Chapter Summaries

After the Uchiha were seen heading toward the Hokage Tower, Kushina dismissed Mizuno’s report as nonsense and joined her friends on the way to an important meeting. The group gathered with Tsunade, Cai Ling, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru, while Yan hinted that Mizuno would soon learn what had happened.

• Tsunade freed Jiraiya from the chains after he complained that she and Orochimaru had knocked him out for speaking out of turn.
• Mizuno told Kushina he had seen an old Uchiha leading armed clansmen toward the Hokage Tower, but Kushina refused to believe him and decided they could learn the truth at the meeting.
• Kushina greeted Yan and Rin affectionately, while Mizuno asked Yan whether something had happened with the Uchiha; Yan told him he would find out soon.
• Tsunade brought Cai Ling to meet Kushina, and Tsunade praised Cai Ling’s talent for Sealing Technique while Cai Ling privately worried about finding the Uzumaki woman she had once met.
• Orochimaru and Jiraiya arrived together, and Orochimaru suggested that they go to the meeting with Tsunade’s group.

At a crowded Konoha gathering, Sarutobi Hiruzen publicly admitted responsibility for the smear campaign that drove Hatake Sakumo to suicide and resigned as Hokage. He then named Uesugi Yayoi the Fourth Hokage, leaving the crowd in shock.

• Minato, Kushina, and others arrived at a packed venue without knowing why Konoha had gathered.
• Cai Ling used the Mind's Eye of the Kagura to spy on Yayoi, who sensed her and forced her out of the network.
• Yayoi urged Sarutobi Hiruzen to get used to his Hashirama Cells arm, which Yayoi had grafted on after Danzo attacked him.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen apologized for allowing Danzo to smear Hatake Sakumo, declared Danzo a rogue ninja, and resigned as Hokage.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen announced that Jonin Uesugi Yayoi would become the Fourth Hokage.

Yayoi took the Hokage hat from Sarutobi Hiruzen and became the Fourth Hokage, winning the crowd’s support. He ended his succession speech by announcing a decision against his ancestors: he would re-establish the Senju Clan.

• Yayoi reflected on the crowd’s guilt over rumors and resolved to strengthen the Will of Fire while investing in Konoha’s promising youth.
• Yayoi took the Hokage hat from Sarutobi Hiruzen and accepted power as Konoha’s new leader.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen announced the succession ceremony, and Kushina, Tsunade, Orochimaru, and the clans in the crowd reacted to Yayoi becoming Fourth Hokage.
• Yayoi promised to lead Konoha to new heights and said he would re-establish the Senju Clan.

After restoring order in Konoha, Yayoi rebuilt the Senju Clan and appointed Cai Ling as her assistant while steering her toward finding the Uzumaki who had helped her. Minato Namikaze led the ANBU as its captain and received an important S-rank mission from the Fourth Hokage.

• Yayoi announced the Senju Clan’s reestablishment at her inauguration, and the crowd celebrated her as Hokage.
• Yayoi appointed members of the Senju, Uchiha, and Hyuga Clans to high-ranking positions after her allies killed Sarutobi Hiruzen’s loyal subordinates.
• Cai Ling asked Yayoi about her blood relatives, and Yayoi said the Uzumaki she sought was her close friend who had left Konoha on a mission.
• Yayoi offered Cai Ling a path to search Konoha’s information network by becoming a Hokage’s assistant, and Cai Ling accepted.
• Minato Namikaze, now an ANBU captain, received an S-rank mission and ordered his team to complete it perfectly.

Minato’s ANBU mission to deliver a sealed mummy to Kumogakure was exposed when Killer B sensed danger and transformed with the Eight-Tails. Minato tried to take the target and break its seal, but young A intercepted him, leaving them facing off in the forest.

• Minato ordered the ANBU to disguise themselves as merchants and smuggle the sealed target into Kumogakure.
• Killer B sensed danger, and the Eight-Tails warned him that the presence felt like the Ten-Tails.
• Killer B transformed with the Eight-Tails and struck the ANBU, forcing Minato to teleport them away and abandon the mission target.
• Minato returned, took the mummy from its damaged coffin, and began trying to release its seal.
• Killer B transformed again and confronted Minato, but young A arrived and clashed with him.
• Minato recognized A as the Third Raikage’s son, while A identified Minato as a Konoha Ninja using the Flying Thunder God Technique.

Mizuno battled young A while Killer B uncovered the sealed Danzo, whose body revived with the Ten-Tails’ will and threatened the Eight-Tails. Yayoi sensed her control system activating inside Danzo and ordered the border defenses prepared for war.

