Chapter Summaries

Yahiko made a flashy entrance against Asuma, backed by a long, embellished introduction that presented his sword and armor as divine treasures. The match began with Kusagakure’s biased commentary, and Shikaku decided the situation had to change.

• Kusana defended Yahiko’s showy entrance as Naruto and Obito praised the glowing sword, while the crowd overwhelmingly cheered for Kusagakure.
• Mujie introduced Yahiko with an embellished history, claiming the Uzumaki Clan had forged his sword, Fire’s Joy, and that it had formed his Flame Dragon Armor.
• Yahiko introduced himself and his equipment, then Asuma identified himself as a Konoha jōnin before the match began.
• Yahiko and Asuma attacked, while Mujie’s commentary favored Yahiko and described Asuma retreating from the sword’s flames.
• Shikaku judged that Kusagakure had undermined Asuma’s momentum and decided to intervene after spotting a familiar figure.

Yahiko overwhelmed Asuma with theatrical equipment, deceptive attacks, and a wildly biased commentator as their duel reached its climax. Meanwhile, Shikaku Nara entered the restroom and answered a mysterious voice.

• Yahiko’s grand entrance and the commentator’s favoritism left the Konoha audience furious and Kakashi reluctant to take the stage.
• Yahiko and Asuma fought while Yahiko’s armor and bizarre named techniques confused and exhausted Asuma.
• Yahiko announced an ultimate move, then used a Fire Dragon Bullet and hurled an explosive-tag-covered greatsword at Asuma.
• Shikaku Nara entered the restroom, where a calm voice greeted him, and he replied that he had come.

Yahiko defeated Asuma in the tournament’s first match, while the biased host turned the victory into an advertisement for Kusagakure’s Divine Artifacts. Kusana learned Kakashi would fight next, and Asuma urged him to prepare a grand introduction to counter the Grass Ninjas’ showmanship.

• Yahiko emerged from the settling dust as the victor over Asuma, and the crowd cheered for Kusagakure while Mujie promoted the Flame Dragon Ninja’s gear.
• Yahiko called for medical help for Asuma, then left the arena as reporters asked for his thoughts and he thanked Kusagakure’s Leader.
• Kusana led the group away to rest and prepare for a possible Konoha attack, while Kakuzu told him Kakashi would enter the next match.
• Kusana saw that Kakuzu had agreed to Konoha’s requests in exchange for a large payment and reacted with disbelief.
• Asuma woke and warned Kakashi about Kusagakure’s lack of ninja honor, then asked him to prepare an introduction that would show Konoha’s might.

After Kusagakure’s victory made Flame Dragon Armor wildly popular, Kusana encouraged Naruto and tried to make Obito prepare for his duel with Kakashi. Meanwhile, Scorpion learned that the factory had ordered emergency overtime to produce more merchandise.

• Kusana gave Naruto a toy Flame Dragon Armor and encouraged him to attend the academy and protect his new family in Kusagakure.
• Hanzō asked whether Obito was ready to face Kakashi, and Kusana defended Obito’s determination to win.
• Obito arrived with Rin after buying Flame Dragon Armor and Fire’s Joy, then used Kamui to escape when Kusana threatened him with more homework.
• Hanzō said Chiyo had congratulated Kusagakure and asked about her missing grandson, while Kusana predicted they would have to work overtime.
• At Factory Three, Scorpion tried to leave after finishing work, but a coworker told him an emergency order required overtime production of Flame Dragon Armor and Fire’s Joy.

Scorpion abandoned his escape plan after learning the factory was offering triple pay for overtime, while Kakashi prepared to represent Konoha in the second Ninja Way Tournament duel. Kakashi entered the arena to loud, embarrassing cheers and recognized Obito as his opponent.

• Scorpion planned to escape the factory during the tournament but stayed after learning about overtime pay, bonuses, and the Kusagakure ninja outside.
• Scorpion worried that the Grass Ninja Leader and Rain Ninja Leader were searching for him, then headed to the cafeteria and gave up on escaping that day.
• Shikaku Nara and Ebisu encouraged Kakashi before his duel, and Ebisu revealed Konoha had prepared speakers and a banner to cheer him on.
• Mujie introduced Kakashi as a Konoha hero, and Kakashi hurried into the arena after hearing his companions' amplified cheers.
• Kusagakure's contestant entered the arena, and Kakashi recognized him as Obito.

Obito Uchiha represented Kusagakure against Kakashi in a tense match that revealed both men had Mangekyo and similar fighting styles. Obito surprised Kakashi by winning their hand-seal contest, then attributed his speed to practice.

