Chapter Summaries

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.

At Sarutobi Hiruzen and Biwako’s anniversary banquet, Hiruzen praised the guests’ wartime service and announced he planned to choose a successor soon. Orochimaru and Uchiha Mai both put themselves forward for Fourth Hokage, leaving the gathering poised for a contest over the nomination.

• Uchiha Mai and the other guests presented gifts at Sarutobi Hiruzen and Biwako’s anniversary banquet, and Minato announced that he and Kushina would marry the following month.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen toasted Hatake Sakumo, Jiraiya, Orochimaru, Tsunade, and Uchiha Mai for their contributions to Konoha before saying he intended to select candidates for the next Hokage.
• Hatake Sakumo, Tsunade, and Jiraiya each declined to seek the Hokage position, while Orochimaru said he wanted to compete for it.
• Uchiha Mai declared that he would run for Fourth Hokage, citing support from Jonin, and Sarutobi Hiruzen worried that he could not be excluded from the election.
• Tsunade endorsed Uchiha Mai’s candidacy, and Orochimaru challenged the value of Mai’s popularity as a concert performer.

At a dinner hosted by Sarutobi Hiruzen, Uchiha Mai and Orochimaru clashed over the Fourth Hokage election, while Hiruzen and Jiraiya persuaded Minato to join the race. The candidates agreed to compete, and Hiruzen announced that a village vote would be held in two months before the leading candidate was presented to the daimyo.

• Orochimaru challenged Uchiha Mai’s candidacy, and Mai argued that the election should focus on candidates’ strength, ability, potential, and achievements.
• Uchiha Mai asked Sarutobi Hiruzen whether he supported him, and Hiruzen said he would accept the result if Mai won through the rules.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen encouraged Minato to run, and Jiraiya and Uchiha Mai also urged him not to give up his chance.
• Minato agreed to run alongside Orochimaru and Uchiha Mai, despite his concern that competing might harm their relationships.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen announced that voting would take place in two months, with the leading candidate then petitioning the daimyo for approval.

Uchiha Mai, Orochimaru, and Namikaze Minato launched campaigns for Fourth Hokage, while Mai’s team worked to win over Konoha’s major clans. Mai proposed merging Konoha and Kirigakure and challenging the daimyos’ authority, then revealed that the Senju and Uchiha descended from the Sage of Six Paths.

• Sarutobi Hiruzen announced the Fourth Hokage election, and Orochimaru, Namikaze Minato, and Uchiha Mai declared their candidacies.
• Uchiha Mai and Orochimaru spent heavily on campaign banners and events, while Jiraiya offered to fund Namikaze Minato’s campaign.
• Uchiha Mai told Fugaku and Tsunade to approach Konoha’s clans and win their votes by promising them a stronger future.
• Uchiha Mai presented the slogans “One Ninja World, One Dream” and “Make Konoha Great Again,” proposing to integrate Konoha and Kirigakure.
• Uchiha Mai said ninja should reclaim authority from the daimyos, then revealed that the Senju and Uchiha were descendants of the Sage of Six Paths.

Fugaku and Tsunade helped Uchiha Mai build support for his Hokage campaign, while Orochimaru joined forces with Shimura Danzō and Sarutobi Hiruzen rallied behind Minato. A week before the election, Sarutobi Hiruzen tried to persuade Uchiha Mai to withdraw, but Mai demanded a formal role as Hokage candidate and advisor while serving as Mizukage, leaving Sarutobi Hiruzen weighing the costly proposal.

• Fugaku and Tsunade canvassed Konoha's clans for Uchiha Mai, while Orochimaru failed to win Sarutobi Hiruzen's endorsement and then teamed up with Shimura Danzō.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen mobilized the Hokage Faction for Minato, whose early polling failed to pull ahead of Uchiha Mai.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen invited Uchiha Mai to fish and proposed compensating him if he withdrew from the election, but Mai refused to abandon his campaign.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen offered to support Uchiha Mai for Hokage in ten years if Minato took office first, but Mai countered by demanding to become Hokage candidate and advisor while also serving as Kirigakure's Mizukage.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen questioned Mai's proposed titles and authority, while Mai insisted on the terms and left him considering whether to accept.

Sarutobi Hiruzen held the final vote for Fourth Hokage, with Uchiha Mai and Namikaze Minato leading a close race against Orochimaru. As Hiruzen secretly shifted votes toward Minato, Mai stayed calm and cast his own high-value ballot for Minato, leaving Minato overwhelmed with guilt and admiration.

• Uchiha Mai left Sarutobi Hiruzen after asking him to choose between fairness and making Mai a Hokage candidate, and Hiruzen decided he needed to give him an answer.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen opened the anonymous Hokage election, and Uchiha Mai wrote Namikaze Minato's name on his ballot despite Fugaku's warning.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen counted the ballots while Jiraiya recorded the totals, and Uchiha Mai used Spirit Vision to see that Hiruzen was diverting votes from Mai to Minato.
• Uchiha Mai's true total stood at 147 votes, Namikaze Minato's at 106, and Orochimaru's at 22, though Hiruzen's announced tally brought Minato ahead.
• Namikaze Minato realized Mai had cast his seven-vote ballot for him and told Kushina he felt selfish and ashamed by comparison.

