Chapter Summaries

Umino Sasuke launched Operation Net Cleanse to root out Hidden Sand spies and corruption at the Land of Rivers front, while strengthening his forces with new weapons and training methods. After purging the Mitokado Clan’s smuggling network, he secretly supplied the Sabaku Clan with Explosive Tags, leaving Ebizo eager to use them against the White Blood Demon.

• Umino Sasuke sealed Son Goku’s Four-Tails chakra in Laboratory No. 0 and left Kakuzu ten doses of Life Star No. 1 to cultivate Chunin-level fighters.
• Umino Sasuke tested the upgraded Mecha Puppets, then learned from Umino Kozue that Kagero Village’s technology had greatly improved their Explosive Tag imprints.
• Nara Shikaku reported missing supplies at the Shinano River transfer station, so Umino Sasuke ordered Yamashiro Ryūba and Morino Ibiki to investigate under the codename Net Cleanse.
• Umino Sasuke used Sound Release to expose Hidden Sand spies, and the investigation uncovered the Mitokado Clan’s smuggling; Torifu Akimichi purged the clan’s remaining forces from the front.
• Umino Sasuke disguised himself as a Mitokado smuggling convoy and sold Explosive Tags to the Sabaku Clan, whose convoy delivered them to Hidden Sand.
• Ebizo inspected the Explosive Tags and vowed to use them against the White Blood Demon and his unit.

Ebizo armed Hidden Sand’s army with premium Explosive Tags and launched a desperate assault on Konoha’s defenses. Torifu Akimichi and Umino Sasuke prepared Konoha’s forces to hold their positions, unaware that the tags carried a danger to Sand as well as Konoha.

• Ebizo ordered the Hidden Sand clans to distribute the seized Explosive Tags to every ninja, threatening anyone who withheld them.
• Sand’s ordinary Chunin and Genin received high-grade Explosive Tags and rallied behind Ebizo, whose orders fueled their confidence and gratitude.
• Ebizo led the full Hidden Sand army in an all-out attack on Konoha’s defenses.
• Torifu Akimichi questioned why Ebizo had launched a desperate assault, while Umino Sasuke urged Konoha to hold its numerical advantage and defend the front.
• Torifu ordered Konoha’s units to rely on their fortifications, prepare covering fire, and engage the advancing Sand forces.

Umino Sasuke turned Hidden Sand’s high-quality Explosive Tags against them, destroying most of Ebizo’s army and driving the survivors into a desperate retreat. Konoha pursued the remnants deep into the Land of Wind, where the harsh desert threatened to hinder the chase.

• Hidden Sand used Puppets rigged with Explosive Tags to blast breaches in Konoha’s defenses, and Ebizo ordered his army to charge.
• Umino Sasuke remotely detonated the counterfeit Explosive Tags distributed by Hidden Sand, killing more than a thousand ninja and leaving fewer than one in ten alive.
• Ebizo accused the Sabaku Jonin beside him of treachery and killed him, then realized the White Blood Demon was responsible and fled toward the Land of Wind.
• Umino Sasuke ordered Konoha’s forces to pursue, and the Leaf ninja hunted the scattered Hidden Sand survivors across the Land of Rivers and into the Land of Wind.
• Torifu Akimichi praised the young ninja in the Frontline Mobile Support Force and reconsidered Konoha’s approach to nurturing talent.
• Umino Sasuke led the pursuit deeper into the desert as the heat, wind, and sand made the chase increasingly difficult.

Ebizo fled through the desert while Umino Sasuke's forces hunted down the Hidden Sand survivors. Sasuke cornered Ebizo alone, and the two prepared to clash with their respective sets of ten Puppets.

• Ebizo ordered his guards to scatter, then used sand and wind techniques to cover their escape and tried to delay Umino Sasuke's pursuit.
• Umino Sasuke divided his forces to pursue the fleeing Sand ninjas while he, Uchiha Shun, and Might Duy chased Ebizo.
• Ebizo used the desert terrain and Wind Release to evade pursuit, but Umino Sasuke tracked him with the Soul Transformation Technique and moved ahead to intercept him.
• Umino Sasuke struck Ebizo with Water Release: Water Severing Wave, but Ebizo sacrificed a Puppet to survive and then summoned the Ten Puppets of Chikamatsu.
• Umino Sasuke answered by unsealing ten enormous Mecha Puppets equipped with Chakra Energy-Storage Engines, Chakra Cannons, and metallic wings, startling Ebizo.

