Recaps

Sarutobi Hiruzen prepared to protect Hatake Sakumo while choosing a temporary successor to command the Anbu. Danzo challenged Hiruzen’s decision but left after Hiruzen asserted his authority as Hokage.

• Sarutobi Hiruzen decided to make Namikaze Minato acting Anbu director if Hatake Sakumo could not remain in command.
• Hiruzen summoned Minato, rewarded his team, and warned him to stay in the village for a troublesome mission.
• Danzo confronted Hiruzen, blamed Sakumo for failing to protect Tsunade, and demanded command of the Anbu for himself or Orochimaru.
• Hiruzen defended Sakumo and insisted that the Hokage alone decided who commanded the Anbu.
• Danzo left after Hiruzen refused to replace Sakumo, and Hiruzen found Danzo’s restrained response unsettling.

Uchiha Mai learned gambling and taijutsu from Tsunade before Minato arrived with an S-Rank mission from Sarutobi Hiruzen. The chapter ended as Hiruzen began a pre-battle briefing, with Hatake Sakumo set to explain a mission that could affect Konoha and the balance of the Ninja World.

• Uchiha Mai hired Konoha Genin to clean and refurnish Tsunade's abandoned residence.
• Uchiha Mai and Tsunade spent several days trading gambling techniques and taijutsu lessons, and both improved their skills.
• Minato arrived with Kakashi and Might Guy to tell Uchiha Mai that the Hokage had assigned them an S-Rank mission.
• Tsunade warned Uchiha Mai to return alive because she had not finished learning his card skills.
• Minato's team went to the Hokage Office, where Sarutobi Hiruzen announced that Hatake Sakumo would lead the mission briefing.

Uchiha Mai and Minato’s team learned that Hidden Cloud had compromised Konoha’s entire Northeast intelligence division, and Hatake Sakumo assigned them to help eliminate the traitors and recover the division’s archives. As the teams prepared to depart, Mai chose the codename 007.

• Uchiha Mai asked Sarutobi Hiruzen whether the children would be punished if the mission failed, and Hiruzen assured them they would not be punished for doing their best.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen revealed that Hasegawa, chief of the Northeast Division, had betrayed Konoha and that the division’s intelligence stations were compromised.
• Hatake Sakumo explained that Minato and his teammates had been temporarily transferred into the Anbu and assigned to clear two intelligence stations.
• Hatake Sakumo outlined a simultaneous operation to capture Hasegawa, kill the division’s traitorous ninjas, and secure its intelligence archives.
• Uchiha Mai asked about Anbu masks and codenames, then chose 007 as his codename.

The chapter compared three accounts of when Hatake Sakumo died and concluded that Kakashi was roughly seven to nine years old. It left the exact age uncertain, but none of the accounts placed Sakumo’s death before Kakashi graduated.

• In episode 339, Minato said Sakumo had died five years before Kakashi’s team undertook the Kannabi Bridge mission, making Kakashi seven at the time.
• In the Book of Combat, Kakashi was twenty-seven and the Kannabi Bridge battle had occurred thirteen years earlier, making him fourteen during the mission and nine when Sakumo died.
• In anime-original episode 636, Obito noticed Kakashi’s changed personality before graduating, and the Third Hokage mentioned Sakumo’s death while assigning Minato to instruct Kakashi.
• The narrator concluded that the three accounts placed Sakumo’s death when Kakashi was roughly seven to nine years old, not before his graduation.

Minato's team debated whether to attack two intelligence outposts together or split up, then chose to strike both at once. Minato assigned Mai to lead Kakashi and Guy, and the teammates headed toward their targets after Mai warned Kakashi to obey his commands.

• After traveling for two days, Minato's team reached the area near their targets and reviewed the mission map and intelligence.
• Kakashi and Mai argued that splitting up would let the team attack both outposts faster and reduce the chance of enemies escaping.
• Minato agreed to split the team, taking one outpost himself and appointing Mai acting captain and Kakashi acting vice-captain for the other.
• Mai used his Sharingan to memorize the map and intelligence, and the four set off separately toward their targets.
• Kakashi challenged Mai's authority, and Mai threatened him before joking that he would only deal with him after defeating the enemies.

Uchiha Mai led Kakashi and Might Guy in an assault on a suspected Cloud Shinobi intelligence station, using his Sharingan to locate its occupants. The attack left Ishida fighting Mai while Kakashi faced the other defenders, and Mai killed one Genin with a fire technique.

