Chapter Summaries

Shiraishi Yoshijo intercepted Kumogakure’s reception team, captured its leader Chloe, and searched his memories for information. After revealing his identity as Diyu, he offered Chloe a chance to join the Hana Organization and said he would bring Chloe’s family to him.

• Shiraishi Yoshijo found the reception team in a remote part of the Land of Fire and recognized Chloe, the disgraced Swift Release ninja, as its leader.
• Shiraishi Yoshijo killed the rest of the team, defeated Chloe, and took him to Butterfly Habitat Valley for Butterfly Seed and Cursed Seal treatment.
• Shiraishi Yoshijo used the Yamanaka Clan’s Secret Technique to search Chloe’s memories and learned the Raikage had sent him without telling him whom he was meant to receive.
• Shiraishi Yoshijo woke Chloe, revealed that he was Diyu, and pointed out that the Raikage no longer trusted him.
• Shiraishi Yoshijo offered Chloe the chance to change allegiances and promised to bring his family to Butterfly Habitat Valley before leaving.

Shiraishi Yoshijo helped Kumogakure kidnap Uzumaki Kushina and manipulated the pursuit to inflame tensions between Konoha and Kumogakure. He critically wounded Namikaze Minato, then carried the unconscious captives across the border into the Land of Lightning.

• Dikai and his teammates abducted Uzumaki Kushina and took her to Shiraishi Yoshijo, who helped them escape Konoha while blocking the Anbu.
• Shiraishi Yoshijo followed the Cloud Ninja and planned to provoke a clash with Kumogakure's border forces while preventing them from keeping Kushina.
• Namikaze Minato caught up to the kidnappers, but Shiraishi Yoshijo struck him down before Jiraiya and Tsunade arrived to save him.
• Shiraishi Yoshijo knocked out Dikai, his teammates, and Kushina, then used Shadow Clones to carry them into the Land of Lightning and woke them there.

Shiraishi Yoshijo staged a pursuit and murder in the Land of Lightning to provoke Kumogakure into attacking Konoha. As Kumogakure forces chased him toward Sarutobi Hiruzen’s group, Hiruzen faced the prospect of choosing between rescuing the approaching people and risking war.

• Shiraishi Yoshijo positioned disguised doubles on the Land of Lightning border, where Sarutobi Hiruzen and Danzo arrived and agreed to wait for the Raikage.
• Shiraishi Yoshijo’s plan led Dikai to wake in the Land of Lightning with Kushina and two companions, then flee toward Kumogakure’s border troops as disguised Konoha ninja pursued them.
• Dikai sent up a blue signal flare, prompting Danzo to send more than twenty Root members into the Land of Lightning.
• Shiraishi Yoshijo killed Dikai’s two companions, then beheaded Dikai in front of a Kumogakure unit and took Kushina, drawing the unit into pursuit.
• Shiraishi Yoshijo joined his double near the corpses of Chloe’s reinforcements and led the pursuing Kumogakure forces toward Sarutobi Hiruzen.
• Hizashi Hyuga used his Byakugan to report that a group was approaching with more than a hundred pursuers, leaving Hiruzen to wonder whether they were Konoha ninja and whether he should intervene.

Sarutobi Hiruzen brought his team back to the Land of Fire, where Kumogakure forces killed the apparent Kushina and her rescuers in an explosion rather than risk a confrontation on Konoha's soil. Shiraishi Yoshijo revealed that the dead Kushina was a substitute and carried the real Kushina toward his Base Camp, leaving the possibility of war to the Raikage.

• Sarutobi Hiruzen ordered his team back to the Land of Fire, while Orochimaru secretly vanished and Tsunade asked where Jiraiya and Kushina were.
• Hizashi Hyuga spotted a large Kumogakure force pursuing them, and Shiraishi Yoshijo appeared with the apparent Kushina as the pursuers closed in.
• Kumogakure ninja detonated Explosive Tags that seemingly killed Shiraishi Yoshijo, Kushina, and the other Konoha ninja, while Sarutobi Hiruzen restrained Tsunade from intervening.
• Rurii and the other Kumogakure ninja discussed the deaths and sent word to the Raikage, while Sarutobi Hiruzen held his ground at the border until the force withdrew.
• Shiraishi Yoshijo revealed that the dead Kushina had been a substitute and flew away with the real Kushina toward his Base Camp.

