Chapter Summaries

Ruri relived his childhood memories, from learning chakra from Kyusei to surviving as a ninja and stealing clan techniques. His memories stopped abruptly when a Yuki Clan ninja confronted Little Ruri in the Land of Waterfalls.

• Kyusei gave Little Ruri a chakra-training scroll and told him to leave the village once he could refine chakra.
• Little Ruri learned to refine chakra, traveled to the Land of Water, and grew strong enough to reach chunin level.
• Little Ruri killed wandering ninja, learned the Rasengan, and stole secret techniques to help him survive and escape pursuit.
• Little Ruri stole a Yuki Clan secret technique and fled to the Land of Waterfalls, where a Yuki Clan ninja confronted him.
• Little Ruri froze at the sight of the Yuki Clan ninja, and Ruri's vision went black.

Hashirama relived the Shinobi World's future and awoke in the Warring States Period, years before Konoha's founding. Knowing how Ruri's policies could change the future, Hashirama took Tobirama to the Land of Waterfalls to find him, where he sensed several familiar chakra signatures.

• Ruri saw an idealized future in which the shinobi built spaceships and struggled against the Otsutsuki Clan, then watched history rewind to his battle with the Five Kage.
• Hashirama died regretting that he had failed to stop Madara and change the shinobi world's fate, then learned in the Pure Land about Tobirama's Impure World Reincarnation.
• Hashirama awoke in the Senju Clan Grounds during the Warring States Period, realized he had returned to the past, and saw that Tobirama still had his right hand.
• Hashirama carried Tobirama toward the Land of Waterfalls, intending to find Ruri and help establish ninja villages according to Ruri's policies.
• Hashirama sensed Ruri's chakra in the Land of Waterfalls, along with several other familiar chakras.

Byakuren, Hashirama, and the other returning Kage gathered in the Land of Waterfalls and agreed to help Ruri establish Takigakure. After Hashirama revived him, Ruri noticed Zhengxi watching from nearby, then blacked out again.

• Byakuren stopped the Yuki shinobi and prepared to confront Hashirama, but the First Kazekage, First Raikage, Ishikawa, and Mu arrived as well.
• The Third Kazekage proposed establishing the shinobi villages and the United Nations, and the others agreed to cooperate rather than fight.
• Hashirama revived Ruri, and the Kage offered clans, funding, and help with Takigakure’s political and security problems.
• Ruri realized the assembled Kage had come to help him and noticed Zhengxi hiding behind a tree.
• Ruri’s vision spun and faded, and he blacked out again.

Ruri awoke in the Pure Land after Kinshiki trapped his body and consciousness in an endless illusion, and the Sage of Six Paths explained that the Kage had rescued his soul. Ruri agreed that establishing Samsara was necessary but asked the Sage to destroy Madara; Hashirama revealed that Madara had never appeared in the Pure Land.

• Ruri regained control of himself and found the first-generation Five Kage gathered around him while Mu and the others played Fight the Landlord.
• The Sage of Six Paths explained that Kinshiki had sealed Ruri in an endless illusion and that he and the others had pulled Ruri's soul into the Pure Land.
• The Sage said he could not leave the Pure Land without causing it to collapse and warned that everyone would become Monsters if Samsara was not established.
• Ruri told the Sage that he had seen Satori and said he intended to reach the pinnacle of Yin-Yang Release before helping with Samsara.
• Ruri asked the Sage to destroy Uchiha Madara, but Hashirama said Madara had never appeared in the Pure Land.

Ruri learned that Madara's soul was missing from the Pure Land and that the Dusk Organization was creating powerful clones while pursuing Madara's goal of destroying chakra. After training Yin-Yang Release, Ruri created Takamagahara to shelter those with Faith Energy and returned to Earth to confront the growing threat.

• Ruri told Hashirama and the other Kage about Dusk's clones, its connection to Madara, and its plan to destroy chakra.
• The Sage of Six Paths allowed Ruri to finish his mission, and the Kage shared their Yin-Yang Release training with him.
• Kinkaku and Ginkaku arrived in the Pure Land and reported that a cloned Danzo had ambushed and killed them.
• Ruri mastered Yin-Yang Release enough to create Takamagahara, separating those with Faith Energy from the Pure Land.
• Ruri left Takamagahara and returned to Earth as a soul, intending to act against Dusk and Madara.

