Chapter Summaries

The Land of Water Feudal Lord began cutting Kirigakure’s funding, while the Land of Fire Feudal Lord considered following suit as Konoha grew stronger. In Konoha, Sasuke brought Naruto home, where his family’s unusual attention to their guest left Sasuke feeling jealous.

• The Land of Water Feudal Lord decided to weaken Kirigakure by reducing its funding after the Tailed Beasts were captured.
• The Land of Fire Feudal Lord considered reducing Konoha’s funding but worried that Konoha might rebel.
• Itachi sparred with Shisui and noticed that Shisui’s strength and demeanor had changed.
• Sasuke brought Naruto to the Uchiha clan compound and introduced him to Itachi, Uchiha Fugaku, and Uchiha Mikoto.
• Uchiha Mikoto, Uchiha Fugaku, and Itachi treated Naruto with unusual warmth at dinner, making Sasuke feel like the least important member of his family.

Naruto learned that Sasuke’s family had been close to his late mother, while Hinata considered signs that the Shinobi World was nearing a major upheaval. In the Land of Fire, Keita Otake defended his village from bandits and set out to eliminate the rest of their gang.

• Mikoto told Sasuke that she and Naruto’s mother had been good friends and that the boys could have become brothers.
• Hinata read a report that the Land of Water’s daimyo had forcefully cut Kirigakure’s funding and discussed shinobi with Mami Mizuta on their way home.
• Bandits raided Keita Otake’s village, but Keita killed them before they could harm the villagers.
• Keita buried the bandits’ corpses, reflected on his teacher’s warning that conflict was unavoidable, and went to find the bandits’ hideout.

As snow fell in Hidden Leaf Village, the Shinobi World was shaken when the Feudal Lord of the Land of Water attacked Kirigakure, prompting the village to prepare for a wider conflict. Hidden Leaf Village’s leaders judged that they could crush their own feudal lord if he acted against them, but they could not strike first without appearing to rebel.

• Hinata watched the snowfall as Might Guy and Lee trained outside, while Naruto shared ramen with Shisui and asked whether war might reach Hidden Leaf Village.
• The Feudal Lord of the Land of Water sent attackers to steal Demon Weapons and research materials from Kirigakure, and Mei Terumi learned he was behind the raid.
• Mei Terumi sent Kirigakure elites to kill the feudal lord, but they disappeared, and rogue ninjas hired by him attacked Kirigakure in broad daylight.
• The other great nations’ feudal lords watched the conflict, while Hidden Leaf Village urgently called a meeting about the danger.
• Hidden Leaf Village’s clan heads agreed they would destroy the Feudal Lord of the Land of Fire if he moved against them, though they hesitated to attack first and were eager for the chance to fight.

As Kirigakure struggled with dwindling supplies and the daimyo prepared a final assault, Kusaka Naoto secretly broke into the underground vault to reclaim his Demon Weapon. He took the blackening blade, whose growing power he hoped to use for his own ambitions.

• Kirigakure repelled the rebel ninjas’ first attack, but Mei Terumi remained unable to locate the stolen Demon Weapons or the missing scouts.
• Kirigakure’s supplies dwindled as the daimyo’s control of trade and the rebel encirclement made buying provisions increasingly difficult.
• The daimyo prepared a final assault, concerned that the unstable Demon Weapons were nearing collapse.
• Kusaka Naoto, who had gained power through a strange mark and joined the leader’s organization, grew ambitious after wielding a Demon Weapon.
• Kusaka Naoto slipped into the sealed vault, used his water-like ability to break the seal, and took his nearly black blade.

Kusaka Naoto destroyed the other Demon Weapons and left the underground base, unaware that black liquid and spreading cold were emerging from them. In the capital, he attacked the Castle Tower, killed its guards and soldiers, and prepared to face the ninjas who appeared on a rooftop.

