Chapter Summaries

Shazo decided to dismantle the Sarutobi Clan’s influence after gathering intelligence, while Hiruzen Sarutobi sent Jiraiya to bring Tsunade back to oppose Shazo’s bid for Hokage. Shazo warned those with him not to trust Hiruzen’s promises, leaving Jiraiya on his way to find Tsunade.

• Shazo rejected Kakashi Hatake’s plea to treat Hiruzen Sarutobi with dignity and ordered him to gather all intelligence on the Sarutobi Clan.
• Shazo planned to let Hiruzen die quietly, then use the clan’s loss of privileges and support to make it disappear as an interest group.
• After arguing with Jiraiya, Hiruzen Sarutobi told him to bring Tsunade back to become Fifth Hokage and hold Shazo back for ten years.
• Jiraiya accepted Hiruzen’s request and left through the window to find Tsunade.
• Shazo told Uchiha Izumi and Naruto Uzumaki to judge Hiruzen by his past actions rather than trust his long-term promises.

Shazo confronted Hiruzen Sarutobi in the Hokage residence, explaining that he would not allow Jiraiya to teach Naruto because Jiraiya served Mount Myōboku. Shazo trapped Hiruzen inside a barrier that blocked summoning, sound, and light, and Hiruzen prepared to fight.

• Shazo reassured Shisui Uchiha, Uchiha Izumi, Kakashi Hatake, Naruto Uzumaki, and Tenten that they should continue working toward his bid for Fifth Hokage despite Tsunade's possible return.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi armed himself and challenged Shazo after Shazo appeared in the Hokage residence with killing intent.
• Shazo accused Hiruzen of trying to bring Jiraiya to Naruto and Tsunade to obstruct his path to becoming Hokage.
• Shazo claimed Jiraiya had become a servant of Mount Myōboku and said Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke, the twins of fate, must remain Konoha ninjas.
• Hiruzen attempted to summon the Adamantine Ape, but Shazo's barrier disrupted the technique and blocked sound and light.
• Hiruzen drew a kunai and challenged Shazo to attack him.

Shazo fought Hiruzen Sarutobi and revealed that he had mastered ten Kekkei Genkai, using several of them to overwhelm the Hokage. Hiruzen concealed his despair and boosted his abilities, leaving Shazo facing a more dangerous opponent who might escape the courtyard and throw Konoha into chaos.

• Shazo used Body Flicker and a clone to attack Hiruzen Sarutobi, then overwhelmed him with Swift Style and revealed his Storm Style and Boil Style Kekkei Genkai.
• Hiruzen used Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique, but Shazo used Magnet Style to seize the shuriken and leave Hiruzen astonished by his abilities.
• Shazo told Hiruzen that he had mastered ten Kekkei Genkai and explained that successful fusion required the right method, nature transformation, and fusion core.
• Shazo realized Hiruzen's despair was an act and attacked again, while Hiruzen revealed enhanced speed and reactions from a secret technique or mysterious medicine.
• Shazo recognized that Hiruzen's temporary boost could help him break through the courtyard barrier and spark chaos in Konoha.

Shazo defeated Hiruzen Sarutobi with the Dugu Nine Swords and described how he would disguise the former Hokage’s death as an accidental drowning. Hiruzen refused to believe Konoha’s ninja wanted him gone, leaving Shazo to question whether being Hokage was not reason enough for their hatred.

• Shazo used the Dugu Nine Swords to overcome Hiruzen Sarutobi’s defenses and break his ribs with a powerful strike.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi, unable to rise, accused Shazo of killing a former Hokage and warned that Konoha’s ninja would know the truth.
• Shazo explained that he would restore Hiruzen Sarutobi’s body after death and make it appear that he had choked after falling into water while drunk.
• Shazo told Hiruzen Sarutobi that many Konoha ninja wanted him dead because he clung to the Hokage’s seat and protected the hated Anbu Training Department.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi insisted that Konoha’s ninja would not hate him just for being Hokage, and Shazo asked whether that was not enough.

Shazo explained why Konoha’s ninja clans had turned against Hiruzen Sarutobi and blamed his expanding grip on power for the coup. After Hiruzen refused to acknowledge his abuses and give up Naruto Uzumaki’s parents’ inheritance, he died in agony.

