Chapter Summaries

Neji discussed the coming political changes with Hiashi, who urged him to build a close relationship with Tsunade and saw him as a possible future Hokage. Neji reunited with Hinata and reflected on their shared past while considering the threats and plans that still lay ahead.

• Neji met Hiashi in the courtyard and discussed the political changes that might follow Tsunade’s decisions.
• Hiashi told Neji to strengthen his bond with Tsunade and promised the Hyuga Clan would support him.
• Neji wondered whether Hiashi hoped he would become Hokage, then left to find Hinata and Hanabi.
• Neji found Hinata training, and she fainted from embarrassment when she saw his recovered eyes.
• Neji cradled sleeping Hinata and recalled how he had protected and cared for her over the years.
• Hiashi sent out notices summoning a clan discussion while Neji contemplated future technology and the Otsutsuki threat.

Hanabi returned home and found Neji with Hinata, then panicked at the sight of his recovered eyes and burst into tears. After Neji comforted both sisters, he asked them to help with his tattoo research, and they agreed.

• Hanabi went to the training room to check on Hinata and found Neji giving her a lap pillow.
• Hanabi became flustered when she saw Neji's recovered eyes and cried, so Neji and Hinata comforted her.
• Neji apologized for surprising the sisters, and they teased him for breaking his promise to tell them when he recovered.
• Neji told Hinata and Hanabi about a tattoo he was researching and explained its three effects.
• Hinata and Hanabi agreed to help Neji with the tattoo research.

Neji researched a modified Caged Bird Seal for his planned puppets and gave Sasuke a mask that connected her to his D Organization, while she chose to train alone. Three days later, he inscribed Sealing Jutsu tattoos for Hinata and Hanabi, then completed his research half a month later.

• Neji asked Hinata and Hanabi to keep their tattoos secret from the clan and said he would prepare them within three days.
• Neji researched the Caged Bird Seal for use in puppets built around cloned Byakugan, while Shadow Clones handled his other work.
• Sasuke used Neji's pendant to reveal a mask, read its instructions and guidance, and decided not to contact him so she could focus on becoming stronger.
• Three days later, Neji gave Hinata a sunflower tattoo and Hanabi a fireworks tattoo, which inscribed Sealing Jutsu into their acupoints.
• Half a month later, Neji completed his research after traveling between the two locations.

Neji reviewed his research laboratories, assigning work on the star and advancing experiments in artificial bodies, hardware, bloodlines, and ninjutsu. With roughly two and a half years to prepare for Pain and the goal of creating the Tenseigan, he decided to strengthen Rock Lee and Tenten with new techniques and technology.

• Neji confirmed that the star had been secured, recognized the Ten-Tails' Chakra inside it, and ordered Izumi to study it alongside Shikotsumyaku cells.
• Neji inspected Laboratory Number Three's cultivated puppet components and noted that Ukon's bloodline could help combine them, while First Generation Cells still resisted fusion.
• Neji began assembling precision hardware in Laboratory Number Four and estimated that phones and satellites could be ready within two years.
• Neji assigned Shadow Clones to research bloodline limits, medical ninjutsu, ninjutsu, and sealing techniques as he toured the laboratories.
• Neji calculated that he needed to reach level fifty and create the Tenseigan before Pain's attack, then planned Taijutsu training for Rock Lee and a technology-based upgrade for Tenten.

Neji showed Tenten two experimental pistols that absorbed impacts and slashing attacks, then released the stored force as powerful shots. Tenten eagerly tried the guns and learned their limits and how to use them.

• Neji presented Tenten with two pistols he had developed using research on the Slash Shell and Impact Dial.
• Neji fired a shot through a tree, convincing Tenten that the guns were far more powerful than ordinary firearms.
• Tenten tested the pistol and accurately shot several trees before Neji stopped her.
• Neji explained that the guns stored impacts and slashes, released the absorbed force as attacks, and could not absorb ninjutsu.
• Neji demonstrated the guns' defense by having Tenten block a punch, then explained their limit and that she had to fire to release stored force.

Neji gave Tenten twin guns and taught her their techniques, helping her see how they could transform her fighting style. The chapter ended with Tenten beginning to practice while Neji watched and prepared to spar with her.

