Chapter Summaries

Hiroki discovered that [Muscle Growth Manager.sys] controlled muscle growth and drafted a patch to trigger growth without exercise. He decided to test it on mice before considering how to help Kushina become stronger.

• Hiroki opened [Muscle Growth Manager.sys] and found its layered system for controlling movement, fatigue, and muscle growth.
• He drafted a patch that simulated fatigue and bypassed the usual exercise-related growth trigger.
• Hiroki added safety checks to limit growth according to protein and energy reserves.
• He considered using the technique on other people but decided to focus on testing it first.
• Hiroki rejected experimenting on himself and set off to catch mice in the forest.

Orochimaru returned to Root, where Danzō told him about Sawada Hiroki’s unusual Kekkei Genkai and considered shaping him into a replacement for the Uchiha. Meanwhile, Hiroki’s muscle-growth script produced a dramatically enlarged rat, but the test subject suddenly stopped moving.

• Orochimaru reported to Danzō after completing his mission, and Danzō explained Hiroki’s abilities and his plan to use the boy against the Uchiha.
• A Root shinobi reported that Hiroki had stayed home and caught two mice, prompting Orochimaru to suggest assessing Hiroki and the animals himself.
• Hiroki recorded that his script had caused a rat to gain 107 grams of muscle in a week, far surpassing the control rat.
• Hiroki’s experimental rat twitched, stopped moving, and left a pungent smell of urine in its cage.

Hiroki discovered that his muscle-growth experiment had killed a mouse through acute kidney failure, while Orochimaru investigated Hiroki’s unusual Kekkei Genkai. Orochimaru went to question Hiruzen so he could learn more about the boy and decide how to test him.

• Hiroki found Pointy-headed Mouse dead and realized its disappearance from his mental system meant it had shut down.
• Hiroki performed an autopsy and found that the mouse’s overworked kidneys had failed under the strain of continuous muscle growth.
• Hiroki concluded that he needed to lower the growth settings and planned to catch more mice for future experiments.
• Orochimaru reviewed Kushina’s and Hiroki’s files, noting that Hiroki’s sudden change followed the Cloud Village kidnapping incident.
• Orochimaru went to the Hokage’s office to ask Hiruzen for more information and consider how to test Hiroki’s Kekkei Genkai.

Hiroki and Kushina waited for Orochimaru to return, then were summoned to Training Ground 44 for an assessment. Before meeting them, Orochimaru inspected Hiroki’s animal experiments and grew suspicious of his unexplained knowledge.

• Kushina complained to Hiroki that Orochimaru had been away on a mission for two weeks, while Hiroki reflected on his progress with his Memory Disk and muscle-growth experiments.
• A family recognized Hiroki and Kushina at the ramen shop and asked them to sign their young son’s back, prompting the two to leave for the hills.
• An Anbu Ninja informed Hiroki and Kushina that Orochimaru had returned and ordered them to Training Ground 44 for a personal assessment.
• Orochimaru secretly visited Hiroki’s home and examined the control, failed-experiment, and successful-experiment animal groups.
• Orochimaru wondered where Hiroki had learned to conduct experiments and considered whether he might be a Cloud Ninja spy.

Hiroki and Kushina met Orochimaru in the Forest of Death, where his test triggered a strange attack that overloaded Hiroki’s System Resource Monitor. Hiroki’s sudden confession distracted Kushina, but a green snake emerged from his throat and strangled him, leaving his fate unclear.

• Kushina complained about the Forest of Death as she followed Hiroki to meet Orochimaru.
• Orochimaru appeared from the shadows and announced that their test had begun.
• Hiroki’s System Resource Monitor warned of an anomaly as its CPU and memory readings surged.
• Under the attack, Hiroki confessed his feelings to Kushina, who became flustered and asked to talk after the test.
• A green snake crawled out of Hiroki’s throat, coiled around his neck, and knocked him to the ground.

Orochimaru investigated Sawada Hiroki by questioning one of his classmates, who described Hiroki as quiet and difficult to remember. Meanwhile, Hiroki realized Orochimaru was repeatedly injecting Genjutsu through an active connection and spotted the source of the signal.

