Chapter Summaries

Uzumaki Jiuming’s Heavenly Execution nearly killed Roshi, but the resulting destruction let the Five-Tails Kokuō escape and sent the Stone Ninja into retreat. Jiuming pursued Roshi’s rescuers, and Hatake Sakumo followed north with Konoha’s troops.

• Hatake Sakumo rushed toward the battlefield as Uzumaki Jiuming’s Thunder Dragon struck Roshi and created a massive explosion.
• The blast and Kokuō’s rampage broke the Stone Ninja’s containment, and the Five-Tails escaped as its guards fled.
• Four Stone Ninja found Roshi near the crater and retreated with him rather than attack the exhausted Jiuming.
• Jiuming activated his Yin Seal and chased Roshi’s rescuers, but Roshi suddenly attacked him with a beastlike tail and the Stone Ninja escaped farther.
• Jiuming resumed the pursuit while Hatake Sakumo arrived with Konoha’s troops and followed Hizashi’s directions north.

Uzumaki Kuming returned to the Konoha base after pursuing the Stone Ninja, while Ōnoki mobilized to recover the Five-Tails and respond to Konoha’s attack. At a meeting, Kuming weighed whether to press into the Land of Earth or withdraw, but shortages and Kirigakure’s attack on Sunagakure disrupted his plans.

• Uzumaki Kuming defeated five Stone Ninja interceptors, then led Hatake Sakumo and the Konoha reinforcements back to their base when more Stone Ninja approached.
• Ōnoki learned that Han had been killed, the Five-Tails had escaped, and Roshi had been gravely wounded, so he ordered reinforcements and prepared the village for battle.
• Aburame Shikuroo urged Kuming to continue attacking, while Hatake Sakumo advised withdrawing before the Stone Ninja could gather a stronger force.
• Fukuyama reported that Konoha could not spare medical supplies, and Kuming ordered the seriously wounded sent back to the village.
• Kuming learned that Kirigakure had attacked the Land of Wind border and that Sunagakure was withdrawing, forcing the joint advance into the Land of Earth to end.

Uzumaki Kuming reorganized Konoha’s forces after Kirigakure’s attack disrupted his plans, then used retreats and guerrilla tactics to evade Ōnoki’s pursuit in the Land of Earth. The chapter ended with Kuming repeatedly resuming operations whenever Ōnoki left the front, frustrating Iwagakure’s attempts to find him.

• Kuming ordered noncombat personnel to withdraw, established plans for a rear base, and requested reinforcements as Konoha prepared for a third front.
• Kuming visited the badly injured Uchiha Fugaku, told him Han was dead, and arranged for him to return to the village to recover.
• After learning that Ōnoki was approaching with three thousand men, Kuming planted Explosive Tags beneath the base and retreated into the Land of Wind.
• Ōnoki’s scouts triggered Konoha’s traps, and he later left two thousand ninja in the Land of Earth while returning to Iwagakure with the rest.
• Kuming’s forces returned to the Land of Earth and retook their base, then withdrew again when Ōnoki arrived to intercept them.
• Kuming resumed operations each time Ōnoki left, using guerrilla tactics that repeatedly frustrated the Tsuchikage.

Uzumaki Kuming’s depleted force struggled against Roshi’s Stone Ninja, while Konoha faced urgent calls for reinforcements on every front. Hiruzen Sarutobi redeployed the troops guarding against the Land of Water, leaving Konoha with no reserves and the prospect of sending Genin to war.

• After Roshi took command of five thousand Stone Ninja, Uzumaki Kuming’s force suffered heavy losses and retreated.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi received Kuming’s request for reinforcements and learned that Jiraiya’s troops were being pushed back by the Cloud Ninja.
• Hiruzen refused to withdraw Kuming’s force because it kept five thousand Stone Ninja tied down away from Orochimaru’s front.
• Hiruzen learned that Orochimaru was advancing toward the Land of Earth border but needed reinforcements amid heavy casualties.
• Hiruzen ordered the troops guarding against the Land of Water to reinforce Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Kuming, and warned that Konoha might have to send Genin to the front.

