Chapter Summaries

Minato selected Hyuga Hane and Uchiha Yakumaru to learn the Flying Thunder God Technique, giving them scrolls and beginning their spatial-perception training. Their practice continued until Uzumaki Kushina arrived and decided to intervene in Hane’s reserved lifestyle.

• Minato explained the guard selection requirements and offered the Flying Thunder God Technique to ninjas with sufficient merit; Hane and Yakumaru qualified.
• Minato gave Hane and Yakumaru scrolls containing detailed instructions and warned them to destroy the scrolls after reading.
• Minato began training the boys to sense space by teleporting around them, asking them to predict where he would appear.
• Hane struggled to understand how to perform the technique even after cultivating spatial perception.
• Kushina visited the training ground, criticized Hane’s gloomy demeanor, and asked what he liked; Hane answered that he liked reading and training.

Kushina gave Hyuga Hane and Uchiha Yakumaru Nine-Tails Chakra to strengthen them for Flying Thunder God training. Minato revealed that the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist had vanished from the front lines and were planning an attack on Konoha, while Hane considered how to use the coming threat to help Master Dai.

• Kushina agreed to cloak Hane and Yakumaru in Nine-Tails Chakra to protect them during their training.
• Hane and Yakumaru each asked Kushina to extend the chakra cloak to their Shadow Clones, and she agreed.
• Minato told Kushina that the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist had disappeared and that a captured spy had revealed their plan to attack Konoha.
• Hane overheard Minato and Kushina discussing the threat and considered using the opportunity to gather information and help Master Dai avoid disaster.
• Hane failed to transfer his Shadow Clone to a marked Kunai, then Yakumaru challenged him to a training contest, and Hane warned him he might not be there tomorrow.

Hane explained that Yakumaru had overused Shadow Clones and collapsed, then suggested that Minato recruit a young medical ninja for his Shadow Guard. Kushina proposed training Rin under Tsunade and offered to help Hane and Yakumaru learn the Flying Thunder God, but Hane evaded her by revealing he had been a Shadow Clone.

• Minato's Shadow Clone asked about Yakumaru, and Hane said he had warned him not to train recklessly with too many Shadow Clones.
• Minato asked Hane for ideas about a third Shadow Guard member, and Hane suggested recruiting a medical ninja because he and Yakumaru lacked Medical Ninjutsu.
• Hane noted that Tsunade had been spending time at an izakaya, and Kushina suggested that Rin study under her.
• Minato's Shadow Clone vanished after promising to discuss reopening the Medical Corps with his real body and the advisors.
• Kushina offered to pressure Hane and Yakumaru into mastering the Flying Thunder God, but Hane dispelled his Shadow Clone and left a note explaining his absence.
• Kushina reflected that Minato still had limited authority because Konoha's advisors and powerful clans retained influence.

Hyuga Hane awakened a space-time dojutsu that let him create spatial passages, and he suspected it was an earlier Byakugan evolution rather than a Tenseigan ability. While patrolling with Guy and Ebisu, his Shadow Clone discovered the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist and moved to draw them away.

• Hyuga Hane tested his new dojutsu, creating spatial passages and finding that their size, not distance, determined the eye power they consumed.
• Hyuga Hane theorized that his Byakugan's stable nature had delayed its transformation and that space manipulation might be an ability from a stage before the Tenseigan.
• Hyuga Hane used the Flying Thunder God to teleport to a marked kunai and noted that training in it complemented his dojutsu.
• Hyuga Hane's Shadow Clone killed an infiltrating Mist Village Ninja while patrolling with Guy and Ebisu.
• Hyuga Hane's Shadow Clone warned Guy and Ebisu that the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist were nearby, ordered them to alert the other patrols, and stayed behind to draw the enemy away.
• Kushimaru Kuriarare and Munashi Jinpachi boasted that the Seven Ninja Swordsmen could defeat Minato and the Third Mizukage.

