Chapter Summaries

Qi Shuang secretly placed the Six-Tails in the Purified Water Barrier’s energy core, then sealed the dam’s bottom level in Senjutsu ice to hide it. Four days later, he activated the barrier and solved the canal’s seawater problem.

• Qi Shuang used his clone’s Ice Release to prove his identity to the Mist shinobi guarding the dam, then covered the area in mist as his original self entered.
• Qi Shuang found the Purified Water Barrier’s energy core and placed the bronze cauldron containing the Six-Tails there.
• Qi Shuang decided not to activate the barrier that night, fearing others would connect its activation to the Six-Tails’s disappearance.
• Qi Shuang froze the entire bottom level with Sage Art: Ice Release: Eternal Ice Coffin and left his clone hidden inside the ice to guard the core.
• Qi Shuang returned four days later and activated the Purified Water Barrier, resolving the canal’s seawater problem.

Kirigakure pursued a safer plan to rebuild the Seven Ninja Swordsmen while investigating Kurotsuchi Raiga and continuing research into replacing the Six-Tails at the dam. The Agriculture Department’s new rice nearly doubled yields, and the village ended the year with twenty thousand newborns.

• Mei Terumi showed Qi Shuang seven young sword students, including Hozuki Suigetsu, and explained that they would train with imitation Ninja Swords before receiving the real weapons.
• Mei Terumi told Qi Shuang that Kurotsuchi Raiga had been sighted in the Land of Fire, but the Anbu had been unable to locate him; Qi Shuang promised to capture him when he appeared.
• Mei Terumi asked about the electricity-to-chakra experiment, and Qi Shuang estimated it would take at least two years while promising to support the dam if danger arose.
• The Agriculture Department harvested its new Yuan Rice and found its average yield was nearly ninety percent higher than that of the villagers’ rice.
• The Agriculture Department offered farmers new rice seed in exchange for old seed, and villagers eagerly replaced their crops as the department gained respect.
• Kirigakure’s life grew more stable, and the village welcomed twenty thousand new infants that year.

Qi Shuang studied Yang Release with materials Orochimaru sent him, hoping to develop a way to heal Ming’s injuries. After a month of rapid progress, he successfully used Yang Release to restore dead cells in a piece of cured meat, and left the laboratory in high spirits.

• Unable to create a Yang Release treatment for Ming on his own, Qi Shuang asked Orochimaru for help.
• Orochimaru sent Qi Shuang a large collection of Yang Release research, including the Shedding Skin Replacement Technique, and Qi Shuang suspected he wanted something in return.
• Qi Shuang studied Orochimaru’s materials and advanced in Yang Release far faster than he had during nearly a year of independent research.
• Qi Shuang tested Yang Release on air-dried cured meat and restored it to fresh meat, demonstrating that Yang Release could revive dead cells.
• A medical ninja mistook the restored meat for fresh pork, and Qi Shuang told him to take it as an extra serving.

Medical ninjas discovered that Qi Shuang had used Yang Release to restore vitality to dried meat and rushed to seek his instruction. After another month of practice, Qi Shuang completed a healing ninjutsu capable of reviving the dead.

• A fat medical ninja inspected and ate meat transformed by Qi Shuang’s ninjutsu while his colleagues watched for side effects.
• The medical ninjas learned the meat had been dried meat and realized Qi Shuang had restored its vitality with Yang Release.
• Several medical ninjas ran to find the Mizukage-sama and ask Lord Qi Shuang to take them as disciples, while the fat medical ninja was detained for not paying the barbecue bill.
• After a month of practice coordinating hand seals and controlling Yang Release, Qi Shuang completed Yang Release: Extreme Death Rebirth, which could heal injuries and bring the dead back to life.

Qi Shuang used Yang Release to heal Mei Terumi’s damaged meridians, then agreed to provide introductory Yang Release materials for the Jutsu Library. After returning home, he turned to improving his own abilities by seeking to transform Ice Release: Chakra Mode into senjutsu.

