Chapter Summaries

Shimizu showed Tony that Watos could breach firewalls as quickly as J.A.R.V.I.S. and persuaded him that a powerful AI-backed organization had arranged the nuclear attack. After Tony agreed to help, the group celebrated at Nine Orchards, where Shimizu asked whether they counted as a team.

• Watos and J.A.R.V.I.S. breached firewalls in nearly the same amount of time, startling Tony with Watos's abilities.
• Shimizu explained that a powerful AI and an influential organization had arranged the nuclear attack, and Tony agreed to help while treating Nick Fury's people with suspicion.
• Shimizu and Tony joined the others at Nine Orchards for a victory feast, where Thor drank and celebrated with the group while Loki remained tied up.
• Thor removed Loki's mouth seal and offered him roast chicken, and Loki ate while glaring at Thor and Tony.
• Shimizu asked the group whether they counted as a team.

After Loki’s defeat, the group discussed forming a team and Thor and Loki returned to Asgard with the repaired Tesseract. Clear Wade refused to hand over the scepter to S.H.I.E.L.D., claiming most ownership and warning that an enemy might be hiding inside the agency.

• Natasha steered the conversation toward Captain America, and the group debated names for their new team before settling on the Avengers.
• Clear Wade’s glass replacement made the Tesseract appear intact, and Thor and Loki used it to return to Asgard so it could repair the Bifrost.
• Steve Rogers asked Clear Wade about the scepter on Nick Fury’s behalf, but Clear Wade refused to give it to S.H.I.E.L.D. until Fury investigated who was behind the nuclear bomb.
• Clear Wade proposed that he own 80 percent of the scepter and the Avengers jointly own the remaining 20 percent, while he retained day-to-day usage rights.
• Clear Wade said he and Tony had failed to uncover the source of the attack on their communications network, and Black Widow and Hawkeye realized an enemy might be inside S.H.I.E.L.D.

After settling the Mind Stone Scepter’s ownership with Nick Fury and the Avengers, Shimizu brought Dr. Banner to Wade Manor, where he encountered Ancient One. Ancient One said he had come to stop Shimizu from causing trouble, but acknowledged that Shimizu seemed unlikely to do anything bad.

• Shimizu and Nick Fury divided ownership of the Mind Stone Scepter among Shimizu, Captain America, the Avengers, and S.H.I.E.L.D., with Shimizu retaining final say over research.
• Shimizu brought Dr. Banner to Wade Manor and asked George to find him a room.
• Shimizu sensed someone hidden inside a room, donned Lightning, and attacked with the Mind Stone Scepter and an electric sword.
• Ancient One blocked Shimizu’s strike with a golden shield and introduced himself as Gu Yi.
• Ancient One told Shimizu he had come to stop him from causing trouble, though he believed Shimizu would not do anything bad.

Shimizu shared a late-night meal with Ancient One, who explained that Shimizu appeared in several futures as Sorcerer Supreme but warned that his changing fate might involve Dimensional Demon Gods. Ancient One examined Shimizu’s Chakra and found a trace of an exceptionally powerful external will within it.

• Shimizu invited Ancient One to Wade Manor for a late-night meal, and Ancient One eagerly ate and drank.
• Ancient One teased Shimizu about becoming Sorcerer Supreme, then said seven futures showed Shimizu holding the position.
• Ancient One warned that Shimizu’s future could change because he was entangled with Dimensional Demon Gods beyond the universe.
• Ancient One suggested that a Dimensional Demon God might have arranged for Shimizu to gain memories and power from his Parallel bodies.
• Shimizu formed Separation Release Chakra for Ancient One to examine, and Ancient One detected a faint trace of external will within it.

Shimizu learned that the Sage of Six Paths might have left a trace of his will in Chakra users, leaving Shimizu wary of him and the Otsutsuki. Ancient One offered ways to resist the influence, marked Shimizu to detect dimensional threats, and taught him how to use a Sling Ring.

• Shimizu deduced that the foreign will inside him likely came from Hagoromo Otsutsuki and considered the danger posed by the Sage of Six Paths and the Otsutsuki.
• Ancient One explained that Shimizu could resist the will by borrowing power from other gods or by developing the Mind Stone, and said he would place a monitoring mark on him.
• Shimizu joked that Ancient One might spy on his evening with Hollywood actresses, then apologized after Ancient One threatened him.
• Ancient One gave Shimizu a Sling Ring and explained how to open a portal with it.
• Shimizu tried to open a portal, corrected his hand movement, and activated the ring with Chakra.

