Chapter Summaries

Shuichi pursued the thieves who stole the caravan’s goods, believing they were trying to lure him into an ambush. The Wildfire Group killed Ryosuke, replaced him with Nichito, and prepared to intercept Shuichi as he entered the forest.

• Shuichi reassured Inoue Danza that he would recover the stolen goods, then left to pursue the thieves while Orochimaru covered the rear.
• Harukura learned that Shuichi was pursuing alone and signaled the Wildfire Group to begin its move.
• Nichito and four Wildfire Group members attacked Ryosuke, killed him, and took the box while Nichito assumed his appearance.
• Nichito continued toward the agreed location with the box as the other Wildfire Group members took another route.
• Shuichi entered the jungle, suspected an ambush, and sent a Shadow Clone ahead while he followed behind.

Shuichi used a Shadow Clone to dismantle the Wildfire Group’s ambush and uncover how weak its fighters were compared with his real strength. After catching the stolen box, he confronted the two surviving Chunin and demanded to know who had hired them to assassinate him.

• Nichito’s Water Clone lured Shuichi into an ambush, but Shuichi defeated the real Nichito and wounded him with a thrown kunai.
• The Wildfire Group surrounded Shuichi and coordinated attacks with chains, weapons, and Water Release techniques, but he evaded and countered them.
• Raiya used Earth Release to trap Shuichi and two of his own allies in a fissure, then impaled them with Earth Spears; Shuichi’s apparent body vanished as a Shadow Clone.
• Shuichi’s real body caught the box and assessed the Wildfire Group, concluding Sunagakure was unlikely to be behind the assassination.
• Shuichi demanded that Raiya and the other surviving Chunin name the person who had offered thirty million ryo for his assassination, and both men charged at him instead.

Shuichi defeated most of the Wildfire Group’s attackers, but a masked ninja ambushed him after he cornered Raiya. Shuichi survived the surprise attack and wounded the masked opponent, leaving their fight unresolved.

• Raiya and his companion launched a coordinated attack, but Shuichi evaded their ambush with the Body Flicker Technique.
• Shuichi used the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique and Swamp of the Underworld to kill Raiya’s companion and badly wound Raiya.
• Shuichi moved to finish Raiya, but a masked ninja appeared from behind and attacked him with a black dagger.
• Shuichi blocked the masked ninja’s ambush, withdrew, and countered his Earth Style attack with Wind Release, grazing the attacker’s arm.

Shuichi pursued an Iwagakure Jonin who had tried to escape with intelligence about his strength, and he and Orochimaru defeated him. The Jonin detonated explosive tags in a final attempt to kill Shuichi, leaving Shuichi shaken by the lengths ninja would go to for a mission.

• Shuichi left a Shadow Clone to deal with the Wildfire Group and chased the fleeing attacker, identifying him as an Iwagakure Jonin.
• Shuichi used snakes and Lightning Style to stop the Masked Man, then Orochimaru arrived as backup.
• The Masked Man charged at Shuichi in a desperate attempt to kill him, but Shuichi trapped him with Water Release and Orochimaru struck him with Wind Release.
• The badly injured Masked Man detonated explosive tags, and Shuichi used the Body Flicker Technique to escape the blast.
• Shuichi reflected on the ninja who risked and sacrificed their lives for missions, while Orochimaru told him he would face more such deaths.

Shuichi and Orochimaru completed their escort mission, uncovered an Iwagakure attack, and returned to Konoha with valuable gifts. As the Ninja Academy graduation approached, Shuichi reflected on how he would eventually form a small mission circle with Ishikawa Tatsuki and Yūhi Kurenai.

• Orochimaru caught Harukura's group plotting to rob the caravan and spared them after deciding they could serve as informants.
• Shuichi and Orochimaru recovered Inoue Danza's goods, escorted the caravan to the Land of Iron, and returned safely to Daimyo's Mansion with two gifted katana.
• Orochimaru reported the suspected Iwagakure attack to Sarutobi Hiruzen, who decided Shuichi would need another one to two years before taking missions alone.
• Shuichi encouraged Ishikawa Tatsuki as he prepared for graduation and explained that ninja could form teams with different people throughout their careers.
• Shuichi concluded that he would eventually team up with Ishikawa Tatsuki and Yūhi Kurenai, but held back for now because his Chunin status could put them in danger.

The Third Hokage assigned new Ninja Academy graduates to guiding Jonin and mobilized available forces after an Anbu squad disappeared in the Land of Rivers. Shuichi joined Orochimaru on an urgent mission there, suspecting the incident could be a prelude to the Third Shinobi War.

