Chapter Summaries

Rikusei and Madara traveled through the mountains toward the Land of Hot Water, discussing the new Kage titles before meeting Hashirama and the Uchiha forces on the road. Naori reunited with Rikusei and pulled him into her arms as the chapter ended.

• Rikusei and Madara sampled wild fruit and continued downhill after leaving the Chinoike Clan behind.
• Madara told Rikusei that Hashirama had invented the title Hokage and said he planned to challenge the leaders who called themselves Kage.
• Rikusei and Madara heard a cavalry approaching along the road in the Land of Hot Water.
• Hashirama rode past with Uchiha elite ninja and called out to Madara, who joined him on horseback.
• Rikusei recognized Naori in a carriage and took her hand as she reached out to him.
• Naori pulled Rikusei into her arms.

Rikusei reunited with his classmates and told them about the Blood Pond Clan, while Danzo privately resolved to focus on becoming stronger. The group reached a mountain town, where its residents feared the arriving cavalry until the town head reassured them; Rikusei suspected the town head recognized his party.

• Rikusei reunited with Naori and his classmates in the carriage, and Kagami identified the Blood Pond Clan as the Uchiha-connected clan Rikusei had visited.
• Rikusei explained that the Uchiha had imprisoned the Blood Pond Clan after its members tried to murder the Daimyo and because people feared their power.
• Danzo remembered Hiruzen and Biwako sharing a fruit, briefly considered finding a girl in his own clan, then decided women would hinder his pursuit of strength.
• Haruto panicked when a large group of cavalry arrived in town, but the town head announced that they were shinobi from the Land of Fire.
• The town head provided Rikusei and his companions with a mansion, servants, and a nearby hot spring, and Rikusei suspected the man recognized who they were.

Rikusei considered his future and set himself the goal of surpassing the Sage of Six Paths, prompting him to speculate about Madara’s eyes. Later, he struck a bargain with Tobirama to exchange his travel stories for a forbidden jutsu and help developing a technique, then unsettled Tobirama by asking what might happen if the dead were summoned back.

• Madara asked Rikusei about his dream, and Rikusei declared that his first goal was to surpass the Sage of Six Paths.
• Rikusei suggested that Madara’s Eternal Mangekyo might evolve into the Sage’s legendary eyes, leaving Madara thinking about the Uchiha Stone Tablet.
• Madara joined Hashirama’s gambling game while Rikusei headed back and found Tobirama studying scrolls.
• Tobirama demonstrated his progress on the Tailed Beast Bomb and offered to teach Rikusei in exchange for his travel stories and help developing it.
• Tobirama agreed to the deal and revealed that his forbidden jutsu could bring the dead back from the Pure Land.
• Rikusei wondered aloud whether they might someday be summoned back to face people they knew, and Tobirama ordered him to leave through the windowsill.

Rikusei and the other ninjas visited hot springs in the Land of Hot Water, where he later shared a quiet moment with Naori and revealed that he could awaken her Sharingan through his chakra. Naori showed that she already understood how unusual their abilities were.

• Rikusei, Hiruzen, Danzo, Taiichi, and the others soaked in the hot springs while Naori, Nao, Biwako, and Koharu playfully splashed one another nearby.
• Rikusei left the spring, climbed to the mountain summit, and reflected on siphoning power from the Nine-Tails seals to pursue his Ten-Tails Jinchuriki project.
• Naori found Rikusei on the summit, and they sat together beneath the moonlight.
• Rikusei used an illusion to bring Naori to the Uchiha Clan Grounds Dango Shop and asked her to focus on sensing his chakra.
• Naori recognized the illusion and the Sharingan, then told Rikusei she had known about their unusual abilities for a long time.

Naori learned that Rikusei’s chakra could accelerate Sharingan evolution and used it to awaken her Double Tomoe. After they discussed his own Three-Tomoe Sharingan, they agreed to keep the secret from everyone except their teacher.

• Naori recalled the unusual circumstances of her Sharingan awakening, and Rikusei realized she had uncovered his role in it.
• Rikusei sent chakra through their joined hands, helping Naori awaken the Double Tomoe Sharingan.
• Naori examined her new eyes by looking into Rikusei’s, while Nao Yamanaka secretly watched and resented their closeness.
• Naori reasoned that Rikusei’s chakra could speed Sharingan evolution, and Rikusei explained that his Three-Tomoe Sharingan had evolved after he controlled the Nine-Tails sealed in a scroll.
• Naori asked whether Rikusei had told anyone else, and he confirmed their teacher knew; they promised no fourth person would learn the secret.

