Chapter Summaries

Yuhara used his hidden metal techniques to kill two Cloud Hidden Ninjas, then fled after exhausting his chance to surprise the remaining enemies. When he returned to Konoha, he learned the village was preparing for a possible final battle with Cloud Hidden, though the reason for the sudden shift remained unclear.

• Yuhara shot Toroi in the forehead with an iron arrow and followed up by piercing a Lightning Release Ninja's leg with iron spikes.
• Yuhara defended against the Lightning Release Ninja's close-range attack, then severed his arm with two swords and retreated from the battlefield.
• After killing two enemies and revealing his trump cards, Yuhara fled, leaving the two remaining Cloud Hidden Ninjas behind.
• Minato Namikaze arrived at the Konoha camp, assessed Cloud Hidden's defensive posture, and left to investigate what had happened.
• Yuhara returned toward Konoha, was escorted into the camp by guards, and learned that Konoha was preparing for a major battle that might end the war.

Yuhara returned to Konoha’s command center with the three corpses Orochimaru had sent him to retrieve and collected his mission reward. After bargaining for Shadow Clone Jutsu, he left, explaining that he had no right to refuse the mission.

• Yuhara practiced controlling Chakra with his fingers as he walked through the camp.
• Yuhara gave Orochimaru scrolls containing Kinkaku separately and the Second Hokage and Ginkaku together.
• Orochimaru rewarded Yuhara with the A-rank Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu, and Yuhara negotiated for Shadow Clone Jutsu as well.
• Orochimaru asked why Yuhara had completed the dangerous mission despite knowing it was only for corpses, and Yuhara replied that he had no right to refuse.
• Yuhara left the command center, while Orochimaru watched the entrance with an unreadable smile.

After A and Killer B investigated the aftermath of Yuhara’s fight, they spotted Minato Namikaze and fought him, while the Konoha and Cloud forces stayed on alert. Minato returned to camp after hours of battle, and the standoff gradually eased without a decisive clash.

• A and Killer B arrived at the scene of Yuhara’s battle and examined the deadly metal threads surrounding Toroi’s remains.
• Killer B noticed Minato Namikaze hiding nearby, and A attacked him; Minato evaded the strike and appeared on the ground.
• Killer B transformed and fought alongside A against Minato, who could not retreat without risking an attack on the Konoha camp.
• The Konoha and Cloud forces noticed the battle but remained in defensive positions, and Minato returned to camp several hours later after an apparent draw.
• The tense standoff continued for several days before gradually easing, with no decisive battle taking place.

After Minato Namikaze became the Fourth Hokage, Yuhara learned Shadow Clone Jutsu and rejoined Squad Z, which was sent on a dangerous reconnaissance mission to the Land of Rain. The team entered under heavy rain, leaving Yuhara uneasy about what might happen next.

• Minato Namikaze became the Fourth Hokage, boosting Konoha's morale at the front lines.
• Yuhara learned Shadow Clone Jutsu while waiting at the camp in the Land of Rice.
• Squad Z returned with valuable intelligence after losing five members, and its survivors were split into smaller groups.
• Jian Dong told the team that they would scout the isolated and dangerous Land of Rain.
• Yuhara and the team entered the Land of Rain in heavy downpour, and Yuhara sensed that something was about to happen.

Yuhara and a Konoha reconnaissance squad surveyed an Amegakure forward camp in the Land of Rain, discovering that it had grown substantially. Their mission was exposed, and the squad found itself surrounded as it tried to retreat.

• Yuhara rested with the squad in the rainy jungle, and Jian Dong gave him a hair tie.
• After two days, the twelve-person Konoha team spotted an Amegakure camp and recorded that it held at least fifty percent more ninja than before.
• A whistle alerted the team that their operation had been exposed, and they regrouped and fled.
• Tigo reported that enemy teams were closing in from every direction and converging on the squad's position.
• Yuhara warned that the squad might not shake off pursuit, and the team prepared to fight the enemy ahead.

Konoha's reconnaissance team was surrounded by Rain ninja, and Yuhara fought to help them break through toward the Land of Rivers. He killed several attackers but was wounded by a suicide bombing as the Rain ninja pressed their reckless assault.

