Chapter Summaries

Shuji joked with Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzō before rejoining Nawaki and Kushina at Training Ground 5. He told Nawaki that he had found a sister-in-law, revealing that he was together with Mikoto, and assured him the Uchiha situation was under control.

• Shuji joked about kicking Sarutobi Hiruzen and defecating in the Hokage's office, then left after Hiruzen told him to keep developing a new cultivation path for the village.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzō discussed their hopes for Shuji's technique while secretly training to sense Natural Energy themselves.
• Shuji arrived at Training Ground 5, where Nawaki asked why his supposed rescue mission had taken all night.
• Shuji teased Nawaki, then revealed that he had found a sister-in-law and confirmed that he was together with Mikoto.
• Nawaki worried about how Shuji would handle the Uchiha, and Shuji assured him that everything was under control.

Shuji learned that Hiashi was pursuing Hinagiku and hurried to the Hyuga estate, concerned about his younger sister’s future. He arrived at Hyuga Tokuhiro’s home and was welcomed inside, but had not yet confronted Hiashi.

• Shuji asked Kushina about the Nine-Tails and told it to seek him out if it was ready, then asked Nawaki to keep his actions from Mikoto.
• Kushina told Shuji that Hizashi was dating a branch-family girl and that Hiashi was pursuing Hinagiku.
• After Nawaki explained his concern about Hinagiku marrying into the Main Family, Shuji left for the Hyuga estate.
• Shuji greeted Hyuga Tokuhiro, who welcomed him into the sitting room for tea.

Shuji spoke with Hyuga Tokuhiro about Hinagiku’s Caged Bird seal, Hiashi, and his own romantic prospects. After learning that Hiashi was training in the dojo, Shuji went to see him with a chilling smile, leaving Tokuhiro to suspect his son was about to be beaten.

• Tokuhiro offered to help Shuji with anything except removing Hinagiku’s Caged Bird, which he said Shuji could remove if he learned how to undo the technique.
• Shuji said he would welcome Hiashi and Hinagiku’s relationship, and Tokuhiro expressed his hope that Hinagiku might marry into his family.
• Tokuhiro teased Shuji about having someone he liked, and Shuji said she was a girl from the Anbu without revealing her identity.
• Tokuhiro invited Shuji to stay for dinner and told him Hiashi was training in the dojo because Shuji and Nawaki had become Jonin.
• Shuji went to find Hiashi, and Tokuhiro realized Shuji likely intended to give his son a beating.

Shuji confronted Hiashi about his feelings for Hinagiku and told him to give her up because he was too weak. Hiashi vowed to prove himself, while Shuji left the decision about Hinagiku’s squad assignment to her feelings; Hyuga Tokuhiro then found Hiashi wondering whether to continue pursuing her.

• Hiashi trained until he collapsed, frustrated that Nawaki had become a Jonin before him.
• Shuji asked Hiashi whether he had slept with Hinagiku, and Hiashi said he had not.
• Shuji told Hiashi to give up on Hinagiku because he was too weak and said he would send her to the Root Division the next day.
• Hiashi vowed to prove himself and asked that Hinagiku remain in his squad, but Shuji said it depended on how important Hiashi was to her.
• Shuji left, and Hiashi punched the dojo doorframe before returning to the floor and thinking about Hinagiku.
• Hyuga Tokuhiro appeared at the dojo entrance and asked Hiashi if he was going to give up.

Tokuhiro confronted Hiashi about his hesitation and lack of responsibility toward Hinagiku, then urged him to prove himself by joining the Anbu. At Shuji’s home, Shuji took Hinagiku to his room to discuss something privately.

• Tokuhiro told Hiashi that his hesitation showed he was not ready to marry Hinagiku, and Hiashi insisted that he liked her but could not understand Shuji’s hostility.
• Tokuhiro pointed out that Hiashi had hidden his feelings when Hinagiku was present and challenged him to show responsibility rather than rely on his bond with Shuji or his clan status.
• Hiashi asked what he should do, and Tokuhiro told him to prove Shuji wrong by going to the Anbu before leaving him without dinner.
• Shuji stopped Hinagiku from going to train and took her by the hand to his room to speak with her privately.

Shuji confronted Hinagiku about liking Hiashi, then reassured her that he would find a way to free her from the Caged Bird rather than let her marry into the Main Family. He arranged for her to train under Orochimaru at the Root Division, urging her to master Sage Mode and her other jutsu before they sparred.

