Recaps

Kinnara’s group defeated Iwagakure ninjas and reasoned that Ōnoki would blame Konoha rather than risk losing the benefits of Kinnara’s Wood Release. Sarutobi Toru collected four transformed White Zetsu, then watched his three disciples battle a large mercenary group at its headquarters.

• Pakura, Rasa, Captain Keiji, and Kinnara defeated a group of Iwagakure ninjas, but the survivors died after Sharingan appeared in their eyes.
• Kinnara explained that Ōnoki would likely pin the killings on Konoha to preserve the benefits of his Wood Release, and the group hurried toward Iwagakure.
• Chiyo followed the group after inspecting the battlefield, while Sarutobi Toru arrived and turned four corpses into White Zetsu seeds.
• Sarutobi Toru returned to watch Uchiha Fugaku, Hyuga Hiashi, and Akimichi Choza fight dozens of mercenary ninjas at their headquarters.
• Hyuga Hiashi and Uchiha Fugaku killed their opponents while Akimichi Choza kept the mercenaries from surrounding them.

Sarutobi Toru ended his disciples’ brutal two-month training after they held their own against a large group of mercenary ninja, then sold information about Hyuga Hiashi and Uchiha Fugaku at the black market. Meanwhile, Kinnara’s Sunagakure team arrived at Iwagakure to form an alliance and heard about the village’s defenses.

• Sarutobi Toru judged that Hyuga Hiashi, Uchiha Fugaku, and Akimichi Choza had passed their training after they fought dozens of mercenary ninja until he intervened and killed the survivors.
• Sarutobi Toru told his exhausted disciples to continue training on their own and left them in the valley.
• Hyuga Hiashi, Uchiha Fugaku, and Akimichi Choza rested, treated their wounds, and searched the valley for spoils.
• Sarutobi Toru sold black-market intelligence that Hyuga Hiashi belonged to the main family and Uchiha Fugaku had awakened the Three Tomoe.
• Rasa and Pakura asked an Iwagakure guide about the village’s difficult mountain access, while Kinnara considered its defenses overrated.

Kinnara and the Sunagakure team met Two-Scales Ōnoki at Iwagakure, where they discussed the missing Iwagakure squads and demonstrated Kinnara’s Wood Release. Ōnoki was excited by its potential to improve the Land of Stone, but pretended to doubt that the technique was truly Wood Release.

• Two-Scales Ōnoki confronted Captain Keiji and the Sunagakure team at Iwagakure’s gate, while Rōshi revealed that Ōnoki had grown taller with Konoha’s Growth Medicine.
• Ōnoki took the group to Iwagakure’s Anbu Training Ground and questioned them about the missing squads in the Land of Rain.
• Captain Keiji explained that the missing Iwagakure ninjas had Sharingan marks in their eyes, and Ōnoki challenged his account.
• Kinnara used Wood Release: Art of the Blooming Grasses to cover the training ground in tall grass.
• Ōnoki silently welcomed the technique’s potential to improve the Land of Stone, then publicly questioned whether the weak-looking grass was really Wood Release.

Kinnara demonstrated his Wood Release to Ōnoki, prompting Iwagakure to pursue an alliance with Sunagakure and reveal Kinnara’s power at the Chunin Exam. Meanwhile, Sarutobi Toru’s battered disciples returned to Konoha and began to suspect he had arranged the bounty hunters’ attacks.

• Kinnara used Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence to capture Rōshi and a young Iwagakure shinobi before releasing them at Ōnoki’s command.
• Ōnoki accepted that Iwagakure could not keep Kinnara and agreed with Captain Keiji to attend the Chunin Exam alongside Sunagakure.
• Ōnoki planned to travel with the Kazekage to the Land of Iron and use Kinnara’s Wood Release to test Konoha’s reaction.
• Uchiha Fugaku, Hyuga Hiashi, and Akimichi Choza returned to Konoha badly injured after fending off bounty hunters.
• Sarutobi Toru greeted his disciples at the gate, and the trio suspected he had exposed them and arranged the attacks.

