Chapter Summaries

Kou broke through Jiraiya’s Wild Lion Mane Technique with a precise combination of lightning and fire, leaving Jiraiya shaken by his skill. Jiraiya recognized how Kou had built his abilities by drawing on his Uchiha heritage and the knowledge of others.

• Jiraiya expanded his Wild Lion Mane Technique to surround Kou with white hair and block his escape routes.
• Kou used his Sharingan and Swift Thunder speed to evade the hair, then unleashed a combined fire-and-lightning attack that shredded it.
• Jiraiya escaped with the Body Flicker Technique before Kou’s attack devastated the ground where he had stood.
• Jiraiya marveled at Kou’s precision and reflected on how he had grown by making the most of his heritage and learning from others.

Kou and Jiraiya faced off in a restricted fight in the Land of Water, each anticipating the other's tactics. Jiraiya revealed a new fire-infused Rasengan, leaving Kou shocked.

• Kou reasoned that Jiraiya could not summon large Toads in the Land of Water and planned to keep him from forming Hand Seals.
• Jiraiya recognized Kou's speed, Sharingan, and Chakra Metal swords as obstacles to using ninjutsu.
• Kou used Lightning Release: Swift Thunder to rush Jiraiya and attacked with Uchiha Style: Waltz.
• Jiraiya feinted Hand Seals and countered at close range with a Rasengan, but Kou saw through the ploy and challenged him.
• Jiraiya transformed the Rasengan with fire and drew flames from Kou's Firebirth into it, revealing the Blazing Flame Rasengan.

As Jiraiya attacked Kou with a Blazing Flame Rasengan, Kou realized Jiraiya had developed the technique while preparing a surprise for him and understood why they had lost contact. Kou refused to return to Konoha, but just as Jiraiya closed in, he called for Lao Da to save him.

• Kou recognized Jiraiya’s Blazing Flame Rasengan and recalled that Jiraiya had stopped writing Icha Icha Paradise and answering his letters while researching the technique.
• Kou realized Jiraiya had created the Blazing Flame Rasengan as an answer to the anxiety Kou had shared in a letter, and that his preparation had kept Jiraiya from returning to Konoha in time.
• Kou understood that Jiraiya wanted to take him back to Konoha, but resolved to follow his own path and told Jiraiya there was no place for Konoha in his future.
• Jiraiya decided to knock Kou out and take him back even if Kou hated him, then charged with the Blazing Flame Rasengan.
• Kou assessed the attack and his possible counters, but instead shouted, “Lao Da, save me, kou ya!!!” leaving Jiraiya confused.

Kou escaped Jiraiya’s attack after Pain’s Animal Path struck Jiraiya from hiding, then persuaded Pain to let him leave. Pain stayed behind as Jiraiya approached, and summoned a giant crab to attack him.

• Pain’s hidden Chameleon struck Jiraiya and hurled him into a cliff, while Kou watched from a safe distance.
• The Animal Path appeared behind Kou, and Kou identified it as Pain while feigning ignorance about how he had sensed him.
• Kou flattered Pain and asked him to handle Jiraiya, and Pain let Kou leave.
• Pain sensed Jiraiya approaching and summoned the Animal Path’s giant crab to attack him.
• Jiraiya dodged the crab’s wave of bubbles and recognized it as a giant summon.

Mei waited anxiously for Kou to return from facing Jiraiya, then set out with him by ship for the Land of Whirlpools. Kou left a Shadow Clone behind to monitor the situation as their vessel disappeared into the mist.

• Mei decided to go after Kou because she believed comrades should protect one another, but Kou suddenly appeared unharmed before she could leave.
• Mei reflexively prepared to attack Kou, and he stopped her by pinching her cheek before reassuring her that he had returned safely.
• Kou evaded Mei's questions about Jiraiya by claiming he had bought him a crab, and Mei accepted his refusal to explain.
• Mei boarded the ship with Kou and set the course for the Land of Whirlpools.
• Kou left a Shadow Clone near the harbor to watch Jiraiya and Pain in case their confrontation endangered civilians, then joined Mei as the ship sailed away.

