Chapter Summaries

Kusana used Paper Release to defeat the assassination ninjas targeting the Uzumaki Clan and led both the Uzumaki and Chinoike clans toward the Land of Grass. After welcoming them, he left them hopeful about their new home.

• Kusana attacked the encircling assassination ninjas with Paper Swords and a massive Paper Dragon, knocking several jonin down.
• Mujie urged the Uzumaki and Chinoike clans to retreat while Kusana stayed behind to fight.
• The assassination ninja leader identified water as the paper technique’s weakness and ordered the ninjas to unleash Water Release.
• Kusana revealed that his paper was waterproof, turned the scattered paper into swords, and detonated Explosive Tags to finish the assassins.
• Kusana kicked Mujie down after he joked that Kusana would run from danger, then welcomed the Uzumaki and Chinoike clans to the Land of Grass.

Nagato and Yahiko prepared for the Land of Grass’s New Year festivities, while a strange academy ghost rumor reached Kusana. Amang returned to the Land of Grass with the Uzumaki Clan as the Third Hokage began a grave meeting in Konoha.

• Nagato shoveled snow and Yahiko pulled him away to enjoy the holiday and hear about the supposed ghost student.
• Yahiko invited Nagato to join the Akatsuki Organization, which had formed to investigate the academy rumor, but Nagato refused.
• Konan told Nagato and Yahiko that Amang had returned, and they went to meet him.
• Kusana learned that a mysterious student who asked strange questions had been appearing at the academy and suspected White Zetsu was behind it.
• Amang arrived near the Land of Grass with the Uzumaki Clan and called out that he was back.
• In Konoha, the Third Hokage asked the assembled leaders what they thought about an unspecified matter.

Hiruzen Sarutobi and Konoha’s advisers discussed a devastating explosion, suspected Uzumaki refugees, and Kusagakure’s theater criticizing Konoha. Kusana accepted Konoha’s condemnation without changing Kusagakure’s conduct and turned to the Uzumaki Clan and Chinoike Clan joining.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi told Konoha’s advisers that a large explosion had destroyed evidence in the Land of Fire, and that red-haired refugees had recently appeared nearby.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi explained that Kusagakure had registered a commercial theater whose plot alluded to Konoha’s role in the destruction of the Land of Eddies.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi ordered Konoha to condemn Kusagakure and told its ninja to stay away from Konoha and avoid ninja operations in the Land of Fire.
• Kusana dismissed Konoha’s condemnation, and Mujie expanded the brief reply into a formal apology without changing Kusagakure’s behavior.
• Kusana turned to the matter of the Uzumaki Clan and the Chinoike Clan joining.

Kusana organized the Uzumaki and Chinoike Clans into roles in the rebuilding Land of Grass and discussed the Uzumaki Clan’s research into sealing barriers and a Chakra Capacitor. He left confident in the country’s future after Mujie praised his leadership, though Mujie denied having once resisted him.

• Kusana appointed the Uzumaki Clan to handle sealing and assigned Oyakamon and the Chinoike Clan to help establish the Land of Grass Guard Department, emphasizing that it would serve the whole country.
• Kusana reflected on the risks of making the Chinoike Clan the Land of Grass’s guards and considered how education and cultural exports could strengthen Kusagakure.
• Kusana asked Uzumaki Yangzheng about his research, and Yangzheng admitted that the sealing barriers and Chakra Capacitor were not yet complete.
• Kusana told Uzumaki Yangzheng to settle his clan’s affairs and rest over the approaching New Year before continuing his work.
• Mujie asked about the Chakra Capacitor, and Kusana explained that it was a Scientific Ninja Tool that could help ninja and ordinary people.
• Mujie praised Kusana for rebuilding the Land of Grass and said he believed it would become powerful, while Kusana recalled that Mujie had once refused to surrender and Mujie denied it.

Kusana’s day off was interrupted when Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan visited to investigate rumors of a mysterious ghost student. Yahiko revealed that he had founded the Akatsuki Organization to investigate the sightings, and Kusana tried to redirect the children from discovering Madara by assigning them test papers.

