Chapter Summaries

Shiro, Kushina, and Minato prepared dinner with Kazuki, then Kushina invited Kazuki to join the Crimson Group. Kazuki hesitated over the group’s purpose until Shiro showed her a document that left her wide-eyed.

• Shiro brought honey from his grandfather and told Kazuki that a portion had been set aside for her, which moved her.
• Minato returned from buying groceries and helped Shiro, Kushina, and Kazuki prepare the ingredients.
• Kushina asked Kazuki to join the Crimson Group, and Shiro described it as handling matters the Police Force would not.
• Kazuki questioned whether the group was reliable, so Kushina prompted Shiro to show her a paper.
• Kazuki read the paper and stared at it with wide eyes.

Kazuki agreed to join Kushina’s Crimson Group after seeing its Hokage-stamped document, and the group gathered for a meal after arranging to pick everyone up. As Kushina and Kazuki bonded over their loneliness and apologized for their earlier suspicion, Kushina hoped Kazuki would find a place in Konoha.

• Kushina showed Kazuki the Hokage-stamped document granting the Crimson Group its supposed authority, and Kazuki agreed to join.
• Kushina and Kazuki discussed their plans while Shiro and Minato rested, then the group prepared to gather for a meal.
• Minato used Flying Thunder God to collect the invited guests, stopping outside the Uchiha clan grounds to summon Taichi.
• At the meal, Kazuki bowed and apologized for testing Shiro and the others, and Kushina also thanked them.
• Nakamura reassured Kazuki that her caution was understandable, but Shiro interrupted his ensuing lecture by offering him food.
• Kushina and Kazuki drank together as Kushina reflected on her own loneliness and hoped Kazuki would integrate into Konoha.

After a drunken dinner with Kushina and Kazuki, Shiro returned home and planned how to move out so he could secretly build a Magecraft Workshop outside Konoha. His envy of Minato’s Flying Thunder God inspired him to record an idea for a practical flying Mystic Code.

• Kushina and Kazuki got drunk and fell asleep, so Nakamura, Taichi, and Shikaki left Minato’s home while Shiro stayed to help clean up.
• Minato walked Shiro home, and Shiro decided he needed to move out because living with others would complicate his schedule and workshop plans.
• Shiro planned to build a hidden Magecraft Workshop outside the village and connect it to his residence using the Ainsworth Family’s Displacement Space magecraft.
• Shiro considered finding a house in Konoha, possibly with Kushina’s help, but realized that buying one would be difficult.
• Thinking about Minato’s Flying Thunder God made Shiro decide to explore ways to fly, and he recorded a plan to create a practical Mystic Code.

Shiro chose to make a flying Mystic Code modeled on Medea’s cloak while continuing his magecraft studies and experiments. He tested his improved Dragon Tooth Soldiers against a group of inexperienced bandits, but their performance remained poor.

• Shiro replaced his planned flight-training notes with a list of materials for making Medea’s flying cloak as a Mystic Code.
• Over the following week, Shiro studied magecraft, bought extra honey for his friends, visited his grandfather, and took solo missions to test his abilities.
• Shiro accepted a mission to suppress a weak group of mountain bandits and discovered they had begun building a camp and training ground.
• Shiro summoned his improved Dragon Tooth Soldiers to fight the bandits while he watched from a boulder.
• Several batches of Dragon Tooth Soldiers fell apart during the battle, and Shiro blamed their poor performance on his limited cultivation and control.

Shiro tested his Dragon Tooth Soldiers against bandits, then tracked a wolf pack on an extermination mission to practice working independently. He discovered that the pack’s alpha wolf carried a Summoning Contract seal.

• Shiro dismissed the fifth batch of Dragon Tooth Soldiers after they had mostly defeated the bandits, then killed the survivors with Shuriken.
• Shiro headed to an extermination mission, planning to use the wolf pack to test another batch of Dragon Tooth Soldiers.
• Shiro tracked the wolves himself, stopping to check their trail rather than relying on Ryūchi Cave’s power.
• Shiro found the pack in a forest clearing and sensed Chakra from its alpha wolf.
• Shiro recognized a Summoning Contract on the wolf after examining the seal.