Shiraishi Yoshijo brought Kushina to Taoyuan Village and left her in Rie’s care before returning to Konoha. Rie handed Kushina over to Takemoto Anna, who explained that Kushina was safe in the village founded by Shiraishi.

• Shiraishi Yoshijo brought Kushina to Base Camp and asked Rie to let her live with the other Uzumaki survivors.
• After Shiraishi left, Rie took Kushina to Takemoto Anna at the palace and told her Kushina was meant to become Konoha’s next Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.
• Anna confronted Rie about Shiraishi’s other women and told her to leave Kushina with her, asking Rie to bring Hayaka but not the siblings Yuka and Yuki.
• Anna woke Kushina, introduced herself, and comforted her after confirming she was unharmed.
• Kushina called Shiraishi a villain, and Anna explained that they were in Taoyuan Village, where Shiraishi was regarded as a hero.

After the deaths at the border, the Raikage rejected the Hokage’s meeting request and opened a channel to Shiraishi Yoshijo as Konoha prepared for civil war. Shiraishi accepted the Raikage’s terms, then summoned his clan allies to discuss the next move.

• Rurii reported the border disaster to the Raikage, who ordered war preparations until Ogui urged him to investigate first.
• Dodai found that some Konoha bodies had wounds pointing to Shiraishi Yoshijo, and the Raikage sent him a letter while ordering Ogui to the border.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen suspected Shiraishi had set him up, recalled Konoha’s troops, and ordered Sakumo to block Shiraishi’s route to the capital.
• Konoha mobilized for civil war as the Rain and Suna Ninja paused their attacks, while Shiraishi’s allies worried about the forces arrayed against them.
• Shiraishi accepted the Raikage’s terms with a warning against betrayal, then called the clan heads to a meeting.

Shiraishi Yoshijo prepared the clan heads for an imminent operation against Konoha, revealing that Kumogakure might attack during their civil war and promising to protect them. After the meeting, Cheng warned him that Uzumaki Mito might join the fight, leaving Yoshijo uncertain about facing Konoha’s strongest fighters.

• Shiraishi Yoshijo told the clan heads they would begin their operation in ten days and argued that they had to leave Konoha to survive.
• Shiraishi instructed the clans to send their elderly, women, children, and genin to Chobyakucho, then revealed that the Raikage planned a surprise attack on Konoha.
• Shiraishi promised to draw Konoha’s forces away and use space-time ninjutsu to evacuate the clans if their plan failed.
• Takemoto Masamasa urged Shiraishi to marry Anna after the Ninja Military Academy matters settled and criticized his reputation.
• Cheng warned Shiraishi that Uzumaki Mito might fight them, and Shiraishi fell silent.

Shiraishi Yoshijo prepared to lead his small force out of Konoha, planning to exploit the timing of the Hokage’s interception lines. In the Hokage Office, the leaders debated how to stop him, while Nara Shikazumi recognized that the conflict stemmed from the deeper rivalry between Konoha and the Daimyo.

• Cheng warned Shiraishi Yoshijo that the Nine-Tails gave the Daimyo leverage over Konoha, and Shiraishi Yoshijo saw no way to change that while Uzumaki Mito remained its Jinchuriki.
• Ten days later, Shiraishi Yoshijo counted just over six hundred jonin and chunin, studied the five interception lines, and decided to exploit the time difference before leaving Konoha at night.
• Sarutobi Shinnosuke reported that the Anbu expected Shiraishi Yoshijo to lead his people out of Konoha within two days.
• Danzo urged Sarutobi Hiruzen to strike first, but Hiruzen and the clan heads opposed fighting inside Konoha because of the danger and likely destruction.
• Mitokado Homura raised the possibility that Shiraishi Yoshijo could transport everyone away, and Hiruzen dismissed it as impractical.
• Nara Shikazumi concealed Shiraishi Yoshijo’s new refuge and reflected that the conflict arose from the enduring contradiction between Konoha and the Daimyo.

Shiraishi Yoshijo attacked Hatake Sakumo’s camp with toxic rain created by poisoned Summoning Butterflies, killing most of the nearly two thousand Konoha ninja. After stopping the attack, he left more than a hundred survivors trapped in the poisoned wasteland as Hatake Sakumo struggled to lead them out.

