Chapter Summaries

Aoba demonstrated his Magnet Release cultivation method and Hydrification Technique to Pakura, then sealed some of Shukaku’s Magnet Release chakra onto her to help her awaken the ability. Two months later, a red winged lizard hatched in the rebuilt experimental base on Forgotten Island.

• Pakura recognized that Aoba’s scroll contained a complete method for cultivating Magnet Release and learned that he had developed it himself.
• Aoba liquefied his hand to demonstrate the Hozuki Clan’s Hydrification Technique, astonishing Pakura.
• Aoba sealed some of Shukaku’s Magnet Release chakra onto Pakura, and she used it to raise Iron Sand and pierce a distant reef with spears.
• Two months later, Aoba, Honoka, and the researchers watched a dark-red egg hatch in the Forgotten Island laboratory.
• A tiny red lizard with wings emerged from the egg, stood up, and puffed a small flame.

Aoba successfully created the first Flying Dragon Lizard and returned to Konohagakure after Minato summoned him. He learned that Kushina was nearing childbirth and agreed to assist, while discovering that the Third Hokage had ordered Anbu to restrict access to her.

• Aoba used Forgotten Island’s technology to hatch a Red Dragon Lizard, which rapidly grew and impressed the Lizard Clan’s old chief when he brought it to Pale Swamp.
• After receiving Minato’s summons, Aoba remembered Kushina’s pregnancy and rushed back to Konohagakure.
• Anbu guards blocked Aoba from approaching Minato’s home under the Third Hokage’s orders, but Kushina came outside and welcomed him.
• Aoba went to the Hokage Office, where Minato explained that Kushina’s seal would weaken during childbirth and asked Aoba to help protect her.
• Aoba agreed to remain on standby, and Minato promised the Anbu would no longer stop him from visiting Kushina.

After returning to Konohagakure, Aoba reported his clash with Kumogakure and became the focus of the Third's suspicions, though Minato defended him. After two days of rest, Aoba took charge of Minato's Shadow Guard and began putting his three subordinates through punishing training.

• Aoba told Minato he had killed Kumogakure's Jinchuriki by accident and that the Two-Tails had escaped, while noting Kumogakure seemed to have a way to control Tailed Beasts.
• Aoba inferred that the Third distrusted him and suspected him of pursuing Tailed Beasts, while Minato told the Third that Aoba was worthy of trust.
• An Anbu reported Aoba's behavior to Sarutobi Hiruzen, who ordered the surveillance of Aoba to continue.
• After two days of rest, Aoba officially became captain of Minato's Shadow Guard; Asuma had instead left to serve as the Daimyo's bodyguard.
• Aoba put Shiranui Genma, Namiashi Raidō, and Tatami Iwashi through a week of intense training, and Genma asked for a day off.

As Kushina's due date approached, Aoba watched Obito use Kamui at the Memorial Stone and realized he needed more protection for the coming birth. He found Shizune in Tanzaku Town and reunited with her, then Tsunade joined them at their meal.

• Kakashi visited Rin and Obito's graves, and Obito appeared through Kamui to throw away Rin's flowers before Aoba witnessed him vanish.
• Aoba realized Kamui made Obito nearly impossible to detect and sent a split body to find Shizune in Tanzaku Town.
• Tsunade transformed and escaped debt collectors, leaving Shizune to face them, but Shizune defeated the men who tried to seize her.
• Aoba reunited with Shizune, heard how Tsunade had gambled away her savings, and took her to a restaurant for a full meal.
• Tsunade burst into the restaurant, took Aoba's chopsticks, and asked the owner for sake.

Aoba brought Tsunade back to Konohagakure to help protect Kushina during childbirth, then prepared for Obito’s expected attack. When Naruto’s birth approached, Obito did not appear, leaving Aoba to suspect that his actions had changed the plan.

• Tsunade teased Shizune and Aoba during their meal, but resisted returning to Konohagakure after Aoba told her Kushina was about to give birth.
• Aoba offered to pay Tsunade’s gambling debts and give her ten million ryo, and Tsunade returned to Konohagakure with Shizune several days later.
• Minato welcomed Tsunade’s return, while Hiruzen ordered an investigation into whom she had met before coming back.
• On October 10th, Aoba reassured Kushina before she entered the delivery room with Minato, then took up guard outside and waited for Obito.
• As the night passed without any sign of Obito or trouble among the guards and barriers, Aoba realized something was wrong and wondered whether his actions had changed Obito’s plan.

Aoba discovered that the delivery room was a fake and that the Third Hokage and Danzo had kept Kushina’s real location secret, then fought the Anbu guarding it. As Tsunade confronted Hiruzen over the deception, the Nine-Tails appeared in the center of Konohagakure.

