Chapter Summaries

Konoha’s leaders postponed their plan to wipe out the Uchiha and instead agreed to weaken them through economic pressure, sabotage, and assassination. Jiraiya avoided a clash near the Kitagawa Territory, while Akira reorganized the Uchiha and convened Flame Gate’s leaders to prepare for its future war of unification.

• Shikaku Nara warned that defeating the Uchiha would require overwhelming forces, so the leaders agreed to postpone an extermination campaign and pursue ways to weaken them.
• Shikaku Nara proposed economic suppression, luring Uchiha ninjas into assassination traps, and attacking farmland in the Kitagawa Territory; the leaders approved the plans.
• Jiraiya led more than five hundred Konoha ninjas around the Kitagawa Territory rather than risk a direct conflict with the Uchiha.
• Akira learned that Jiraiya had withdrawn and reported that seventeen people had died in the recent incident, including Fugaku Uchiha and Uchiha Itachi.
• Akira dispersed most rescued Uchiha Clan Members to other districts, leaving a little over five hundred in the Kitagawa District.
• Akira convened Flame Gate’s high-ranking members to revise its strategy and prepare for a war of unification within four years.

At Flame Gate’s virtual meeting, Akira planned an infiltration of the Land of Water and learned that Uchiha Obito likely controlled the Fourth Mizukage. After the group shaped its Hidden Mist strategy, Akira unveiled another unexpected target on a new map.

• Akira proposed developing Flame Gate’s five Controlled Areas and targeting the Land of Water to connect four of them.
• Akira assigned sixty Flame Gate agents to infiltrate the Hidden Mist as supposed survivors of the Kaguya Clan and Yukigakure.
• Munehiro reported evidence that Uchiha Obito had used his Mangekyo to control the Fourth Mizukage, and the group connected Obito’s awakening to Rin Nohara’s death.
• Setsuna Uchiha suggested Kakashi Hatake might also have awakened a Mangekyo, but Akira chose not to take Kakashi’s Sharingan to protect Flame Gate’s intelligence advantage.
• Akira led the group in setting a strategy for the Hidden Mist Village, then revealed a new, unexpected target on a projected map.

Akira presented Flame Gate’s plan to explore Desolate Star as a refuge from a possible Otsutsuki return, and the leadership approved it. More than two months later, Flame Gate’s agents had begun infiltrating the Land of Water while the Uchiha remained secure in Kitagawa Territory.

• Akira showed Flame Gate’s leaders a star chart of the Golden Crow System and identified Desolate Star as a possible life-supporting planet to explore.
• Akira warned that Otsutsuki investigators could return to Ashihara Star and argued that Flame Gate needed an off-world escape route; Setsuna Uchiha, En no Gyoja, and the others agreed.
• Akira proposed beginning Desolate Star exploration when the Uchiha had around ten Mangekyo awakeners and explained that his Yomotsu Hirasaka could transport people and supplies between planets.
• More than two months after the Uchiha left Konoha, the Land of Fire’s blockade failed to pressure the self-sufficient Uchiha in Kitagawa Territory, while Konoha mistakenly expected them to collapse.
• Twenty-six Secret Guards posing as the Snow Clan and thirty-four posing as the Kaguya Clan entered the Land of Water, where Snow Team established a temporary island base.

Aoka defeated Momochi Zabuza and forced him to sign a Soul Contract, bringing Zabuza and his captured subordinates into the organization. After learning about factions opposing Yagura within the Mist Ninja, Aoka ordered Zabuza to gather his remaining followers before they entered the Mist Ninja.

• Aoka identified Momochi Zabuza and four rogue ninjas approaching the camp, then challenged them by the mountain stream.
• Aoka overpowered Zabuza with Ice Release and captured Zabuza and his four subordinates.
• Aoka forced Zabuza to surrender and sign a Soul Contract, making him an outer member of the organization.
• At camp, Zabuza told Aoka that twenty-three of his subordinates were scattered across the Land of Waves and the northern Land of Water.
• Zabuza named several factions opposing the Mizukage, and Aoka told him to gather his subordinates before they entered the Mist Ninja.

After Zabuza’s remaining subordinates arrived on Akiba Island, he received a Sage Mecha and learned how Flame Gate’s plugins and point system worked. He built up his arsenal to reach the Quasi-Kage Stage, leaving him better prepared for the coming conflict with the Mist Ninja.