Sarutobi Toru gave his three disciples half a month to recover before the Chunin Exam, while the Sunagakure and Iwagakure teams arrived in the cold Land of Iron. Kinnara learned that the exam might include a written test, leaving the teams to prepare for a broader test of their abilities.

• Sarutobi Toru treated his three disciples and told them to rest for half a month before the Chunin Exam.
• Pakura shivered in the Land of Iron, and Kinnara lent her his cloak as Rasa and the others watched their affection.
• Kitsuchi led the Sunagakure and Iwagakure teams to the inn, where ninja from smaller villages had already gathered.
• Kinnara reported that the Chunin Exam might include a written test, and Rasa considered how the exam was changing.

At the Chunin Exam gathering, Kinnara sensed a Frost Shinobi’s unusual Chakra and recognized his soul as Nawaki, though Nawaki seemed to have lost his memories and was being possessed by Black Zetsu. Kinnara provoked and attacked him, and Nawaki left the inn with two White Zetsu companions rather than expose himself further.

• Pakura and Kinnara considered whether the gathered candidates could pass the written test.
• Kinnara sensed a Frost Shinobi and identified his soul as Nawaki, detecting White Zetsu’s Chakra and another hidden presence within him.
• Kinnara confronted Uchiha Hitomi, the identity Nawaki was using, and forced him down after accusing him of staring.
• Black Zetsu warned Nawaki not to attack, while his two White Zetsu companions pulled him away.
• Nawaki angrily abandoned the Chunin Exam and stormed out with his companions.

Kinnara drove off Uchiha Hitomi and Black Zetsu after testing them and secretly marked Hitomi with the Flying Thunder God Technique. As the Chunin Exam approached, more village teams and leaders arrived in the Land of Iron, including Konoha’s delegation and the Third Kazekage and Tsuchikage.

• Uchiha Hitomi and his companions fled the inn, while Black Zetsu reassured Hitomi that Konoha would not pursue them.
• Kinnara told Rasa and the others that the Frost Village ninjas likely had a separate target, and privately reflected that he had marked Hitomi’s scalp with a Flying Thunder God seal.
• Kinnara decided to have his main body investigate Nawaki’s matter and waited at the inn as the Kumogakure and Kirigakure teams arrived.
• Kitsuchi taught Kinnara the Earth Spear and Rock Fist, apparently at Ōnoki’s prompting because Ōnoki coveted Kinnara’s Wood Release.
• Konoha’s ninjas arrived two days before the exam, alongside the Third Kazekage and the Tsuchikage, and Akimichi Choza and Uchiha Fugaku discussed the Land of Iron’s samurai.

Sarutobi Toru warned his students not to underestimate samurai, then encountered the Third Kazekage and Third Tsuchikage at the Chunin Exam. The two Kage discussed their plan to reveal Kinnara’s Wood Release despite the danger posed by Toru.

• Sarutobi Toru told Uchiha Fugaku, Hyuga Hiashi, and their teammate that their abilities gave them advantages over samurai but did not make them invincible.
• Rasa and the Third Kazekage arrived with Two-Scales Ōnoki and Iwagakure ninja, and Sarutobi Toru teased Ōnoki about his supposed secondary development.
• Uchiha Fugaku and Hyuga Hiashi suspected the Kazekage and Tsuchikage were plotting together, but Sarutobi Toru told them to focus on winning the Chunin Exam.
• Two-Scales Ōnoki warned the Third Kazekage that Sarutobi Toru had powerful Nintaijutsu and might know the Flying Thunder God Technique.
• The Third Kazekage agreed with Ōnoki that Sunagakure should reveal Kinnara’s Wood Release rather than keep it hidden.

The Chunin Exam in the Land of Iron advanced to its final round, where Kinnara’s team faced Konoha’s three-man team. Kinnara revealed his Wood Release and trapped Akimichi Choza, leaving the match underway.

