Chapter Summaries

Neji exposed a false witness who tried to frame him for killing three Patrol Ninjas, and Aoyama Hideomi ordered the man interrogated. Neji returned to Yakushi Nonō, whose identity remained at risk despite the failed attempt to discredit him.

• Aoyama Hideomi questioned Neji about the attack on Tianyun Mountain and the deaths at Ju Restaurant, then brought in a vendor who claimed to have witnessed Neji flee after killing three Patrol Ninjas.
• Neji demonstrated that the vendor could not have seen his face from the location of his cart, exposing the witness's account as a frame-up.
• Aoyama Hideomi struck the vendor and ordered the Patrol Team to take him away for interrogation, while Neji warned that enemy-country ninjas were hiding in Kumogakure.
• Neji returned to Ju Restaurant and found Yakushi Nonō collapsed; he carried her to a private room and warned that she could lose her life if her identity was exposed.

Neji examined Nonō’s Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal but could not safely remove it yet, and he warned her that her life belonged to him after he saved her. He reported Root’s infiltration of Kumogakure to the Fourth Raikage, and the leaders planned to draw the hidden Root ninjas out.

• Nonō reflected on Danzo’s betrayal and told Neji that the seal prevented Root ninjas from betraying him.
• Neji examined Nonō’s tongue with the Byakugan and said the seal could be removed, but admitted he could not do it safely yet.
• Neji told Nonō to remain at the restaurant, assured her Root would not target her again before dealing with him, and claimed her life as his own.
• Neji went to the Raikage Building and told the Fourth Raikage that at least a dozen Root ninjas had infiltrated Kumogakure through a high-ranking mole.
• Neji presented the cloaked attacker’s severed arm and identified the man as likely belonging to the Nara Clan.
• Dodai warned that Root would strike again unless Danzo ordered a retreat, and Neji suggested drawing the infiltrators out.

Neji prepared to lure Root into another attempt while seeking a way to remove Nonō’s Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal. After receiving an Iron Armor Sealing scroll from the Fourth Raikage, he gave it to Kana to study and became physically familiar with her.

• Neji planned to leave the village to draw out Root, and the Fourth Raikage arranged for Yugito to accompany him inside the Amber Purifying Pot.
• Dodai warned Neji that Nonō was a dangerous spy who might still be loyal to Danzo, but Neji remained set on recruiting her.
• The Fourth Raikage gave Neji an Iron Armor Sealing scroll that could help him learn to remove Nonō’s seal.
• Neji visited Kana and her mother, gave Kana the scroll to copy and study, and asked her to call him by his name.
• Neji touched Kana’s hair, cheek, and lips, while Kana blushed and did not resist.

Obito attacked Kumogakure to seize its Six Paths Ninja Tools, killed Yozuki Rei, and took the Red Gourd. After learning that Hyuga Neji had the Amber Purifying Pot, Obito decided to go after him despite Black Zetsu’s warning.

• Obito arrived in Kumogakure and confronted Yozuki Rei at a training ground.
• Yozuki Rei attacked Obito with Black Lightning, but Obito’s intangibility and Sharingan genjutsu rendered the attacks useless.
• Obito cut down Yozuki Rei, who died after one last attempt to strike him with his Chakra Blade.
• Obito took the Red Gourd and Yozuki Rei’s body into Kamui Space.
• Black Zetsu told Obito that Hyuga Neji possessed the Amber Purifying Pot, and Obito ordered him to take him to Neji despite warnings about the risks.

Neji investigated Yozuki Rei’s disappearance and discovered that Rei had left him a message in his Chakra Blade. The message revealed Obito’s involvement, giving Neji another reason to kill him.

• Obito vanished after White Zetsu warned him not to jeopardize the Moon Eye Plan, and the Zetsu cleaned up the training ground before patrol ninja arrived.
• A ninja cat summoned Neji to the training ground, where Yugito told him that Yozuki Rei had been attacked and had disappeared.
• C reported finding a destroyed Konohagakure forehead protector, leading Yugito to suspect a Root ninja, but Neji doubted that Root could have defeated Rei and removed his body.
• Neji found Rei’s Chakra Blade lodged in a tree and realized Rei had left it there for him to find.
• Neji infused the blade with chakra, revealing a Black Lightning pattern that identified Obito and gave Neji another reason to kill him.

Yugito and Neji investigated Yozuki Rei’s death, interpreting the code he left behind and a distant bloodstain as clues about the killer’s abilities and possible destination. They concluded the enemy likely used Space-Time Ninjutsu and might be hiding in the Land of Water, while Neji steered suspicion away from Konoha’s Uchiha.