• Zabuza’s twenty-seven subordinates arrived on Akiba Island after four days of waiting.
• Aoka requested standard Sage Mechas from Akira, and Zabuza implanted one and examined the points exchange system with help from a Secret Guard.
• The Secret Guard demonstrated an Ice Release plugin and advised Zabuza to spend his points on jutsu before pursuing expensive bloodline plugins.
• Zabuza submitted his techniques and experience for points, then purchased a scouting, defensive, and offensive loadout that let his Sage Mecha cast jutsu without hand seals.
• Zabuza’s strength rose to the Quasi-Kage Stage, while the chapter noted that Aoka and other Uchiha had reached Kage Level with support from Base Armor and the Mental Power Training Method.

Xue Qinghua’s group used Kurosuki Raiga and Ringo Ameyuri as a chance to intervene in the Hidden Mist Village, then confronted Raiga in the Land of Tea. Zabuza appeared to kill Raiga, but Xue Qinghua revealed the corpse was fake as lightning overwhelmed the valley.

• On Chōsen Island, Xue Qinghua met Kaguya Kyōbu’s group and learned that Ringo Ameyuri was tracking Kurosuki Raiga.
• After locating Raiga in Upper Tea, Xue Qinghua split the group and took Zabuza and eight others toward the Land of Tea.
• At a red iron mine, Raiga attacked Zabuza in the mist, using a hidden informant to pinpoint Zabuza’s position.
• Zabuza found the informant and struck Raiga’s head with a water droplet, causing Raiga to fall as if dead.
• Xue Qinghua stopped Zabuza from attacking the child behind Raiga, identified the corpse as fake, and shielded the group from a storm of lightning.

Xue Qinghua captured Ranmaru and defeated Ringo Ameyuri’s Mist Ninja ANBU squad, then tried to persuade the prisoners that Yagura was being controlled. The captured ANBU hesitated over joining his plan to overthrow the Fourth Mizukage, knowing refusal could mean death and failure could endanger their families.

• Xue Qinghua froze Kurosuki Raiga and Ranmaru, killed Kurosuki Raiga, and ordered his Secret Guard to save Ranmaru because of his Hagoromo Clan bloodline.
• Zabuza read Kurosuki Raiga’s memories, and Qinghua explained that Ranmaru’s Red Eyes were a powerful Bloodline Limit effective against the Byakugan.
• After the miners were freed, Qinghua secretly sent Ranmaru to Angkor Fortress and waited for Ringo Ameyuri’s squad to arrive.
• Qinghua’s Secret Guards ambushed and swiftly captured Ringo Ameyuri and the seven Mist Ninja ANBU.
• Qinghua argued that Yagura had changed six years earlier and might be controlled by genjutsu, then offered the captives a Soul Contract to join his effort to overthrow him.
• Ringo Ameyuri and the other ANBU hesitated over the contract, fearing for their families if the rebellion failed and death if they refused.

Blue Flower recruited Yuri and Mist Ninja ANBU operatives into Flame Gate, then brought them to Angkor District to witness the organization’s industry and arrange Yuri’s treatment. After Yuri returned to the Mist Ninja Village, an unexpected situation arose north of the Land of Water, disrupting Blue Flower’s plans to overthrow the Fourth Mizukage.

• An ANBU operative named Octopus agreed to join Blue Flower, and Yuri wavered after Blue Flower offered to treat her condition and give her the Lightning Blades.
• Blue Flower led the Mist Ninja operatives to Angkor District, where they toured Flame Gate’s industrial and agricultural facilities and learned that the site was only one branch.
• Doctors examined Yuri and began a treatment plan using Sage Mecha and a Fish-Man Plugin to gradually stabilize her modified genes.
• Blue Flower visited Ranmaru, who was cooperating with treatment while Flame Gate researched his Red Eye Bloodline Limit.
• By mid-April, Yuri returned to the Mist Ninja Village without reporting the Lightning Blades or Kurosuki Raiga.
• Less than a week later, an unexpected situation arose north of the Land of Water and caught Blue Flower and the others off guard.