• Obito Uchiha entered the arena for Kusagakure, and Shikaku Nara recognized that the rules did not bar a Konoha defector from competing.
• Obito teased Kakashi and tried to recruit him to Kusagakure, but Kakashi refused to betray Konoha.
• Obito noticed Kakashi's eye, and Kakashi revealed his Mangekyo as the two activated their own matching eyes.
• Obito and Kakashi fought with remarkably similar attacks and movements, briefly disappearing as space twisted around them.
• Obito sped up while forming hand seals and used Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet, forcing Kakashi to defend with Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall Technique.
• Kakashi asked why Obito's hands had become so fast, and Obito said it was simply practice.

Obito defeated Kakashi in the Ninja Way Tournament, taking Kakashi’s left eye and winning the duel for Kusagakure. After Kakashi asked what price Obito had paid to compete, Obito revealed it was several tons of homework, and the tournament was declared over.

• Obito and Kakashi clashed again, with Obito’s greater stamina and Kusagakure training giving him the advantage.
• Kakashi and Obito charged at each other with Lightning Blade, but Obito twisted out of sight and caught Kakashi off guard.
• Obito took Kakashi’s left eye and was declared the winner of the duel.
• Kakashi asked Obito whether he and Rin would return, but Obito refused and relayed that someone would care for Naruto and beat Kakashi up later.
• Kakashi asked what price Kusagakure had demanded for Obito to compete, and Obito said he had been assigned several tons of homework.
• Mujie announced that Kusagakure had won the tournament and that the competition, sponsored by Grass Ninja Milk, had ended.

After Konoha lost two consecutive duels, Kusana tried to recruit its ninjas and Obito gave reporters an interview before the Konoha delegation departed. Shikaku Nara returned to the Land of Fire impressed by the Land of Grass’s slogans and predicted its rise.

• Kusana consoled the defeated Konoha ninjas, tried to recruit Kakashi, and scolded Obito for putting his eye back in carelessly.
• Shikaku Nara declined Kusana’s offers and led the Konoha delegation away after apologizing for the interruption.
• Obito prepared for an interview, exaggerated how decisively he had beaten Kakashi, and asked whether he could have less homework.
• The next morning, Shikaku Nara took the recovering Kakashi and Asuma and the rest of the Konoha delegation back toward the Land of Fire.
• Shikaku Nara noticed the Land of Grass’s inspirational banners and concluded that the Land of Grass was going to rise.

After Kusagakure defeated Konoha, the ninja world began treating it as a potential Sixth Great Ninja Village, while Kusana and Hanzo discussed their next steps. Konoha faced political backlash and planned to recuperate, and Shikaku Nara described Kusagakure’s hardworking ninja to Hiruzen Sarutobi.

• News of Kusagakure’s victory spread, and Hanzo of the Salamander celebrated its rise as the supposed Sixth Great Ninja Village while Kusana clarified that the title was not official.
• Kusana predicted that Konoha would avoid another war and recuperate, and he and Hanzo agreed to keep developing their villages while watching Konoha.
• Kusana proposed continuing business and kidnappings and wondered whether Obito had finished his homework, while Konoha faced public and Feudal Lord’s Mansion backlash over its defeat.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi told Shikaku Nara that Kusagakure had hidden its strength and that Konoha needed to recuperate.
• Hiruzen asked Shikaku about Kusagakure, and Shikaku praised its hardworking ninja, noting that Obito Uchiha had studied enough to catch up to Kakashi.

Kusana learned that Kusagakure’s new Fourth Generation Telescope Surveillance could detect suspicious people, though it sometimes misidentified them. Its cameras spotted Kabuto and Obito at Kannabi Bridge, where the two met for an unknown purpose.

• Kusagakure and the other villages resumed peaceful routines, while Iwagakure faced renewed internal conflict and Kumogakure’s beef and milk exports declined.
• Hanzō gave his adopted grandson several days of paid leave after he overworked himself making Flame Dragon Armor.
• Elder Yang Zheng demonstrated the Fourth Generation Telescope Surveillance to Kusana and showed how it automatically flagged suspicious figures, sometimes incorrectly.
• Kusana ordered the new devices installed to improve border monitoring and require visitors to register.
• Kusana and Uzumaki Yangzheng identified Kabuto and Obito on a camera feed at Kannabi Bridge.
• At Kannabi Bridge, one cloaked figure asked the other whether he had brought what he wanted.

