Chapter Summaries

The Third set the Mizukage Succession Battle for early December and named Karatachi Yagura as his candidate, while Suikazan Fuguki would represent the opposing council member. After the meeting, the Hozuki Clan Head told Mangetsu that Fuguki and Yagura were their chief opponents for the Mizukage position.

• The Third approved holding the Mizukage Succession Battle in early December after the council agreed on the date.
• The Third named Karatachi Yagura, the Three-Tails Jinchuriki, as his candidate, and the council debated whether the young Jinchuriki could survive against Suikazan Fuguki and Samehada.
• The Hoshigaki Clan Head questioned sending a thirteen- or fourteen-year-old Yagura into the battle, but the Third said Yagura could protect himself with the Three-Tails' power.
• The Third ended the meeting and left the Council Hall with his assistants.
• The Hozuki Clan Head asked Mangetsu whether he had heard the meeting and identified Suikazan Fuguki and Karatachi Yagura as their main opponents.

Mangetsu and the Hozuki Clan Head discussed their rivals in Kirigakure's Mizukage Succession Battle and the advantages of the Ninja Swords. Mangetsu left his father convinced that he could defeat Suikazan Fuguki, take Samehada, and then kill Karatachi Yagura.

• The Hozuki Clan Head dismissed the young Six-Tails Jinchuriki as a threat and identified Karatachi Yagura and Suikazan Fuguki as the main obstacles to Mangetsu's bid for Mizukage.
• Mangetsu vowed to defeat his rivals and said he could wield the four Ninja Swords he had practiced with as naturally as his own limbs.
• The Hozuki Clan Head explained that Raiga Kurosuki's 'Lightning Blade: Fang' could help against the water-specializing Yagura and Fuguki, but Kirigakure could not find Raiga.
• Mangetsu reasoned that Samehada's chakra absorption could counter a Jinchuriki, but warned that letting Fuguki absorb the Three-Tails' chakra could make Fuguki stronger.
• Mangetsu declared that he would defeat Fuguki first, take Samehada, and then kill Yagura, estimating that his three physical Ninja Swords gave him a sixty percent chance against Fuguki.

Mangetsu and the Hozuki Clan Head planned to target Suikazan Fuguki early in the Mizukage Succession Battle and investigate Karatachi Yagura. After Fuguki raged against the Third Mizukage’s choice of Yagura, the Third Mizukage went to protect Yagura and found that someone had already attacked his residence.

• Mangetsu told the Hozuki Clan Head that he would go after Fuguki immediately to seize Samehada before Fuguki grew stronger by absorbing chakra.
• The Hozuki Clan Head agreed to send the clan’s elite to hold Karatachi Yagura back and investigate him, while Mangetsu stayed home to practice with the four ninja swords.
• Suikazan Fuguki learned that the Third Mizukage did not support his succession and vowed to take the position, declaring that Yagura would be food for Samehada.
• The Third Mizukage ordered more guards for Yagura to prevent attacks and keep Yagura from revealing too much of his strength before the battle.
• The Third Mizukage arrived at Yagura’s residence and found a motionless figure outside after someone had apparently tested Yagura in a fight.

Yagura killed a shinobi who had come to test his strength, prompting the Third Mizukage to question how much of his Tailed Beast power he had used. The Third Mizukage told Yagura that the Mizukage Succession Battle would begin in December and urged him to conceal his full strength, while Yagura eagerly anticipated more challengers.

• The Third Mizukage arrived after Yagura killed a shinobi and ordered the Anbu to remove the body and return to their posts.
• Yagura claimed he had used fifty percent of his Tailed Beast power to kill the shinobi in one blow.
• The Third Mizukage told Yagura that the Mizukage Succession Battle would begin at the start of December and that he would participate as a candidate.
• Yagura said he was gaining control of his Tailed Beast power with Isobu's help and offered to spar with the Third Mizukage.
• The Third Mizukage advised Yagura to hide his full strength from anyone who challenged him before the succession battle, and Yagura agreed to use thirty percent.

Qi Shuang and Mei Terumi learned that Ao had been reassigned and Zabuza had joined the Hidden Mist Anbu, leaving Qi Shuang to lead their team. They traveled to meet a merchant for an escort mission, where Mei Terumi questioned why he had brought his goods all the way to Kirigakure.