• Shazo accused Hiruzen of controlling young ninjas through the Second Training Department, and pointed out that Hiruzen had repeated Shimura Danzō’s catchphrase.
• Shazo revealed that Nara Shikaku helped organize the coup and explained how the clans’ cooperation made it possible.
• Shazo told Hiruzen that his expanding authority and interference had alienated the ninja clans and contributed to Hatake Sakumo’s death and his students’ departure.
• Shazo traced the conflict to Hiruzen’s seizure of clan power and Naruto Uzumaki’s demand for his parents’ inheritance.
• Hiruzen refused to give up the inheritance, and Shazo left him to die in agony.

After Hiruzen Sarutobi died under suspicious circumstances, Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura tried to summon Tsunade to investigate, while Uchiha Izumi reported the village’s developments to Shazo. Shazo’s reforms helped the Uchiha Clan strengthen its intelligence network and improve its standing with Konoha’s villagers.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi died after falling into water while drunk, and the Jonin Assembly ruled that he had died of illness before punishing twenty-eight Sarutobi ninjas.
• Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura suspected murder and sent trusted ninjas to urge Jiraiya to bring Tsunade back to Konoha.
• Uchiha Izumi told Shazo that the Uchiha Clan’s businesses and expanded network of people had improved its intelligence gathering.
• Shazo explained that information often spread through its use and transmission, then outlined how the Uchiha reforms would progress as the younger generation matured.
• Uchiha Izumi resettled non-ninja Uchiha families among Konoha’s villagers and used clan benefits and relationships to improve public opinion of the Uchiha.

Shazo explained how carefully targeted payments had turned Konoha residents away from blaming the Uchiha, then faced Tsunade in the race to become Fifth Hokage. After Tsunade returned to Konoha, she secretly broke into Shazo’s home and found him hiding behind a door.

• Izumi and Shisui Uchiha asked Shazo why distributing money had ended the villagers’ hostility toward the Uchiha, and he explained his strategy of rewarding relatives according to their ties and contributions.
• Three days later, Tsunade returned with Jiraiya, and the Konoha Jonin Assembly prepared to choose between her and Shazo for Fifth Hokage.
• Jiraiya persuaded Tsunade to return after Mitokado Homura told him that Hiruzen Sarutobi had died and Shazo was likely responsible.
• Shazo stayed confident that he could win support or seize control of Konoha through the Uchiha, depending on the assembly’s decision.
• Tsunade secretly entered Shazo’s home, kicked open the door where he was hiding, and called him a Wood Release ninja.

Tsunade fled Shazo’s home after seeing him aroused, then recalled that a retired ninja had urged her to marry him so the Senju line might preserve Wood Release. She drank herself into oblivion, whereupon she imagined Shazo approaching and pressing her down.

• Tsunade watched Shazo in the bathroom until he stood up, then blushed, fled, and accidentally tore his front door off.
• Shazo dismissed Tsunade’s strange reaction and decided not to concern himself with his rival for the Fifth Hokage election.
• Tsunade returned home and remembered how a retired ninja had proposed that she marry Shazo to help preserve Wood Release in Konoha.
• Tsunade had angrily driven the old man away, but the proposal had left her unable to sleep and prompted her to sneak into Shazo’s home.
• Tsunade drank herself unconscious, and in her drunken vision Shazo approached and pressed her down.

After Tsunade refused to attend the assembly, Shazo won the confidence vote and became the Fifth Hokage. He assessed the Jonin’s loyalties and identified Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu’s faction as his next targets.

• Utatane Koharu accused Shazo of killing Hiruzen Sarutobi and Tsunade, but Inoichi Yamanaka, Shisui Uchiha, and Shikaku Nara challenged her accusations.
• Jiraiya led a group of Jonin and medical ninja to find Tsunade while Shazo kept Shisui Uchiha at the Meeting Hall.
• Jiraiya returned with Tsunade’s letter explaining that she would not come because she believed the village had a more suitable Hokage candidate.
• With Tsunade absent, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu allowed the vote to proceed, and Shazo won 287 of 335 votes.
• Shazo categorized the Jonin by their reactions, marking his supporters, potential allies, and the faction led by Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu for future action.

Shazo was crowned Fifth Hokage and reorganized Konoha’s government, transferring most decision-making power to a council of Jonin and fifteen specialized departments. He ended the chapter with far less authority than the Third Hokage had held and abolished the Hokage Guard, arguing that he needed no protection.

• Shazo crowned himself Fifth Hokage and announced that the Konoha Jonin Assembly would be dissolved.
• Shazo proposed a permanent council of fifteen Jonin whose decisions would outrank Hokage orders unless the full Assembly overturned them.
• Shazo reorganized Konoha’s affairs into fifteen departments, and the Jonin selected as department heads formed the council.
• Shazo retained only limited powers, including appointing department heads, auditing their finances, and commanding the reduced Anbu.
• Shazo rejected Shisui Uchiha and Shikaku Nara’s concerns about his safety and abolished the Hokage Guard.

