Chapter Summaries

Yichen developed the Lightning Release Stimulation Method, which Ōnoki classified as an A-rank Ninjutsu, and decided to focus on Lightning Release to pursue Chakra Fusion. News then arrived that Konoha had defeated Sunagakure, whose leadership changed as Rasa became the Fourth Kazekage, while the One-Tail escaped into the Land of Wind’s desert.

• Yichen experimented with tiny electric currents, developed a Lightning Release Stimulation Method with Medical Department head Nakata Hajime, and demonstrated its speed boost to Ōnoki and the others.
• Ōnoki classified the method as an A-rank Ninjutsu and ordered Iwagakure’s Lightning Release Jonin to learn it.
• Yichen decided to set aside Fire Release training and focus on Lightning Release, then gave Ōnoki the method’s detailed training scroll.
• Ōnoki received intelligence that Konoha had defeated Sunagakure, with Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Minato Namikaze overpowering Sunagakure’s forces and the One-Tail Jinchuriki.
• Rasa became the Fourth Kazekage during Sunagakure’s retreat and restored Chiyo’s authority, while the One-Tail escaped and returned to the Land of Wind’s desert.

After Konoha defeated Sunagakure, Yichen suspected that the Mist ninja would soon escalate their war and investigated whether Obito had still disappeared without the Kannabi Bridge Incident. Intelligence about the Mist ninja’s increased activity near the Hyuga camp alarmed him, and he ordered close monitoring as he prepared to act.

• Shukaku’s rampage blocked Konoha’s pursuit of Sunagakure, and both forces withdrew, effectively ending their war.
• Yichen told Ōnoki that Konoha’s victory was only the beginning and suspected the Mist ninja would launch a major conflict.
• Yichen checked Iwa’s intelligence on Minato Namikaze’s students and found no report that Obito had disappeared or died.
• Yichen ordered the Intelligence Department to watch Obito and Minato’s ties with the Uchiha Clan.
• Yichen noticed the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist had become less active near the Uchiha camp but more active near the Hyuga camp.
• Yichen connected the Mist ninja’s movements to the Hyuga Main Family’s lost Byakugan and ordered immediate reports on the Hyuga camp.

Yichen tried to leave Iwagakure, but Ōnoki refused until he reached Kage-level. Yichen persuaded Ōnoki to send him out by claiming the Mist ninja were preparing to target the Hyuga Main Family, and Ōnoki approved the trip despite doubts about the intelligence.

• Ōnoki rejected Yichen's request to roam outside the village until he became Kage-level.
• Ikura told Yichen that he, too, had been restricted to the village and was still required to master an S-rank Ninjutsu before leaving.
• Yichen realized his flying speed could make him valuable for urgent wartime missions and searched Intelligence Department reports for a reason to be sent out.
• Yichen claimed that the Mist ninja were targeting the Hyuga Main Family and presented reports connecting the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist to a Hyuga Branch Family Jonin's death.
• Saka questioned Yichen's conclusions, but Ōnoki ultimately trusted his warning and ordered him to make the trip.

Yichen searched the Mist Ninja Camp for signs of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, hoping to learn whether they had moved against the Hyuga. After an ambush exposed him, he fought a Mist squad and began cutting through its members.

• Yichen traveled to the Land of Whirlpools and cautiously scouted the fog-surrounded Mist Ninja Camp while hiding his Iwa identity.
• Yichen sensed a Mist squad that included an Ice Release user, then spent the next day searching unsuccessfully for the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.
• Yichen decided to risk scouting the Hyuga Camp, but a barrage of kunai struck as he withdrew and drew Mist ninja toward him.
• Yichen fled from the camp and encountered a squad led by a Jonin, then accelerated with the Lightning Release Stimulation Method and struck the Jonin with Sword Qi.
• Yichen killed one Genin and drove back the Jonin with another Sword Qi slash, then dispersed a second Genin's Water Style: Water Wave before it could form.