• Mizuno used the Flying Thunder God Technique to evade young A’s attacks while trying to defeat him before he was overwhelmed.
• Killer B examined the mummy after the seal came undone, and Danzo’s dormant body began reviving with the Ten-Tails’ will.
• The Eight-Tails took complete control of Killer B’s body and transformed to confront Danzo.
• Yayoi sensed the Sealing Space forming inside Danzo as her control measures connected through the Eight Trigrams Seal and Mental Element.
• Yayoi ordered Yan and Cai Ling to prepare the border defenses for war.

Yayoi sent Danzo to weaken Kumogakure, then discovered that absorbing chakra was cracking an egg in his Sealing Space and increasing his control over Danzo. As the Third Raikage arrived to help Killer B, Danzo leaped at him with spiral-shaped spears.

• Yayoi rejected compromise with Kumogakure and planned to use Danzo to weaken the village while Konoha developed its strength.
• Yayoi sensed his will descend into a fiery space and saw a crimson egg cracking as Danzo absorbed chakra.
• Danzo clung to the Eight-Tails and absorbed its chakra, while a nearby Tailed Beast Orb blast further fueled his Hashirama Cells.
• Yayoi realized the beasts' chakra was cracking the egg and increasing his control over Danzo, and decided to have Danzo absorb chakra from ninja next.
• The Third Raikage severed Danzo from the Eight-Tails with a Four-Fingered Thrust and admonished Killer B for not mastering its power.
• Danzo leaped toward the Third Raikage, his hands transformed into spiral-shaped spears.

Danzo rampaged through Kumogakure, absorbing chakra as the Third Raikage and Killer B struggled to stop him. As the Divine Tree Bloodline’s egg filled with Eight-Tails chakra, its shell cracked and light began to emerge.

• The Third Raikage and Killer B attacked Danzo with Black Lightning and a Tailed Beast Orb, but he survived and recovered.
• Danzo entered Kumogakure and drained chakra from its ninja, killing many as Yayoi guided him toward gathering energy.
• The Third Raikage pierced Danzo with One-Finger Nukite, but Hashirama Cells repaired him, and Killer B urged the Raikage to summon the sealing team.
• The Eight-Tails seized Danzo, but he absorbed its chakra and grew stronger as the egg in Yayoi’s mental space developed cracks and began to shine.

Yayoi took control of Danzo’s body and unleashed Wood Release against Kumogakure, devastating the village and igniting a confrontation with Konoha. As Madara learned that Yayoi had become the Fourth Hokage, he planned to find a proxy or confront him directly.

• Yayoi manifested as a small dragon and tree, temporarily suppressing the Divine Tree Will and taking control of Danzo’s body.
• Yayoi stopped draining the Eight-Tails, sensed the battlefield and Kumogakure’s forces, then used Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence to reshape the terrain and inflict massive losses.
• Kumogakure blamed Konoha for the devastation and sent troops to the border, while the Fourth Hokage refused to back down and threatened war.
• The other nations investigated the Fourth Hokage’s past, learned he had killed the Third Kazekage, and began preparing to exploit the conflict.
• Madara learned that Yayoi had become Hokage and decided to scout the Uchiha Clan Territory for a new proxy, while considering confronting Yayoi himself.

Yayoi prepared a gel sphere to store Nine-Tails chakra and appointed Mizuno as ANBU commander, then sent him toward the Kumogakure border. He transferred the chakra into the sphere and dismissed the Nine-Tails’ power as nothing special.

• Yayoi mixed two gels from Demon Country, shaped them into a sphere, and inscribed the Fire God Seal on it.
• Mizuno reported that he had undone one layer of the seal before the Eight-Tails’ Jinchuriki stopped him, and he escaped the Third Raikage’s son using the Flying Thunder God Technique despite breaking his Kunai.
• Yayoi rewarded Mizuno with two S-rank mission bonuses and appointed him ANBU’s commander.
• Yayoi told Mizuno to help deter Kumogakure at the border with Shikaku and gave him specialized Kunai and other equipment.
• After Mizuno left, Yayoi began transferring the Nine-Tails’ chakra from his Yin Seal into the gel sphere.
• Yayoi covered himself in the Nine-Tails’ chakra cloak and concluded that its power was nothing special.

Yayoi experimented with the Nine-Tails’ chakra before turning his attention to a year of conflict between Konoha and Kumogakure. After Konoha’s victory, he tested a new Divine Tree Cursed Seal on Senju Fujian and considered how his seal research could strengthen ninja clans.