Shiro tested his magecraft on an unauthorized wolf pack, first using Dragon Tooth Soldiers and then a blood-based explosive spell. He collected data on the spells and prepared to bring a wolf corpse back to Konoha for analysis.

• Shiro determined that the alpha wolf was not one of Konoha’s registered summoning beasts and used a Contract Seal to prevent it from being summoned away.
• Shiro summoned a batch of Dragon Tooth Soldiers, which quickly collapsed against the wolf pack.
• Shiro summoned another batch, which fought the wolves more effectively but was defeated because the soldiers lacked coordination and defense.
• Shiro used two vials of blood to cast an explosive magecraft, killing the remaining wolves and observing that the spell’s power spread too widely.
• Shiro recorded the spell’s flaws and began cleaning up the battlefield so he could take a wolf corpse back for analysis.

Shiro completed several expulsion missions, using genjutsu and modified Gandr to drive a tiger into a canyon and barriers to guide a wolf pack to its designated area. He continued using those methods for later missions after his newly developed magecraft failed.

• Shiro found the tiger asleep in an orchard, checked the terrain, and discovered the river on his map had dried up and changed course.
• Shiro frightened the fruit-eating tiger with the Snake Terror Technique and used Gandr to steer it into a canyon.
• Shiro camped for the night when he realized he could not reach the next mission location before dark.
• Shiro set up crude Barrier Magecraft formations with Shadow Clone Technique clones, then used Wind Release: Great Breakthrough to herd a wolf pack into the designated area.
• Shiro used the same two methods for several more expulsion missions because his other newly developed magecraft failed.

Shiro returned to Konoha, reported his mission, and learned that the injured Okita had begun developing a ninjutsu. Alarmed by the danger, Shiro rushed to the backyard training ground and kicked Okita away as he formed hand seals.

• Shiro returned to Konoha in a bird puppet, but the gate guards barely reacted to his dramatic entrance.
• Xuanyi told Shiro that the Intelligence Division would examine the alpha wolf’s corpse, recorded a small contribution for him, and paid him for the mission.
• Shiro delivered the alpha wolf’s corpse to the Intelligence Division’s public-facing base and then went home.
• Nanako and Keiko told Shiro that Okita had injured himself the previous day and was trying to develop a ninjutsu again.
• Shiro hurried to the backyard training ground and found Okita bandaged and forming hand seals, then kicked him away.

Shiro listened as Okita explained his attempt to develop a Wind Release flying technique, then watched him test it. Okita successfully lifted himself about two meters into the air, leaving Shiro to assess a result that contradicted his initial doubts.

• Shiro stopped Okita from continuing his experiment and asked him to explain his idea and progress.
• Okita said he was developing a flying ninjutsu using Wind Release, inspired by the speed boost of the Gale Palm.
• Shiro warned Okita to demonstrate the technique so he could identify any problems.
• Okita performed the hand seals while leaving the Dragon seal unbroken, then gathered wind behind himself into two tornado-like tracks.
• Okita rose about two meters into the air and asked Shiro what he thought.

Shiro stopped Okita from pursuing a dangerous flight ninjutsu, explained its limitations, and gave him C-rank techniques to study. After finding no houses for sale, Shiro arranged to buy a house from Kazuki and planned to move out of his family home.

• Shiro disrupted Okita’s wind technique to show that it left him unable to defend himself, then demonstrated his own limited flight technique and explained its risks and history.
• Shiro cautioned Okita about developing ninjutsu, gave him a scroll of C-rank techniques across all five elements, and took him home to recover.
• Keiko blamed Shiro for Okita’s bandaged injuries, prompting Shiro to promise not to take dangerous risks and decide to find a place of his own.
• Shiro searched Konoha for a house but found none, so he approached Kazuki about buying one of the houses she and Kushina planned to rent out.
• Kazuki agreed to let Shiro buy a house at market price, and she offered to help him move the next day.

A year later, Mizuki’s team was hunted by Cloud Ninja after capturing one of their Genin, and Hikari was wounded during their escape. When two Cloud Ninja approached their cave, Mizuki ambushed them and fought to keep one from signaling for help.

