Chapter Summaries

Aoba and Itachi saw Naruto and Sasuke off to the Ninja Academy, then Aoba was summoned to the Hyuga compound. There, Hyuga Hiashi introduced his young daughter Hanabi, who thanked Aoba for a gift he did not remember giving her and called him Onii-chan.

• Sasuke reluctantly greeted Aoba and Naruto, then laughed with them and Itachi over Aoba’s embarrassing school memories.
• Itachi told Aoba that his eyesight had worsened after awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan, and Aoba warned him to avoid using it unnecessarily.
• Naruto and Sasuke were assigned to the same class and entered the Ninja Academy as Aoba and Itachi watched.
• Two Hyuga clan members summoned Aoba to the family compound on Hyuga Hiashi’s request.
• Hyuga Hiashi introduced his daughter Hanabi, who thanked Aoba for a gift and called him Onii-chan, leaving him confused.

Aoba learned that Hyuga Hiashi had hired him to teach Hanabi physical techniques as cover for a promised gift. A new mission required him to make Hanabi cry three times and earn her admiration, and Aoba accepted the teaching role despite the system's absurd instructions.

• Aoba realized Hanabi had received the Big Bear Plush and learned she had named it Bear One.
• Hyuga Hiashi explained that he would publicly hire Aoba to teach Hanabi basic physical techniques, hiding the gift he had prepared for Aoba.
• Aoba objected that his methods did not match the Hyuga Family's Gentle Fist, but Hiashi insisted he was qualified and urged him to train Hanabi.
• The system issued Aoba a mission to make Hanabi cry at least three times while laying her foundation and earn her admiration within one month.
• Aoba warned Hiashi that his training would be extremely grueling, and Hiashi approved, having investigated Aoba's training and hoping to observe his intentions toward his daughter.
• Aoba accepted the role of Hanabi's teacher and looked at her with a pained expression and a demonic smile.

Aoba began teaching Hanabi and accidentally made her cry by using Armament Haki when she punched his knee. After defending Hanabi from Hiashi’s scolding, Aoba framed the confrontation as part of a plan to earn her trust, leaving Hiashi convinced their cooperation was still going smoothly.

• Aoba insisted that Hanabi call him teacher and began assessing her strength.
• Hanabi punched Aoba’s knee, hurting her hand against his Armament Haki, but she tried to endure the pain without crying.
• Aoba poked Hanabi’s swollen hand instead of comforting her, and she burst into tears.
• Hiashi arrived and scolded Hanabi, prompting Aoba to reprimand him and take Hanabi to get medicine.
• Aoba told Hiashi that the exchange had helped Hanabi trust him, and Hiashi accepted the explanation.

Aoba finished teaching Hanabi during his month with the Hyuga Family, then accepted Neji’s challenge after Neji defeated Hinata. Neji launched his Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, but Aoba’s defenses held firm and sent powerful countershocks back through each strike.

• Aoba completed a month of teaching Hanabi and prepared to collect Hiashi’s promised gift and leave.
• Neji defeated Hinata in a match, then asked Aoba to guide him in a fight.
• Aoba agreed to spar with Neji and sent him flying with a fast kick.
• Neji questioned how Aoba had kicked without moving his shoulders, then attacked again with his Byakugan and Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms.
• Aoba activated his defenses, and Neji’s strikes failed to penetrate them while powerful countershocks surged back at him.

Aoba defeated Neji in a spar, and Hiashi responded by increasing Neji’s care and training resources. The next day, a punishment mission ordered Aoba to destroy Hiruzen Sarutobi’s Crystal Ball, leaving him planning how to do it without confronting Hiruzen directly.

• Neji stubbornly continued the Sixty-Four Palms until Aoba knocked him out, leaving him with minor fractures in both arms.
• Aoba praised Neji’s potential to Hiashi, who arranged medicine and increased Neji’s cultivation resources and daily treatment.
• Aoba left the Hyuga Family with gifts of Explosive Tags and cash.
• The system issued Aoba a punishment mission to smash the Crystal Ball Hiruzen Sarutobi used to spy on people, with a one-day deadline.
• Aoba resolved to destroy the Crystal Ball but began looking for a way to avoid confronting Hiruzen openly.

Aoba enlisted Naruto to sneak into the Hokage Building and smash Hiruzen's Crystal Ball, disguising the mission as a test. After Aoba informed Naruto's Anbu guard and asked him to pass along the plan, Hiruzen was left wondering what Aoba was up to.

