Chapter Summaries

After the Kirigakure delegation survived an Akatsuki attack, Gong Yi warned Hiruzen Sarutobi about Akatsuki’s strength and a Sharingan user skilled in Space-Time Ninjutsu. Konoha and Kirigakure signed a peace treaty, but Mei Terumi warned Hiruzen about the Uchiha, and a man in the shadows urged him to eliminate the clan.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi apologized to Mei Terumi for the attack, while Gong Yi identified the dead Konoha Ninja’s wounds as Sasori of the Red Sands’ handiwork.
• Gong Yi told Hiruzen that Akatsuki had gathered powerful Missing-nin, named Pain as its leader, and included a Sharingan user skilled in Space-Time Ninjutsu.
• Hiruzen connected Gong Yi’s description to the Uchiha culprit behind the Nine-Tails Incident.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi and Mei Terumi signed a peace treaty between Konoha and Kirigakure.
• Mei Terumi warned Hiruzen to keep the Uchiha Clan in check, and a man with a cane told him the Uchiha could not be allowed to remain.

Sarutobi Asuma returned to Konoha after his brother and sister-in-law were killed, but Hiruzen and Kakashi refused to reveal who was responsible. Asuma and Kakashi went to Gong Yi for answers and found him training Hyuga Neji and Kimimaro in a brutal sparring match.

• Asuma attended his brother and sister-in-law’s funeral, promised to care for Konohamaru, and asked Hiruzen who had killed them, but Hiruzen refused to tell him.
• Asuma met Kakashi at a bar, but Kakashi said he could not disclose the Hokage’s secrets and suggested asking Gong Yi.
• Asuma and Kakashi traveled to Gong Territory, where Gong Ling let them into the grounds while Gong Yi taught his disciples.
• Asuma and Kakashi watched Neji, wounded and bloodied, fight Kimimaro as Gong Yi challenged Neji to prove his training was worthwhile.
• Neji launched the Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms against Kimimaro.

Hyuga Neji and Kimimaro fought a brutal spar under Gong Yi’s supervision, and Gong Yi later discussed the enemy who killed Asuma’s brother. After treating the boys, Gong Yi sent them home, where Neji invited Kimimaro to a Hyuga Clan gathering.

• Neji used Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms against Kimimaro, who countered with Shikotsumyaku: Dance of the Larch and Dance of the Clematis.
• Neji used Rotation to clash with Kimimaro, and both boys suffered serious injuries before Neji admitted defeat.
• Gong Yi told Asuma that one enemy had killed his brother and his brother’s Jonin squad, then offered to reveal the truth in exchange for the Sarutobi Clan’s Wind Release Ninjutsu.
• Asuma left to consider Gong Yi’s condition while Kakashi reflected on his own early experience of killing and his wish to spare younger shinobi the same hardships.
• Gong Yi treated Neji and Kimimaro, ordered them to rest for two days, and sent them home.
• Neji invited Kimimaro to a Hyuga Clan gathering, and Kimimaro said he might come if he had time.

Gong Yi considered studying Space-Time Ninjutsu and joined Erii in seeing Naruto off on his first day at the Ninja Academy. Meanwhile, Uchiha Itachi set out to take a special Chunin Ninja Exam, and Hiruzen Sarutobi decided to watch.

• Gong Yi decided to investigate Space-Time Ninjutsu using the Flying Thunder God Technique he had memorized.
• Gong Yi and Erii saw Naruto off at the Ninja Academy, where he declared that he would become Hokage and promised to work hard.
• Gong Yi noticed that none of the children he expected to see were present at Naruto's school entrance.
• Uchiha Itachi left for his Chunin Ninja Exam as Fugaku and Mikoto discussed the dangers of his solo test.
• After hearing Kakashi's report, Hiruzen Sarutobi decided to watch Uchiha Itachi take the exam.

Uchiha Itachi passed a solo Chunin exam, and Hiruzen Sarutobi offered him a place in the Anbu. Hiruzen and Shimura Danzō then discussed using Itachi and Shisui to influence the Uchiha and potentially counter Gong Yi, though Hiruzen doubted they could match him.

• Uchiha Itachi found the maps and rescued the hostage during his Chunin exam, which Hiruzen Sarutobi had watched with the Telescope Technique.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi told Uchiha Itachi he had passed and invited him to join the Anbu, but Itachi went home to discuss the offer with his family.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi considered how Itachi's Anbu service could benefit the village and potentially provide false intelligence if Itachi stayed loyal to the Uchiha.
• Shimura Danzō asked Hiruzen Sarutobi to place Itachi in Root after evaluating him in the Anbu, and Hiruzen agreed.
• Shimura Danzō asked whether Itachi and Shisui could keep Gong Yi in check, while Hiruzen privately doubted they could challenge Gong Yi's strength.