• Ao told Qi Shuang and Mei Terumi that he would no longer lead their missions and handed Qi Shuang the mission scroll.
• Ao revealed that Zabuza had requested a transfer after losing to Qi Shuang and had passed the Hidden Mist Anbu assessment.
• Ao warned Qi Shuang and Mei Terumi to be extra careful as he departed.
• Qi Shuang and Mei Terumi left the village and traveled for three days to reach the town where the merchant was staying.
• Mei Terumi asked the caravan leader why he had chosen to bring his goods to Kirigakure despite the long and dangerous journey.

Qi Shuang and Mei Terumi joined a caravan transporting melons to Kirigakure, and the group set out without resting. Mei Terumi enjoyed the unfamiliar fruit, while Qi Shuang’s familiarity with it left him unimpressed, and the bumpy ride soon made her complain.

• The caravan leader explained that most of his goods were melons that would spoil if they were not sold soon.
• Mei Terumi eagerly asked to taste a melon, and the caravan leader gave her and Qi Shuang one for free.
• Qi Shuang ordered the caravan to depart at once, and Mei Terumi agreed that he was in charge.
• Mei Terumi shared pieces of melon with Qi Shuang during the journey, but he found it too sweet to be impressive.
• The cart jolted over a stone, and Mei Terumi blamed Qi Shuang for making them ride in the uncomfortable cargo compartment.

Qi Shuang and Mei Terumi traveled by carriage, shared chilled melon made with his Ice Release, and discussed a possible cold-drink business. After they woke at the caravan’s nighttime camp, they joined the others by the bonfire for venison.

• The jolting carriage made Mei Terumi smear melon across her face, and she pinched Qi Shuang after he laughed at her.
• Qi Shuang used Ice Release to chill a piece of melon, adjusting the cold until Mei Terumi enjoyed it.
• Qi Shuang and Mei Terumi discussed using his Ice Release to sell cold drinks, perhaps in the Land of Wind.
• The pair fell asleep in the carriage and woke after dark at the caravan’s campsite.
• Mei Terumi complained about sleeping on melons, while Qi Shuang asked the caravan leader for food.
• Qi Shuang carefully checked the roast venison and served Mei Terumi a large piece by the bonfire.

Qi Shuang and Mei Terumi escorted a slow-moving caravan toward Kirigakure and warned that the journey could take at least seven days. When starving refugees charged the camp, Qi Shuang used Ice Release to block their advance with a wall of ice.

• Qi Shuang estimated that the caravan's return to Kirigakure would take at least seven days, assuming no trouble arose.
• Qi Shuang heard people approaching the camp and warned the guards of an attack.
• Mei Terumi sensed about twenty chakra-less newcomers, who appeared by the firelight to be starving refugees asking for food.
• Several voices urged the refugees to seize the caravan's goods, and the crowd charged the guards.
• Qi Shuang used Ice Release: Ice Wall to stop the refugees before they reached the guards' defensive line.

Mei Terumi wanted the caravan to share melons with starving refugees, but Qi Shuang stopped her and argued that doing so would violate their mission and pressure the client. He challenged her to consider whether she would resort to force if the caravan leader refused.

• The refugees recognized Qi Shuang’s ice wall and pleaded with the Kirigakure ninjas for food, explaining that they had not eaten properly in two days.
• Mei Terumi sympathized with the refugees and approached the caravan leader to ask him to give them some melons.
• Qi Shuang used Body Flicker to pull Mei Terumi away before she could finish making her request.
• Qi Shuang reminded Mei Terumi that their mission was to protect the caravan and its goods, and that the melons belonged to the client.
• Qi Shuang questioned whether Mei Terumi could guarantee she would not take the melons by force if the caravan leader refused.

Qi Shuang convinced Mei Terumi not to give food to the refugees, arguing that doing so would endanger the caravan and fail to address the Land of Water’s deeper troubles. Mei Terumi withdrew to camp, shaken by the scale of the problems she wanted to solve.

• Mei Terumi pleaded to give melons to the refugees, but Qi Shuang warned that they had planned to seize the caravan’s goods and could become bandits.
• Qi Shuang argued that feeding the refugees would encourage them and others to keep following the caravan, forcing him to protect the cargo by killing them.
• He reminded Mei Terumi that charity would hurt the caravan’s workers and guards, who depended on the goods and wages to support their families.
• Qi Shuang told Mei Terumi that helping a few refugees would not end their suffering while war and turmoil continued across the Land of Water.
• Mei Terumi gave up her plan and returned to camp, troubled by how much would need to change before people could live in safety.

