Chapter Summaries

Hiko’s Sixth Squad completed a ten-day assignment monitoring the Uchiha, and Hiko revealed he had long known the village was targeting his clan. The others endured the assignment in distress but stayed composed, and they left determined not to take on such work again.

• Jiraiya, Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Hatake Sakumo worried that Hiko would discover the surveillance room, but Hiko told them he had known about it for a long time.
• Hiko explained that the village’s hostility toward the Uchiha stemmed from old clan conflicts, Uchiha Madara’s actions, and the interests of powerful clans.
• Hiko reassured the squad that anger would not change the situation and said he would need to become Head of Anbu to cancel the assignment.
• The Sixth Squad watched the monitors for ten days while the Third Hokage and others secretly observed them, but the squad did not cause trouble.
• After the assignment ended, Jiraiya complained that he never wanted to undertake that kind of surveillance duty again, while the others left exhausted.

After Sixth Squad returned from its grueling mission, Hiko reported their completion to the Third Hokage and went home to rest, while his teammates resolved to cause him less trouble. Elsewhere in the ninja world, a failed attempt to seal a Tailed Beast triggered a devastating rampage in a village.

• Jiraiya, Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Hatake Sakumo discussed Hiko’s burden and decided to avoid causing him trouble and take initiative with small matters.
• Hiko delivered the Mission Scroll to the Third Hokage, who confirmed Sixth Squad’s successful mission and granted them leave before more patrol duties.
• Hiko returned home and fell into a deep sleep, mentally exhausted from the pressure and constant planning.
• A village elsewhere in the Hokage World tried to seal a Tailed Beast as a weapon, but the failed attempt set off its rampage.
• The rampaging Tailed Beast devastated the village with a powerful Tailed Beast Ball as ninja rushed to fight it and rescue civilians.

After the Seven-Tails rampaged through Takigakure and fled, the devastated village asked Konoha to help recapture it in exchange for substantial resources and money. The Third Hokage presented the plea to Konoha’s leaders, who faced the decision as Naoko Senju dismissed Takigakure’s plight.

• The Seven-Tails went berserk, destroyed much of Takigakure, and escaped after the village’s shinobi failed to suppress it.
• Takigakure’s leaders sent searchers after the Seven-Tails and secretly asked Konoha for help recapturing it.
• The Third Hokage convened Konoha’s leaders and explained Takigakure’s losses and offer of compensation.
• Naoko Senju said Takigakure deserved its suffering for trying to control a Tailed Beast without sufficient strength.

The Third and Konoha’s higher-ups debated whether to answer the Daimyo of the Land of Waterfalls’ plea for help against the rampaging Seven-Tails. Danzo and others pushed to send Uchiha Hiko, leaving the Third furious as the meeting turned into an effort to force the dangerous mission onto him.

• The Third convened a high-level meeting after the Daimyo of the Land of Waterfalls requested help for Takigakure and offered a generous reward.
• The higher-ups questioned why Takigakure had asked Konoha instead of Iwagakure, and discussed who could suppress the Seven-Tails.
• The Third realized that no one wanted to undertake the mission and that he could not go himself.
• Danzo suggested sending someone from the Uchiha Clan because they were said to be able to control Tailed Beasts.
• The higher-ups named Uchiha Hiko as the candidate, citing his Mangekyo Sharingan and desire to become Head of Anbu.
• The Third stood up angrily as the others argued that Hiko should accept the dangerous mission.

The Third Hokage challenged the Elder Council for trying to force Uchiha Hiko to capture Takigakure’s escaped Tailed Beast. Danzo and the other elders offered concessions if Hiko completed the mission, and Hiko headed to the Meeting Room after learning why he had been summoned.

• The Third Hokage rebuked the officials for demanding that Hiko capture a Tailed Beast as a condition for becoming Head of Anbu.
• Danzo said he would stop making things difficult for Hiko if Hiko completed the mission, and Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura offered to ease the Elder Council’s policies toward the Uchiha.
• The Third Hokage ordered an Anbu operative to summon Hiko to the Meeting Room and said he would not force Hiko to accept the mission.
• An Anbu operative told Hiko that Takigakure’s Tailed Beast had escaped, and Hiko guessed that the elders wanted him to capture it.
• Hiko left for the Hokage Office Building at his own pace, thinking about the Seven-Tails, Chōmei.

Uchiha Hiko refused Utatane Koharu’s request to capture the escaped Seven-Tails, insisting that she and the other senior officials had no authority to command Anbu. He left the Meeting Room after warning them not to issue Anbu orders, while Utatane Koharu erupted in anger.

