Chapter Summaries

Hashirama Senju urged Tobirama Senju to adopt Akatsuki Ninja Village’s costly welfare policies, but Tobirama resisted because Konoha could not afford them. After Hashirama criticized Tobirama’s leadership and praised Uchiha Makoto, Tobirama finally erupted and threatened to stop managing Konoha.

• Hashirama Senju gave Tobirama Senju his notebook of policies and observations from Akatsuki Ninja Village, including support for orphans, injured ninjas, and ninja beasts.
• Tobirama Senju recognized the value of the policies but concluded Konoha lacked the money to implement them and tried to dismiss Hashirama with polite reassurances.
• Hashirama Senju insisted the reforms were urgent, invoked Uchiha Makoto’s advice, and refused to leave Tobirama’s office.
• Hashirama Senju accused Tobirama Senju of being too timid to become the Second and contrasted Konoha unfavorably with Akatsuki Ninja Village.
• Tobirama Senju angrily argued that Hashirama had left him to manage Konoha, called the notebook’s proposals unaffordable, and declared he would wash his hands of the village’s affairs.

Tobirama Senju berated Hashirama Senju for praising Uchiha Makoto and insisted Konoha could not afford the welfare policy Hashirama wanted. Hashirama gave five million ryō to support Konoha’s orphanage, but when he revealed Makoto had paid him for a mission, Tobirama demanded to know what he had agreed to.

• Tobirama Senju erupted at Hashirama Senju for favoring Uchiha Makoto and doubting Tobirama’s prospects of becoming Hokage.
• Tobirama Senju explained that Konoha was in debt and could not afford the welfare safety net Hashirama Senju wanted to establish.
• Hashirama Senju agreed to postpone the policy, and Tobirama Senju promised to create one when Konoha became prosperous.
• Hashirama Senju gave Tobirama Senju a sealing scroll containing five million ryō for the Konoha Orphanage.
• Hashirama Senju revealed Uchiha Makoto had paid him the money for a mission, prompting Tobirama Senju to demand a full explanation.

Tobirama Senju learned that Hashirama Senju had accepted five million ryō from Uchiha Makoto to use Wood Style for the Akatsuki Ninja Village’s agricultural experiments, and he realized Konoha had missed out on enormous profits. After discovering Hashirama’s agreement barred him from helping anyone else with agriculture, Tobirama suspected Makoto had anticipated his objections and fainted from exhaustion and shock.

• Hashirama Senju explained that Uchiha Makoto had paid him five million ryō to help the Akatsuki Ninja Village with plant-breeding experiments.
• Tobirama Senju erupted in anger over the profits Konoha had missed, while Hashirama Senju defended Makoto and reminded Tobirama that his own warnings had prevented cooperation.
• Tobirama Senju admitted his mistake and proposed that Konoha use Hashirama’s Wood Style to cultivate its own high-yield crops.
• Hashirama Senju showed Tobirama Senju a long-term agreement restricting his agricultural use of Wood Style to cooperation with the Akatsuki Ninja Village.
• Hashirama Senju suggested that Uchiha Makoto had anticipated Tobirama’s regret, and Tobirama Senju fainted after days of exhaustion and emotional turmoil.

Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō visited the unconscious Tobirama Senju, while Mito Uzumaki concealed that Uchiha Makoto had angered him into fainting. Tobirama woke up and denied the truth, as Uchiha Makoto learned of the collapse and expected Konoha to approach him for cooperation.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō brought fruit baskets to visit Tobirama Senju and met Kagami Uchiha and other visitors who had been kept from seeing him.
• Mito Uzumaki told Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō that Tobirama had collapsed from exhaustion, hiding that Uchiha Makoto had angered him unconscious.
• Tobirama Senju woke up, remembered being outplayed by Uchiha Makoto, and insisted that he had fainted from overwork.
• Hashirama Senju and Mito Uzumaki urged Tobirama to trust Uchiha Makoto, but Tobirama privately predicted that Uchiha Makoto would bring disaster to Konoha and the Ninja World.
• Uchiha Makoto read intelligence about Tobirama’s collapse and decided to wait for Konoha to come to him to renew cooperation.

Tobirama Senju tried to persuade Hashirama Senju to break his agreement with Uchiha Makoto and reclaim Konoha’s share of the agricultural profits, but Hashirama resisted because it would damage Konoha’s reputation. Uchiha Madara arrived to visit Tobirama and began discussing Konoha’s financial problems, leaving Tobirama afraid Hashirama would expose his recent ordeal.