The Seven Ninja Swordsmen infiltrated Konoha to create chaos and kill the Fourth Hokage, while Hyuga Hane’s Shadow Clone discovered that Ranmaru’s Red Eye had helped them evade detection. After the clone marked Raiga Kurosuki, Hyuga Hane raced to the battlefield, intending to capture Ranmaru before Namikaze Minato could kill him.

• Munashi Jinpachi and the other Seven Ninja Swordsmen discussed their mission to weaken Konoha and kill the Fourth Hokage, while Kushimaru Kuriarare tortured a captured Konoha Jonin.
• Raiga Kurosuki warned the others that an enemy was approaching, and Hyuga Hane’s Shadow Clone drew the group away from Konoha.
• Hyuga Hane realized that Ranmaru’s Red Eye could counter the Byakugan and had helped the Seven Ninja Swordsmen evade Konoha’s surveillance.
• As Raiga Kurosuki destroyed the Shadow Clone, it secretly placed a Flying Thunder God mark on his Lightning Blade.
• Ebisu sent up warning signals, prompting Namikaze Minato and Hyuga Hane to rush toward the threat, while Danzo left the Hokage Office despite the advisors’ concerns.
• Hyuga Hane concluded that the Red Eye was worth studying and used the mark on Raiga Kurosuki’s blade to teleport toward the Seven Ninja Swordsmen.

Namikaze Minato and Hyuga Hane attacked the Seven Ninja Swordsmen after discovering their ambush, using their Flying Thunder God techniques to overwhelm the group. The battle left Kushimaru Kuriarare and Munashi Jinpachi dead and Raiga Kurosuki badly wounded and fleeing, while Minato and Hane continued fighting the remaining swordsmen.

• Raiga Kurosuki learned that a Hyuga Ninja's vision could surpass Ranmaru's Red Eye, and Ranmaru warned that a powerful chakra was rapidly approaching.
• Namikaze Minato arrived, freed the captured Konoha Ninja, and attacked the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, killing Kushimaru Kuriarare with a sudden strike.
• Munashi Jinpachi set off his Blastsword's Explosive Tags, and Suikazan Fuguki and Biwa Juzo used the Hidden Mist Technique as the swordsmen attacked Minato together.
• Hyuga Hane appeared before Raiga Kurosuki and blasted off his left arm and shoulder with an Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm; Raiga escaped as lightning.
• Hyuga Hane called out an enemy's position through the mist, allowing Minato to attack Munashi Jinpachi while Hane struck from behind and shattered his heart.

Minato and Hyuga Hane pursued the fleeing Mist ninja, while Raiga Kurosuki escaped with Ranmaru and resolved to live as a wandering ninja. Hane defeated Suikazan Fuguki, leaving Biwa Juzo to face Minato.

• Minato and Hane exchanged marked Flying Thunder God Kunai and split up to intercept retreating enemies.
• Raiga Kurosuki checked that Ranmaru was safe, realized he could not return to the village, and fled with him as a wandering ninja.
• Biwa Juzo and Suikazan Fuguki confronted Minato and Hane, with Juzo charging Minato while Fuguki attacked Hane.
• Hane used the Sixth Gate and Morning Peacock to overwhelm Fuguki, then struck his tenketsu and left him unable to move.

Hane and Minato defeated the Mist swordsmen, but Hane sensed that Raiga Kurosuki’s Flying Thunder God Mark had appeared inside Konoha. Their investigation implicated Hyuga Tokuma, who had taken Raiga to Root, and Minato considered whether the Hyuga Clan had violated its wartime duty to report important information.

• Minato praised Hane’s mastery of the Flying Thunder God and the Eight Gates, while Hane reflected that Minato had swiftly killed Biwa Juzo using Sage Mode.
• Hane picked up Samehada and told Minato that he had wounded Raiga Kurosuki and marked him, then sensed that the mark was inside the village.
• At Root Base, Aburame Tatsuma identified Raiga Kurosuki’s corpse, and Danzo agreed to consider Hyuga Tokuma’s proposal while ordering Tatsuma to place a Root Seal on him.
• Minato and Hane traced Raiga’s disappearance to a Hyuga shinobi, and Minato found that Hyuga Tokuma had been assigned to patrol despite being trained as a future guard for the Main Branch.
• Hane explained that clans could handle some matters internally but had to report wartime intelligence immediately, leaving Minato to consider confronting the Hyuga Clan.

