Recaps

Uchiha Mai negotiated with Kakuzu over a contract to fight for Kirigakure, but when Kakuzu refused to lower his rates, Mai proposed testing his hospitality with a sofa. The test turned into a surprise attack that sent Kakuzu crashing through the Mizukage's Office and into the plaza.

• Kakuzu quoted high fees for fighting in the Ninja World war, and Uchiha Mai countered with lower rates while offering him the corpses and bounty rights.
• Kakuzu rejected Mai's offer and insisted he would leave unless Mai accepted his original prices.
• Uchiha Mai framed a sofa test as proof of sincere friendship and promised to accept Kakuzu's rates if the sofa was uncomfortable.
• As Kakuzu approached the sofa, Uchiha Mai struck him with a purple-flamed fist, blasting him through a wall and into the plaza.
• Uchiha Mai challenged Kakuzu to bet on whether he would settle comfortably on the sofa, while Mist Garrison Headquarters members drove away the watching residents.

Uchiha Mai overwhelmed Kakuzu, destroyed one of his five hearts, and exposed the truth about Kakuzu’s supposed battle with Senju Hashirama. He left Kakuzu shaken and began trying to break his confidence so he could bring him under his command.

• Kakuzu attacked Uchiha Mai with Earth Grudge Fear: Flower Storm, but Mai’s Deathfire burned the threads and drained life force from Kakuzu’s hearts.
• Uchiha Mai grabbed an Earth Grudge Fear thread and pulled Kakuzu into range, then struck him with Split-Claw Comb and shattered his earth-nature heart.
• Mai kicked Kakuzu away and explained that Kakuzu could keep fighting as long as he had remaining hearts, while Kakuzu struggled to understand how Mai knew his secret technique.
• Kakuzu tried to recover his confidence by insisting he still had four hearts and had fought Senju Hashirama.
• Uchiha Mai dismissed Kakuzu’s claim, outlined the tiers of powerful ninja, and mocked Kakuzu for having only thrown a shuriken at Hashirama from far away before fleeing.
• Mai planned to crush Kakuzu’s confidence with his strength and bring him under his command.

Uchiha Mai humiliated Kakuzu, dodged his attacks, and withstood his powerful composite ninjutsu inside Susanoo. Kakuzu ended the fight reeling from the gap between them and questioning whether his old battle with Senju Hashirama had meant anything.

• Kakuzu insisted he had fought Senju Hashirama, and Uchiha Mai suggested Hashirama had used a Wood Clone and mocked Kakuzu for mistaking the encounter for a true fight.
• Kakuzu unleashed Composite Ninjutsu: Scorching Gale Blast, but Uchiha Mai used his speed to evade him, removed his hood, slapped him, and kicked him away.
• Uchiha Mai burned Kakuzu's hood and taunted him as Kakuzu gathered power for another Composite Ninjutsu: Scorching Gale Blast.
• Kakuzu's fire tornado swallowed Uchiha Mai, but Uchiha Mai emerged unharmed inside Susanoo and struck Kakuzu with a Yasaka Bead, shattering his water-nature heart.
• Seeing Uchiha Mai's Susanoo, Kakuzu fell into despair and wondered whether the gap between him and Senju Hashirama had truly been as vast as Mai claimed.

Uchiha Mai explained the overwhelming gap between Kakuzu and the legendary Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara, then defeated Kakuzu by interrupting his strongest attack and striking him repeatedly. Kakuzu’s fourth heart was destroyed, leaving him near defeat.

• Uchiha Mai revealed that his blood-red Susanoo was an ultimate Mangekyō Sharingan technique and explained that Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara had been vastly stronger than him.
• Uchiha Mai told Kakuzu that the Senju Hashirama who had defeated him was only a wood clone, and Kakuzu struggled to accept that he had spent decades boasting about the loss.
• Kakuzu asked about the Thirds of the Five Great Ninja Villages, and Uchiha Mai said the Third Mizukage had exchanged roughly a hundred moves with him.
• Kakuzu offered to serve Uchiha Mai if his strongest attack failed, then began preparing Earth Grudge Fear: Final Shooting while Uchiha Mai stood in Susanoo.
• Uchiha Mai dismissed Susanoo and used Body Flicker Technique and Innate Time Control to cut Kakuzu in half before Final Shooting could be unleashed.
• Kakuzu stitched himself back together and accused Uchiha Mai of refusing to fight fairly, but Uchiha Mai pressed the attack and beheaded him, shattering his fourth heart.