Shimizu successfully opened a portal with the Sling Ring after learning that it drew on external mystic energy rather than Chakra, and Ancient One invited him to study at Kamar-Taj. In the DC World, Orm moved closer to war with the surface after gaining support from the Fisherman Nation and Xebel, with Lex Luthor serving as his adviser.

• Shimizu found that using Chakra only produced sparks, but using Mental Power let the Sling Ring draw mystic energy and open a portal.
• Ancient One explained that Shimizu had borrowed Vishanti's power and invited him to study at Kamar-Taj, including learning to detect foreign will within himself.
• Orm showed King Ryk footage of destruction in the oceans and human pollution, then urged the Fisherman Nation to join a war against the land.
• King Ryk said he needed time to consider, while Orm said he had already persuaded the Saltwater Kingdom and expected Xebel to agree.
• Lex Luthor told Orm that he had secured Xebel's agreement to join the war.

Shimizu watched Liverpool’s match as its new owner, but a sudden global disaster led him to call an urgent meeting with Batman, The Flash, and Superman. He revealed that Atlantis had returned humanity’s ocean garbage to the land and was preparing to invade.

• Shimizu attended a Liverpool match with club executives and considered his football-club acquisition part of Wade Group’s expansion into Britain.
• At the British Museum, Diana identified a displayed sword as an imitation and explained that the genuine weapon was said to have been given to Heracles.
• The ground shook in Liverpool, and Shimizu learned that mountains of garbage had appeared along coastlines around the world.
• Shimizu canceled dinner, went to his hotel, and summoned Batman, The Flash, and Superman for a holographic meeting.
• Shimizu told the heroes that his unmanned submarines had reported the Atlanteans were gathering their forces to invade the land.

As Atlantis’s attacks threatened human coastlines, Batman assigned heroes to defend key regions and went to the Sahara to investigate the Lost Kingdom. There, Green Arrow, Mera, and Arthur joined him, hoping Arthur could recover Poseidon’s Trident and prevent war by challenging Orm for the throne.

• Barry asked which human nations Atlantis might attack, and the team identified coastlines in Asia, North America, and Europe.
• Batman assigned Clark and Barry to defend North America’s eastern coast, asked Wade and Mr. Freeze to help protect Britain, and said he would investigate Atlantean ruins in the Sahara.
• News reported that sabotage had damaged Queen Elizabeth and other vessels at Rosyth Dockyard, while British forces deployed to defend port cities.
• In the Lost Kingdom, Green Arrow rescued Batman from an attack by the ruins’ defenses.
• Mera explained that Arthur needed to recover Poseidon’s Trident so he could challenge Orm for the throne and stop the war.

As Atlantis attacked the United States, Superman tried to stop Orm from starting a war but was wounded by an Atlantean cannon. In Gotham, Mayor Hamilton learned that Wade was abroad and that Hogg United could be called on to defend the city.

• Batman tracked the unfolding war through Wayne Enterprises' satellite signals and urged his allies to hurry.
• The United States deployed its forces against the approaching Atlantean fleet, while Superman arrived to ask Orm to negotiate.
• Lex Luthor secretly urged Orm to use his specially designed water-energy particle cannon against Superman.
• Orm refused to retreat, and the Atlanteans and Americans opened fire; the cannon wounded Superman before his injury quickly healed.
• Mayor Hamilton asked Mr. Dura where Wade was, and the accountant offered Wade Group's security company if the military could not protect Gotham Harbor.
• The accountant reflected that Shimizu's Hogg United had grown into a powerful, army-like force that had never openly displayed its strength.

In Liverpool, Diana and Shimizu fought the forces of Xebel and the Saltwater Kingdom, with Shimizu’s weapons freezing and destroying large numbers of their troops. Nereus urged King Riva to withdraw and seek an environmental treaty, but King Riva refused as a gigantic crab emerged from the sea.

• Nereus watched the battle near Liverpool and learned that Diana and the flying Shimizu were challenging the undersea armies.
• Diana fought sea monsters while Shimizu used the White Warrior’s missiles and frozen bombs to devastate the battlefield.
• Diana asked Shimizu to freeze the sea near the kings of Xebel and the Saltwater Kingdom, and he agreed.
• Nereus told King Riva that they should withdraw and negotiate a treaty to protect the environment.
• King Riva rejected Nereus’s proposal as a mountain-sized crab rose from the sea beneath him.

Nereus reconsidered the purpose of the war and tried to prevent it from escalating, while Shimizu and Diana fought the Atlanteans attacking Britain. The fighting paused after Diana defeated King Riva, but Riva demanded that the land dwellers stop first.

