Chapter Summaries

Aoba funded a mission to the Land of Honey so Yuhi Shinku could put Asuma and Kurenai through intensive field training. The brutal journey left both trainees exhausted, while Aoba’s medical ninjutsu let Shinku increase their workload even further.

• Asuma and Kurenai treated the trip to the Land of Honey as a vacation until Yuhi Shinku made them put on weighted blocks and assigned them training for the journey.
• Shinku ordered Asuma to train taijutsu, chakra control, and Wind and Fire Release against Aoba, while Kurenai had to strengthen her taijutsu and watch for surprise attacks.
• Aoba explained that he had arranged the trip through a commercial commission, allowing the team to train outside the village despite the uncertain situation in the Shinobi World.
• Asuma and Kurenai traveled through the trees with chakra adhesion, studied and practiced chakra nature transformation at night, and endured attacks from Aoba’s Shadow Clones.
• Aoba repeatedly injured and healed Asuma, including treating a broken arm and a thigh pierced by a branch; impressed by Aoba’s medical ninjutsu, Shinku doubled the training workload.
• Shinku demonstrated Wind Release by splitting a leaf cleanly in two and taught that wind chakra needed to be sharp and thin.

After arriving in the Land of Honey, Aoba left his squad to search for the Kozaki Clan’s Summoning Scroll. He tracked down the location of Kozaki Castle, the place later known as Ghost Castle, and headed into the foggy mountains.

• Asuma trained with Aoba, demonstrating new Wind and Fire Release techniques that Aoba easily defended against.
• Ten days later, Shinku Squad reached the Land of Honey and arranged for a merchant association to gather their supplies.
• Aoba told Yuhi Shinku he planned to search for the Kozaki Clan’s Summoning Scroll, and Shinku approved the solo mission.
• Aoba disguised himself as a wandering ninja and used the Mind Reading Technique on an elderly woodcutter, but found no useful clues.
• Aoba searched the Land of Honey and learned that Ghost Castle was still called Kozaki Castle; he followed a villager’s memories toward it through thickening fog.

Aoba infiltrated the Castle, a gigantic summoned beast, and searched for the Lizard Clan’s Summoning Scroll. After meeting Kozaki Gonzo’s thoughtform, he found the scroll and promised to take care of the lizards, allowing the thoughtform to disappear.

• Aoba reached the Castle and realized it was a dormant summoned beast protected by a barrier.
• Aoba used the Rasengan to break into the Castle and fought off its animated armor and tentacles while searching for the scroll.
• Aoba encountered Kozaki Gonzo’s thoughtform, recognized it as the source sustaining the Castle, and followed it upstairs.
• Aoba found the Lizard Clan’s Summoning Scroll and promised Kozaki Gonzo he would take good care of the lizards.
• Kozaki Gonzo’s thoughtform dispersed into light.

Aoba secured the summoning contract for the Lizard Clan, only to learn that Pale Swamp had been ruined and the clan needed food and repairs. He returned to the Land of Honey Merchant Association with Green Lizard, and Yuhi Shinku realized the contract held more secrets.

• Aoba signed the Summoning Scroll, released the Castle’s summoning, and watched it transform into a gigantic crimson lizard before vanishing.
• Aoba learned through the contract that the Lizard Clan’s home, Pale Swamp, had been destroyed and most of its powerful lizards were hibernating.
• Aoba summoned Green Lizard, promised to provide food and repair the clan’s homes in exchange for its performance, and headed back to town.
• Aoba told Yuhi Shinku he had found a summoning contract in Kozaki Castle’s ruins and introduced Green Lizard.
• Yuhi Shinku greeted Green Lizard and told Aoba that there seemed to be more to the situation.

Aoba returned to Konohagakure with an oversized supply convoy after noticing rising grain prices in the Land of Honey. He learned that the Third Kazekage had disappeared, and Sunagakure was blaming Konohagakure and massing troops at the border.

• Aoba told Yuhi Shinku about the conflict among the summoning beast clans, and Shinku stressed that shinobi and summoning beasts were comrades rather than master and servant.
• Aoba loaded more than a dozen carts with supplies, including a huge quantity of grain, and explained to Shinku that grain prices had risen and could bring a profit when resold in the Land of Fire.
• On the long journey home, Kurenai met Aoba's talking summoning beast, Green Lizard, while Kurenai and Asuma helped defend the convoy from wandering shinobi.
• After an eagle cry signaled trouble, the convoy hurried to Konohagakure, where Aoba overheard that the Third Kazekage had gone missing.
• Sunagakure accused Konohagakure of taking the Third Kazekage and massed troops near the Land of Fire, so Sarutobi Hiruzen ordered reinforcements to the border.

