Chapter Summaries

The ruler and Miroku discussed a new system for ranking and assessing ninja in the Hidden God Village, while he considered the differences between Uchiha lineages and the burden of the Sharingan. He proposed a village-wide exam in a year and ended by worrying about the strength and reach of the Otsutsuki Clan.

• He reasoned that Konoha’s Uchiha were mortal descendants whose bodies struggled to support the Mangekyō Sharingan, while the Land of Snow Uchiha had stronger physiques and might awaken the Eternal Eye directly.
• Miroku reminded him that they had been discussing ninja rankings and advised retaining the existing system while adding higher classifications and changing the assessment method.
• He proposed ranking ninja by combat strength, strategy, and support ability, with merit instead affecting appointments, rewards, and responsibilities.
• He announced the Hidden God Village’s first Ninja Exam for one year later and proposed adding Kage-level and God Shinobi ranks, as well as three combat levels within the Realm of Deities.
• Miroku estimated his strength as between Kage and God Shinobi, and he placed himself around Sub-Deity Level while expressing concern that the Otsutsuki Clan’s full strength remained unknown.

Kaede prepared to leave Hidden God Village and travel through the Shinobi World with Pakura, seeking recruits and the Sky Ninja’s technology. Quan secretly joined them, and the group reached the Land of Snow’s seaport to continue their journey.

• Kaede briefed Hizashi Hyuga and Hyuga Kagami on finding the Sky Ninja and their aerial fortress, Ancor Vantian.
• Kaede left Hidden God Village with Pakura, planning to travel through several countries and recruit talented ninja.
• Quan disguised herself as a masked train server and joined Kaede and Pakura after they revealed they had planned to take her along.
• Kaede, Pakura, and Quan rode the train through the snowy Land of Snow, where Kaede kept Quan from bothering them.
• The trio arrived at the Land of Snow’s seaport, a busy trade port known for exporting prized White Carp.

Kaede visited Ice Ocean Port to review its trade and intelligence before traveling to the Land of Water, where he explained Kirigakure’s persecution of kekkei genkai clans and planned to contact them. The group settled near the harbor to investigate Kirigakure, while Quan suspected Kaede had another scheme in mind.

• Kaede met Zalu and Nadare Rōga at Ice Ocean Port, where Zalu reported that daily trade had reached one million ryō and was expected to grow to five million.
• Nadare Rōga briefed Kaede on events across the shinobi world, including Kirigakure’s slaughter of kekkei genkai clans, the Four-Tails jinchūriki’s defection, and Takigakure’s acquisition of the Seven-Tails.
• Five days later, Kaede, Pakura, and Quan arrived at a harbor in the Land of Water and discussed why Kirigakure was killing its own ninja.
• Kaede explained that the great villages weakened ninja clans to consolidate power under their Kage, and that Kirigakure’s Bloody Mist was one such method.
• Kaede decided to stay nearby and try to contact Kirigakure’s kekkei genkai clans, while Quan suspected he was planning something mischievous.

Kaede and Quan infiltrated a guarded harbor to investigate Kirigakure, then followed a squad of ninja to a remote bay. There they discovered the squad was ordered to exterminate the remaining Yuki Clan, and Kaede watched the clan’s young Ice Release user get captured as Quan urged him to intervene.

• Kaede left the guesthouse at night to seek intelligence, and Quan insisted on accompanying him despite the danger.
• Kaede and Quan disguised themselves as roof sculptures at the harbor castle, then followed four Kirigakure ninja who left the city.
• The squad cornered fleeing members of the Yuki Clan at a bay, and Akutagawa admitted he had betrayed them because he could not betray the village.
• The Mizukage’s order to eliminate the Yuki Clan troubled the squad, but the captain ordered an attack and the ninja surrounded the clanspeople.
• A young Yuki Clan girl used Ice Release to hold off the squad, but she was captured and the clanspeople were driven back.
• Kaede recognized the Yuki Clan’s plight, while Quan eagerly asked to rescue them.

Quan rescued the Yuki Clan from execution and treated its wounded survivors while fighting the four Mist Shinobi. She revealed her Sharingan and Lightning Armor, leaving one enemy badly injured as the captain ordered the others to attack together.

• Four Mist Shinobi prepared to kill the Yuki Clan with explosive tags, but Quan appeared and threw the kunai into the sea.
• Quan used Lightning Release to drive back the Mist Shinobi, then treated the wounded Yuki Clan girl and reassured the women and children.
• A Mist Shinobi attacked Quan with a Fuma Shuriken and taijutsu while his companions prepared to strike.
• Quan used her Sharingan to copy the Mist Shinobi's taijutsu and revealed her Uchiha identity.
• Quan activated Lightning Armor and blasted the Mist Shinobi into the water, prompting the captain to order a coordinated attack.