• Uchiha Mai assigned Kakashi to support the assault and Might Guy to stop anyone escaping, then led the way into the residence.
• Uchiha Mai used his Sharingan to locate the occupants and launched a Great Fireball, but Ishida and another ninja dodged it.
• Uchiha Mai confronted Ishida, who recognized him as a young Konoha Anbu, while Kakashi engaged the two ninja from another room.
• A Genin attacked Uchiha Mai with an Explosive Tag, but Mai flicked it back and ignited it with a bouncing flame, killing him.

Uchiha Mai fought the traitorous Ishida while Kakashi and Might Guy eliminated the remaining Kumogakure Genin. The chapter ended with Kakashi and Guy joining Mai against Ishida, who panicked at facing all three.

• Uchiha Mai used Dark Stroke to kill a Genin, and Ishida tried to recruit him to Kumogakure.
• Ishida feinted by pointing out Kakashi, then attacked Uchiha Mai with the Rock Fist Technique.
• Uchiha Mai countered Ishida's punch and fought him in a prolonged taijutsu stalemate.
• Kakashi killed one Genin, then called in Might Guy to help kill the last fleeing Genin.
• Uchiha Mai accepted Might Guy's offer to help, and Kakashi charged in as Ishida panicked at the three-on-one fight.

Uchiha Mai’s team killed Ishida and searched his intelligence station, but Mai’s Great Fireball had burned the backup files and Might Guy accidentally scattered their ashes. The team burned down the estate to destroy any remaining intelligence and headed to meet Minato before continuing the mission at the border.

• Uchiha Mai killed Ishida with a kick after driving him back and stopping his attempt to escape underground.
• Uchiha Mai ordered Kakashi and Might Guy to search the bodies and the rooms for intelligence files, but they found nothing useful.
• Kakashi suspected Mai’s earlier Great Fireball had burned the station’s paper records, and Might Guy scattered the ashes with a sneeze.
• Uchiha Mai reassured Might Guy, then ordered him and Kakashi to douse the estate with oil and alcohol so Mai could burn it down.
• Uchiha Mai led Kakashi and Might Guy toward a neighboring town to meet Minato before they went to the border.

Minato’s team searched the border for Hatake Sakumo and discovered that a large group of ninjas, including Sakumo, had crossed into the Land of Hot Water. Pakkun identified a dangerous chakra presence among them, and Minato realized Kumogakure had brought a Jinchuriki; the team set out to track them, fearing Sakumo was in danger.

• Minato asked Uchiha Mai’s team about their mission, and Mai reported that they had killed all four targets but destroyed the intelligence station’s backup records during the fight.
• Minato and the three youngsters searched the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Hot Water, finding nothing on the first day.
• On the second day, Kakashi’s ninja hound Pakkun detected that twenty-five to thirty ninjas had passed through about two hours earlier, including Hatake Sakumo and several Jonin-level chakra presences.
• Pakkun described one presence as exceptionally dangerous, and Minato recognized it as likely belonging to a Jinchuriki.
• Minato asked Pakkun to track the group, worried that Sakumo’s swordsmanship might not be enough to handle a Jinchuriki.

Minato’s team tracked a powerful enemy into the Land of Hot Water and learned that Kumogakure’s nine-year-old Jinchuriki was fighting Konoha’s Anbu. Uchiha Mai identified Yugito Nii as the battle intensified, and Minato ordered his team into combat.

• Pakkun warned Minato that the enemy was dangerously powerful, and Minato told the others to prepare for a difficult fight.
• Minato confirmed that the enemy was a Jinchuriki and explained that Kumogakure had a young female Jinchuriki who could control her Tailed Beast.
• Pakkun tracked the fighting to within a kilometer, then Minato sent him away and led the team forward.
• Uchiha Mai saw Hatake Sakumo and Konoha’s Anbu fighting a larger Kumogakure force that included the rogue ninja Hasegawa.
• Uchiha Mai recognized Yugito Nii as the Jinchuriki, who fought with Tailed Beast traits and recovered quickly from Sakumo’s attacks.

Hatake Sakumo pursued Hasegawa while Yugito Nii and Hidden Cloud ninja tried to hold him off. Minato and his team arrived to reinforce Konoha, but Yugito transformed completely into the Two-Tails as Hatake Sakumo raced after Hasegawa.