• Tobirama Senju argued that Konoha deserved more revenue because Hashirama Senju’s Wood Style enabled Akatsuki Ninja Village’s agricultural success.
• Hashirama Senju refused to void the mission contract, saying that breaking it for profit would ruin Konoha’s reputation.
• Tobirama Senju appealed to Hashirama Senju’s concern for Konoha’s orphans and disabled ninjas, making him reconsider the financial arrangement.
• Uchiha Madara arrived with flowers and questioned whether Tobirama Senju had truly collapsed from exhaustion after their return from Akatsuki Ninja Village.
• Uchiha Madara criticized Konoha’s lagging progress, and Hashirama Senju began explaining its finances and the possibility of breaking the agreement before Tobirama Senju could stop him.

Hashirama Senju revealed that Tobirama Senju wanted to tear up Konoha’s cooperation agreement with Akatsuki Ninja Village, prompting Uchiha Madara to condemn them for betraying Uchiha Makoto. Mito Uzumaki proposed that Tobirama go to Akatsuki Ninja Village to apologize and renegotiate, and Tobirama reluctantly agreed.

• Hashirama Senju told Uchiha Madara that Tobirama Senju was considering tearing up the agreement with Akatsuki Ninja Village over the deal’s enormous profits.
• Uchiha Madara criticized Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju for breaking faith with Uchiha Makoto, while Hashirama defended his younger brother.
• Mito Uzumaki stopped the argument and suggested that Tobirama personally apologize to Uchiha Makoto and try to restore the cooperation.
• Hashirama Senju supported Mito Uzumaki’s proposal, and Uchiha Madara silently agreed.
• Tobirama Senju feared Uchiha Makoto’s reaction but gritted his teeth and agreed to go to Akatsuki Ninja Village.

Tobirama Senju prepared to travel to Akatsuki Ninja Village alone after Uchiha Madara stopped Hashirama Senju from accompanying him. On his way to the Hokage's Office, Tobirama noticed Akatsuki Ninja Village's growing influence in Konoha and suspected Uchiha Makoto had drawn him into another trap; after arranging Konoha's work, he accepted that he had to face Makoto.

• Tobirama Senju planned to bring Hashirama Senju with him to Akatsuki Ninja Village, but Uchiha Madara persuaded Hashirama to stay behind and told him that Tobirama should go alone.
• Tobirama Senju learned he would travel without Hashirama and cursed Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Makoto, then spent several days recuperating before heading to the Hokage's Office.
• As Tobirama Senju walked through Konoha, he saw Akatsuki Ninja Village's banknotes, businesses, and investors gaining influence, with the Uchiha-controlled Security Department favoring shops connected to them.
• Tobirama Senju worried that Akatsuki Ninja Village's economic influence had put Konoha in a dangerous position, but he set the concern aside and reviewed reports at the Hokage's Office.
• Tobirama Senju assigned how Konoha's missions should proceed during his absence and prepared to leave for Akatsuki Ninja Village to face Uchiha Makoto alone.

Tobirama Senju went to Akatsuki Ninja Village to apologize and renegotiate Konoha’s cooperation, but Uchiha Makoto made him wait and endure a series of humiliations before refusing to negotiate. The chapter ended with Tobirama losing his temper after realizing Makoto had never intended to discuss the contract.

• Tobirama Senju left Konoha alone and rehearsed how he would approach Uchiha Makoto.
• Uchiha Makoto ordered Tobirama to wait in a crowded reception room, where Tobirama remained for hours after the other visitors left.
• Tobirama entered Makoto’s office and invoked Hashirama Senju while proposing to renegotiate Konoha and Akatsuki Ninja Village’s cooperation.
• Makoto demanded that Tobirama address him as Lord Shadow, admit fault, and endure a series of deliberately irritating tests.
• After Makoto finished berating Tobirama, he rejected the negotiations and told Tobirama to return to Konoha.
• Tobirama finally lost his composure and shouted that he would kill Makoto.

Tobirama Senju negotiated with Uchiha Makoto to restore Konoha’s cooperation with Akatsuki Ninja Village, enduring Makoto’s taunts and bargaining over the profit split. He agreed to a phased deal, then grew suspicious of the lengthy contract Makoto presented.