• Yugito sent C and a Patrol Team to search the area, then examined the code Yozuki Rei had carved into his blade with Neji.
• Neji and Yugito interpreted the code as showing that the killer had a Sharingan in his right eye, and Yugito suspected an Uchiha from Root.
• Neji pointed out that the attacker had left a Konoha Forehead Protector to mislead them, arguing that the killer probably was not from Konoha.
• C returned with a dried drop of Yozuki Rei’s blood found nine kilometers southeast of the village, and Neji and Yugito inferred that the killer had used Space-Time Ninjutsu.
• Neji drew a line from the site of Yozuki Rei’s death through the bloodstain toward the Land of Water, then suggested the killer’s hideout was there.

Neji persuaded the Fourth Raikage to leave the search for the mysterious Space-Time Ninja to his team and received Yozuki Rei’s Chakra Blade. He later accepted a mission to deliver Kyuzo’s sword to Mifune, while Root agents prepared to act and Yakushi Kabuto received an assassination assignment.

• Neji convinced the Fourth Raikage to let his team pursue the mysterious Space-Time Ninja, and the Raikage gave him Yozuki Rei’s Chakra Blade to use.
• After searches for Root agents found nothing, the Fourth Raikage rescinded the search order, and Neji accepted a mission to deliver Kyuzo’s tachi to Mifune.
• Aburame Ryoma and Aoyama Hideomi learned that Neji had left for the Land of Iron and decided to risk pursuing their mission.
• Aburame Ryoma assigned Yakushi Kabuto a mission to assassinate the proprietress of the Crimson Leaf Izakaya, promising he could see the matron if he succeeded.
• Yakushi Kabuto read the mission details and burned the scroll.

Neji delivered Kyuzo’s battered Tachi to Mifune, who invited him to stay and recalled their friendship as samurai. Mifune explained how Hanzō defeated him during Amegakure’s invasion and how Kyuzo vanished afterward, leaving Neji to hear that Kyuzo had never returned.

• Neji traveled to the Land of Iron and asked a restaurant owner where Mifune lived, allowing the owner to mistake him for a prospective student.
• Neji found Mifune and delivered Kyuzo’s Tachi, then accepted Mifune’s invitation to stay overnight.
• Mifune asked Neji about Kyuzo, and Neji admitted he knew little about Kyuzo’s past.
• Mifune recalled that he and Kyuzo had trained together as samurai and shared a desire to protect their country.
• Mifune told Neji that Hanzō poisoned the general during Amegakure’s invasion, then defeated him but spared his life with an antidote.
• Mifune said he had believed Kyuzo died in the war and lamented that Kyuzo never returned to visit him.

Neji learned about the conviction behind Mifune’s swordsmanship, then continued toward Kumogakure. That night, Root ninja ambushed him, and Neji and Yugito fought back before Neji was trapped beneath a falling lid.

• Mifune watched Neji practice and explained that his swordsmanship lacked conviction, then demonstrated the spiritual will that strengthened his own blade.
• Neji spoke with Mifune late into the night and gained insight into swordsmanship.
• The next day, Neji left for Kumogakure and camped in a secluded mountain, where he practiced before resting.
• Neji sensed masked figures approaching and summoned Yugito from the Amber Purifying Pot as Root ninja closed in.
• Neji and Yugito fought the Root attackers, but the ninja separated them and trapped Neji beneath the Earth Release: Falling Lid technique.
• Neji activated a deep black Lightning Release Chakra Mode beneath the falling lid.

Neji and Yugito fought Root shinobi, while Aburame Ryoma led an attempt to capture the Two-Tails Jinchuriki. Neji was caught in a coordinated ambush, but prepared a Black Lightning counterattack as the chapter ended.

• Neji shattered the Earth Release: Falling Lid, escaped the formation, and killed a Root shinobi with his speed and Chakra Blade.
• After learning Yugito was the Two-Tails Jinchuriki, Aburame Ryoma split his forces, leading a squad to attack her while Aoyama Hideomi took the rest after Neji.
• Yugito burned Ryoma's insect swarm with Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame, but a Yamanaka shinobi used the Mind Body Switch Technique to restrain her.
• Ryoma attacked the restrained Yugito with his insects as Matatabi watched from her mental space.
• Neji killed more Root shinobi and considered how he could increase his chakra before a Shadow Imitation Technique immobilized him.
• Two Root shinobi lunged at Neji from either side, and he began using Black Lightning: Chidori Stream.

Yakushi Kabuto infiltrated the Crimson Leaf Izakaya to assassinate Yakushi Nonō, but Samui stopped him and revealed that Danzo had manipulated them into killing each other. Nonō and Kabuto reunited in Kumogakure, while Neji killed Aoyama Hideomi after a fierce fight, leaving himself nearly out of chakra.