• Aoba decided to have Naruto smash Hiruzen's Crystal Ball instead of doing it himself.
• Aoba told Naruto the mission was a test and sent him off with a map to find and smash the Crystal Ball without being seen.
• Aoba approached an Anbu member guarding Naruto and asked him to tell Hiruzen to let Naruto sneak into the Hokage Building unnoticed.
• The Anbu member reported Aoba's plan to Hiruzen before Naruto arrived.
• Hiruzen questioned what Aoba was trying to accomplish.

Naruto infiltrated the Hokage Building to steal the Crystal Ball while transformed as Aoba, unaware that Hiruzen had ordered the guards to let him proceed. He escaped with the Crystal Ball hidden under his clothes, convinced he had passed Aoba’s trial.

• Hiruzen ordered the guards to conceal themselves and let Naruto proceed without interference.
• Naruto followed Aoba’s map to the Hokage Building, transformed into Aoba, and wandered inside while the guards pretended not to see him.
• A female shinobi guided the lost Naruto to the Hokage’s office and left him alone there.
• Naruto found the Crystal Ball, wrapped it in red cloth, and stuffed it under his clothes instead of smashing it inside the office.
• Naruto put the scattered items back carelessly and walked out of the Hokage Building, celebrating his success as everyone else stayed silent.

Naruto successfully stole Hiruzen’s Crystal Ball with Aoba’s help, but Aoba arranged for it to shatter so he could avoid returning it. The two Anbu members blamed Aoba, while he and Naruto laughed off the incident, which later became known as the Crystal Incident.

• After Naruto left with the Crystal Ball, Hiruzen realized it had been stolen and ordered two Anbu members to retrieve it from Naruto or Aoba.
• Naruto met Aoba and handed over the Crystal Ball, then eagerly praised his own theft.
• Aoba gave the Crystal Ball back to Naruto and told him to throw it, claiming he would buy him a feast if he failed to catch it.
• When two Anbu members rushed to save the falling Crystal Ball, Aoba reached it first but let it smash on the ground.
• The Anbu members accused Aoba of inciting the theft and breaking Hiruzen’s treasure, but Aoba blamed them for failing to protect it.
• Aoba and Naruto laughed together, and later generations called the incident the Crystal Incident.

After Hiruzen reluctantly let Aoba and Naruto off with a warning, Aoba attended a full Akatsuki meeting where Pain assigned the organization a mission to assassinate the Mizukage. The members eagerly accepted the dangerous target, and the Akatsuki prepared to take on a major village leader.

• Hiruzen scolded Aoba and Naruto for an hour over the Crystal Ball before letting them go with a stern warning.
• Aoba used the Perception Eye to check for watchers, put on the Crimson Blademaster skin, and joined the Akatsuki meeting.
• Pain welcomed Hidan, Deidara, and Kisame as newcomers, and the members introduced themselves before Kakuzu silenced Hidan.
• Pain announced that the Akatsuki's new mission was to assassinate the Mizukage.
• Orochimaru, Scorpion, Deidara, and Hidan reacted with excitement, while the assembled Akatsuki members showed no fear of the mission.

After Obito learned that Yagura had broken free of his control, he persuaded Nagato to send an Akatsuki team to assassinate the Mizukage and destabilize Kirigakure. Aoba accepted the mission for the chance to obtain Yagura’s soul and began preparing for his first direct battle against a Kage Level expert.

• Obito learned that Yagura had regained control of himself and decided to have him killed before he could interfere with the Akatsuki’s plans.
• Yagura agreed to remain Mizukage until Mei Terumi matured and he had repaired the damage caused during his time under Genjutsu.
• Pain assigned Kakuzu, Hidan, Deidara, Kisame, and Yasuo to assassinate Yagura, with Kisame guiding them through Kirigakure and Deidara providing their escape.
• Aoba agreed to the mission because he wanted Yagura’s soul for his Frozen Throne, then ended his Astral Projection and prepared for the battle.

Aoba traveled to the Land of Water and joined an Akatsuki mission alongside Kakuzu, Hidan, Kisame, and Deidara. When Kisame challenged him over the Great Sword: Samehada, Aoba revealed that taking it would complete his collection of the Seven Ninja Swords, and Kakuzu’s taunts pushed Kisame toward a fight.