• Yayoi drew in the Nine-Tails’ chakra, alarming Yan and Cai Ling, then explained that he was channeling it into a vessel.
• Over the next year, Mizuno earned the name “Golden Flash” by defeating Kumogakure forces along the border.
• Yan and Kushina went to the battlefield, where Yan used the Kongou Seal and her Sharingan to control the Eight-Tails.
• Yayoi learned that Kumogakure had retreated and arranged for Konoha to welcome Mizuno home, while his Shadow Clone had been acting as Hokage in the tower.
• In his secret lab, Yayoi checked on Fujian after implanting him with a Divine Tree Cursed Seal and explained his plans to develop seals that could strengthen ninja clans.

Yayoi showed Tsunade the Hybrid Gene and asked her to help improve it. After Konoha celebrated its victory over Kumogakure, Yayoi and his companions received an invitation to visit the Daimyo in the Land of Fire, and they prepared to make the trip.

• Yayoi showed Tsunade stable, aggressive Hybrid Gene cells derived from his blood and asked her to help perfect them.
• Konoha welcomed Mizuno and Kushina home after their decisive victory over Kumogakure, raising Yayoi’s prestige above Sarutobi Hiruzen’s.
• Yayoi told Mizuno and Kushina that the Land of Fire had invited the new Hokage to visit the Daimyo in the capital.
• Yan recalled that visiting the Daimyo was a tradition for each new Hokage, and she and Yayoi shared a smile about their childhood promise.
• Kushina enthusiastically agreed to go, while Mizuno raised concerns about the lack of a Shadow Guard.
• Yayoi said he would protect the younger ninja himself, and Mizuno and Kushina were moved by his explanation.

Yayoi traveled through the Land of Fire with his companions to draw out enemies and observe the country, while Yan tested her new Purple Flame Kekkei Genkai against ambushers. The group found a wanted poster for Yayoi, whose bounty left him shocked.

• Yayoi traveled toward the Land of Fire with Mizuno, Yan, Rin, and Kushina, explaining that he wanted to see more of the nation and draw out his enemies.
• Yayoi and his companions passed prosperous villages as he reflected on the Land of Fire's wealth and the other nations' reasons for waging war.
• Yayoi sensed rogue ninja or bounty hunters hiding nearby, but Yan stopped Mizuno and used her Purple Flame to kill three of them.
• Yan explained that her Purple Flame combined Yin Release and Fire Release, and Yayoi suggested she might fuse it with her Sharingan's Pupil Power.
• Mizuno returned with a wanted poster for Yayoi, and Yayoi began reading the bounty before choking in shock.

Yayoi’s party faced bounty hunters while Black Zetsu used the attacks to gather information for a larger assassination plan. A coalition of Jonin prepared to target Yayoi, but his abilities during the past two years remained unknown to them.

• Yayoi dismissed the two-billion bounty notice and headed toward a post station with Kushina, while Yan and Rin moved ahead.
• Yan killed enemy ninja with golden flashes, and Rin used her Byakugan and chakra swords to tear through a bounty-hunter squad near the station.
• Black Zetsu and White Zetsu watched the battle and discussed how the bounty hunters were meant to distract Yayoi’s guards and collect his blood.
• Black Zetsu resolved to use his hidden resources to eliminate Yayoi’s companions and gather information before Madara struck.
• Kakuzu joined Jonin from Kirigakure, Kumogakure, and Iwagakure in a cave as they discussed the assassination and the guards protecting Yayoi.

Kirigakure, Cloud, and Iwagakure forces allied with Kakuzu to ambush the Fourth Hokage, unaware that Yayoi had already killed the attackers approaching him. Yayoi refined their souls into a Philosopher’s Stone and worried that his Dragon Blood nearing the Second Generation would make it harder to fuse with his Divine Tree Bloodline.

• Mizunashi Yuki coordinated the allied forces’ plan to surround the Fourth Hokage, while the Cloud and Iwagakure Ninja agreed to proceed.
• The factions negotiated with Kakuzu over payment and the Hokage’s body, each remaining wary of the others’ motives.
• Yayoi sensed the attackers’ life signs vanish as he drank tea, then found the area covered in corpses.
• Yayoi used Orochimaru’s improved soul technique and alchemy to refine the dead Ninja into a Philosopher’s Stone.
• Yayoi concluded that his Dragon Blood was nearing the Second Generation and feared the stronger bloodline would resist fusion with his Divine Tree Bloodline.