Juzo Biwa and Uchiha Itachi fought Yagura and his Anbu on Black Shark Island, leaving Yagura badly burned by Amaterasu. After the Hidden Mist ninja sealed the flames and began treating him, two rival forces arrived and surrounded the weakened Mizukage.

• Yagura and his Anbu attacked Juzo Biwa and Uchiha Itachi, who struggled against the Water Mirror Technique and the coordinated assault.
• Itachi blasted Yagura with exploding clones, but Yagura transformed and fired a Tailed Beast Bomb at Juzo Biwa.
• Juzo Biwa struck the bomb with the Executioner's Blade, which broke and pierced his abdomen, while Itachi used Amaterasu to stop Yagura from killing him.
• Itachi carried the gravely wounded Juzo Biwa away as Yagura's Anbu tried unsuccessfully to extinguish the flames before sealing them near the Hidden Mist Village.
• Gen and Mei Terumi arrived with over a hundred Hidden Mist ninja, while Ringo Ameyuri, Zabuza, and Xue Qinghua arrived with another force, trapping the weakened Yagura between them.

Gen's attempt to have Ao inspect Karatachi Yagura was interrupted when Yagura resisted, prompting Xue Qinghua and the Snow Clan guards to trap him in an Ice Mirror Barrier. Xue Qinghua’s concentrated sunlight gravely wounded Yagura, who was rescued from the barrier unconscious as Obito watched and chose not to intervene.

• Yuri demanded that Ao use his Byakugan to check whether Karatachi Yagura was under genjutsu, but Yagura rejected the accusation and attacked.
• Xue Qinghua trapped Yagura and his ANBU inside an Ice Mirror Barrier after Yagura shattered his initial Ice Prison.
• Xue Qinghua cleared the sky and focused sunlight into the barrier, killing the ANBU and Shadow Guards as Yagura failed to break free.
• Xue Qinghua concentrated the mirrors’ light into a laser that pierced Yagura’s Tailed Beast form and critically wounded him.
• Obito arrived, decided not to use Kamui to take Yagura away, and watched as an ice mirror transferred the unconscious Yagura outside the barrier.

After Ao discovered that the Fourth Mizukage, Karatachi Yagura, had been controlled by Uchiha genjutsu, Xue Qinghua pushed for a new Mizukage election. The candidates agreed to settle the contest through combat at the Seventh Training Ground.

• Three Secret Guards sealed the unconscious Karatachi Yagura, forcing the hidden Obito to withdraw.
• Ao examined Karatachi Yagura, found Uchiha genjutsu controlling the Three-Tails, and dispelled it before the beast drove him from the sealing space.
• Xue Qinghua proposed a Jonin meeting to elect a Fifth Mizukage, and Gen agreed rather than risk further conflict.
• At the meeting, Xue Qinghua accepted Gen's plea to spare Karatachi Yagura's subordinates, then nominated himself and proposed that the strongest become Mizukage.
• Mei Terumi, Mangetsu Hozuki, and Harusame on Utakata's behalf challenged Xue Qinghua, so he called them to fight at the Seventh Training Ground.

Xue Qinghua dominated the contest to become the Fifth Mizukage, defeating Mangetsu Hozuki, Mei Terumi, and Utakata with overwhelming speed and freezing techniques. The other contenders were left frozen or injured, while the gathered Hidden Mist leaders watched in shock.

• Zabuza announced the four contenders and began the unrestricted battle for the Fifth Mizukage position.
• Mei Terumi and Mangetsu Hozuki attacked Xue Qinghua together, but he countered their techniques with freezing energy and wind.
• Xue Qinghua swiftly wounded and froze Mangetsu Hozuki, and the Secret Guard removed him from the field for treatment.
• Mei Terumi and Utakata continued their attack, but Xue Qinghua froze Mei Terumi's lava and scattered Utakata's bubbles.
• Utakata entered Tailed Beast Transformation, but Xue Qinghua's Absolute Armor froze his Tailed Beast Bomb.
• Xue Qinghua used Defrost Acceleration to strike and freeze both Mei Terumi and Utakata, leaving the onlookers stunned.

Xue Qinghua secured the position of Fifth Mizukage and began reforming the Hidden Mist Village while secretly preparing to bring it under Flame Gate’s influence. He sent Zabuza and a group of Mist Ninja to Sea Country, where a demonstration of Flame Gate’s soldiers left them shaken by the organization’s strength.