• Nereus suspected Orm had engineered the attack that drew him into the war and decided the conflict no longer served Xebel’s interests.
• King Riva ignored Nereus’s advice and charged into battle with Kardan, his giant crab.
• Diana fought Riva and Kardan while Shimizu spoke with Nereus, who said he wanted to stop the war and negotiate.
• Nereus explained that the Atlanteans had targeted Britain as a springboard for attacking the continent and as a test of the land dwellers’ strength.
• Diana severed half of Kardan’s legs and subdued Riva with her sword and the Lasso of Truth.
• Nereus called for both sides to stop, but Riva insisted the land dwellers had to stand down first.

After the ceasefire, Lex Luthor publicly handed over the wounded Orm and presented himself as the man who had prevented the war, concealing his role in starting it. Batman told Arthur to delay his challenge for the throne until Orm recovered, and Arthur agreed after Mera warned that Orm would see him as a threat.

• Shimizu contacted the British commander, and the two sides agreed to a ceasefire.
• The Queen learned that Wonder Woman and War Warrior had left Britain, while the Prime Minister prepared talks with the Atlantean kings.
• Lex Luthor broadcast his surrender of the unconscious Orm and claimed he was seeking forgiveness for his past actions.
• Luthor’s plan to use Atlantean technology and modified Kryptonite against Superman failed when Batman, The Flash, and a bearded warrior rescued him.
• Mera warned Arthur that Orm would target him and his loved ones once he recovered, and Batman advised Arthur to postpone his challenge for the throne.
• Arthur agreed to challenge Orm later as the battlefield’s attention turned toward him and the others.

Arthur used Neptune’s Trident to stop the fighting and became Atlantis’s regent while Orm remained unconscious. As peace talks were arranged, the US President considered recruiting Wade, despite the risks and political opposition.

• Arthur raised Neptune’s Trident and ordered the sea forces to cease fire, then Vico revealed Arthur’s royal lineage and claim to the throne.
• Vico and the generals backed Arthur as regent, and the four undersea kingdoms withdrew their forces and agreed to peace talks at Buckingham Palace.
• The US President rejected Britain’s inquiry about rejoining the Paris Environmental Agreement and discussed the risks of involving Lex Luthor in negotiations.
• The President decided the government should recruit Wade, arguing that his wealth, technology, and army made him too powerful to confront by force.
• Diana looked around a Batcave hidden behind a waterfall and said the place felt creepy.

The first members of the Justice League agreed to form an alliance, with a secret Hall of Justice planned for Gotham. Shimizu and Bruce Wayne then discussed building a space watchtower as the alliance’s real headquarters and reviewed information about the Ancient Eastern Kingdom’s supernatural forces.

• Wonder Woman, Arthur, Batman, Superman, Green Arrow, The Flash, and Shimizu agreed to form an alliance after Batman explained that membership would be voluntary.
• The alliance chose to establish a secret Hall of Justice in Gotham, with Shimizu and Batman jointly funding its construction.
• Bruce Wayne proposed a space watchtower built by Wayne Enterprises, Wade Group, and Queen Group as Earth’s first defense against threats from space.
• Batman told Shimizu about the Ancient Eastern Kingdom’s Zi Qiang Department, Kong Kenan, Peng Dailan, and the Ten Heroes, including negotiators Fang Zhifu and Chen Nuo.
• Shimizu approved developing space technology and said Superman could help make building the watchtower easier.

Shimizu discussed the SpaceX project and the coming Sea-Land negotiations with Bruce Wayne before preparing to deal with a White House adviser. In the Naruto World, Shimizu’s team abducted Ayane Uzumaki from Kusagakure while Shimizu drew the village’s forces into pursuit, and golden flashes began to streak through the night.

• Shimizu and Bruce Wayne discussed their companies’ joint space technology venture, and Shimizu named the new company SpaceX.
• After a White House adviser arrived, Shimizu and Bruce Wayne discussed the Sea-Land negotiations and the possibility of Shimizu serving as a bridge between the alliance and the authorities.
• In the Land of Grass, Sada carried Ayane Uzumaki toward Sunagakure and reassured her that Shimizu would protect her.
• Shimizu’s team assassinated Kusagakure elder Gingyu and used the resulting chaos to abduct Ayane Uzumaki.
• Shimizu stayed behind to draw Kusagakure’s shinobi into pursuit, throwing marked kunai as golden flashes appeared.

Shimizu assassinated Gingyu in Kusagakure and used the Flying Thunder God Technique, leading Kusagakure to suspect Konoha and the Uzumaki woman it had captured. In Konoha, Hiruzen questioned Minato Namikaze, who denied leaving the village, and asked whether anyone else could use the technique.