• Qi Shuang treated Mei Terumi’s injuries with Yang Release: Extreme Death Rebirth, exhausting himself as he repaired her meridians.
• Mei Terumi asked Qi Shuang to teach Yang Release to Medical Department staff, and he agreed to submit basic materials for restricted access in the Jutsu Library.
• Mei Terumi felt healed but agreed to avoid using large amounts of Corrosion Release chakra after Qi Shuang warned her it could worsen her condition.
• Qi Shuang selected introductory Yang Release materials for the Jutsu Library and set out to merge Ice Release: Chakra Mode with Sage Mode.

Qi Shuang devised a plan to use Yang Release to fuse Sage Mode with Ice Release: Chakra Mode, while Kirigakure’s successful Yuan Rice harvest drew attention from other villages. After Konoha identified the rice-growing catalyst as Wood Release, the Third Hokage decided to establish an Agriculture Department using one of Danzo’s Wood Release subordinates.

• Qi Shuang reasoned that Yang Release could synchronize the conflicting chakra paths of Sage Mode and Ice Release: Chakra Mode, then began trying to alter the latter’s circulation.
• Merchants, farmers, and representatives from the other villages traveled to Kirigakure for Yuan Rice seeds, but Qi Shuang’s order barred sales outside the Land of Water.
• Shinobi from the other villages stole rice seeds and spies investigated Kirigakure’s Agriculture Department, though they failed to uncover its core hybridization theory.
• Konoha’s leaders concluded that Wood Release was the catalyst behind the new rice and discussed creating their own Agriculture Department.
• The Third Hokage, backed by the elderly woman and the bespectacled man, decided to use Danzo’s Wood Release subordinate for the project, and Danzo reluctantly left.

Qi Shuang completed the fusion of Ice Release: Chakra Mode and Sage Mode, creating a compact, agile power that could challenge Susanoo. He then began adapting Orochimaru's Shedding Skin Replacement Technique into a long-lasting combat enhancement to prepare for a future fight against the Akatsuki.

• Iwagakure, Sunagakure, and Kumogakure traced Kirigakure's rice-growing catalyst to Wood Release and began investigating its origin.
• Qi Shuang completed the fusion of Ice Release: Chakra Mode and Sage Mode, gaining a form whose agility could counter Susanoo's size and strength.
• Qi Shuang decided Orochimaru's Shedding Skin Replacement Technique was less useful to him than a new combat-enhancement technique.
• Qi Shuang studied the Eight Gates Formation but rejected copying its dangerous, time-limited method of unlocking the body's hidden gates.
• Qi Shuang began developing a Yang Release technique based on Shedding Skin Replacement to strengthen himself for prolonged battles and the coming campaign against the Akatsuki.

Over two years, the Hidden Mist rebuilt its forces and restored its medical system while Qi Shuang refined his costly Shedding Skin Replacement Technique. At Fountain Square, Kisame Hoshigaki explained that he had reconsidered how to pursue an ideal, and Qi Shuang resumed his judgment of him.

• The Hidden Mist graduated new Genin, restored its medical system, expanded its Agriculture Department, and recovered to around eight thousand ninjas as its borders stabilized.
• Qi Shuang completed his unique version of the Shedding Skin Replacement Technique, though its full use carried an enormous cost and could be performed only once.
• Yuri approached Kisame Hoshigaki in the fountain and asked why Qi Shuang had kept him imprisoned instead of executing him.
• Kisame told Yuri that Qi Shuang had wanted to give him a chance to reform.
• Qi Shuang arrived and asked Kisame how an ideal future should be realized, and Kisame answered that people should advance toward it one step at a time.

After two years in captivity, Kisame Hoshigaki chose to return to the Mist Hidden Village, having abandoned his belief that he could change the whole world alone. Qi Shuang took Yuri to the hospital after noticing her frequent nosebleeds.

