Chapter Summaries

Shimizu helped Black Widow disable the Drone Armor systems, then flew to the ecological park and froze Ivan and Whiplash. Tony rescued Pepper from the Hammer Expo Center, which exploded shortly afterward, and a cameraman realized he had uncovered a major story.

• Shimizu guided Black Widow through shutting down the Drone Armor units and restoring Rhodes's suit, then Tony asked Shimizu to come help fight Whiplash.
• Shimizu revealed himself inside his armor and accepted Tony's request, while asking him to solve Connors's decay equation later.
• At the ecological park, Tony and Rhodes struggled against Whiplash until Shimizu arrived and froze Ivan and his armor with a freezing ray.
• Black Widow warned that Ivan's armor reactors would self-destruct, but Shimizu said the freezing should prevent it while Rhodes cautioned against taking chances.
• Tony flew to the Hammer Expo Center and carried Pepper to a nearby rooftop before the center exploded.
• A cameraman searching the ruins recovered a camera and told his companion they had uncovered a huge story.

After Shimizu’s armored appearance sent Osborn’s stock soaring, Manken asked about the technology and how to answer the military and media. Shimizu claimed his electrical powers came from an impossible accident and could not be replicated, while Manken offered to manage the public response but warned that Shimizu might need to provide something.

• Reporters swarmed Manken outside Osborn Tower with questions about Shimizu, the armor, and Osborn’s technology.
• Manken praised Shimizu’s appearance for driving Osborn’s stock price upward and said he would not force Shimizu to share the armor technology.
• Shimizu said he was researching graphene batteries, then demonstrated his electrical powers and claimed they came from a freak laboratory accident involving ball lightning and a genetically modified electric eel.
• Shimizu told Manken that Norman’s attempts to reproduce the accident had failed and that he had built the armor to control his powers.
• Manken offered to explain the situation at a press conference and use Osborn’s connections to help Shimizu, but noted that Stark had handed over an Iron Man Suit and implied Shimizu should offer something too.

Shimizu proposed giving the military a heavily weakened, short-lived Super Soldier Serum in exchange for benefits to Osborn Group. He agreed to become the company’s CTO and brand ambassador, and Manken planned a press conference after Tony Stark’s visit.

• Shimizu decided to offer the military a weak, temporary serum with escalating side effects and limited combat benefits.
• Shimizu told Manken about the serum, and Manken was startled by its connection to Super Soldier Serum before asking for its effects.
• Manken accepted Shimizu as CTO and persuaded him to do one or two interviews as Osborn Group’s brand ambassador.
• Manken proposed holding a press conference after Tony Stark’s cooperation talks with Osborn Group.

Shimizu and Manken welcomed Tony Stark and Pepper to Osborn Tower, where Shimizu answered reporters’ questions about his identity, technology, and plans with Iron Man. After Stark approved Osborn’s electric vehicle technology and the partnership moved toward final arrangements, Shimizu led him to Connors’s laboratory.

• Stark arrived at Osborn Tower with Pepper, and Manken made room for Shimizu to answer three media questions.
• Shimizu confirmed he would use the superhero name Lightning, while Stark dismissed the idea of forming a superhero team.
• Shimizu told a reporter that he would not share all of his technology and showed Stark a spark produced by his Lightning Release Chakra.
• Shimizu and Manken toured Stark and Pepper through the New Energy Vehicle R&D department, where Stark praised the technology and offered suggestions.
• Manken took Pepper and her team to discuss the partnership, while Shimizu led Stark to Connors’s laboratory.

Tony Stark solved the decay equation for Connors's limb-regeneration project, while Shimizu imposed strict limits on future experiments. In the Demon Slayer World, Shimizu began crafting equipment for his own effort to give humans safe regenerative abilities.

• Shimizu explained Connors's decay equation to Tony Stark, who used J.A.R.V.I.S. to calculate a solution in fifteen minutes.
• Tony Stark explained that his method came from solving a similar equation for the Jericho missile and referenced a theorem by Hank Pym.
• Connors tearfully thanked Stark and Shimizu for giving disabled people hope of regrowing lost limbs.
• Shimizu warned Connors that the formula needed to be tailored to individual genes and forbade human trials without his approval, and Stark agreed.
• Connors accepted the restrictions and said he would refine the serum through further research and experiments.
• In the Demon Slayer World, Shimizu used Chakra Thread to operate a grinding machine and craft equipment for developing safe human regeneration.