• Shimizu killed seven or eight Kusagakure ninja and escaped after assassinating Gingyu with a space-time technique.
• Golden Rat ordered Kusagakure to suppress news of the attack and investigate whether the Uzumaki woman had been abducted.
• A day later, Mitokado Homura showed Hiruzen a witness sketch and explained that Kusagakure suspected Minato because the attacker was blond and used the Flying Thunder God Technique.
• Hiruzen noted that Minato had recently mastered the technique but had no known opportunity to leave Konoha, while Homura presented the attacker’s Flying Thunder God formula pattern.
• Minato denied leaving the village, and Hiruzen asked whether anyone else could use the Flying Thunder God Technique with that formula pattern.

Minato Namikaze denied being involved in the attack on Kusagakure, and Hiruzen Sarutobi believed him but ordered him and Jiraiya to investigate the mysterious user of a Flying Thunder God-like technique. Hiruzen then considered Danzo and Orochimaru’s secret activities and worried they might have used forbidden jutsu.

• Minato Namikaze told Hiruzen Sarutobi he had not left Konoha and offered to undergo an Anbu investigation and a Yamanaka memory probe.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi believed Minato and ordered him to investigate the incident secretly with Jiraiya and Anbu support.
• Hiruzen asked Mitokado Homura whether Danzo had made any moves, and Homura said Root’s members still followed Danzo’s instructions despite Orochimaru leading them.
• Homura declined to investigate Danzo and Orochimaru, leaving Hiruzen to consider the matter himself.
• Hiruzen suspected Danzo had drawn Orochimaru into forbidden work and worried they might have studied techniques from the Scroll of Seals, including Flying Thunder God.

Shimizu’s team reached the Land of Hot Water after wrapping up the Kusagakure operation and sending Ayane Uzumaki back to Sunagakure. While Hiruzen worried that an outside enemy might be targeting Konoha, Shimizu relaxed in a hot spring and explained his Flying Thunder God technique to Baki and Sada.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi considered whether Orochimaru had targeted Minato Namikaze to improve his own chances of becoming Hokage, but he also feared a hostile outsider might possess similar Space-Time Ninjutsu.
• Baki sent intelligence and Shimizu’s letter to Chiyo with a Sunagakure Anbu squad, which took Ayane Uzumaki back to the village for her safety.
• Shimizu expected Chiyo to train Ayane in Medical Ninjutsu because of her rare Yang Release and urged Sunagakure to recognize her value.
• Shimizu’s team arrived in the Land of Hot Water after the Kusagakure operation’s loose ends were handled and blame was pinned on Konoha.
• Baki asked Shimizu whether his Space-Time Ninjutsu was Konoha’s Flying Thunder God, and Shimizu claimed it as his own and described how he had developed it.

Shimizu explained how his Blood Demon Art had allowed him to develop a teleportation ability resembling the Flying Thunder God Technique, then prepared to investigate the Chinoike Clan in Hell Valley. The chapter ended by describing the clan’s blood-controlling Ketsuryūgan and introducing its most outstanding young man, Oyakuro En, whose wife had just died.

• Shimizu told Baki that he had mastered a teleportation ability similar to the Flying Thunder God Technique and still needed to study its principles.
• Shimizu said he would report the ability, rest for the night, and investigate the Chinoike Clan in Hell Valley the next day.
• Shimizu and his companions arrived near Hell Valley, where the hot springs and rain gave the area a blood-red, eerie appearance.
• The chapter explained that the Chinoike Clan had been exiled to Hell Valley by the Uchiha and that its Ketsuryūgan could control blood and blood-like water.
• The chapter introduced Oyakuro En as the Chinoike Clan’s most outstanding young man and revealed that his wife had just died.

Oyakuro En learned that the Chinoike Clan elders had arranged his wife's death to awaken his Ketsuryūgan, and he resolved to protect his daughter, Chiyo. When Shimizu and his Sunagakure team arrived to recruit the clan, En offered to join them on the condition that they kill the elders.

• The Chinoike elders celebrated Oyakuro En's increased eye power and admitted that his wife's death had been meant to strengthen him.
• Oyakuro En concealed his anger and focused on getting his daughter, Chiyo, to safety before acting against the elders.
• Shimizu arrived with his team and invited the Chinoike Clan to join Sunagakure, while Pakura badly injured an elder who tried to grab him.
• Oyakuro Yo rejected the offer, saying the clan had already agreed to join Kumogakure.
• Oyakuro En offered to join Shimizu with Chiyo if the Sunagakure team helped him kill the Chinoike elders.