• Jian Dong chose to lead the surrounded team toward the Land of Rivers and told Yuhara she was counting on him.
• Yuhara shot an iron arrow through the first Rain ninja, killing him and stopping the rest of his squad.
• A Rain ninja used an Earth Flow Wall to block Yuhara's arrow, and Yuhara killed another attacker with Mercury Lamp, though the enemy carried the technique away from the fight.
• Two Rain ninja charged Yuhara, and one detonated a suicide attack that blasted him into a tree and mangled his right arm.
• Yuhara realized he had underestimated how readily the Rain ninja were willing to die.

Yuhara survived a Rain Ninja’s suicide attack and helped Jian Dong lead the Konoha survivors through the encirclement. As the pursuers caught up and the group dwindled, Kujo and the others chose to stay behind so Yuhara could escort Jian Dong and Tigo toward the Konoha camp.

• A Rain Ninja used a suicide attack against Yuhara, who survived by shielding his burned arm with an iron barrier.
• Yuhara killed the last member of the four-man squad and supported his teammates with his sword and Mercury Lamp technique.
• Jian Dong ordered the Konoha Ninja to retreat through the gap Yuhara had opened, and some of the twelve failed to escape.
• Yuhara used his Lightning Release technique to help the group flee, then noticed that many pursuers wore crossed-out Rain Village symbols.
• Kujo and the other Konoha Ninja stopped to hold off the pursuing enemies so Yuhara could protect Jian Dong and Tigo and lead them to the Konoha camp.

Yuhara escaped the Rain ninjas with Jian Dong and Tigo, but Jian Dong was gravely wounded and needed urgent treatment. At Konoha’s overcrowded frontline hospital, an injured Uchiha was given priority over Jian Dong, and Yuhara erupted in anger as he walked toward the treatment tent.

• Yuhara fled with Jian Dong and Tigo while their comrades stayed behind to delay the Rain ninjas.
• Jian Dong collapsed from a fatal abdominal wound, and Yuhara sealed it with metal before carrying her at full speed toward safety.
• After reaching the Land of Rivers, Yuhara and Jian Dong were brought to Konoha’s frontline hospital, where Tigo was performing surgeries.
• A Medical Ninja stabilized Jian Dong, but an injured Uchiha was moved ahead of her for priority treatment.
• Yuhara’s Nature Energy spread across his body, and he walked toward the tent in anger over Jian Dong being denied treatment.

After Jian Dong’s operation came too late, Yuhara struggled with her death and Konoha’s unequal treatment of its shinobi. When the Fourth Hokage visited the morgue after a fierce clash with Sunagakure, Yuhara concluded that strength alone would not be enough to protect what mattered; he had to become invincible.

• Jian Dong stopped Yuhara from confronting the people who had delayed her treatment and urged him to live on.
• Jian Dong died after her surgery came too late, leaving Yuhara to question her acceptance of death and Konoha’s treatment of civilian shinobi.
• The Fourth Hokage inspected Konoha’s front-line camp in the Land of Rivers and paid respects to the fallen and wounded.
• Yuhara stood among the corpses in the morgue after Konoha and Sunagakure fought a fierce battle, and realized he needed to become invincible to protect himself and others.

After Jian Dong died on a reconnaissance mission, Yuhara spoke bluntly with Minato about the limits of individual heroism and the impossible choices war forced on people. Yuhara and Tigo then returned to Konoha with Jian Dong's ashes, and their missions were temporarily suspended.

• Minato offered condolences to Yuhara and thanked him for the reconnaissance intelligence, and Yuhara replied that his fallen comrades needed no pity.
• Yuhara told Minato that no single hero could end a war and asked what he would do if he could save only one of two loved ones; Minato listened and said he would remember Yuhara's words.
• After Minato left, Tigo asked whether Yuhara would face consequences, and Yuhara assured her that their conversation had gone well.
• Yuhara and Tigo returned to Konoha with Jian Dong's ashes after her body was cremated, and they were temporarily left without missions.

After Jian Dong’s death, Yuhara continued living in Konoha while investigating the abandoned underground facility where he had once been held. He uncovered Hotaru’s hidden records and realized Orochimaru’s experiments pointed toward a plan connected to the successful Wood Release test subject.