• Tenten embraced Neji and promised to bring out the full potential of the guns he had made for her.
• Neji described plans to develop stronger weapons with Chakra-based effects and decided to keep the guns from the Hyuga Clan for now.
• Neji demonstrated Wild Barrage, using the guns to fire accurately while spinning through the air.
• Neji showed Tenten how to attack with minimal movement, adjust the guns' power, recharge them discreetly, and switch between shooting and slashing modes.
• Neji handed the guns back to Tenten and watched her practice before their planned spar.

Tenten tested Neji’s twin guns, identified problems with using them, and gave him suggestions for improving them. Neji later introduced Laboratory Number Three’s newly cultivated autonomous puppets to his group, and their first battle began in the Land of Waves training ground.

• Tenten told Neji the guns were useful but interfered with her movement and hand seals, so he proposed engraving them with Summoning Arrays to address her concerns.
• Neji took Tenten’s guns for modification, then fought her in the forest before the two returned to Konoha.
• Neji left a Shadow Clone to handle the guns and traveled to the Land of Waves, where Izumi told him the preparations were complete.
• Neji revealed ten numbered puppets from Laboratory Number Three, and Kimimaro warned the others that they possessed his Bloodline Limit.
• The puppets attacked Zabuza, Haku, Karin, and Kimimaro; after Kimimaro judged their strength comparable to Chunin-level shuriken, Zabuza and Karin counterattacked.

Neji tested his new bone puppets against Zabuza, Haku, Kimimaro, and Karin, then assigned the group a mission to plant Signal Tower trees around dangerous locations in the ninja world. Zabuza, Haku, and Kimimaro set out while Karin continued training, and Neji and Izumi discussed their plans and her unresolved feelings about Itachi.

• Zabuza, Karin, Haku, and Kimimaro fought Neji's bone puppets, with Karin struggling while the others defeated or restrained their opponents.
• Neji stopped the test, reassured Karin, and promised to teach her Sealing Jutsu after she finished learning Sealing Runes.
• Zabuza and Haku assessed the puppets as limited and rigid, while Neji assigned the puppets to serve as subordinates and manage the base.
• Neji gave the group a map and ordered them to plant Signal Tower trees at marked locations, avoid village ninja, and destroy any tree that was discovered.
• Zabuza, Haku, and Kimimaro split into teams and departed, while Karin stayed behind to study.
• Neji and Izumi discussed spreading the trees across the ninja world, and Izumi said Neji could ask Itachi for the answer she once sought.

Tsunade pushed Sakura through Monster Strength training before testing Neji in a brutal sparring match. Neji survived her attacks and prepared to stop holding back as the fight continued.

• Tsunade drove Sakura through dangerous training to teach her to release Monster Strength with precision.
• Shizune told Neji that Tsunade was channeling her frustration at his quick progress into Sakura's training.
• Tsunade carried the exhausted Sakura away and challenged Neji to spar without using Gentle Fist.
• Neji used Backstep to evade Tsunade's attack, but she shattered the ground and blasted him into a mountainside.
• Neji emerged from the rubble injured, then removed his clothes and told Tsunade he would stop holding back.

Neji sparred with Tsunade, demonstrating his precise control and formidable physical strength, then was summoned to Root to meet Danzo. Danzo suspected Neji had helped drive Tsunade’s political reforms and concluded that the increasingly influential boy was a threat who must be eliminated.

• Neji and Tsunade clashed in a destructive taijutsu spar, and Tsunade recognized his strength and Monster Strength technique.
• Tsunade ended the spar and sent Neji away so she could teach Sakura.
• Root members surrounded Neji near the residential district and escorted him underground to meet Danzo.
• Danzo confronted Neji about helping Tsunade and Shikamaru design Konoha’s new power structure, and Neji did not deny it.
• Danzo reviewed Neji’s history and influence, deciding that Neji had become a dangerous threat who could not be allowed to live.

After Danzo questioned Neji about his laboratory, Neji reasoned that Danzo might target him, the Hyuga Clan, and Tsunade’s authority. He decided to strike first against Danzo, but the chapter ended with someone calling out to him as he left Ichiraku Ramen Shop.