After reflecting on his past in Konoha, Kou prepared to rest aboard the ship until Mei Terumi arrived with an important mission briefing. The chapter ended as she began explaining their destination and the ruins in the Land of Whirlpools.

• Kou recalled his encounter with Jiraiya and considered how little he missed Konoha, though he fondly remembered Kakashi, Asuma, Might Guy, Kurenai, and Anko.
• Kou planned to do fifty sets of push-ups before sleeping, but Mei Terumi knocked on his door.
• Mei Terumi blushed at Kou's open bathrobe, and Kou teased her by offering to play Legends of the Three Kingdoms.
• Mei Terumi turned serious and told Kou they would reach the Land of Whirlpools the next morning.
• Mei Terumi began briefing Kou on the ruins in the Land of Whirlpools and their mission.

Kou and Mei Terumi discussed their mission to explore ancient ruins in the Land of Whirlpools, where previous Mist Village squads had vanished. As their ship reached the island at sunrise, they prepared to face whatever danger awaited there.

• Kou and Mei Terumi argued about eating soldier pills during the mission before Mei turned the conversation to their plans.
• Mei Terumi showed Kou a copied map of ruins and explained that the site might date back to before the Warring States Period.
• Mei Terumi told Kou that every Mist Village squad sent to investigate the ruins had disappeared and warned him to stay alert and remain with her.
• Kou agreed with Mei Terumi's precautions and wondered what dangerous secrets the ancient ruins held.
• Kou and Mei Terumi arrived by ship at the Land of Whirlpools as the sun rose.

Mei Terumi and Kou searched the overgrown ruins of the Land of Whirlpools for a shrine, but an outdated map and dense forest made it difficult to navigate. Kou summoned his supposed helpful friend, revealing a tiny black cat that angrily complained about a ruined date.

• Mei Terumi and Kou landed in the Land of Whirlpools and agreed to search for the central ruins within three days.
• Mei Terumi consulted an old map and suggested they visit a nearby Uzumaki Clan shrine, but they found the mapped plain covered by dense forest.
• Kou teased Mei Terumi with a story about vengeful Uzumaki ghosts, frightening her before admitting he was joking.
• Mei Terumi identified a grove of flowering osmanthus trees as a possible landmark, and Kou said his friend could help locate it.
• Kou performed the Summoning Technique and summoned a small black cat, which berated him for interrupting its date and left Mei Terumi stunned.

Kou summoned his black cat, Cook, to help with an important mission, but their bickering delayed his explanation. The chapter ended with Cook refusing before Kou could tell him what to find.

• Mei Terumi questioned whether Cook was Kou's summoning beast, and Kou introduced the cat as a legendary kitty of the Ninja Cat world.
• Cook complained about Kou interrupting his plans to meet his girlfriend and threatened to make Kou go away.
• Cook suddenly hissed, and Kou grabbed him by the scruff and teased him while he struggled.
• Mei Terumi reminded Kou that their mission came first, so Kou pulled Cook out of the sand and explained that he needed the cat's keen sense of smell.
• Cook refused to help before Kou could finish explaining what he needed to find.

Kou used catnip to break Cook’s resistance and make him agree to help find the way. Mei Terumi doubted her decision to rely on Kou as they faced the forest ahead.

• Cook angrily refused to help Kou, accusing him of humiliating and disrespecting him.
• Kou produced a bottle of catnip, and Cook struggled to resist its scent.
• Cook begged Kou for catnip and called him his master in exchange for more.
• Kou scattered catnip on the ground, and Cook eagerly buried his face in it.
• Kou asked Cook to help them find the way after he finished eating, while Mei Terumi wondered if she had made the wrong choice by asking Kou for help.

Kou, Mei Terumi, and Cook followed Cook’s scent-tracking through the jungle and reached an ancient osmanthus forest. At its center, they discovered ruins and an altar bearing faint Uzumaki Clan patterns.