Water Gate discussed Konoha’s clan influence with Hyuga Hane and planned to leave for the front to end the war, asking Hane to stay behind. At the Sarutobi compound, Sarutobi Hiruzen explained how the clans had come to dominate Konoha’s institutions and why the Hokage depended on their support.

• Water Gate told Hyuga Hane he would leave for the battlefield in two days and asked him to help manage Konoha in his absence, but Hane said he should accompany the Hokage.
• An Anbu reported that Hyuga Tokuma had killed Raiga Kurosuki, and Water Gate ordered the achievement recorded and the body and Ninja Blade sent to the advisors.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen told Hiashi and another listener that ninja clans had infiltrated Konoha’s departments while he failed to notice during the Second Shinobi World War.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen revealed that the Sarutobi Clan had 2,500 ninja and argued that the Hokage’s authority depended on clan support.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen said Senju Tobirama had weakened the Senju Clan through intermarriage and civilian policies, and warned that clans could remove a Hokage who acted against them.

Sarutobi Hiruzen explained why he had sent Hyuga Tokuma to infiltrate Root and warned Hyuga Hiashi that Danzo might target the Hyuga Clan. Tokuma reported to Hyuga Hane, who revealed that Hiruzen might use the Mist Village battlefield to weaken the Sarutobi Clan.

• Sarutobi Hiruzen said Minato needed support from the shinobi clans to secure the Hokage Position and asked Tokuma to watch Danzo in Root.
• Hiruzen told Hiashi that Tokuma's resentment of the Main Branch gave him a plausible reason to infiltrate Root, where he could help protect the Hyuga Clan from Danzo.
• Tokuma reported to Hyuga Hane that he had infiltrated Root and delivered the boy who had been with Raiga Kurosuki to Laboratory No. 3.
• Hane told Tokuma that the Fourth Hokage would head to the battlefield in two days and suggested Hiruzen might use the war to weaken the Sarutobi Clan.
• Hane described how the Third Mizukage, both Tailed Beasts, and famous Mist Village fighters had made the battlefield a deadly meat grinder, and Tokuma realized Hiruzen knew the danger.

Hyuga Hane warned Hyuga Tokuma not to trust Sarutobi Hiruzen or get drawn into the conflict between the Hokage and the shinobi clans, then told him to watch two people named Yakushi in Root. After Tokuma left, Hane considered the Mist Village’s forces and the Fourth Hokage’s move toward the battlefield, concluding that his actions had pushed Madara to make a move.

• Hyuga Hane explained to Hyuga Tokuma why the Sarutobi Clan needed to shed power and warned him that Hiruzen might have used Root to expose dissatisfied Hyuga shinobi.
• Hyuga Hane told Tokuma to wait for Danzo to fail, keep the jutsu hidden, and watch two people with the surname Yakushi in Root.
• Tokuma left after Hane urged him not to kneel again, then reviewed his actions and fell asleep from exhaustion.
• Hyuga Meigoku emerged from the shadows and challenged Hane, who sealed him in a coffin and ordered him to focus on scouting.
• Hyuga Hane reflected on the Mist Village’s forces and concluded that his actions had forced Madara to act, giving him a chance to test the toad’s ability to predict the future.

Hyuga Hane reanimated the Seven Ninja Swordsmen and began studying Ranmaru’s Red Eye before visiting Tsunade at a tavern. He challenged her to bet that she would avoid an impossibly bizarre run of bad luck, leaving her wondering whether her streak of losses was a warning of danger to come.

