Chapter Summaries

Araki fought Danzo across the stormy sea, overpowering his defenses with a compressed hurricane sword strike. Danzo fled toward Orochimaru, whose summoned Rashomon gates finally exhausted the attack, leaving the battle unresolved.

• Danzo dismissed his battered Baku and attacked Araki with Vacuum Serial Waves, which pierced Araki’s storm mantle by cutting through its chakra.
• Araki compressed the surrounding winds around his Wind Sword and unleashed Storm Rending Wave Slash at Danzo.
• Danzo’s Vacuum Great Sphere failed to stop the sword wave, so he retreated toward Orochimaru and drew the attack into the ongoing battle.
• Orochimaru had Manda’s snakes take the first hits and summoned Triple Rashomon to shield Danzo.
• The sword wave destroyed five Rashomon gates before the last one ground it away.

Araki used the Lightning Stiletto and Wind-Thunder Clash to strike Shimura Danzō with a devastating slash, leaving both sides shaken by the sudden reversal. As Araki struggled with the physical toll of his attack, Danzō urged Orochimaru to retreat.

• Orochimaru and Danzo relaxed after the fifth Rashomon blocked Araki's Spiral Sword Wave, while Manda complained that Orochimaru had not come to help.
• Danzo prepared to destroy Araki's tiny Lightning Pellet with a Vacuum Sphere, but Araki teleported to it with Stellar Restoration and slashed past him at extreme speed.
• Araki appeared beside Kisame, weakened by the strain of Wind-Thunder Clash, while Danzo suffered a blinded right eye and a nearly severed right arm.
• A python carried Danzo to Orochimaru, and Danzo urged him to retreat.
• Orochimaru resented Danzo's earlier boasts, noting that Danzo had fallen while his own side remained locked in an even fight.

Danzo and Orochimaru struggled to escape the Mist Village shinobi’s attacks, so Danzo called Root reinforcements while the others tried to break through Orochimaru’s defenses. The battle remained unresolved as Kisame joined Xiu Bing and Kaguya Steel Bone in attacking the Many Snake Array.

• Kaguya Steel Bone and Xiu Bing attacked Danzo and Orochimaru with bone spikes and an Ice Dragon, but Danzo and Orochimaru combined their techniques to destroy the dragon.
• Orochimaru urged Danzo to call Root reinforcements, and Danzo fired a signal flare displaying a black Konoha forehead protector.
• Xiu Bing froze part of Manda while Kaguya Steel Bone attacked Orochimaru, who protected Danzo with a python and escaped the bone forest’s reach.
• Orochimaru summoned a mass of snakes to form a defensive array, trapping Kaguya Steel Bone among them.
• Xiu Bing unleashed a blizzard that battered the snake array, and Kisame Hoshigaki followed with a surge of sharks.

Namikaze Minato’s arrival let Konoha rout the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist and drive them from the Land of Fire, but Root’s response to Danzo’s distress signal pulled Jiraiya and Minato into the Land of Whirlpools. Jiraiya left Gekko Hoshino and the Anbu to hold the border as he went after Root.

• Kuriarare Kushimaru and Munashi Jinpachi’s arrival strengthened the Mist swordsmen, and explosive traps kept Konoha’s forces at a stalemate.
• Namikaze Minato joined Jiraiya’s fight and used the Flying Thunder God Technique and Rasengan to severely wound Suikazan Fuguki.
• The other Mist swordsmen fled under cover of the Hidden Mist Technique, with Jinin Akebino severely wounded as they escaped into the Land of Whirlpools.
• Jiraiya hesitated to pursue the Mist swordsmen across the border until Danzo’s Root distress signal prompted Aburame Ryoma and his Root subordinates to rush into the Land of Whirlpools.
• Jiraiya ordered Gekko Hoshino to keep the Anbu at the border and took Namikaze Minato and the others after Root.

Hozuki Sengetsu arrived with Kirigakure reinforcements as the Six Ninja Swordsmen fled, while Jiraiya and Root converged on Araki’s battle. After Jiraiya rescued Orochimaru and Shimura Danzō, Danzō ordered Root to kill Araki, and Jiraiya moved to stop them.

• Hozuki Sengetsu met the injured Six Ninja Swordsmen and led them and his Anbu reinforcements in retreat.
• Jiraiya and Root pursued the mist forces toward Araki’s battlefield, where Jiraiya found Orochimaru and Shimura Danzō under attack.
• Jiraiya summoned Gamabunta and used Toad Oil Flame Bullet to drive back the Mist Village forces.
• Orochimaru canceled his summoning technique, revealing himself and the badly injured Shimura Danzō.
• Shimura Danzō ordered Aburame Ryoma and Root to kill Araki, but Jiraiya blocked their path and demanded an explanation.