• Shuji asked Hinagiku if she liked Hiashi, and she said she did, so he threatened to tell Uncle Tokuhiro she wanted to marry the clan head.
• Hinagiku slammed the door shut to stop Shuji from leaving, startling Chinatsu and Kiyosada in the living room.
• Hinagiku clarified that she would not marry into the Main Family, and Shuji promised he would not let his little sister marry out as a Branch Family member.
• Hinagiku teased Shuji that she wanted to get married soon, and Shuji suggested that being alone could be nice too.
• Shuji told Hinagiku he would take her to the Root Division the next afternoon to train under Senior Orochimaru and master Sage Mode.
• Hinagiku asked to spar, but Shuji said she first needed to learn the jutsu he had assigned before they fought for real.

Shuji used the Flying Thunder God technique to dodge Hinagiku’s attack and make her smash a hole in the door, leaving her to face Chinatsu’s punishment while he escaped to Mikoto. Later, he told Mikoto that he had met a girl from the Shimura Clan at Danzo’s suggestion, and her Sharingan appeared as she reacted.

• Hinagiku tried to strike Shuji, but he vanished and used his control to make her palm smash through the door.
• Chinatsu sentenced Hinagiku to three hundred weighted rounds of Eight Trigrams Palms, and Kiyosada took her to the Dojo to supervise.
• Shuji escaped to Mikoto’s dormitory, where they embraced and kissed while he joked that he had helped Hinagiku train.
• Hinagiku completed one hundred rounds before Kiyosada admitted she could have done fewer, then ordered her back to training after she sprayed her drink on him.
• Shuji told Mikoto he had visited the Shimura Clan to meet a girl introduced by Danzo, and Mikoto’s Three-Tomoe Sharingan appeared.

Shuji reassured Mikoto that he was not angry and had not been seeing another girl, then asked Danzo to let Hinagiku train with Root. Danzo objected that Hyuga branch family members could not enter ANBU.

• Mikoto feared Shuji had kept another girl secret, but Shuji explained how he had spent the day and reassured her that he was not angry with her.
• Mikoto admitted her possessiveness and fear of losing Shuji, and the two drew close.
• The next morning, Shuji told Chinatsu he had been on an emergency rescue and saw Hinagiku react coldly to him at breakfast.
• Shuji visited Danzo with gifts and asked for Hinagiku to train with Root.
• Danzo expressed concern, saying members of the Hyuga branch family could not enter ANBU.

Shuji asked Danzo to let Hinagiku train in the Root Division, then discussed Nawaki’s progress and the growing conflict in the Land of Rain. Danzo tasked Shuji with continuing his training while he investigated Jiraiya’s former disciples.

• Danzo agreed that Hinagiku could train in the Root Division, and Shuji updated him on Nawaki’s progress with Sage Mode and the Flying Thunder God Technique.
• Danzo told Shuji that six hidden villages were backing rival factions in the Land of Rain, making a wider war likely.
• Danzo said Shuji should focus on training because the village would need him as a trump card in the future war.
• Shuji asked whether Jiraiya’s disciples in the Land of Rain could be used, and Danzo decided to investigate them.

Shuji told Danzo he would train Nawaki to master the Flying Thunder God Technique, then offered Hinagiku to assist Orochimaru with his experiments. While helping record lab data, Shuji explained that Orochimaru needed to calm his mind and learn to let go in order to sense Nen Energy.

• Shuji told Danzo he would watch Nawaki and try to teach him the Flying Thunder God Technique before returning to Shikkotsu Forest.
• Danzo gave Shuji a tin of new tea and, remembering that Hinagiku was joining Root, considered her as a possible match for a member of the Shimura Clan.
• Shuji visited Orochimaru's laboratory and suggested that Hinagiku could help with the experiments using her Byakugan.
• Orochimaru accepted the offer but put Shuji to work recording experimental data instead of letting him leave.
• Orochimaru asked why he could not sense Nen Energy, and Shuji advised him to calm his heart and learn to let go rather than abandon his work.

After Shuji returned to Konoha, he helped Nawaki train until Nawaki mastered the Yin Seal, the Flying Thunder God Technique, and Sage Mode. During their demonstration at Training Ground 5, Shuji revealed his newly evolved Byakugan’s space-time ability, leaving the onlookers stunned.