After the caravan leader refused to share supplies with the refugees, Qi Shuang drove them away with a display of force. Mei Terumi stayed hidden, distressed that she could not bring herself to help, and the chapter ended with the refugees fleeing into the night.

• Mei Terumi felt powerless to change Kirigakure’s cycle of hatred and violence as she watched the refugees suffer.
• Qi Shuang told the caravan leader that the decision to share supplies was his, and the leader chose not to give the refugees anything.
• Qi Shuang warned the refugees to leave, but they demanded to see Mei Terumi instead.
• Mei Terumi heard the refugees calling for her from inside a carriage but stayed hidden, afraid she would give in to their pleas.
• Qi Shuang threw ice spikes near the refugees to frighten them, and they fled in panic.
• Qi Shuang dismissed the ice wall and rebuked the caravan leader when he hurried over to praise him.

After the crisis, Qi Shuang comforted Mei Terumi and discussed how Kirigakure might escape its cycle of killing and hatred. He advised gradual reform and identified the daimyo and the Mizukage as key figures who could guide it.

• Qi Shuang returned to the wagon, found Mei Terumi distressed, and reassured her that he had only frightened the refugees.
• Mei Terumi joined Qi Shuang by the campfire and said she envied the more harmonious rules of the mainland villages.
• Mei Terumi asked how Kirigakure could reform, and Qi Shuang warned that openly discussing it was dangerous during the purge of rebels.
• Qi Shuang explained that reform had failed because the Reformist Faction lacked strength and had used the wrong methods.
• Qi Shuang advised gradual change and named the daimyo and the Mizukage as figures who could keep the factions from turning against each other.

Qi Shuang explained why the Reformist Faction had lost support after its failed coup and advised Mei Terumi to wait for the Third Mizukage to leave office and build ties with the next Mizukage. He warned her that the Reformist Faction must prevent the Conservative Faction from gaining the position, then the two settled down to sleep.

• Qi Shuang told Mei Terumi that the Reformist Faction’s armed coup had alienated the Third Mizukage, the daimyo, and the people, leaving it unable to act until the matter passed.
• Qi Shuang explained that the Reformist Faction could not regain its standing while the Third Mizukage remained in power and that the daimyo had little authority to change Kirigakure’s decisions.
• Qi Shuang noted that leadership changes were underway in other great villages and predicted that the Third Mizukage would soon step down.
• Mei Terumi suggested that someone from the Reformist Faction become Mizukage, and Qi Shuang advised her to build a relationship with the next Mizukage instead.
• Qi Shuang warned Mei Terumi that the Reformist Faction must stop the Conservative Faction from taking the Mizukage’s position.
• Qi Shuang and Mei Terumi got blankets from the caravan and went to sleep beside the campfire.

After escorting the caravan to Kirigakure, Qi Shuang and Mei Terumi learned that the village was preparing for a Mizukage Succession Battle. They left the patrol to handle a street fight as Qi Shuang wondered how many people the battle would kill.

• Qi Shuang and Mei Terumi delivered the caravan to Kirigakure and collected their promised payment.
• Mei Terumi noticed the village was unusually crowded, and Qi Shuang suspected the bustle was connected to the grand event the caravan leader had mentioned.
• A patrol squad told Qi Shuang and Mei Terumi that the Third Mizukage had announced a succession battle nine days earlier, drawing merchants and visitors to Kirigakure.
• A young man reported a street fight, and the patrol squad followed him to deal with it.
• Qi Shuang wondered how many people would die in the succession battle and how badly Kirigakure would suffer from the losses.

As the Mizukage Succession Battle approached, Qi Shuang and Mei Terumi discussed the tense factions in Kirigakure and inspected the ruins chosen as the battlefield. Qi Shuang continued experimenting with a dangerous technique on rabbits, while Mei Terumi took a liking to one and agreed to collect some of his rabbit meat.

• Mei Terumi prepared to return to her clan, and Qi Shuang warned her not to discuss Kirigakure’s factions with others.
• As December arrived, more visitors and merchants entered Kirigakure, escort missions increased, and bandit attacks grew amid the village’s preparations for the succession battle.
• Mei Terumi showed Qi Shuang the ruins near the village entrance that had been selected as the battlefield, and he worried that Karatachi Yagura’s power as a perfect Jinchuriki could devastate the village.
• Mei Terumi noticed the rabbit Qi Shuang was holding, and he explained that he was experimenting on it with an unfinished technique.
• Mei Terumi took the rabbit from Qi Shuang and agreed to visit his home to collect some of his remaining rabbit meat.