As the Third Shinobi World War threatened to begin, Shinku Squad disbanded and Aoba received orders to reinforce the Land of Rivers border. Aoba departed with the force, warned by Shinku to watch out for danger from his own side as well as the enemy.

• Sarutobi Hiruzen dispatched forces to the fronts against Kumogakure and Kirigakure as the war drew near.
• Yuhi Shinku told Yuhi Kurenai, Sarutobi Asuma, and Aoba that Shinku Squad would disband, and said he, Kurenai, and Asuma would likely go to the Kirigakure front.
• A masked Anbu delivered Aoba orders to report to the Land of Rivers border with a reinforcement force.
• Asuma gave Aoba a lighter and revealed that Danzo had pushed for Aoba's assignment to the Sunagakure battlefield, while Shinku warned Aoba to stay alive and distrust blades handed to him by his own people.
• Aoba joined the departing force and marched toward the Land of Rivers.

Aoba arrived at the Land of Rivers front, reunited with Teacher Ueno, and received a squad assignment that appeared to be Danzo’s attempt to monitor him. He was left leading Root operative Yuto and unawakened Uchiha Kei on garrison duty in the D13 area.

• After five days of marching, Aoba’s reinforcement force reached the temporary command post, where Sarutobi Shinnosuke announced a day of rest before assignments were issued.
• Aoba met Yumiko and reunited with Teacher Ueno, who listened to his mission stories before leaving to treat a severely wounded patient.
• The next morning, Aoba received orders to lead a small squad on garrison duty in the D13 area.
• Aoba recognized Yuto as a Root operative and met Uchiha Kei, whose Sharingan had not awakened.
• Aoba encouraged Kei to become an outstanding ninja without the Sharingan and wondered why he had begun to think Uchiha were difficult to get along with.

Aoba took his squad to the exposed D13 garrison post and turned it into a conspicuous camp, reasoning that the mission was to warn headquarters rather than hide. The chapter ended as Aoba asked Uchiha Kei whether he knew about Root, prompting Kei to stare in shock at Yuto.

• Aoba registered the mission, collected two Signal Flares, and led Uchiha Kei and Yuto to the isolated D13 post.
• The outgoing squad handed over the post and reported that nothing unusual had happened during their nearly month-long stay.
• Aoba ordered Kei and Yuto to set up a tent, then built a visible fire and began cooking beef despite Kei's objections.
• Aoba explained that the open terrain made hiding pointless and that attracting Sunagakure's attention could help the squad fulfill its warning mission.
• After Yuto finished setting up the tent, Aoba asked Uchiha Kei whether he knew about Root, and Kei reacted with shock as he looked at Yuto.

Yamashiro Aoba provoked Root member Yuto into attacking him, then killed him and ordered Uchiha Kei to report the incident as an attack by a rogue ninja. Aoba remained at the D13 outpost, looking toward the Land of Wind.

• Aoba revealed that Yuto was a Root member spying on him and Uchiha Kei, then insulted Shimura Danzō until Yuto attacked.
• Aoba fought back, using clones and Genjutsu: Golden Binding to immobilize Yuto before slitting his throat.
• Aoba declared that Yuto had attacked his superior and was suspected of treason, then sealed Yuto's corpse in a scroll.
• Aoba ordered Uchiha Kei to return to headquarters with the scroll and report that a rogue ninja had attacked the D13 outpost.
• Kei left for headquarters while Aoba stayed behind on alert and watched toward the Land of Wind.

Aoba used the Dragon Vein beneath the ruins of Roran to create a safe channel for its chakra and began transferring the energy to revive the Pale Swamp Lizard Clan. After securing the altar, he returned to the D13 garrison point and went to sleep, expecting Uchiha Kei to remain under investigation.

• Aoba traveled to the underground City of Hundred Towers and used the Chip to simulate a safe way to draw chakra from Minato's seal.
• Aoba opened the seal with a newly drawn Earth Seal and summoned Red Lizard to hold a contract scroll in the gap.
• The Dragon Vein's chakra flowed into the scroll, giving the Pale Swamp Lizard Clan a potential source of power for its revival.
• Aoba ordered Red Lizard to guard the altar, and Red Lizard disguised himself as a massive rock.
• Aoba returned to the D13 garrison point, dispelled his Shadow Clone, and went to sleep while Uchiha Kei was being questioned.