The Mist group learned that Araki had crippled Shimura Danzō, while Danzō prepared to attack them after retaking command of Root. Jiraiya received an urgent message from Konoha, leaving both sides tense and ready for a possible clash.

• Hozuki Sengetsu asked who had wounded Shimura Danzō, and Kaguya Steel Bone revealed that Araki had done it.
• Hozuki Sengetsu called Araki Konoha's high-ranking official slayer, and Araki modestly said Danzō had been easy to cut down.
• Kaguya Steel Bone reported that Orochimaru had taken En no Gyōja, and Araki warned that Danzō and Root were still intent on fighting.
• Danzo seized command of Root from Jiraiya and prepared to attack, expecting Jiraiya's principles to draw him into the battle.
• Akabane-maru delivered an urgent message from Konoha, and Jiraiya read it as the Mist group prepared for battle and watched him.

Jiraiya used Hiruzen’s urgent summons as a reason to withdraw from the standoff with Kirigakure, leaving Danzo to follow him and ending the threat of battle. Afterward, Araki persuaded Hozuki Sengetsu to let him visit the Uzumaki Clan’s ruins to search for tools connected to the Dead Demon Consuming Seal.

• Jiraiya read Hiruzen’s report and announced that he and his companions would return to the village immediately.
• Hozuki Sengetsu prepared to fight after Jiraiya’s departure left Orochimaru, Danzo, and Root facing Kirigakure’s forces.
• Danzo abandoned his resolve to fight and hurried after Jiraiya, who had used Hiruzen’s summons to tease him.
• Both sides withdrew without fighting, and Araki asked Hozuki Sengetsu to let him visit the Uzumaki Clan’s ruins.
• Araki explained that the Scroll of Seals’ records of the Dead Demon Consuming Seal were incomplete and that important tools remained at the former site.
• Hozuki Sengetsu agreed to send Mangetsu with Araki and his squad to the ruins.

Araki led Zabuza, Black Bone, and Mangetsu to the former Uzushio Village to retrieve Shinigami Masks, hoping to use the artificial spirits to train his ability to sever Yin Release and help Zabuza develop Ghostly Aura. He planned to give Zabuza further training if the masks did not help, while Araki himself was unlikely to remain a genin after wounding the Third Hokage and Shimura Danzō.

• Araki recalled how the Uzumaki Clan's Sealing Techniques became coveted after villages began seeking ways to seal their Tailed Beasts.
• Araki led Zabuza, Black Bone, and Mangetsu across the largest island in the Land of Whirlpools toward the Uzumaki Clan's Mask Storage Hall.
• Araki explained that the Shinigami Masks held artificial spirits made from portions of Uzumaki souls and could serve as a medium for practicing the severing of Yin Release.
• Araki hoped Zabuza could study how the Uzumaki materialized souls and use that knowledge to awaken Ghostly Aura.
• Araki planned to teach Zabuza the Spirit Transformation Technique if the masks failed to help him before the Joint Chunin Exams.

Araki and his companions searched the ruins of Uzushio Village for the Uzumaki Clan's Mask Storage Hall while Zabuza described hearing faint voices. Their search led them to a fishman, whose resemblance to creatures from the Land of the Sea suggested an old enemy was nearby.

• Araki split the search party into pairs, taking Zabuza while Hozuki Mangetsu searched with Kaguya Black Bone.
• Araki showed Zabuza the Sword of the Thunder God and asked whether he had sensed the Ghostly Aura; Zabuza reported hearing faint cries calling his name.
• Mangetsu and Black Bone searched westward, where Black Bone's probing attacks drew a fishman from the river.
• Black Bone severed the fishman's arm, and Mangetsu discovered that the creature understood them but could not speak.
• Araki and Zabuza arrived and recognized the fishman as resembling creatures they had encountered on a Land of the Sea mission.

Araki and his companions tracked down Amachi in the Land of Whirlpools, seized his map, and found the Uzumaki Clan’s Mask Storage Hall. They collected the masks and learned that Zabuza would need to study a sealing technique to pursue awakening Ghostly Aura.

• Amachi worked in his laboratory, where he modified captives into Fishmen, until Araki and his companions broke in.
• Amachi released ten Fishmen and tried to flee, but Araki stopped him and forced him to reveal the location of his map of Uzushio Village.
• Araki found the Mask Storage Hall on the map, and a droplet killed Amachi as he planned to escape and report to Orochimaru.
• Araki and the others reached the Mask Storage Hall, where Araki explained that the masks required a forbidden sealing technique to use.
• Zabuza agreed to study how the Uzumaki Clan made souls physical after Araki linked the knowledge to awakening Ghostly Aura.
• Araki told Kaguya Black Bone that his prepared item was with Lord Sengetsu and that they would return to the village first.