• Hiko arrived at the Meeting Room and greeted the Third Hokage while ignoring the other senior officials.
• Utatane Koharu explained that Takigakure had requested Konoha’s help capturing the escaped Seven-Tails and offered Hiko career advantages if he accepted.
• Hiko refused the mission on behalf of Anbu Third Division, arguing that the village could not command Anbu outside the Hokage’s authority.
• Hiko warned the senior officials not to give orders to Anbu and suggested sending someone capable of flight or producing strong gusts to deal with Seven-Tails Chōmei.
• Hiko left the Meeting Room, and Utatane Koharu angrily accused him of defying his superiors.

Hiko warned that capturing Takigakure’s Seven-Tails, Chōmei, would be dangerous and require capable leaders, prompting the Third Hokage to ask him to continue despite Utatane Koharu’s objections. Hiko left the meeting considering the mission’s risks and the benefits he would need before agreeing to help.

• Hiko said capturing Seven-Tails Chōmei would be difficult and likely cost lives because it could fly, obscure vision with powder, and turn invisible.
• Utatane Koharu challenged Hiko’s warning, and the Third Hokage reminded her that Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara had captured the village’s Tailed Beasts.
• The Third Hokage urged Hiko to explain the danger, noting that the mission would take place away from ordinary people.
• Hiko argued that a large team could hinder the capture and asked whether Konoha had anyone capable of matching Uchiha Madara.
• Hiko considered that the mission might improve his chances of becoming Head of Anbu, but decided he would need sufficient benefits and guarantees before agreeing.

Konoha’s leaders discussed how to help Takigakure find and capture the Seven-Tails, agreeing to seek sensory and sealing support from the Uzumaki Clan. With no one volunteering for the dangerous mission, the Third Hokage planned to appoint two teams and Hiko kept Uchiha secrets from Danzo.

• The Third Hokage and the higher-ups discussed using sensory ninja and sealing techniques to locate and capture the Seven-Tails.
• The Third Hokage proposed asking the Uzumaki Clan to provide support with sensory abilities and Sealing Jutsu.
• The Third Hokage asked for volunteers to go to the Land of Waterfalls, but the leaders and clan representatives remained silent.
• Danzo asked Hiko about the Uchiha’s rumored ability to control Tailed Beasts, and Hiko refused to reveal clan secrets.
• The Third Hokage planned to send one team to seal the Seven-Tails and another to restrain it, while asking the Uzumaki Clan to help locate it.

After helping select a squad to search for the Seven-Tails, Hiko discussed his conflict with Konoha’s higher-ups and his ambition to become Head of Anbu with the Third Hokage. Hiko confirmed he could forcibly control a Tailed Beast, leaving the Third Hokage shaken before he asked Hiko whether he would go to Takigakure.

• Konoha selected sensory, sealing, and combat specialists for a squad to search for the Seven-Tails in Takigakure.
• The Third Hokage warned Hiko that his confrontational behavior was worsening the higher-ups’ impression of him, but Hiko said yielding would not stop them from targeting him.
• Hiko explained that becoming Head of Anbu would help him gain the Uchiha Clan’s respect and prevent the village-Uchiha conflict from worsening.
• The Third Hokage asked whether the rumors about the Uchiha Clan controlling Tailed Beasts were true, and Hiko confirmed that he was the only one in the clan who could do it.
• Hiko explained that Uchiha Madara had placed a Curse Mark on the Nine-Tails, allowing him to summon it forcibly, and the Third Hokage resolved to reassess the Uchiha Clan.
• The Third Hokage asked Hiko if he would be willing to go to Takigakure.

Hiko refused to accept a dangerous mission to help capture the Seven-Tails unless the Third Hokage gave him the position of Head of Anbu, which the Hokage would not promise. After Konoha's team departed for Takigakure, Hiko told Jiraiya, Tsunade, Hatake Sakumo, and Orochimaru that the village leaders had wanted him to take the blame for a major problem.

• The Third Hokage offered Hiko a reward for accepting the mission, but ruled out promoting him to Head of Anbu.
• Hiko insisted that the Head of Anbu position was the only benefit he wanted and warned that capturing the Seven-Tails could cost the team their lives.
• The Third Hokage sent Hiko away to rest and waited for news from the Konoha team dispatched to Takigakure.
• Hiko left the Hokage Office Building in good spirits, believing that the mission's outcome could create an opportunity for him to gain the position.
• Jiraiya, Tsunade, Hatake Sakumo, and Orochimaru visited Hiko and asked why the Third Hokage had summoned him to a high-level meeting.
• Hiko explained that the higher-ups had wanted him to take the blame, and Tsunade condemned their actions.