Kabuto and Obito Uchiha secretly exchanged a machine that could complete repeated homework questions, but the Grass Ninja Village Security Department arrived after a report of spies. Obito fled with Space-Time Ninjutsu, leaving Kabuto to be arrested despite the guards knowing the exchange was not espionage.

• Obito Uchiha warned Kabuto to keep their names and secret homework-machine exchange quiet, then opened the box Kabuto had brought.
• Kabuto explained that the machine used entered answers to complete identical and similar questions, and Obito agreed to cooperate with Kabuto’s request.
• The Grass Ninja Village Security Department surrounded them after receiving a report of spies and ordered them to surrender.
• Obito used Space-Time Ninjutsu to flee, and the guards accused Kabuto of resisting and moved to arrest him.
• Kabuto said he was a fifth-year academy student and identified his father as Mujie, but a voice ordered the guards to tie Mujie’s son up tightly.

Kusana learned that rumors were damaging the Land of Grass’s recruitment efforts and decided to counter them with a newspaper. He named the proposed paper the BBC Daily.

• Kusana reviewed Kabuto’s homework-writing machine and reflected on how his students had grown more cautious and resourceful.
• Kusana asked Mujie about the Stealing the Sky and Changing the Sun Plan, and Mujie reported that rumors accused Kusagakure of deceiving and exploiting recruits.
• Mujie blamed the Five Great Ninja Villages for spreading the rumors, while Pakura and the others stayed silent.
• Kusana suspected that Kusagakure’s recruitment drive had made its rivals wary and proposed establishing a newspaper for the Land of Grass.
• Kusana announced that the newspaper would be called the BBC Daily.

Kusana taught Mujie a new secret technique and assigned him to run Kusagakure’s newly established BBC Daily. After discussing Danzo’s opposition to trade and scientific tools, Kusana wondered what Danzo was doing about the Uchiha kidnapping plan; days later, the newspaper began publication.

• Kusana told Mujie to manage BBC Daily by using his existing secret techniques, then taught him Illusion Technique: Underworld Shot.
• Mujie reported that Danzo opposed Konoha’s trade with Kusagakure and had parted on bad terms with Mitokado Homura over scientific ninja tools.
• Kusana dismissed his concern about Danzo learning of their scheme and wondered what Danzo was doing about the Uchiha kidnapping plan.
• BBC Daily officially began publication in Kusagakure, and curious ninja, including Root ninja assigned by Danzo, bought copies.

Shimura Danzō read Kusagakure’s new newspaper after another proposal of his was rejected, hoping to uncover the Grass Ninja Leader’s plans. Its article praising life in Kusagakure left him suspicious of the contrast between gloomy images of Konoha and cheerful, colorful images of Kusagakure.

• Shimura Danzō returned to Root after Hiruzen rejected his proposal to spend money on Kusagakure’s Scientific Ninja Tools.
• Danzō asked a Root ninja for news about Kusagakure and learned that the village had started the BBC Daily.
• Danzō read the newspaper’s analysis of the ninja world and found it incisive.
• Danzō read an article praising Kusagakure’s citizen-focused policies and quoting residents who said they were happy and could breathe free air.
• Danzō noticed that the Konoha residents appeared sallow in gloomy photographs while Kusagakure’s residents looked healthy and cheerful in color photographs.

Kushina visited Kusana to ask for a job so she could help cover her and Naruto’s expenses, but Mujie interrupted with news that Konoha was targeting the Uchiha Clan’s wealth because of its budget deficit. Kusana learned the threat was not about the Uchiha’s eyes, leaving him stunned by Konoha’s apparent motive.

• Kusagakure’s newspaper and film industries expanded as Kusana focused on other work and searched for the Jugō Clan to study Sage Mode.
• Kushina visited Kusana and asked him to help her find a job so she would not have to rely on the children to repay her medical bills or support Naruto’s schooling.
• Kushina praised Naruto’s happier life in Kusagakure and agreed to stay for dinner with Kusana, Fusang, and the children.
• Mujie arrived and told Kusana that Konoha was planning to move against the Uchiha Clan.
• Kusana assumed Danzo wanted the Uchiha’s eyes, but Mujie clarified that Konoha was running a deficit and wanted the clan’s thousand-year-old wealth.

Fugaku Uchiha encountered a White Zetsu posing as a BBC Daily reporter during a fire safety inspection, while Kusana and Mujie discussed Konoha’s pressure on the Uchiha Clan. Kusana ordered continued surveillance of Shisui Uchiha and the clan, then wondered why Fugaku had spared the reporter.

