Chapter Summaries

Uchiha Dan entered Kirigakure’s Seven Ninja Swordsmen selection hoping to claim Kubikiribōchō and gain access to the village’s upper ranks. After Biwa Tsukishima joined the battle royale and challenged everyone, the contestants began attacking him.

• Uchiha Dan waited among the crowd, watched the Third Mizukage arrive, and planned to win Kubikiribōchō to advance his standing in Kirigakure.
• Yukimura Yu entered the arena with a replica Kubikiribōchō and invited challengers, drawing Biwa Juzo and other contestants into the battle royale.
• Biwa Tsukishima charged into the arena, startling Hoshigaki Yumi and angering Biwa Juzo.
• Uchiha Dan told Hoshigaki Yumi to begin the selection, then challenged all the contestants to attack him at once.
• Three Shuriken flew at Uchiha Dan, who deflected them before Biwa Juzo swung his replica Kubikiribōchō at him.

Uchiha Dan fought off several Kirigakure opponents in the flooded training ground, using clever water techniques and precise timing to turn their attacks against them. After knocking out Biwa Juzo and Yukimura Yu, he carried the imitation Kubikiribōchō toward another part of the battlefield.

• Uchiha Dan dodged Biwa Juzo's greatsword and hidden weapons, then used a water clone to appear behind him and knock him out with a chakra-disrupting kick.
• Two water columns bound Uchiha Dan while Yukimura Yu attacked with his greatsword, but Uchiha Dan blocked the strike and broke free.
• Hozuki Mitsuki fired water bullets at Uchiha Dan as Yukimura Yu's greatsword and an attack from beneath the water closed in on him.
• Uchiha Dan caught the spinning imitation Kubikiribōchō, used it as a shield to deflect the attacks, and narrowly avoided the rising water column.
• Uchiha Dan swung the imitation Kubikiribōchō into Yukimura Yu, knocking him out, then headed toward another part of the battlefield.

Uchiha Dan defeated Hozuki Mitsuki to win Kubikiribōchō, then left Hoshigaki Yumi confused by his sudden change in attitude. During the next sword competition, a stray kunai cut the Third Mizukage, who spared the panicked ninja and accused the elders of wanting to test him.

• Uchiha Dan used Taijutsu and the Hiding in Mist Technique to defeat the remaining competitors, including Hozuki Mitsuki, and claim Kubikiribōchō.
• Hoshigaki Yumi was bewildered and angered when Uchiha Dan thanked her, said he would be more careful, and walked away without explanation.
• The free-for-all for Twin Swords: Hiramekarei began, and a kunai thrown by one competitor accidentally grazed the Third Mizukage's face.
• The Third Mizukage unleashed his Chakra, then spared the terrified ninja and warned the gathered crowd against further stunts.

The Third Mizukage secretly selected six of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist while Uchiha Dan gathered chakra traces from the winners to search their memories. Hoshigaki Yumi reflected on Biwa Tsukishima’s sudden transformation and realized her feelings toward him had changed.

• The Third Mizukage selected Hozuki Ritsuge, Raiga Kurosuki, Kushimaru Kuriarare, Munashi Jinpachi, and Jinin Akebino, joining Biwa Tsukishima as six of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen.
• Uchiha Dan shook hands with the other five swordsmen and secretly planted traces of his chakra to access their memories later.
• Uchiha Dan left the Mizukage’s Office carrying Kubikiribōchō and encountered Hoshigaki Yumi and Terumi Seiichi on the street.
• Hoshigaki Yumi recalled Biwa Tsukishima’s recent courage, his victory in the selection tournament, and how his changed behavior had stirred her feelings.

After Biwa Tsukishima won a place among the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, Hoshigaki Yumi grew upset when he ended their closeness, while Uchiha Dan tried to keep his distance. Dan then faced Terumi Seiichi’s warning and encountered Biwa Juzo at home.

• Hoshigaki Yumi watched Biwa Tsukishima win the selection and felt hurt when he passed her without acknowledging her.
• Hoshigaki Yumi confronted Uchiha Dan, but he told her he understood her feelings and would stop pestering her, leaving her tearful and confused.
• Terumi Seiichi warned Uchiha Dan to stay away from Yumi and claimed that their families would soon be joined in marriage.
• Uchiha Dan trained at the grounds and returned to Biwa Tsukishima’s home, where Biwa Juzo congratulated him and vowed to surpass him.
• Uchiha Dan promised Biwa Juzo he would hand over Kubikiribōchō if Juzo surpassed him, then wondered how Juzo would react to learning his older brother was dead.

Uchiha Dan uncovered that Uchiha Madara had abandoned his plans in Kirigakure after repeated setbacks and Dan’s awakening of the Perfect Susanoo. Madara turned to Uchiha En as a replacement, arranging to have him brainwashed and raised by Black Zetsu and the White Zetsu.