Uchiha Mai nearly killed Kakuzu, then used the threat of death to force him to accept a steep discount on his assassination fees. Kakuzu survived and accepted Mai’s offer of friendship, though he remained wary of him.

• With only one heart left, Kakuzu panicked as Uchiha Mai continued attacking him.
• Kakuzu begged Mai to hire him and offered to lower his price to avoid being killed.
• Mai insisted that his supposed brotherly kindness deserved a larger discount, and Kakuzu raised it to sixty percent.
• Mai sheathed his blade and helped Kakuzu to his feet, and Kakuzu accepted his hand while shivering at Mai’s smile.

Uchiha Mai hired Kakuzu at a steep discount and brought him to the Mizukage’s Office to formalize the arrangement. As Kirigakure’s reconstruction continued under Mai’s control, the chapter ended with Mei Terumi preparing a contract for Kakuzu.

• Uchiha Mai praised Kakuzu for accepting a lower fee and escorted him back to the Mizukage’s Office.
• Uchiha clansmen ordered Elder Genji, the Mizunashi and Hōzuki clan heads, Kisame, and others to clean up and continue rebuilding Kirigakure.
• Uchiha Mai’s architectural designer died at sea after completing a blueprint that called for Kirigakure to be rebuilt.
• Uchiha Mai rejected Mei Terumi’s suggestion to name a road Department Secretary Road.
• Uchiha Mai questioned Kakuzu about his sweat, praised his professionalism, and told Mei Terumi to draft a contract using a sixty percent discount.

Uchiha Mai explained to Kakuzu why his Uchiha background made becoming Konoha’s Fourth Hokage difficult and why he needed military victories at the Sunagakure Front. Kakuzu agreed to help crush Sunagakure after Mai promised him a performance bonus.

• Uchiha Mai advanced Kakuzu two hundred million in wages and required him to keep records of his missions.
• Uchiha Mai told Kakuzu and Mei Terumi that he wanted to become Konoha’s Fourth Hokage but was disadvantaged by the Uchiha’s history and his weak ties to Namikaze Minato.
• Mei Terumi suggested Mai could wait and pursue the Fifth Hokage position, but Mai insisted he wanted power while he was still young.
• Kakuzu offered to kill Namikaze Minato for extra pay, but Uchiha Mai refused and said he wanted to preserve useful allies and his future foundation.
• Uchiha Mai said Kakuzu’s mission was to defeat Sunagakure and secure military honors that would strengthen Mai’s Hokage bid.
• Uchiha Mai promised Kakuzu a ten-percent performance bonus if he earned over two hundred million in six months while keeping genin kills below seventy percent.

Uchiha Mai sent Kakuzu to the Sand Front with his sword as a token, where Kakuzu became a notorious force against Sunagakure. As Kakuzu’s growing reputation drew the Third Kazekage’s attention, Sasori was assigned to keep him in check.

• Uchiha Mai gave Kakuzu a willow branch and Izumi no Kami Kanesada, then sent him to the Sand Front as reinforcements and warned Mei Terumi that Danzo could not die yet.
• Kakashi returned to Konoha with news that Uchiha Mai had dispatched reinforcements, and Kakuzu arrived at the Sand Front to meet Hatake Sakumo and Danzo.
• Kakuzu attacked Sunagakure’s lines, killed more than three hundred ninjas, and spread boasts that he had fought Uchiha Mai and Senju Hashirama for hundreds of rounds.
• The Third Kazekage shattered eight of Kakuzu’s hearts during repeated ambushes, then stopped pursuing him and assigned Sasori of the Red Sands to keep him in check.
• Kakuzu continued earning money by fighting Sasori, though the dangerous matchups made his work riskier.

After more than half a year in Kirigakure, Uchiha Mai returned to Konoha as the war dragged on, and Tsunade hoped his intervention would bring it to an end. His arrival delighted Tsunade but turned awkward when Mei Terumi followed him into the Hokage Office.