Yichen fought off Mist ninja and lured Munashi Jinpachi and Raiga Kurosuki into pursuing him near the Hyuga Camp. Surrounded by the two swordsmen, he used Earth Release techniques to escape Munashi Jinpachi’s explosive attack.

• Yichen killed a Mist Genin with Water Pressure Line and trapped the Jonin Captain in Genjutsu, causing the captain to die in his own explosion.
• Yichen left the area using the Light-Weight Rock Technique to reduce his tracks and draw out the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.
• After receiving reports of Yichen, Munashi Jinpachi and Raiga Kurosuki split up to try to intercept him while continuing their mission near the Hyuga Camp.
• Munashi Jinpachi spotted Yichen, but Yichen used Phoenix Fire Technique and the Lightning Release Stimulation Method to break through his interception.
• Raiga Kurosuki blocked Yichen with Lightning Blade, and Munashi Jinpachi followed with Exploding Sword Technique: Exploding Release: Heavy Death.
• Yichen raised a ring-shaped Earth Flow Wall and began using Earth Submergence to escape the explosion.

Yichen escaped Munashi Jinpachi and Raiga Kurosuki, then followed them while reflecting on his overreliance on Mind's Eye. He identified Falling Star Valley as a likely ambush site for the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, while Hiashi Hyuga unknowingly traveled into danger after a dying Branch Family ninja revealed his plans.

• Yichen escaped the bombardment by burrowing away, then used sensory ninjutsu to monitor Munashi Jinpachi and Raiga Kurosuki as they left.
• Yichen recognized that he had failed to account for a possible accomplice and resolved not to rely on Mind's Eye until he had mastered it.
• Yusuke Hyuga investigated the battlefield and found signs of Exploding Blade Shibuki and Lightning Blade Fang, but returned to camp after Hiashi Hyuga had departed.
• Hiashi Hyuga traveled to meet the Land of Whirlpools' leaders, seeking credit for expanding the Land of Fire and improving his chances of becoming Hokage.
• The chapter revealed that Kushimaru Kuriarare had learned Hiashi Hyuga's whereabouts from a dying Branch Family Jonin, prompting the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist to plan an ambush.
• Yichen followed Munashi Jinpachi and Raiga Kurosuki, inferred that they were heading for Falling Star Valley, and widened the distance between them.

Yichen watched from hiding as the Mist ambushed Hiashi Hyuga’s force in Falling Star Valley. Hiashi escaped with only a handful of his Hyuga ninja, while Suikazan Fuguki’s pursuit order exposed the Seven Ninja Swordsmen’s contempt for him.

• Yichen hid near Falling Star Valley while Suikazan Fuguki assigned the Mist ninja their positions.
• Hiashi Hyuga led his elite force into the valley despite Shin Hyuga’s warning about its terrain.
• A Hyuga scout triggered an alarm trap, and Hiashi’s force found Mist ninja blocking both exits and the slopes.
• Suikazan Fuguki and the other Mist ninja attacked, killing at least five Hyuga before Hiashi ordered a desperate charge.
• Hiashi and barely more than ten survivors broke through after Suikazan loosened the blockade.
• Suikazan ordered a pursuit, but his subordinates hesitated and the other Seven Ninja Swordsmen showed him contempt before following.

Shin Hyuga delayed the Mist ninja while Hiashi Hyuga’s group fled, but the pursuit left Hiashi exhausted and cost him both Byakugan. Yichen killed Hiashi, took the eyes, and left the Land of Whirlpools hoping Konoha and the Mist would not discover his involvement.

• Shin Hyuga led Kushimaru Kuriarare and the Mist ninja away from the valley, buying time for Hiashi Hyuga’s group to escape.
• Suikazan Fuguki led reinforcements after Hiashi, whose group was slowed by Raiga Kurosuki; Hiashi ordered the branch family members to hold off the pursuers while he fled.
• Eight Mist ninja caught up with Hiashi, who killed four before Ao seized his right Byakugan and withdrew with the two surviving pursuers.
• Yichen approached the exhausted Hiashi, took his remaining Byakugan, killed him, and sealed both eyes in a bottle.
• Yichen left Hiashi’s corpse along the path of Konoha Patrolling ninja and departed the Land of Whirlpools, seeking to conceal his role from Konoha and the Mist.