Shazo fused his first Kekkei Tōta while Konoha’s Jonin debated the authority and duties of fifteen new departments. By dawn, the department heads realized they had inherited the work and responsibility while Shazo had become an overseer.

• Shazo let the Jonin who benefited from the reforms propose and vote on the departments’ authority and duties, while Shisui Uchiha recognized their growing loyalty to Shazo.
• Shazo used the Hashirama flesh taken from Obito Uchiha to guide the fusion of Water Release, Earth Release, and Yang Release into a new Wood Release Kekkei Tōta.
• The new Wood Release chakra grafted onto Shazo’s original Wood Release and began altering his genes, while the two abilities formed a Kekkei Tōta Ring around his heart.
• Shazo realized the new ring appeared to be part of a set of five Kekkei Tōta and felt his path toward greater power had become clearer.
• The Konoha Jonin debated through the night, then realized the fifteen department heads had received heavy workloads and responsibility while Shazo had left himself as a supervisor.

After concluding the Konoha Jonin Assembly, Shazo explained to Shisui Uchiha why his system of checks and competition kept Konoha's leaders in line. He then entrusted Shisui with finding Orochimaru and bringing him before him.

• Shazo reflected on how his power structure kept the department heads competing for his favor while leaving him free to direct Konoha.
• Shazo ended the assembly, and the Konoha Jonin bowed before returning to their posts.
• Shazo kept Shisui Uchiha behind and asked whether he resented not receiving a department head position.
• Shisui said he trusted that he would remain one of Shazo's most trusted ninja, and Shazo explained why he used checks and competition instead of relying on trust.
• Shazo told Shisui to find Orochimaru and bring him before him.

After becoming Fifth Hokage, Shazo assigned Shisui Uchiha to capture Orochimaru alive and spent the day taking control of Konoha’s affairs. He then tracked down Tsunade and ordered her to return to the village, revealing that he wanted the powerful Medical Ninja on Konoha’s side.

• Shazo persuaded Shisui Uchiha to bring Orochimaru back alive, allowing force if necessary.
• Shazo took over the Third Hokage’s records and discussed delayed plans and village affairs with Konoha’s clan leaders and hospital officials.
• Uchiha Izumi congratulated Shazo at home, and he invited her to help question Tsunade about blocking his door while he was using the toilet.
• Shazo and Uchiha Izumi left Konoha and found Tsunade and Kato Shizune camping in a forest.
• Shazo ordered Tsunade to return to Konoha, intending to recruit her as a Kage-level Ninja and Medical Ninja.

Shazo forced Tsunade to choose between returning to Konoha and becoming a rogue ninja, and she agreed to come home with Shizune. After reaching the village, Tsunade thanked Shazo with a fierce kiss, leaving their relationship unsettled.

• Shazo warned Tsunade that refusing to return would make her a rogue ninja, while Uchiha Izumi worried about his threats.
• Tsunade decided to return to Konoha, and Shizune wept with relief before asking her to stop gambling.
• Shazo joked that Izumi had accompanied him in case Tsunade acted like a hooligan, making Izumi laugh and Tsunade grind her teeth.
• Tsunade traveled back to Konoha with Shazo, Izumi, and Shizune, then sighed with relief upon seeing the village gates.
• Shazo told Tsunade she could rest before choosing whether to visit the hospital or medical laboratory, and Tsunade kissed him as a token of thanks.

After Tsunade kissed Shazo, Uchiha Izumi buried the scandal beneath rumors while Konoha’s strength reshaped the Ninja World. Shisui cornered Orochimaru in the Land of Rice Paddies, where Orochimaru summoned two coffins to face him.

• Tsunade kissed Shazo in public, and Uchiha Izumi wiped the lipstick from her brother’s face before using paid trolls and fabricated rumors to smother the scandal.
• Tsunade’s return and Shazo’s hardline influence emboldened Konoha’s ninja, while Sunagakure grew obedient and Ōnoki worried about Iwagakure’s future.
• Orochimaru, pursued by the Akatsuki, Jiraiya, and Shisui Uchiha, lost four secret bases in seven days and was trapped near Otogakure in the Land of Rice Paddies.
• Konoha’s tracking teams surrounded Orochimaru’s underground hideout, and he emerged alone after Shisui ordered him to surrender and return to Konoha alive.
• Orochimaru dismissed Shisui’s confidence, declared that he had prepared a new technique, and summoned two coffins marked with the characters “One” and “Two.”

