Chapter Summaries

The Great Toad Sage summoned the White-browed, white-bearded toad and the Purple-skinned toad to share a prophecy about a youth with Dragon Horns who could change the world. He clarified that the youth was not the previously prophesied Child of Prophecy, but would stand alongside him on the same battlefield.

• The White-browed, white-bearded toad and the Purple-skinned toad went to the temple after the Great Toad Sage called for them.
• The Great Toad Sage teased the pair before revealing that he had dreamed of a youth with Dragon Horns amid ruins.
• The Great Toad Sage explained that the Dragon Horns marked someone who had practiced Ryūchi Cave Sage Art.
• The Purple-skinned toad questioned whether the new vision contradicted the prophecy about the Child of Prophecy, who had mastered Mount Myōboku's sage art.
• The Great Toad Sage said the Dragon-Horned youth was not the Child of Prophecy, though both would share a battlefield and possess the power to change the world.

The Great Toad Sage ordered Fukasaku and Shima to warn the White Snake Sage against teaching Senjutsu to young humans, fearing an inscrutable youth who wielded wind and snow might interfere with the Child of Prophecy. Meanwhile, Orochimaru met Kimimaro, and Kirigakure learned the Kaguya Clan’s forces were close to attacking.

• The Great Toad Sage told Fukasaku and Shima to visit Ryūchi Cave and ask the White Snake Sage not to teach Senjutsu to human youths for a hundred years, especially those who controlled wind and snow.
• Fukasaku and Shima left Mount Myōboku for Ryūchi Cave after the Great Toad Sage fell asleep, woke, and barely remembered sending them.
• Orochimaru encountered a boy named Kimimaro on the road to Kirigakure after Kimimaro mistook him for a Kirigakure shinobi and attacked.
• Mei Terumi and Qi Shuang waited on Kirigakure’s defensive wall as Mist shinobi questioned whether the Kaguya Clan would really attack.
• Several Hidden Mist Anbu returned to the wall and warned that the Kaguya Clan’s forces were close, prompting the shinobi to prepare to repel them.

The Kaguya Clan attacked Kirigakure, using their bone techniques to destroy a long section of the village’s defensive wall and pour into the streets. Qi Shuang left Mei Terumi to fight separately, then watched the battle spread into a chaotic blaze while judging that the attackers lacked the numbers to destroy the whole village.

• Several hundred Kaguya Clan members arrived outside Kirigakure and charged the village after declaring their intent to destroy it and establish their own shinobi village.
• Mist shinobi attacked with Ninjutsu and Explosive Tags, while the Kaguya Clan answered with Shikotsumyaku Finger Nukes that killed defenders on the wall.
• Kaguya Clan members used Shikotsumyaku Fern Dance to grow bone spines through the wall, killing defenders and causing a nearly two-hundred-meter section to collapse.
• Qi Shuang told Mei Terumi to take care of herself, split from her, and climbed a tall building to survey the fighting.
• The Kaguya Clan scattered through Kirigakure, slaughtering people and setting the area near the entrance ablaze as Qi Shuang concluded they were too few to destroy the village.

Qi Shuang used a Water Clone and Ice Release to defeat a Kaguya Clan fighter who was attacking Kirigakure. After the battle, he confirmed that his ice technique had worked, but the child he had been seeking was not his target.

• Qi Shuang chose a Kaguya Clan fighter as his target because he hoped to find a child who could help him take an important step in life.
• When the fighter approached a civilian home, Qi Shuang attacked him with Water Release, but realized the man was not the child he sought.
• The Kaguya Clan fighter overwhelmed Qi Shuang's Water Clone with a graceful, relentless series of close-range attacks and pierced its throat.
• Qi Shuang froze the fighter with Ice Release: Burial Art, then caused unbearable pain within the ice until the man lost consciousness.
• Qi Shuang emerged from hiding, confirmed that the fighter's chakra had disappeared, and inspected the resulting ice sculpture.

Qi Shuang used his newly developed Burial Art to fatally wound a Kaguya Clan fighter, then ordered arriving Mist ninja to evacuate civilians while he searched for an important child. The battle spread through Kirigakure’s streets, where the Mist ninja struggled to stop the Kaguya Clan without harming their own people.