• Qi Shuang told Kisame Hoshigaki that people had to work toward a better future through their own choices, and Kisame agreed that trying to change the world alone was foolish.
• Qi Shuang asked Kisame to choose life or death, and Kisame chose life and agreed to return to the Mist Hidden Village.
• Qi Shuang left the pool with Yuri and Chojuro, who asked when they would receive genuine Ninja Swords after graduating as Genin.
• Qi Shuang explained that Yuri could not receive the Lightning Blade because Kurotsuchi Raiga still possessed it, and Yuri's nose began bleeding again.
• After learning that Yuri had suffered several nosebleeds that month, Qi Shuang insisted on taking her to the hospital for an examination.

After learning that Yuri had a brain tumor and might have only two years to live, Qi Shuang arranged for her to rest in Kirigakure while seeking a way to find Tsunade. Mei Terumi revealed that Konoha had invited Kirigakure to this year’s Chunin Exams.

• The doctor told Qi Shuang that Yuri had a growing foreign object in her brain, that Kirigakure could not treat it, and that she might have about two years to live.
• Qi Shuang told Yuri she was sick, promised to seek a cure, and said he would arrange medical leave so she could stop going on missions.
• Qi Shuang informed Mei Terumi about Yuri’s condition and proposed asking Orochimaru to help locate Tsunade.
• Mei Terumi said Tsunade had left Konoha and revealed an invitation from the Third Hokage for Kirigakure to participate in the Chunin Exams.

Qi Shuang persuaded Mei Terumi to attend Konoha’s Chunin Ninja Exams and use the occasion to gather the Five Kage against the Akatsuki before it revived the Ten-Tails. Mei Terumi prepared invitations and Kirigakure’s promising young ninjas, while Orochimaru agreed to attend and learned that Jiraiya and Tsunade might also come.

• Qi Shuang convinced Mei Terumi that Kirigakure should attend the Chunin Ninja Exams to avoid appearing weak and to persuade the other Four Kage to oppose the Akatsuki.
• Qi Shuang warned Mei Terumi that the Akatsuki had nearly a hundred thousand White Zetsu and the Ten-Tails’ husk, and intended to revive the Ten-Tails.
• Mei Terumi agreed to invite the other Four Kage to a Five Kage Summit in Konoha and proposed bringing promising youngsters equipped with ninja blades.
• Qi Shuang sent Orochimaru a letter proposing they attend the Chunin Ninja Exams, and Orochimaru told Kimimaro to prepare for the trip.
• Kabuto told Orochimaru that Jiraiya had returned to Konoha and Tsunade might meet him there.

Kumogakure and Iwagakure agreed to attend Konoha’s Chunin Ninja Exams and the Five Kage Summit, while Rasa canceled Sunagakure’s planned operation against Konoha. At Mount Myōboku, Jiraiya sought guidance about his disciple Nagato, who possessed the Rinnegan and was preparing to destroy the world.

• Kumogakure and Iwagakure reconsidered their plans and decided to attend the summit and Konoha’s Chunin Ninja Exams.
• Rasa canceled Sunagakure’s operation against Konoha after the other villages changed their plans.
• Grandma Chiyo told Rasa she would travel to Konoha to meet the Mizukage and retrieve Sasori’s remains, and Rasa agreed to request their delivery.
• The Great Toad Sage announced that Jiraiya had arrived at Mount Myōboku, and Jiraiya asked about the prophecy.
• Jiraiya revealed that Nagato, who possessed the Rinnegan, was the disciple preparing to destroy the world.

Mount Myōboku’s prophecy identified the Kirigakure “Blue Eyes Ice Dragon” as the force that could stop the Child of Prophecy, while Akatsuki prepared to capture tailed beasts during Konoha’s Chunin Ninja Exams and Five Kage Summit. Obito accepted the mission to capture the One-Tail, but could only ask Rin to wait before he could take her back to Konoha.