Uchiha Akira’s patrol discovered Hiashi Hyuga’s corpse near the Uchiha camp, and the missing Byakugan led the Uchiha and Danzo’s observer Bing to suspect enemy ninja instead. After securing the Byakugan, Yichen flew to the ruins of Uzushio Village to search for Shinigami Masks and drove off the rogue ninja there.

• Uchiha Akira and his patrol found Hiashi Hyuga’s corpse, and Shisui confirmed that the Byakugan had been taken.
• Shisui alerted Uchiha No, who arrived with Bing and sent Uchiha Akira’s team to inform the Hyuga Clan.
• The Hyuga Clan set aside its conflict with the Uchiha after learning Hiashi had died, while Suikazan Fuguki recovered the Byakugan from Ao and proposed giving it to him.
• Yichen flew to the former site of Uzushio Village to search for Shinigami Masks and other remnants of the Uzumaki Clan.
• Yichen unleashed a large Fire Style Jutsu to warn off the rogue ninja nearby, and several fled as he searched the area with Sensory Ninjutsu.

Yichen searched the ruins of Uzushio Village and caught a rogue ninja who had detected his sensory technique. After trading jutsu for the man’s scroll, Yichen offered to help his three-year-old son join Iwagakure and left with the scroll and a letter of introduction.

• Yichen sensed a rogue ninja fleeing from Uzushio Village and caught up with him before he could escape.
• Yichen tested the rogue ninja with a Great Fireball Jutsu, and the man revealed Jonin-level chakra before agreeing to negotiate.
• The rogue ninja traded the original scroll containing Counter-Sensory Ninjutsu and chakra-concealment techniques for Wind Release and Fire Style jutsu from Yichen.
• Yichen learned that the rogue ninja had a three-year-old son and offered him a letter of introduction to join Yichen’s village.
• After confirming the man had no grievances against any Great Ninja Village, Yichen finished recording the jutsu and left with the scroll.

Yichen studied the scroll he had taken from Ōiwa Takefumi, then searched for hidden Uzumaki ruins while the shinobi world reacted to the Hyuga Clan ambush. The Third Raikage’s assault on Danzo failed after Minato Namikaze intervened, and Danzo returned to Konoha to rebuild Root.

• Yichen discovered that the scroll’s Chakra-suppressing technique was useless to him, but it also contained a passive Counter-Sensory Ninjutsu he wanted to learn.
• Yichen reported that he was safe to Iwagakure, then searched the area around Uzushio Village for hidden sites and ruins.
• The Third Raikage led the Fourth Raikage and Killer B in a surprise attack on Danzo, but Minato Namikaze arrived and forced the Cloud ninja to withdraw.
• Danzo’s Root elites and loyal followers were nearly wiped out, and he returned to Konoha after the Cloud ninja retreated.
• Danzo sent Kō ahead to learn Hiruzen Sarutobi’s attitude toward Root.

Kō’s return let Hiruzen Sarutobi maneuver Danzo into accepting a deal that would weaken the Uchiha, while the Mist ninja remained at war with Konoha. Meanwhile, Yichen discovered an apparently unbreakable seal in Uzushio Village and returned to Iwagakure, where he learned he had missed the daimyō’s visit.

• Kō reported Hiruzen Sarutobi’s offer to fund Root’s reconstruction, and Danzo realized Hiruzen intended to remain Hokage.
• Danzo agreed to help Hiruzen suppress the Uchiha Clan in exchange for the first installment of Root’s funding.
• Konoha supplied the Uchiha frontline but repeatedly denied their requests for reinforcements, while the Mist ninja maintained their standoff.
• Yichen found an underground seal in Uzushio Village that he judged to be at least SS-rank and could not break.
• Yichen returned to Iwagakure and learned that he and Ikura had been appointed advisers and that the daimyō had wanted to meet him.
• Ikura told Yichen the daimyō’s envoy had already returned to the capital without him.