• Xue Qinghua defeated Mei Terumi, Mangetsu Hozuki, and Utakata, claimed the Fifth Mizukage position, and obtained the Water Daimyo’s official recognition.
• The Hidden Mist announced that Yagura had stepped down after being injured by Uchiha Itachi, while keeping his imprisonment and declining health secret.
• Xue Qinghua pardoned former officials, abolished the Blood Mist Policy, appointed Zabuza to lead the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, and reorganized the village’s defenses and ANBU.
• Zabuza led Mangetsu Hozuki, Juro, Kagura, and more than fifty Mist Ninja to Flame Gate’s Sea Country base for training.
• Mangetsu and the other Mist Ninja were overwhelmed by Flame Gate soldiers, and Zabuza revealed that they were ordinary troops, with tens of thousands of soldiers of comparable strength.

By the end of Konoha's fifty-seventh year, Akira had expanded Flame Gate's influence and prepared an expedition to Desolate Star. After extracting and sealing the Three-Tails and Six-Tails, he returned to the Sea Country base, where Munehiro Uchiha's team began opening a passage to Desolate Star.

• Flame Gate gained more than twenty Mangekyo wielders, and Akira discovered several new and duplicated eye abilities while preparing the Desolate Star expedition.
• Akira learned that Karatachi Yagura was near death and ordered the Three-Tails extracted and sealed rather than transferred to another Jinchuriki.
• Akira also had the Six-Tails extracted from Utakata, then stored both Tailed Beasts in sealing scrolls to keep them from Uchiha Obito and Black Zetsu's Ten-Tails plan.
• Karatachi Yagura died after the extraction, and Aoka concealed his death while consolidating Hidden Mist Village and preparing to move against the Land of Water.
• Akira returned to the Sea Country base, where Munehiro Uchiha's team located Desolate Star during its orbital window and a Uchiha opened a black void with Yomotsu Hirasaka.

Munehiro led an exploration of Desolate Star after Akira opened a portal, and the team found evidence that the Otsutsuki Clan had devastated the planet thousands of years ago. The chapter left the explorers searching the ruins as they assessed whether any of the planet’s original inhabitants had survived.

• Akira ordered Munehiro and the exploration team to enter Desolate Star through Yomotsu Hirasaka after preliminary scans revealed a harsh atmosphere and no signs of civilization.
• Munehiro divided the team into four groups, established an underground base, and sent reports on the planet’s environment and newly discovered lifeforms back to Ashihara Star.
• On the seventh day, Team 03 found an oasis and buried ruins 752 kilometers north of the base, where the explorers discovered unfamiliar writing and the priestly script of Hagoromo Shrine.
• Munehiro and the researchers translated records showing that Otsutsuki Kaguya’s group had drained Desolate Star’s Natural Energy 8,600 to 8,700 years earlier, collapsing its ecosystem and civilization.
• Munehiro concluded that few, if any, survivors of the native civilization were likely to remain.

Akira’s team surveyed Desolate Star, confirmed that it had once supported abundant life, and began studying whether humans could adapt to its damaged environment. As Flame Gate expanded its operations there, Konoha ended its blockade and prepared a new assault on Kitagawa City, unaware that Flame Gate had already detected its plans.

• Akira received reports showing that Desolate Star’s oceans and vegetation had dwindled since the Otsutsuki Clan’s arrival, and he ordered Munehiro to continue investigating.
• Munehiro’s team surveyed the planet, found ancient ruins but no surviving intelligent beings, and learned that the Directional Summoning Jutsu could not reliably teleport across interstellar distances.
• Akira’s personnel returned to Ashihara Star through Yomotsu Hirasaka and underwent sterilization and medical examinations to prevent contamination between the planets.
• Akira used Kotoamatsukami Takamimusubi to study the explorers’ bodies while Flame Gate expanded to five underground bases and stationed 1,371 people on Desolate Star.
• Konoha ended its blockade of Kitagawa City and Sarutobi Hiruzen began planning a full-scale siege for the following year, while Flame Gate noticed Konoha’s preparations.