• Tobirama Senju lost his temper at Uchiha Makoto’s teasing but stayed to negotiate because Konoha needed the cooperation.
• Uchiha Makoto claimed Akatsuki Ninja Village had suffered emotional damages and demanded ninety percent of the profits, while Tobirama Senju rejected the proposal.
• Tobirama Senju offered a thirty percent share for Konoha, and Uchiha Makoto agreed to raise Konoha’s share from ten percent in the first year to twenty percent in the second and thirty percent in the third.
• Uchiha Makoto prepared a detailed contract with a clause tying Konoha’s share to Hashirama Senju’s continued existence, then urged Tobirama Senju to sign it.
• Tobirama Senju examined the lengthy contract and felt uneasy, but wondered whether Makoto’s earlier taunts had made him overly suspicious.

Tobirama Senju signed an agricultural cooperation contract with Uchiha Makoto, then left after their argument over Wood Style and the villages’ respective advantages. Months later, Makoto began the Akatsuki Ninja Village’s Chakra energy plan with Two-Tails Matatabi, who willingly agreed to provide Chakra as the sealing experiment began.

• Tobirama Senju signed the contract with Uchiha Makoto, then argued with him over Konoha’s system, the Senju Clan, and Wood Style before storming off.
• Uchiha Makoto spent the following months working, spending time with Tsubaki Uzumaki, and growing close to Two-Tails Matatabi.
• Shinji Uzumaki told Uchiha Makoto that the Large-Scale Nested Sealing Technique was ready for testing, and Makoto decided to start his Chakra energy plan.
• Uchiha Makoto bought Two-Tails Matatabi a box of catnip and persuaded it to provide Chakra to help the Akatsuki Ninja Village.
• Uchiha Makoto brought Two-Tails Matatabi to the outskirts laboratory, where Shinji Uzumaki and the Uzumaki Clan activated the sealing array.
• Two-Tails Matatabi stepped toward the Chakra container and confidently agreed to fill it.

Uchiha Makoto and Shinji Uzumaki tricked Two-Tails Matatabi into supplying chakra to a device that could not stop until its storage container was full. As Matatabi neared collapse, Makoto hid behind his role as Light Shadow, leaving their relationship only slightly strained.

• Uchiha Makoto learned from Shinji Uzumaki that the Chakra Extraction Device still had a forced-extraction function, then asked Shinji to take responsibility for it.
• Uchiha Makoto released Two-Tails Matatabi from Hashirama Senju's sealing and started the extraction while Shinji Uzumaki concealed how the device worked.
• Two-Tails Matatabi willingly supplied chakra until the wall's count climbed, and Uchiha Makoto kept it going with praise and comparisons to Nine-Tails.
• Two-Tails Matatabi panicked at seventy-eight and asked Uchiha Makoto to stop, but Shinji Uzumaki said the device would run until the container was full.
• Uchiha Makoto and Shinji Uzumaki pretended they could not stop the extraction, and Makoto promised Matatabi ten boxes of catnip to keep it going.
• At ninety-three, Two-Tails Matatabi asked whether they could stop doing this in the future, but Uchiha Makoto claimed not to remember and said he was Light Shadow.

Uchiha Makoto completed the first chakra extraction from Two-Tails Matatabi, then persuaded the weakened tailed beast to cooperate again by promising gentler extractions and catnip. At dinner with Tsubaki Uzumaki and Shinji Uzumaki, he discussed the Uzumaki Clan’s business prospects and dismissively addressed rumors pitting the Uchiha Clan against the Senju Clan; in Konoha, those rumors fueled a confrontation over Tobirama Senju using the Hokage’s Office.

• Uchiha Makoto extracted a large amount of chakra from Two-Tails Matatabi, and Shinji Uzumaki reinforced the tea urn’s seal after Matatabi passed out.
• Uchiha Makoto left the laboratory with the Uzumaki clansmen, then returned home with Shinji Uzumaki for a farewell dinner with pregnant Tsubaki Uzumaki.
• Uchiha Makoto frightened Matatabi with Konoha’s plans to seal tailed beasts inside human hosts, then won its cooperation by promising a smaller chakra container and a room full of catnip.
• Shinji Uzumaki discussed Akatsuki Ninja Village’s development with Uchiha Makoto, who suggested the Uzumaki Clan consider investing in a shipyard.
• Shinji Uzumaki raised rumors praising the Uchiha Clan while belittling the Senju Clan, and Uchiha Makoto dismissed them, expecting his son’s future marriage alliance with Hashirama Senju’s granddaughter to quiet the dispute.
• In Konoha, the Uchiha Clan challenged Tobirama Senju’s right to work in the Hokage’s Office, and Tobirama refused to move out.