• Mifune presided over the Chunin Exam as the written round, preliminaries, and quarterfinals eliminated most competitors.
• Kitsuchi’s Iwagakure team fought Uchiha Fugaku, Hyuga Hiashi, and Akimichi Choza in the semifinals before Kitsuchi surrendered.
• Rasa defeated Kirigakure’s ninja in the other semifinal while Kinnara watched.
• Kinnara’s team and Konoha’s team began the final round as Pakura and Rasa retreated and Kinnara used Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence.
• Kinnara’s trees filled the arena, and branches cocooned Akimichi Choza after Hyuga Hiashi warned him that it was the First Hokage’s Wood Release.

Kinnara’s Wood Release won Sunagakure the match, prompting Sarutobi Toru to challenge the Third Kazekage and Two-Scales Ōnoki. At a mountain battlefield, Sarutobi Toru revealed he could fly using sand and exposed the secret behind Sunagakure’s Sand Manipulation Technique.

• Kinnara’s Wood Release trapped Uchiha Fugaku, Hyuga Hiashi, and Akimichi Choza, and Mifune declared Sunagakure the winner.
• The Third Kazekage and Two-Scales Ōnoki prepared to fight Sarutobi Toru, who challenged them over Kinnara’s Wood Release.
• Mifune led Sarutobi Toru, the Third Kazekage, and Ōnoki outside the city to avoid destroying the arena and endangering spectators.
• Ōnoki and the Third Kazekage attacked Sarutobi Toru and took to the air, but Sarutobi Toru rose on a cloud of yellow sand.
• Sarutobi Toru identified the Sand Manipulation Technique as a tool-control method and explained how Sunagakure refined special sand and Iron Sand.

Sarutobi Toru fought Ōnoki and the Third Kazekage to a draw while Kinnara kept their attention at the Chunin Exam. After the battle, Sarutobi Toru returned to the arena and confronted Kinnara, beginning the final act of their show.

• The Third Kazekage and Ōnoki fought Sarutobi Toru, who used the Sand Manipulation Technique and Sage Mode to keep them at a disadvantage without defeating them.
• Kinnara raised a giant tree in the arena while Uchiha Fugaku and the other contestants remained tied up below him.
• After more than half an hour, Sarutobi Toru ended the battle in an anticlimactic draw and warned the Third Kazekage not to let Kinnara die.
• The Third Kazekage and Ōnoki hurried toward the arena, fearing Sarutobi Toru would attack Kinnara.
• Kinnara's disciples worried about failing the exam and facing their teacher's harsh training, while Kinnara listened without revealing his identity.
• Sarutobi Toru returned in a streak of lightning, broke through Kinnara's Wood Release, and appeared before him.

After Sarutobi Toru ended his staged fight with Kinnara and took Uchiha Fugaku and the others back to Konoha, Kinnara earned worldwide fame and a Jōnin promotion. In Konoha, Danzo questioned Toru about Kinnara’s Wood Release, but Toru explained that it came from scarce White Zetsu bodies already assigned to others.

• Sarutobi Toru stopped pretending to fight, freed Uchiha Fugaku and the others, and vanished with them.
• Kinnara told the Third Kazekage and Ōnoki he had relied on Wood Clones to hold Sarutobi Toru back, and Ōnoki praised his strength.
• The Chunin Exam ended with Kinnara famous across the Shinobi World, and the Third Kazekage promoted him to Jōnin upon his return to Sunagakure.
• Sarutobi Toru returned to Konoha with Uchiha Fugaku and the other two, then answered Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzō’s questions about Kinnara’s Wood Release.
• Sarutobi Toru said Wood Release required White Zetsu bodies and told Danzo to ask Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Hiruko for theirs.

Sarutobi Toru defended his decision to keep the Wood Release research secret and assured Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzō that Kinnara remained under his control. He revealed a hidden flaw in Kinnara’s Wood Release that could devastate the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth, leaving the two elders shocked by the scale of his scheme.