• Shuji left Orochimaru’s laboratory, and Orochimaru found Shuji’s notebook asking what he was supposed to record.
• Shuji teased Nawaki about his slow progress with the Flying Thunder God Technique as they rested near Training Ground 5.
• A month after Shuji returned to Konoha, Nawaki mastered the Yin Seal, the Flying Thunder God Technique, and Sage Mode.
• Nawaki challenged Shuji to test his newly awakened ocular technique while Sarutobi Hiruzen, Shimura Danzō, and the others watched.
• Nawaki sent golden-blue Nen Beads at Shuji, but Shuji used Byakugan: Etherealization to vanish bit by bit, revealing a space-time dōjutsu.

Shuji demonstrated his newly awakened space-related eye technique to Nawaki, then returned to Shikkotsu Forest to begin testing an idea with the Katsuyu Sage. The chapter left him preparing to use her acid in an experiment.

• Nawaki attacked Shuji with a Sage Mode Rasengan, but it passed through Shuji’s body because of his eye technique.
• Shuji explained that his eyes could see space and that Nen Energy had let him open a space of his own.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen ended the spar after Nawaki and Shuji had demonstrated their abilities, and Shuji returned to Shikkotsu Forest to train with the Katsuyu Sage.
• Shuji dug a pit, asked the Katsuyu Sage to fill it with acid, and tentatively dipped a finger into it.

Shuji intensified his body training with acid, then successfully condensed a drop of Nen Energy into liquid and began absorbing it into his body. He planned to use the liquid’s gradual evaporation to increase his Nen Energy, and the chapter ended as the drop produced a refreshing coolness inside him.

• Shuji entered the acid bath while using Nen Energy to protect parts of his body, and his Nen Energy repaired the tissue damaged by the acid.
• Shuji paused the acid training and used mental energy to compress the Nen Energy in a Nen Bead until a drop of golden liquid remained.
• Katsuyu Sage recognized that Shuji had liquefied Nen Energy and discussed how storing more of it could eventually overwhelm his body as it evaporated.
• Shuji began guiding the golden liquid into his body through his pores, and a refreshing coolness welled up inside him.

Shuji tested liquefied Nen Energy and discovered that a single droplet could pierce an Earth Wall and cause a powerful cyclone. He began measuring how long stored droplets lasted in his body, and after three hours found that they had barely diminished.

• Shuji condensed a golden Nen Energy droplet by hand over ten minutes and fired it through an Earth Wall, creating a cyclone that knocked down trees.
• Katsuyu Sage scolded Shuji for damaging the forest, then encouraged him not to rush his progress.
• Shuji realized that liquefied Nen Energy took too long to condense for combat and decided to store droplets in his body for faster use.
• Shuji created a shadow clone and used the Spirit Transformation Technique to record how stored droplets changed over time.
• After three hours of cultivation, Shuji found that his stored Nen Energy droplets had barely diminished, even under the Byakugan.

Shuji continued training to compress Nen Energy, while Mikoto accepted a mission to assassinate Salamander Hanzo in hopes of earning a promotion to captain of Konoha Anbu’s Second Division. The chapter left Mikoto preparing to depart for the Land of Rain and Shuji discovering that his body could hold only nine Nen Energy drops for now.

• Shuji created a Shadow Clone Technique to compress Nen Energy and continued working toward breaking through to the Seventh Gate.
• Mikoto reported to Sakumo, who praised her three years of Anbu service and discussed her qualifications to become a division captain.
• Sakumo told Mikoto she needed a significant mission to prove herself and suggested she assassinate Salamander Hanzo without Sen’s help.
• Mikoto accepted the mission, and Sakumo ordered her to rest for two days before setting out for the Land of Rain in three days.
• Shuji found that his body could hold only nine Nen Energy drops, which left his lower abdomen cold and swollen.

Shuji considered using Sealing Techniques to make Nen circulate automatically while training, then left shadow clones to research the idea. After Mikoto returned from a mission, she told him she had been assigned to assassinate Salamander Hanzo, and Shuji asked her to notify him before she went.