• Yuhara rejected the idea of joining the Akatsuki and remained uncertain about what to do after Jian Dong’s death.
• On his third day back in Konoha, Yuhara followed a map into the underground tunnels and reached Orochimaru’s abandoned facility.
• Yuhara carved into a marked cell wall and uncovered a sealed box left behind by Hotaru.
• Yuhara inspected the box and found that most of its scrolls and books were blank, while some recorded Orochimaru’s experiments.
• After reading about Orochimaru’s research into Hashirama Cells, natural energy, the Three Great Dojutsu, and Living Corpse Reincarnation, Yuhara identified the successful Wood Release test subject as the key difference.

Yuhara retrieved Orochimaru’s hidden materials from an underground site, then was ambushed while leaving and killed his attacker with the Mercury Lamp. He escaped with the materials and no intention of reporting the encounter, though the attacker’s identity and affiliation remained uncertain.

• Yuhara considered how Orochimaru’s interest in Wood Release and Nature Energy could lead him toward the ninja world’s ultimate secrets.
• Yuhara collected the materials at the marked location and left the underground space without searching further.
• A masked ninja used Earth Release: Beheading Operation of the Inner Heart to trap Yuhara and demanded to know who he was and why he had come.
• The masked ninja kicked Yuhara, but Yuhara’s hardened body protected him and he counterattacked with the Mercury Lamp, killing the attacker.
• Yuhara retrieved his mercury, swallowed his blood, and hurried away without touching the corpse or leaving traces.

Danzo investigated the murder of a Root Ninja and the theft from Orochimaru's former research facility. At Whispering Stream Trail, Yuhara reviewed the techniques and tools he had obtained and saw the Cursed Seal and Nature Energy as his clearest path to greater strength.

• Danzo examined a dismembered Root Ninja's corpse and ordered an investigation into Orochimaru's subordinates, the facility's associates, and the Konoha Ninja involved in its cleanup.
• Danzo dismissed concerns that the investigation might face resistance from the Hokage's Anbu, saying Sarutobi would cooperate because someone had died.
• Yuhara returned to Whispering Stream Trail to train and considered his need to improve his Chakra and ninja abilities.
• Yuhara concluded that the Six Paths Tools he had recovered were too difficult or costly for him to use effectively.
• Yuhara read the scroll's explanation of Living Corpse Reincarnation, admired Orochimaru's research, and put the scroll away as useless to him.
• Yuhara turned to the Cursed Seal and the use of Nature Energy as his remaining options for rapidly increasing his strength.

Yuhara finished modifying the Cursed Seal schematics so he could learn to concentrate and use Nature Energy, then prepared to test them on himself. He asked Tigo to stand by with a sword and cut off his left hand if the experiment went wrong.

• Yuhara concluded that using Nature Energy directly was the practical path for him and used the basic Cursed Seal schematics to develop a plan.
• Tigo trained by climbing the ravine, hoping to gain enough strength to protect herself.
• Yuhara completed his modified Cursed Seal design after several days of work.
• Yuhara rescued Tigo from the stream after she fell in, and they sat together by a fire as snow fell.
• Tigo offered Yuhara Jian Dong's scroll of Fire Release techniques, but he said he could not learn a new elemental technique quickly.
• Yuhara drew techniques in blood on his left hand and gave Tigo a sword, asking her to cut off his hand if the experiment went wrong.

Yuhara risked his hand to test a Nature Energy technique, then built the Six Rulers Technique into his meridians to control and use Nature Energy. He developed a powerful new ninjutsu, the Arc Gradual Sevenfold Rhythm, and tested it in front of Tigo.

• Yuhara absorbed Nature Energy through a technique on his palm while Tigo stood ready to cut off his hand, and his hand remained stable through the following day and night.
• Yuhara spent ten days placing seals at six acupoints along his torso's main meridian, creating the Six Rulers Seal, also called the Six Rulers Technique.
• Yuhara used the technique to regulate Nature Energy, channel it through his Chakra, and release it directly to activate Cursed Seal Mode Loss Technique.
• Yuhara developed the Arc Gradual Sevenfold Rhythm and activated it, making black metallic patterns spread across his body as lightning and a shrill, birdlike sound surrounded him.

Yuhara successfully developed Arc Gradual Sevenfold Rhythm, combining Magnet Release and Nature Energy to boost his combat power, though its strain and Chakra cost limited its use. Meanwhile, the Fourth Hokage signed a mutual non-intrusion agreement with the Fourth Kazekage, establishing the Brown Earth Mountain Range as the boundary between Konoha and Sand Hidden.