• Uchiha Dan reviewed the memories he had gathered and concluded that Uchiha Madara had given up on his plans in Kirigakure.
• Uchiha Dan decided to make one last tour of the area before escaping, unaware that his strength had caused Madara to abandon the scheme.
• Uchiha Madara and Black Zetsu’s plans to draw Uchiha Dan out of Konoha repeatedly failed, first because Konoha abandoned the Land of Whirlpools and later because Tsunade’s forces defeated the coalition.
• Uchiha Madara gave up on controlling Uchiha Dan after learning he had awakened the Perfect Susanoo and killed Hamed.
• Uchiha Madara arranged for Black Zetsu to kidnap Uchiha En and planned to have him brainwashed and raised by the White Zetsu as a possible replacement.

Uchiha Dan returned to the Konoha Research Institute with a vast haul from Kirigakure, while Tsunade and Namikaze Minato reached the Left Route Camp to face Sunagakure. Nara Shikashin pledged the Ino-Shika-Cho clans’ support to Tsunade and asked her about Konoha’s latest developments and her plans.

• Uchiha Dan gave Orochimaru scrolls, Chakra Metal, valuables, biological samples, unconscious people, and White Zetsu corpses from Kirigakure.
• Uchiha Dan explained that he had fueled a civil war in Kirigakure and said the White Zetsu would eventually take the blame for the disappearances.
• Tsunade and Namikaze Minato reached the Left Route Camp after seven days of travel and went to meet its commander, Nara Shikashin.
• Nara Shikashin welcomed Tsunade and Minato, then pledged the Ino-Shika-Cho clans’ support to Tsunade.
• Nara Shikashin asked Tsunade about recent events in Konoha, the Hokage’s plans, and her own next steps.

Nara Shikashin helped Tsunade plan how to avoid being blamed for trouble at the left-route camp, and she later traveled to the right-route camp. There, she recognized that Shimura Masao was trying to trick her into taking command without proper written authorization and confronted the assembled officers.

• Nara Shikashin advised Tsunade to limit her duties at the left-route camp to treating wounded shinobi and preparing Antidote.
• Nara Shikashin introduced Tsunade to the left-route camp's senior officers, who welcomed her.
• After two days, Tsunade left the left-route camp and headed to the right-route camp with Namikaze Minato.
• Shimura Masao and the senior officers urged Tsunade to sign vague transfer documents that could make her responsible for the camp.
• Tsunade realized the documents did not officially appoint her and shouted at the officers, asking who had said she was there to take command.

Tsunade exposed Shimura Masao’s attempt to transfer command of the border camp without authorization and clarified that she would only handle medical support. After touring the camp, Namikaze Minato mapped its defenses and designed a better layout, leaving Tsunade astonished by his ability.

• Tsunade showed the shinobi the Hokage’s mission document and confronted Shimura Masao for preparing transfer papers without an order.
• Shimura Masao apologized, and Tsunade told the camp she would treat the sick and injured, prepare Antidote, and help stabilize critical situations.
• Tsunade asked Shimura Masao to let someone show Namikaze Minato around the camp, and Nakayama Katsuhiko volunteered.
• Namikaze Minato toured the camp with Nakayama Katsuhiko, then drew a detailed map marking hidden sentries and weak defenses.
• Namikaze Minato designed a more practical defensive layout that accounted for the terrain and the standoff with Amegakure shinobi, astonishing Tsunade.

Uchiha Dan’s demanding lessons had trained Namikaze Minato to think strategically and detect Dan Katō spying on Tsunade with the Spirit Transformation Technique. Uchiha Dan arrived at Tsunade’s tent that night, and she told him about the intruder.

• Uchiha Dan taught Namikaze Minato military strategy and had him analyze events through detailed reports, sharpening his judgment and perceptiveness.
• Namikaze Minato tapped a coded warning to Tsunade that someone was watching them with the Spirit Transformation Technique.
• Tsunade and Namikaze Minato identified Dan Katō as the likely spy and traced his physical body to Shimura Masao’s tent, but decided they could not confront him without proof.
• Namikaze Minato assured Tsunade that Dan Katō would not survive the night after Uchiha Dan arrived.
• Uchiha Dan appeared in Tsunade’s tent, embraced her, and heard her account of Dan Katō’s spying.

Uchiha Dan and Namikaze Minato set a trap for Katō Dan using a new camp defense map, then captured his soul after he tried to attack Minato. Uchiha Dan sealed Katō Dan away for further research, leaving Minato to learn that his brother intended to make him useful before his eventual death.