• Konan brought Yahiko and Nagato to Kusana’s home, where Yahiko repeated Mujie’s claims that Kusana was lazy.
• Yahiko told Kusana about rumors of a ghost student who liked poop and explained that he had founded the Akatsuki Organization to investigate.
• Yahiko showed them a drawing as evidence, but Nagato argued that it was fake because it used ordinary paint and pens.
• Yahiko insisted the ghost student was real and prepared to keep investigating, while Kusana worried that he might discover Madara.
• Kusana stopped Yahiko from leaving and offered the children two test papers from the Grass Ninja Secret Scrolls.

Madara learned that the Grass Ninja Leader had welcomed more Uzumaki and Chinoike Clan members, then heard that the Akatsuki Organization was targeting them and dismissed it as a group of schoolchildren. As the Land of Grass prepared for its first New Year since reconstruction, Jiraiya arrived at its border, seeking Teacher Ooki.

• Madara asked Spiral White Zetsu what the Grass Ninja had been doing and learned that the Grass Ninja Leader had taken in more Uzumaki Clan members and the exiled Chinoike Clan.
• Spiral White Zetsu told Madara that the Akatsuki Organization had targeted them, and Madara dismissed it after learning its members were children who had not become genin.
• Spiral White Zetsu asked Madara for leave to attend the Land of Grass's New Year's temple fair, and Madara drove him away in anger.
• Jiraiya arrived at the border of the Land of Grass, admired the scenery, and vowed to find Teacher Ooki.

Kusana toured the Land of Grass and saw how its clans and citizens had settled into peaceful lives under his leadership. The visit ended when Fusang revealed that Yahiko had taken Nagato to a painting stall, alarming Kusana that their secret mission might be exposed.

• Kusana teased Mujie, who praised him and was ordered to copy the Spirit of Grass a thousand times.
• Kusana visited Oyakamon and Longzhi and reflected on how the Chinoike Clan had joined the Land of Grass security force.
• Kusana met Uzumaki Clan elders Yang Zheng and Yang Ren, who were advancing their research into Chakra Capacitors and ninjutsu scrolls.
• Kana admired how happily everyone was living, and Kusana and Kana greeted Fusang at the temple fair.
• Fusang told Kusana that Yahiko had taken Nagato to a painting stall, and Kusana worried that the boys were neglecting their mission and might be discovered.

Yahiko and Nagato followed Father Mujitsu into an alley, where they mistook his secret meeting with Jiraiya for treason. The ninjas arrested Mujie after a book fell from his robes, and he insisted he had only come to trade for it.

• Yahiko accused Spiral White Zetsu of being the Ghost Student Who Draws Poop, but Nagato distracted him and led him away before Spiral White Zetsu left to buy dango for Lord Madara.
• Nagato and Yahiko secretly followed Father Mujitsu into a secluded alley, where Yahiko feared his father was selling Land of Grass intelligence.
• Yahiko confronted Father Mujitsu and Jiraiya, and Mujie admitted they had been discovered before trying to make the children fall asleep.
• Oyakamon and other ninjas surrounded the alley and arrested Mujie on suspicion of treason.
• A colorful book fell from Mujie's robes, and he protested that he had only come to trade for it.

Spiral White Zetsu returned to Madara with dango and reported that a Land of Grass official had betrayed the village, while Madara secretly ate the treat and choked. Meanwhile, Kusana confronted Mujie about the Land of Grass, leaving Mujie frightened by how suspicious the question sounded.

• Spiral White Zetsu came back to the cavern with tri-colored dango, and Madara remembered Hashirama giving him dango at Konoha's first festival.
• Madara scolded Spiral White Zetsu for sneaking out, then asked whether he had learned anything useful.
• Spiral White Zetsu reported that a high-ranking Land of Grass official had betrayed the village, and Madara condemned ninjas as the root of chaos.
• Madara told Spiral White Zetsu to leave the dango behind, then ate it after he was alone and choked when Spiral White Zetsu returned unexpectedly.
• Kusana asked Mujie whether the Land of Grass had treated him well, and Mujie said he was scared because the question made him sound like a traitor.

Kusana had Mujie detained after he proposed finding Teacher Ooki and forcing him to produce stories for the Land of Grass. Jiraiya later visited the imprisoned Mujie, apologized for the trouble, and asked whether he was still selling books.