Kaede and Quan defeated the Kirigakure pursuers and rescued the surviving Yuki Clan members, then used the Flying Thunder God Formation to send most of them to the Land of Snow. Shuang and his sister Xia chose to stay with Kaede’s group, while the clan’s hidden children and other survivors were sent away.

• Quan overwhelmed the Kirigakure ninja with her lightning-enhanced strength, while Kaede killed their captain and the pair finished off the remaining pursuers.
• Kaede gave Shuang a Kunai so he could take revenge on Akutagawa, and Quan offered the surviving Yuki Clan members a place with them.
• Shuang explained that the Mizukage had framed the Yuki Clan for treason and nearly exterminated them five days earlier.
• Kaede, Quan, and Pakura activated a Flying Thunder God Formation that transported most of the Yuki Clan survivors to the Land of Snow.
• Shuang and his elder sister Xia stayed behind to follow Kaede and repay her, and Xia revealed that she had hidden the clan’s talented children in an underground cave.

Kaede and the others entered the Land of Grass and discovered that its villagers lived in poverty despite the country’s agricultural wealth. When horse bandits threatened a village, the group attacked them and Kaede ordered them to leave a survivor so they could find the bandits’ hideout.

• Quan asked which country the group would visit, and Kaede chose the Land of Grass before continuing toward the Land of Earth, Bird Country, and the Land of Wind.
• Pakura, Quan, Shuang, and Xia noticed that the villagers were thin and poor despite working rice paddies, and Kaede suspected human causes.
• Quan spotted horse bandits approaching the village, and Pakura identified them from her past mission in the Land of Grass.
• Kaede ordered the group to drive off the bandits, leave one alive, and mark him so they could eliminate the bandits’ hideout.
• The five attacked the horse bandits, killing or disabling many, but Quan nearly wiped out the survivors before Kaede stopped her and reminded her to leave someone alive.

Kaede’s group discovered that Kusagakure backed the horse bandits and was involved in abducting villagers, then raided their stronghold and rescued captives. Afterward, they prepared to move toward Kusagakure as Kaede’s anger over the slave trade grew.

• Kaede explained that Quan was training hard because he had challenged her to become worthy of standing beside Itachi, and Pakura and Xia laughed when he admitted he had increased her tests from three to ten.
• Kaede had Pakura destroy the bandits’ corpses and sent Xia to compensate the villagers, who heard her describe them as envoys of the Heavenly Emperor.
• Quan and Shuang returned with news that Kusagakure ninja were behind the horse bandits, who abducted villagers and sold them to other countries.
• Kaede’s group left to deal with the bandits and rest near Kusagakure, while the villagers debated whether the Heavenly Emperor was real.
• Kaede’s group attacked the stronghold, killed 362 horse bandits including ten suspected Kusagakure rogue ninja, and rescued 100 villagers while seizing horses, grain, money, gold, and explosive tags.

Kaede and his companions explored Kusagakure and stopped at a barbecue shop, where they discussed Quan’s wish to get Itachi a chakra-metal weapon. Kaede spotted a red-haired woman carrying a child among villagers escorted by Kusa ninja and suspected they were Uzumaki survivors.

• Pakura noted that Kusagakure had few ninja, and Kaede blamed the village’s repeated use as cannon fodder in the Shinobi World Wars.
• Quan treated the group to grilled meat, and Kaede ordered wine to tease her about spending her money.
• Xia and Shuang explained how difficult chakra metal was to obtain, while Quan insisted she wanted to give Itachi a precious gift herself.
• Kaede noticed Kusa ninja escorting ragged villagers and asked the shopkeeper about them, but the shopkeeper warned him not to interfere.
• Kaede saw a red-haired woman holding a child in the crowd and wondered whether they were Uzumaki survivors.

Kaede rescued an Uzumaki woman and her daughter from Kusa shinobi who had been draining them for their Chakra, but the woman died from her injuries. Kushina asked Kaede to protect the surviving child, Karin, and he adopted her as his daughter.

• Kaede found Kusa shinobi abusing an Uzumaki woman and threatening her young daughter, then attacked them and rescued the pair.
• Kaede freed the woman and girl, and Kushina emerged from the Boundless Sword to comfort the woman and recognize her as an Uzumaki clanswoman.
• Kushina used her Adamantine Sealing Chains to kill the Kusa shinobi while Kaede kept them trapped in Genjutsu.
• The woman died in Kushina's arms, and Kaede explained that her soul and life force were too depleted to save.
• Kushina introduced the girl as Uzumaki Karin and begged Kaede to take her in, so Kaede declared Karin his daughter.