• Mizuki and Hikari sheltered in a cave while their captured Cloud Ninja prisoner was restrained and Hikari rested her injured arm.
• Mizuki recalled how her team’s escort mission turned into a battle after a Cloud squad attacked them and Mitokado Heiichi ordered them to capture one of the enemy.
• Cloud Ninja continued pursuing the team, so Heiichi and Takeda drew them away while Mizuki stayed with Hikari and the prisoner.
• Two Cloud Ninja approached the cave after overhearing the prisoner’s muffled cries, and Mizuki killed one with a kunai ambush.
• Mizuki kept fighting the remaining Cloud Ninja to stop him from signaling while she waited for Hikari to support her.

Heiichi and Takeda escaped the growing Cloud Ninja force after drawing their attention, while A and Killer B pursued Mizuki’s group after discovering their patrol had gone missing. Mizuki and her companions reached the agreed meeting point with their pursuers closing in, and asked Heiichi what to do next.

• Heiichi signaled Takeda to retreat, then defeated two Cloud Ninja with Wind Release and escaped with him using Shadow Clones to confuse the pursuers.
• A and Killer B arrived at the battlefield, and A ordered the search intensified after three days of failing to catch Heiichi’s group.
• A learned that a patrol near Mizuki’s group had missed its report, led the Cloud Ninja toward the area, and found that Mizuki’s group had already escaped.
• A’s search leader found clues to Mizuki’s route, allowing A to resume the pursuit.
• Mizuki and Hikari hurried toward the meeting point with their captive, unable to conceal their tracks or keep up their pace for long.
• Mizuki reached Heiichi’s group near evening and warned that the Cloud Ninja had likely discovered their trail, asking what they should do.

Heiichi chose a route toward Konoha for his team’s retreat, while Shiro’s reinforcements traveled to support them. Shiro reflected on Taichi’s growth and their close partnership as he anticipated this might be their final mission together.

• Heiichi showed Mizuki and the others a map and chose to retreat toward Konoha, where the Cloud Village’s blockade was weaker and reinforcements could reach them.
• Heiichi’s group continued traveling through the night, using daytime tactics to delay their pursuers while seeking every chance for help to arrive.
• Shiro traveled with Konoha’s reinforcements, including clan forces, Anbu, Master Chen, and Taichi, whose team had been requisitioned because it still had a Bird Puppet.
• Shiro considered how Taichi’s Three-Tomoe Sharingan had brought him close to jonin strength and how his future career choice could take him away from their squad.
• Shiro reflected that his fighting partnership with Taichi had grown closer than Taichi’s bond with Shikaki, then dismissed the thought and focused on the journey.

Uchiha Yuexuan tried to persuade Taichi to return to the Uchiha clan, arguing that the village would not treat him or the clan fairly. Taichi’s doubts about Konoha’s leadership deepened, and he appeared close to accepting Yuexuan’s proposal as they continued traveling to rescue Mizuki.

• Uchiha Yuexuan reminded Taichi that he would need to decide whether to return to the Uchiha clan once they got back.
• Yuexuan described his Konoha Body Flicker Technique and explained that the Uchiha elders had sent him partly because they hoped he might someday contend for Hokage.
• Yuexuan argued that Konoha would not value Taichi and questioned whether Shiro or the Third Hokage could change the Uchiha’s treatment.
• Taichi reflected on the Third Hokage’s failure to turn promises into action and became more inclined to leave Konoha’s official structure.
• Yuexuan stopped pressing Taichi after noticing his change of expression and turned his attention back to traveling and rescuing Mizuki.

Shiro’s resistance to most Sharingan genjutsu came from a Noble Phantasm rather than genjutsu training. Meanwhile, Heiichi and the others reached a border stronghold too late and were confronted by A, leaving their escape uncertain.