Umino Sasuke overwhelmed Ebizo with his flying mecha puppets and powerful attacks, but Monk Bunpuku arrived and struck back with a devastating chakra air cannon. Ebizo survived with his legs severed, while Umino Sasuke took cover behind the damaged puppets as the chapter ended amid smoke and dust.

• Ebizo attacked Umino Sasuke with the Ten Puppets of Chikamatsu, but the mecha puppets blocked his wind-and-fire assault and shattered his Adamantine Shield Seal.
• Umino Sasuke cut Ebizo’s chakra strings, trapped two Chikamatsu puppets with sticky candy spheres, and sent the flying mecha puppets after him.
• Umino Sasuke resisted Ebizo’s poison and smashed a Chikamatsu puppet with chakra-enhanced strength, then sensed Monk Bunpuku approaching with Lapis Lazuli and Sandstorm Gale.
• Umino Sasuke’s chakra cannons battered Ebizo, and his Water Severing Wave cut off Ebizo’s legs before Ebizo used his puppets to support his torso.
• Monk Bunpuku attacked with Wind Release: Air Bullet, breaking through the mecha puppets’ chakra shields and striking one of them as Umino Sasuke sheltered behind them.

Umino Sasuke fought Monk Bunpuku after Ebizo revealed that Sasuke had helped destroy a two-thousand-ninja Hidden Sand legion, provoking Bunpuku into attacking him. Sasuke escaped into the air under heavy assault, and a green-clad reinforcer arrived with Morning Peacock to strike Bunpuku and his allies.

• Umino Sasuke attacked Ebizo, but Monk Bunpuku blocked Sasuke’s Chakra Cannons and Sandstorm Gale’s assault with sand defenses.
• Ebizo told Monk Bunpuku that Umino Sasuke had colluded with the Sabaku Clan and detonated specially made Explosive Tags, nearly wiping out two thousand Hidden Sand ninja.
• Monk Bunpuku resolved to kill Umino Sasuke and unleashed his sand and wind techniques, forcing Sasuke to retreat using the Mysterious Peacock Method wings and Samehada.
• Umino Sasuke and his Mecha Puppets endured Monk Bunpuku’s Chakra Air Bullets and gained enough distance to escape the immediate danger.
• A green-clad reinforcer arrived and unleashed Morning Peacock, forcing Monk Bunpuku to defend himself and Lapis Lazuli’s group with massive sand walls.

Might Duy, Uchiha Shun, and Umino Sasuke fought Monk Bunpuku before escaping as Konoha and the Hidden Sand settled into a desert standoff. Driven by revenge against Umino Sasuke, Ebizo agreed to Sandstorm Gale’s forbidden body modifications and received mechanical legs, beginning his transformation.

• Might Duy’s Morning Peacock pressured Monk Bunpuku, and Uchiha Shun briefly trapped him with a Mangekyō genjutsu before Umino Sasuke attacked.
• Umino Sasuke restrained Monk Bunpuku with Water Candy Binding God and escaped with Uchiha Shun and Might Duy, while Monk Bunpuku ended his pursuit.
• Umino Sasuke joined Torifu Akimichi as Konoha built defenses in the Land of Rivers, while Monk Bunpuku’s presence held the Leaf army at a desert oasis.
• Sandstorm Gale urged the maimed Ebizo to reject his fragile body and pursue mechanical power, and Ebizo agreed despite the risks of the forbidden technique.
• Sandstorm Gale modified Ebizo’s body in an underground room, fitting him with mechanical legs while leaving his heart unaltered.

Umino Sasuke’s victory in the Land of Rivers made him a celebrated Hokage candidate, prompting Hiruzen Sarutobi’s allies to look for ways to curb his influence. Shimura Danzō instead planned to recruit Sasuke into his future administration, while Orochimaru doubted that Sasuke could be controlled.

• News of Umino Sasuke’s victory spread through Konoha, and villagers began calling him Tobirama’s Successor and a Hokage candidate.
• Mitokado Homura urged Hiruzen Sarutobi to suppress Umino Sasuke, while Utatane Koharu acknowledged his achievements.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi ordered the frontline force sent deeper into the Land of Wind and assigned Utatane Koharu to investigate rumors that Umino Sasuke had modified his body.
• Shimura Danzō praised Umino Sasuke and told Orochimaru he planned to make him Hokage Assistant and place him in charge of Root.
• Orochimaru questioned Shimura Danzō’s confidence that Umino Sasuke would support him, but Shimura Danzō claimed he would accept Sasuke as Hokage if Sasuke proved stronger.
• Shimura Danzō promised to support Orochimaru’s research if he became Fourth Hokage and named Umino Sasuke a potential Fifth Hokage.