• Aoba left Konoha in disguise and traveled to the Land of Water, where he saw that Mei Terumi’s reforms had improved public safety and lifted people’s spirits.
• Aoba met Kakuzu, Hidan, Kisame, and Deidara at the gathering point and took the lead for their mission.
• Kakuzu learned that Kisame carried the Great Sword: Samehada and anticipated a confrontation with Aoba.
• Kisame asked Aoba about collecting Kirigakure’s Seven Ninja Swords, and Aoba said he would complete the collection by taking Samehada.
• Kakuzu told Kisame that he and Aoba had assassinated Hozuki Mangetsu and that Jūzō Biwa had died during the mission, prompting Kisame to realize the Akatsuki had been behind the sword thefts.

Aoba and Kisame postponed their duel over Samehada to carry out the mission in Kirigakure. After their infiltration was discovered, the group switched to a direct assault, with Deidara beginning an aerial bombardment as Kisame and Hidan prepared to target Yagura.

• Aoba blamed his alternate identity for taking the Lightning Sword: Fang from a Konoha ninja, and Kisame realized Kirigakure had misunderstood what happened to the sword.
• Kisame challenged Aoba to a duel for Samehada and the collected ninja swords, but they agreed to settle the matter after completing the mission.
• Kisame guided the Akatsuki group into Kirigakure using the secret barrier hand seals he knew from his time in Anbu.
• A Kirigakure patrol spotted the group, and Kakuzu punched through the ninja's chest.
• Deidara flew into the sky on his Explosive Clay Giant Bird and began bombing Kirigakure while Kisame led the plan to kill Yagura.

Deidara’s aerial bombing threw Kirigakure into chaos while Kakuzu, Hidan, Kisame, and Aoba cornered the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura. As Kisame and Hidan attacked, Yagura dispelled Kisame’s mist technique, only to find Kakuzu’s black threads closing in on him.

• Deidara bombed Kirigakure from the air, prompting Yagura to respond to the attack.
• Kakuzu’s black threads ambushed Yagura’s attendants, while Kakuzu, Hidan, Kisame, and Aoba surrounded the Mizukage.
• Kisame killed two approaching Kirigakure Anbu with Samehada, and Kakuzu’s masked monster drove the others back with a fire-and-wind attack.
• Yagura ordered the remaining shinobi to retreat and focus on rescuing villagers and stopping Deidara.
• Hidan and Kisame attacked Yagura while Kakuzu prepared a sneak attack and Aoba held back.
• Yagura blew away Kisame’s mist with a wind technique, revealing Kakuzu’s black threads closing in from every direction.

Yasuo took over the fight against Yagura after Hidan was apparently killed and Yagura entered his Half-Tailed Beast Transformation. Yagura then tore Aoba in half, leaving the battle’s outcome uncertain.

• Yagura used his Water Mirror Technique to counter Hidan and Kisame, then pierced Hidan with his tail.
• Hidan grabbed Yagura’s tail and held him in place while Kakuzu fired his chakra cannon, blasting through Hidan and forcing Yagura into a Half-Tailed Beast Transformation.
• Kisame yielded the battlefield when Yasuo stepped forward, and Kakuzu began gathering Hidan’s scattered body parts.
• Yasuo faced transformed Yagura and offered him a dignified death, but Yagura grabbed Aoba and tore him in half.

Yagura believed he had defeated the Akatsuki attackers, but Aoba’s Genjutsu revealed that the battle and the deaths he witnessed had been illusions. Yagura realized his own attacks had devastated Kirigakure and became too afraid to act, uncertain whether he was still trapped in the Genjutsu.

• Yagura killed the apparent Kisame and Kakuzu, then fired a Tailed Beast Ball at Deidara and believed he had wiped out the invaders.
• An Anbu member attacked Yagura and transformed into Yasuo, revealing himself as Aoba and explaining that Yagura’s eyes had deceived him.
• Aoba’s illusion replaced the battlefield with a flower-filled forest, and Yagura failed to break the Genjutsu despite using Three-Tails’ chakra.
• The illusion collapsed, and Yagura saw Kisame, Hidan, and the others alive while much of Kirigakure lay in ruins.
• Yagura realized his Tailed Beast Balls may have struck the village and froze, afraid that acting while still under Genjutsu would cause more destruction.