• Qi Shuang explained how Burial Art combined Ice Seal Technique with Torrential Rain Ice Kill to freeze and pierce his opponent with expanding ice needles.
• Qi Shuang told several arriving Mist ninja to evacuate civilians from a nearby residence, then left to find the other invading enemies and an important child.
• Kirigakure mobilized forces to contain the Kaguya Clan and evacuate residents as the fighting spread through the streets.
• The Mist ninja struggled to use their numerical advantage because they had to limit damage and protect civilians on their own territory.

Sage Fukasaku and Sage Shima entered Ryūchi Cave to deliver the Great Toad Sage’s warning to the White Snake Sage. Meanwhile, Qi Shuang abandoned his search through the Kaguya Clan and headed for Kirigakure’s exit, hoping to intercept the child he sought.

• Sage Fukasaku and Sage Shima traveled through the Well of the Present World and found Ryūchi Cave’s entrance using Mount Myōboku’s records.
• Sage Shima suggested sending a letter to the White Snake Sage, but Sage Fukasaku insisted they enter the cave and deliver the message themselves.
• Sage Fukasaku warned Sage Shima that ordinary snakes in Ryūchi Cave could attack them, so they needed to find the White Snake Sage quickly.
• Sage Fukasaku and Sage Shima entered Ryūchi Cave’s maze.
• Qi Shuang killed a ten-year-old Kaguya Clan member after confirming he was not his target.
• Qi Shuang decided to wait at Kirigakure’s exit for the child and hurried toward the village entrance.

Qi Shuang waited at Kirigakure’s breached entrance for Kimimaro, hoping to draw out the person who would take the boy away. After confirming Kimimaro had arrived, Qi Shuang promised to help him escape safely.

• Qi Shuang took up a guard position at the damaged village entrance while waiting for Kimimaro and the person connected to him.
• As Kaguya clansmen fled the village, Qi Shuang trapped two against the wall with Water Release and Ice Release, then left the prisoners for other Mist shinobi to transport.
• Qi Shuang killed five young Kaguya clansmen and learned from them that Kimimaro was present.
• Qi Shuang intercepted Kimimaro, confirmed his identity, and told him he would help him escape safely.

Qi Shuang secretly helped the young Kimimaro escape Kirigakure, then followed his tracks to keep the escape hidden. Meanwhile, Fukasaku and Shima entered Ryūchi Cave and were confronted by Manda and the surrounding snakes.

• Qi Shuang held back while fighting Kimimaro, then struck him with a Water Release technique that sent him through a gap in Kirigakure's defensive wall.
• Kimimaro got up and fled, knowing he could not return to the Kaguya Clan's village.
• Qi Shuang revealed that he had arranged Kimimaro's escape, then followed him and erased their tracks.
• Fukasaku and Shima passed through Ryūchi Cave's labyrinth and found themselves surrounded by giant snakes.
• Manda appeared and mocked the two Mount Myōboku sages for visiting Ryūchi Cave.

Sage Fukasaku and Sage Shima entered Ryūchi Cave to meet the White Snake Sage, but King of Manda ambushed them with a group of giant snakes. The Toad Sages combined their ninjutsu to repel the attackers, leaving the snakes fleeing and the cavern passage devastated.

• King of Manda gathered giant snakes and blocked the maze passage exit after learning that two Sage-level toads had entered Ryūchi Cave.
• Sage Shima began forming hand seals to attack, and Sage Fukasaku joined her as King of Manda charged to interrupt them.
• King of Manda lunged at the Toad Sages, but Sage Fukasaku’s Water Release: Violent Water Vortex filled his mouth and flung him away.
• Sage Shima combined her Wind Release: Hurricane with Sage Fukasaku’s water technique to create Hurricane Vortex, which tore through the cavern.
• The giant snakes fled from the destructive vortex, leaving King of Manda’s attack repelled.

Sage Fukasaku and Sage Shima fought Manda at the exit of Ryūchi Cave, while the White Snake Sage ordered Tagorihime to investigate the two toads. Manda’s ambush failed, and Sage Shima hurled it into a cavern wall.

• Fukasaku and Sage Shima swept the snakes into a water tornado and smashed them against the cavern wall.
• Manda attacked Sage Shima with its tail and tried to swallow Sage Fukasaku, but he held its jaws open with senjutsu.
• The White Snake Sage sensed the two toads and ordered Tagorihime to lure them inside and discover their purpose.
• Sage Shima pulled Manda out of the ground by its tail and hurled it into the cavern wall, leaving it dazed and limp.