• Hyuga Hane used Nine-Tails Chakra to strengthen seven unconscious Kirigakure ninja, then reanimated the Seven Ninja Swordsmen to serve him.
• Ranmaru awoke beside the reanimated Raiga Kurosuki and agreed to cooperate with Hyuga Hane’s experiments so he could stay with Raiga.
• Ranmaru described his Red Eye’s abilities, and Hyuga Hane studied its connection to the Byakugan and its Life Resuscitation technique.
• Hyuga Hane visited Tsunade at a tavern, where Hyuga Miyuki left after losing to her repeatedly at gambling.
• Tsunade demanded that Hyuga Hane find a way for her to win, so he proposed betting that she would avoid a series of wildly unlikely misfortunes.
• Tsunade considered her persistent gambling losses and wondered whether they signaled that danger was approaching.

Hyuга Hane asked Tsunade about breaking the Caged Bird Seal and learned that she had found a method based on fission, though it could not be used without cost. He left with confirmation that splitting off a living body could free a Branch Family member from the seal while the original body died.

• Tsunade refused Hane's proposed novel wager and invited him to play dice, but Hane said the outcome would depend on his choice.
• Hane revealed that he suspected Tsunade had found a way to break the Caged Bird Seal, and explained that Lord Hokage had asked him to remain in Konoha and help govern.
• Tsunade admitted that her method was fission, an A-rank technique the Slug Sage had mastered, which could create a surviving body without the Caged Bird Seal.
• Tsunade explained that fission would permanently halve the user's strength and Chakra at first, though training could restore them.
• Hane recognized fission as a way for a person to survive the original body's death and escape the seal, while considering other revival methods that could achieve the same result.

Hyuga Hane learned that the Caged Bird could be undone with the Fission Technique, though it was dangerous and difficult to master, and he accepted the curse without resentment. After rescuing a young Hyuga girl from bullying, he challenged Hyuga Yuki to stop hesitating because Konoha did not welcome the Branch Family.

• Tsunade explained that the Caged Bird had no ordinary cure, but Fission could solve the problem at great risk, and Hane thanked her without expressing resentment toward the curse.
• Tsunade played one final dice game with Hane, then left worried about the shinobi fighting Mist Village on the front lines.
• Hane found three boys bullying a young Hyuga girl and stopped them before they could throw sand in her eyes.
• Hane told the girl to stay with her brother, and Hyuga Yuki arrived to take her hand and thank him.
• Hane told Yuki that Konoha did not welcome the Hyuga Branch Family and asked how much longer he would hesitate, leaving Yuki conflicted as he watched the sunset.

Hyuga Hane tested Uchiha Yakumaru’s improved skills at the village gate while waiting for their mission team. Namikaze Minato, Kushina Uzumaki, and Nohara Rin arrived, with Rin determined to witness peace for Obito while serving as a medical ninja at the base.

• Danzo ordered Root Jonin to carve the Root Seal into a captive girl and reflected on Hiruzen’s plans for Tsunade.
• Hyuga Hane met Uchiha Yakumaru and Hatake Kakashi at the village gate, where Yakumaru attacked him after Hane taunted him.
• Yakumaru tried an A-rank sound-based Genjutsu on Hyuga Hane, but Hane resisted it and said he had been assessing his teammate’s abilities.
• Uchiha Yakumaru told Hyuga Hane that Kakashi had given Shisui Uchiha a Little People Book, prompting an elder to demand information about Kakashi.
• Namikaze Minato arrived with Kushina Uzumaki and Nohara Rin, who said she wanted to witness peace for Obito and would serve as a medical ninja at the base.

Minato led Kushina, Rin, Kakashi, Hyuga Hane, and Uchiha Yakumaru to support Konoha’s front against the Mist Village, while Tsunade confronted Danzo after he kidnapped Shizune. The chapter ended with Danzo presenting the unconscious Shizune to Tsunade at Root Base.

• Minato explained that the Mist Village had gathered a thousand shinobi near its two Jinchuriki, prompting Konoha to prepare for battle.
• Kushina declared herself captain, and Minato and Hyuga Hane used the Flying Thunder God Technique to take their group to the front line.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen set out with support troops and regretted that Tsunade might not survive what was coming.
• Tsunade discovered that a Root shinobi had impersonated her and that Shizune had been abducted; after he threatened Shizune’s life, Tsunade knocked him into a wall.
• Tsunade entered Root Base alone and demanded that Danzo appear.
• Danzo brought out the unconscious Shizune, and Tsunade recognized the mark on her forehead and shouted at him.