One year later, Kuming led Konoha’s outpost forces in the Land of Wind as the war against the Stone Ninja intensified and Konoha struggled with dwindling manpower. After rejecting inexperienced Genin reinforcements, he sent a sealed scroll containing a jutsu and the Sword of the Thunder God as a gift for Fugaku’s newborn son.

• Kuming’s forces withdrew into the Land of Wind and avoided major clashes with Kitsuchi and Roshi’s larger Stone Ninja army while targeting enemy supply lines and gathering intelligence.
• Konoha’s fronts suffered heavy losses, Minato earned the title Yellow Flash of Konoha, and Third Hokage ordered shinobi aged fourteen and older to the front.
• Kuming rejected five hundred newly graduated Genin, saying they would weaken his elite force rather than help its behind-the-lines mission.
• Hizashi told Kuming that Mikoto had given birth to Fugaku’s son, and Kuming decided to send the child a gift.
• Kuming sealed a jutsu and the Sword of the Thunder God in a scroll and gave it to Hizashi to deliver to Fugaku.

Minato Namikaze led Kakashi Hatake, Obito Uchiha, and Rin Nohara on a secret supply mission from the Land of Rain toward a Konoha outpost in the Land of Wind. After a Stone Ninja scout discovered their tracks, Minato killed him and hurried the squad onward, suspecting elite enemy forces were nearby.

• Minato Namikaze told Obito Uchiha, Kakashi Hatake, and Rin Nohara that they were crossing the Land of Birds to deliver supplies to a secret Konoha outpost in the Land of Wind.
• Kakashi Hatake explained that the outpost's location was restricted knowledge and fell silent when Minato mentioned his father, Hatake Sakumo.
• Minato led the squad into the Land of Birds and had them erase their tracks, but Obito and Rin left traces that Stone Ninja scouts found.
• Minato killed a Stone Ninja scout who had approached the squad undetected, then ordered everyone to move because their position had been discovered.
• Minato suspected the scout belonged to an elite Stone Ninja unit and hurried the squad through the area under cover of night.

Minato Namikaze’s team was attacked by a Stone Ninja while resting, but the attacker escaped Obito Uchiha’s fireball and remained hidden. As Stone forces led by Roshi and Kitsuchi moved to intercept Minato, Uzumaki Kuming realized the danger and led reinforcements toward him.

• Minato stopped the team so Rin Nohara could rest and left Kakashi Hatake and Obito Uchiha to guard her while he set traps.
• A Stone Ninja emerged from the ground and attacked Kakashi, who dodged the Kunai and fought back before being knocked away.
• Obito hit the attacker’s position with a Great Fireball, but Kakashi suspected the Stone Ninja had escaped; Minato arrived and concealed his suspicion that they were still being watched.
• Minato kept watch through the night and had already sent a message to the outpost in the Land of Wind.
• Roshi and Kitsuchi led a large Stone force toward Minato after learning he was in the Land of Birds with only three young companions.
• Uzumaki Kuming learned that Roshi and Kitsuchi had mobilized, then led a large force from the outpost to support Minato.

Minato Namikaze and his team were ambushed by Roshi and nearly fifty Stone Ninja. Minato fought using the Flying Thunder God Technique, but Roshi turned his lava attack on Minato’s students to force him to protect them.

• Minato used the Flying Thunder God Technique to teleport five enormous lava fireballs away from his team.
• Minato told Kakashi and Obito to get Rin and escape, but Roshi and the Stone Ninja surrounded them.
• Minato attacked with a swarm of Kunai, broke through the Stone Ninja’s stone wall, and killed a Jonin with a feint followed by a Rasengan.
• Roshi unleashed the Scorching River Rock Technique at Obito, Kakashi, and Rin while declaring that Minato would die.

Minato Namikaze struggled to protect Kakashi, Obito, and Rin from Roshi and Kitsuchi, who used their techniques to counter his speed. Just as Kakashi was in danger, Uzumaki Kuming arrived and turned the battle around, though Kakashi did not recognize him.