• The Great Toad Sage told Jiraiya that the prophecy had changed and that a snowstorm had obscured the Child of Prophecy’s fate; he identified the Kirigakure shinobi with Ice Release and Senjutsu as the one who would stop the Child.
• Konan assigned Akatsuki members to capture tailed beasts while Konoha hosted the Chunin Ninja Exams and Five Kage Summit, sending Obito after the One-Tail.
• Deva Path agreed that Amegakure should send someone to the exams as cover and ordered White Zetsu to watch Konoha.
• Rin asked Obito if they could return to Konoha, but Obito asked her to wait while he secretly hoped to revive her.

Qi Shuang freed Kisame Hoshigaki from his ice chains and took him to a dam, where Kisame tested him with Samehada. After surviving Kisame’s full-strength strike with his Ice Release: Chakra Mode, Qi Shuang began explaining why Kisame would still lose a fight to the death.

• Qi Shuang released Kisame Hoshigaki from the pool’s ice chains and flew with him to the riverbank near a dam.
• Qi Shuang returned Samehada to Kisame, who tested him by swinging the sword toward his head but stopped before striking him.
• Qi Shuang activated Ice Release: Chakra Mode and invited Kisame to attack him at full strength.
• Kisame struck Qi Shuang with Samehada, driving him into the ground, and Qi Shuang gave Kisame a mask when Kirigakure guards came to investigate.
• After the guards left, Kisame praised Qi Shuang’s defense and claimed Samehada gave him the advantage, but Qi Shuang insisted Kisame would die and began explaining how their close-combat fight would unfold.

Qi Shuang assigned Kisame to guard the Six-Tails, which he had sealed inside a dam, while he and the Mizukage traveled to Konoha. He warned Kisame about the Akatsuki’s strongest threats and told him to prioritize survival if Pain came for the beast.

• Qi Shuang convinced Kisame that he could not defeat him before he took flight, then asked Kisame to protect a dam.
• Qi Shuang revealed that the Six-Tails powered the Purified Water Barrier and was sealed inside the dam.
• Qi Shuang explained that he and the Mizukage would travel to Konoha for the Chunin Ninja Exams and Five Kage Summit, leaving Kisame to guard the Six-Tails in disguise.
• Qi Shuang warned Kisame that Itachi Uchiha could defeat him with Genjutsu and told him not to fight Itachi alone.
• Qi Shuang explained that his Senjutsu-sealed barrier would prevent Itachi from taking the Six-Tails, but ordered Kisame to surrender it and survive if he encountered the Six Paths of Pain.

Qi Shuang assigned Kisame Hoshigaki to guard the Six-Tails at the dam and urged him to prioritize survival. A week later, Mei Terumi led Kirigakure’s delegation to Konoha for the Chunin Exams and Five Kage Summit, where Sasuke rejected Sakura’s invitation and Naruto confronted him.

• Qi Shuang told Kisame Hoshigaki that Pain’s Rinnegan had distinctive overlapping rings and instructed him to guard the Six-Tails at the dam.
• Qi Shuang explained that Kisame would be relieved once the Research and Development Department devised a way to convert electricity into chakra, and warned him to stay alive even if the Six-Tails was lost.
• Mei Terumi prepared to travel to Konoha, and a week later she led a fifty-two-person Kirigakure delegation, including thirty Genin and twenty guards, from the village.
• Chojuro’s grandfather urged him to follow Mizukage-sama’s orders, while Yuri and Samehada’s successor traveled with imitation weapons because the genuine swords were unavailable.
• The other villages headed for Konoha as the host village prepared for the Chunin Exams and Five Kage Summit.
• Sasuke rejected Sakura’s invitation to the hot springs, and Naruto stepped in to rebuke him for treating their teammate badly.