Hashirama began teaching Rikusei to unleash and control chakra through a practical exercise on the mountain. Their escalating chakra clash woke Tobirama, who intervened to stop them.

• Rikusei found Hashirama gambling in the hall, and Hashirama invited him to play after winning a round.
• Hashirama asked Rikusei to call him Teacher Hashirama and offered to teach him a chakra trick because of his contributions to the village.
• Hashirama demonstrated a chakra burst that snapped a tree, then had Rikusei sense his own chakra flowing from his tenketsu.
• Hashirama unleashed a chakra storm at Rikusei, who used his Sharingan to copy the flow and counter it with his own chakra.
• Hashirama increased the intensity until their storms broke a tree, and Tobirama arrived with his own chakra to stop the exercise.

Rikusei demonstrated his newly evolved Three-Tomoe Sharingan, and Madara took him away after Hashirama and Tobirama agreed to teach him. As Rikusei and Madara left town, Rikusei realized Madara was eager to confront the other leaders, potentially bringing Konoha into a diplomatic crisis.

• Tobirama recognized the Three-Tomoe Sharingan in Rikusei's right eye, and Hashirama praised how quickly Rikusei had learned.
• Madara appeared, carried Rikusei away, and confirmed that he had told Hashirama about Hagoromo and the Blood Pond Clan.
• Madara asked whether Rikusei had learned the trick, and Rikusei showed him his Three-Tomoe Sharingan before they prepared to leave.
• Rikusei said goodbye to Naori, Kagami, Danzo, Hiruzen, and the others as their carriages departed.
• Rikusei warned Madara that Konoha was nearing its first diplomatic crisis, and Madara silently revealed his eagerness to judge the other leaders.

Rikusei and Uchiha Madara entered Cloud Village disguised as bounty hunters, explored the village, and discussed the possibility that the countries had once been united. Their meal was interrupted when a drunken Cloud Shinobi boasted that his village could defeat Madara and Hashirama if it had sealed the Nine-Tails.

• Rikusei and Uchiha Madara passed Cloud Village’s checkpoint by registering as bounty hunters from the Land of Fire.
• Rikusei and Madara compared Cloud Village with Konoha, then stopped at a dumpling shop to eat.
• Rikusei asked Madara why distant countries shared a language and writing system, suggesting the Shinobi World might once have been a single country.
• Rikusei and Madara tried Cloud Village’s spicy dumplings while listening to nearby shinobi discuss Konoha’s strength.
• A drunken Cloud Shinobi claimed that Cloud Village could beat Hashirama and Madara if it had sealed the Nine-Tails, and Madara answered with battle intent.

Uchiha Madara challenged the Raikage in Kumogakure, while Rikusei helped him draw the village’s shinobi to the plaza. The Raikage arrived, and Madara explained that he wanted to test whether the Raikage could bear the title Hashirama had created.

• After eating, Rikusei followed Madara through Kumogakure and learned that Madara intended to challenge the Raikage.
• Madara released an immense wave of chakra in the plaza, drawing thousands of Cloud Shinobi and darkening the sky above the village.
• Rikusei counted the gathering shinobi and sensed the Raikage approaching.
• The Raikage arrived amid crackling lightning, and Rikusei asked him to prove his strength worthy of the title of Kage.
• The Raikage asked whether Rikusei spoke for Madara, and Madara confirmed that he wanted to test whether the Raikage could bear the title as well as Hashirama.

Uchiha Madara tested A's strength for the title of Kage in a fierce battle in Kumogakure. A admitted defeat but left determined to earn the title by walking his own path.

• Rikusei recognized the horned men as wielders of Six Paths ninja tools while Madara prepared to test A.
• Madara and A exchanged powerful attacks, and Madara used Susanoo to withstand A's Lightning Style blows.
• A shattered Susanoo's ribs, then dodged its sword and broke off part of the blade.
• A used the broken blade to cut Susanoo, but Madara restored it and formed a fully armored Susanoo.
• A dispelled his chakra and conceded that defeating Madara would require Kumogakure's ninja to fight alongside him.
• Madara left with Rikusei, and A resolved that a Kage earned the title by walking the path himself.