• Roshi attacked Kakashi, Obito, and Rin with lava and molten fireballs while Kitsuchi boosted his speed with the Light-Weight Rock Technique.
• Minato Namikaze escaped Roshi’s counterattack with Flying Thunder God, but Roshi and Kitsuchi identified a brief opening after Minato appeared.
• Minato tried to retreat with Kakashi, Obito, and Rin, but Roshi rushed them and forced Minato to block a powerful punch.
• Kakashi charged Roshi with Chidori, but Kitsuchi intercepted him and kicked him in the chest.
• Uzumaki Kuming arrived, sent Kitsuchi flying, and drove Roshi back with a Lightning Arrow.
• Obito Uchiha recognized Uzumaki Kuming as the man who had knocked him out and impersonated Minato-sensei.

Uzumaki Jiuming rescued Minato Namikaze and his team, then pursued Roshi and captured some of the Stone Ninja who stayed behind. Roshi escaped to a Stone Ninja outpost and began gathering forces to trap Jiuming in the Land of Birds.

• Uzumaki Jiuming arrived with Konoha reinforcements, struck Kitsuchi, and forced Roshi to retreat with the remaining Stone Ninja.
• Minato Namikaze rested with Kakashi, Rin Nohara, and Obito Uchiha, who recounted how Jiuming had knocked him out years earlier.
• Roshi left Kitsuchi and fled with his main force while a middle-aged Stone Ninja and more than twenty others stayed behind to delay Jiuming.
• Jiuming ordered Shikuroo and the Konoha shinobi to capture the Stone Ninja alive, and ten were taken prisoner after the battle.
• Jiuming sealed the prisoners' movements and Chakra, regrouped with Minato's team, and headed for the Land of Wind.
• Roshi reached a Stone Ninja outpost and summoned forces to trap Jiuming and his unit in the Land of Birds.

Uzumaki Kuming explained that Roshi, Iwagakure’s Four-Tails Jinchuriki, and Kitsuchi had escaped and would likely gather their forces. With Minato’s Flying Thunder God Technique, Kuming planned to isolate Roshi and capture the Four-Tails, leaving the squad preparing for battle.

• Uzumaki Kuming told Minato that Kitsuchi and Roshi had led the Iwa Ninja ambush, and that his squad had failed to catch them.
• Minato explained Tailed Beasts and Jinchuriki to Obito and Rin, and Kuming revealed that he was Konoha’s Jinchuriki.
• Uzumaki Kuming said Roshi and Kitsuchi would likely surround them, then revealed his plan to hunt the Four-Tails using a sealing container.
• Uzumaki Kuming asked Minato to use the Flying Thunder God Technique to teleport him and Roshi to a battlefield of his choosing once the armies engaged.
• Hizashi Hyuga reported that the Barrier Team and outpost forces were on their way, and Kuming requisitioned Minato while telling Obito, Rin, and Kakashi to rest and prepare.

Minato Namikaze led a surprise attack on Roshi and the Stone Ninja, using Flying Thunder God to outmaneuver Roshi’s partial Tailed Beast Transformation. Minato marked Roshi with the Flying Thunder God formula and teleported him away, then Konoha’s forces withdrew.

• Roshi led the Stone Ninja through the forest while his scouts failed to find Uzumaki Kuming and the other Konoha ninja.
• Minato ambushed the Stone Ninja with marked kunai, Explosive Tags, and combined ninjutsu, then attacked Roshi directly.
• Roshi transformed and fought Minato with lava techniques and a Tailed Beast Bomb, which Minato transferred away at great cost to his chakra.
• Minato struck Roshi with a Rasengan and marked his abdomen with the Flying Thunder God formula.
• Minato teleported Roshi away, and the Konoha ninja retreated from the battlefield.