• Uchiha Dan and Namikaze Minato devised a plan to send Tsunade to Shimura Masao with a new defense map, prompting him to call a meeting and draw attention away from them.
• Katō Dan grew suspicious of Tsunade and Minato, used the Spirit Transformation Technique to spy on them, and decided to attack Minato out of hatred for Uchiha Dan.
• Katō Dan's soul separated from his body, and he realized Uchiha Dan had killed him after exposing his spying.
• Katō Dan lunged at Minato but struck a barrier, and Uchiha Dan raised a Spirit Isolation Barrier around the tent.
• Uchiha Dan bound Katō Dan's soul with Sealing Chains and sealed him in a scroll, explaining to Minato that he planned to use Katō Dan for research before killing him.

Uchiha Dan learned of the border situation and went to intervene at the left-flank camp while Tsunade treated wounded soldiers and taught Medical Ninjas. In the Northern Land of Rivers, Dan rescued Pakura from a Konoha ambush, then confronted her wearing a Konoha Forehead Protector.

• Shimura Masao found Dan Katō missing from his tent, with only a pool of blood left behind.
• Uchiha Dan told Tsunade that Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō had tried to poison and frame him, then said he would visit the left-flank camp the next morning.
• Namikaze Minato went to train, while Tsunade began treating wounded soldiers and teaching Medical Ninjas at the camp hospital.
• Pakura and her companion fled after a twelve-person Konoha team ambushed their patrol and gravely wounded her.
• Uchiha Dan slaughtered the pursuing Konoha Ninja, chased Pakura and her companion, and stopped them while wearing a Konoha Forehead Protector.

Uchiha Dan let Pakura leave after revealing his Mangekyō Sharingan, then trapped her in a powerful genjutsu that made her believe she had returned to Sunagakure. She discovered the Third Kazekage and Rasa discussing her presumed death, while the genjutsu continued to distort what she saw and heard.

• Pakura recognized Uchiha Dan, and he claimed he was pursuing impostors to prevent a war between Konoha and Sunagakure.
• Uchiha Dan showed Pakura his Mangekyō Sharingan as proof that he was from Konoha, then let her and her companion leave.
• Pakura entered a genjutsu in which a red mist swallowed her and she emerged in Sunagakure, believing she had completed her mission.
• Pakura found that the villagers could not see or hear her, then rushed to the Kazekage's Office.
• The Third Kazekage greeted Rasa warmly, and Rasa reported that Pakura had not returned and had likely failed her mission.
• The Third Kazekage agreed that Pakura was unlikely to survive and reprimanded Rasa for expressing concern about her.

Uchiha Dan used an illusion to intensify Pakura’s resentment of the Third Kazekage and Rasa, then erased her memory of the visions while leaving her with a firm conviction that her teacher had sacrificed her to advance Rasa. Pakura woke in the forest and vowed to kill the Third Kazekage, unaware that Dan had planted a hidden source of discord in Sunagakure.

• In a series of illusions, Pakura witnessed the Third Kazekage favoring Rasa and arranging for her to die on a mission.
• Pakura experienced many scenes that built her anger, then cursed the Third Kazekage and Rasa before the visions ended.
• Pakura woke in the forest with Kaede beside her and remembered that Uchiha Dan had been there, but she could not recall the illusions.
• Pakura became convinced that the Third Kazekage had treated her as a whetstone for Rasa and angrily vowed to kill him.
• Uchiha Dan watched from hiding and revealed that he had erased Pakura’s memories of the illusion while preserving the emotions and conviction it had created.

Uchiha Dan returned openly to Tsunade after manipulating Pakura’s ambitions and dissatisfaction, while Uchiha Fukuyama confronted Hiruzen Sarutobi with the Uchiha Clan’s resignation from the Police Force. Hiruzen tried to pressure Fukuyama to reconsider, but Fukuyama challenged whether Hiruzen would ever treat the clan fairly.

• Uchiha Dan magnified Pakura’s ambition and dissatisfaction with the Third Kazekage, then used the Flying Thunder God Technique to return to Tsunade’s side.
• Uchiha Dan appeared openly at the border camp, prompting Shimura Masao to send word to Konoha.
• Uchiha Fukuyama submitted the Police Force resignations to Hiruzen Sarutobi and recommended that the Hyuga Clan take over.
• Rumors spread that Hiruzen Sarutobi had repeatedly rejected Fukuyama’s proposed Police Force reforms, shifting public sympathy toward the Uchiha Clan.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi accused Fukuyama of spreading the rumors and warned him that the clan could regret its choice.
• Uchiha Fukuyama asked whether Hiruzen Sarutobi would have treated the Uchiha Clan well even if it had made the choice Hiruzen wanted.