• Shiraishi Yoshijo sent Shadow Clones to surround Hatake Sakumo’s camp and released swarms of poisoned Summoning Butterflies.
• Hatake Sakumo ordered his troops to disperse and retreat, but toxic rain began dissolving anyone caught without shelter.
• Shiraishi Yoshijo intensified the rain, destroying the camp and killing most of the ninja within minutes.
• Shiraishi Yoshijo stopped the attack after sensing just over a hundred survivors remained, then prepared to return to Konoha.
• Hatake Sakumo and two Earth Release ninja emerged from their shelter, and Hatake Sakumo began hacking a path through the corrosive ground with his short blade.

Shiraishi Yoshijo evacuated Konoha’s vulnerable residents and clansmen, then maneuvered his forces to delay the Hokage’s advancing army. After attacking a Konoha unit that fled unusually quickly, he waited for scouts while wondering whether the Cloud Ninja had made their move.

• Shiraishi Yoshijo used the Space-Time Teleportation Array to evacuate the elderly, women, children, clan heads, and more than six hundred ninja, then went to Roran to replenish his Chakra.
• Shinnosuke reported Shiraishi Yoshijo’s mass teleportation, and Sarutobi Hiruzen ordered Konoha’s forces to assemble while leaving Tsunade behind to protect the village.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen learned that Shiraishi Yoshijo had devastated Hatake Sakumo’s camp with poisonous rain, then led more than four thousand people out of Konoha.
• After replenishing his Chakra, Shiraishi Yoshijo learned that Sarutobi Hiruzen was moving toward the capital and teleported his troops to the final interception line.
• Shiraishi Yoshijo’s forces attacked the Konoha unit at the interception line, and the surviving ninja quickly retreated toward Sarutobi Hiruzen.
• Shiraishi Yoshijo ordered his troops to rest and scout the Hokage’s movements, explaining that he wanted to keep Konoha’s main force away from Chobyakucho.

Sarutobi Hiruzen held his forces back while searching for the missing ninja clans, and Shiraishi Yoshijo realized he could not avoid a direct confrontation. Shiraishi gathered his people at Chobyakucho, raised a sea of flowers, and concealed tens of thousands of Explosion Butterflies beneath them as a trap for the Hokage’s approaching army.

• Sarutobi Hiruzen learned that Shiraishi Yoshijo had appeared with only six or seven hundred people, while Shinnosuke reported that the ninja clans were missing from the Ninja Military Academy.
• Danzo grew furious over the missing clans, but Sarutobi Hiruzen ordered the troops to rest and sent Shinnosuke to find them, explaining that pursuing Shiraishi would let him exploit his space-time Ninjutsu.
• Shiraishi Yoshijo understood that Sarutobi Hiruzen had seen through his plan and teleported his forces to Chobyakucho to await the Hokage.
• After residents watched the gathered clansmen, Shiraishi had them dispersed and ordered the ninjas to surround the town with earthen walls.
• Shiraishi spent more than two hundred years of lifespan using Flower Release to create a ten-mile sea of flowers, then hid over thirty thousand Explosion Butterflies beneath the blossoms as a trap.

Shiraishi Yoshijo prepared to defend Chobyakucho from Sarutobi Hiruzen's army while warning the Daimyo that his own position would be at risk if Shiraishi were defeated. Hiruzen's forces burned a path through the vast field of flowers, and Uchiha Fugaku led his clan toward the town as Shiraishi waited to spring his next move.

• Kawaigawa Aonobu told Shiraishi Yoshijo that the Hokage would not easily back down, and Shiraishi said he intended to protect the clans despite the danger.
• Shiraishi contacted the Daimyo, who refused to intervene until the battle had a result, and Shiraishi warned him that defeat would bring consequences.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen arrived at Chobyakucho with more than five thousand troops, and Jiraiya summoned Gamabunta to burn the sea of flowers.
• Hiruzen ordered thousands of Fire Release ninja to clear a path, while Orochimaru sent gray snakes into the flowerbeds and Shiraishi noted that the flowers' roots could regrow.
• Hiruzen sent Uchiha Fugaku and more than a thousand Uchiha to scout the cleared road, and Fugaku destroyed several chakra-emitting red butterflies before spotting Shiraishi atop the town's earthen wall.

Shiraishi Yoshijo confronted Sarutobi Hiruzen’s forces outside Chobyakucho, while Uchiha Fugaku refused to risk his clan against an opponent he could not defeat. As Konoha’s attack began, Shiraishi Yoshijo sealed Chobyakucho behind a Four Red Yang Formation and exposed Danzo’s past dealings with him.