• Sarutobi Toru told Shimura Danzō that Orochimaru, Hiruko, and Tsunade would never hand over White Zetsu, and Sarutobi Hiruzen defended the young researchers’ work.
• Sarutobi Toru claimed he could strip Kinnara of his Wood Release and life, reassuring Shimura Danzō that the Sunagakure ninja remained under Konoha’s control.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen asked about Sunagakure’s plan to use Wood Release to improve the Land of Wind, and Sarutobi Toru explained that the desert’s lack of water would limit its initial gains.
• Sarutobi Toru revealed that he could destroy Kinnara’s trees across hundreds of miles, draining the soil and leaving land barren for centuries.
• Shimura Danzō and Sarutobi Hiruzen reacted with alarm as Sarutobi Toru described using the trap to keep the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth from defying Konoha.

Kinnara learned about Rōran’s underground water and Dragon Vein as Sunagakure discussed cooperating with the city. In Konoha, Sarutobi Toru’s plan to use Wood Release to bind the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth to Konoha drew concern, while Tsunade reflected on the cost of war; Toru kept quiet about a boy who might have been Nawaki.

• Kinnara heard Sunagakure’s scholars propose using Wood Release to green the Land of Wind and learned that Rōran held underground currents and a powerful source of Chakra energy.
• The Third Kazekage rejected taking Rōran by force, and the scholars proposed cooperating with it to divert some of its underground river.
• Kinnara decided that Rōran might be a good place to investigate the Dragon Vein.
• Sarutobi Toru left the Hokage’s Office after presenting his plan, while Konoha’s two High Command members stayed behind to discuss it.
• Sarutobi Toru told Tsunade about the plan, and they discussed whether peace built through it was preferable to war.
• Sarutobi Toru chose not to tell Tsunade about the suspicious Frost Village boy who might have been Nawaki.

Uzumaki Kushina and Uzumaki Kanao asked Sarutobi Toru about becoming Chunin, but Kanao revealed that they actually wanted him to be their team leader. The chapter ended with Sarutobi Toru waiting to hear more about their request.

• Sarutobi Toru returned to the Senju Estate, trained, and ate breakfast with Tsunade, Uzumaki Kushina, and Uzumaki Kanao.
• After Tsunade left for Konoha Hospital, Uzumaki Kushina asked Sarutobi Toru when they could become Chunin.
• Sarutobi Toru decided Kushina and Kanao were strong enough for promotion and offered to file a report for them.
• Uzumaki Kanao clarified that she and Kushina wanted Sarutobi Toru to become their team leader.

Uzumaki Kushina and Uzumaki Kanao persuaded Sarutobi Toru to give them special training, while he reflected on the dead ends in his research and began investigating whether a boy in the Land of Rain was really Nawaki. He traveled to Konoha’s Martyrs' Cemetery to inspect Nawaki’s coffin.

• Uzumaki Kushina and Uzumaki Kanao asked Sarutobi Toru to lead them as a team, but he explained that his Root work did not involve team leadership.
• Sarutobi Toru agreed to give Kushina and Kanao special training every evening, realizing they had used their request to get him to train them.
• Sarutobi Toru considered how his Human Immortal Martial Way, Ghost Immortal, and Sage cultivation research had reached dead ends.
• Sarutobi Toru wondered whether the boy marked by his Flying Thunder God Technique in the Land of Rain was Nawaki and considered checking Nawaki’s original corpse.
• Sarutobi Toru entered Konoha’s Martyrs' Cemetery in his Golden Spirit Body and approached Nawaki’s coffin.

Sarutobi Toru discovered that Nawaki’s corpse was a high-quality White Zetsu and considered creating a new identity to investigate Uchiha Madara’s plans. Meanwhile, Kinnara and Sunagakure’s delegation arrived in Rōran, where Queen Sēramu welcomed them as they sought to work with the Dragon Vein’s power.