• Yuhara activated Arc Gradual Sevenfold Rhythm and controlled the lightning surging around him, confirming that the technique worked.
• Yuhara reasoned that Twofold Rhythm could approach Senjutsu in effect, but its strain on his meridians and doubled Chakra consumption made it his limit.
• Yuhara concluded that his full power could reach elite jōnin level, though his brief endurance remained a weakness.
• The Fourth Hokage remained at the Land of Rivers frontline to negotiate with the Fourth Kazekage after Yuhara and Tigo had left.
• The Fourth Hokage and the Fourth Kazekage signed the Konoha–Sand Hidden Mutual Non-Intrusion Agreement, making the Brown Earth Mountain Range their ceasefire line.

After adapting to his new Magnet Release and Nature Energy abilities, Yuhara was assigned with Tigo to a new mixed ninja squad. The squad’s dismissive captain, Hayasegawa, sent them on a supposedly safe border-defense mission, leaving Yuhara uneasy about his attitude and the squad’s inexperienced members.

• Tigo reflected on Yuhara’s rapid rise from novice to Jonin and recognized that experiments and knowledge had driven his unconventional growth.
• Yuhara adapted to his new abilities for several days before he and Tigo received orders to join a new squad.
• Yuhara and Tigo arrived at the assembly point and found a mixed squad of old, young, sick, and disabled ninjas, including a child who seemed innocent of war.
• Hayasegawa introduced himself as the squad’s Konoha Chunin captain and made a condescending remark about Yuhara’s large ninja tool.
• Hayasegawa assigned the squad a routine border-defense mission near the Land of Fire and the Land of Hot Water, insisting that danger was unlikely.

Yuhara’s team approached the coastline under Captain Hayasegawa’s dangerously lax command, then encountered four Mist Village ninjas at a lake. Yuhara recognized the threat and urged the team to flee, leaving their survival uncertain.

• Captain Hayasegawa kept the twelve Konoha ninjas in a tight formation and dismissed Yuhara’s suggestions to improve reconnaissance and prepare an outpost.
• Hayasegawa claimed the war was nearing its end and treated the coastal patrol as a routine assignment.
• Four Mist Village ninjas emerged from the lake, and Hayasegawa ordered his squads to attack them.
• Yuhara recognized the short, green-haired ninja as Karatachi Yagura, shouted for everyone to run, and shoved Tigo backward.

The Mist Village squad ambushed a Konoha Genin group while searching the Land of Fire for the revived Three-Tails. Yuhara recognized Yagura and tried to help the others escape, but Yagura moved to pursue them as Yuhara fought the Mist swordsmen.

• The Mist Village secretly searched the Land of Fire for the Three-Tails, which had died there and was expected to revive nearby.
• Yuhara recognized Yagura among the four Mist ninja and urged the Konoha squad to flee.
• Captain Hayase ordered three squads to hold off the Mist ninja, then fled himself, prompting the Konoha ninja to scatter.
• Juzo Biwa pursued Yuhara, whose technique rebounded Juzo's sword and left him poised to strike.
• Hozuki Mangetsu hit Yuhara with Hiramekarei, and Yuhara released a spreading cloud of Mercury Vapor to cover Tigo's escape.
• Yagura sent the other three Mist ninja to deal with Yuhara and went after the fleeing Konoha ninja himself.

Yuhara charged across the lake and fought Juzo Biwa while using mercury techniques to hinder the Mist Village pursuers. He killed Juzo Biwa, but was swept away by the swordsman’s final blow as the battle continued.

• Yuhara burst from the mist, saw Yagura was gone, and redirected his charge toward Juzo Biwa.
• Yuhara struck Hozuki Mangetsu with Frostflow Mercury Lamp as he attacked Juzo Biwa across the lake.
• Yuhara wounded Juzo Biwa with Mercury Arrows and an Explosive Tag, destroying his left arm.
• Juzo Biwa struck Yuhara with Kubikiribōchō, but Yuhara’s body resisted the blow and trapped the sword.
• Yuhara used a telekinetically controlled arrow and a second Explosive Tag to leave Juzo Biwa exposed, then pierced his heart with a Mercury Longsword.
• Juzo Biwa swept Yuhara away with Kubikiribōchō in his dying strength, and Yuhara noted that the weakest enemy was dead.