Umino Sasuke extended the Frontline Mobile Support Force’s reforms across Konoha’s Land of Rivers war zone and established a powerful Puppet Corps, strengthening his influence. As his Mecha Puppets ran low on energy, he drained chakra from Hidden Sand prisoners while Yamashiro Ryūba’s interrogators extracted secrets that could aid future operations in the Land of Wind.

• Umino Sasuke introduced loans for ninjutsu, discounted combination techniques, and other Frontline Mobile Support Force policies across the war zone with Torifu Akimichi’s support.
• Uchiha Mikoto took charge of implementing the reforms as Nara Shikaku stayed cautious, while Root Ninja helped suppress opposition from some clan disciples.
• Umino Sasuke formed a Konoha Puppet Corps from three hundred recruits, teaching them Puppet Techniques and allowing qualified members to learn Dual-Machine Operation and use captured Hidden Sand Puppets.
• Umino Sasuke drained a Hidden Sand prisoner’s chakra with Samehada to recharge a Mecha Puppet after its energy stores had nearly run dry.
• Yamashiro Ryūba interrogated the prisoners, breaking some of their resolve and gathering intelligence about Sunagakure and the Land of Wind Daimyo.

Umino Sasuke’s frontline reforms sparked outrage when the Konoha High Command ordered them stopped and Utatane Koharu arrived to detain him over accusations of human experimentation. As the ninjas nearly mutinied in his defense, Umino Sasuke agreed to an examination and summoned Tsunade, whose arrival calmed the camp.

• The Konoha High Command ordered Umino Sasuke to halt his reforms, prompting frontline ninjas to protest losing their newly acquired techniques and training.
• Utatane Koharu arrived with Anbu and demanded that Umino Sasuke be taken into custody for suspected human experiments and bodily modifications.
• The frontline leaders and ninjas blocked Koharu, while Hatake Sakumo hesitated to act and Uchiha Mikoto supported Umino Sasuke.
• Koharu’s accusations intensified the crowd’s anger until Umino Sasuke quieted the camp and agreed to a physical examination by an authoritative examiner.
• Umino Sasuke used the Flying Thunder God Technique to leave, then returned with Tsunade, whose arrival calmed the ninjas and ended the threat of mutiny.

Umino Sasuke endured a public examination that cleared him of human-modification accusations and made him a symbol of hope for Konoha's Civilian Ninja. After returning to the Front Lines of the Land of Rivers, he found the troops enraged over a Hokage order sending them on a likely suicidal attack against the Land of Wind's Daimyo's Mansion.

• Umino Sasuke asked Tsunade to examine him, and she confirmed his strength came from training, his Body Activation Secret Jutsu, and his Ice Release Bloodline Limit rather than human experimentation.
• Tsunade's findings silenced Utatane Koharu's accusations, while the frontline ninja cheered Umino Sasuke and embraced him as a leader for Civilian Ninja.
• Umino Sasuke used the Flying Thunder God Technique to take Tsunade back to the Front Lines of the Land of Grass, then returned to the Front Lines of the Land of Rivers.
• Shirakumo Hayama showed Umino Sasuke a Hokage order commanding the Frontline Mobile Support Force to attack the Land of Wind's Daimyo's Mansion.
• The frontline ninja condemned the order as a death sentence and surrounded the Anbu and Utatane Koharu, whose attempts to calm them were met with distrust.

Umino Sasuke accepted the Third Hokage’s order to attack the Land of Wind’s Daimyo Mansion, while persuading the frontline ninja to remain behind and hold the Sand Ninja Main Force. Hatake Sakumo volunteered to join the dangerous operation, and the troops renewed their commitment to the battle line.

• Utatane Koharu announced the Hokage’s order, provoking anger among the frontline ninja until Hatake Sakumo revealed himself and invoked Hiruzen Sarutobi’s authority.
• Umino Sasuke accepted the order and declared that he would undertake the attack alone to protect his comrades from needless deaths.
• The frontline ninja volunteered to accompany Umino Sasuke, but he persuaded them to stay and hold the Sand Ninja Main Force while the other units defended the Land of Rivers.
• Nara Shikaku pretended to rally behind Umino Sasuke, while Hatake Sakumo requested to join the operation and offered his experience against Hidden Sand Puppets.
• Umino Sasuke welcomed Hatake Sakumo, then directed the frontline ninja to hold their positions, and they roared their agreement.

Disguised as Hidden Sand ninja, Umino Sasuke and Hatake Sakumo uncovered the exploitation of commoners in the Land of Wind and located a Puppet production base where living people were being turned into Human Puppets. They launched an ambush on Ebizo and Sandstorm Gale, while Lapis Lazuli stood between them.