• Kusaka Naoto cut the other Demon Weapons in half, then left the underground base while black liquid seeped from their wounds and frost spread through the chamber.
• A person in the base sensed the dangerous cold, found a hidden passage, and tried to escape to the surface.
• Kusaka Naoto headed for the Castle Tower, where a samurai confronted him and a hidden attacker tried to ambush him; Kusaka Naoto killed them both.
• Kusaka Naoto killed soldiers who spotted him on the city wall and decided to slaughter his way to the daimyo instead of secretly assassinating him.
• Several ninjas appeared on a rooftop, but Kusaka Naoto saw that they were too frightened to fight him.

Kusaka Naoto’s sword shattered, awakening the demon within and leaving the Castle Tower in danger. As a black cat escaped through a cracked air barrier, the story left its identity and destination unknown.

• Kusaka Naoto’s sword broke apart, and a ninja killed him with a kunai while he knelt over the fragments.
• The daimyo’s guards recognized Kusaka Naoto’s weapon, fled the Castle Tower, and realized the demon inside it might awaken and endanger the city.
• Soldiers washed the blood from the Castle Tower grounds as the temperature dropped and a shadow flashed past them.
• Black Cat raced across the rooftops, struck an invisible barrier, and broke through it after the air rippled and cracked.

A demon escaped the Castle Tower and raced toward Kirigakure, prompting Che Fengzi to follow it after realizing its target might be a rogue ninja. As dawn approached, she continued toward Kirigakure to intervene if the demon’s marked target was outside the village.

• Two Kirigakure ninja watched the demon escape the Castle Tower barrier, sent a warning to Kirigakure, and went into hiding.
• Che Fengzi sensed the demon approaching her island village and set up a barrier to protect its residents.
• The Black Cat raced past the village without attacking and continued toward Kirigakure.
• Che Fengzi suspected the demon might be pursuing one of the rogue ninja near Kirigakure and hurried after it.
• As dawn neared, Che Fengzi moved ahead of the Black Cat to wait near Kirigakure.

The Black Cat entered Kirigakure as Che Fengzi watched from outside, while the destruction of the underground base beneath the capital unleashed Puppet Corpses on the daimyo's people. Che Fengzi later found ruined relics on the deep-sea floor.

• The Black Cat slipped through Kirigakure's barrier and vanished into the village as nearby rogue ninjas considered abandoning their posts.
• Che Fengzi decided to return home, noticed a frightened ninja connected to the daimyo, and left the matter alone.
• Workers clearing the collapsed passage beneath the capital were killed when dozens of Puppet Corpses attacked them.
• A ninja entered the underground base, found the Demon Weapons severed, and was beheaded by a farmer holding a sickle.
• Che Fengzi discovered ruined relics on the ocean floor and wondered what she had found.

Che Fengzi found a strange object in underwater ruins, while Nagato tracked down and sealed several escaped ghosts tied to the Demon Weapons. Kirigakure learned that the remaining weapons might be failing and identified a fast-moving Black Shadow approaching as the two-headed Black Cat.

• Che Fengzi discovered ruins on the seafloor, found a strange object among the rubble, and brought it back to the village.
• Nagato fought the farmer ghost, sealed it, then found and sealed two more ghosts in the underground base.
• Nagato failed to locate the last ghost, sealed the trapped Puppet Corpses, and collapsed the entrances before leaving.
• Two Kirigakure ninja encountered the missing ghost and reported that the Demon Weapons might be reaching the end of their lives.
• Kirigakure received word of a Black Shadow racing toward the island and concluded it was probably the two-headed Black Cat, whose halves had been made into two Demon Weapons.

Two Kirigakure ninja entered the chaotic Castle Tower and pursued the Land of Water daimyo through a secret passage. They killed him with a poisoned kunai, and one of his guards later crawled into the passage to loot the abandoned Castle Tower.

• Two Kirigakure ninja returned to the Castle Tower and found nobles and soldiers fleeing Puppet Corpses as the gates remained blocked.
• The ninja discovered the daimyo had escaped through a secret passage and followed him outside the city.
• They used the Hidden Mist Technique to approach the daimyo and one of them slit his throat with a poisoned kunai.
• The daimyo's guards found him dead and searched for the assassin, who had already escaped.
• A greedy ninja entered the open passage, hoping to return to the Castle Tower and steal valuables.