• Itachi watched over infant Sasuke at the deserted Uchiha Compound and vowed to protect him while their parents were away.
• Tsunade suspected Aoba had a hidden motive for bringing her back to Konohagakure, while Aoba sensed that something was wrong outside the delivery room.
• Aoba broke into the fake delivery room, found it empty, and subdued the Anbu who surrounded him.
• Aoba discovered that the captured Anbu captain was a Root ninja protected by memory seals and a Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal, then inferred that Hiruzen and Danzo had deceived him.
• Tsunade angrily challenged Hiruzen over the fake delivery rooms, but an explosion interrupted them as the Nine-Tails emerged in Konohagakure.

Aoba discovered that Obito had abducted Kushina and released the Nine-Tails, then raced back to Konohagakure to face the rampaging beast. After Sarutobi Hiruzen ordered the surrounding shinobi to withdraw, Aoba stood alone before the Nine-Tails and challenged it.

• Aoba found the real delivery room destroyed and its Anbu guards dead, realizing Obito had taken Kushina and released the Nine-Tails.
• Aoba headed toward the village, while Yuhi Shinku gathered the younger generation and ordered them to stay away from the Nine-Tails.
• After recognizing Aoba flying toward the battlefield, Yuhi Shinku left the young shinobi in an assistant’s care and followed him.
• Aoba arrived beside Sarutobi Hiruzen, criticized him and Danzo, and walked toward the Nine-Tails.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen ordered the shinobi to retreat and leave the battlefield to Aoba.
• Aoba faced the Nine-Tails alone and called it a little baby.

Aoba restrained the Nine-Tails, then confronted Obito and revealed that he could see through Obito’s Mangekyō ability. He killed Obito with the power of his own previously unseen Mangekyō Sharingan.

• Aoba restrained the Nine-Tails with a summoning technique and bound it with sand from two scrolls.
• Obito stabbed Aoba from behind with a wooden spike, but Aoba’s magma-like body melted it and regenerated after Obito’s explosive tags blew him apart.
• Aoba identified Obito’s intangibility as a spatial ability that transferred his body into another dimension.
• Aoba revealed his Mangekyō Sharingan and used its power to strike Obito’s heart, killing him.

Aoba faked Obito’s death with Hidan’s ability to keep Black Zetsu focused on Obito and buy himself time. After restraining the Nine-Tails, Aoba tried to negotiate, but its attack sent a Tailed Beast Ball toward Konoha, and Obito pursued Minato after Minato redirected it.

• Hidan used Death Controlling Possessed Blood to make Obito appear dead, while Aoba planned to keep Obito alive as a shield against Black Zetsu.
• Obito escaped, and the Nine-Tails broke free of Sharingan control and struggled against Aoba’s sand restraints.
• Aoba approached Kurama to propose a deal, but Kurama rejected him and began forming a Tailed Beast Ball.
• Aoba kicked Kurama’s head aside, sending the Tailed Beast Ball toward Hokage Rock, where Minato redirected it with Flying Thunder God: Guiding Thunder.
• Obito appeared behind Minato and tried to pull him into the Kamui Dimension, but Minato escaped; Obito then pursued him.
• Aoba realized Minato had been Obito’s true target, driven by resentment and jealousy over Minato’s happy life.

Aoba used Dan Katō’s spirit and a sealing technique to restrain the rampaging Nine-Tails, but Minato teleported away with the beast and began the Dead Demon Consuming Seal. Aoba reached Minato and Kushina in time to save Naruto from the Nine-Tails’ attack, then offered Kushina a chance to survive by restoring the beast’s chakra to her; Minato prepared to seal the Nine-Tails into Naruto and entrusted the village to Aoba.

• Aoba transformed and drove the Nine-Tails outside Konohagakure, then summoned Dan Katō to suppress its consciousness while he began sealing it.
• Dan’s spirit left the Nine-Tails and entered Tsunade, while Aoba’s sealing jar began to crack under the beast’s immense chakra.
• Minato teleported away with the Nine-Tails, interrupting Aoba’s seal, and arrived at a barrier with Kushina to perform the Dead Demon Consuming Seal.
• Aoba used the Flying Thunder God Technique to reach Minato and Kushina, kicked the Nine-Tails away from Naruto, and helped Kushina bind it with her chains.
• Aoba gave Kushina Water of Life and explained that returning the Nine-Tails’ stored chakra to her could keep her alive after its extraction.
• Minato entrusted the village to Aoba, said goodbye to Kushina, and began the Eight Trigrams Seal to place the Nine-Tails in Naruto.

Minato sealed the Nine-Tails into Naruto and died, while Kushina survived the extraction. After the Nine-Tails' Attack, Tsunade confronted Aoba about his foreknowledge and Dan's summoning, and Aoba began revealing a story about a ninja from the future.