• Sarutobi Toru stored Nawaki’s corpse, confirmed it had not decayed, and transformed it into a White Zetsu Seed with his Hormone Fruit ability.
• Sarutobi Toru wondered how Uchiha Madara had brainwashed Nawaki and decided he might need another Incarnation to investigate without exposing himself.
• Ebizo explained Rōran’s connection to the Land of Wind’s underground water and the Dragon Vein as Kinnara sensed the Dragon Vein’s powerful Chakra.
• Kinnara and his Sunagakure escort reached Rōran, where Queen Sēramu personally welcomed them.

Kinnara and the Sunagakure delegation visited Roran to plan a diversion of its underground waterways and inspect the Dragon Vein. The Dragon Vein stirred the Main God Fragment connected to Sarutobi Toru’s soul, prompting Toru to plan a separate trip to Roran after Kinnara’s group left.

• Queen Sēramu welcomed Ebizo and the Sunagakure delegation, and Roran’s scholars began reviewing maps of the underground waterways with them.
• Kinnara asked Queen Sara to show them the Dragon Vein, then toured Roran City and attended a welcoming banquet.
• The next morning, the delegation finalized the waterway-diversion plan and descended beneath Roran to inspect the Dragon Vein.
• Kinnara felt drawn to the Dragon Vein, and Sarutobi Toru realized the agitation came from the Main God Fragment attached to his soul.
• Queen Sara confirmed the Dragon Vein was stable and would not affect the plan, while Sarutobi Toru decided to visit Roran after the delegation departed.

After Kinnara and the Sunagakure team completed dozens of oases around Rōran, Ebizo planned a new greenbelt along the River of Rain. In Konoha, Sarutobi Toru trained Kushina and Kanao, whose painful defeat left Kushina embarrassed and seeking reassurance.

• Kinnara and the others spent four months creating dozens of oases along Rōran's underground water veins, covering an area equal to twenty percent of the Land of Wind's existing oases.
• Ebizo announced that the team would next develop a forested greenbelt along the River of Rain, and Kinnara looked forward to leaving Rōran.
• Sarutobi Toru watched Kushina and Kanao fight his Shadow Clone, which used pain-inducing Medical Ninjutsu and Earth Release to defeat them.
• Sarutobi Toru's counter to Kushina's Shadow Clones overwhelmed her with pain and caused her to lose control of her bladder.
• After Kushina changed clothes, she asked Sarutobi Toru whether she had performed badly, and he reassured her that her embarrassment was natural.

Kushina and Kanao teased each other about their embarrassing secrets while Sarutobi Toru traveled to Rōran and used his Hormone Fruit ability on Queen Sēramu. He asked the infatuated queen to take him to the Dragon Vein, but she hesitated because it was vital to Rōran.

• Kushina confessed her feelings for Sarutobi Toru and asked him to keep her accident secret.
• Kushina revealed that Kanao had secretly collected Sarutobi Toru’s underwear, and the two friends agreed to keep each other’s secrets.
• Sarutobi Toru traveled to Rōran and put Queen Sēramu’s guards to sleep with the Nirvana House Technique.
• Sarutobi Toru used the Hormone Fruit ability on Queen Sēramu, making her fall deeply in love with him.
• Sarutobi Toru asked Queen Sēramu to take him to the Dragon Vein, and she hesitated because of its importance to Rōran.

Sarutobi Toru charged the Main God Fragment with Dragon Vein energy, unlocking a function that detected a parallel Hokage World. After Queen Sēramu helped him, he promised to return to Rōran and revealed his name.

• Queen Sēramu led Sarutobi Toru to the Dragon Vein after he asked to see it.
• The Main God Fragment detected chargeable energy, and Queen Sēramu drew out Dragon Vein Chakra for Sarutobi Toru to absorb.
• After two hours of charging, the fragment activated its new-world detection function and found a parallel Hokage World.
• Sarutobi Toru stopped Queen Sēramu when she was exhausted, then promised he would return to see her.
• Sarutobi Toru told Queen Sēramu his name and that he was a ninja from Konoha Village in the Land of Fire.