Orochimaru resurrected Hashirama and Tobirama with an improved Impure World Reincarnation, but Hashirama broke free and attacked him. Shisui pursued Orochimaru and immobilized him with the Golden Binding Technique, while the resurrected Hokage remained a threat to Konoha.

• Konoha's ninja recognized the resurrected First and Second Hokage, and Tobirama identified Orochimaru as his former student of Hiruzen's.
• Hashirama broke free of Orochimaru's control, seized him, and forced him to escape with his Orochimaru-style Substitution Technique.
• Orochimaru used a Snake Shedding Clone Technique to slip away, but Shisui found him concealed around a tree.
• Shisui explained that he could not safely fight the Hokage and said his mission was to take Orochimaru to the Fifth Hokage, Shazo.
• Orochimaru looked into Shisui's Mangekyō Sharingan and was immobilized by the Golden Binding Technique.

Shisui Uchiha captured Orochimaru by using genjutsu on his clone to reach his true body through their damaged souls. Shazo spoke with the reanimated First and Second Hokage, learned Konoha’s hidden history, and prepared to fight as Tobirama lost control.

• Shisui Uchiha explained how his Mangekyō Sharingan genjutsu had affected Orochimaru’s true body through fragments of his soul, then bound him and handed him to Inuzuka E.
• Aburame Ryoma, Hyūga Takashi, and the other Konoha Jonin entered Orochimaru’s underground lair to inspect it.
• Shazo suppressed Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju’s battle instincts and told them he was a Senju descendant with Wood Release.
• Shazo discussed Konoha’s history and clan policies with Tobirama, learning secrets that the Third Hokage had concealed.
• Tobirama Senju lost his reason and warned Shazo about Hashirama’s strength and his own Flying Thunder God Slash ambushes.

Han Aimin woke up in the 985 Factory on March 6, 1987, and realized he had returned to the past. Remembering that his eldest brother-in-law Huang Haishan’s promotion depended on a cannon shipment that was about to suffer an accident, Han Aimin hurried to find him at the test firing range.

• Han Aimin woke after a fall surrounded by Zhong Jianyu and Liu Pingping, then recognized the 985 Factory and saw the date March 6, 1987.
• Han Aimin remembered that Huang Haishan’s promotion was nearly official and that a cannon would soon fall off a cliff during transport, threatening his career.
• Han Aimin left the school despite his injuries and went to the assembly workshop to find Huang Haishan.
• Zhang Shengbing told Han Aimin that the cannons had to be test-fired before delivery and offered to take him to the back mountain.
• Zhang Shengbing received half an hour’s leave and drove Han Aimin by motorcycle to the test firing range.

Han Aimin woke in 1987 at 985 Factory after apparently traveling back from its ruined future, and realized his eldest brother-in-law’s impending cannon-transport accident could derail his chance to become a cadre. He hurried to find him, then rode with Zhang Shengbing to the factory’s test-firing range.

• Han Aimin woke surrounded by Zhong Jianyu and Liu Pingping, recognized 985 Factory, and confirmed the date was March 6, 1987.
• Han Aimin remembered that Huang Haishan was about to lead a cannon transport in which a broken hook would send a cannon off a cliff, jeopardizing his cadre appointment.
• Han Aimin left the school for the Assembly Workshop to find Huang Haishan, while Liu Pingping and Zhong Jianyu arranged to cover his classes.
• Zhang Shengbing told Han Aimin the cannons would be test-fired at the Back Mountain Firing Range before transport and offered him a ride.
• Zhang Shengbing received leave and drove Han Aimin by motorcycle to the Test Firing Range by the River Beach.

After a fall, Han Aimin realized he had returned to March 6, 1987, at the 985 Factory and hurried to prevent an accident from ruining his brother-in-law Huang Haishan’s chance to become a cadre. He learned the cannon shipment would first be test-fired and rode with Zhang Shengbing to the firing range.

• Han Aimin woke surrounded by colleagues, recognized the 985 Factory as it had been in 1987, and confirmed the date on a poster.
• Han Aimin remembered that Huang Haishan’s cannon shipment would suffer an accident, threatening Huang Haishan’s pending cadre conversion.
• Han Aimin left the school to find Huang Haishan, while Liu Pingping and Zhong Jianyu arranged coverage for his classes.
• At the Assembly Workshop, Han Aimin learned from Zhang Shengbing that the cannon had to be test-fired before delivery.
• Zhang Shengbing took leave and drove Han Aimin by motorcycle to the Test Firing Range.