Kirigakure killed the Feudal Lord of the Land of Water, seized one of his descendants, and crushed the rogue ninja surrounding the village. Alarmed by the news, the Feudal Lord of the Land of Fire sought advice from Jiriku and sent letters to the other great nations, while considering a costly plan to protect himself.

• Two Kirigakure ninja returned to the Castle Tower to retrieve the Feudal Lord's descendant, then found wooden stakes blocking its gates and reinforced them with Earth Release.
• Kirigakure dispatched nearly all its ninja to attack the rogue ninja outside the village and pursued the fleeing survivors, leaving very few alive.
• Mei Terumi made no attempt to hide that Kirigakure had taken a descendant of the Feudal Lord, and spies reported the deaths in the Castle Tower to the Great Shinobi Villages.
• The Feudal Lords of the great nations learned that the Feudal Lord of the Land of Water and his line had been killed, leaving one boy, and feared their own Shinobi Villages might follow suit.
• The Feudal Lord of the Land of Fire met Jiriku at the Temple of Fire, then sent letters to the other three great nations to urge them to unite against the Great Shinobi Villages.

Hinata developed a safer third-generation Mutation Potion and used it to transform three more Hidden Leaf Anbu ninja. As the transformed ninja kept their abilities secret, Itachi grew puzzled by Shisui’s changes.

• Hinata learned from Nagato that the Land of Water’s daimyo had been assassinated, while Nagato controlled events there and Minato had secretly encouraged the daimyo to oppose Kirigakure.
• Hinata completed the third-generation Mutation Potion, which was more stable and required less protection during injections.
• Hinata decided to continue researching the potion herself rather than entrust it to Orochimaru, and she monitored the first two batches for personality changes.
• Hinata injected three Hidden Leaf Anbu ninja with the third-generation potion, and they changed their life forms more easily than earlier subjects had.
• The newly transformed ninja, Shisui, and the others avoided interacting with one another to protect the village’s secret, leaving Itachi increasingly puzzled by Shisui.

Keita Otake refused the villagers’ urging to become a samurai after suspecting the daimyo’s recruitment drive meant war was approaching. At the shrine, he replaced the villagers’ crude statue of his teacher Red Kite with a lifelike carving and began confiding his troubles to it.

• Two samurai visited the village and announced that the daimyo was recruiting people with skills to become samurai.
• The villagers urged Keita Otake to enlist, but he suspected the recruitment was connected to an impending war and refused to leave the village.
• Keita Otake reassured the villagers that he would stay, and the village chief also failed to persuade him to become a samurai.
• Keita Otake went to the shrine, smashed the ugly statue of Red Kite, and carved a lifelike replacement.
• Keita Otake began visiting the new statue to tell his teacher about whatever troubled him.

Hinata learned that the Land of Fire’s Feudal Lord was recruiting soldiers and suspected they were meant to oppose the Hidden Leaf Village. As other feudal lords recruited across their own and smaller nations, the Shinobi Villages investigated their rulers and prepared to target them if war began.

• Hinata heard Keita Otake’s voice through the faith held in a statue of her and learned that the Feudal Lord of the Land of Fire was recruiting soldiers.
• A ninja traveled by ship from the Land of Earth toward the Land of Snow on a mission ordered by the Feudal Lord of the Land of Earth.
• The feudal lords of the other major nations began recruiting soldiers, and the Shinobi Villages suspected that the recruits would be used against them.
• The major nations extended recruitment into smaller countries, prompting those countries to recruit their own people while some potential fighters left for the major nations.
• The Shinobi Villages’ intelligence networks investigated the rulers in their countries, and the Shadows received reports identifying those rulers as potential assassination targets if war began.

Sasuke completed the main development of his Lightning Release: Kirin and told Uchiha Fugaku that he planned to challenge Neji. Fugaku warned him about the unknown abilities of the Hyuga’s evolved eyes, but Sasuke remained determined to fight.

• Sasuke used his own method to draw lightning from the heavens and named his new technique Lightning Release: Kirin.
• Sasuke returned home, where Uchiha Mikoto told him to wash off the mud from his training.
• Uchiha Fugaku asked Sasuke whether he had finished developing his ninjutsu and learned that Sasuke intended to challenge Neji.
• Uchiha Fugaku warned Sasuke that the Uchiha knew more about Mangekyō Sharingan abilities than they knew about the Tenseigan or Jōgan.
• Sasuke insisted that he would not lose, and Uchiha Fugaku praised his fighting spirit.