Danzo forced Tsunade to demonstrate her Fission Technique on Shizune, then tried to keep Shizune in Root and demanded the method for activating the Caged Bird. As Tsunade stopped at the passage exit, Hyuga Tokuma noticed a hidden genjutsu in her mind and saw a Root jonin’s Sharingan begin to change.

• Danzo threatened Shizune to force Tsunade to reveal her Fission Technique and remove Shizune’s Cursed Seal.
• Tsunade injected Shizune with a potion made from the Slug Sage’s cells, and a Yamanaka shinobi controlled Shizune as she performed the technique.
• Shizune split into two bodies, one free of the Cursed Seal; Tsunade killed that body, and its divided soul returned to the surviving Shizune.
• Tsunade gave Danzo the Fission Technique and left with Shizune, but Danzo demanded the method for activating the Caged Bird before she could take Shizune away.
• Hyuga Tokuma detected a hidden genjutsu in Tsunade’s mind and saw a Root jonin’s eyes transform into Sharingan as strange Chakra surged within her.

Hyuga Hane and Orochimaru discussed using Impure World Reincarnation to influence Konoha, while Orochimaru revealed that Shin’s Mangekyo Sharingan Genjutsu had helped Tsunade overcome her hemophobia. As Shin escaped the Root Base, Danzo ordered his Root Ninja to stop Tsunade at any cost.

• Hyuga Hane met Orochimaru above the Root Base, and they discussed Hane’s Flying Thunder God, his plans to remain in Konoha, and Orochimaru’s impending departure.
• Orochimaru explained that Shin’s Genjutsu had forced Tsunade to confront her grief over Dan and Shizune until she recovered her resolve.
• Hyuga Tokuma attacked Shin and warned Danzo that Tsunade had been caught in a Genjutsu and might no longer be affected by hemophobia.
• Shin used orange Chakra bones to block Tokuma’s Air Palm and fled the Root Base as Danzo recognized the possibility that Shin possessed Susanoo.
• Danzo ordered the Root Ninja to deal with Tsunade first and commanded them to keep her there, whether she lived or died.

Orochimaru left for the Land of Fields after telling Hyuga Hane he was welcome to join him, while Hyuga Meigoku returned to the Hyuga Compound. In Konoha, Danzo's Root fought Tsunade, who summoned Katsuyu to protect Shizune and help her resist the shinobi.

• Orochimaru sent his associate to the Land of Fields, invited Hyuga Hane to join him, and withdrew from the Reanimated Body.
• Hyuga Hane let Hyuga Meigoku regain control and sent him toward the Hyuga Compound as unrest began there.
• Tsunade summoned Katsuyu, who carried the unharmed Shizune away from the fight.
• Tsunade and Katsuyu fought Root shinobi, and Katsuyu's fragments and acid attacks forced Root to abandon two Four Violet Flames Formations.
• Tsunade realized Danzo had forced former Yamanaka and Nara shinobi into Root, while Danzo had left Aburame Tatsuma in command and no other Konoha shinobi came to help.

Danzo and Sarutobi Masaaki persuaded Konoha’s advisors to distrust Hiruzen and fear Minato’s future power, prompting the advisors to ask what Danzo wanted. Meanwhile, the Hyuga Main Family received the Fission Technique and medicine and began considering how to counter it.

• Sarutobi Masaaki warned Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura that Hiruzen was weakening the clans and that Minato’s descendants could inherit the Nine-Tails.
• Danzo revealed that a Uchiha with a Mangekyo had helped Tsunade overcome her fear of blood and used the news to turn the advisors against Hiruzen.
• Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura asked Danzo what he wanted, and he demanded command of the Anbu.
• The Hyuga Main Family received Danzo’s message, the Fission Technique, and medicine to support its use.
• The First Elder asked Hyuga Hiashi how the clan could make the Fission Technique ineffective.