• Danzo sent Neji away and ordered Root to investigate Neji’s past and laboratory, while warning that the Hyuga Clan might need to be punished.
• Neji went to Ichiraku Ramen Shop and ordered a hundred bowls of ramen while thinking about Little Tuan Tuan’s motives and Danzo’s questions.
• Neji suspected Danzo might use accusations against him to weaken the Hyuga Clan and pressure Tsunade, especially after her redistribution of authority and personnel.
• Neji decided he could not let Little Tuan Tuan cause trouble and would have to act against him first.
• Neji finished the ramen, paid Teuchi, and left the shop, but someone called out to him.

Neji met with Shikaku and discussed the trouble caused by Danzo and the danger he posed to Tsunade’s reforms. The chapter ended with Shikaku asking Neji how he would treat a tree whose roots had rotted.

• Shikamaru brought Neji to his home to speak with Shikaku.
• Neji and Shikaku played shogi, and Shikaku recognized Neji’s skill and judgment.
• Shikaku warned Neji that Tsunade’s reforms were progressing too quickly and unsettling some people.
• Neji argued that stubborn problems had to be cut away, and Shikaku realized Neji had encountered Danzo.
• Neji described Danzo’s roots as rotten and said they were stealing nutrients from the new leaves.
• Shikaku asked Neji, as a Medical Ninja, how he would treat the tree.

Neji coordinated with Shikaku and Tsunade on a plan to weaken Danzo’s influence, then headed to the Hyuga Clan to involve Hiashi. Tsunade agreed to support the plan while warning that Neji should stay safe.

• Neji left the Nara clan home after discussing plans with Shikaku, then forced Shikamaru into a miserable training session.
• Neji visited his Laboratory, activated prepared countermeasures, and was summoned to the Hokage Building by an Anbu messenger.
• Tsunade asked Neji about Danzo’s visit and agreed that they should dismantle Danzo’s influence from within, with Kakashi as a possible ally.
• Neji left to coordinate with Hiashi, while Tsunade and Shizune suspected he planned to set a trap for Danzo and ordered precautions to protect him.
• A system announced that Neji completed the Neon District check-in mission and received full talent fusion with Yasuo the Swift Blade.

Neji and Hiashi agreed to help expose Danzo, while Neji planted a glimpse of a pair of Three Tomoe Sharingan to draw Danzo’s attention. At the Hokage Office, Tsunade used endless paperwork and pointed questions to keep Danzo from leaving, then suggested he retire, but he refused.

• Neji told Hiashi about Danzo and outlined his plan, and Hiashi agreed to help despite the risks.
• Neji carried a sealed jar into the Laboratory, letting a Root ninja glimpse the Three Tomoe Sharingan inside.
• The Root ninja reported the eyes to Danzo, who wondered whether Neji had shown them deliberately.
• Tsunade repeatedly vetoed Danzo’s proposals and tried to make him stay to handle a mountain of documents.
• When Danzo claimed he was unwell, Tsunade offered to examine him, and Might Guy appeared to support him.
• Tsunade suggested Danzo retire, but he insisted he still had the energy to continue working.

Danzo sent Root to investigate Neji’s laboratory and discovered the missing Sharingan from the Uchiha massacre, then had Neji arrested without Tsunade’s approval. Tsunade challenged Danzo’s authority as Hiashi arrived, and both sides waited to learn who would take custody of Neji.

• Angered by Homura and Koharu’s suspicions, Danzo ordered Root to verify whether the item in Neji Hyuga’s laboratory was real.
• Root members entered the laboratory and confirmed that its basement contained the missing Three Tomoe Sharingan.
• Danzo decided to use the Sharingan discovery to damage Tsunade and demand an explanation from the Hyuga Clan.
• The next morning, Anbu took Neji away despite Hiashi’s objection, and Hiashi hurried to the Hokage Building while Hanabi worried about her brother.
• Tsunade confronted Danzo for arresting Neji without her orders, and Hiashi joined them as they waited to see who would take custody of Neji.

Hiashi rescued Neji from Root after a Root shinobi tried to kill him, and Tsunade confronted Danzo over the incident. Danzo accused Neji of hiding stolen Sharingan, but Neji’s surveillance equipment had been destroyed when they went to check it.