• Mujie told Kusana that Jiraiya had bought a signed book from him and had come seeking advice about writing from Teacher Ooki.
• Mujie urged Kusana to find Teacher Ooki so the Land of Grass could have him write stories to adapt into films.
• Kusana ordered Oyakamon to detain Mujie and make him copy the 'New Spirit of Grass' one thousand times a day.
• Jiraiya obtained permission to visit Mujie and found him staring numbly in his cell.
• Jiraiya apologized to Mujie for the Land of Grass's strict laws and asked if he was still selling books.

Jiraiya mistook Grass ninja helping civilians till fields for an attack and interrupted their spring-plowing work, prompting the villagers to surround him. Kusana rejected Jiraiya’s request for early release and learned that the Konoha Sannin was the one obstructing preparations.

• Jiraiya walked through the Land of Grass, reflected on its rebuilding, and planned to resume his book trade with a recently imprisoned acquaintance.
• Jiraiya saw a Grass ninja form hand seals near civilians and interrupted what he thought was an attack, but the ninja had been using Earth Release to till fields.
• The civilians and Grass ninja accused Jiraiya of disrupting spring plowing, and they surrounded him as he tried to explain himself.
• Kusana denied a request to release Jiraiya early and ordered him kept in prison for a full month.
• Oyakamon told Kusana that civilians had reported someone obstructing spring-plowing preparations, and Kusana was stunned to hear that the culprit was Jiraiya.

Jiraiya was detained in Kusagakure after disrupting spring-plowing preparations, where he met Mujie and arranged to smuggle books. Kusana decided Jiraiya would serve a week of community service, but Jiraiya asked to stay in prison longer so he could criticize the village’s lenient punishment.

• Jiraiya was held in Kusagakure for interrupting spring-plowing preparations and was placed in a cell beside Mujie.
• Mujie offered to smuggle Jiraiya books, and the two began planning the secret exchange.
• After hearing Oyakamon's report, Kusana declared the incident a grave threat to the Land of Grass and assigned Jiraiya to help with spring plowing.
• Jiraiya and Mujie discussed a plan to evade punishment for their book dealings.
• A Kusagakure ninja released Jiraiya with a week of community service, but Jiraiya asked to remain locked up for another day and was asked if he had a mental problem.

Jiraiya was ordered to finish plowing a huge field in the Land of Grass and summoned Bunta to help. Meanwhile, Kusana learned that the Research Institute and academy had run out of funds and told Elder Yangzheng that the country had no money.

• Jiraiya accepted that he could not leave until he finished the land-reclamation task and summoned Bunta to help him turn over the soil.
• Kusana told Kana to keep someone watching Jiraiya while he handled official documents.
• Uzumaki Yangzheng brought Kusana funding requests because the Research Institute and academy had run out of money for the quarter.
• Kusana realized the Land of Grass was short on funds and told Elder Yangzheng that the country had no money.

Kusana inspected the newly opened Land of Grass academy and praised its curriculum, while Uzumaki Yangzheng explained the school’s ideals and its gifted students. Kusana ordered more homework and approved the funding, as Madara listened underground and went back to sleep.

• Kusana visited the academy and Uzumaki Yangzheng reported that its curriculum followed the Leader’s orders and taught ninjutsu alongside broader subjects.
• Uzumaki Yangzheng praised Kusana’s vision for educating children, and Kusana noticed the academy’s slogans on its walls.
• Kusana saw Yahiko urging Nagato to join the Akatsuki Organization and investigate the Ghost Student Who Draws Poop, while Konan folded paper nearby.
• Uzumaki Yangzheng introduced Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan, then explained that the academy assigned little homework to its lower-grade students.
• Kusana ordered the academy to add more homework and approved the funding.
• Madara heard morning reading end underground, yawned, and went back to sleep.

Madara heard that war still plagued smaller countries and took it as proof that Hashirama’s peace through compromise had failed, while he reviewed a report on Nagato’s school progress. In the Land of Grass, Kusana announced that the country was running out of money, and the officials once again proposed selling intelligence.

• A White Zetsu body reported that Iwagakure and Kumogakure were making unusual preparations and that warfare continued in smaller countries.
• Madara declared that compromise could not bring lasting peace and reaffirmed his belief that strength was necessary.
• The White Zetsu body showed Madara Nagato Uzumaki’s excellent academic report and noted the bonds Nagato had formed in the Land of Grass.
• Kusana attended the Land of Grass’s first spring meeting and announced that the country was running out of money.
• An old Grass ninja proposed selling intelligence, and the other officials supported the idea, leaving Kusana exasperated.