Uchiha Kei returned to the D13 outpost with new teammate Ishida Ryoichi, where they found Aoba had captured four Sunagakure Shinobi who tried to scout the camp. Ryoichi quickly recognized Aoba’s strength and joined his squad, while Kei reflected on how power shaped the way others treated him.

• Aoba slept through the night as a group of Sunagakure Shinobi approached the outpost under cover of darkness.
• Uchiha Kei returned with Ishida Ryoichi and found four captured Sunagakure Shinobi bound beside Aoba’s cooking fire.
• Kei introduced Ishida Ryoichi as Yuto’s replacement, and Ryoichi eagerly greeted Aoba and accepted his instructions.
• Aoba told Ryoichi and Kei to make their own sleeping and food arrangements, then said the captured Sunagakure Shinobi would be useful later.
• Kei reflected on how his weakness had led others to dismiss him and how Aoba’s strength let him ignore the rules.

Aoba forced Uchiha Kei to fight a Sunagakure prisoner, using the lethal encounter to push him to grow stronger. After Kei killed the man and awakened to a surge of chakra, Aoba untied another prisoner, leaving Ishida Ryoichi facing his turn.

• Aoba offered a Sunagakure prisoner freedom if he defeated either Uchiha Kei or Ishida Ryoichi.
• The prisoner chose Kei and charged, forcing Kei to confront his fear and fight for his life.
• Kei wounded the prisoner and then killed him with a slash across the throat.
• Kei felt his chakra intensify after the killing, while Aoba observed that his chakra was undergoing Nature Transformation.
• Aoba untied a second prisoner as Ishida Ryoichi realized he would be next.

Aoba pushed Uchiha Kei and Ishida Ryoichi through brutal battlefield training, using healing and specially prepared Military Ration Pills to keep them going. After Ryoichi nearly died in a fight with a captured Sunagakure Chunin, Kei agreed to cooperate with Aoba’s research into awakening the Sharingan, while Aoba secretly revealed that the pills contained processed White Zetsu Cells.

• Ryoichi defeated a Sunagakure ninja, and Aoba healed him and Kei before beginning their special training.
• Aoba criticized their poor ninjutsu skills and taught them to focus on weapon throwing, the Body Flicker Technique, and battlefield awareness.
• Kei and Ryoichi trained continuously, then fought a weakened Sunagakure Chunin; Kei killed him after Ryoichi took a near-fatal wound to create an opening.
• Kei sensed his chakra had increased after Ryoichi was injured, and Aoba offered to research ways to help awaken his Sharingan; Kei agreed.
• Aoba healed the exhausted pair and prepared more Military Ration Pills, which he had made using processed White Zetsu Cells.

Aoba used his improved White Zetsu Cells to study Kei and Ryoichi, then led them into a nighttime ambush by three Sunagakure shinobi. He defeated the puppeteer with sand, while the other two Sunagakure shinobi saw their captain captured.

• Aoba reviewed how his seventh-generation White Zetsu Cells affected Kei and Ryoichi, noting Kei's chakra and Uchiha traits had grown more quickly.
• Aoba woke Kei and Ryoichi when visitors approached and assigned each of them one of the two flanking Sunagakure shinobi.
• The Sunagakure puppeteer attacked Aoba with explosive tags and Puppets, but Aoba blocked the blast with sand.
• Aoba used sand to jam both Puppets, then bound the puppeteer in a sand cocoon.
• The two Sunagakure shinobi fighting Kei and Ryoichi saw their captain subdued, and their morale collapsed.

Aoba’s fight with Sunagakure ended with him capturing a puppeteer, but Pakura soon confronted him over his use of sand control and secret village intelligence. The chapter left them in battle as Aoba used an Earth Flow Wall to block her Scorch Release and disappeared behind it.

• Ishida Ryoichi and Uchiha Kei defeated two Sunagakure shinobi, while Aoba ordered them to take the captives to the command post.
• Aoba spent the morning alone in the desert, then began grilling meat at his camp.
• Pakura attacked Aoba with a kunai and demanded to know how he had learned Sunagakure’s Sand Control Secret Technique.
• Aoba blocked Pakura’s Scorch Release with sand and inferred that she had developed the Kekkei Genkai by combining Wind Release and Fire Release.
• Pakura attacked with five Scorch Release fireballs, and Aoba used Earth Flow Wall before vanishing from sight.

Aoba fought Sunagakure’s Pakura, using his Chakra Metal blade and sand to withstand her Scorch Release until Konohagakure reinforcements arrived. Pakura escaped, and Aoba returned to his unit, where he doubled his subordinates’ throwing drills.