• Uchiha Mai hosted Kirigakure’s New Year gala while Konoha’s people and Tsunade missed him.
• Tsunade vented her frustration over the prolonged war, and Mitokado Homura argued that Uchiha Mai’s return could shift the balance.
• Tsunade defended Uchiha Mai against the advisors’ criticism, and Kakashi announced that he had returned to Konoha.
• Uchiha Mai entered the Hokage Office carrying flowers from Konoha’s people and greeted Tsunade affectionately.
• Mei Terumi followed with the fruit Uchiha Mai had made her carry, and she and Tsunade sized each other up.

Tsunade and Mei Terumi competed over their closeness to Uchiha Mai, trading barbed compliments and stories while Mai watched from the sidelines. Mai realized he had underestimated their rivalry, then unsettled Kakashi by warning that Hatake Sakumo was planning to arrange a hundred blind dates for him after the war.

• Tsunade sized up Mei Terumi, and Mei compared herself unfavorably with Tsunade’s figure.
• Mei introduced herself as a sixteen-year-old Kirigakure Jonin who worked in the Government Affairs Department and the Mist Garrison Headquarters.
• Tsunade and Mei exchanged pointed remarks about their ages and their relationships with Mai, each claiming special closeness to him.
• Mai watched them argue and recognized that both women had invented stories about his preferences and past behavior.
• Kakashi teased Mai for bringing Mei to Konoha, but Mai warned him that Hatake Sakumo planned to find him a wife and arrange many blind dates.

Uchiha Mai met with Tsunade and Mei Terumi, whose rivalry escalated when Tsunade pulled him into an awkwardly intimate embrace and accidentally broke his arm. Tsunade fled after striking him, while Mei Terumi supported Mai and criticized her.

• Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu offered to send Konoha personnel to help govern Kirigakure, but Uchiha Mai rejected their attempt to intervene.
• Mei Terumi praised Tsunade while clinging to Uchiha Mai, and Tsunade answered with teasing remarks about Mei’s skincare knowledge.
• Tsunade pulled Mei Terumi away to discuss official matters, then embraced Uchiha Mai and held his arm tightly as he repeatedly misread her reactions.
• Tsunade accidentally snapped Uchiha Mai’s arm, then punched him into the ground and fled the Hokage Office, claiming she would fetch medical supplies.
• Mei Terumi helped Uchiha Mai up and complained about Tsunade, while Mai defended his big sister.

Uchiha Mai helped Tsunade confront her hemophobia after she saw blood, and the exposure revealed that her symptoms had improved. Tsunade accepted his offer to treat her, but postponed further therapy until the Shinobi World War was over.

• Tsunade brought a medical ninja to treat Uchiha Mai, but his Sun Wheel Armor had already healed his broken arm.
• Tsunade noticed blood on Uchiha Mai's arm and, despite developing nausea and dizziness, managed to resist her fear longer than before.
• Uchiha Mai offered to provide Tsunade with desensitization therapy, and Tsunade reluctantly agreed that the method could help cure her hemophobia.
• Mei Terumi and the others realized Tsunade's illness was a secret, but Tsunade told them not to worry about being silenced and warned them not to spread it.
• Uchiha Mai suggested erasing the witnesses' memories, but Tsunade rejected the idea and said the enemy could already suspect her condition.
• Tsunade told Uchiha Mai to wait until the Shinobi World War ended before treating her, since Konoha's safety came first.

Uchiha Mai and Tsunade chose the Third Kazekage as Konoha’s first target, and Mai vowed to kill him within a month and end the war within three. The next morning, Mai set out for the Sand Front with Mei Terumi, Shisui, and Obito, who asked him for advice about Rin.

• Tsunade rejected plans to target the Third Raikage or Ōnoki and agreed that the Third Kazekage was Mai’s safest opponent.
• Mai promised to bring the Third Kazekage’s corpse back within a month and finish the war within three months, while Tsunade agreed to continue treatment for her hemophobia gradually.
• Mai left the Hokage Office, arranged matters with the Void Division, and attended to Uchiha clan business.
• Mai departed for the Sand Front with Mei Terumi, Shisui, and Obito.
• Obito complained that Rin still liked Kakashi, and Mai advised him to become more impressive so Rin would notice him.