After years of waiting for Ruri, Kakuzu found comfort in his new student Kaede and her hopeful outlook. At Ruri’s tomb, the Wood Clone opened its eyes and told Kakuzu, “I’m back.”

• Kakuzu watched the stars over Takigakure and remembered waiting for Ruri for more than five years.
• Kaede visited Kakuzu and told him how the orphanage director had taught her to see herself as lucky despite her difficult childhood.
• Kaede promised to bring Kakuzu good luck, and Kakuzu agreed before walking her back toward Takigakure.
• Kakuzu visited Ruri’s tomb beneath Takigakure Great Waterfall and spoke to the Wood Clone he had kept alive.
• Ruri’s Wood Clone opened its eyes and told Kakuzu, “I’m back.”

Ruri oversaw the graduation exams at Shinobi United University Affiliated School, and the students passed before receiving their village forehead protectors. The new ninja celebrated over dinner, where Sasuke and Takigakure left early for different reasons.

• Ruri conducted the Three Basic Techniques graduation exams, and Naruto passed by demonstrating the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique.
• Ruri congratulated the graduates, handed out forehead protectors, and explained how they could retrieve their files and enter squads for missions.
• Sayu suggested a celebratory meal, and the students went to the United Nations branch of Iburi BBQ Restaurant.
• Sasuke left without paying his share, prompting Naruto and the others to realize the bill had not been settled.
• Takigakure said he had left his share of the money, then vanished in a flash.

Sasuke sought out Zero, who tested his resolve and gave him a sealed Zanpakuto to unseal and name as proof that he was worthy of training. Ruri hoped the sword would help Sasuke grow stronger and reveal whether he carried Indra’s chakra.

• Sasuke found Ruri fishing by the lake and endured the pressure and killing intent surrounding him.
• Ruri caught the Cloned Samehada and cut a famed sword from its belly, explaining that he had hidden and tempered the blade inside it.
• Sasuke admitted he wanted to become stronger so he could help Itachi defeat Twilight and bring him home.
• Ruri told Sasuke that Itachi had asked him to help, then challenged Sasuke to unseal the Zanpakuto and give it a sword name.
• Ruri handed Sasuke the sealed Zanpakuto, hoping its response would help him determine whether Sasuke carried Indra’s chakra.

Ruri reunited with Taki in Takigakure and left him Sage Art training notes before assigning the new graduates to teams. The chapter ended with Ruri expecting Taki, Kaede, and Jugo to face a dangerous trial as Team 7.

• After Sasuke left, Ruri shared grilled Cloned Samehada with Taki and invited him home to Takigakure.
• Taki woke to find Ruri had left Sage Art training notes beside his bed, then headed to the Takigakure Ninja Academy.
• Using the guise of Yasuo, Ruri assigned the graduates to teams, including Taki, Kaede, and Jugo as Team 7.
• Suigetsu complained about Team 8's strength, and Haku explained that the team groupings had been chosen to complement each member's abilities.
• Ruri decided that Team 7 deserved a more dangerous trial than simply taking a mentor's bell.

Shiranami introduced Team 7 to calligraphy at his secluded villa, where Taki's flawless writing drew his attention. After the students left, Bailang burned Taki's work and dismissed it as mere imitation.

• Shiranami led Kaede, Taki, and Jugo to his calligraphy room, saying that practicing together would help the team understand one another.
• The students practiced writing the characters for “way” and “people,” and Shiranami interpreted their handwriting as a reflection of their personalities.
• Taki produced characters identical to the examples on the wall, and Shiranami praised him as a genius before announcing their missions would begin the next day.
• After the others left, Bailang took Taki's writing and burned it, calling it trash that merely had the form.

Bailang joined Takiichi, Kaede, and Jugo on a C-rank investigation mission to solve a couple’s murder in a nearby village. At the crime scene, Takiichi and Jugo uncovered clues that echoed a strange scene from the previous day, leaving Kaede unsettled.