Qi Shuang arrived in Konoha with the Kirigakure delegation for the Chunin Ninja Exams, where he reunited with Killer B and met Jiraiya and Orochimaru. He followed them away to talk, while Mei Terumi took the seven new-generation Ninja Sword Wielders sightseeing without him.

• The black-haired boy insulted Naruto and walked off, and the Pink-haired girl left Naruto alone.
• Qi Shuang and the Kirigakure group reached Konoha after nearly three days of travel and met Killer B on the way through the village.
• After meeting the Third Hokage and checking into an inn, Qi Shuang was visited by Jiraiya and Orochimaru, who said Orochimaru had come as the leader of Otogakure for the Chunin Ninja Exams.
• Jiraiya led Qi Shuang and Orochimaru away from the street to talk, leaving Yuri unable to find Qi Shuang in his room.
• Mei Terumi took Yuri and the seven new-generation Ninja Sword Wielders out to explore Konoha.

Qi Shuang explained to Jiraiya and Orochimaru why Nagato wanted to overturn the world, tracing his plans to Yahiko’s death and the Akatsuki’s brutal purge. He revealed that Nagato intended to use the Ten-Tails to trap everyone in a dream, leaving Jiraiya furious at the idea of replacing reality.

• Jiraiya asked Qi Shuang whether he had informed Orochimaru about Nagato and pressed him to reveal where his intelligence came from, but Qi Shuang refused to disclose the source.
• Jiraiya told Qi Shuang that Hiruzen doubted the Akatsuki posed a threat requiring the Five Great Villages, and Qi Shuang said he would persuade the other Four Kage at the Five Kage Summit.
• Qi Shuang explained that Yahiko had led the peace-seeking Akatsuki until Hanzō saw it as a threat and negotiations were sabotaged.
• Qi Shuang revealed that Konoha, Obito Uchiha, and others had interfered, causing Yahiko’s death and the Akatsuki’s purge; Orochimaru connected the incident to Danzo.
• Qi Shuang explained that Nagato planned to destroy the existing order and use the Ten-Tails to place everyone in a dream world, and Jiraiya angrily rejected the plan.

Qi Shuang spoke with Jiraiya and Orochimaru about their opposing views of Nagato’s dream and asked Jiraiya to help Tsunade treat a child from his village. Orochimaru demanded the Rinnegan, but Qi Shuang urged the two to postpone their dispute until after they defeated the Akatsuki; afterward, he returned to Mei Terumi.

• Qi Shuang said he would carve out his own future and asked Jiraiya to seek Tsunade’s help treating a child from his village.
• Orochimaru asked Qi Shuang for the Rinnegan, prompting Jiraiya to threaten to destroy the eyes rather than let Orochimaru have them.
• Qi Shuang calmed the argument by saying they should discuss the Rinnegan after defeating the Akatsuki, whose Six Paths of Pain Orochimaru warned were formidable.
• Qi Shuang declined Jiraiya’s invitation to drink and left, while Jiraiya decided to wait for Tsunade at a tavern.
• Qi Shuang returned to find Mei Terumi waiting in his room and invited her to stay.

Qi Shuang failed to persuade the other Four Great Ninja Villages to take the Akatsuki seriously, but Jiraiya secured Tsunade’s agreement to examine Yuri. He brought Qi Shuang and Yuri to Konoha’s hospital, where Tsunade was working.

• Qi Shuang found that the other Four Great Ninja Villages dismissed the Akatsuki as an insignificant group of rogue ninja.
• Jiraiya told Qi Shuang that Tsunade had agreed to treat Yuri, and Qi Shuang informed Mei Terumi before setting out.
• Jiraiya met Yuri and joked about her age and appearance, prompting her to draw her replica blades before Qi Shuang stopped her.
• Qi Shuang explained that Yuri was a future Ninja Sword Wielder and that he was taking her to Tsunade for an examination.
• Jiraiya led Qi Shuang and Yuri to the hospital, where Tsunade had resumed work as a medical ninja.