Shimizu arranged a meeting with Tamayo, a demon who had escaped Muzan’s control, hoping to recruit her to help defeat him. He met her in a bamboo forest with Amane Ubuyashiki and Murata, and introduced himself as the Demon Slayer Corps’ acting head.

• Shuijiang returned with Tamayo’s location and reported that she would meet Shimizu the following night, provided no more than three people attended and no more than one was a Hashira.
• Shimizu agreed to attend with Amane Ubuyashiki, while Amane reminded him to spend time with the pregnant Shinobu Kocho.
• Shimizu, Amane, and Murata arrived at the meeting place in a bamboo forest on Tokyo’s outskirts.
• Tamayo and Yushiro revealed themselves after Yushiro dismissed his Blood Demon Art, and Tamayo asked whether the Demon Slayer Corps wanted to cooperate with her.
• Shimizu identified himself to Tamayo as Uesugi Shimizu, the current acting head of the Demon Slayer Corps.

Shimizu sought Tamayo’s cooperation against Muzan, and she tested whether he could match the swordsman who nearly killed Muzan four hundred years earlier. Shimizu convinced her he was a formidable fighter, then revealed the Demon Slayer Corps had more weapons and skilled swordsmen to bring to the fight.

• Tamayo explained that her one-use poison could stop Muzan from splitting apart, but she needed proof that Shimizu could kill him.
• Shimizu prompted Murata to recount his achievements, including slaying two Upper Rank Demons in one night and becoming acting head of the Demon Slayer Corps.
• Shimizu demonstrated his crimson Nichirin Blade, and Tamayo confirmed that his strength and perception resembled those of Tsugikuni Yoriichi, though she judged him weaker than Yoriichi and Muzan.
• Shimizu told Tamayo that other Corps members could wield crimson blades or use heightened perception, that two swordsmen had inherited Yoriichi’s Breathing Style, and that he had created sunlight-like electric lamps as weapons.

Shimizu successfully awakened and mastered Separation Release after fusing Wind and Lightning Chakra in Sunagakure. After Yashamaru summoned him, Shimizu arrived at the Third Kazekage's office, where the Kazekage asked why he was late.

• Tamayo and Shimizu agreed that adding Tamayo to their work might be enough to remove Demon Blood's influence on humans, while Yushiro protested their handshake.
• Shimizu smoothly awakened Separation Release at the Seventh Training Ground as Pakura watched over him.
• Shimizu sensed that Separation Release had transformed his body and increased both his Chakra reserves and future potential.
• Yashamaru arrived to summon Shimizu for the Third Kazekage, and Shimizu recognized him as Karura's younger brother.
• Shimizu reached the Kazekage's office, where the Third Kazekage asked why he was late, and Shimizu explained that his training had delayed him.

Shimizu revealed that he had developed Separation Release, prompting the Third Kazekage to reconsider him as a possible successor to Rasa. Shimizu advised the Kazekage to rent out Sunagakure’s Chakra-powered vehicles rather than sell them, using the service to attract more missions and strengthen the village’s economy.

• Shimizu demonstrated Separation Release to the Third Kazekage, who recognized it as a new Kekkei Genkai.
• The Third Kazekage weighed Shimizu’s achievements against Rasa’s and considered Shimizu a stronger potential successor.
• The Third Kazekage asked Shimizu to spar with him at Training Ground No. 1 after they discussed business.
• The Third Kazekage explained that merchants wanted to buy Sunagakure’s Chakra-powered vehicles, and Shimizu recommended renting them instead.
• Shimizu proposed vehicle rental tiers that required employers to hire Sunagakure shinobi and a Puppeteer, bringing more missions and economic activity to the village.

Shimizu convinced the Third Kazekage to adopt security measures for Chakra-powered vehicles, then faced him in a training-ground battle. The Third Kazekage was impressed by Shimizu’s upgraded puppets, and their fight continued with powerful Iron Sand attacks.

• Shimizu proposed combining Puppet Technique and Sealing Technique to secure Chakra capacitors, and the Third Kazekage approved the plan.
• The Third Kazekage took Shimizu to the training grounds and challenged him to demonstrate his strength before the watching ninja.
• Shimizu summoned Daiwan, Fatso, and Little Boy, then launched a coordinated three-pronged attack against the Third Kazekage.
• The Third Kazekage praised Shimizu’s techniques and countered with an Iron Sand Cube aimed at Fatso and an Iron Sand Wave rushing toward Shimizu and Little Boy.