Fukasaku and Shima fought Manda in Ryūchi Cave until Tagorihime arrived with White Snake Sage’s order for them to come meet her. Manda withdrew, and Tagorihime led the toad sages deeper into the cave.

• Fukasaku and Shima faced Manda after Shima struck him away, and Fukasaku demanded that he let them pass to see White Snake Sage.
• Manda hesitated to retreat, wary of the Toad Couple but reluctant to lose face as King of Manda.
• Shima and Fukasaku sensed a hidden sage, and Tagorihime appeared from the rock wall.
• Tagorihime told Manda that White Snake Sage had ordered him to leave and that she wanted to meet the two toads.
• Manda withdrew, and Tagorihime introduced herself to Fukasaku and Shima before leading them into the depths of Ryūchi Cave.

Qi Shuang followed the fleeing Kimimaro to find Orochimaru and attacked them with his Ice Release technique. The frost mist left Kimimaro frozen and Orochimaru with a hole through his chest and his heart missing.

• Qi Shuang secretly followed Kimimaro, hoping the boy would lead him to the person who had taken him in the original story.
• Orochimaru appeared and revealed that he had marked Kimimaro and had tested whether he could escape Kirigakure alive.
• Orochimaru sensed Qi Shuang hiding nearby and called him out, while Kimimaro recognized Qi Shuang as the youth who had struck him in Kirigakure.
• Kimimaro charged Qi Shuang, but Qi Shuang released Ice Release: Fleeting Bloom, covering the area in frost mist and stopping Kimimaro in his tracks.
• Orochimaru recognized Qi Shuang as the boy connected to Ice Release, but Qi Shuang appeared behind him and left him with a hole in his chest where his heart had been.

Qi Shuang used his time-stopping technique, Fleeting Bloom, to tear out Orochimaru’s heart, but Orochimaru survived by shedding his body. As Kimimaro recovered from the technique, Orochimaru faced Qi Shuang with newfound caution.

• Qi Shuang struck Orochimaru with Fleeting Bloom, freezing his awareness while twelve seconds passed for Qi Shuang.
• Qi Shuang tore Orochimaru’s heart from his chest and explained how he had prepared chakra in advance to use the technique.
• Orochimaru shed his body and revived, while Qi Shuang froze the heart he had removed.
• Kimimaro recovered from Fleeting Bloom and was startled to find Qi Shuang confronting Orochimaru from a distance.
• Orochimaru silently regarded Qi Shuang, shaken by the attack that had nearly killed him without warning.

Qi Shuang and Orochimaru avoided a full battle while Orochimaru rescued Kimimaro and questioned Qi Shuang about his purpose. Qi Shuang hinted that he was trying to draw out a bigger target, and Orochimaru pressed him about the Ice Release technique that had frightened him.

• Kimimaro charged at Qi Shuang, but Orochimaru restrained him with Shadow Snake Hands.
• Kimimaro grew bone spikes to pierce the snakes, but they bit his shoulders and poisoned him unconscious.
• Orochimaru sent Kimimaro away inside a summoned snake while Qi Shuang sealed the frozen heart in a scroll.
• Orochimaru and Qi Shuang exchanged remarks, and Qi Shuang said he had been casting a long line to catch a big fish.
• Orochimaru asked Qi Shuang to explain the principles behind his Ice Release technique, Torrential Rain Ice Kill.

Qi Shuang fought off Orochimaru’s attacks and used his interest in unusual techniques to steer him toward a deal involving the Second Hokage’s Forbidden Jutsu. The chapter ended with Orochimaru offering to trade one of the Forbidden Jutsu for Qi Shuang’s Ice Release technique.

• Qi Shuang refused to reveal the secret of Fleeting Bloom, so Orochimaru attacked him with Wind Release: Great Breakthrough.
• Qi Shuang escaped into the forest, avoided Orochimaru’s Kusanagi Sword ambush, and blocked its slash with an Ice Wall.
• Qi Shuang counterattacked with ice spikes, but Orochimaru ducked underground and emerged unharmed.
• Qi Shuang hinted that he wanted to see the Second Hokage’s Forbidden Jutsu, and Orochimaru proposed trading one for Qi Shuang’s Ice Release technique.