Hiko told Tsunade, Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Hatake Sakumo that Takigakure’s Tailed Beast had escaped and that he had refused the mission to help capture it. The group worried that his refusal would provoke Konoha’s higher-ups, and they agreed Sixth Squad should be more careful.

• Hiko explained that Takigakure’s Tailed Beast had broken free, causing chaos and many deaths, and that Konoha had asked him to help capture it.
• Hiko said he had refused the mission, prompting Tsunade and Jiraiya to condemn the higher-ups for targeting him.
• Tsunade took Hiko’s hand and worried that refusing the mission would bring him trouble, then kicked Jiraiya after he joked about seeing them together.
• Hiko said Utatane Koharu and other members of the Elder Council would likely cause him trouble because he had refused them outright.
• Tsunade said Sixth Squad needed to be careful around the elders and asked Hiko to explain what had happened.

Hiko explained why he had refused Utatane Koharu’s order and predicted that Konoha’s mission to capture Takigakure’s Seven-Tails would go badly. Two Konoha squads set out for Takigakure, planning to meet the Uzumaki Clan’s helpers in two days.

• Hiko recounted the dispute with Utatane Koharu, and Hatake Sakumo explained that Anbu rules barred other higher-ups from interfering in its affairs.
• Hiko said Konoha had sent two squads to help Takigakure capture the Seven-Tails, with the Uzumaki Clan also sending assistance.
• Tsunade questioned whether the team could handle a Tailed Beast, and Hiko warned that the Seven-Tails would be hard to find and dangerous to fight.
• Hatake Sakumo asked whether Hiko expected the mission to fail, and Hiko said the team might lose everything if it could not capture the beast.
• The two Konoha squads left at full speed, intending to rendezvous with the Uzumaki Clan’s helpers in a Takigakure town two days later.

Konoha’s team traveled to the Land of Waterfalls to help Takigakure find the Seven-Tails, relying on assistance from the Uzumaki Clan. They met the young and hot-tempered Uzumaki Kirisame, who joined the search planning after Konoha apologized, but the team still lacked a clear way to track the flying beast.

• Konoha’s team crossed the Land of Fire and reached a border town in the Land of Waterfalls after two days of travel.
• Uzumaki Kirisame arrived as the Uzumaki Clan’s helper, and Konoha’s doubts about her age and size angered her.
• Captain Hyuga apologized, and Kirisame further scolded the group for failing to address her by name.
• After Konoha’s people explained themselves, Kirisame calmed down and accompanied them to Takigakure.
• A weary Takigakure Jonin explained that Seven-Tails Chōmei could fly, making its tracks difficult to find on the ground.

After Takigakure struggled to recover from Seven-Tails Chōmei’s rampage, its shinobi found a way to track the beast using shed Scale Powder and Ninja Hounds. Konoha’s team began the search, found the trail, and continued onward when Uzumaki Kirisame could not sense Chōmei from so far away.

• Captain Hyuga and Uzumaki Kirisame asked a Takigakure Jonin how they could track the flying, burrowing Seven-Tails Chōmei.
• The Takigakure Jonin remembered that Chōmei shed Scale Powder, and the shinobi planned to use Ninja Hounds to follow its scent.
• The Takigakure Jonin arranged the search while Captain Hyuga warned Konoha’s team to prepare for a battle with the Tailed Beast.
• The search party found Chōmei’s Scale Powder with help from the Ninja Hounds, but Uzumaki Kirisame could not sense the beast at that distance.
• The team decided to keep following the trail toward Seven-Tails Chōmei.

Konoha and Takigakure tracked Seven-Tails Chōmei to a massive sinkhole in the Land of Frost, where it burst from underground and attacked them. Captain Hyuga and the Takigakure Jonin led their combat teams into battle as the Sealing Team and Uzumaki Kirisame withdrew.

• Konoha and Takigakure hurried to recapture Seven-Tails Chōmei before other villages could seize it.
• A Ninja Hound led the searchers to a huge sinkhole and barked into it.
• Uzumaki Kirisame sensed a powerful Chakra presence beneath the group and warned them to flee.
• Seven-Tails Chōmei erupted from underground, stunning the Konoha shinobi with its size and Chakra.
• Captain Hyuga ordered the Sealing Team to withdraw, then he and the Takigakure Jonin led their combat teams toward Chōmei.
• Seven-Tails Chōmei roared that the humans deserved to die.