Yichen returned to Iwagakure with a Byakugan, and Ōnoki’s council planned its research and debated how to use it without breaking Iwagakure’s alliance with Konoha. After reviewing the Third Raikage’s failed ambush on Danzo, they decided to exploit the Uchiha Clan’s estrangement from Konoha and use secret dealings to conceal how Iwagakure acquired the eye.

• Ikura brought Yichen to Ōnoki, where Yichen presented a Byakugan and endured a scolding before Ikura helped turn the meeting to research plans.
• Ikura outlined research priorities for the Byakugan, and Ōnoki ordered Mei to arrange confidential research while the group postponed choosing a user until they could prevent the eye from being lost.
• Ōnoki gave Yichen intelligence about the Third Raikage’s failed ambush on Danzo, and Yichen recommended winning over the Uchiha to deepen their rift with Konoha.
• Ikura suggested offering the Uchiha the future position of Fourth Tsuchikage, while Saka proposed using spies to spread conflicting rumors among the other villages.
• Yichen proposed secret contact with the Mist ninja and the Uchiha so each would suspect the other had traded Iwagakure its Byakugan, obscuring the eye’s true origin.

Yichen and Iwagakure’s leaders discussed intelligence operations, a sealed base near Uzushio Village, and plans to host a Joint Chunin Exam. After the meeting, Yichen resumed overseeing village departments and learned that academy students were interning with Medical Ninja.

• Ōnoki assigned Saka to contact the Uchiha Clan and other villages, temporarily handing him Yichen’s Intelligence Department, while the leaders agreed to leave Uzushio Village’s sealed base alone.
• Yichen presented a scroll containing a ninjutsu that suppressed Chakra fluctuations, and Saka recognized its value for helping spies evade Sensory Barriers.
• Yichen proposed a Joint Chunin Exam to expand Iwagakure’s influence, and Ōnoki assigned Ikura to organize it while Yichen planned to visit the Daimyo and invite the Akatsuki Organization.
• Yichen realized he had misjudged Obito Uchiha’s timeline and resolved to monitor intelligence about him more carefully.
• Yichen checked the Medical Department and learned from Nakata Hajime that academy students with medical talent were interning alongside Medical Ninja.

Yichen reviewed the Medical Department’s expansion and helped Nakata Hajime find a way to speed up training, then considered ways to improve Han’s isolation and visited his disciples. The chapter ended with Ogura Saki proudly showing Yichen the Wind Tornado technique she had developed.

• Nakata Hajime told Yichen that the Medical Department had identified promising medical talents and laid out a staged plan to train battlefield medics.
• Yichen suggested using advanced apprentices to teach basic medical skills, and Nakata Hajime estimated the idea could shorten the second training stage by two years.
• Yichen promised to seek funding from Lord Tsuchikage and the Daimyo, then took Han for a walk and found him in better spirits.
• Yichen suggested that Han take disciples to help ease his loneliness, and Tajima agreed the bonds might benefit Han.
• Yichen visited the quiet Interrogation Department before heading to the Training Ground, where Ogura Saki demonstrated her newly developed Wind Tornado technique.

Yichen checked on his disciples’ progress after Ogura Saki developed Wind Style: Wind Tornado and helped her refine her technique. The chapter left Yichen reassuring Matsutani Shinya that he could keep his relaxed training routine, while Takuya continued working on his weaknesses.

• Ogura Saki told Yichen that her newly developed Wind Style: Wind Tornado had once gone out of control and nearly hurt Matsutani Shinya, so Yichen warned his disciples to take care when practicing Ninjutsu.
• Yichen advised Ogura Saki on her Wind Tornado and suggested she write down her Ninjutsu analysis method to exchange for a B-rank Ninjutsu from the village.
• Takuya passed his strength, endurance, and reaction-speed tests but still had insufficient Chakra Amount, had made no progress on Body Flicker, and struggled to fight while walking on water.
• Matsutani Shinya told Yichen that Ogura Saki’s achievement had motivated him to train harder because he feared falling behind his teammates.
• Yichen told Matsutani Shinya to continue following his own training method and assured him that he had already prepared a suitable path for his development.