Sarutobi Toru returned to Konoha and caught Jiraiya spying on a women’s bathhouse. After Jiraiya was captured and handed over to the furious bathers, Toru’s disciples realized their teacher had taken him and chose not to get involved.

• Sarutobi Toru surveyed Konoha’s growth and considered starting a high-tech research company.
• Sarutobi Toru spotted Jiraiya on the roof of a women’s bathhouse and alerted a patrolling Uchiha guard.
• Uchiha Fugaku, Hyuga Hiashi, and Akimichi Choza chased Jiraiya, while Sarutobi Toru captured him and sealed his Chakra.
• The women at the bathhouse beat Jiraiya as Sarutobi Toru watched.
• Hyuga Hiashi told Uchiha Fugaku that their teacher had caught Jiraiya, and Fugaku said they had seen nothing.

Sarutobi Toru prepared to travel to a Parallel World, leaving his Kinnara Clone active and telling Tsunade about his plans. He arrived at Rōran during Queen Sara’s coronation, where he stopped the Dragon Vein’s eruption and made Sara accept him as her hidden guard.

• Sarutobi Toru wondered how the changed Uchiha birth would affect Team Minato and resolved to keep its members together.
• Sarutobi Toru prepared Kinnara to remain active while he traveled, then told Tsunade about his plan to visit a Parallel World.
• Queen Sara struggled to calm the Dragon Vein as its energy surged on the day of her coronation.
• Sarutobi Toru arrived at the Dragon Vein and stopped its eruption, then tapped Sara’s forehead to make her more obedient.
• Sara emerged with Sarutobi Toru and told the guards he was her trusted hidden guard, allowing the coronation ceremony to continue.

Sarutobi Toru studied Rōran’s records, learned how this parallel world differed from his own, and used Sara’s help to absorb Dragon Vein energy so he could stay longer. He chose Uchiha Shisui as his next target and prepared to leave Rōran, prompting Sara to ask if he was going away.

• After the guards left, Princess Sara celebrated how well she had handled the situation, and Sarutobi Toru asked her for access to historical records and international intelligence.
• With Sara’s authorization, Sarutobi Toru read Rōran’s library materials and found differences between this world and his own, including the absence of Hoshigakure and the Land of Demons.
• Sarutobi Toru learned that the Third Shinobi World War was nearing its end and concluded he had missed the chance to turn Uchiha Obito into a Clone, so he chose Uchiha Shisui as his next target.
• Over the following days, Queen Sara helped Sarutobi Toru absorb Dragon Vein energy, extending his stay in this world by several months.
• Sarutobi Toru said it was time to leave Rōran, and Sara anxiously asked whether he was leaving.

Sarutobi Toru left Rōran and encountered three Sunagakure shinobi in the desert, hoping to question them about the current political situation. After killing two and smashing the oldest shinobi’s puppet, he forced the survivor to reveal himself, but the interrogation had not yet begun.

• Sarutobi Toru promised Queen Sara he would return, and the next morning she noticed her inherited Chakra and physical strength had increased.
• While crossing the Land of Wind desert, Sarutobi Toru sensed three Sand Shinobi and overheard them discuss the war with the Mist, Pakura, Sasori, and the Third Kazekage’s death.
• Sarutobi Toru appeared before the three Sand Shinobi and asked them to answer his questions peacefully, but the oldest secretly signaled and ordered an attack.
• Sarutobi Toru killed the white-headscarfed and smaller Sand Shinobi, taking the smaller shinobi’s signal flare.
• The oldest Sand Shinobi attacked with poison needles and smoke, but Sarutobi Toru’s punch destroyed what proved to be his puppet.
• Sarutobi Toru called out the oldest Sand Shinobi, who crawled out from the ground.