After Uchiha Fukuyama left, Hiruzen Sarutobi resolved to destroy the Uchiha Clan but struggled to find a pretext. The chapter contrasted his approach with Tobirama Senju’s plans to centralize Konoha and weaken clan power, leaving Hiruzen’s growing threat to the Uchiha unresolved.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi approved Uchiha Fukuyama’s request, then angrily resolved to make the Uchiha Clan pay for defying him.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi considered the obstacles to attacking the Uchiha Clan, including his failed attempt to kill Uchiha Dan and the need for a legitimate pretext.
• The narration explained that Tobirama Senju had sought to weaken the clans, strengthen the Hokage’s authority, and cultivate civilian shinobi rather than eliminate the Uchiha Clan.
• Tobirama Senju had disbanded the Senju Clan, selected mostly civilian students, and hoped Kagami Uchiha would help integrate the Uchiha into village society.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi failed to carry out Tobirama Senju’s vision, while the four great families expanded and Kumogakure and Iwagakure applied similar ideas more successfully.

Hiruzen Sarutobi planned to exploit divisions within the Uchiha Clan and pit the clan against Hatake Sakumo, while Uchiha Fukuyama left their meeting pleased with a scheme to implicate Hiruzen and the Hyuga Clan in the Police Force reforms. The chapter ended with Fukuyama expecting the Police Force to become a hot potato for both sides.

• Hiruzen considered exploiting the divide between the Uchiha Clan's Dove and Hawk factions to weaken the clan.
• Hiruzen planned to win over Uchiha Doves with promises and use Hatake Sakumo to provoke a conflict with the Uchiha Clan.
• Fukuyama left the Hokage Building satisfied that he had finally challenged Hiruzen openly.
• Fukuyama explained that Dan had urged him to recommend the Hyuga Clan take over the Police Force because Ryohei Hyuga had already sided with Hiruzen.
• Fukuyama expected Hiruzen's reforms after the Hyuga Clan took over the Police Force to fuel rumors that Hiruzen had suppressed the Uchiha Clan to clear the way for the Hyuga.

Ryohei Hyuga planned to use the Hyuga Branch Family to shield the Main Family from the fallout of taking over Konoha’s Police Force. At Sunagakure’s camp, Pakura analyzed the attack that nearly started a war, while Chiyo suspected it had resulted from infighting in Konoha and considered protecting Pakura from Sunagakure’s own power struggle.

• Ryohei Hyuga heard that Uchiha Fukuyama had resigned as head of the Police Force and recognized the move as a chance for the Hyuga Clan to take control.
• Ryohei decided the Hyuga Main Family could make the Branch Family handle law enforcement and take the blame if the people of Konoha became angry.
• Pakura told Chiyo that the Uchiha Clan ninja who saved her and the ninja who attacked them were most likely involved in Konoha infighting.
• Chiyo praised Pakura’s reasoning but privately favored the possibility that Konoha’s internal conflict had caused the incident.
• Chiyo considered taking Pakura under her wing, knowing the Third Kazekage had chosen Rasa as his successor and that Pakura might become a casualty of the succession struggle.

Chiyo valued nurturing talent in Sunagakure, despite the village’s costly elite-focused training policy. After Root’s failed ambush on Pakura, Hiruzen Sarutobi suspected Uchiha Dan was his true opponent and considered targeting Dan’s loved ones to defeat him.

• The chapter explained that Sunagakure concentrated scarce resources on promising young ninja because the village and the Land of Wind Daimyo could not support broad training, a policy Chiyo feared would waste late-blooming talent.
• Shimura Danzō stormed into the Hokage’s office and told Hiruzen Sarutobi that Root had lost three full members and nine reserves in the failed ambush on Pakura.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi reconsidered Uchiha Dan’s hidden role in the war and concluded that Dan might be an exceptional Sensory Ninja who had aided Tsunade and thwarted Hiruzen’s earlier schemes.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi decided that directly attacking Uchiha Dan was too risky and considered using Namikaze Toneri, Toneri’s wife, or Namikaze Minato as leverage, while ruling out Uzumaki Kushina and Uzumaki Mito.

Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō secured funding and plotted against Uchiha Dan while unrest grew in Konoha and Amegakure expanded toward neighboring lands. At the border camp, Namikaze Minato told Uchiha Dan he had figured out why the Land of Iron opposed Amegakure, and Dan asked him to explain.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi told Shimura Danzō what he suspected had happened to Root’s shinobi, and Danzō demanded funding for Root.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō agreed that Uchiha Dan had to be killed, unaware that Dan was listening to their plotting.
• Amegakure encroached on the Land of Birds and the Land of Grass, and the Land of Iron agreed to support those countries against it.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi pushed Torifu Akimichi out of the upper ranks, courted the Uchiha Clan’s dovish faction, and ordered Hatake Sakumo to openly monitor its hawkish faction.
• Rumors that Hiruzen Sarutobi planned to target Konoha’s clans spread, weakening his standing as the village grew unsettled.
• Namikaze Minato told Uchiha Dan he knew why the Land of Iron had protested against Amegakure, and Dan asked him to share his reasoning.