Namikaze Minato won the Fourth Hokage election, while Sarutobi Hiruzen appointed Uchiha Mai Hokage Successor and Advisor. After Minato took office, Mai kept him occupied with meetings and speeches while retaining control over Konoha’s actual policies and their implementation.

• Sarutobi Hiruzen announced that Namikaze Minato had won the Hokage election by two votes over Uchiha Mai, and Minato accepted the position.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen appointed Uchiha Mai Hokage Successor and Hokage Advisor, making him the sole candidate for the future Fifth Hokage.
• Minato and Sarutobi Hiruzen gained the Daimyo’s approval, and Minato was inaugurated as the Fourth Hokage two days later.
• Minato found that Konoha’s established departments and senior advisors left him little room to govern or reform the village.
• Uchiha Mai filled Minato’s schedule with diplomatic meetings, events, and speeches while keeping policy implementation under his own control.

Uchiha Mai prepared to leave Konoha, entrusting Fugaku with the Void Division and explaining how it concealed its operations from the Hokage. After an extended course of rehabilitation with Tsunade, Mai departed for Kirigakure and was crowned its Fifth Mizukage, bringing the village under his command.

• Uchiha Mai asked Fugaku to oversee the Void Division and act as his Naruto advisor in Konoha after he returned to Kirigakure.
• Uchiha Mai taught Fugaku the Void Division’s methods, including how it withheld details from Minato and relied on the Third’s understanding of covert operations.
• Fugaku recorded Mai’s guidance, memorized it with his Sharingan, and destroyed his notes.
• Uchiha Mai gave Tsunade several days of rehabilitation treatment before leaving Konoha.
• Uchiha Mai was formally crowned the Fifth Mizukage, and Kirigakure broke free of Konoha’s control.

The Third Raikage sent Prince A and Daisuke to Konoha under cover of peace talks, intending to kidnap Hizashi Hyuga’s young son Neji and bring him to Kumogakure. After signing a thirty-year nonaggression pact with Namikaze Minato, Prince A accepted an invitation to stay in Konoha, leaving the kidnapping plan poised to unfold.

• The Third Raikage told Prince A to take Daisuke to Konoha and help him kidnap Neji Hyuga, whose Byakugan bloodline they hoped to establish in Kumogakure.
• Prince A agreed to create an opening for Daisuke, cover his escape, and conceal Kumogakure’s involvement.
• Prince A led the Hidden Cloud delegation to Konoha and held friendly talks with Namikaze Minato.
• Prince A proposed a thirty-year nonaggression pact, which he and Namikaze Minato signed.
• Prince A accepted Namikaze Minato’s invitation to stay in Konoha for a few days.

Daisuke kidnapped baby Neji Hyuga from the Hyuga Branch House while Prince A drew Konoha’s guards away, then used a decoy baby and his own death to delay Hizashi Hyuga. Hizashi and Hiashi realized the real Neji had been taken with Prince A and continued pursuing the Kumogakure delegation.

• Prince A led the Kumogakure envoys out of Konoha, drawing away most of the Anbu and Void Division so Daisuke could act.
• Daisuke infiltrated the Hyuga Branch House, kidnapped Neji Hyuga, and escaped Konoha through a flaw in its defenses.
• Hizashi Hyuga pursued Daisuke, mistook a decoy baby for Neji, and realized the real child had likely been handed to Prince A.
• Daisuke held Hizashi back with his life, buying Prince A time before Hizashi set off after the delegation.
• Hiashi Hyuga joined Hizashi, sent the decoy baby back to Konoha, and continued the pursuit with the Hyuga clansmen.

The Hyuga brothers caught up with the Hidden Cloud delegation and demanded to inspect its carriage, believing Neji had been kidnapped. When Prince A attacked them and overwhelmed their Gentle Fist techniques, Namikaze Minato arrived just in time to rescue them with the Flying Thunder God Technique, leaving Neji with the delegation.

• Hizashi Hyuga confirmed that the baby in the Hidden Cloud carriage was Neji, and Hyuga Hiashi led the clan members in pursuit.
• Hyuga Hiashi asked Prince A to let them inspect the carriage, but Prince A refused and threatened war.
• Hyuga Hiashi ordered the Hyuuga to attack, and Hizashi Hyuga charged toward the carriage while Prince A fought the brothers.
• Prince A endured the brothers' Gentle Fist techniques and prepared to strike them down with Lightning Style Nintaijutsu.
• Namikaze Minato used the Flying Thunder God Technique to whisk Hyuga Hiashi and Hizashi Hyuga away from Prince A's attack.