Aoba used Mirror Flower, Water Moon to trap Yagura in an illusion, then let Hidan strike the Mizukage down. With the mission complete, Aoba turned to Kisame to settle who would claim the final Ninja Blade.

• Kisame and the others realized Yagura was trapped in Aoba’s Genjutsu as he fought illusions and fired a Tailed Beast Ball into the sky.
• Aoba gave Hidan Yagura’s blood, and Hidan used his Curse Technique to stab himself and kill Yagura.
• Before dying, Yagura asked whether the destruction he had seen was real, and Aoba assured him that his Tailed Beast Ball had not hit the village.
• Aoba killed Yagura with his blade, making him the first Kage Level opponent Aoba had killed himself.
• Aoba revealed that his Zanpakuto was Mirror Flower, Water Moon and challenged Kisame over the final Ninja Blade.

Aoba used Kyouka Suigetsu to defeat Kisame and claim Samehada, completing his collection of the seven Ninja Swords. Kisame agreed to serve him, while Aoba kept the mission behind the collection secret.

• Kisame merged with Samehada and began preparing the Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave Technique, but Aoba revealed that Kisame had been under Kyouka Suigetsu’s illusion since they first met.
• Aoba struck Kisame from behind and explained that Kisame’s companions had been fighting illusions rather than seeing the real battle.
• Kisame acknowledged his defeat and offered Samehada and his life to Aoba.
• Aoba spared Kisame in exchange for his allegiance and sealed Samehada into a scroll, completing his collection of all seven Ninja Swords.

Aoba used [Kagami no Tsuki] to confuse Kirigakure's forces and help his group escape after Yagura's death. Genji chose to protect the village from further losses and planned to blame Kumogakure for the assassination.

• Aoba showed Hidan and Kakuzu an altered version of Kisame's defeat, then withdrew with his allies.
• Aoba used [Kagami no Tsuki] to make Kirigakure's pursuing ninjas attack their own reinforcements, deepening Kakuzu's fear and admiration of Yasuo.
• Deidara arrived, and the group escaped aboard his clay bird while the controlled Kirigakure ninjas delayed pursuit.
• Genji refused to send Utakata after the fleeing culprits, warning that losing the Six-Tails as well as Yagura and the Three-Tails could leave Kirigakure vulnerable to invasion.
• Genji told the elders to announce Yagura's death and blame Kumogakure, using the disappearance of several hundred Cloud ninja to make the claim plausible.

Genji blamed Kumogakure for the Mizukage’s assassination and made Mei Terumi Acting Mizukage while retaining control of Kirigakure. Back in Konoha, Aoba settled his mission for collecting all seven Ninja Swords and received a Top-Quality Special Treasure Chest and a Super Skill Card, leaving him to decide which skill to upgrade.

• Genji planned to blame Kumogakure for the Mizukage’s death to deter other nations and unite Kirigakure against outside threats.
• Genji ordered Mei Terumi recalled to handle internal affairs as Acting Mizukage while he kept the true authority.
• Aoba parted ways with the others after leaving the Land of Water, told Kakuzu to contact Nagato only if something major happened, and returned to Konoha.
• Aoba reviewed his gains from the mission, including the Mizukage’s soul, Yagura’s corpse, and Samehada.
• Aoba settled the mission after collecting all seven Ninja Swords and received a Top-Quality Special Treasure Chest and a Super Skill Card.
• Aoba considered whether to use the card to give one of his LV9 skills a Limited Breakthrough.

Aoba used a Super Skill Card to transform his inferior self-healing ability into Super Speed Regeneration Body, then opened a top-quality treasure chest and received powerful puppets that charged hefty fees to deploy. He tested his new regeneration and was pleased with it, but the chest’s reward left him calculating its cost.

• Aoba raised Inferior Self-Healing Body to LV9 with an Advanced Skill Card and used the Super Skill Card to turn it into Super Speed Regeneration Body.
• Aoba tested the new ability by healing a cut and regrowing a severed little finger, then realized severe injuries consumed far more stamina and could overdraft his life force.
• Aoba opened the top-quality Special Treasure Chest and obtained a set of Seven Ninja Sea Pirates figurine puppets, each with elite jonin strength.
• Aoba learned that deploying the puppets cost 100,000 taels per figurine per hour or 1,000,000 taels for the full set, and reacted to the expense.