Uchiha Mai arrived at Konoha’s Sand Front, arranged potential brides for Kakashi, and addressed the frontline commanders, promising to defeat Sunagakure within a month. He confronted Danzo after hearing him mock the plan, and Danzo backed down under Mai’s murderous intent.

• Uchiha Mai reunited with Hatake Sakumo and gave him profiles of eligible women from Kirigakure and the Uchiha Clan for Kakashi to meet.
• Hatake Sakumo insisted that Kakashi meet every candidate, leaving Kakashi dismayed while Obito realized Mai’s matchmaking scheme might help him with Rin Nohara.
• Hatake Sakumo introduced Uchiha Mai to the frontline Jonin as the force’s true commander, despite Danzo’s displeasure.
• Uchiha Mai declared that Konoha should defeat Sunagakure within a month and then use its strength to force Iwagakure and Kumogakure to surrender.
• Danzo mocked Uchiha Mai in Root’s coded language, but Mai understood him, fixed him with murderous intent, and made him agree that Minister Mai had a point.

Uchiha Mai crippled Danzo in three punches after overhearing him speak ill of him, then led Konoha’s commanders to plan a decisive confrontation with Sunagakure’s Third Kazekage. After ordering a challenge letter, Mai left the command tent to attack Sunagakure and announce his return.

• Uchiha Mai struck Danzo twice with his fists, then used Susanoo to blast him out of the command tent and leave him gravely injured.
• Kakuzu offered to lure out the Third Kazekage by raiding Sunagakure camps, but Hatake Sakumo proposed challenging him openly while Mai and Kakuzu attacked the front.
• Uchiha Mai approved Hatake Sakumo’s strategy, ordered Mei Terumi to prepare a challenge letter inviting the Third Kazekage to a decisive battle, and said the Kazekage had to be among his opponents.
• Uchiha Mai left the command tent with Kakuzu, declaring that he was going to kill people and show the Ninja World that he had returned.

Uchiha Mai’s attacks forced Sunagakure to retreat repeatedly, while the Third Kazekage, Rasa, and Sasori struggled to find a way to oppose him. Pakura brought Uchiha Shisui to their command tent as an envoy, where Sasori tested him and Shisui revealed swordsmanship resembling Mai’s.

• Uchiha Mai destroyed another Sunagakure camp, prompting the Third Kazekage to order a further fifty-kilometer retreat.
• Rasa argued that Sunagakure could not face Uchiha Mai directly, while Sasori raged over losing his chance to avenge his parents and kill Hatake Sakumo.
• Pakura reported that Uchiha Shisui had approached her on patrol, claiming that Mai sent him with an important message.
• The Third Kazekage ordered Pakura to bring Shisui into the command tent, where he calmly faced the leaders’ scrutiny.
• Sasori attacked Shisui with Chakra Threads, but Shisui severed them and countered with a flaming sword slash that the Third Kazekage blocked with gold dust.

Shisui delivered Uchiha Mai’s challenge to the Third Kazekage, who accepted a duel ten days later in the desert where Mai took the Chunin Ninja Exams. Sunagakure planned to retreat and recruit Ōnoki to help fight Mai while its remaining forces defended the village.

• Shisui delivered Mai’s challenge and explained that the loser of a decisive battle would withdraw from the war or die.
• The Third Kazekage accepted the challenge for ten days later, but Shisui refused to promise that Mai would stop attacking Sunagakure before then.
• The Third Kazekage ordered Sunagakure’s forces to retreat to the village until the duel’s outcome was known.
• Rasa and Sasori discussed how to aid the Third Kazekage without leaving Sunagakure vulnerable to Hatake Sakumo’s forces.
• The Third Kazekage decided to ask Ōnoki to join him in fighting Mai and assigned Rasa to deliver the request.

Rasa persuaded Ōnoki to join the Third Kazekage in an attempt to kill Uchiha Mai, and the two Kage met Mai at the agreed battlefield. Mai revealed that he had detected Ōnoki and brought Hatake Sakumo as his own ally, leaving the ambush plan in jeopardy.