• Kaede, Takiichi, and Jugo met Bailang after accepting a shared C-rank mission to investigate a murdered couple.
• The team traveled to the village and examined the bungalow where the couple had been killed and desecrated.
• Takiichi determined that both victims had died from precise, single strikes to the throat, suggesting a practiced killer.
• Jugo and Takiichi used the table and faint bloodstains to reconstruct the crime scene, while Kaede recognized the arrangement from the previous day’s writing-on-the-wall scene.
• Ruri watched the group and suspected that the enemy organization Twilight might have infiltrated Takigakure.

Kaede, Takiichi, and Jugo discovered that Bailang had murdered villagers and used their corpses to create characters for his Character Binding Technique. Bailang attacked the team and set the village ablaze, but Kaede revealed the Seven-Tails’ power and the others fought back.

• Takiichi and Jugo explained how the corpses and blood had been used to create the characters in Bailang’s calligraphy room.
• Bailang attacked the three genin with Character Binding Technique, and Kaede blocked his Kunai with a chakra cocoon linked to the Seven-Tails.
• Jugo pulled Kaede away as Takiichi used Wind Style: Wind Barrier to help them escape the house.
• Bailang threatened to turn the villagers into his works and set the village on fire with the character for 'Fire.'
• Takiichi charged Bailang and used a Lightning Clone, while Jugo attacked and Kaede struck Bailang with Hidden Scale Powder Jutsu.

Jugo, Kaede, and Takigakure fought Bailang on their C-rank mission while Ruri watched for clues about Twilight. Jugo was badly wounded protecting Kaede, and as Bailang moved to kill him, Kaede’s transparent wings began to grow.

• Bailang blew Jugo’s scale powder back with a gust of wind, but Jugo dropped from the roof and drove him into the ground with a kick.
• Kaede rushed toward Bailang before confirming he was defeated, and his substitution log vanished as flames swept toward her.
• Jugo took Bailang’s kunai strike while protecting Kaede, then Takigakure attacked Bailang with shuriken and Lightning Style.
• Bailang blocked Takigakure’s attacks and seized the chance to approach Kaede, but Jugo grabbed his foot and held him back.
• Bailang aimed his kunai at Jugo’s head, and Kaede shouted that he could not hurt her companions as transparent wings began growing from her back.

Kaede’s Insect Chirp slowed Bailang long enough for Taki to enter Sage Mode and overpower him, but Bailang escaped with a substitution and took Jugo hostage. Taki was left facing Bailang’s demand to surrender Kaede.

• Kaede used Insect Chirp to slow Bailang, though the sound waves also hindered Taki.
• Taki secretly gathered natural energy while Kaede’s attack held Bailang back, then entered an unfamiliar Sage Mode.
• Taki fought and wounded Bailang, but his stamina began to fail.
• Bailang used the Substitution Technique to evade Taki’s punch and pressed a kunai to Jugo’s neck, demanding that Taki hand over Kaede.
• Several white feathers drifted down as Taki hesitated over the hostage situation.

Kabuto and his team confronted Tsuchigumo Shiranami after he betrayed Takigakure, but Shiranami broke Fuma Arashi’s barrier and resisted arrest. Kabuto then attacked at close range, forcing Shiranami to trap him between two rising boulders.

• Kabuto used the Nirvana Hermitage Technique to distract Shiranami, allowing Nadeshiko Shizuka to kick him and Fuma Arashi to trap him with Mandala Binding.
• Tsuchigumo Hotaru confronted Shiranami about betraying the village, and he blamed En no Gyōja and Tsuchigumo Hato for refusing to teach him the forbidden technique Dofuten.
• Shiranami used the Character Binding Technique to break Fuma Arashi’s barrier, wounding Arashi.
• Kabuto appeared and ordered Shiranami to return to the village to face judgment.
• Kabuto accelerated toward Shiranami, who raised two giant boulders to seal off his path in every direction.

Kabuto defeated Bailang by outmaneuvering his attacks and disabling his muscles, then healed Jugo. Bailang detonated himself after threatening the group, but his explosion broke through only one of Kabuto’s three Earth Style Walls.