• Orochimaru visited the Academy grounds and asked a student what Sawada Hiroki was like.
• The student said Hiroki was quiet, kept to himself, and seemed like a shadow in the classroom.
• Orochimaru suspected Hiroki behaved more like an adult trying to avoid notice than an ordinary child.
• Hiroki used his mental Task Manager to stop a Hell Viewing Technique process, but another Genjutsu process immediately appeared.
• Hiroki realized Orochimaru was sustaining the attack through a high-privilege connection and needed a way to block it.
• Hiroki spotted an active WiFi connection labeled Orochimaru-Open-Signal.

Hiroki used a mental firewall to block Orochimaru’s genjutsu attacks, adapting it to stop malicious processes, disguised programs, and overwhelming system strain. He stabilized his mind, while Orochimaru’s Shadow Clone ran low on chakra.

• Hiroki identified Orochimaru’s forced mental connection and created a firewall to intercept genjutsu attacks.
• Hiroki terminated the Hell Viewing Technique and blocked the Nirvana Hermitage Technique, escaping the first genjutsu and returning to reality.
• Hiroki detected and removed a disguised svchost.exe process, causing Orochimaru’s venomous-snake illusion to break apart and vanish.
• Orochimaru launched a direct assault that overloaded Hiroki’s mind, so Hiroki wrote an emergency routine to limit resource usage and stabilize himself.
• Orochimaru’s Shadow Clone realized its chakra was nearly exhausted as it prepared to continue the attack.

Hiroki passed Orochimaru’s assessment by defending against his Genjutsu, while Orochimaru recognized Hiroki’s unusual resistance and wondered whether his reluctance to attack was a weakness. Afterward, Kushina resolved to seek Grandma Mito’s help so she could grow strong enough to stand beside Hiroki.

• Orochimaru ended the assessment and told Hiroki to meet him at the same time and place the next day.
• Orochimaru received his Shadow Clone’s memories and realized Hiroki could dismantle Genjutsu without using the standard release technique.
• Orochimaru suspected Hiroki’s passive approach to combat might be a weakness, despite knowing Hiroki could attack through physical contact.
• Hiroki passed the assessment, and Kushina reflected on how often he had solved dangers while she had been helpless.
• Kushina remembered Grandma Mito’s offer of help and decided to ask her how to become stronger.

Orochimaru concealed Kushina’s true abilities from Danzō, who ordered him to shape her into a weapon for Konoha. Hiroki returned home after his test and found Orochimaru waiting for him.

• Orochimaru reported that Kushina had great chakra and vitality but downplayed her talent and claimed she struggled against high-level Genjutsu.
• Danzō suspected Orochimaru was withholding information, but accepted his denial of betraying Konoha and ordered him to make Kushina an obedient weapon for the village.
• Danzō wondered whether Hiroki’s Kekkei Genkai had abilities beyond copying and reading memories, and considered seeking clues from the Second Hokage.
• Hiroki returned home, intending to review his battle with Orochimaru and investigate the forced “WiFi Connection.”
• Hiroki entered his room and found Orochimaru waiting by his workbench, playing with a large, muscular rat.

Orochimaru confronted Sawada Hiroki about his secret experiments and knowledge, while Hiroki tried to hide the truth behind a fabricated Kekkei Genkai. Orochimaru concluded that Hiroki had ties to the Second Hokage and offered to help him develop his abilities in exchange for that knowledge, leaving Hiroki baffled.

• Orochimaru appeared in Hiroki’s room, examined his caged test subjects, and deduced the purpose and flaws of Hiroki’s muscle-growth experiments.
• Hiroki calmed himself and claimed his Kekkei Genkai let him perceive the essence of life, but Orochimaru challenged his explanation and demanded his experiment log.
• Orochimaru reasoned that Hiroki’s unusual knowledge came from the Second Hokage’s research and that Hiroki might have been one of his test subjects.
• Orochimaru warned Hiroki that weakness was a sin and offered to help him develop his Kekkei Genkai if he shared what he had learned from the Second Hokage.
• Hiroki was left confused by Orochimaru’s claim that his knowledge came from Senju Tobirama.

Hiroki weighed how to respond when Orochimaru demanded knowledge of the Second Hokage, then offered a cautious compromise by admitting he had unexplained knowledge and abilities. Orochimaru agreed to help develop them, and the chapter ended with a visitor announcing she would become the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.