• Shiraishi Yoshijo warned Uchiha Fugaku to avoid fighting him, and Fugaku led the Uchiha away after admitting he was no match.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen blocked Fugaku’s retreat and ordered the Uchiha to lead the advance, then accepted Fugaku’s offer to guide the way while Hiruzen dealt with Shiraishi Yoshijo.
• Shiraishi Yoshijo proposed settling the war with a duel, but Sarutobi Hiruzen ordered his forces to attack Chobyakucho instead.
• Shiraishi Yoshijo activated a Four Red Yang Formation around Chobyakucho and said Danzo had given him the technique during their partnership.
• Shiraishi Yoshijo accused Danzo of helping him capture the Seven-Tails, prompting Sarutobi Hiruzen to question Danzo before ordering everyone to attack the barrier.
• Danzo struck Shiraishi Yoshijo with Vacuum Serial Waves, but Shiraishi Yoshijo vanished as a Butterfly Clone while Konoha’s forces began pounding the barrier.

Shiraishi Yoshijo battled Konoha’s forces with deadly flowering vines and explosive butterflies before summoning Mei at full strength. As Mei rose into the sky, Aburame insects countered his butterflies, and Shiraishi prepared to demonstrate his power from above.

• Shiraishi Yoshijo left the barrier and used Wood Release to ensnare Konoha ninja with flowering vines and destroy them with explosive butterflies.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen, Danzo, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya attacked Shiraishi, burning down his giant vine construct with Gamabunta’s toad oil and Jiraiya’s fire.
• Shiraishi summoned Mei, who knocked away Hiruzen’s staff and transformed into a gigantic silver-white butterfly.
• Mei rose into the air as Enma tried to drag her down, but she pulled her head into her body and evaded him.
• Shiraishi saw Aburame Clan insects devouring his butterflies and ordered Mei to climb above ten thousand meters.

Mei’s Five-Wheel Spear assault devastated Konoha’s forces, prompting Sarutobi Hiruzen to summon Senju Hashirama and Senju Tobirama. Shiraishi Yoshijo confronted the resurrected brothers, and he erupted when Senju Tobirama blamed Hiruzen for failing to eliminate threats sooner.

• Mei launched thousands of Five-Wheel Spears at the Konoha ninja, killing and injuring many before Sarutobi Hiruzen summoned Senju Hashirama and Senju Tobirama with Impure World Reincarnation.
• Senju Tobirama and Senju Hashirama learned that Shiraishi Yoshijo, Shiraishi Yukihito’s grandson, was leading the attack, while Hiruzen ordered the surviving Konoha troops to retreat.
• Konoha’s retreating forces cheered inside the barrier, but Kawaigawa Aonobu warned the spectators not to rely too heavily on Yoshijo.
• Shiraishi Yoshijo stopped Mei’s attack, dismissed her, and approached the three Hokage.
• Shiraishi Yoshijo introduced himself to Senju Hashirama and accused Senju Tobirama of causing the Shide Clan’s decline.
• Senju Tobirama criticized Sarutobi Hiruzen for not eliminating threats to the village, and Shiraishi Yoshijo erupted in anger.

Shiraishi Yoshijo defeated and sealed Senju Tobirama, then explained to Senju Hashirama and Sarutobi Hiruzen that his plans would reshape the Land of Fire, even if Konoha suffered. Hashirama returned to the Pure Land, leaving Hiruzen to face a divided village and its unresolved conflict.

• Shiraishi Yoshijo used Flying Thunder God to outmaneuver Senju Tobirama, land a devastating blow, and seal him.
• Senju Hashirama warned Shiraishi Yoshijo that his cell-straining taijutsu could shorten his lifespan and declined to fight because his reanimated body could not win.
• Shiraishi Yoshijo told Senju Hashirama that he had founded the Ninja Military Academy to make money and argued that the Land of Fire could grow stronger even if Konoha's interests suffered.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen condemned Shiraishi Yoshijo's plans, while Shiraishi pointed out that the watching ninja clans had abandoned Hiruzen and that Konoha's unity had broken down.
• Senju Hashirama told Sarutobi Hiruzen to solve the crisis himself, released the Ninjutsu, and returned to the Pure Land.