Hozuki Mangetsu prepared to compete for Mizukage as his father warned him about Karatachi Yagura’s power as a Three-Tails Jinchuriki. Meanwhile, Suikazan Fuguki reviewed the costly intelligence he had gathered on Yagura and the Hozuki Clan.

• The Hozuki Clan Head told Mangetsu that a hundred clan elites would hold back Karatachi Yagura and the other contenders while Mangetsu faced Suikazan Fuguki.
• The Hozuki Clan Head explained that Yagura might control the second stage of Tailed Beast transformation, but dismissed the possibility that he could become a perfect Jinchuriki.
• Mangetsu accepted his father’s assessment and asked about his mother, who was expected to give birth within days.
• Suikazan Fuguki reviewed reports from his operatives, many of whom had died or been severely injured while investigating Yagura and the Hozuki Clan.

Fuguki dismissed fourteen-year-old Hozuki Mangetsu as a rival and prepared to claim the Mizukage title with Samehada. The succession battle began in Kirigakure, where Mei Terumi and Qi Shuang watched Fuguki enter the battlefield and discussed the candidates.

• Fuguki read that Hozuki Mangetsu was suspected of wielding multiple ninja swords, but remained confident that Mangetsu could not defeat him.
• Kirigakure’s clans, factions, candidates, and spectators gathered at the ruined battlefield for the Mizukage Succession Battle.
• The Third Mizukage invited anyone seeking the title to enter and announced that the battlefield would be sealed after one hour.
• Mei Terumi told Qi Shuang that the Terumi Clan would not compete directly, though it had sent fifty elites to the battlefield.
• Mei Terumi pointed out Suikazan Fuguki, while Qi Shuang expressed confidence in the Third Mizukage’s candidate, Karatachi Yagura.

Mei Terumi persuaded Qi Shuang to enter the battlefield with her to cause trouble for Suikazan Fuguki, while Karatachi Yagura prepared to face him. After the Third Mizukage sealed off the arena, the battle for Kirigakure's Fourth Mizukage began.

• Mei Terumi proposed that she and Qi Shuang go down to bother Suikazan Fuguki, and Qi Shuang reluctantly agreed.
• Qi Shuang and Mei Terumi descended from the ice pillar and entered the ruined battlefield.
• Karatachi Yagura asked the Third Mizukage for permission to enter, then leaped down after receiving a warning about Samehada.
• Yagura asked the Three-Tails Isobu about Samehada, and Isobu assured him that the sword posed no threat to him.
• After an hour, the Third Mizukage ordered the Barrier Team to seal the battlefield and declared the succession battle underway.

The Mizukage Succession Battle began as examiners and competitors clashed across Kirigakure. Yagura drew an ambush into the open and defended himself with a powerful Water Release technique, then prepared to fight the attackers.

• The examiners and competitors began fighting after the first explosion broke the battlefield’s silence.
• Qi Shuang and Mei Terumi avoided a ten-man examiner squad and headed toward the fighting to search for Suikazan Fuguki.
• The Hozuki Clan split into ten squads to eliminate competitors, clear a path for Hozuki Mangetsu, and search for Suikazan Fuguki and Karatachi Yagura.
• Yagura triggered a trap with his Coral Staff, then protected himself from the explosions with Water Release: Water Formation Wall.
• The Mist ninja recognized Yagura’s strength and retreated from the water pillar, but Yagura caught his returning Coral Staff and challenged them to keep him entertained.

Yagura survived a coordinated assault by ten Mist shinobi by drawing on Isobu’s chakra and entering the first stage of tailed-beast transformation. As he prepared to fight back, Kirigakure’s clans identified Suikazan Fuguki, Karatachi Yagura, and Hozuki Mangetsu as the leading Mizukage candidates, though they doubted Mangetsu.

• Ten Mist shinobi surrounded Yagura and coordinated close-range, Water Release, and Wind Release attacks to set up a final strike.
• The shinobi combined Water Dragon Bullet Technique with Lightning Release, but Yagura asked Isobu for chakra and wrapped himself in crimson chakra before the dragons hit.
• Yagura emerged from the crater in the first stage of tailed-beast transformation and told the Mist shinobi he would spare them because they had made the battle enjoyable.
• Kirigakure’s clans identified Suikazan Fuguki, Karatachi Yagura, and Hozuki Mangetsu as the leading candidates for Mizukage, while questioning Mangetsu’s prospects.