• Kou urged Cook onward by threatening to withhold catnip, while Mei Terumi followed behind and covered their tracks.
• Kou stopped when they reached a faint osmanthus fragrance, and Mei Terumi recognized the scent.
• Kou cut through the jungle growth and revealed an ancient forest filled with golden osmanthus blossoms.
• Kou, Mei Terumi, and Cook surveyed the desolate ruins at the forest’s center and saw Uzumaki Clan patterns on the altar.

Kou investigated the suspicious Osmanthus Forest at the Uzumaki Clan altar and concluded that it was real, though something about it remained inexplicable. As Mei Terumi urged them to leave, Kou asked whether she trusted him.

• Mei Terumi wondered why the Osmanthus Forest remained intact despite the ruined altar, while Kou approached the grove and asked Cook about its scent.
• Kou examined an enormous osmanthus tree with his Sharingan, cut off a branch, and confirmed that its wood and fragrance seemed real.
• Kou told Mei Terumi that his observations suggested the forest was not a genjutsu, though he sensed it was unusually real.
• Mei Terumi urged Kou and Cook to leave the forest and use the altar to find the ruins, but Cook pointed out that Kou did not want to go.
• Mei Terumi admitted that she and Kou were not close, then privately sensed something strangely familiar about him.
• Kou turned to Mei Terumi with a serious expression and asked whether she trusted him.

Kou awakened his Mangekyō Sharingan while Mei Terumi kept her eyes closed, then used its new vision to investigate the Osmanthus Forest. He discovered that the forest was made of chakra bearing the ocular power of the Mangekyō Sharingan.

• Mei Terumi trusted Kou enough to close her eyes while he investigated the forest.
• Kou awakened his Mangekyō Sharingan and concealed its surge of ocular power from Mei.
• Kou used his new X-ray vision to see that the trees' roots stretched together toward a distant source.
• Kou saw that the Osmanthus Forest consisted of red chakra and recognized it as Mangekyō Sharingan ocular power.

Kou absorbed the ocular power sustaining the Osmanthus Forest and discovered it left behind a memory from a thousand years ago. In the memory, he saw an Uchiha elder accompanied by Indra’s chakra and realized the man was Indra’s reincarnation.

• Kou recognized the Osmanthus Forest as a creation of Mangekyō Sharingan ocular power and used Inari God to absorb it.
• Kou found that most of the forest’s power was ordinary chakra mixed with a small amount of ocular power supplied by the distant ruins.
• Kou turned to find Mei Terumi and Cook gone, then realized he was experiencing a memory left in the absorbed ocular power.
• Kou watched a gathering of white-robed people and noticed an old Uchiha man in black samurai clothes.
• Kou saw Indra’s chakra behind the old man and realized he was Indra’s reincarnation from a thousand years ago.

Kou witnessed a memory in which the last leader of the Ninja Sect admitted its ideals had failed and asked Otsutsuki Kou to lead them in killing Otsutsuki Ori. After waking, Kou found Osmanthus Forest gone and told Mei Terumi he needed time to sort through what he had learned.

• In Kou's vision, Otsutsuki Kou condemned the Ninja Sect and argued that absolute power would dominate the coming age of war.
• The Ninja Sect's middle-aged leader admitted his predecessors had betrayed their ideals and asked Otsutsuki Kou to help kill his father, Otsutsuki Ori.
• Mei Terumi called to Kou as he regained consciousness in the cleared ground where Osmanthus Forest had stood.
• Cook noticed Kou's grave expression and vanished in a puff of white smoke.
• Kou asked Mei Terumi to quiet down while he sorted through what he had learned.

Kou pieced together the forgotten history of the late Era of Ninshu and realized that the Uzumaki ancestors had cooperated with Indra’s reincarnation to create the ruins. Excited by the prospect of finding more ocular power and Indra’s chakra there, he located the fastest route and dragged Mei Terumi toward the ruins.