Yayoi explained to Mizuno how poverty and the shinobi villages’ need to survive made future wars inevitable, while Mizuno held on to his ideal of achieving understanding by eliminating inequality. At the gorge, Yayoi revealed that powerful ninja, most of them wearing Mist Village forehead protectors, were lying in ambush and ordered Mizuno to face them.

• After reaching a gorge, Mizuno asked Yayoi why wars happened, and Yayoi described the poverty endured by common people across the Ninja World.
• Yayoi argued that Sunagakure would wage war again within three years because Konoha’s reparations had drained its resources and it could not otherwise support its ninja.
• Yayoi warned Mizuno that war was a living hell and that mutual understanding was an empty promise, but Mizuno maintained that reducing resource inequality could help people understand one another.
• Yayoi told Mizuno to hold on to his ideal and gain the strength to pursue it, then said ninja were hiding around the gorge and ordered Mizuno to deal with them.
• Yayoi detected the hidden chakra signatures and noticed that most of the ambushers wore Mist Village forehead protectors, leaving him puzzled about Madara’s motives.

Uesugi Yayoi discovered a coalition of Kumogakure, Kirigakure, and Iwagakure shinobi waiting to ambush him, along with White Zetsu support. After Yayoi neutralized Mizunashi Yuki’s empowered Ice Release, a black-robed attacker emerged from the earth and struck at him.

• Yayoi sensed enemies in the forest and handed the escort mission to Mizuno, who prepared to protect him.
• White Zetsu revealed that the concealed shinobi had been found, and Mizunashi Yuki decided to attack Yayoi with the others.
• A newly created White Zetsu transformed into armor for Mizunashi Yuki, greatly boosting his strength and Ice Release.
• Mizuno cut through Mizunashi Yuki’s first barrage, while Yayoi used Dustless Land to destroy the ice and repel the ninjutsu in its domain.
• Yayoi identified the Kumogakure, Kirigakure, and Iwagakure attackers, but a black-robed figure emerged from the earth and swung a fist at him.

Yayoi overwhelmed the enemy force, defeating Mizunashi Yuki and forcing the remaining Mist, Cloud, and Iwa shinobi into a desperate counterattack. He sent Mizuno to face the Iwa golem while confronting the Cloud ninja and Kaguya Clan fighters himself.

• Kakuzu attacked Yayoi with a fire-breathing monster and an Earth Spear-enhanced fist, but Yayoi emerged unharmed and crushed the arm before Kakuzu severed it.
• Mizunashi Yuki trapped Yayoi among ice crystals, but Yayoi used the Mind's Eye of the Kagura to locate him and knocked him unconscious with a punch.
• Yayoi shaped the surrounding black mist into a blade as the remaining shinobi rallied under Kakuzu and the Cloud ninja.
• Yayoi assigned Mizuno to fight the two Iwagakure Jonin and their rock golem while he faced the Cloud and Mist forces.
• A Kaguya shinobi attacked Yayoi with his own spine as a whip, but Yayoi's black blade shattered the bones.

Yayoi overwhelmed the attacking Kumogakure and Kirigakure forces with taijutsu and survived Kakuzu’s Earth Grudge Final Shot. As the enemy prepared to flee, Yayoi stopped Kakuzu and asked which move Hashirama Senju had used to defeat him.

• Yayoi defeated a Kaguya Clan ninja, then tore through the charging Kumogakure and Kirigakure forces with taijutsu.
• Yayoi used a Sharingan Genjutsu to put a Kumogakure ninja in the path of Kakuzu’s Earth Grudge Final Shot, then met the attack with his Monster Strength Fist.
• Yayoi emerged from the blast with a briefly burned fist that regenerated, and concluded the attackers were pawns sent to test him.
• The Kumogakure and Kirigakure ninjas blamed each other and began preparing to flee, while Kakuzu also tried to escape.
• Yayoi called Kakuzu by name and asked which move the First Hokage had used to defeat him.

Yayoi revealed his Wood Release and overwhelmed Kakuzu and the Mist and Cloud ninjas with a gigantic Wood Dragon. Black and White Zetsu fled and decided to target the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki for chakra.

• Yayoi used Wood Release to summon a towering Wood Dragon, stunning Kakuzu and the remaining ninjas.
• Kakuzu fled with Earth Grudge Fear, but Yayoi sent the Wood Dragon after the ninjas and swallowed him.
• Mizuno teleported to Yayoi and recognized the Wood Release as the First Hokage’s technique.
• Black and White Zetsu escaped through the earth and discussed abducting the Uchiha girl or stealing chakra from Mizuto, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.