Gong Yi completed a self-sufficient ninja clone named Yamazaki Akaji and sent him to infiltrate Iwagakure for intelligence on its Tailed Beasts and their Jinchuriki. After destroying the secret lab, Gong Yi returned toward Konoha and planned to research Space-Time Ninjutsu.

• Gong Yi used a Divine Sense Seed to animate a reinforced corpse, testing its Jonin-level strength and Ninjutsu abilities.
• Gong Yi transplanted Three-Tomoe Sharingan into the clone, whose Hashirama Cells sustained their Chakra drain.
• Gong Yi gave the clone the identity of Yamazaki Akaji, operating funds, and orders to infiltrate Iwagakure and gather intelligence on the Four-Tails, Five-Tails, and Seven-Tails.
• Gong Yi instructed Yamazaki Akaji to create an opportunity for the Tailed Beasts to leave their villages and report back, then sent him away.
• Gong Yi weighed his plans to obtain the remaining Tailed Beasts, collapsed the secret lab, and headed toward the village to research Space-Time Ninjutsu.

Gong Yi continued studying Flying Thunder God as the year 55 Konoha began, while Naruto struggled at the Ninja Academy and chose to train Taijutsu. Meanwhile, Fugaku and the Uchiha elders discussed their worsening position in Konoha and decided to ask Gong Yi for support.

• Gong Yi’s Mastery of All Dharmas developed, renewing his hope of learning Flying Thunder God, though his research remained difficult.
• Naruto, still repeating his first year, decided to leave the village and train Taijutsu after struggling with Chakra control and the basic techniques.
• Parents warned their children to avoid Naruto, while Fugaku told Sasuke that no Uchiha should approach him because he was the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.
• The Uchiha elders argued that Konoha was increasingly restricting their clan and suggested that Gong Yi might support their plan to take control of the village.
• Fugaku agreed to approach Gong Yi, though he warned the elders that he could not promise to gain his support.

Fugaku visited Gong Yi to ask him to speak up for the Uchiha Clan, but Gong Yi refused to take sides. Fugaku left believing the clan might still have a chance to fight back and resolved to act for his children.

• Fugaku traveled to Gong Territory, determined to seek Gong Yi's help for the Uchiha Clan.
• Gong Yi reflected on the unreliable Divine Sense link to his clone, Yamazaki Akaji, and anticipated forming a third Divine Sense Seed.
• Gong Yi sensed Fugaku before he reached the door and received him in the courtyard gazebo.
• Fugaku asked Gong Yi to speak against the village's suppression of the Uchiha, but Gong Yi asked what the clan could offer him in return.
• Gong Yi refused to help the Uchiha but said he would not harm them, then told Fugaku to leave and not return.
• Fugaku saw Itachi carrying Sasuke home and vowed that the Uchiha would fight for his children, sensing a slight change in his Mangekyō Sharingan.

Fugaku used his evolved Susano to subtly turn Uchiha clan members against the village, while Gong Yi investigated the mechanics of the Summoning Technique as a route toward mastering space-time ninjutsu. Gong Yi ended the chapter puzzling over the purpose of mental energy in a summoning array.

• Fugaku questioned Itachi about Sasuke’s friendships in the village, and Itachi affirmed that the village gave them a peaceful life.
• Fugaku left Itachi and Sasuke to meet with the elders, then used Susano to guide a clan member toward putting the clan first.
• Fugaku realized that his Mangekyō ability had grown stronger, but wondered whether it would work on Gong Yi.
• Gong Yi struggled to extend his Flying Thunder God range beyond three meters and decided to study the Summoning Technique first.
• Gong Yi interrupted a summoning after forming its array and analyzed how its patterns carried Chakra and mental energy.
• A huge purple snake in Ryūchi Cave nearly came through the interrupted summoning, while Gong Yi continued investigating the role of mental energy.

Gong Yi learned that Yakushi Kabuto had come to Konoha Hospital and suspected he was pursuing a hidden agenda. While continuing to investigate the principles of summoning, Gong Yi realized mental energy guided a summoned creature to its destination and considered using Divine Sense to mark locations for the Flying Thunder God Technique.