Jiraiya returned to Konoha and announced he would resume traveling, while he and Tsunade maneuvered to prevent Sarutobi Hiruzen from attacking Kitagawa City. Hiruzen sent his recalled elites back to the borders and went with Homura Mitokado to Root’s former underground base to inspect a project.

• Jiraiya told Sarutobi Hiruzen he intended to travel through the Ninja World, and refused Homura Mitokado’s demand that he stay in Konoha.
• Jiraiya and Tsunade had coordinated their departures to pressure Hiruzen into reinforcing the northeastern and northwestern borders instead of attacking Kitagawa City.
• Jiraiya reflected on Hiruzen’s grip on power, his refusal to support Minato Namikaze, and his reasons for rejecting the Fifth Hokage position.
• The Stone Ninja and Cloud Ninja began stirring as Tsunade and Jiraiya left their border commands, forcing Hiruzen to send his recalled elites back to the borders.
• Jiraiya left Konoha, and Hiruzen and Homura Mitokado went to Root’s former underground base to check on a project.

Sarutobi Hiruzen secretly prepared an army of Impure World Reincarnation soldiers to destroy the Uchiha Clan, while Homura Mitokado agreed to help obtain powerful dead fighters. The chapter ended as Konoha’s newest ninja graduates were watched by their future team captains.

• Sarutobi Hiruzen used Wood Release Cell Serum and Impure World Reincarnation to revive Sarutobi Takayoshi, who agreed to help exterminate the Uchiha Clan.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen planned to revive 621 Sarutobi and ANBU elites but lacked enough living sacrifices, and he worried that Uchiha Akira’s Mangekyo could destroy their souls.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen and Homura Mitokado agreed to secretly exhume powerful dead Konoha fighters, with Homura handling the graves and Sarutobi Hiruzen capturing sacrifices.
• Flame Gate noticed Konoha’s secret captures but remained unconcerned because its intelligence network and strength had grown.
• On February 16th, Konoha Year 60, Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha shared a kiss during graduation, while Kakashi Hatake and Sarutobi Hiruzen watched the graduates and their assigned teams.

Konoha prepared a surprise assault on the Kitagawa Territory, believing it could destroy the Uchiha Clan with its elite forces. After Shisui and Mihara detected the approaching army, Akira mobilized Flame Gate’s forces across several districts and set wider military plans in motion, leaving Sarutobi Hiruzen unaware that his attack would trigger a larger war.

• Kakashi noticed Ninja Hawks carrying urgent reports to the Hokage Building while he began training Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura.
• Dongni Xiaomu reported that the Uchiha Clan likely had 500 to 600 fighters, and Sarutobi Hiruzen ordered 1,800 elite troops to attack the clan at noon the next day.
• Shisui detected 1,834 high-energy signatures advancing toward the Kitagawa Territory and ordered the border outposts and noncombatants to withdraw.
• Akira arrived in Kitagawa City, confirmed Konoha’s surprise force was approaching, and ordered 2,400 troops transferred from Sea Country to form the Kitagawa Legion.
• Akira ordered the Angkor and Sea Heart Legions and their fleets to prepare operations while placing other districts on alert and directing Aoka to carry out the Boiling Water Plan.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen led the Dead Legion toward Kitagawa City without realizing that his assault had become the fuse for a Ninja World War.

Uchiha Akira broadcast Sarutobi Hiruzen’s assault on Kitagawa City across the Ninja World, exposing his forces and throwing Konoha and other nations into turmoil. As Tsunade and Jiraiya hurried toward the border, rival villages prepared for war.

• Uchiha Akira ordered Munehiro to livestream the Sarutobi Vengeance Force surrounding Kitagawa City, intending to declare war on the Ninja World.
• Projectors showed the confrontation throughout Konoha, where villagers and Team 7 reacted while the clan heads questioned Sarutobi Hiruzen’s mobilization.
• Sarutobi Shin'ka tried to remove the projectors and sent Ninja Hawks to warn Sarutobi Hiruzen, but Secret Guard members shot down the birds.
• Projectors appeared across the Five Great Nations, and Tsunade and Jiraiya learned that Sarutobi Hiruzen was attacking the Uchiha Clan.
• Tsunade and Jiraiya set out for the border legions as the Fourth Raikage, the Stone Ninja, and the Sand Ninja prepared their forces for war.