After completing Lightning Release: Kirin, Sasuke prepared to challenge Neji and also invited Naruto to join the fight. Hinata moved the duel to the Chunin examination arena so the village could watch, leaving Sasuke, Naruto, and Neji ready to compete before the gathered crowd.

• Sasuke completed his development of Lightning Release: Kirin and sent Neji a challenge to spar outside the village.
• Neji accepted Sasuke's challenge after receiving the note from Hiashi.
• Sasuke also challenged Naruto, planning to turn the match into a three-way fight.
• Hinata changed the duel's location to the Chunin examination arena and arranged for the village shinobi and civilians to attend.
• Jiraiya explained that the event would relieve the village's tense mood and showcase its younger generation, and Sasuke, Naruto, and Neji vowed not to lose.

Hinata paired Naruto and Sasuke together before a ghost attacked the students, forcing them to flee from the crawling corpses in the classroom. The group escaped the room, and Hinata took a shortcut by smashing through a window and heading for the field.

• Hinata told Naruto to team up with Sasuke, and after they protested, she declared the pairing settled.
• The ghost breached the upperclassmen's barrier, and many students disappeared as the survivors gathered around Neji for help spotting its attacks.
• Rotten arms emerged throughout the classroom and began dragging students underground, while Hinata sealed Kiba Inuzuka and his dog's sense of smell to protect them from the stench.
• Sasuke used Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique to clear a path to the classroom door, and the students ran out.
• Hinata smashed through a window and ran toward the field while the others took the corridor to the main entrance.

The narrator took leave for the first time and said they would try to make it up tomorrow. They also vowed to expose America over its slander of Xinjiang.

• The narrator said this was their first time taking leave.
• The narrator said they would see whether they could make it up tomorrow.
• The narrator vowed to tear away America's fig leaf over its slander of Xinjiang.

Neji, Sasuke, and Naruto continued their battle, revealing powerful defenses and abilities as the spectators watched from behind a barrier. Naruto's Tailed Beast Bomb devastated the training ground, and the chapter ended with the fighters' condition obscured by the aftermath.

• Neji's Spear of the Earth shattered stone pillars, damaged Sasuke's Susanoo, and destroyed more than a hundred of Naruto's shadow clones.
• Sasuke questioned Neji about the technique, and Neji said Hokage-sama had taught it to him along with two or three other powerful techniques.
• Naruto attacked Neji with a Great Ball Rasengan, while Sasuke tried to trap Neji in Mangekyō Sharingan genjutsu, but Neji's Jōgan thwarted it.
• Neji discovered that the barrier around the spectators used spatial manipulation after Naruto's Rasengan struck it without breaking through.
• Naruto formed and launched a Tailed Beast Bomb, while Sasuke used Susanoo and Neji used Rotation to defend themselves.
• The barrier contained the explosion, and the blast obliterated the dust and sank the training ground more than ten meters, leaving the spectators unable to see the fighters until the shock waves passed.

Neji unleashed his Sage Art: Fire Release: Meteor Shower against Naruto and Sasuke’s gigantic forms. The attack left the training ground covered in lava, with the battle’s outcome still undecided.

• Sasuke manifested his Perfect Susanoo, while Naruto transformed alongside Kurama into a golden Nine-Tails.
• Neji formed hand seals and used Sage Art: Earth Release: Spear of the Earth to raise stone pillars, lifting Kurama into the air.
• Neji continued forming seals behind a spatial barrier as Sasuke and Naruto watched, and Sasuke prepared to interrupt him.
• Neji unleashed Sage Art: Fire Release: Meteor Shower, sending thousands of enormous fireballs into the sky.
• Sasuke sliced the fireballs aimed at his Susanoo, while Kurama shielded Naruto with stone pillars as the falling fireballs exploded.
• The fireballs engulfed the arena in heat and left the ground covered in lava.