The Seven-Tails slaughtered the Konoha and Takigakure teams sent to capture it, and Uzumaki Kirisame was reported dead. The Third Hokage summoned Konoha’s senior officials to discuss the disaster and its likely consequences with Takigakure and the Uzumaki Clan.

• The Seven-Tails killed the Takigakure ninjas who attacked it and drove off the remaining fighters.
• The Third Hokage learned that Konoha’s assisting squads had been wiped out, Uzumaki Kirisame was missing and presumed dead, and Hyuga Kazuki had been crippled.
• The Third Hokage ordered an immediate meeting of Konoha’s senior officials.
• Konoha’s officials gathered in the Meeting Room as the Third Hokage asked about developments in Takigakure and Whirlpool Country.

Konoha’s leaders debated how to respond after their squad failed to capture Takigakure’s Seven-Tails and Uzumaki Kirisame died. The Third Hokage ended the meeting without finding a leader for a new mission, then suspected Uchiha Hiko had anticipated the squad’s destruction.

• The Third Hokage reported that Takigakure demanded Konoha capture the Seven-Tails again and that the Land of Whirlpools wanted an explanation for Uzumaki Kirisame’s death.
• Mitokado Homura urged the leaders to prioritize recapturing the Seven-Tails, but no one volunteered to lead the mission.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi offered to lead the team himself, and Utatane Koharu, Mitokado Homura, and the other leaders objected.
• The meeting ended with no candidate chosen, leaving the Third frustrated that Konoha might send another squad to the same fate.
• The Third connected the phrase “completely wiped out” to Uchiha Hiko and wondered whether Hiko had predicted the mission’s failure when he made his demands.

Hiko was summoned to the Hokage’s Office after Konoha’s mission to help Takigakure capture the Seven-Tails ended in disaster. The Third Hokage revealed that the Uzumaki Clan’s Little Princess had died, leaving Hiko to realize the failure carried a serious political cost.

• The Third Hokage resolved to summon Hiko after becoming disgusted with Konoha’s higher-ups and their conduct toward outsiders.
• Hiko and Tsunade spent two hours shopping before an Anbu member interrupted them with the Hokage’s summons.
• Hiko hurried to the Hokage’s Office, while Tsunade angrily blamed the Third Hokage for ending their outing.
• The Third Hokage told Hiko that the mission team had been nearly wiped out, with members of Takigakure and the Uzumaki Clan among the dead.
• The Third Hokage revealed that the Uzumaki Clan’s Little Princess had joined the mission and held a status comparable to Tsunade’s in the Senju Clan.

Hiko offered to capture the Seven-Tails and turn it into Konoha’s Summoned Beast, lifting Hiruzen Sarutobi’s spirits as he considered the proposal. Hiruzen remained unsure whether to grant Hiko’s demand to become Head of Anbu, given the political fallout and the risk of losing more shinobi.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi told Hiko that the Elder Council had blocked his plan to lead the mission to Takigakure and that Konoha’s approach to the Uzumaki Clan risked creating a rift.
• Hiko joked that Hiruzen should make him Head of Anbu so he could capture the Seven-Tails and make it Konoha’s Tailed Beast.
• Hiko suggested he might summon the Seven-Tails away as Uchiha Madara had done with the Nine-Tails, and Hiruzen considered that he might be capable of it.
• Hiruzen privately approved of the idea of weakening Takigakure but hesitated to promote Hiko because he was only thirteen and the Elder Council would object.
• Hiruzen worried that sending Hiko without granting his demand could lead to casualties, especially after Konoha had already lost five Elite Jonin.

Hiko pressured the Third into appointing him Head of Anbu if he recovered the Seven-Tails from Takigakure. The Third agreed, and Hiko prepared to leave on the dangerous mission alone except for a shinobi with a keen sense of smell.

• Hiko waited while the Third weighed the political risks of giving him the Head of Anbu position.
• Hiko insisted he was confident and threatened to walk away from the offer, forcing the Third to agree to appoint him after the mission.
• The Third ordered Hiko to leave for Takigakure and promised to withstand the higher-ups' pressure when he returned.
• Hiko refused to bring Sixth Squad, saying he needed only a shinobi with a sharp sense of smell for the Seven-Tails mission.
• The Third warned Hiko about the Tailed Beast and possible enemies from other villages, while Hiko anticipated assassination attempts, especially from Iwagakure.