• Kabuto entered the izakaya at midnight to assassinate Nonō, but Samui intercepted him after an explosive tag alerted them.
• Samui identified Kabuto and explained that Danzo had sent Nonō and Kabuto on missions with the intention of making them kill each other.
• Nonō recalled their life at the orphanage, and Kabuto recognized her as the director he had longed to see.
• Nonō and Kabuto embraced, and she told him that they would live in Kumogakure and that someone would protect them.
• Neji severed Aoyama Hideomi's head with his Black Lightning Chakra Blade, then sat down exhausted and nearly out of chakra.

Neji returned to Kumogakure with Yugito, reported Aoyama Hideomi’s betrayal and captured Aburame Ryoma, then spent a month learning to remove seals through precise chakra control. He removed the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal from Nonō, who thanked him by inviting him to rest upstairs as the izakaya’s ceiling began to creak.

• Neji carried injured Yugito back to Kumogakure, where she was treated at the hospital.
• Neji reported their trip to the Fourth Raikage and presented Aoyama Hideomi’s head and the captured Aburame Ryoma; Dodai took charge of Ryoma.
• A month later, Neji removed the Iron Armor Sealing he had placed on Nonō and began undoing her Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal.
• Neji carefully erased the seal from Nonō’s tongue, and she confirmed she could speak about her Root mission without harm.
• Nonō thanked Neji, locked the izakaya doors and windows, and offered to ease his fatigue upstairs as customers noticed the ceiling creaking.

The Fourth Raikage agreed to send a team to Konoha’s joint Chunin Exams, which he and Dodai viewed as a chance to display Kumogakure’s strength and pursue a covert mission. Neji learned that his team had three assignments, beginning with contacting an agent inside Konoha, and realized the agent had likely helped Toroi abduct Hinata.

• The Fourth Raikage, Dodai, and Mabui discussed Konoha’s proposal after learning that Iwagakure and Sunagakure had agreed to the joint Chunin Exams.
• The Fourth Raikage decided to send Neji, Darui, and Karui to the exams with Yugito as their leader.
• Dodai told Darui and Karui to show the Five Great Nations Kumogakure’s strength, then sent them to prepare for departure.
• The Fourth Raikage and Dodai revealed to Neji and Yugito that their team had three missions during the exams.
• The Fourth Raikage said the first mission was to contact Kumogakure’s agent inside Konoha, and Neji connected the agent to Toroi’s abduction of Hinata.

Neji learned that an ancient Hyuga may have used the Giant Tenseigan to thwart a plan to destroy the Shinobi World, then accepted three Kumogakure missions and raised the possibility of turning the Uchiha against Konoha. The Fourth Raikage hinted that Kumogakure would shelter the Uchiha, while Neji and Yugito left the Raikage Building and Darui and Karui waited for them.

• The Fourth Raikage showed Neji the Yozuki clan history, which recorded Hyuga Tenin entering a space-time passage with a gigantic eye before a meteorite fell.
• Neji suspected that the eye was the Giant Tenseigan, that Hyuga Tenin had stopped the moon's Otsutsuki from destroying the world, and that the Hyuga Caged Bird seal was connected to the eye.
• The Fourth Raikage assigned Neji missions to contact a vanished Konoha mole, steal the Scroll of Seals, and bring Naruto safely to Kumogakure; Neji accepted all three.
• Neji proposed turning the Uchiha against Konoha, then asked whether Kumogakure would take them in; the Fourth Raikage answered in a way that reassured him.
• Neji left the Raikage Building with Yugito and spoke about freedom as the wind swept down Tianyun Mountain.
• That afternoon, Darui and Karui waited for Yugito and Neji and wondered what was keeping them.

Orochimaru sent Guren to deliver a Hashirama-cell Wood Release arm to Danzo and ordered her to kill Uchiha Itachi during the Chunin Exams, while Obito headed for Konoha. Neji’s group arrived there after he offered to teach Darui Black Lightning in exchange for learning about Storm Release, and Mei Terumi noticed the Kumogakure team as a potential rival.

• Yugito met Darui and Karui, and Neji introduced himself as the Chunin Exam captain.
• Orochimaru gave Guren a Wood Release arm for Danzo and tasked her with killing Uchiha Itachi during the exams.
• Genji warned Mei Terumi and Zabuza about the exam, while Obito decided to travel to Konoha.
• Neji offered to teach Darui Black Lightning in exchange for learning about Storm Release, and Darui explained how the two techniques were related.
• Five days later, Neji’s group reached Konoha, where Mei Terumi spotted them and wondered whether Kumogakure had any promising young fighters.

Neji and the other village representatives arrived in Konoha for the Chunin Exams, while Guren began tracking Itachi and investigating Root. Neji went to the betting hall and announced a huge wager on himself, only to admit he had no money.