• Rasa traveled secretly to the Iwagakure battlefield and convinced Ōnoki to help the Third Kazekage kill Uchiha Mai.
• Ōnoki left Han and Kitsuchi to hold the Iwagakure front, then joined Rasa on the journey to Sunagakure.
• The Third Kazekage and Ōnoki went to the Stone Tower for their decisive battle with Uchiha Mai.
• Uchiha Mai revealed that his eyes had detected Ōnoki, and Ōnoki emerged from hiding to confront him.
• Uchiha Mai summoned Hatake Sakumo, turning the planned two-against-one fight into two against two.
• The Third Kazekage accused Uchiha Mai of breaking his word, but Mai pointed out that his challenge letter had never promised to fight alone.

Uchiha Mai battled the Third Kazekage while Hatake Sakumo pursued Ōnoki, gradually overwhelming the Kazekage with his many abilities. Ōnoki intervened with Dust Release, and Mai laughed that he had finally obtained the ultimate power.

• Ōnoki and the Third Kazekage agreed to fight Uchiha Mai and Hatake Sakumo, but Mai charged the Third Kazekage while Sakumo went after Ōnoki.
• Uchiha Mai used Dragon Fist and Shikotsumyaku to attack the Third Kazekage, who countered with Iron Sand and escaped the initial blows.
• Hatake Sakumo chased Ōnoki as Ōnoki dodged and attacked from a distance, while the Third Kazekage struggled to keep up with Mai's close-range assaults.
• Uchiha Mai broke through the Third Kazekage's iron sand defenses and prepared a decisive Dragon Fist, but Ōnoki intervened with Dust Release, forcing Mai to dodge.
• Uchiha Mai avoided Ōnoki's Dust Release and declared that he had finally obtained the ultimate power.

Uchiha Mai used a copied Dust Release to surprise Ōnoki and create an opening for Hatake Sakumo, then turned his Susanoo against the Third Kazekage. The Third Kazekage was driven from the sky and battered by Mai’s attacks as Mai noticed his Mangekyō Sharingan was beginning to wear out.

• Uchiha Mai revealed that he could use Dust Release and trapped Ōnoki in its barrier, but Ōnoki escaped before it detonated.
• Hatake Sakumo and Uchiha Mai attacked Ōnoki together, and Hatake Sakumo cut Ōnoki’s side while Ōnoki dodged Mai’s sword aura.
• Uchiha Mai summoned his third-stage Susanoo and sent it after the Third Kazekage, whose Iron Sand Gyro was countered by Susanoo’s Yasaka Beads.
• Uchiha Mai disrupted the Third Kazekage’s heart with Innate Time Control, then used Yasaka Beads to shatter his Iron Sand Wings and knock him from the sky.
• Uchiha Mai pressed the attack with Susanoo while noticing that his Mangekyō Sharingan’s eye power had diminished and its recovery had slowed.

The Third Kazekage trapped Susanoo with Iron Sand World Method and battered Uchiha Mai, but Mai survived and copied the technique. Mai then unleashed his ultimate sword strike, Annihilate Heaven and Earth: Sword Twenty-Three, leaving the Third Kazekage unable to react as Ōnoki realized his death was certain.

• The Third Kazekage used Iron Sand World Method to restrain Susanoo and launched nearly twenty attacks that shattered Uchiha Mai’s bone armor.
• Uchiha Mai revealed that he had survived the assault and copied Iron Sand World Method, shocking the Third Kazekage, Ōnoki, and Hatake Sakumo.
• Uchiha Mai slowed everyone within a wide area with Innate Time Control: The World and summoned a compressed Susanoo around himself.
• Uchiha Mai combined his abilities into Annihilate Heaven and Earth: Sword Twenty-Three, while the Third Kazekage froze under its effects.
• Ōnoki tried to warn the Third Kazekage and attack Uchiha Mai with Dust Release, but time slowed his attack, and he concluded the Third Kazekage was doomed.

Uchiha Mai killed the Third Kazekage with his newly developed Sword Twenty-Three, then persuaded Ōnoki to withdraw rather than risk a fight while Mai was injured. Back at camp, Mai and Hatake Sakumo celebrated the victory and prepared to pressure Sunagakure into retreating.