• Minato sealed the Nine-Tails into Naruto and part of its chakra into Kushina before dying, and Aoba confirmed that Minato's life signs had stopped.
• Tsunade comforted Kushina as the Third Hokage learned that the Nine-Tails had been sealed into Naruto.
• After returning home, Aoba found Tsunade waiting and she demanded to know how he had predicted the attack and whether he had used Impure World Reincarnation to summon Dan.
• Aoba used the Spirit Transformation Technique to enter Tsunade's consciousness and began telling her about a Konohagakure ninja who had traveled through time from the future.

Aoba told Tsunade that Konoha would be destroyed in the future and that she would become Fifth Hokage, then urged her to take the position early. When Tsunade refused, he offered to bring Dan back to life, leaving her stunned.

• Aoba revealed that a rogue ninja organization led by a wielder of the Rinnegan would destroy Konoha, with Tsunade serving as Fifth Hokage afterward.
• Aoba asked Tsunade to become Fifth Hokage ahead of time, and she refused before realizing she would take the role in the future.
• Tsunade learned that Jiraiya would bring her back after Orochimaru attacked Konoha and the Third Hokage died.
• Aoba described future scandals tied to the Third Hokage and Danzo, including the Uchiha massacre, Hizashi Hyuga's death, and Naruto's miserable childhood.
• Tsunade rejected the Hokage position despite Aoba invoking Dan and Nawaki's dream, and Aoba claimed he could bring Dan back to life.

After Aoba offered to revive Dan, Tsunade agreed to seek the Hokage position so she could help protect the world. At the succession assembly, Aoba backed Tsunade against the elders’ objections, and Hiruzen proposed making her Hokage’s assistant until her hemophobia was cured.

• Aoba told Tsunade he could revive only one person and argued that Konoha needed Dan’s strength against a hidden enemy, so Tsunade agreed to fight for the Hokage position.
• Two days later, Konoha held Minato’s funeral, and Kushina mourned beside Sarutobi Hiruzen while Aoba stood with Yuhi Kurenai.
• At the Hokage succession assembly, Nara Shikaku suggested choosing a leader from Minato’s generation, but Utatane Koharu argued that the younger ninja lacked experience.
• Aoba recommended Tsunade for Hokage, and Tsunade declared she was willing to become the Fifth Hokage and protect Konoha.
• Shimura Danzō objected because Tsunade had hemophobia, but Aoba dismissed the concern and claimed he could cure it.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen supported Tsunade’s qualifications but proposed that he temporarily resume the Hokage’s duties while Tsunade served as his assistant until her hemophobia was cured.

Aoba advised Tsunade to take control of Konoha Hospital and persuaded Kushina to give Naruto the Uzumaki surname to protect him from Minato’s enemies. Meanwhile, Orochimaru developed a Cursed Seal and secretly witnessed a young Uchiha child displaying extraordinary skill in a deadly training ground.

• Aoba explained that the Third kept Tsunade from becoming Fifth Hokage because he feared Aoba’s influence, then urged her to take over Konoha Hospital as a first step toward gaining power and prestige.
• Aoba warned Kushina that the Namikaze name would expose Naruto to retaliation from Minato’s enemies, and Kushina agreed to name him Uzumaki Naruto.
• In his laboratory, Orochimaru told Mitaraishi Anko that he had found a clue to regeneration and hinted that he would give her the power of a Cursed Seal.
• Orochimaru watched a young Uchiha child evade a deadly barrage of arrows with precise movements and became fascinated by the possibility that the child had awakened the Sharingan.

At a reconstruction meeting, Danzo accused the Uchiha of controlling the Nine-Tails and proposed relocating and surveilling their clan. Aoba challenged Danzo’s claim by revealing his own freely controlled Sharingan, leaving Fugaku demanding an explanation.

• The Third Hokage asked Aoba about the masked man, and Aoba described his space-time abilities and warned that he might return for the Nine-Tails’ Jinchuriki.
• Danzo proposed moving the Military Police Force headquarters and Uchiha compound to the village edge and placing the Uchiha under constant surveillance.
• Fugaku objected, but Danzo cited the Sharingan’s ability to control the Nine-Tails as grounds for suspicion against the Uchiha.
• Aoba argued that only ocular power beyond the Three-Tomoe Sharingan could control the Nine-Tails, shocking the clan heads and revealing his knowledge of the Mangekyō Sharingan.
• Aoba activated a genuine Three-Tomoe Sharingan, and Fugaku confirmed its power before demanding to know how Aoba could wield it without Uchiha blood.

Aoba revealed that he had developed the Red Eye and used his abilities to undermine Danzō’s attempt to blame the Uchiha clan for the Nine-Tails incident. After the meeting, Fugaku waited for Aoba, and the two left together.