• Umino Sasuke and Hatake Sakumo posed as Sand ninja and learned from Chief Habibi that the so-called Sand Bandits were escaped workers who had founded a new oasis.
• Umino Sasuke used genjutsu to question an old man and discovered that nobles controlled the oasis's water and food, driving commoners into deadly labor and colluding with Hidden Sand to seize independent settlements.
• Umino Sasuke and Hatake Sakumo traced a Hidden Sand Puppet production base and found nearly a hundred living people forced to assemble Puppets with mechanical prosthetics.
• Lapis Lazuli confronted Sandstorm Gale for transforming people into Human Puppets, while Gale urged her to accept bodily modifications and Ebizo stopped him from forcing her.
• Umino Sasuke attacked Ebizo with Water Release: Water Severing Wave as Hatake Sakumo lunged at Sandstorm Gale and directed a thread of blade energy toward Lapis Lazuli.

Umino Sasuke and Hatake Sakumo overwhelmed Ebizo, Sandstorm Gale, and Lapis Lazuli in the control tower. While fighting, Sasuke copied Sakumo’s Wind Release Chakra Mode and used it to catch Ebizo, leaving the other battle unresolved.

• Umino Sasuke ambushed Ebizo with a High-Pressure Water Line, while Hatake Sakumo damaged Sandstorm Gale’s mechanical arm with the White Fang Lightning Blade.
• Lapis Lazuli used Wind Release: Great Net to restrain Hatake Sakumo, but his Chakra Cloak let him move freely and suppress her and Sandstorm Gale.
• Umino Sasuke broke Ebizo’s alloy arm with a Chakra-Enhanced Strength punch, while Ebizo resisted Sasuke’s Bringer-of-Darkness Technique and tried to escape.
• Umino Sasuke observed Hatake Sakumo’s Wind Release Chakra Mode and replicated it, dramatically increasing his own speed.
• Ebizo detonated a Chikamatsu Puppet and fled, but Umino Sasuke used Flying Thunder God Slash to pierce his heart with the Thunder God Sword.

Umino Sasuke and Hatake Sakumo defeated the Hidden Sand Puppet Masters, recovered the Puppet production line, and secured Lapis Lazuli’s corpse for research. After studying the Human Puppet Forbidden Technique, Sasuke found a way to power his Mecha Puppet and began considering a Perpetual Regeneration Core made with Hashirama Cancer Cells and Nine-Tails chakra.

• Umino Sasuke killed Ebizo and the reinforcements, while Hatake Sakumo killed Sandstorm Gale and Lapis Lazuli with a chained lightning attack.
• Ebizo and Sandstorm Gale’s corpses were summoned away, but Umino Sasuke sealed Lapis Lazuli’s corpse and joined Hatake Sakumo in wiping out the remaining Hidden Sand ninja.
• Umino Sasuke stopped Hatake Sakumo from destroying the Puppet factory and used custom Sealing Scrolls to transport its production line to the Land of Waves.
• Umino Sasuke sent the production line to Hiruko for assembly, then brought Lapis Lazuli’s corpse to Laboratory Zero for Human Puppet research.
• Umino Sasuke studied the Human Puppet Forbidden Technique and realized a Chakra Regeneration Core could solve the Mecha Puppet’s energy needs.
• Umino Sasuke considered using Hashirama Cancer Cells and Nine-Tails chakra to create a Perpetual Regeneration Core.

Umino Sasuke used his research and growing resources to strengthen the Land of Waves, establish a ninja prosthetic limb factory, and modify Lapis Lazuli into a Human Puppet. As Hatake Sakumo continued raiding oases in the Land of Wind, Orochimaru advised Sasuke to focus on the fundamentals of ninjutsu rather than spend too much time on mechanical modifications.

• Umino Sasuke studied the Hashirama Cells sample from Orochimaru, whose advice about Sharingan suppression had helped Orochimaru improve his experiments.
• Umino Sasuke described how Life Yang No. 1 and Life Star No. 2 helped the Land of Waves train stronger guards, defend its trade, and prepare to build a Puppet production line.
• Umino Sasuke established a factory to make ninja prosthetic limbs for disabled ninja, with options for mechanical weapons and other modifications.
• Hatake Sakumo liberated oases in the Land of Wind while Umino Sasuke used the Flying Thunder God Technique to help collect the spoils and support the operation.
• Umino Sasuke used Shadow Clones and the expertise of Hiruko and Orochimaru to replace Lapis Lazuli's damaged tissues and bones with Puppet components while preserving her neural and chakra networks.
• Orochimaru advised Umino Sasuke not to neglect the fundamentals for mechanical Human Puppet research and to focus on the true essence of ninjutsu.