Tobirama Senju proposed sweeping reforms for Konoha that would cut ninja benefits to fund commercial development, but the clans feared the costs and resented Konoha’s decline beside Akatsuki Ninja Village. Setsuna Uchiha challenged Tobirama’s authority in a senior leaders’ meeting and, backed by a Land of Fire Elder, called for the Uchiha Clan to take his place.

• Tobirama Senju proposed diverting ninja-training funds into commercial development and cutting bonuses and salaries to build Konoha’s capital.
• Konoha’s clans worried that reduced benefits would worsen their lives as they compared their village with the prosperous Akatsuki Ninja Village.
• Setsuna Uchiha challenged Tobirama Senju for occupying the Hokage’s Office and giving orders without being Hokage.
• Tobirama accused Setsuna of colluding with outsiders and insisted that Hashirama Senju had approved his authority.
• Setsuna denounced Tobirama’s leadership, praised Makoto Uchiha’s achievements in Akatsuki Ninja Village, and demanded that the Uchiha Clan take over Konoha’s leadership.

Setsuna Uchiha’s power play weakened Tobirama Senju’s standing and complicated his reforms, so Tobirama decided to seek Hashirama Senju’s support. Meanwhile, Setsuna reported Konoha’s internal affairs to the Land of Fire Elder, who saw the reforms as a threat but believed opposition could still stop them.

• Setsuna Uchiha and Tobirama Senju’s factions clashed at the meeting, and neither side gained a decisive advantage.
• Tobirama Senju weighed the risks of continuing or abandoning his reforms, rejected asking Uchiha Makoto for help, and decided to seek Hashirama Senju’s backing.
• Setsuna Uchiha returned to the Uchiha compound, where the clan elders praised his performance and began a meeting with the Land of Fire Elder.
• Setsuna Uchiha recounted the meeting and Tobirama Senju’s reform plans to the Land of Fire Elder.
• The Land of Fire Elder worried that Konoha might follow the Akatsuki Ninja Village’s example, but relaxed when he learned that opposition to Tobirama Senju’s reforms was widespread.

Setsuna Uchiha and the Uchiha Clan Elders agreed to oppose Tobirama Senju’s reforms, while the Land of Fire Elder manipulated them into seeking ways to undermine Tobirama’s authority. Setsuna proposed bringing exchange students back from the Akatsuki Ninja Village to praise Uchiha Makoto and the Uchiha Clan, especially through members of the Senju Clan.

• The Land of Fire Elder fueled the Uchiha Clan Elders’ opposition to Tobirama Senju becoming the Second Hokage and implementing reforms.
• Setsuna Uchiha declared that the Uchiha Clan should oppose whatever Tobirama supported and support whatever he opposed, and the elders praised his plan.
• The Land of Fire Elder advised the Uchiha to take initiative in reducing Tobirama Senju’s prestige and authority in Konoha.
• The Uchiha Clan Elders discussed using Uchiha Makoto and the Akatsuki Ninja Village to demonstrate the Uchiha Clan’s success to other Konoha clans.
• Setsuna Uchiha proposed bringing back Konoha’s exchange students from the Akatsuki Ninja Village so they could praise the village and the Uchiha Clan, especially through Senju Clan members.

Uchiha Makoto received a letter describing Tobirama Senju’s troubled reforms in Konoha and the Uchiha Clan’s opposition to them. He suspected someone was secretly guiding the clan and considered how its plans and Konoha’s political divisions would affect Tobirama.

• Uchiha Makoto fished by the river with Two-Tails Matatabi until an Anbu ninja delivered a letter from the Uchiha Clan.
• Uchiha Makoto learned that Tobirama Senju had introduced reforms modeled on the Akatsuki Ninja Village, but he doubted the plans could succeed under Konoha’s traditional leadership and strained finances.
• Uchiha Makoto read that Setsuna Uchiha had publicly attacked Tobirama’s reforms, and he suspected an unseen force had prompted the clan’s unusually bold opposition.
• Uchiha Makoto discovered that the Uchiha Clan wanted Konoha’s exchange students to return so it could use their praise of the Akatsuki Ninja Village against Tobirama and bolster its own standing.
• Uchiha Makoto judged that the Uchiha Clan was gaining political ground while Tobirama’s reforms alienated Konoha’s shinobi, and he resented the clan for secretly aligning with someone else.