Rikusei and Madara discussed the growing divide between Hashirama’s ideal of peace and the conflicts among the hidden villages. Rikusei proposed unifying the Shinobi World by replacing countries with villages, but acknowledged that Hashirama would never agree to the next step.

• Rikusei and Madara watched the moon from an inn roof in the Land of Moon, and Rikusei urged Madara to stop challenging the other Kage to duels.
• Madara argued that Hashirama’s plan to distribute the Tailed Beasts would not overcome the distrust dividing the hidden villages.
• Rikusei suggested that a common enemy, such as the dead summoned by Tobirama’s forbidden jutsu, could unite the villages.
• Rikusei proposed unifying the Shinobi World by replacing countries with villages, and Madara listened intently.
• Rikusei reflected that Madara and Hashirama could begin unification, but Hashirama would never agree to its difficult second step.

Kakuzu recovered from his injuries while worrying how to explain his failed assassination mission, then met the bounty hunter Kuan in the forest. Kuan let Kakuzu go after hearing that he had encountered Senju Hashirama, Uchiha Madara, and a boy carrying a scroll.

• Kakuzu traveled through the forest with his injured arm still weak and worried that his village would suspect him of betraying them.
• Kuan confronted Kakuzu, identified him from the Bounty Book, and asked whether he had fought a Konoha ninja.
• Kakuzu admitted he had been sent to assassinate Senju Hashirama and said he had also encountered Uchiha Madara.
• Kuan asked about the boy beside Madara and the scroll on his back, then introduced himself as a creditor of the Uchiha Clan.
• Kuan gave Kakuzu pills and left, believing he had earned a favor from someone who had met Uchiha Madara.

After the Raikage’s defeat, Tsuchikage Ishikawa feared Uchiha Madara would come to Iwagakure and tried to hand the title to Mu. Mu instead proposed that the Kage unite with Hashirama, while Ishikawa hoped the conflict would expand Iwagakure’s territory.

• Merchants spread word that the Raikage had admitted defeat after failing to make Madara retreat.
• Ishikawa read the report from Kumogakure and tried to make Mu the Second Tsuchikage so Madara would not target him.
• Ishikawa ordered shinobi on the border to withdraw and planned to go to Konoha while Mu managed the village.
• Mu proposed contacting the other Kage and traveling together to the Land of Fire to form an alliance with Hashirama.
• Ishikawa doubted Reto and Byakuren would follow Mu’s lead and hoped the coming battle would leave Iwagakure more land.

Hashirama subdued the Eight-Tails while Tobirama told him that Madara had defeated the Raikage and was heading to Iwagakure to test himself against the other Kage. The brothers decided to go secretly to Iwagakure, and Hashirama began sealing the Eight-Tails so they could leave.

• Hashirama found the Eight-Tails unconscious after the Wood Golem stopped its Tailed Beast Bomb.
• Tobirama told Hashirama that Madara had defeated the Raikage and was heading to the Land of Earth, where the Wind and Water Kage planned to meet him at Iwagakure.
• Hashirama offered to help Madara, but Tobirama warned that they needed to attend the Kage gathering discreetly and learn what the other villages discussed.
• Hashirama and Tobirama agreed to go secretly, leaving a Wood Clone to spy on the meeting.
• Hashirama used the Wood Golem and Wood Dragon to restrain the Eight-Tails and took the Uzumaki Clan's sealing tools to begin sealing it.

Black Rock and Sancang helped prepare Iwagakure’s mountain terrain for an approaching battle, then were assigned to receive the Raikage. They welcomed the Raikage’s party at the village entrance, where Black Rock noticed an unfamiliar, reassuring-looking man among them.

• Black Rock and Sancang altered a mountain near Iwagakure so it would be more vulnerable to battle, then joked together until Mu revealed the terrain plan had been his idea.
• Mu told Black Rock and Sancang that shinobi from the great nations were coming and ordered them to return to the village to receive the Raikage.
• Black Rock and Sancang reached Iwagakure and were sent by Ishikawa to meet the Raikage, whom Ishikawa said might fight alongside them against Uchiha Madara.
• Black Rock and Sancang waited at the village entrance and saw the Raikage arrive with the Gold and Silver Brothers and an unfamiliar man with a topknot.
• Black Rock noticed Sancang’s ragged breathing and greeted the arriving party with a smile.