After learning that Ebizo, Sandstorm Gale, Lapis Lazuli, and nearly a hundred Puppet Masters had been killed by the White Blood Demon and Konoha's White Fang, Chiyo ordered the Puppet Unit back to the Land of Wind to hunt them. She handed command of the Rain front to Rasa, who celebrated the deaths of his rivals and anticipated becoming Fourth Kazekage, while Baki reacted to the White Blood Demon's name with hatred.

• The Deputy Head of Intelligence told Chiyo that Ebizo, Sandstorm Gale, Lapis Lazuli, and nearly a hundred elite Puppet Masters had been killed by the White Blood Demon and Konoha's White Fang.
• Chiyo learned that the Land of Wind's interior was in chaos, with key oases lost, civilians rebelling, and supply lines threatened.
• After hearing that Scorpion had withdrawn into his Puppet laboratory following his parents' deaths, Chiyo ordered Rasa to take command of the Rain front and prepared to return home with her Puppet Unit.
• Rasa accepted the command transfer with feigned grief, and the Deputy Head of Intelligence left to carry out Chiyo's orders.
• Once alone, Rasa celebrated Sandstorm Gale's death and calculated that the chaos and Chiyo's departure cleared his path to become Fourth Kazekage.
• Baki tensed with bone-deep hatred when he heard Rasa mention the White Blood Demon.

Rasa used Baki’s desire for revenge to secure his loyalty while consolidating control of the front lines after Sandstorm Gale’s death. He sent a report to the Third Kazekage criticizing Chiyo’s departure, while Shakuran Hōjō argued that her mission could also protect the village.

• Rasa promised Baki he would personally defeat the White Blood Demon and Konoha’s White Fang, giving Baki a future chance to avenge his father.
• Rasa ordered Baki to summon the unit officers, then smoothly completed the handover of front-line command and courted the troops.
• The Deputy Head of Intelligence asked to accompany Chiyo, and Rasa approved while instructing him to send back intelligence.
• Rasa sent the Third Kazekage a report that portrayed Chiyo’s departure as abandonment of her post and called for reinforcements.
• The Third Kazekage angrily condemned Chiyo, but Shakuran Hōjō urged him to consider how her mission might eliminate threats in the rear and secure supplies.

Shakuran Hōjō used the Third Kazekage’s anger at the Sabaku Clan and doubts about Rasa to improve Pakura’s standing as a potential Wind Shadow successor. The Third Kazekage grew more inclined to cultivate Pakura, while worrying that Hidden Sand lacked capable successors.

• Shakuran Hōjō persuaded the Third Kazekage to ease his blame toward Chiyo and praised Pakura’s decision to stay with her comrades behind enemy lines.
• The Third Kazekage warned that the White Blood Demon might defeat Chiyo, but Shakuran Hōjō dismissed reports of the enemy’s superior Puppet Technique as excuses for Hidden Sand’s failures.
• The Third Kazekage blamed the Sabaku Clan for enabling the defective Explosive Tags that killed two thousand Hidden Sand shinobi, and Shakuran Hōjō urged him to punish the clan.
• Shakuran Hōjō reported that the Sabaku Clan’s assets had been seized and used Rasa’s leadership of the clan to intensify the Third Kazekage’s dissatisfaction with him.
• Shakuran Hōjō urged the Third Kazekage to give Pakura more guidance, and the Kazekage began considering cultivating her more heavily as a successor.

The Third Kazekage rejected Shakuran Hōjō’s proposal to withdraw from the Land of Rain, ordering Rasa to hold the front while Hidden Sand dealt with the rebellion and Konoha’s two elusive attackers. As the Kazekage ordered close surveillance near the Daimyo’s Mansion, Hatake Sakumo began a silent assault on Golden Spring Oasis.

• Shakuran Hōjō reported that the White Blood Demon and Konoha’s White Fang had incited rebellion by liberating oases and distributing food and supplies.
• Shakuran Hōjō advised the Third Kazekage to pull Rasa’s forces back to the Land of Wind, but the Kazekage refused and ordered Rasa to hold the Land of Rain front.
• Shakuran Hōjō reported that the daimyo had released delayed supplies and military funding after an attack near Jingquan Oasis.
• The Third Kazekage ordered Shakuran Hōjō to monitor the two Konoha attackers, especially near the Daimyo’s Mansion.
• Hatake Sakumo moved through the ruined walls of Golden Spring Oasis, killing Sand ninja guards before they could raise an alarm.