Karatachi Yagura’s Hunter-nin Squad crushed clans in the Land of Water that had been lured by En no Gyōja, killing some civilians and capturing their Kekkei Genkai ninja. After news about Konoha reached the other great villages, a new conflict began to take shape.

• Karatachi Yagura used Cursed Seals from Konoha’s Scroll of Seals as a reason to capture Kekkei Genkai ninja instead of killing them all.
• Chi Jing and the Crystal Release Clan knelt in the rain at Jade Crystal Island after seeing Ming Yan’s severed head, and Chi Jing begged Yagura to forgive them.
• Yagura spared the Crystal Release Clan’s ordinary members but ordered its ninja to accompany him, warning that once someone was a Mist Village ninja, they remained one.
• Yagura’s squad exterminated the ordinary members of the Dark Release and Swift Release Clans and took fewer than ten Kekkei Genkai users from each alive.
• Yagura’s squad confined the ordinary members of the Crystal Release and Steel Release Clans while taking their ninja back to Kirigakure.
• Spies delivered intelligence about Konoha to the leaders of the other three great ninja villages, as a wider conflict began brewing.

After reports of Konoha’s destruction spread, the Raikage, Tsuchikage, and Kazekage considered how to respond and prepared to gather intelligence or join a possible alliance. Uchiha Madara learned that Araki had injured the Third Hokage and sent Black Zetsu to Kirigakure.

• The Third Raikage asked Dodai about invading Konoha, and Dodai advised preparing for war while gathering more intelligence.
• Ōnoki ordered Iwagakure to enter prewar readiness and sent spies to investigate the Land of Fire and Land of Water, while keeping plans to attend the Joint Chunin Exams.
• The Third Kazekage’s council debated striking Konoha, but he rejected an immediate attack and proposed preparing for war and joining the exams to explore an alliance.
• Chiyo and Sasori supported attacking Konoha, while Rasa warned that Sunagakure’s finances could not bear the cost of war.
• White Zetsu reported Konoha’s destruction and Araki’s attack on the Third Hokage to Uchiha Madara, who sent Black Zetsu to Kirigakure.

After Konoha’s destruction, Sarutobi Hiruzen resigned and Orochimaru became acting Hokage as the village prepared for threats from other nations. Nara Shikaku proposed using Kirigakure’s stolen secrets and an exaggerated account of its gains to divide Konoha’s enemies and buy time.

• Sarutobi Hiruzen accepted responsibility for Konoha’s losses and resigned as Hokage.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen proposed that Orochimaru temporarily take the Hokage position, and the gathered jonin accepted the transfer without objection.
• Shimura Danzō called for a forceful retaliation against Kirigakure, while Nara Shikaku warned that a direct assault would be strategically dangerous.
• Nara Shikaku suggested publicizing Kirigakure’s theft of the Scroll of Seals and the abduction of Hyuga clansmen to encourage other nations to distrust Kirigakure.
• Nara Shikaku proposed claiming Kirigakure had taken ten Hyuga clansmen without the Caged Bird Cursed Seal, despite only three being missing, to complicate its negotiations and buy Konoha time.

Konoha publicly accused Kirigakure of atrocities, issued an ultimatum, and placed bounties on Araki and two others. Karatachi Yagura promoted Araki to jonin and asked him to choose his next assignment, which Araki began to consider.

• Konoha issued a proclamation accusing Kirigakure of attacking civilians and wiping out the Tsuchigumo Clan, then demanded the return of the Scroll of Seals, the Sword of the Thunder God, and ten Hyuga children.
• Konoha placed bounties on Hozuki Sengetsu, Hozuki Mangetsu, and Araki, with Araki's bounty set at 100 million ryo.
• Araki considered Konoha's proclamation a move to provoke other nations into targeting Kirigakure and thought Kakuzu might pursue his bounty.
• Karatachi Yagura told Araki that Konoha's proclamation had exposed him and appointed him a Kirigakure jonin at age eleven.
• Karatachi Yagura offered Araki a choice between leading mission squads, training new genin, or joining the Anbu as a squad captain.
• Araki decided he needed time to consolidate his skills, study medical ninjutsu, and gain new abilities, then began stating his choice.

Araki accepted a role selecting Kirigakure's genin teams for the Joint Chunin Exams, hoping to become an instructor with time to train. After meeting the Third Mizukage, he learned the selection needed to be completed quickly while the village defended itself against Konoha.

• Araki chose to become a genin instructor and asked whether he could still lead his original team, Zabuza and Black Bone.
• Karatachi Yagura appointed Araki an examiner for the Joint Chunin Exams and gave him one week to select two genin teams.
• Araki questioned how to persuade Kirigakure's genin to volunteer, and Yagura told him to consider what they wanted most and to meet the Mizukage.
• Araki reasoned that strength was likely what the genin valued most as he walked to the Mizukage Building.
• The Third Mizukage praised Araki for choosing to nurture the next generation and urged him to finish the selection quickly because Kirigakure needed personnel to defend against Konoha.