Shimizu and the Third Kazekage continued their spar, with Shimizu’s puppets, swordsmanship, and Separation Release proving powerful enough to contend with the Kage-level fighter. The Third Kazekage realized he could not defeat Shimizu, and the spectators began considering Shimizu a future powerhouse.

• Shimizu defended against the Third Kazekage’s Iron Sand attack and countered with Separation Breathing, while Fatty broke the Iron Sand Cube.
• Spectators praised Shimizu’s puppetry and swordsmanship, discussed his unusual puppet armor and Chakra nature, and noted that he was only fourteen.
• Shimizu and the Third Kazekage exchanged Iron Sand and Plasma Sword Qi attacks, while Shimizu’s puppets used their self-cleaning system to resist infiltration.
• The Third Kazekage realized Shimizu could not be defeated in the spar and concluded that deciding the victor would require a fight to the death.

Shimizu fought the Third Kazekage at full strength, revealing a powerful Separation Release technique that nearly melted the Kazekage’s Iron Sand. The two finished the spar unharmed, while Karura and the elders watched over the dangerous clash.

• Chiyo and Ebizo arrived to watch the fight, and Karura joined them after explaining that Rasa had gone on a mission.
• The Third Kazekage unleashed Iron Sand World Method against Shimizu, whose puppets formed a Chakra shield that began to crack.
• Shimizu recalled his puppets and used Separation Breathing: Fifth Form: Wind Lightning Separation Storm to destroy the Iron Sand branches.
• Chiyo and Ebizo shielded the training ground with their puppets, while Karura raised sand walls to block the attack’s aftershock.
• The Third Kazekage survived the strike, though much of his Iron Sand melted, and Shimizu confirmed that he could not repeat the technique soon.

The Third Kazekage recognized Shimizu’s growing strength and began paving the way for his future influence in Sunagakure. He proposed that Shimizu teach the village’s jonin and younger ninjas, while Karura worried about what this meant for Rasa.

• The Third Kazekage judged Shimizu’s strength to be on track to surpass Rasa’s and decided to help secure Shimizu’s future in Sunagakure.
• The Third Kazekage advised Shimizu to take more missions and build relationships with jonin outside the Puppet Force.
• Ebizo questioned Shimizu about his swordsmanship, and Shimizu explained how he developed it from his own training and techniques he had studied.
• Chiyo and Kazakami Senran recognized Shimizu’s accomplishments in swordsmanship, puppetry, and Separation Release.
• The Third Kazekage proposed that Shimizu teach an advanced ninja class, and Chiyo understood that the plan would also build Shimizu’s standing among the jonin.
• Karura worried that Shimizu’s growing role could threaten Rasa’s prospects, since the village’s Magnet Release training had produced them both.

Shimizu became a Gotham City Councilor and discussed his political future and Gotham’s crime problem with Bruce Wayne. Bruce argued that gangs and corruption were symptoms of deeper forces, and Shimizu asked whether he meant a secret society like the Court of Owls.

• The Third Kazekage asked Chiyo to help Shimizu plan his proposal and summoned Rasa and Karura for new assignments.
• Shimizu took his oath of office, became a Gotham City Councilor, and saw his luck progress rise to 51.83 percent.
• Bruce Wayne asked Shimizu whether he planned to run for mayor, and Shimizu said it depended on how the next two years unfolded.
• Bruce told Shimizu that gangs and corruption were not the root causes of Gotham’s crime and pointed to the influence of powerful old families.
• Shimizu asked Bruce whether the deeper force behind Gotham’s problems was a secret society like the Court of Owls.

Shimizu and Bruce Wayne discussed Gotham’s deep-rooted problems and agreed to keep working toward change, while Bruce warned Shimizu that his assassinations of congressmen could bring retaliation. Back at Wade Tower, Shimizu examined the preserved corpse of the Kryptonian Nam-Ek and found that much of its cellular activity remained intact.

• Shimizu and Bruce Wayne discussed Gotham’s worsening cycle of poverty and crime and the difficulty of changing the city.
• Shimizu and Bruce Wayne toasted to carrying out their generation’s work to improve Gotham.
• Bruce Wayne warned Shimizu to stop assassinating congressmen who had backed a nuclear strike on Metropolis or face retaliation.
• Shimizu returned to Wade Tower and opened the sealed steel coffin holding Nam-Ek’s frozen corpse.
• Shimizu examined Nam-Ek with Transparent World and Medical Ninjutsu and found that the corpse retained 87 percent cellular activity.