Uzumaki Kuming trapped Roshi inside a Four Red Yang Formation and tried to seal the Four-Tails after it took control of Roshi’s body. With the beast restrained but resisting fiercely, Kuming brought out a container to seal it in.

• Minato Namikaze transported Roshi to Uzumaki Kuming’s desert trap, where Konoha’s Barrier Team and Minato maintained the Four Red Yang Formation.
• Uzumaki Kuming activated a Four-Limb Heavy Seal beneath Roshi, but Roshi transformed fully into the Four-Tails.
• The Four-Tails took control of Roshi’s body, and Uzumaki Kuming restrained it with Adamantine Sealing Chains.
• Uzumaki Kuming released his Yin Seal to strengthen his restraints and hold the Four-Tails in place.
• Uzumaki Kuming produced a container for the Four-Tails, which struggled hard enough to weaken the sealing markings with molten rock.

Uzumaki Kuming tried to seal the Four-Tails, but Zetsu’s ambush broke the barrier and forced him to confront impostors while conserving his Chakra. Minato arrived to hold off White Zetsu as Black Zetsu pursued Kuming, and the chapter ended with White Zetsu copying Kuming’s appearance and Lightning Armor.

• The Four-Tails damaged the Four-Limb Heavy Seal and launched a Tailed Beast Bomb, but Uzumaki Kuming deflected it with an Adamantine Sealing Chain.
• Zetsu attacked Kuming’s Shadow Clone, breaking the Four Red Yang Formation, and Minato rushed into the barrier to find Kuming.
• Kuming recognized Zetsu, hesitated to seal the Four-Tails, and cut down a White Zetsu impersonating Minato.
• Black Zetsu attacked Kuming and drained his Chakra, but Minato arrived by Flying Thunder God and Kuming sent him to deal with the enemy while he moved to seal the beast.
• Black Zetsu pursued Kuming as White Zetsu split apart, with one copy transforming into Kuming and reproducing his Lightning Armor, shocking Minato.

Uzumaki Kuming and Minato Namikaze fought Black Zetsu and a White Zetsu disguised as Kuming while trying to capture the Four-Tails. Konoha reinforcements arrived, allowing Kuming to help seal the beast as Black and White Zetsu retreated.

• White Zetsu copied Kuming's appearance and Lightning Armor to keep Minato occupied while Black Zetsu attacked Kuming.
• Black Zetsu clung to Kuming, drained his Chakra, and prevented him from forming Hand Seals, so Kuming sent his Adamantine Sealing Chains to strike the disguised White Zetsu and drive Black Zetsu underground.
• The freed Four-Tails fired a Tailed Beast Bomb at Kuming, but Minato teleported it away with the Flying Thunder God Technique and collapsed from the effort.
• Konoha reinforcements disrupted the Four-Tails' next attack and formed a barrier around it, prompting Black and White Zetsu to retreat underground.
• Kuming helped the Barrier Team seal the Four-Tails, and the Konoha shinobi celebrated their capture.

Uzumaki Kuming's forces drove the Stone Ninjas from the Land of Birds after capturing the Four-Tails, but Kuming and his commanders disagreed over what to do with the beast. Two days later, the Third Hokage ordered Kuming to withdraw and send the Four-Tails to Orochimaru, while Team Minato received a mission to destroy the Kannabi Bridge and Kakashi was promoted to Jonin.

• Kitsuchi ordered the Stone Ninjas to retreat from the Land of Birds after Roshi's capture devastated their morale, while Uzumaki Kuming's forces seized strongholds and secured territory.
• Kuming met with his commanders, who debated whether to keep the Four-Tails, return it, or use it against the Land of Earth; they decided to secure the Land of Birds and make a probing attack.
• Minato observed the divisions among Konoha's commanders as the meeting ended without a decision about the Four-Tails.
• Two days later, the Third Hokage ordered Kuming to withdraw into the Land of Wind and send the Four-Tails to the Land of Rain for Orochimaru to take custody of it.
• The Third Hokage ordered Minato and Team Minato to infiltrate the Land of Earth and destroy the Kannabi Bridge, and promoted Kakashi to Jonin.