• Hiroki considered the risks of agreeing to Orochimaru's demand or refusing him and decided to neither confirm nor deny what he knew.
• Hiroki told Orochimaru he did not know about the Second Hokage's knowledge but did possess unexplained knowledge and abilities, and asked for help developing them.
• Orochimaru accepted Hiroki's offer and promised access to experiments, ninjutsu users, and his expertise.
• Orochimaru offered to teach the girl Chunin training at the training ground the next day or take Hiroki to his lab immediately.
• A girl knocked at the door and shouted to Hiroki that she knew how to get stronger and would become the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.

Hiroki learned that Kushina wanted to become the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki to grow stronger and prove herself, and he promised to help her pursue strength and become Hokage. Determined to change the Shinobi World, he began experiments with Orochimaru and continued after his first test subject died.

• Kushina told Hiroki that Grandma Mito had explained the risks of becoming the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, but she still wanted to catch up to him and become Konoha's first female Hokage.
• Hiroki promised Kushina he would support her, urged her to study Fuinjutsu first, and vowed they would grow stronger and change Konoha together.
• Hiroki resolved to gain enough strength to change the Shinobi World and agreed to begin Orochimaru's Muscle Automation Growth Technique experiment.
• Hiroki asked Orochimaru to confirm that the hooded test subjects were criminals who deserved to die, then began the experiment.
• A test subject died from catastrophic physical effects, and Hiroki told Orochimaru to continue.

Hiroki analyzed why his first human trial killed its subject and rewrote the muscle-growth program to limit its targets and intensity while monitoring vital resources. He began a second experiment, and early readings suggested the new safeguards were keeping the subject stable.

• Hiroki reviewed the failed trial and suspected the script’s global, maximum-strength instructions overwhelmed a human body’s resources.
• Hiroki replaced the global instruction with a required target muscle group and set growth intensity to a conservative 5%.
• Hiroki added real-time monitoring of blood calcium and pH, emergency shutdowns, and work-rest cycles, completing muscle_sustainable_growth_v0.2.bat.
• Hiroki executed the new program on the second criminal despite the subject’s terror.
• Researchers reported that blood calcium had dropped 3% but remained relatively stable, while lactate and heart rhythm stayed within safe ranges.

Hiroki planned a controlled test of the Muscle Patch and tested his chakra natures to investigate why Lightning Style: False Darkness had exhausted him. He discovered he lacked Lightning nature and asked Orochimaru to teach him a compatible jutsu and Shadow Clone.

• Hiroki divided the remaining prisoners into experimental and control groups and required a double-blind study to assess the Muscle Patch.
• Hiroki explained the placebo effect to Orochimaru and the researchers, then received Orochimaru's approval to lead the experiment.
• Hiroki tested a chakra paper and showed Water, Wind, and Fire natures, but no Lightning nature.
• The researchers speculated that Hiroki had forced himself to imitate Lightning Release, explaining why using Lightning Style: False Darkness had drained him.
• Hiroki decided to learn a jutsu compatible with his chakra natures and asked Orochimaru to teach him Shadow Clone.

Sawada Hiroki copied ninjutsu from Yakushi Jiro’s memories and successfully used Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere, revealing his ability to Orochimaru. Meanwhile, Shimura Danzo sent a Root ninja to Orochimaru’s laboratory to investigate what he was hiding.

• Hiroki connected to Yakushi Jiro and began copying the Shadow Clone Technique, Vacuum Sphere, and other files, but Jiro’s awareness triggered a memory seal that blocked the transfer.
• Hiroki used his Brain Overload Script to stop Jiro from resisting, resumed copying, and realized that the mastery labels on copied files reflected their owners’ own assessments.
• Hiroki finished copying the files and demonstrated Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere, impressing Orochimaru with how quickly he had learned it.
• Hiroki noticed the technique had barely drained his battery and concluded that his ability could help him test and analyze ninjutsu.
• Shimura Danzo ordered a Root ninja to visit Orochimaru’s laboratory, while privately deciding that Yakushi Jiro should also be dealt with.

Uzuki infiltrated Orochimaru’s laboratory to investigate his younger brother Jiro and dismissed Hiroki as an ordinary child. When Hiroki touched Jiro, Uzuki became convinced he was reading Jiro’s memories and rushed out to stop him, though Uzuki briefly wondered if Hiroki had been influencing his thoughts.