Kaede adopted Karin and returned to Hidden God Village determined to retaliate against Kusagakure. She ordered the village to prepare for war and ended by transforming into a cloud dragon near the Thunder Beast Clan’s territory.

• Kaede brought Karin to the temporary residence, introduced her to the others, and left her in Pakura’s care before departing for Hidden God Village.
• Kaede gathered the village’s leaders and ordered Dotō to prepare Chakra Armor and the Dragon Vein for battle.
• Kaede announced plans to destroy Kusagakure, occupy the Land of Grass, and use the territory as a base for expansion.
• Uchiha Mingye confirmed the Flying Thunder God Formation could transport an army with Chakra Armor, while Tong warned that supplies would limit a prolonged campaign.
• Kaede ordered Hidden God Village to be fully prepared for war within seven days, then transformed into a cloud dragon outside the village near the Thunder Beast Clan.

Kaede launched Hidden God Village’s surprise assault on Kusagakure, aiming to seize the village before its factions could respond. His forces surrounded the Kusagakure leader’s residence, where more than a hundred ninja had gathered.

• Kaede and his companions donned Chakra Armor and used the Flying Thunder God Formation to transport Hidden God Village’s forces into the Land of Grass.
• Kaede ordered Hyuga Kagami’s Reconnaissance Force to scout Kusagakure and identified the southern district near the leader’s residence as the primary target.
• Tong reported that the Assault Force, Hunter Squad, and Sealing Squad had assembled, and Kaede took command of the assault.
• Hyuga Kagami returned with a map and reported that Kusagakure ninja had discovered the staging area, so Kaede split his forces to attack the village’s north and south sides.
• Kaede led fifty Uchiha through Kusagakure, killing those who resisted and reaching the leader’s residence within twenty minutes.
• Kaede’s Assault Force surrounded more than a hundred Kusagakure ninja gathered outside the leader’s residence.

Kusagakure's leaders struggled to respond to a surprise attack by Kaede's forces, but the Assault Force and its giant bear summons annihilated the village's defenders with a combined Lightning Release. Kaede then discovered a monstrous human experiment beneath the ruined village, bearing the Kusagakure leader's face.

• The Kusagakure leader ordered his ninja to request aid from Konoha and resist the attackers, despite reports that the enemy's armor resisted weapons and their perimeter was lost.
• A giant White Bear appeared near the courtyard, followed by fifty giant bear summons that joined the Assault Force in preparing a coordinated attack.
• The Assault Force and the bears unleashed Lightning Release: Giant Thunder, destroying Kusagakure's southern district and vaporizing its ninja.
• Kaede sent most of her forces to assist elsewhere while keeping squads to search for survivors and clear the battlefield.
• Kaede sensed a presence underground and used Divine Eye to reveal a gigantic tentacled monster with a human head identical to the Kusagakure leader's face.

Kaede destroyed the Synthetic Monster that Kusagakure had created using Orochimaru’s research and his blood. He spared Kabuto and sent him back to Orochimaru, telling him to follow the path Kaede had found for him.

• Kaede used Violent Lightning Spear to blast the Synthetic Monster out of the ground after it grew by absorbing Natural Energy.
• Kaede dodged the monster’s tentacle attacks, severed more of them, and struck its main body as it fired a Water Shockwave.
• Winter blocked the monster’s escape underground and burned its face with lightning breath while Kaede pierced it with a lightning dragon, destroying it in an explosion.
• An elderly Kusagakure ninja crawled from the wreckage, questioned how he could have failed, and died.
• Kabuto revealed that Orochimaru had used Kaede’s blood and his own knowledge to try to create a creature as powerful as a Tailed Beast, but the experiment had failed.
• Kaede caught Kabuto’s attacks, then let him leave and told him that Orochimaru could draw out his talent and that his future was his own to choose.

Miroku used her powers to force the Daimyo of Grass to submit to the Heavenly Emperor and seize control of the Land of Grass. The Daimyo left to issue orders, but his attempt to consider appealing to the Land of Fire was stopped by the Seed of Thunder.

• Miroku arrived at the Daimyo of Grass's residence and used flirtation and a banquet to lure him into her room alone.
• Miroku demanded that the Daimyo hand over the Land of Grass, then revealed that she acted on the Heavenly Emperor's command.
• The Daimyo agreed to cooperate but secretly planned to notify the Grass ninja, so Miroku implanted a Seed of Thunder in his head and threatened to detonate it.
• Miroku ordered the Daimyo to abolish Kusagakure and announce that the God Shinobi had replaced it, saying Hidden God Village now occupied the site.
• The Daimyo left to carry out her orders, then thought of seeking help from the Land of Fire before the Seed of Thunder shocked him to the ground.