• Kou examined the altar’s damaged mural and reflected on a memory linking Indra’s reincarnation to the forgotten late Era of Ninshu.
• Kou inferred that the predecessors of the Uchiha, Senju, and Uzumaki had once shared the Otsutsuki surname, and that the Ninshu factions had declined after a catastrophic mistake.
• Kou concluded that people who were likely ancestors of the Uzumaki Clan had cooperated with Indra’s reincarnation to create the ruins, which might contain ocular power and Indra’s chakra.
• Kou calmed himself, recalled the route indicated by the Osmanthus Forest’s roots, and regained his composure as Mei Terumi watched.
• Kou appeared beside Mei Terumi, told her he had found the fastest route to the ruins, then grabbed her forearm and rushed off with her.

Kou and Mei Terumi explored the overgrown ruins of Uzushio Village, where Kou discovered a hidden entrance beneath an ancient altar. They opened a passage leading to the thousand-year-old Uzumaki Clan ruins and prepared to investigate.

• Kou and Mei Terumi walked through the ruined village, and Kou reflected on the Uzumaki Clan's destruction while Mei Terumi hurried ahead after he suggested resting by a stream.
• Kou and Mei Terumi reached a ruined altar at the village's northern edge, and Mei Terumi recognized that the village had been built over older ruins.
• Kou used his Sharingan to find four weakened sealing techniques concealed beneath the altar.
• Kou poured chakra into the seals and released them, causing the ground beneath the altar to sink and reveal a passage.
• Kou announced that they had found the thousand-year-old ruins of the Uzumaki Clan.

Kou and Mei Terumi discovered that the Uzumaki ruins were actually a cemetery and found a mural concealing a powerful seal. Kou used his Mangekyō Sharingan to see the ancient Mangekyō Sharingan hidden behind it, which he recognized as the true core of the ruins.

• Kou and Mei Terumi followed a red glow through the tunnel and emerged into a vast chamber filled with gravestones and artifacts.
• Mei Terumi realized the site was an Uzumaki cemetery, apologized inwardly to the ancestors, and began examining a scroll.
• Kou inspected a mural depicting a white-haired swordsman battling a red monster while black-haired people performed a ritual.
• Kou used his Mangekyō Sharingan to see through the mural's loose seal and discovered immense ocular power and an ancient Mangekyō Sharingan behind it.

Kou and Mei Terumi found sealing techniques in the ruins, but Kou focused on a sealed mural that might conceal something more. After Mei urged him not to risk opening it, Kou used Uchiha Shisui’s Kotoamatsukami on her, and her eyes dimmed.

• Mei Terumi returned with a scroll containing a sealing technique and thanked Kou for helping her complete the mission.
• Kou asked whether she had found other sealing techniques, and Mei explained that she had chosen not to take more out of respect for the dead.
• Mei revealed that Mist Anbu had investigated the ruins and never returned, then warned Kou not to open the seal behind the mural.
• Mei said she was asking him to stop as a temporary companion, not as his client, and expressed her wish to maintain a relationship with him.
• Kou activated Uchiha Shisui’s Mangekyō Sharingan and used Transcription Seal—Kotoamatsukami on Mei Terumi.

Kou used Kotoamatsukami to make Mei Terumi accept that he should explore the dangerous ruins alone, though she briefly struggled with the suggestion before leaving. After wondering whether the technique had malfunctioned, Kou turned his attention to investigating the mural.

• Kou revealed that he had sealed Kotoamatsukami into his Sharingan and used it to alter Mei Terumi's thoughts about the ruins.
• Kou told Mei to forget their earlier conversation and believe that letting him explore alone would benefit Mist.
• Mei accepted Kou's plan and started toward the exit, reasoning that the mission and Mist's interests came first.
• Mei hesitated at the exit, remembered Sora's advice not to abandon companions, and turned back to tell Kou to keep himself safe.
• Mei left through the tunnel, while Kou wondered whether Kotoamatsukami had expired before deciding that its objective had been achieved.
• Kou turned to the mural and prepared to investigate the ruins.