Orochimaru received the sealed Four-Tails from Uzumaki Kuming and prepared to attack the Stone Ninja to support Minato Squad’s mission. Meanwhile, Kuming withdrew his forces from the Land of Wind to reinforce Jiraiya’s front, and Minato Squad received an order to rescue a Konoha unit before destroying Kannabi Bridge.

• An Aburame ninja delivered the Four-Tails, sealed inside a container made by Uzumaki Kuming, to Orochimaru, who discovered Kuming’s hidden message and agreed to help him.
• Orochimaru assembled his forces to attack the Stone Ninja and create an opening for Minato Squad to destroy Kannabi Bridge.
• After learning that Jiraiya’s forces were close to being overwhelmed and Sakumo had been seriously injured, Kuming ordered his forces to withdraw from the Land of Wind and head for the Land of Hot Water.
• Minato Namikaze led Kakashi and the others into the Land of Earth and paused to rest near Kannabi Bridge.
• Minato received Shimura Danzō’s order to rescue a Konoha squad before continuing his mission to destroy Kannabi Bridge.

After Orochimaru received the sealed Four-Tails, he read a secret message from Uzumaki Kuming and prepared to attack the Stone Ninja. Meanwhile, Kuming withdrew his forces from the Land of Wind, and Minato’s team received a new order to rescue a Konoha squad instead of destroying Kannabi Bridge.

• Orochimaru received the Four-Tails in a sealed container, and Danzō accused Uzumaki Kuming of deliberately withholding the seal’s release method.
• Orochimaru discovered Kuming’s hidden message and agreed to help him in exchange for the Phantom Nine Dragon Seal.
• After learning Jiraiya’s forces were near collapse and Sakumo was seriously injured, Kuming ordered his forces to withdraw and head for the Land of Hot Water.
• Minato Namikaze led Kakashi and the others toward Kannabi Bridge, then received Danzō’s order to rescue a Konoha squad instead of continuing their mission.
• Minato told Obito and the others that they might have to split into two teams.

Minato split his team and assigned Kakashi, Obito, and Rin to destroy Kannabi Bridge while he went to aid a trapped Konoha squad. After Minato left them to proceed alone, Stone Ninja captured Rin, and Kakashi insisted that he and Obito continue the mission.

• Minato divided the team, gave Kakashi a Flying Thunder God Kunai, and briefed Team Kakashi on its mission to destroy Kannabi Bridge.
• Kakashi fought Stone Ninja clones with Chidori, but Minato rescued him from a counterattack and Rin treated his shoulder wound.
• Minato told Obito about Hatake Sakumo's disgrace and urged him to understand Kakashi; the next morning, Minato left the team to continue on its own.
• Kakashi led Obito and Rin toward Kannabi Bridge, and two Stone Ninja ambushed them in the woods.
• The Stone Ninja subdued Rin and escaped with her, but Kakashi stopped Obito from pursuing them and ordered him to continue the mission.

Obito rejected Kakashi’s decision to continue the mission without Rin and went alone to rescue her, but Kakashi changed his mind and followed. As Kakashi and Obito confronted the Stone Ninja outside Rin’s cave, Kakashi was wounded protecting Obito, and Uzumaki Kuming appeared from the scroll Kakashi had thrown.

• Kakashi argued that he and Obito should continue the mission while postponing Rin’s rescue, but Obito insisted on saving her immediately.
• Obito punched Kakashi, declared that comrades mattered more than rules, and set out alone to track the Stone Ninja who had taken Rin.
• Kakashi reconsidered, followed Obito, and used the trail to locate the cave where Rin was being held.
• A Stone Ninja noticed Obito outside the cave and attacked him, but Kakashi arrived and struck the attacker with his Chakra Blade.
• The Stone Ninja used the Camouflage Stealth Technique and wounded Kakashi in the face as Kakashi shielded Obito.
• The cut scroll released Uzumaki Kuming, whose appearance startled the middle-aged Stone Ninja.