Tobirama and Hashirama disguised themselves in Iwagakure as the village prepared to host a battle between Uchiha Madara and four Kage. The Kage reviewed Iwagakure’s planned battlefield and asked A to describe his recent fight with Madara.

• Tobirama and Hashirama read Ping Lu’s newspaper article about Madara’s challenge and discussed their disguised visit to Iwagakure.
• Tobirama sensed the Mizukage’s arrival and prepared for the meeting to begin.
• Ishikawa presented the battlefield plan to the gathered Kage, who praised its features for countering Madara.
• Byakuren asked A to recount his recent battle with Madara, and A agreed.

Iwagakure’s ninjas and the four Kage gathered to receive Uchiha Madara as he approached the village. Madara arrived with Rikusei and challenged the Kage, asking whether they would fight him three against one or four against one.

• Ishikawa’s Anbu reported that Uchiha Madara was thirty miles from Iwagakure, while Reto complained about the cost of the reception.
• A reported that Madara was ten miles away, and Hashirama told Tobirama he wished he had made Madara Hokage.
• An Anbu reported Madara was five miles from Iwagakure, and the crowd waited for his arrival.
• Madara approached the village with Rikusei, who reminded him of his promised reward and asked for Izanagi as a Transcription Seal.
• Madara punched Rikusei, then said he had sensed wrong and that Hashirama was not in Iwagakure.
• Madara faced the four Kage and asked whether they would fight him three against one or four against one.

The Four Kage tested their teamwork against Uchiha Madara, whose Susanoo withstood their coordinated attacks. The battle escalated as Madara launched a powerful fire technique, and Ishikawa defended the group from his Yasakani Magatama.

• Rikusei watched the crowd gather for the battle and regretted missing the chance to sell tickets and protection packages.
• Hashirama, disguised as Jianzhu, watched from a raised cliff while Tobirama warned him not to join the fight.
• Byakuren flooded the battlefield, and Ishikawa used the Ultra-Light-Weight Rock Technique to help A charge Uchiha Madara.
• A broke through Susanoo's defenses with a lightning-fast barrage, while Ishikawa used the Added-Weight Rock Technique to hinder its arm.
• Madara used Great Fire Annihilation against the water and water dragon, filling the battlefield with steam.
• Madara launched Yasakani Magatama, and Ishikawa summoned a Rock Colossus to block it before the statue collapsed.

Madara overwhelmed the four Kage with Susanoo, but Ishikawa’s words renewed their resolve and inspired a discussion of Konoha’s Will of Fire. Madara ended the clash by cleaving the sky with one sword stroke, while Rikusei claimed the sword flourish as his own.

• Ishikawa and the other Kage trapped Susanoo between enormous earth walls and attacked it with a chakra dragon, but Madara formed four arms and destroyed both assaults with his swords.
• The four Kage lost heart as Susanoo charged, until Ishikawa rallied them with a speech about a ninja’s unbreakable will and raised the Rock Colossus to fight.
• Madara reshaped Susanoo into blue armor and advanced, while Hashirama and Tobirama discussed Konoha’s Will of Fire with Rikusei, who had found his father among the onlookers.
• Madara cut down the Rock Colossus and sent the four Kage flying, then cleaved open the sky with a single sword strike and declared his power.
• Tobirama sheltered himself and Rikusei from the gale, and Rikusei told Hashirama that the Blade Flower had been his before Hashirama vanished.

Hashirama, Tobirama, and Rikusei arrived at the battlefield after the Eight-Tails was sealed, staging their return to look like they had rushed from the Land of Fire. The four Kage gathered with their guards for the first meeting of the Five Kage, while Rikusei feared that Madara and Hashirama could end the age of the shinobi before it began.

• Hashirama and Tobirama disguised their appearance and chakra depletion, with Rikusei helping them look as though they had hurried to the battlefield.
• Hashirama spread his chakra across the Shinobi World, and shinobi recognized his presence as he approached.
• Hozuki Gengetsu, Ishikawa, Reto, and A regrouped after Madara’s attack and noticed that the Eight-Tails had been sealed.
• Hashirama confronted Madara about the promised cultivation trip, while Tobirama avoided taking sides.
• The four Kage arrived with their guards, and Rikusei joined Madara’s group as the first meeting of the Five Kage began.