• Shuji thought Nen Tattoos might guide Nen through the body and assigned shadow clones to investigate whether Sealing Techniques could do the same.
• Katsuyu Sage asked Shuji about his Nen capacity and laughed with him before he vanished from Shikkotsu Forest to answer a ninja's request for support.
• Shuji appeared in Mikoto's Anbu dormitory, where she welcomed him and they embraced.
• Shuji noticed Mikoto seemed troubled and pressed her to explain what was wrong.
• Mikoto revealed she had been ordered to assassinate Salamander Hanzo of Amegakure for a chance to become a squad leader.
• Shuji judged Mikoto strong enough for the mission but told her to notify him before carrying it out.

Shuji reassured Mikoto about her mission to assassinate Salamander Hanzo, while she looked forward to becoming an Anbu squad captain. Meanwhile, Sarutobi Hiruzen confronted Jiraiya over Nagato’s Rinnegan and demanded that he choose between Konoha and his former disciple.

• Mikoto told Shuji that completing the mission against Salamander Hanzo could make her an Anbu squad captain, and Shuji congratulated her in advance.
• Shuji returned to Shikkotsu Forest and told Katsuyu Sage that a troublesome enemy had already been dealt with, then resumed training.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen told Jiraiya that Nagato’s Rinnegan and the enmity between Konoha and Amegakure made Nagato a potential threat.
• Hiruzen demanded that Jiraiya choose between becoming a rogue ninja for Nagato’s sake or accepting that Konoha would oppose his former disciple.
• Shimura Danzō objected to Hiruzen’s ultimatum and grabbed Jiraiya by the arm.

Danzō persuaded Jiraiya to stay loyal to Konoha and promised to arrange a meeting with Nagato, while Hiruzen and Danzō planned how to handle Nagato’s Sage’s Eye. The chapter ended with a hooded ninja appearing at Nagato’s gathering place in the Land of Rain and asking why he had refused Konoha’s recruitment.

• Danzō told Jiraiya that Nagato’s refusal to accept Konoha’s goodwill made him a potential threat, and Jiraiya said he would speak with Nagato before deciding whether to kill him.
• Danzō promised to arrange another meeting between Jiraiya and Nagato, and Jiraiya apologized to Hiruzen before leaving the Hokage’s office.
• Hiruzen and Danzō agreed to have the Anbu locate Nagato and to consult Shuji about handling the Sage’s Eye.
• Hiruzen insisted on speaking with Shuji alongside Danzō, who warned that Hiruzen would bear responsibility if Nagato were harmed.
• A hooded ninja emerged from underground at Nagato’s gathering place and asked why Nagato had refused Konoha’s recruitment.

White Zetsu warned Akatsuki that Konoha could destroy them despite its other wars, then offered to join and help Nagato master the Rinnegan. As Yahiko welcomed him, White Zetsu urged Akatsuki to leave the Land of Rain.

• White Zetsu revealed that he knew Nagato possessed the Rinnegan and asked Yahiko about Akatsuki's goals.
• Yahiko argued that Konoha was too occupied fighting other enemies to attack Akatsuki, but White Zetsu warned that Konoha could wipe them out with little effort.
• White Zetsu told Nagato that the Rinnegan could be the key to peace and offered to help him learn its power.
• Nagato relaxed his guard, and Yahiko welcomed White Zetsu into Akatsuki.
• White Zetsu gave his name and suggested they leave the Land of Rain.

Shuji accepted a mission to find and kill Uzumaki Nagato alongside Nawaki while preparing to kill Salamander Hanzo with Mikoto. In the Land of Rain, Zetsu warned Yahiko that Konoha’s forces were closing in and urged him to leave.

• Danzō told Shuji that Konoha wanted Uzumaki Nagato, who possessed the Rinnegan, brought to the village alive if possible, but Sarutobi Hiruzen emphasized Shuji’s safety.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen assigned Shuji to join Nawaki in locating and killing Nagato, and Shuji agreed.
• Shuji confirmed that Mikoto had told him about her mission to kill Salamander Hanzo, then joked with Sarutobi Hiruzen about his mission payment and wedding gift.
• Shuji considered Zetsu’s likely involvement with Nagato and concluded that strengthening himself mattered more than trying to control whether Uchiha Madara was revived.
• Zetsu warned Yahiko that three Konoha Jonin teams were watching the cave and that Anbu were likely on their way, then urged him to leave the Land of Rain.
• Yahiko questioned why Konoha’s forces had not attacked them directly.