Kusana considered ways to raise money for the Land of Grass and proposed selling blind boxes, buying copyrights, and producing a film. The meeting ended with news that Jiraiya’s summoned beast had gone berserk.

• Oyakamon suggested accepting missions, but the Grass ninja said Kusagakure’s reputation made clients unlikely to hire them.
• Uzumaki Yangzheng defended the village’s practice of learning other countries’ techniques, earning the Grass ninja’s admiration.
• Kusana presented plans for Ninja World blind boxes and the film “Sannin Wreak Havoc in Grasswood,” and assigned Mujie to open foreign markets and purchase copyrights.
• Longzhi recommended Mujie for the foreign mission, and Kusana agreed to release him from prison.
• A Grass ninja reported that Jiraiya’s summoned beast had gone berserk while working with the land-tilling team.

Jiraiya was detained after Bunta accidentally wrecked farmland and homes in the Land of Grass, and Kusana confronted him over the damage. Kusana dismissed compensation in favor of a mysterious favor, leaving Jiraiya bewildered as he urged him to sign up for Grasswood.

• Jiraiya explained that Bunta had accidentally caused destruction while clearing land, but Kusana listed his suspicious actions in the Land of Grass.
• Jiraiya recognized Kusana as the leader who had rebuilt Kusagakure and suspected the Uzumaki Clan might be living there, but chose to keep quiet.
• Kusana declared that Jiraiya needed to be punished to give the people an explanation, then described the close bond between Kusagakure and Konoha.
• Jiraiya praised Kusana’s honesty after Kusana claimed he would not demand compensation, and Kusana presented him with a document requesting a small favor.
• Kusana promoted Grasswood as a chance for Jiraiya to become famous and told him to sign the document, leaving Jiraiya confused.

Kusana secured Jiraiya’s signature for a film contract, then directed him in Sannin Wreak Havoc in Grasswood. After Mujie reported that the ninja licensing deals were complete and the blind boxes were ready, Kusana prepared to launch his plan.

• Kusana persuaded Jiraiya to sign the film contract and arranged for him to sign on behalf of Orochimaru and Tsunade.
• Kusana released Mujie, who left to secure rights to ninjas from the villages and wondered whether Kusana knew Teacher Ooki.
• Kusana began filming Sannin Wreak Havoc in Grasswood, repeatedly correcting Jiraiya’s lecherous performance in a kissing scene.
• Jiraiya continued filming, then set off on his journey while wondering how Tsunade would react to the movie.
• Kusana received Mujie’s report that the licensing deals, including Madara Uchiha’s, had gone smoothly.
• Kusana told the Land of Grass officials that the movie and blind boxes were ready and that it was time to begin the plan.

Tsunade and Shizune found a new Land of Grass movie starring Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru, and went to watch it. The screening began with Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru listed as the stars.

• Shizune worried that Tsunade's endless gambling would eventually exhaust their money, but Tsunade insisted the Senju Clan's fortune would last and refused to return to Konoha.
• Tsunade noticed a crowd outside a theater and went with Shizune to see a new movie advertisement featuring her, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru.
• Shizune read the title, “Sannin Wreak Havoc in Grasswood,” and Tsunade protested that she had never been to the Land of Grass.
• Tsunade decided to skip gambling and watch the movie, warning that she would beat Jiraiya if he was fooling around.
• Shizune bought two tickets and snacks, and she and Tsunade took their seats as the movie began with Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru named as its stars.

Tsunade and Shizune watched a movie based on the Sannin’s past, and Tsunade grew furious at its fictional romance before smashing the theater and paying for the damage. As they left, they encountered Kusa Kusa Blind Boxes, and Tsunade eagerly bought a hundred despite Shizune’s protests.

• Tsunade and Shizune watched a movie depicting the Sannin’s childhood and a romance between Tsunade and Jiraiya, which made Tsunade increasingly angry.
• Tsunade smashed the theater after the movie ended, and Shizune paid the compensation before hurrying her away.
• Shizune told Tsunade that Jiraiya had authorized the film and had taken the job because he owed money in the Land of Grass.
• Tsunade decided to gamble to vent her frustration, but a crowd promoting Kusa Kusa Blind Boxes caught her attention.
• The shop owner described the figurines as works of art, and Tsunade ordered a hundred boxes while Shizune reluctantly paid.