• The Third Hokage assigned Sarutobi Asuma, Yūhi Kurenai, and Ishikawa Tatsuki to Akimichi Tōtō, and assigned Kakashi and an Uchiha child to Namikaze Minato.
• Shuichi practiced gathering Lightning Element Chakra in his hand but concluded he lacked the knowledge to develop a combat-ready Chidori.
• The Third Hokage ordered unassigned Jonin to investigate the Land of Rivers and search for a missing Anbu squad after reports of many unfamiliar ninja there.
• Orochimaru summoned Shuichi for an emergency mission, and the two departed Konoha an hour later.
• While traveling toward the Land of Rivers, Shuichi asked Orochimaru to tell him about the Shinobi World wars.

Orochimaru explained to Shuichi how the great nations’ borders, defenses, and peacetime missions shaped conflicts in the Shinobi World. After reaching the Land of Fire’s border, they prepared to enter the Land of Rivers disguised as Rogue Ninja to investigate the unfamiliar shinobi there.

• Shuichi asked Orochimaru to teach him about the Second Great Ninja War because he believed another war might soon break out.
• Orochimaru explained how the First Great Ninja War led the Five Great Nations to shift their borders, protect civilians, and turn small nations into battlegrounds.
• Orochimaru described Konoha’s defensive lines and its peacetime efforts to prevent Sunagakure from gaining resources in the Land of Rivers.
• Shuichi asked whether Sunagakure was behind missing Anbu and the unfamiliar shinobi, but Orochimaru said another nation could be provoking conflict and that they needed to investigate.
• After reaching the Land of Fire’s border, Orochimaru and Shuichi recovered, reviewed the mission intelligence, and decided to pose as Rogue Ninja.

Shuichi and Orochimaru investigated Maruoka Castle and learned that the Land of Rivers had fractured, with the Hannya Clan forming a new Ninja Village in the Land of Forests. Suspecting Konoha’s nearby base had been exposed, they chose to approach the village as bait and were stopped at its gate.

• Shuichi and Orochimaru entered Maruoka Castle and followed an advertisement to a tavern meant to attract Ninja.
• A waiter explained that northern powers had declared independence, defectors from Valley Ninja Village had joined the Hannya Clan, and a new Ninja Village was recruiting Rogue Ninja.
• Shuichi and Orochimaru suspected the Konoha base in Azusagawa River Valley might be compromised and decided to use the situation to confront the enemy.
• They found the Hannya Clan’s new village in a hidden valley, where a gate guard said they would have to pass tests to join.

Shuichi and Orochimaru entered the Hannya Clan’s territory undercover and accepted a herb-gathering mission that led them to an ambush site. They evaded the attackers’ opening traps and prepared to fight as the assault began.

• Shuichi persuaded a Hannya Clan ninja to guide him and Orochimaru into a shabby city where foreign ninja had to take missions before joining the village.
• The inn clerk secretly reported the pair to a covert group, whose captain decided to watch them and arrange an ambush.
• Shuichi and Orochimaru accepted the only available herb-gathering mission and headed for a cliff where the herbs grew.
• The captain’s group followed them, confirmed their location with a sensing talisman, and launched an attack with falling rocks, Shuriken, Senbon, and buried Explosive Tags.
• Shuichi used a Shadow Clone and evasive movements to dodge the traps and reach a safe landing spot.

Shuichi fought three Sunagakure attackers, using Water Release and an Earth Clone to counter their coordinated assault. He identified their leader as the Jonin Puppeteer Kawamasa and kept evading his puppets while analyzing their abilities.

• Shuichi stalled the attackers with questions, then blocked their combined Fire and Wind Release with a Water Formation Wall.
• A dual-bladed puppet attacked through the steam, but Shuichi evaded it with an Earth Clone and countered with Water Dragon Bullet.
• Kawamasa used a large turtle puppet to block the Water Dragon Bullet while his dual-bladed puppet pursued Shuichi.
• Shuichi recognized the attackers as two Chunin and Jonin Puppeteer Kawamasa from Sunagakure, then mocked Kawamasa for hiding.
• Kawamasa and the Chunin pursued Shuichi through the valley as he evaded the puppet's slashes and assessed its capabilities.

Shuichi analyzed Kawamasa’s puppets and lured the Sunagakure team into a counterattack, killing two Chunin and badly injuring Kawamasa. Just as Kawamasa unleashed his hidden blade technique, Orochimaru’s giant python rescued Shuichi.