• Hatake Sakumo killed a Hidden Cloud Jonin and accused Hidden Cloud of sheltering Hasegawa and interfering with Konoha's Anbu intelligence network.
• Yugito Nii ordered Hasegawa to flee to Kumogakure while she and the other ninja held off Hatake Sakumo.
• Hasegawa escaped, boasting that he had backup copies of the Anbu intelligence and would meet Hatake Sakumo again on the battlefield.
• Minato, Uchiha Mai, Kakashi, and Might Guy arrived, and Minato wounded Yugito before her Tailed Beast Chakra healed her.
• Hatake Sakumo left Minato to hold Yugito back and pursued Hasegawa while the others fought Hidden Cloud ninja.
• Yugito Nii released the Two-Tails' Chakra and transformed into a massive blue-black cat.

Yugito Nii fully transformed into the Two-Tails while retaining her reason, overwhelming Konoha’s forces. The chapter left Hatake Sakumo facing a far more dangerous opponent than he had expected.

• Yugito Nii transformed into the Two-Tails, and Qiongyue charged in, confident that his sword technique could defeat her.
• Qiongyue’s attacks failed to harm Yugito Nii, and she killed him with a Fireball.
• Zuo Shi rushed to avenge Qiongyue, but Yugito Nii wounded him before Minato drove her back with Wind Release: Great Breakthrough.
• Hatake Sakumo realized Yugito Nii was a perfect Jinchuriki after she challenged the Konoha group to send another fighter.

Hatake Sakumo abandoned his pursuit of Hasegawa and returned to the battlefield to protect his comrades, fighting Yugito Nii in her Tailed Beast form. His refusal to leave anyone behind left Uchiha Mai reflecting on the conflict between Sakumo’s ideals and the Third Hokage’s increasingly pragmatic rule.

• Hatake Sakumo weighed recovering the stolen intelligence against saving his comrades, knowing the information could cripple Konoha’s intelligence network.
• Hatake Sakumo turned back to the battlefield and attacked Yugito Nii with a massive chakra blade, impressing Uchiha Mai, Kakashi, and Namikaze Minato.
• Zuo Shi urged Hatake Sakumo to pursue Hasegawa and finish the mission, but Hatake Sakumo refused to abandon his comrades.
• Uchiha Mai concluded that Hatake Sakumo’s ideals conflicted with Sarutobi Hiruzen’s pragmatic leadership and that Sakumo would likely be pushed out of Konoha’s inner circle.

Hatake Sakumo sent Mai and Kakashi after Hasegawa while the other Konoha shinobi held off Hidden Cloud. With Pakkun tracking their target, the two caught up and prepared to attack him together.

• Hatake Sakumo ordered Mai and Kakashi to pursue Hasegawa while the Konoha forces fought to hold back Hidden Cloud.
• A Hidden Cloud Jonin tried to stop Mai and Kakashi with a Great Fireball, but Minato used Great Breakthrough to divert it.
• Mai and Kakashi escaped the battlefield and followed Pakkun through the woods to track Hasegawa.
• Pakkun explained that Hasegawa had taken a detour, allowing them to catch up by taking a shorter route.
• Kakashi asked how they would divide their roles, and Mai said they both had to attack Hasegawa with all their strength.

Hasegawa escaped from Hatake Sakumo and prepared to kill Kakashi and Uchiha Mai, who pursued him together. After Hasegawa outmaneuvered Kakashi and then suppressed both boys with Wind Release, the fight left the two injured and struggling to respond.

• Hasegawa assumed Hatake Sakumo had stayed behind to face the Two-Tails Jinchuriki and mocked his choice to protect his comrades.
• Kakashi and Uchiha Mai caught up with Hasegawa, and the three exchanged taunts before fighting.
• Hasegawa used a clone, thrown kunai, and Body Flicker Technique to nearly strike Kakashi, but Uchiha Mai interrupted his attack.
• Kakashi and Uchiha Mai teamed up as the “two-in-one masked ninjas” and fought Hasegawa cautiously.
• Hasegawa combined taijutsu and Wind Release to overwhelm the pair, cutting them with wind blades and mocking their weakness.