• Uchiha Mai killed the Third Kazekage with Annihilate Heaven and Earth: Sword Twenty-Three, but the technique left him badly injured.
• Uchiha Mai confronted Ōnoki alongside Hatake Sakumo and argued that Iwagakure could not win the war after the Third Kazekage's death.
• Uchiha Mai threatened Ōnoki with death unless Iwagakure withdrew, and Ōnoki agreed before retreating from the battlefield.
• Hatake Sakumo asked why Mai had let Ōnoki go, and Mai explained that the strategic objective mattered more than risking his life in another fight.
• Uchiha Mai and Hatake Sakumo returned to camp and announced the Third Kazekage's death, boosting Konoha's morale.
• At Mai's suggestion, Hatake Sakumo withdrew the outer sentries and scouts and held a victory feast, alarming Sunagakure's reconnaissance ninjas.

Sunagakure, Iwagakure, and then Kumogakure withdrew from the Third Shinobi World War after Uchiha Mai defeated the Third Kazekage, and Konoha celebrated the end of the fighting. As Sarutobi Hiruzen prepared Minato’s succession and the village recovered, Tsunade urged Uchiha Mai to pursue the Fourth Hokage position while he continued her rehabilitation treatment.

• Rasa and Sunagakure’s leaders accepted that the Third Kazekage was likely dead, and Rasa later became Fourth Kazekage and withdrew Sunagakure from the war.
• Ōnoki withdrew Iwagakure’s forces and signed the thirty-year Sake City Accord with Sarutobi Hiruzen, who returned to Konoha to celebrate the peace.
• Rasa formed a strategic alliance and commercial partnership with Kirigakure, while the Third Raikage eventually pulled Kumogakure’s troops back without signing an agreement with Konoha.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen resumed the Hokage position and assigned rewards and posts to Konoha’s leading ninja, while leaving Uchiha Mai without a new title and considering Minato as his successor.
• At Tsunade’s home, Uchiha Mai continued her rehabilitation treatment despite her protests, and Tsunade warned him that Orochimaru and Minato were gaining support as candidates for the Fourth Hokage.

Uchiha Mai launched a singing career and led the Uchiha Clan on a Ninja World tour to improve their public image, advance his Hokage campaign, and earn Style Points. The tour succeeded, while Killer B’s attempt to compete with him ended in disaster, and Obito returned to Konoha still chasing Rin Nohara.

• Uchiha Mai convinced Tsunade that he and twelve young Uchiha would tour as idols, with him performing solo and the group named Boyhood.
• Uchiha Mai and Boyhood debuted at Konoha’s Spring Festival Gala, where their songs drew applause and Uchiha Mai announced sixty concerts across the Ninja World.
• Konoha fans quickly bought out the concert tickets, and Uchiha Mai rejected Tsunade’s request to become an official scalper while cracking down on bulk reselling.
• Uchiha Mai and Boyhood completed their tour, transforming the Uchiha Clan’s image and making Obito a popular idol.
• Killer B held a free concert in Kumogakure, but nearly all the audience left; Prince A then punched him across the village.
• Obito returned to Konoha and fawned over Rin Nohara, while Uchiha Mai and Tsunade watched and discussed his behavior.

After winning the Microcosm Cultivation Method, Uchiha Mai awakened his First Consciousness, which improved his body and repaired his Mangekyō Sharingan. He then learned that Sarutobi Hiruzen had invited several prominent figures to a wedding-anniversary dinner, and suspected the gathering concealed a political purpose.

• Uchiha Mai spent twenty thousand Style Points on a lottery and won the Microcosm Cultivation Method, along with a heavy Bronze Cloth Box.
• Uchiha Mai completed the First Consciousness in seven days, greatly enhancing his perception and physical abilities while restoring his Mangekyō Sharingan.
• Uchiha Mai handled clan affairs, visited Tsunade for treatment, and appeared in public to build support during the Hokage election.
• Shisui told Uchiha Mai that Sarutobi Hiruzen had invited him to a family dinner celebrating his wedding anniversary, and Uchiha Mai agreed to attend.
• Tsunade told Uchiha Mai that Sarutobi Hiruzen had also invited her, Orochimaru, Jiraiya, Minato, and others, leading Uchiha Mai to suspect the dinner would serve a political purpose.