• At dinner, Erii told Gong Yi that Yakushi Kabuto had returned to Konoha and was helping at the hospital while asking to study Medical Ninjutsu.
• Gong Yi suspected Kabuto was acting as a spy or pursuing another purpose, and decided he might meet him.
• Gong Yi reflected that Uchiha Fugaku's planned rebellion was doomed because the Uchiha could not defeat Konoha's forces.
• In the back courtyard, Gong Yi tested the Summoning Technique and discovered that mental energy guided the summoned creature while Chakra maintained the spatial channel.
• After a summoned Purple Giant Snake lost its route and was destroyed when Gong Yi cut off the Chakra, Gong Yi proposed using his own mental energy or Divine Sense to mark destinations for the Flying Thunder God Technique.

Gong Yi successfully used spiritual marks to develop a faster version of the Flying Thunder God and improved its range with specially made Kunai. Meanwhile, Uchiha Fugaku agreed to a coup against Konoha, unaware that Itachi had exposed the plan, and Gong Yi sensed someone approaching his courtyard.

• Gong Yi used a Divine Sense Seed to mark a Kunai and successfully teleported to it with the Flying Thunder God.
• Gong Yi identified the Kunai's poor material and his limited sensing range as obstacles, then planned to address them with better Kunai and another Divine Sense Seed.
• Uchiha Fugaku agreed to the elders' demand to stage a coup and began planning to seize control of Konoha.
• Uchiha Itachi secretly betrayed the coup faction, and Konoha's leadership discovered their plans.
• Gong Yi tested specially made Kunai over a much greater distance, noticed his third Divine Sense Seed, and called on someone hiding in the darkness to reveal themselves.

Gong Yi was summoned to a meeting where Konoha's leaders debated how to respond to the Uchiha Clan's planned rebellion. He insisted that whatever happened, the village must preserve most of its strength, while keeping his own intentions to himself.

• Kakashi summoned Gong Yi to the Hokage, and Gong Yi demonstrated his new Flying Thunder God ability by vanishing before Kakashi could react.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi, Shimura Danzo, Mitokado Homura, and Utatane Koharu argued over whether to negotiate with or eliminate the Uchiha Clan after Uchiha Itachi revealed its plan.
• Gong Yi arrived at the meeting and said he did not care who held power, as long as the village did not lose too much of its strength.
• Gong Yi privately decided not to interfere with events and believed Uchiha Fugaku was too troublesome to leave alive.

Gong Yi left Konoha’s leadership to handle the Uchiha crisis while Hiruzen Sarutobi rejected Danzo’s demand to act against the clan. Uchiha Itachi encountered a masked man with the Mangekyō Sharingan, then sought Gong Yi’s counsel about the Uchiha Clan’s growing unrest.

• Gong Yi left as Hiruzen Sarutobi told Danzo he would handle the Uchiha matter himself, and Danzo departed in anger.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi reassured Uchiha Itachi and let him leave; Itachi concluded the Uchiha Clan’s destruction was inevitable and headed toward Gong Territory.
• A masked man with the Mangekyō Sharingan confronted Uchiha Itachi and urged him to help destroy the Uchiha Clan.
• Gong Yi appeared, causing the masked man to flee, and told Uchiha Itachi to head back early.
• Uchiha Itachi told Gong Yi that the clan’s members wanted a coup and war, and Gong Yi asked about the Mangekyō Sharingan.

Gong Yi told Itachi the history of the Warring States Period and explained how the Mangekyō Sharingan’s knowledge had been lost. He then revealed that awakening it required killing one’s younger brother, leaving Itachi shaken.

• Itachi questioned how Gong Yi knew about the Mangekyō, and Gong Yi said he had told Itachi’s father about it.
• Gong Yi recounted how Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara united their clans and founded Konoha during the Warring States Period.
• Gong Yi described Madara’s plan to conquer the Shinobi World, his break with the Uchiha, and his departure with the Mangekyō’s secrets.
• Itachi asked to learn how to awaken the Mangekyō, and Gong Yi said Itachi’s father had paid dearly to learn the method.
• Gong Yi told Itachi that he had to kill his younger brother to awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan.

Gong Yi pressed Itachi to consider the cost of awakening the Mangekyo and revealed that Fugaku had killed his friend Uchiha Senpu to awaken it. Itachi left unable to answer what he would do if forced into a worse choice, while Fugaku learned that the Uchiha clan’s plan was nearly ready and Konoha’s leaders might know about it.

• Itachi said he would rather never awaken the Mangekyo than sacrifice Sasuke’s life, and Gong Yi praised his choice.
• Itachi realized Gong Yi had told Fugaku how to awaken the Mangekyo and learned that Fugaku’s friend Uchiha Senpu had died.
• Gong Yi asked Itachi how he would respond to a choice that could ruin his life and leave him with more blood on his hands, but Itachi could not answer.
• Fugaku asked Sasuke about his academy lessons during dinner, then went outside after sensing someone waiting for him.
• A shadow reported to Fugaku that the clan’s plan was nearly ready, Konoha had stopped communicating with the Uchiha, and Danzo’s people at Root Base were acting suspiciously.