• Fugaku questioned Aoba about studying the Sharingan, and Aoba demonstrated the Red Eye’s transformations before explaining how he developed it.
• Aoba displayed his Lava Release and suggested that Danzō understood what it meant to study and draw upon another person’s abilities.
• Danzō left the meeting, and the Uchiha relocation proposal was shelved while the village’s reconstruction plans proceeded.
• Tsunade confronted Aoba after the meeting, but he escaped using the Body Flicker Technique.
• Fugaku waited for Aoba at a street corner, and the two vanished together.

Aoba thanked Fugaku for clearing the Uchiha at the meeting and revealed that the masked man who controlled the Nine-Tails had possessed the Mangekyō Sharingan. Later, Aoba discovered that Kushina had awakened Wood Release after the Nine-Tails' chakra fused with her cells, and he kept the discovery secret from Konoha's leaders.

• Fugaku thanked Aoba for speaking up for the Uchiha, and Aoba asked him for Sharingan genjutsu materials and Uchiha techniques, including the Transcription Seal and Izanagi.
• Aoba told Fugaku that the masked man who controlled the Nine-Tails had wielded the Mangekyō Sharingan, then advised him to seek Tsunade's support when rebuilding the clan grounds.
• Aoba checked Kushina's seal and learned that the Nine-Tails' chakra was seeping into her body and merging with her cells.
• Kushina manifested a small sapling from her palm, revealing that she had awakened Wood Release and shocking Tsunade and Shizune.
• Aoba examined Kushina's blood on Forgotten Island and concluded that leaking Nine-Tails chakra had activated the White Zetsu cells in its container, causing her Wood Release; he warned everyone to keep it secret.

Aoba uncovered White Zetsu infiltrators at Kushina’s home and warned Tsunade and the others that the creatures could spy, impersonate people, and use Wood Release. Meanwhile, Danzo coveted Aoba’s ocular research, and Hiruzen decided to appoint him to oversee Konoha Hospital so he could keep him under watch.

• Aoba killed the Anbu guards monitoring Kushina’s home, found two White Zetsu, and brought them inside before sealing the living room.
• Aoba explained that White Zetsu were hard-to-detect biological weapons that could copy people and use Wood Release, and he linked Kushina’s Wood Release to a White Zetsu container.
• Danzo learned that Aoba and Fugaku had reached an understanding and resolved to obtain Aoba’s research or make him cooperate.
• Hiruzen considered Aoba’s ocular technique evidence of advanced human research and worried he might follow Orochimaru’s path.
• Hiruzen crossed Tsunade’s name off an appointment letter and named Aoba to lead Konoha Hospital so he could monitor him.

Aoba helped Kushina prepare to defend Naruto, took over as director of Konoha Hospital, and supported the Uchiha Clan’s relocation. As rumors accusing the Uchiha of controlling the Nine-Tails spread, Fugaku asked Aoba what he thought of them.

• Aoba gave Kushina a Chakra Absorption Technique scroll so she could replenish her Nine-Tails chakra by drawing from Naruto, while warning her that using her own reserves could endanger her life.
• Aoba was officially appointed director of Konoha Hospital, and Tsunade mediated an agreement that moved the Uchiha Clan to a new compound in the village’s southwestern area.
• Rumors spread that the Uchiha had controlled the Nine-Tails during its attack, and Aoba suspected Danzo was behind the smear campaign.
• Fugaku invited Aoba to the Uchiha compound and showed him clan techniques; Aoba used his Sharingan and learning-assistance Chip to memorize the scrolls in minutes.
• Fugaku asked Aoba what he thought about the rumors targeting the Uchiha, and Aoba privately joked that he was looking at them while standing there.

Aoba warned Fugaku that the Uchiha’s control of the Military Police Force had isolated the clan, prompting Fugaku to consider change. Later, Aoba challenged Orochimaru’s self-experimentation, and Orochimaru was intrigued by his arguments about preserving the human self and pursuing science rationally.

• Aoba asked Fugaku whether he would surrender the Military Police Force’s authority or personnel, then explained how the force had alienated the Uchiha from Konoha’s other clans.
• Fugaku recognized that the Uchiha had become isolated and considered Aoba’s advice to put down roots throughout Konoha instead of clinging to the police force.
• Aoba noticed young Itachi in the Uchiha courtyard, and Itachi told Fugaku that he had met Aoba before and thought he was remarkable.
• Fugaku asked Itachi whether he would accept a teacher, and Itachi nodded.
• Orochimaru entered Aoba’s courtyard by emerging from a white snake, and Aoba criticized his self-experimentation and pursuit of immortality.
• Aoba argued that Orochimaru risked distorting his identity by abandoning his body and urged him to pursue research through rationality rather than gambling with himself; Orochimaru admired the argument.