• Uzuki entered Konoha’s underground through secret Root routes and sensed Orochimaru’s laboratory from a safe distance.
• Uzuki detected Orochimaru, his younger brother Jiro, and Hiroki among the people inside, but judged Hiroki’s chakra to be unremarkable.
• Uzuki worried that Hiroki might be able to detect or read minds, then dismissed the possibility and blamed his distracted thoughts on concern for Jiro.
• When Hiroki placed a hand on Jiro’s shoulder, Uzuki decided Hiroki was reading Jiro’s memories and copying his ninjutsu.
• Uzuki rushed toward the laboratory to stop Hiroki, briefly wondering whether he had been having too many thoughts since sensing the boy.

Uzuki stormed into Orochimaru’s lab to rescue his brother, Yakushi Jiro, and attacked Sawada Hiroki’s Shadow Clone. Just as Uzuki was about to strike, his thoughts abruptly stalled, leaving him open to a wind bullet through the chest.

• Uzuki burst into Orochimaru’s underground lab and found Yakushi Jiro bound to a chair.
• Orochimaru asked Sawada Hiroki whether he wanted Uzuki taken care of, and Hiroki silently formed a Shadow Clone.
• Uzuki became strangely convinced that Hiroki and Orochimaru needed to learn basic courtesy, then attacked Hiroki’s Shadow Clone with Chakra Scalpels.
• Hiroki’s Shadow Clone fired Vacuum Spheres, which Uzuki sliced apart as he rushed in to kill it.
• Uzuki’s mind stalled before he could complete his attack, and a wind bullet pierced his chest.

Hiroki used a Shadow Clone and his ability to alter minds to defeat Root ninja Uzuki while copying Uzuki’s ninjutsu files. As Orochimaru deferred dealing with the wounded Uzuki, he asked Hiroki about the Third’s intentions and his final teammate.

• Hiroki detected Uzuki’s unusual WiFi signal and discovered that Danzo had sent him to investigate Orochimaru.
• Hiroki’s Shadow Clone disrupted Uzuki’s thoughts and defeated him with a Vacuum Sphere while Hiroki copied five ninjutsu files.
• Hiroki reflected on how his mind-hacking ability and Shadow Clone Technique had helped him, while remaining uncertain about Orochimaru’s abilities.
• The researchers watched Hiroki in astonishment, questioning how he had learned and used jutsu so quickly.
• Orochimaru told Hiroki to leave the wounded Uzuki alone for now, then asked whether Hiroki knew why the Third had assigned him as a teacher and who his last teammate would be.

Senju Tokuma and his allies plotted to kill Rope Tree, whom they saw as a threat to their political influence. They planned to hire bounty hunters to ambush Orochimaru’s team during its first mission outside the village.

• Senju Kenji told Senju Tokuma and Senju Ryosuke that Rope Tree had joined Orochimaru’s team with Uzumaki Kushina and Sawada Hiroki.
• Senju Ryosuke dismissed rumors about Sawada Hiroki’s strength, and Senju Tokuma insisted that Rope Tree was their only target.
• Senju Tokuma proposed luring Orochimaru away when the team went on a mission, while Senju Ryosuke suggested hiring foreign ninja to stage an ambush.
• Senju Tokuma ordered Senju Kenji to learn the details of the team’s first C-rank mission and sent Senju Ryosuke to hire bounty hunters through the Underground Exchange.
• Senju Ryosuke agreed to hire four jonin and promised to erase every trace of the plot.

Hiroki and Kushina met Tsunade and her younger brother Nawaki before joining Orochimaru's Team 7. As the team received its first mission, Hiroki remembered that Nawaki had died at twelve and realized that he might soon be in danger.

• Kushina urged Hiroki to hurry so they could meet their teacher, and told him that Mito had postponed her advanced Fuinjutsu training until she improved her chakra control.
• Hiroki and Kushina arrived at the Forest of Death and found Tsunade giving Nawaki Hashirama's necklace as he declared his dream of becoming Hokage.
• Orochimaru arrived and assigned Hiroki, Kushina, and Nawaki to Team 7.
• Orochimaru led Team 7 to the mission assignment office and gave them a D-Rank task to find the daimyo's wife's lost cat, Tora.
• Hiroki searched his memories and discovered that Nawaki had died at twelve during the Second Shinobi World War.