Uchiha Itachi told Uchiha Fugaku that the Third Hokage would not act against the clan and that Gong Yi had remained neutral, then relayed Gong Yi’s explanation of the Susano genjutsu. Fugaku revealed his Mangekyō Sharingan and trapped Itachi in an illusion of Konoha consumed by battle and fire.

• Uchiha Fugaku dismissed a shadow and questioned Uchiha Itachi about Konoha’s stance and Gong Yi’s opinion.
• Uchiha Itachi said the Third Hokage intended to reassure the clan without taking action and that Gong Yi had stayed neutral.
• Uchiha Itachi explained that Gong Yi had told him about Susano, a genjutsu that created an illusion with its own logic and guided a target’s thoughts.
• Uchiha Fugaku asked Itachi if he wanted to see Susano’s power, and Itachi agreed.
• Uchiha Fugaku activated his Mangekyō Sharingan and pulled Itachi into an illusion of Konoha engulfed in flames, where Uchiha fought Konoha’s shinobi.

Uchiha Fugaku showed Uchiha Itachi two possible futures for a conflict between the Uchiha Clan and Konoha, and Itachi rejected both outcomes. He decided that he would cherish the people around him rather than sacrifice them for a distant vision of the future.

• Uchiha Itachi witnessed one vision in which Uchiha Fugaku used a gray giant to defeat Konoha's leaders and the Uchiha Clan took control of the village.
• Itachi saw a second vision in which Konoha barely defeated the Uchiha Clan but suffered devastating losses and never regained its former strength.
• Uchiha Fugaku explained that the Mangekyō Sharingan could show distant possibilities, then left Itachi to make his own choice.
• Itachi concluded that the Uchiha Clan's victory would never happen and that the other vision's war would also bring an outcome he did not want.
• Itachi decided to cherish what was in front of him, telling Fugaku that looking too far ahead meant overlooking and sacrificing those closest to him.

Uchiha Itachi met Uchiha Shisui to discuss the Uchiha Clan’s planned coup against Konoha. Shisui revealed that he had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan and intended to use its power to make the clan abandon the rebellion.

• Uchiha Itachi reflected on Konoha’s hidden strength and doubted that the Uchiha Clan could win a coup.
• Uchiha Itachi met Uchiha Shisui at the Naka River cliff and asked what he planned to do about the clan’s conflict with Konoha.
• Uchiha Shisui said he intended to petition the Third Hokage and stop the coup.
• Uchiha Shisui revealed his Mangekyō Sharingan and said he would use its power to make the clan abandon the coup.
• Uchiha Shisui deactivated his Mangekyō Sharingan because he could not maintain it for long.

Uchiha Shisui told Uchiha Itachi that his Mangekyō Sharingan ability, Kotoamatsukami, could permanently change a person’s thoughts and will, and planned to use it to stop the coup. Danzo questioned Shisui about the plan and made clear that he still distrusted the Uchiha Clan.

• Uchiha Shisui explained Kotoamatsukami to Uchiha Itachi, including its ability to control someone permanently and its ten-year recovery period.
• Uchiha Shisui said he intended to use Kotoamatsukami to stop the Uchiha coup, and Uchiha Itachi agreed to wait for news.
• Danzo summoned Uchiha Shisui to Root and asked whether he had discussed the rebellion with Uchiha Itachi.
• Danzo challenged Shisui’s plan, arguing that the Third Hokage’s efforts would not erase the villagers’ suspicions of the Uchiha Clan.
• Uchiha Shisui recognized that Danzo still did not trust him or his clan and began explaining further.

Danzo attacked Uchiha Shisui to take his Sharingan, revealing that he already possessed another Uchiha eye. Shisui escaped Root Base but was pursued through Konoha, while a crow flew toward Uchiha Itachi’s home.

• Danzo pretended to fall under Shisui’s Genjutsu, then ambushed him and gouged out his right eye.
• Danzo revealed a Sharingan beneath his bandages and ordered Root Base shinobi to capture Shisui and take his other eye.
• Shisui fought the Root shinobi with a Great Fireball Technique, then used the steam to escape.
• Shisui fled along Konoha’s main road, realizing Danzo intended to destroy the Uchiha Clan, as Root shinobi pursued him.
• A black crow flew toward Uchiha Itachi’s home.