• Shuichi deduced that the Dual-Blade Puppet lacked ordinary ranged attacks and that its hidden trump card was likely a one-use killing technique.
• Shuichi baited Kawamasa and his two Chunin into pursuing him, then used Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique as they approached.
• Shuichi cast Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld beneath the Sunagakure team while the Dual-Blade Puppet struck a Shadow Clone.
• Shuichi attacked from concealment with Wind Release: Vacuum Wave, killing both Chunin and severing Kawamasa’s right foot.
• Kawamasa activated Azure Secret Technique: Hundred Frenzied Blades, but Orochimaru’s giant python coiled around Shuichi and shielded him from the blades.

After Shuichi and Orochimaru uncovered Sunagakure’s attack on Konoha operations in the Land of Rivers, Shuichi returned to Konoha and completed his first S-rank mission. He reunited with his newly graduated friends and warned them that another Shinobi World war could begin within a few years.

• Shuichi and Orochimaru defeated Sunagakure’s forces, interrogated two captured Chunin, and learned that Sunagakure had infiltrated Konoha’s operations in the Land of Rivers.
• Shuichi and Orochimaru halted Konoha teams’ missions in the Land of Forests, and Shuichi returned to Konoha with the bodies of two Anbu and the prisoners.
• The Third Hokage upgraded Shuichi’s mission to S-rank, and Shuichi summoned the prisoners before the village officials and offered to trade his knowledge of Sunagakure puppets for Advanced Jutsu.
• Shuichi visited Ishikawa Tatsuki, Yūhi Kurenai, and Asuma while they completed a Genin mission, then took them to Barbecue Q.
• At Barbecue Q, Shuichi met Namikaze Minato and Kakashi and warned them that another war might break out within a few years, urging them to prepare and grow stronger.

Shuichi demonstrated his unfinished Lightning Cutter to Kakashi and asked for his help developing it. Kakashi recognized that Shuichi’s ideas resembled advanced techniques from his father’s swordsmanship, then accepted Shuichi’s chakra training method and agreed to work with him.

• After dinner, Shuichi asked Kakashi to meet him the next day to discuss Ninjutsu.
• At Konoha Training Ground 26, Shuichi demonstrated his powerful but unfinished Lightning Cutter, leaving Kakashi stunned.
• Shuichi outlined ideas for gathering Lightning Chakra, stimulating his cells, and shaping the technique into a blade.
• Kakashi recognized that Shuichi’s ideas matched advanced Lightning Element techniques from White Fang Swordsmanship, though he thought the similarity was coincidental.
• Shuichi taught Kakashi his Chakra refinement technique, and the two exchanged ideas and agreed to practice together.
• Shuichi declared that both of them would be credited as Lightning Cutter’s developers once they completed it.

Shuichi continued training and studying Lightning Cutter while tensions between Konoha and Sunagakure grew. After Sarutobi Hiruzen corrected his prediction of an imminent war, Shuichi shared valuable intelligence on Sunagakure’s Puppeteers and prepared to leave on a long mission with Orochimaru.

• Shuichi turned another year older, invested his system points in reaction and thinking speed, and considered studying additional ninjutsu.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen challenged Shuichi’s prediction that a Shinobi World War was near and explained why Sunagakure’s lack of resources made war unlikely under normal circumstances.
• Shuichi accepted Hiruzen’s reasoning while privately recalling that unforeseen events could still trigger a war.
• Shuichi gave Hiruzen a detailed scroll about Sunagakure’s Puppeteers, and Hiruzen promised to protect the secrecy of his contribution.
• Hiruzen told Shuichi that Orochimaru had accepted a mission involving a long journey, and Shuichi planned to ask his teacher for the details.

Shuichi and Orochimaru escorted Asama Kazuhiko as he bought scientific equipment and materials across the Land of Fire, while Orochimaru secretly acquired equipment of his own. After half a month, they set sail with Asama for the Land of Snow, leaving Shuichi to endure a long, uncomfortable voyage.

• Shuichi and Orochimaru met Inoue Danza at the Daimyo's Mansion and learned they would escort Asama Kazuhiko, the Land of Snow's Minister of Trade Administration.
• Asama withdrew a large sum of money and purchased reserved scientific equipment in the capital while Shuichi guarded him.
• Orochimaru left a Shadow Clone to accompany the mission and secretly slipped away to acquire scientific equipment.
• Shuichi and Orochimaru's Shadow Clone escorted Asama to other cities, where he spent nearly all the money he had brought over the next half month.
• Shuichi, Orochimaru, and Asama traveled to the eastern coast and boarded a ship bound for the Land of Snow.

Shuichi and Orochimaru finished escorting Asama Kazuhiko to the Land of Snow, then used the return journey as a pretext to travel to a remote snake den. There, Orochimaru brought Shuichi to a village of the Libra Clan, whose people suffered from recurring mental illnesses that Orochimaru had been studying.