Ogui led a Kumogakure force in a surprise attack on Konoha while its main force was away fighting Shiraishi Yoshijo. Tsunade and Uzumaki Mito repelled the assault, and Kagami Uchiha’s ocular jutsu helped turn the Cloud Ninja against one another before Konoha finished them off.

• Ogui led more than two thousand Kumogakure ninja into Konoha, where they burned, killed, and looted while heading toward the Police Force to capture members of bloodline-limit clans.
• Tsunade summoned Katsuyu to heal the wounded, then attacked the Cloud Ninja, but their jonin coordinated a defense and forced her onto the defensive until Konoha reinforcements arrived.
• Uzumaki Mito entered Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, trapped the Cloud Ninja with the Four Violet Flames Formation, and destroyed nearly a thousand of them with a Tailed Beast Ball.
• At the Police Force, Rurii stabbed Ogui and joined other Kumogakure fighters who turned on their comrades as Kagami Uchiha used his Sharingan.
• Tsunade and Uzumaki Mito reached the Police Force and found the remaining Cloud Ninja fighting among themselves; Kagami closed his Sharingan, and Konoha overwhelmed the survivors.

After the failed encirclement, Hiruzen Sarutobi returned to Konoha and began using the crisis to secure Daimyo funding and plan a new war. Shiraishi Yoshijo prepared to negotiate with Hiruzen, while Konoha's leaders struggled to understand Hiruzen's drastic change in behavior.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi received the Daimyo's letter and withdrew after the encirclement failed, while Shiraishi Yoshijo realized the Aburame Clan's insects had countered his techniques.
• Shiraishi Yoshijo read a message from Orochimaru, then told the clan heads to attend talks with Hiruzen in three days as he left to meet the Daimyo.
• Hatake Sakumo angrily challenged Hiruzen about the casualties, but Hiruzen insisted that compromise with Shiraishi Yoshijo was necessary.
• Hiruzen learned Konoha had suffered a surprise attack by Kumogakure and that Kushina had died, then ordered inflated loss estimates to seek money from the Daimyo.
• Hiruzen told his advisors to prepare for war with the Land of Wind and said he would persuade the Daimyo to send Shiraishi Yoshijo against Kumogakure.
• Danzo told the advisors that Hiruzen had used Impure World Reincarnation to summon the previous Hokage, leaving them shocked by his behavior.

Shiraishi Yoshijo negotiated with the Daimyo over rebuilding the Ninja Military Academy and faced the ministers’ accusations about his actions and possible ties to Kumogakure. The Daimyo rejected a new academy in Chobyakucho but ordered its residents relocated to the academy site, leaving Shiraishi Yoshijo with the resources to proceed under the Daimyo’s authority.

• Shiraishi Yoshijo warned the Daimyo that Explosive Tags in the academy’s stone bricks made rebuilding faster than removing them, and said the scandal could isolate the Land of Fire.
• Yamamoto Kagemori challenged Shiraishi Yoshijo over establishing a foothold in Chobyakucho and accused him of colluding with the Raikage; Shiraishi Yoshijo denied it and blamed a possible intelligence leak from the Hokage’s side.
• The Daimyo told Shiraishi Yoshijo that his status had changed and ordered him to remove the Explosive Tags rather than build a new academy.
• Shiraishi Yoshijo proposed moving the academy to Chobyakucho, but Yamamoto Kagemori objected that the town was too close to the capital.
• The Daimyo ordered Chobyakucho’s residents relocated to the academy site and said officials would cooperate with Shiraishi Yoshijo.

Shiraishi Yoshijo secured his position as director of the Military Academy after meeting with the Land of Fire's Daimyo, who also learned Yuexiang intended to marry him. He then met Orochimaru near Konoha and received the Hashirama Cells, but their exchange ended with a tense warning.

• Shiraishi Yoshijo agreed to proceed with negotiations with Konoha and accepted the Daimyo's appointment as director of the Military Academy.
• The Daimyo warned Yamamoto Kagemori to monitor Shiraishi Yoshijo and told Zhixiong to cut ties with Konoha.
• Yuexiang told the Daimyo she had chosen Shiraishi Yoshijo as her future husband and said the match could bind him to the Land of Fire.
• Shiraishi Yoshijo flew to a forest near Konoha and found Orochimaru emerging from a summoned python.
• Orochimaru handed Shiraishi Yoshijo a bottle containing Hashirama Cells, then challenged him to try killing him.