• Pakura enhanced her Kunai with Scorch Release, but Aoba drew a Chakra Metal blade and matched her in close combat.
• Aoba cut through Pakura’s Scorch Release fireballs by severing their Chakra connections, then used a Sandstorm to pressure her as she defended herself with more fireballs.
• Konohagakure reinforcements approached, so Pakura drove back Aoba’s sand with an explosion and retreated.
• Sarutobi Shinnosuke questioned Aoba about the battle, and Aoba claimed he had only survived because of the terrain before Shinnosuke ordered him back to his unit.
• Uchiha Kei and Ishida Ryoichi praised Aoba, who lamented his ruined lunch and doubled their throwing drills.

Aoba pushed Uchiha Kei and Ishida Ryoichi through brutal training while using their recovery to study their changing bodies. After hearing that the war had brought Minato and Rasa into prominence, he met Pakura by a campfire, where her attempted attack revealed that he had grown stronger again.

• Aoba repeatedly defeated Kei and Ryoichi in sparring, then healed them with Shadow Clones and Medical Ninjutsu so their training could continue.
• Aoba increased Kei and Ryoichi’s exposure to processed White Zetsu Cells, and Kei felt his chakra and bloodline power growing rapidly.
• Ryoichi reported that Kumogakure and Sunagakure were fighting, Rasa was being considered for Kazekage, and Minato had thwarted the Kumogakure A-B Duo.
• Pakura visited Aoba at his campfire and questioned him about his Hot Pot Restaurant and whether he would join Sunagakure.
• Pakura attacked Aoba with a fireball, but he sliced it apart, and she realized he had become stronger.

Pakura tried to recruit Aoba into Sunagakure, but their meeting turned into a battle that exposed how far his swordsmanship had advanced. After returning to her outpost, Pakura grew suspicious of Ebizo and began doubting her future in the village.

• Pakura offered Aoba training and high rank if he joined Sunagakure, but Aoba warned that she had been manipulated and would eventually be betrayed.
• Enraged by Aoba’s words, Pakura attacked with Scorch Release, while Aoba’s Shadow Clone woke Uchiha Kei and Ishida Ryoichi to watch.
• Aoba used his blade to split Pakura’s Scorch Release fireballs, then broke her kunai and kicked her into a rock, forcing her to retreat.
• Pakura told Ebizo that Aoba was a growing threat and asked to lead a team to kill him, but Ebizo refused because Sunagakure had a more important mission.
• Pakura recalled Aoba’s warnings and Ebizo’s reaction, then compared her stalled prospects with Rasa’s rising reputation and began to doubt her place in Sunagakure.

Aoba challenged Pakura’s ambition to become Kazekage, arguing that Sunagakure’s leaders had used her as a tool and abandoned her political prospects. When Konohagakure’s command center sent up a distress signal, Pakura hesitated to stop Aoba and began questioning whether her loyalty was worth anything.

• Pakura visited Aoba at the D13 base and admitted her mission was to keep him from reinforcing Konohagakure’s command center.
• Aoba pointed out that Pakura had brought her faction’s supporters and warned that Sunagakure’s leaders had sidelined her as a weapon rather than a Kazekage candidate.
• Aoba explained to Pakura that war and politics served the interests of those controlling resources, while shinobi like her were expendable tools.
• Konohagakure’s highest-level distress signal appeared over the command center, and Aoba prepared to leave as Pakura weighed whether to fight him.
• Pakura asked whether a village that treated its people as tools was worth protecting, and Aoba called the world one giant makeshift troupe.

Aoba reached Sunagakure’s headquarters too late to prevent the massacre and discovered that Teacher Ueno had died saving Yumiko. Her death shattered his belief that he was detached from the world and left him blaming himself for failing to warn the camp; he then used the Mind Reading Technique on her body and knocked away a shinobi who tried to stop him.

• Aoba persuaded Pakura to let him and his companions pass, arguing that a village’s people were more than the failings of its leaders.
• Aoba, Uchiha Kei, and Ishida Ryoichi reached the ruined headquarters and learned that the commander-in-chief was dead and the Medical Corps had suffered devastating casualties.
• Aoba found Yumiko grieving and learned that Teacher Ueno had saved her by taking a fatal blow.
• Aoba uncovered Teacher Ueno’s face, mourned her death, and realized that he had been wrong to treat the people around him as mere figures in a story.
• Aoba pressed his hand to Teacher Ueno’s forehead to use the Mind Reading Technique, and the yellow sand from his gourd knocked away a shinobi who rushed to stop him.