Araki proposed a selection tournament to find capable Mist genin, and the Third Mizukage expanded the plan into divisions for both genin and jōnin. Araki received Samehada and Kabutowari for the event and began considering how Samehada could help him improve his sword technique.

• Araki suggested offering prizes to attract capable genin to a selection tournament, and the Third Mizukage agreed to provide him with a list of candidates.
• The Third Mizukage offered Araki Samehada and Kabutowari, which had been taken from their injured wielders, Suikazan Fuguki and Jinin Akebino.
• The Third Mizukage proposed separate jōnin and genin divisions, with a sword for the jōnin winner and instruction in its use for the genin winner, and assigned Araki to assess both.
• Araki accepted the swords and considered using Samehada's chakra absorption to reduce the cost of his Rain Cutter Technique and eventually cleave a Tailed Beast Bomb.

Araki selected candidates for Kirigakure’s Joint Chunin Exams preliminaries and delegated the invitations to Zabuza and Kaguya Black Bone. The preliminaries were set for five days later, with mastery of Samehada or Kabutowari offered as the winner’s reward.

• Araki left Kabutowari at the Hozuki Clan Compound and reviewed the roster of eligible Kirigakure genin.
• Araki set a chunin-level strength requirement, selected fifty-seven candidates, and excluded the Kaguya Clan genin because Kaguya Black Bone already occupied a squad slot.
• Araki summoned Zabuza and Kaguya Black Bone and ordered them to deliver invitations for the preliminaries five days later.
• Araki announced that the winner would receive mastery of Samehada or Kabutowari, disappointing Zabuza because neither sword suited him.
• Araki asked Zabuza about his Death God Mask research, and Zabuza admitted he was still working on it.

Araki sent Zabuza to deliver invitation letters while Orochimaru and Danzo questioned En no Gyōja about the Tsuchigumo Clan’s secret technique. Alarmed by Mist Village’s strength, Danzo persuaded Orochimaru to restart research into Wood Release, and Orochimaru agreed.

• Araki told Zabuza to deliver all the invitation letters that day and left to attend to other business.
• Orochimaru and Danzo questioned En no Gyōja, who explained that Wrath of Heaven needed at least thirty minutes to charge and was impossible to conceal.
• Danzo ordered Wrath of Heaven recorded in the Scroll of Seals and forbade En no Gyōja from using it again.
• Danzo and Orochimaru discussed Mist Village’s Ice Release and Shikotsumyaku, and Danzo insisted Konoha needed the First Hokage’s power.
• Danzo urged Orochimaru to resume Wood Release research, dismissing concerns about Hiruzen and Tsunade, and Orochimaru agreed.

Araki evaluated the jonin candidates for Samehada and Kabutowari, discovered the Third Mizukage had left Kisame and major-clan shinobi off the list, and decided Samehada should be his temporary weapon. Meanwhile, Hua Bing and Mei Terumi prepared to enter the genin selection for their own reasons, with Mei secretly hoping to recruit Hua Bing as a future ally.

• Araki tested Takano Kazuhiko with Samehada, watched the sword pierce his hand, and revoked his candidacy after Takano attacked him.
• Araki found the remaining jonin candidates unimpressive and learned from Karatachi Yagura that Kisame had gone to the front lines and that the Third Mizukage had likely excluded powerful clans on purpose.
• Araki agreed with Yagura that he could wield Samehada temporarily while his own sword was being reforged and Suikazan Fuguki recovered.
• Hua Bing told Luo Bing she would enter the genin selection partly to defy Mei Terumi, then chose Kabutowari after learning there were two separate divisions.
• Mei Terumi told Ao she planned to use the Joint Chunin Exams to advance her ambition to become Mizukage and had provoked Hua Bing into competing so she could recruit her as an ally.

Araki learned Samehada’s abilities from Hozuki Mangetsu, then opened a selection tournament for Samehada and Kabutowari by declaring that he would take Samehada himself. When the competitors objected, Araki knocked Takano Kazuhiko unconscious and asked the others again who approved and who objected.

• Araki asked Hozuki Mangetsu to teach him how to use Samehada, and Mangetsu demonstrated its scraping attack, extending handle, chakra absorption, healing, and fusion abilities.
• After five days of training, Araki had mastered Samehada’s basic abilities, though he could not yet use its healing or fusion.
• At Training Ground 7, Araki gathered five jonin, including Takano Kazuhiko, for the selection tournament over Samehada and Kabutowari.
• Araki announced that he would take Samehada and asked who approved and who objected.
• Takano Kazuhiko objected, and the other competitors agreed with him.
• Araki struck Takano Kazuhiko with Samehada, leaving him unconscious, then asked the remaining competitors who approved and who objected.