• Fugaku Uchiha questioned Shimura Danzō’s repeated fire safety inspections and found White Zetsu posing as a BBC Daily reporter in his home.
• Mujie told Kusana that the reporter had gone to interview Fugaku Uchiha and had spent much of his wages buying Flame Dragon Armor for Fugaku’s youngest son.
• Mujie reported that fines had increased resentment within the Uchiha Clan, and Kusana wondered whether the clan might eventually rebel.
• Mujie told Kusana that Shisui Uchiha was close to the Hokage’s side and that nothing unusual had happened recently.
• Kusana ordered Mujie to keep watching Shisui Uchiha and the Uchiha Clan, then wondered why Fugaku had not killed White Zetsu.

Fugaku Uchiha resisted a White Zetsu reporter’s attempts to provoke him into criticizing Konoha, but the reporter uncovered a crisis inside the Uchiha Clan. In Kusagakure, Kusana arranged a teaching job for Kushina and was stunned to hear that the Uchiha Clan had donated everything.

• A White Zetsu reporter interviewed Fugaku Uchiha, twisting his silence into apparent dissatisfaction with Konoha and urging him to accept Kusagakure’s talent recruitment offer.
• Fugaku insisted that he would never betray Konoha, and the reporter fled underground when he sensed someone approaching.
• An Uchiha clansman told Fugaku that Shisui Uchiha had donated all his branch’s assets and that the young Clan Head was urging the rest of the clan to donate theirs.
• Fugaku hurried outside as the hidden reporter celebrated the chance to report the unfolding crisis.
• Kusana arranged for Kushina to teach at the academy, then learned from Mujie that the Uchiha Clan had donated everything.

After Itachi’s donation deepened tensions within the Uchiha Clan, Fugaku confronted and stripped him of his position and clan membership. A newspaper then exposed Fugaku in a bribery scandal, and as Danzo arrived on a supposed visit, Fugaku ordered him tied up.

• Kusana wondered why Danzo had prompted the Uchiha to donate, while Danzo regretted losing the chance to skim their funds gradually.
• Fugaku confronted Itachi over his donation, and the two argued about whether Itachi’s actions helped the clan or Konoha.
• Fugaku activated his Sharingan, then stripped Itachi of his young Clan Head status and expelled him from the Uchiha Clan.
• Tekka showed Fugaku a newspaper accusing him of secretly accepting bribes, prompting Fugaku to call for all Uchiha clansmen to gather.
• A clansman announced that Danzo had arrived with two ninja and a calling card, and Fugaku ordered Danzo tied up.

Shisui Uchiha donated his branch’s assets to Konoha and revealed his Mangekyo Sharingan and Kotoamatsukami, then was sent to calm the Uchiha Clan after a newspaper claimed it had defected to Kusagakure. The chapter ended with Fugaku Uchiha waiting tensely in the clan compound as two bickering figures arrived, while Danzo had been tied up by the Uchiha.

• Shisui Uchiha donated all his branch’s assets to Konoha, and Hiruzen Sarutobi praised his loyalty.
• Shisui revealed his Mangekyo Sharingan and Kotoamatsukami, offering to use it to stop the Uchiha Clan from rebelling.
• An Anbu ninja reported that the Uchiha Clan had defected to Kusagakure, citing a BBC Daily photograph of Fugaku Uchiha accepting a gift; Shisui called it an attempt to sow discord and agreed to intervene.
• Hiruzen learned that Danzo had gone to the Uchiha compound and ordered the Anbu to support him, but the Anbu reported that the Uchiha had tied Danzo up.
• Fugaku waited alone in the reception hall until two bickering figures arrived, leaving him staring at them in disbelief.

Fugaku asked Kusagakure to take in the Uchiha Clan and appointed Obito as the new Clan Head, accepting that he would stay behind and face the consequences. As they prepared to evacuate the clan, Fugaku revealed that he had captured Danzō, and Kusana eagerly rushed to greet him.

• Fugaku apologized to Kusana for blaming Kusagakure and presented the signed Talent Introduction plan, asking him to take in the Uchiha Clan.
• Fugaku resigned as Clan Head and named Obito his successor, explaining that he intended to sacrifice himself so Sasuke and the surviving Uchiha would not bear his hatred.
• Kusana left the decision to Obito, who accepted leadership and asked Kusagakure to shelter the Uchiha Clan.
• Kusana accepted the plan and began arranging the clan's escape using Obito's Kamui.
• Fugaku revealed that he had captured Konoha's Hokage's Assistant, Danzō, and Kusana hurried over to greet him.