• Hiashi arrived as Root tried to kill Neji and subdued the Root members, while an Anbu captain reported that Hiashi’s strike had killed the Root captain.
• At the Hokage Building, Hiashi and Tsunade demanded answers, and Danzo claimed Neji had stolen Sharingan and hidden them in his Laboratory.
• Neji denied the accusation, but jars in his basement contained Sharingan that Danzo said had been planted there by Root.
• Neji proposed checking his surveillance recordings, and Tsunade and Hiashi agreed to inspect them.
• Neji led everyone upstairs, where they found the surveillance equipment destroyed and Danzo smiled.

Neji used footage from the damaged monitor to prove that Root had replaced fake eyes with real Sharingan, then exposed Danzo’s Sharingan-covered arm. Tsunade stripped Danzo of his advisor position and ordered his arrest and Root’s disbandment, leaving Danzo to decide whether to resist.

• Neji explained that the monitor had been destroyed only hours earlier, then recovered its stored footage and showed Root agents swapping the eyes in the jar for real Sharingan.
• Tsunade and Hiashi confronted Danzo, who denied responsibility, apologized to Neji, and tried to leave.
• Neji grabbed Danzo’s sleeve, slipped, and tore away the bandages covering his arm.
• Tsunade ordered Danzo’s clothes opened, revealing an arm covered in Sharingan and pale skin, and Danzo claimed he had done it for Konoha.
• Tsunade removed Danzo as advisor and ordered his arrest and Root’s disbandment; Danzo warned her not to force him as she condemned his use of her grandfather’s cells.

Tsunade confronted Danzo over his Sharingan arm and his attempt to frame Neji, while Danzo defended his actions as being for Konoha. The two advisors arrived to intervene, and Neji mocked Danzo as the confrontation continued.

• Tsunade ordered the Anbu to arrest Danzo, who escaped through a window before she blocked his path by smashing through a wall.
• Danzo claimed he had acted to protect Konoha and argued that Neji would become a threat like Orochimaru and Uchiha Itachi.
• Hiashi challenged Danzo's claim that Neji should be eliminated based on a prediction, while Tsunade demanded Danzo surrender.
• Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu arrived with Root members and questioned Tsunade's attempt to remove Danzo from his position.
• After seeing Danzo's Sharingan-covered arm, the advisors demanded an explanation, and Neji mocked Danzo by wondering whether his other arm held Byakugan.

Tsunade ordered Danzo’s arrest after the advisors agreed to disband Root, then nearly resigned as Hokage before Neji and the others persuaded her to stay. Danzo was imprisoned with little further punishment, and from his cell he secretly set a plan in motion.

• Tsunade condemned the advisors for protecting Danzo and threatened to resign, prompting them to strip him of his advisor position, disband Root, and order his arrest.
• Danzo ordered Root to surrender, and the Anbu took him and the Root members into custody.
• Tsunade announced she was no longer Hokage, but Neji, Shizune, Hiashi, Kakashi, and the advisors persuaded her to remain.
• Tsunade ordered Danzo sent to Konoha Prison and told him to have Root cease resisting; Root headquarters was destroyed, and most Root members joined the Anbu.
• Because Danzo surrendered and the evidence was destroyed, he received no further punishment beyond imprisonment.
• From his cell, Danzo insisted he had been right and ordered a hidden figure to set something in motion.

Neji completed the Tenseigan transformation in his underground Konoha laboratory, reaching level 50 and undergoing a powerful awakening that changed his body and hair. After the disturbance subsided, he opened his new eyes and told Izumi he felt good.

• Over two years, Neji advanced his training and projects, completing research into the Shikotsumyaku and beginning to activate the First Hokage's Wood Release bloodline.
• Neji watched the Byakugan he had cultivated transform into a Tenseigan, and the experience from the process brought him to level 50.
• Neji's Awakening activated, causing surges of wind and lightning as his Nen, Chakra, body, and bloodline changed.
• Izumi watched the sealed laboratory contain the disturbance as Neji's hair turned white and he sensed Nature Energy.
• When the transformation ended, Neji opened his Tenseigan and reassured Izumi that he felt good.