Uchiha Makoto realized the Uchiha Clan was being stirred against Tobirama Senju and worried that their growing influence would threaten his control of Konoha. He met Tobirama and revealed the clan’s plans, leaving Tobirama furious and convinced that Makoto was behind his troubles.

• Uchiha Makoto suspected the Land of Fire’s leaders had provoked the Uchiha Clan, whose actions risked weakening Tobirama Senju and slipping beyond Makoto’s control.
• Uchiha Makoto left Akatsuki Ninja Village disguised as a traveling merchant, while Tobirama Senju brooded in the Hokage’s Office over the opposition to his reform proposal.
• An Anbu shinobi told Tobirama Senju that Uchiha Makoto wanted to meet, and Tobirama traveled overnight to their usual teahouse.
• Uchiha Makoto invited Tobirama Senju to breakfast and told him the Uchiha Clan planned to bring students back from Akatsuki Ninja Village to promote friendship between the villages.
• Uchiha Makoto added that the Uchiha Clan intended to highlight the Senju heirs’ attitudes, and Tobirama Senju erupted in anger and blamed Makoto for Konoha’s turmoil.

Uchiha Makoto explained how Tobirama Senju could turn the Uchiha Clan’s planned student recall into support for Konoha reform, then revealed that the Feudal Lord of the Land of Fire was likely behind the political attack. The chapter left Tobirama considering how to counter the threat and protect the alliance between Konoha and Akatsuki Ninja Village.

• Uchiha Makoto agreed to the Uchiha Clan’s request for a student vacation and told Tobirama Senju he intended to help him.
• Uchiha Makoto urged Tobirama Senju to use the returning students’ changed views to promote reform in Konoha, while Akatsuki Ninja Village supported him in public opinion.
• Tobirama Senju questioned Uchiha Makoto’s motives, but Uchiha Makoto cited past conflicts to show that Tobirama had often caused his own troubles.
• Uchiha Makoto said the Uchiha Clan’s political attack had nothing to do with him and suggested the Feudal Lord of the Land of Fire was responsible.
• Uchiha Makoto explained that the Feudal Lord wanted to weaken the ninja by fueling conflict between the Uchiha Clan and the Senju Clan and breaking the alliance between Konoha and Akatsuki Ninja Village.
• Tobirama Senju understood the danger and turned his attention to how they could respond.

Makoto explained that he wanted Tobirama Senju to keep the Uchiha Clan from taking control of Konoha, and revealed that he had deliberately held back from forcing Tobirama out of office. Tobirama remained wary of Makoto’s motives but began to recognize how much Makoto had restrained his attacks.

• Makoto decided Tobirama Senju should provoke the Land of Fire’s higher-ups so the Uchiha Clan would face hardship and turn away from them.
• Tobirama Senju weighed assassinating senior officials but feared the Uchiha Clan would frame him and cost him the Hokage’s office.
• Tobirama Senju asked Makoto why he was helping him, since a stronger Uchiha Clan seemed to serve Makoto’s interests.
• Makoto said Tobirama’s position in Konoha mattered because Akatsuki Ninja Village needed the Uchiha Clan to remain its mole and Tobirama to keep suppressing them.
• Makoto argued he could have driven Tobirama from office and installed an Uchiha Hokage, but had repeatedly stopped short of doing so.
• Tobirama Senju reconsidered their past confrontations and realized Makoto had never pushed him into a corner.

Uchiha Makoto revealed that he had deliberately kept the Uchiha Clan dependent on the Akatsuki Ninja Village by holding Tobirama Senju back from defeating them. Cornered by Konoha’s political problems, Tobirama accepted Makoto’s demands and agreed to help weaken the ties between the Uchiha Clan and the Land of Fire.

• Uchiha Makoto told Tobirama Senju that he had kept the Uchiha Clan weak so it would rely on the Akatsuki Ninja Village and serve as its influence in Konoha.
• Tobirama Senju angrily protested that Makoto had treated him as a tool, while Makoto claimed he had saved Tobirama’s position by withholding support from the Uchiha Clan.
• Makoto argued that Tobirama needed the Akatsuki Ninja Village more than it needed him, and Tobirama reluctantly agreed to follow Makoto’s orders.
• Makoto ordered Tobirama to identify the people backing the Uchiha Clan and kill some Land of Fire officials to sever their ties.
• Makoto promised Akatsuki Ninja Village support with the fallout, and the two worked out a rough plan while Tobirama resolved to secure benefits for Konoha.