• Mei Terumi and Zabuza recognized Yugito as the Two-Tails Jinchuriki and Neji as the bearer of a Byakugan, then Mei warned her companions to avoid getting involved with him.
• Neji's group saw Deidara flying toward Konoha on a clay bird before arriving at the village gate with Mei's group and submitting to the Uchiha-led inspection.
• Fugaku urged Itachi to win the Chunin Exams for the Uchiha, while Itachi chose to compete alone and later warned Sasuke that talent led to being used and worn down.
• Inabi gave Sasuke a rusty shuriken, and Itachi sensed a trace of chakra from Guren's white snake before continuing through the village with Sasuke.
• Guren used the white snake to track Itachi, then learned from Gozu that they had found Root's base.
• Neji told Yugito he planned to make money rather than gamble, then tried to bet one hundred million on himself before admitting he had no money.

Neji put the Amber Purifying Pot up as collateral to fund his plans, while Konoha's leaders debated how to deal with him and began arranging a test. At the Chunin Exams, Neji identified Orochimaru's interest in Itachi and then intervened when he found Hinata being bullied.

• Neji deposited the authentic Amber Purifying Pot at a casino as collateral, and Darui and Karui worried about the consequences if he lost it.
• Uchiha Fugaku received a request to meet at the Forest of Death but declined, warning Uchiha Inabi to keep the message secret.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi ordered Hyuga Hiashi to arrange a test for Neji, with Kakashi assisting, after learning about the pot and discussing the threat posed by Kumogakure.
• At the Chunin Exams, Neji recognized Guren's team as Orochimaru's attempt to target Uchiha Itachi and decided Itachi was his own target.
• Neji came across Hinata being bullied, stopped to confront the three boys, and invited them to attack.

Neji demonstrated his strength by defeating two Konoha Anbu who tried to inspect him, then told Hinata to forget the Neji she knew. Back at the inn, he admitted his feelings for her but explained that his feud with Hyuga Hiashi stood between them, before outlining a plan to bring the divided Uchiha clan to Kumogakure’s side.

• Neji struck down a boy who had bullied Hinata, then challenged two Konoha Anbu who demanded a routine inspection.
• Neji used his speed and Lightning Release Stimulation Method to defeat both Anbu, drawing attention from the gathered ninja and Kakashi.
• Hinata called Neji “Brother Neji,” but he told her the Hyuga Neji she knew was dead and that she should forget him.
• At the inn, Neji admitted to Yugito that he liked Hinata but said their families’ blood feud made a relationship impossible.
• Neji warned Yugito that Uchiha Fugaku would not attend their meeting and described the Uchiha clan as divided and led by an indecisive leader.
• Neji proposed helping the Uchiha unite, destroying their remaining hope of reconciliation with Konoha, and guiding them toward Kumogakure.

A masked man killed Uchiha Tekka for his Sharingan, while Neji and Darui took Konoha’s first Chunin Exam under suspicious scrutiny. Elsewhere, Danzo prepared to receive a Wood Release arm, and the masked man confronted him with an offer and another promised gift.

• The masked man attacked Uchiha Tekka, who destroyed his own left eye before dying, and the masked man took his body away.
• Neji, Darui, and Karui entered the first exam, where Darui struggled with the questions and Neji used his Byakugan to copy answers from Konoha’s planted candidate.
• Kakashi and Namiashi Raidō arranged for examiners to watch Neji and Deidara closely and eliminate them if they cheated.
• Danzo learned that a cultivated arm made from First Hokage cells was ready for transplant and ordered the procedure prepared within three days.
• The masked man appeared in Danzo’s office, withstood Danzo’s Wind Release, and remarked on Danzo’s Sharingan before hinting at another gift.

Neji used the Curse Seal of the Mind to help Darui and Karui pass the written exam, while Danzo studied the Masked Man’s Izanagi scroll and resolved to destroy the Uchiha. After the exam, Neji prepared to assassinate Hyuga Hiashi to draw out the mole in Konoha, insisting he had to avenge his father alone.

• Neji controlled Karui and Darui with the Curse Seal of the Mind and copied the exam answers onto their papers.
• The Masked Man left Danzo a Three-Tomoe Sharingan and a scroll explaining Izanagi, and Danzo decided the Uchiha had to be destroyed.
• Examiners caught and disqualified several candidates, including an Amegakure ninja, and Namiashi Raidō announced that the second exam would take place two days later.
• Deidara complained that he had not used his clever cheating methods, and Uchiha Itachi puzzled him by asking why anyone would cheat.
• Yugito told Neji she had found places Hyuga Hiashi often visited, and Neji planned to assassinate him to draw out the Hyuga-hating mole.
• Yugito asked to accompany Neji, but he refused and said avenging his father was a mission he had to complete alone.