Yichen escorted an official toward the capital with Ogura Saki, Takuya, and Matsutani Shinya, who surprised him by scouting a wide area through small animals. The group discovered seven powerful ninja nearby, and Yichen suspected they were targeting someone weaker than him.

• Yichen invited Ogura Saki, Takuya, and Matsutani Shinya to join him on an escort mission to the capital, and they set out the next day.
• Yichen gave Ogura Saki two B-rank Wind Release Ninjutsu scrolls while she studied them during the journey and Takuya trained with weighted gear.
• Matsutani Shinya used small animals to scout and reported several unfamiliar ninja two kilometers ahead to the left.
• Yichen sensed seven ninja, including three Jonin, and wondered whether they were rogue ninja or spies and who their target was.

Yichen used the enemy scouts to arrange a live combat exercise for Ogura Saki, Matsutani Shinya, and their third teammate, but discovered the rogue ninja were actually elite operatives from a Great Ninja Village. He fought to keep them from retreating and ended the chapter attacking a Chunin with Water Style: Water Pressure Line Jutsu.

• Yichen gained the employer's approval to use the hidden ninja as opponents for his disciples and led Ogura Saki, Matsutani Shinya, and their teammate toward the hideout.
• Matsutani Shinya used animals to scout and reported that one Jonin and three Chunin had left the hideout to patrol.
• Yichen attacked the four scouts with Great Raging Waves, then assigned one Chunin to his three disciples while he fought the others.
• Yichen killed one unusually skilled Chunin and realized the man had likely been an elite from a Great Ninja Village, then left an Earth Style Clone to watch his disciples.
• The remaining Jonin recognized Yichen as Iwagakure's Bloodline Ninja and ordered a retreat signal, but Yichen tried to stop the Chunin from sending it.
• Yichen dispersed his Porcelain Release mud and struck at the Chunin with Water Style: Water Pressure Line Jutsu after the Jonin warned him too late.

Yichen and his three disciples fought off two groups of enemy ninja, with Yichen using Porcelain Release and Banshō Ten'in to control the battles. After Takuya narrowly avoided an Exploding Tag attack with help from his teammates and Yichen, Yichen praised all three disciples.

• Yichen killed a Chunin and a Jonin before joining his disciples, while his Earth Style Clone killed another Chunin who tried to send a signal.
• Yichen led his group toward the remaining enemies and used Porcelain Mud to block their retreat and slow their escape.
• Yichen separated one Chunin from two Jonin with Banshō Ten'in, then defeated the Jonin while his disciples fought the Chunin.
• The Chunin lured Takuya into an attack and threatened to explode three Exploding Tags, but Takuya dodged aside as Yichen pulled the tags away and Ogura Saki and Matsutani Shinya helped deflect the blast.
• Yichen checked that Takuya was unharmed and praised him, Ogura Saki, and Matsutani Shinya for their performance.

After Yichen’s team survived a battle, he guided his disciples and continued to the capital, where he helped uncover the hunt for a giant summoning beast contract scroll. After securing the scroll and recruiting Kawakita to travel with him, Yichen set out for the Land of Rivers to visit the Akatsuki Organization.

• Yichen praised Ogura Saki, Matsutani Shinya, and Takuya for their performance in battle, then guided them as they discussed what they had learned.
• Ōnoki and his advisors reviewed Yichen’s intelligence and learned from the captured ninja’s corpses that a merchant caravan had likely obtained a giant summoning beast contract scroll.
• Ōnoki sent Anbu squads to assist Yichen, including his former disciple Kawakita, who now used the codename Ganryu.
• Yichen met with the daimyo, secured support for medical ninjutsu funding and the Chunin Exams, and received the summoning scroll through the daimyo’s help.
• Yichen handed the scroll to the Anbu, kept Kawakita with him, and headed to the Land of Rivers to visit the Akatsuki Organization.