Kaede prepared Hidden God Village to defend the Land of Grass by confronting Konoha’s advancing force, while other great shinobi villages gathered at the borders. He led the Assault Force to an ambush site and began planning how to exploit Konoha’s faulty intelligence.

• Kaede ordered the surrendered Grass Shinobi recruited and told Pakura to guard Kusagakure while he took the Assault Force to battle.
• After Konoha entered the Land of Grass, Kaede’s commanders agreed that its force intended to drive Hidden God Village out, and Kaede ordered his troops not to spare Konoha shinobi.
• Kaede led the force east during the night as the two Hyuga sent half the Assault Force across the Land of Grass to hunt covert agents.
• The God Shinobi reached its ambush point before daybreak, and Kaede assigned the chakra-depleted Tenth Squad to rear support.
• Uchiha Naokawa suggested exploiting Konoha’s incorrect intelligence, and Kaede invited him to discuss the battle plan.

Kaede led the God Shinobi in a surprise attack on a resting Konoha force, but a Hyuga scout detected them and ruined their stealth. The God Shinobi’s combined Lightning Release overwhelmed Konoha’s Wind Release, and Kaede ordered his troops to capture survivors.

• Kaede ordered his forces to wait until six before attacking the tired Konoha ninja camp.
• A Hyuga scout detected the infiltrators near the river, so Kaede called for a frontal assault.
• Uchiha Naokawa reported that the Hyuga had been knocked out and captured, and Kaede ordered the Assault Force to use combined Lightning Release.
• The Konoha ninja countered with combined Wind Release: Great Breakthrough, but the God Shinobi’s Lightning Release tore through it.
• The Lightning Ball exploded over the Konoha formation, killing many ninja, and Kaede ordered his troops to capture survivors.

Kaede helped capture Konoha ninja, then met with Fugaku to discuss Danzo's plans and Shisui's coming trial. While hiding in Konoha, Kaede and Kushina checked on Naruto, and the Nine-Tails sensed Kushina's presence.

• Kaede captured sixteen surviving Konoha ninja and used Divine Power to remove the Caged Bird Seals from two Hyuga before sending them to Hyuga Kagami.
• Kaede left Uchiha Naokawa in command and went to Konoha, where Fugaku warned that Danzo might move against the Uchiha and had manipulated Shisui.
• Kaede and Fugaku agreed to let Danzo's scheme test Shisui, and Kaede warned Fugaku that Itachi might become a future target.
• Kaede hid in Konoha for three days, then stopped Kushina from approaching Naruto because the Third was surveilling him.
• Kushina learned Naruto was being poorly treated, while the Nine-Tails sensed her presence and Kushina's sealed Chakra inside Naruto stirred.

Shisui went to Danzo to prevent the Uchiha coup, but Danzo ambushed him and stole his right Sharingan. Kaede attacked Danzo to reclaim the eye and left him kneeling, pleading for his life.

• Shisui met Danzo before the Uchiha gathering and explained that he planned to use Kotoamatsukami on Fugaku to prevent a coup.
• Danzo attacked Shisui, used Izanagi to survive Shisui's Genjutsu, and took his right Sharingan.
• Kaede and Fugaku watched Danzo's attack, then Fugaku went to rescue the wounded Shisui while Kaede confronted Danzo.
• Kaede struck Danzo with her lightning attacks, injured him, and demanded his life and the stolen eye.
• Danzo begged Kaede to name a price, and she stopped her spear just short of his head.

Kaede survived Danzo’s Izanagi attack, took Shisui’s Mangekyō Sharingan, and left Danzo intrigued by her regenerative power. Meanwhile, Shisui escaped Root’s pursuit with help from Uchiha Fugaku, whose Mangekyō ability killed the Root Shinobi.

• Danzo used Izanagi to stab Kaede and tear out her organs, but she restored her body with Divine Power.
• Kaede froze Danzo in the flow of time, took the Mangekyō Sharingan, and told him she wanted Hashirama Senju’s cells next.
• Danzo resolved to investigate Kaede’s apparent immortality and considered capturing her to study her power.
• Root Shinobi chased the wounded Uchiha Shisui, who escaped their encirclement after using Genjutsu and Susanoo.
• Uchiha Fugaku appeared and killed the pursuing Root Shinobi with his Mangekyō’s Flame Style.