Qi Shuang negotiated with Orochimaru to exchange his Ice Release jutsu for two of the Second Hokage's Forbidden Jutsu, arranging to meet again the next day. Meanwhile, Orochimaru set out to seize a pure-blooded Hozuki Clan member, while Fukasaku and Shima arrived at Ryūchi Cave to meet the White Snake Sage.

• Qi Shuang bargained with Orochimaru and secured the right to choose two Forbidden Jutsu from a catalog in exchange for his Ice Release jutsu.
• Orochimaru agreed to meet Qi Shuang at noon the next day, then decided to exploit the chaos in Kirigakure to capture a pure-blooded Hozuki Clan member.
• Tagorihime led Fukasaku and Shima to the temple of the White Snake Sage in Ryūchi Cave.
• Fukasaku and Shima entered the temple and bowed respectfully before the White Snake Sage.

Sage Fukasaku and Sage Shima told White Snake Sage that the Great Toad Sage foresaw a powerful young man with dragon horns and Ice Release, and asked Ryūchi Cave to stop teaching Senjutsu for a hundred years. White Snake Sage rejected the request and ordered the Summoning Snake Clan to seek out promising young men and guide them to Ryūchi Cave.

• Sage Fukasaku and Sage Shima relayed the Great Toad Sage’s prophecy about a young man with dragon horns who could change the world.
• Sage Fukasaku asked White Snake Sage to refrain from teaching Senjutsu to humans for a hundred years so the young man would not be born.
• After the toad sages left, White Snake Sage told Ichikishimahime and Tagitsuhime that she had never agreed to the request.
• White Snake Sage decided to help bring about the young man’s birth, identifying dragon horns with Ryūchi Cave Senjutsu and wind and snow with Ice Release.
• White Snake Sage ordered the Summoning Snake Clan to guide Ice Release users and other talented or power-seeking young men to Ryūchi Cave, while keeping its usual trials in place.

Orochimaru infiltrated Kirigakure during the chaos caused by the Kaguya Clan, disguised himself as Qi Shuang, and reached the Hozuki Clan Head’s estate. After incapacitating its hidden guards with venomous snakes, he prepared to remove a Hozuki shinobi as experimental material.

• Qi Shuang returned to Kirigakure after obtaining what he wanted, while the Kaguya Clan’s remaining elites continued attacking civilians.
• Orochimaru found a breach in Kirigakure’s wall, entered the village inside a snake, and transformed into Qi Shuang’s appearance.
• Mei Terumi found Qi Shuang guarding the village entrance, and he told her he had chased someone who escaped.
• Orochimaru followed Kabuto’s map to the Hozuki Clan’s residence and located the hidden guards around the clan head’s estate.
• Orochimaru used summoned venomous snakes to knock down the guards, then sent a poisoned Hozuki Clan shinobi out of Kirigakure in a giant snake.

Orochimaru infiltrated the Hozuki Clan Head's residence and found the young Hozuki Suigetsu. After hearing Suigetsu vow to avenge his injured brother Mangetsu, Orochimaru knocked out Suigetsu's mother and abducted the boy.

• Orochimaru evaded the residence's guards and searched the eastern side rooms for Hozuki Suigetsu.
• Suigetsu's mother told him that Mangetsu had been gravely injured and might not live past thirty.
• Suigetsu promised to avenge Mangetsu, and Orochimaru revealed himself and offered to help him become strong enough.
• Orochimaru poisoned Suigetsu's mother and the others in the room, then used a snake to pull Suigetsu away from her.
• Orochimaru had the snake inject venom into Suigetsu's neck, knocking him unconscious.

Orochimaru escaped the Hozuki Clan estate with Suigetsu and was pursued by Hozuki Mangetsu, whom he tried to capture. Mangetsu identified Orochimaru and prepared to fight, fearing for his mother and family.

• Orochimaru used a Summoning Great Snake to teleport Suigetsu away as Mangetsu approached the room.
• Mangetsu found people lying unconscious, saw Orochimaru flee, and chased him out of the Hozuki Clan estate.
• Orochimaru turned back and attacked Mangetsu with a blood-sucking snake, but Mangetsu liquefied his body and trapped Orochimaru's head in a water sphere.
• Orochimaru summoned venomous snakes, forcing Mangetsu to detach the poisoned part of his Liquefaction Body.
• Mangetsu recognized Orochimaru, summoned Nuibari, and demanded to know what he had done to his mother and the others.
• Orochimaru gave no clear answer, leaving Mangetsu fearing his mother was in grave danger.