Uchiha Mai and Kakashi changed tactics against Hasegawa, accepting injuries to land damaging blows and unsettle him. Mai explained that Hasegawa feared death more because he stood to lose the wealth and comforts he had gained, as their fight continued.

• Hasegawa attacked Mai and Kakashi with Wind Release: Cutting Wind Orb, forcing them to keep defending.
• Mai charged through the wind spheres using a paid-for dance skill, reached Hasegawa, and struck his arms with a flame-coated punch.
• Mai claimed he had adapted to Hasegawa's Wind Release, though Kakashi saw that Mai had taken hits and cauterized his wounds.
• Kakashi joined Mai in a reckless counterattack, and the two repeatedly traded injuries with Hasegawa.
• Hasegawa broke off to berate them for risking their lives, and Mai told him that he feared losing his status, wealth, and pleasures more than they feared death.

Mai and Kakashi fought Hasegawa, who had defected to Kumogakure, and left him brutally crippled. Mai secured him with kunai through the ankles after Kakashi watched her finish the fight.

• Mai used Dark Thrust, but Hasegawa dispersed the flames with Violent Wind Palm as Kakashi attacked with his sword.
• Hasegawa used the Body Flicker Technique to evade Kakashi's slash, but Kakashi stabbed him in the kidney while taking two shuriken to the chest.
• Hasegawa lashed out at Kakashi, but Mai struck him with a flying knee and interrupted his attack.
• Mai used her enhanced Boom Axe to break Hasegawa's spine, then dislocated his arms and broke all ten fingers.
• Mai drove kunai through Hasegawa's ankles to prevent the wounded Jonin from escaping.

Uchiha Mai and Kakashi captured Hasegawa alive and returned to find Hatake Sakumo fighting the Two-Tails. Sakumo defeated Yugito Nii with Dōjigiri Yasutsuna, while Mai reflected on Kakashi’s connection to the Hatake Sword Technique.

• Hasegawa complained that Mai had not used Sealing Jutsu, and Mai bound him tightly after disabling him.
• Mai hung Hasegawa from Kakashi’s back, and the two returned toward the battlefield.
• They found Hatake Sakumo battling the Two-Tails, and Sakumo noticed they had captured Hasegawa but kept fighting.
• Sakumo enlarged his lightning chakra blade and struck the Two-Tails with Dōjigiri Yasutsuna, forcing Yugito Nii out of her transformed state.
• Kakashi explained that Dōjigiri Yasutsuna was one of the Hatake Sword Technique’s ultimate moves, and Mai considered why Kakashi had later abandoned White Fang.

Uchiha Mai and Kakashi completed their mission by capturing Hasegawa alive while Hatake Sakumo and Yugito Nii agreed to end the battle. Back in Konoha, Mai checked his Style Points and found he had enough for a pull from the One-and-a-Half-Star Prize Pool.

• Hatake Sakumo and Yugito Nii agreed to stop fighting, and Hidden Cloud withdrew from the battlefield.
• Uchiha Mai and Kakashi revealed themselves with the captured Hasegawa, surprising Hatake Sakumo and Minato by bringing him back alive.
• Hatake Sakumo ordered the squad to collect their fallen comrades and return to Konoha, where the mission team disbanded after reporting in.
• Uchiha Mai returned home and discovered that his Style Points had risen to 1,067, enough to try the One-and-a-Half-Star Prize Pool.

Uchiha Mai risked his life to fuse Litwick’s ember into his heart, gaining a faint blue flame that could absorb life energy. After recovering at Konoha Hospital, he found Shisui waiting outside his home with another message from the clan head.

• Uchiha Mai used his Style Points to draw Litwick’s Ember and learned that using it required placing it inside his heart.
• Uchiha Mai cut open his chest and right atrium, placed the ember inside, and waited as it fused with his body.
• The ember absorbed roughly half of Uchiha Mai’s blood before his heart healed and resumed pumping normally.
• Uchiha Mai formed a ball of faint blue flame from his chakra and went to Konoha Hospital for treatment.
• As Uchiha Mai returned home at sunset, Shisui told him that the clan head had sent him to find him again.

Uchiha Mai learned that Namikaze Minato had become acting Anbu Minister after Hatake Sakumo resigned, and Fugaku encouraged him to build a career in the Anbu. Fugaku also told Mai that the Hokage wanted to see him the next day, possibly to promote him to Chunin or assign him another mission.