• Kabuto cut through Bailang’s giant boulder, then blocked the needle swarm with an Earth Style Wall and blew the needles back with Wind Style: Deflection Technique.
• Kabuto used an Earth Clone to evade Bailang’s slash, emerged from underground, and charged toward him.
• Bailang tried to use the injured Jugo as a shield, but Kabuto passed him and severed key muscle fibers, leaving Bailang unable to move.
• Kabuto healed Jugo with Mystical Palm Technique while Kaede, Ying, and Takigakure watched.
• Bailang revealed he could still use chakra and self-destructed, but his explosion broke through only one of Kabuto’s three Earth Style Walls.

Ruri followed Bailang’s soul to the capital of the Land of Birds, where he learned that two successive daimyos had died and the Migratory Bird Ninja were poised to take power. He set aside that mystery to investigate Bailang’s soul and Twilight, leaving the political situation unresolved.

• Kabuto confirmed Bailang was dead and ordered his body returned to the village for analysis.
• After Kabuto and the children left, Ruri revealed he had sensed Bailang’s soul heading west and pursued it out of the Land of Waterfalls.
• Ruri followed the soul to a desert city, where it vanished, then learned the city was the outer capital of the Land of Birds.
• The bar owner told Ruri that two successive daimyos had died and that Migratory Bird Ninja had recommended their village leader as the next daimyo.
• Ruri suspected the Migratory Bird Ninja were involved but chose to investigate Bailang’s soul and Twilight first, then paid an exorbitant price for water.

Ruri traveled toward the inner city of the Land of Birds while a Migratory Bird Ninja named Ryu followed him and reported his movements. After desert bandits attacked a caravan, Migratory Bird Ninja rescued the merchants, but Ruri suspected the apparent rescue concealed a scheme; a red-haired figure approached him in the night.

• Ryu reported that he had encountered Ruri and was ordered to follow him until Hokushin arrived.
• Ruri headed toward the inner city, probing caravans for information while sensing for Bailang’s soul.
• As night fell, Ruri hid on a dune and watched forty desert bandits attack a merchant caravan without killing their victims.
• A group of six Migratory Bird Ninja led by a green-haired ninja charged in, killed several bandits, and tended to the merchants while the rest escaped with stolen goods.
• Ruri watched the rescue with growing suspicion as a red-haired figure approached him beneath the moonlight.

Ruri reunited with Sasori in the Land of Birds and learned that Houki and the Migratory Bird Hidden Village were plotting to seize control of the country. After uncovering their links to Twilight and their unusual manipulation of the weather, Ruri decided to confront them directly.

• Ruri recognized Sasori as the leader of the Migratory Bird Ninja, who had been robbing merchants through a staged bandit attack and rescue scheme.
• Sasori told Ruri that Houki had likely arranged the deaths of two daimyo and killed the monk Moso after he discovered the truth.
• Sasori reported that the Migratory Bird Ninja were preparing to target Toki and Minister Chishima, who stood in the way of their control of the Land of Birds.
• Sasori explained that Houki had refused requests for artificial rain, then impersonated Moso and brought natural rain to gain the citizens' trust.
• Ruri connected the Migratory Bird Ninja's actions to Twilight and decided to question them face-to-face.

Ruri and Sasori reached the Land of Birds' capital and found Toki hiding at Chishima Izakaya. Ruri tried to learn about the desert bandits and the Migratory Bird Ninja, but Toki refused to share what she knew.

• Ruri and Sasori entered the capital's inner city and went to Minister Chishima's izakaya, where Toki was hiding.
• Ruri confirmed Toki's identity and tested her by mentioning that the Migratory Bird Ninja had driven away the Forty Thieves.
• Toki nearly revealed that the bandits were connected to the Migratory Bird Ninja, then stopped herself.
• Ruri said he had come to eliminate the desert bandits, but Toki refused to provide intelligence.
• Ruri recognized Toki's resolve to fight the Migratory Bird Ninja, who had seized control of the Land of Birds and allied with the Dusk Organization.