Shimizu separated White Warrior from its Nth Metal shell to remove Lex Luthor’s possible surveillance and prepare to build a replacement. Meanwhile, Lex Luthor persuaded Amanda Waller to let him study Kryptonian technology and asked her to bring Superman to the modified Kryptonian spaceship.

• Shimizu inspected Nam’s corpse and continued researching whether a Human Puppet could inherit a Kryptonian’s abilities.
• Shimizu used the Speed Force Dagger and recorded frequency data to separate White Warrior from its Nth Metal shell, which he found free of impurities.
• Shimizu planned to dismantle White Warrior, reverse-engineer its components, and build a new White Warrior II to reunite with the Nth Metal shell.
• Amanda Waller questioned Lex Luthor at a classified military base, and he argued that studying Kryptonians could help humanity control superhumans.
• Amanda Waller approved Lex Luthor’s proposal and let him into the facility; Lex asked her to invite Superman to the modified Kryptonian spaceship.

Lex Luthor secretly moved Kryptonian blood and engineered a scandal linking Superman to a military biological weapons project. After Batman uncovered the scheme, Superman confronted the military, destroyed its Kryptonian research facilities, and learned that Lex had disappeared.

• Lex Luthor had Eve Teschmacher send footage of Superman to the media while moving Zod's blood and a developing creature in a lead-lined container to Gotham.
• Batman and Barbara decrypted LexCorp files revealing a possible biological weapon, and Bruce ordered an investigation while warning that Lex might have leaked the information deliberately.
• The next day, reports accused Superman and the military of researching biological weapons, sparking fierce public debate.
• Superman confronted the military commander, who denied possessing the creature and blamed Lex Luthor for taking it.
• Superman destroyed the underground facilities holding Kryptonian wreckage, then left after declaring the technology his spoils of war.
• The brigadier general told a lieutenant colonel that Lex Luthor had disappeared before they could detain him.

With Lex Luthor missing and his scheme stirring public suspicion of Superman, Shimizu and Victor considered relocating their company to protect its prospects. Shimizu chose Bludhaven and planned to seek Wayne Enterprises’ help.

• Shimizu asked Victor whether Lex Luthor’s disappearance would affect their auto company, and Victor reported that the resulting panic had begun to affect TSL.
• Victor compared Gotham, Central City, and Bludhaven as possible locations, recommending Bludhaven as a compromise that could draw on Gotham’s influence and Metropolis’s resources.
• Shimizu chose Bludhaven and told Victor to prepare a proposal and contact Wayne Enterprises for support.
• The television talk show was interrupted by a military press conference in which the military tried to distance itself from the matter.

Batman searched Gotham Harbor for Luthor’s Kryptonian biological weapon, then traced it to a logistics center where Deathstroke had left it to hatch. The weapon was about to emerge, while Deathstroke and his mercenaries fled and Batman called for reinforcements and civilian evacuations.

• Batman searched the harbor and laid Kryptonite traps around Gotham while Alfred checked shipping records.
• Batman explained that Luthor intended to use the creature against Superman and warned Alfred that Luthor might interfere with Shimizu’s armor.
• Alfred found that containers from a cargo ship had been secretly moved to Gotham’s logistics center and spotted Deathstroke in surveillance footage.
• Batman ordered Gordon, Wade, Superman, The Flash, and others to help evacuate civilians and respond to the threat.
• Deathstroke and his mercenaries fled by helicopter as Luthor’s life detector showed that the creature would hatch in just over two minutes.
• Batman reached the warehouse and found a nearly three-meter egg beside a hatching countdown and a television.

Lex Luthor revealed that he had created a human-modified Doomsday, and Batman, Superman, Shimizu, and The Flash fought the creature in Gotham. Superman carried Doomsday farther out to sea while Batman prepared a modified suit.

• Lex Luthor told Batman that his newly created Doomsday was resistant to Kryptonite and intended to make this Superman's Doomsday.
• Batman escaped as Doomsday broke free, then used the Bat-Signal to draw attention to the monster while The Flash evacuated nearby crowds and Shimizu arrived in White Warrior.
• Batman directed Superman and Shimizu toward the harbor, where he detonated the drawbridge and seabed Kryptonite traps to weaken Doomsday.
• Doomsday fled underwater and rapidly healed, but Shimizu pursued him with a Kryptonite dagger and cut off his hand before Doomsday struck Shimizu and regrew the limb.
• Superman slammed Doomsday into the seafloor, then carried him farther out to sea at Batman's urging.
• A launch pod arrived for Batman, carrying a suit modified from the Anti-Puppet Master Armor.