• Uchiha Mai told Fugaku how his team had joined the Anbu while assisting Hatake Sakumo on a mission.
• Fugaku praised Mai's Anbu position and promised the clan's support for his career.
• Fugaku explained that Hatake Sakumo had resigned as Anbu Minister after losing a vote among the Hokage, the Anbu, the Military Police Force, and the three advisors.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen appointed Namikaze Minato acting Anbu Minister after Shimura Danzō proposed choosing a replacement.
• Fugaku told Mai that the Hokage had asked him to send Mai to the Hokage Office the next day.

Sarutobi Hiruzen rewarded Uchiha Mai for his role in the Hasegawa pursuit operation and let him choose a technique from the Anbu Secret Technique Scroll. Mai chose Super Beast Imitating Drawing, and the chapter ended with Hiruzen asking whether he could draw.

• Uchiha Mai visited Sarutobi Hiruzen at the Hokage Office after Fugaku told him to go.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen praised Mai and Kakashi for their courage during the Hasegawa pursuit operation and gave Mai a 600,000-yen bonus.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen showed Mai the Anbu Secret Technique Scroll and allowed him to choose one technique to learn.
• Uchiha Mai chose Super Beast Imitating Drawing because it could help with reconnaissance, transport, and sealing.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen said he would send Mai the learning scroll, then asked whether Mai could draw.

Sarutobi Hiruzen asked Uchiha Mai to delay his Chunin promotion and represent Konoha at a multi-village exam in Sunagakure. Mai agreed, then learned Kirigakure planned to send several formidable young ninjas, leaving him apprehensive about the competition.

• Uchiha Mai agreed to learn Super Beast Imitating Drawing after Sarutobi Hiruzen praised his artistic talent.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen explained that Mai had earned a Chunin promotion but asked him to postpone it for several months.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen told Mai that Konoha, Sunagakure, and Kirigakure would compete in a Chunin exam hosted by Sunagakure four months later.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen revealed that he and Minato had chosen Mai to compete instead of Kakashi, who had already been promoted to Chunin.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen described Kirigakure's powerful young contestants, including members of the Mizunashi and Kaguya clans, Kisame, and Mei Terumi, and Mai grew worried about the exam.

Uchiha Mai studied Super Beast Imitating Drawing and used his Sharingan to bring a crudely drawn phoenix to life, but it could barely fly before collapsing. Jiraiya appeared, introduced himself with a recording playing his entrance music, and left Uchiha Mai questioning the device.

• Sarutobi Hiruzen gave Uchiha Mai the Super Beast Imitating Drawing scroll, excused him from missions for four months, and said a new teacher would guide his training.
• Uchiha Mai studied the scroll and learned that the technique could use either Yang Release to animate a drawing or Yin Release to give it a soul through conviction.
• After nearly a month of practice, Uchiha Mai used his Sharingan to hypnotize himself and bring a chick-like phoenix drawing to life.
• Uchiha Mai ordered the phoenix to fly, but it managed only a few centimeters before collapsing into ink.
• Jiraiya revealed himself in a tree, introduced himself as Jiraiya the Gallant, and explained that a recorder had played his entrance music.

Uchiha Mai explained his theory for mastering Super Beast Imitating Drawing and revealed that he planned to make the technique work with prepared drawings in battle. Jiraiya, assigned to guide him and lead Konoha’s Chunin Ninja Exams team, was left impressed by Mai’s ambition and apparent genius.

• Uchiha Mai bought two pink recorders from Jiraiya, who had acquired a stock of them in the Land of Snow.
• Jiraiya revealed that he was the teacher Minato had assigned to guide Uchiha Mai and the chief commander for Konoha’s Chunin Ninja Exams team traveling to the Land of Wind in three months.
• Uchiha Mai argued with Jiraiya over whether his failed drawing was a phoenix or a chicken, then gave Jiraiya an elaborate explanation of his gender and clothing preferences.
• Uchiha Mai explained that Super Beast Imitating Drawing relied on conviction and that crude drawings made it hard to manifest strong animals.
• Uchiha Mai said he could use his Sharingan to copy a skilled artist’s drawing process, but he had trained with crude drawings to strengthen his conviction and make prepared artwork viable in combat.
• Jiraiya was stunned by Uchiha Mai’s reasoning and concluded that the boy was a true genius who needed little guidance.