of the intelligence chief for an investigation, but Aozora revealed Kusakami Daisora’s corpse, whose head had been destroyed.
• Danzo ordered Aozora arrested, but Sarutobi Hiruzen allowed Aburame Shiseijin to examine the corpse; Shiseijin concluded that an internal burst of energy had likely caused the damage.
• Fugaku explained the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal and suggested that a senior ANBU official might have used it to prevent members from revealing secrets.
• Inoichi revealed that his nephew Yamanaka Fu had joined ANBU, and clan representatives joined the calls for an immediate inspection of ANBU members’ tongues.

Sarutobi Hiruzen tried to delay action against the ANBU while promising an investigation, but Aozora pushed for publicly inspecting the ANBU squad leaders. As the leaders were summoned, Aozora realized Danzo’s calm might signal a hidden danger and ordered the four ANBU stopped.

• Sarutobi Hiruzen asked the gathered ninja to endure the situation until the war with Cloud and the threat from Iwagakure had passed.
• Fugaku challenged Hiruzen’s appeal to the bigger picture, arguing that Konoha’s clan members could not be expected to fight if their families were unsafe.
• Aozora supported avoiding a major upheaval but proposed publicly inspecting every ANBU squad leader in Konoha, and the gathered ninja agreed.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen ordered the ANBU squad leaders summoned to the Meeting Room, and four ANBU left to carry out the order.
• Aozora noticed Danzo remained calm and suddenly ordered the four departing ANBU to be stopped.

The meeting turned against Sarutobi Hiruzen after several ANBU failed to return, and the clans took charge of pursuing the suspected defectors. Aozora then tried to redirect suspicion from Sarutobi Takao to Danzo by repeating Hiruko’s claim about Danzo’s right arm.

• Aozora warned the meeting that the four ANBU might be compromised, and one of them later failed to return with the others.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen named Sarutobi Takao, Hirahara Haruto, and Kurama Murakumo as suspected defectors and ordered ANBU squads to capture them.
• Hyuga Hidaka and Inuzuka Ō argued that the clans should pursue the suspects, and Hiruzen agreed to form a Pursuit Squad led by Hidaka.
• Aozora apologized to Danzo and repeated Hiruko’s claim that he had created Danzo’s special right arm with the Chimera Technique.

Aozora accused Danzo of working with Hiruko and pressured him to reveal his concealed right arm. Danzo’s appeal to Sarutobi Hiruzen failed, and he finally began pulling down his sleeve in front of the gathered ninja.

• Aozora suspected Danzo of orchestrating the disappearances, gathered evidence against him, and returned to Konoha ahead of his group to warn Fugaku.
• Aozora told the assembled ninja that Hiruko had claimed to cooperate with Danzo and create a special right arm for him using the Chimera Technique.
• Aozora challenged Danzo to show his arm, and the gathered ninja scrutinized Danzo as he refused and shattered the table in anger.
• Danzo appealed to Sarutobi Hiruzen to defend the dignity of Konoha High Command, but Sarutobi blocked the exit and said Danzo would have to endure the inspection.
• Danzo laughed in fury and began pulling down the sleeve covering his right arm.

Danzo revealed Sharingan implanted in his right arm and attacked the Konoha leaders with Wood Release, destroying much of the Hokage Building. Fugaku’s Susanoo shielded the survivors, while Danzo escaped through a breached Barrier with several allies, leaving Konoha to restore order.

• Danzo removed his sealing tool and exposed eight Sharingan embedded in his grotesque right arm, shocking Hiruzen, Fugaku, and the other ninjas.
• Danzo unleashed Wood Release: Root Burial, killing nearby ANBU and sending branches tearing through the Meeting Room.
• Fugaku manifested Susanoo to protect the conference table group from the branches, though the Hokage Building was left in ruins.
• Hiruzen announced that Danzo had defected with Sarutobi Takao, Hirahara Haruto, and Kurama Murakumo, and credited Fugaku with saving the others.
• After a Signal Flare reported that the Barrier had been breached, Hiruzen ordered the ANBU, Konoha Military Police Force, and Barrier Squad to respond.

After Danzo defected, Fugaku secured Uchiha participation in the search of Danzo’s base while Sarutobi Hiruzen and the elders prepared for a High-Level Meeting. At the Uchiha clan meeting, members urged Fugaku to pursue the Hokage position, but Aozora argued that the time was not right.

• Fugaku told Sarutobi Hiruzen that the Military Police Force would search Danzo’s base, and Hiruzen agreed to let Uchiha members join ANBU’s search and reclaim Uchiha property.
• After Fugaku left, Sarutobi Hiruzen, Mitokado Homura, and Utatane Koharu discussed Danzo’s defection, the possibility of Hiruzen resigning, and how to preserve his position at the High-Level Meeting.
• Fugaku returned to the Military Police Force headquarters and convened a meeting of Uchiha leaders and clan members.
• Tielan, Yashiro, Aoki, and other Uchiha urged Fugaku to impeach Sarutobi Hiruzen and seek the Hokage position.
• Fugaku asked Aozora for his opinion, and Aozora said that although he agreed with the clan’s assessment, it was not the right time for the Uchiha to compete for Hokage.