• Shuichi and Orochimaru escorted Asama Kazuhiko through the snowy Land of Snow and parted with him at an old ice city.
• Orochimaru revealed that ships would not sail for months and took Shuichi through a summoned snake to a remote burrow near Ryūchi Cave.
• Shuichi and Orochimaru emerged from the burrow and ran through a forest to a secluded village.
• A villager excitedly welcomed Orochimaru and went to fetch the village chief.
• Orochimaru told Shuichi that the villagers belonged to the Libra Clan and that he had been studying their mental illnesses with blood samples and medicine.

Orochimaru and Shuichi investigated the Libra Clan’s illnesses and discovered that Jugo’s mutation came from Natural Energy. Orochimaru explained Sage Mode and revealed that he hoped to use Natural Energy to control Life Energy and Mental Energy, opening a path to immortality; Shuichi eagerly agreed to join his research.

• Orochimaru told Shuichi that Jugo, a child whose body transformed when he killed, had become a danger to the village, and the village chief asked Orochimaru to take him away.
• Orochimaru refused to remove Jugo and led Shuichi to the cave where he was imprisoned.
• Jugo attacked Shuichi in his transformed state, but Shuichi restrained him and used Chakra to calm him.
• Shuichi deduced that Natural Energy had invaded Jugo and the other villagers, and Orochimaru explained that shinobi used Natural Energy through Sage Mode.
• Orochimaru said he hoped controlled Natural Energy could expand Life Energy and Mental Energy enough to let people overcome the limits of a short lifespan.
• Shuichi praised Orochimaru’s potential path to immortality and eagerly asked to begin the research.

Shuichi and Orochimaru collected blood from Jugo, established a hidden laboratory near Konoha, and returned to the village after nearly half a year away. Shuichi asked whether his report on the Puppeteer had been assessed, and Sarutobi Hiruzen confirmed that it had proved valuable.

• Shuichi and Orochimaru collected Jugo's blood in Ryūchi Cave and left him with the Libra Clan.
• Orochimaru led Shuichi to a prepared underground site near Konoha, where they built a concealed laboratory and arranged his research equipment.
• Shuichi offered to help Orochimaru with supplies and information from the village as Orochimaru began his experiments.
• In spring of Konoha Year 46, Shuichi and Orochimaru returned after nearly half a year and claimed winter conditions in the Land of Snow had delayed them.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen reprimanded the pair and blacklisted them from future missions, while Shuichi asked about his report on the Puppeteer.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen said the village had verified Shuichi's intelligence after two teams encountered Sunagakure Puppeteers and escaped safely.

Shuichi explained that a Puppeteer's combat strength depended on their control ability, not simply their puppet's mechanisms, and traded the intelligence for Water Severing Wave. He asked about the Flying Thunder God Technique, but after learning its current limitations and the time required to master it, he decided to pursue it later.

• Shuichi warned the Third Hokage that Konoha's puppet-fighting strategies could cause heavy losses against elite Puppeteers like Chiyo, then explained how control ability shaped puppet design and combat strength.
• Shuichi argued that his intelligence deserved a major reward, and the Third Hokage gave him Water Severing Wave instead of several S-rank Ninjutsu.
• Shuichi asked about the Flying Thunder God Technique, and the Third Hokage explained its limitations, high Chakra cost, and why it did not suit Shuichi.
• The Third Hokage revealed that Minato had received the technique because Konoha lacked suitable Ninjutsu for him and because Jiraiya and Minato chose an unconventional path.
• Shuichi concluded that mastering the current Flying Thunder God Technique would take too much time, so he planned to earn military merit and seek Minato's improved version after Minato became Hokage.

Shuichi obtained Water Severing Wave and Super Beast Imitation Drawing from the Third Hokage, then spent months training both techniques. By July of Konoha Year 46, he had nearly mastered Super Beast Imitation Drawing but found its limitations frustrating, while Water Severing Wave remained dangerous and difficult to learn.

• Shuichi persuaded the Third Hokage to teach him Super Beast Imitation Drawing alongside Water Severing Wave.
• Shuichi trained the two techniques for nearly half a year while helping Orochimaru acquire experimental materials and completing the Third Hokage's assignments.
• Shuichi brought a small ink rat to life with Super Beast Imitation Drawing and assessed the technique's demanding requirements and weaknesses.
• Shuichi tested the technique's flight potential and found that his unfinished ink eagle flew slowly but could serve for aerial reconnaissance.
• Shuichi concluded that Water Severing Wave would require extensive training because his Chakra pathways could not yet withstand its pressure and a loss of control could kill him.