• Shiro had used a Noble Phantasm to become immune to genjutsu at the Three-Tomoe Sharingan level and below, though he was unsure whether it could counter Mangekyo techniques.
• Anbu warned Shiro and the others that they were nearing the battlefield, while Heiichi’s group continued fleeing Cloud Village’s tightening search.
• Heiichi, Mizuki, Takeda, and Hikari arrived at a border stronghold after Cloud Village had killed its last Konoha defender there.
• A used the Heavenly Transfer Technique to get ahead of Heiichi’s group and confront them.
• Heiichi drew his tachi, told the others to protect themselves, and fought A while trying to exploit his poor mobility.

Heiichi's squad was overwhelmed as Cloud Village reinforcements arrived and reclaimed the captive, while Shiro's group defeated the Cloud Anbu at Konoha's stronghold and hurried to help. The chapter ended with A and Killer B launching a Lariat at Heiichi's squad, leaving them in a desperate situation.

• Heiichi fought A while trying to hold him off, as Takeda, Mizuki, and Hikari struggled against the numerous Cloud Ninja.
• Shiro and his group reached Konoha's stronghold and quickly killed the attacking Cloud Village Anbu.
• Shiro brought the stronghold's defenders along and continued toward Heiichi's group to provide support.
• Cloud reinforcements arrived, seized the captive again, and forced Heiichi into a disadvantage against A and Killer B.
• The search leader charged at the injured Hikari while pursuing jonin attacked Takeda and Mizuki, and A and Killer B prepared a Lariat against Heiichi's squad.

Shiro and the Konoha reinforcements arrived as Cloud Ninja attacked, and the two sides clashed while A and Killer B switched opponents. Master Chen and Duy defeated Hirata, giving Konoha its first victory in the battle.

• Master Chen and the reinforcements stopped the Cloud Ninja attacks, while Taichi and Shiro blocked A and Killer B.
• A and Killer B switched opponents, and Shiro warned Taichi not to use genjutsu against B.
• Master Chen fought Hirata, who used Lightning Armor to withstand Konoha Dragon God and counterattack.
• Duy kicked Hirata off balance, allowing Master Chen to strike with Dance of the Crescent Moon and defeat him.

Master Chen and the others dealt with Hirata and moved to support Konoha’s mission while Taichi battled Killer B. Their fight reached a stalemate until a massive explosion drew everyone’s attention.

• A Minamoto Elite Jonin stayed behind to protect Hikari as Master Chen and Duy rushed to help the other fighters.
• Uchiha Yuexuan and Yue remained beside Mizuki after defeating the Cloud Ninja, while another Uchiha went to support the mission.
• Taichi switched opponents with Shiro and faced Killer B, finding his Seven-Sword Style difficult to counter.
• Killer B’s resistance to genjutsu let him keep fighting Taichi, and the Eight-Tails stopped pressuring him after seeing Taichi’s Sharingan.
• Taichi used his improved physique and ninjutsu to match Killer B as their battle intensified.
• A massive explosion erupted and drew everyone’s attention.

Shiro and A escalated their taijutsu fight as both unleashed their full power. They clashed again in destructive combat, leaving the battlefield’s fighters stunned.

• Shiro switched opponents and charged A, choosing taijutsu instead of risking another Noble Phantasm.
• Shiro and A traded increasingly intense blows, each discovering that the other could match his strength.
• A used Lightning Release: Lariat, and Shiro countered with a Mana Burst-powered punch.
• A strengthened his Lightning Release Armor while Shiro activated his Magic Crest and spread Reinforcement Magecraft across his body.
• Shiro and A clashed again at greater speed and strength, shattering the ground and snapping trees as the others watched in shock.

Shiro fought A on the battlefield and gained the upper hand by dodging and countering A’s direct attacks. A then charged up Hell Stab, while Shiro secretly recharged his Magic Crest with a Mana Crystal, and the chapter ended as A attacked again with three fingers extended.

• Duy and the other onlookers were shocked by the destructive force of Shiro’s battle with A, while Nakamura and his companions recognized that Shiro was still holding back.
• Shiro used Clairvoyance, refined power control, and small movements to dodge A’s attacks and steadily put him at a disadvantage.
• A increased his Lightning Armor stimulation but reached his limit, so he decided to use Hell Stab against Shiro.
• Shiro allowed A time to charge while secretly recharging his Magic Crest with a Mana Crystal.
• A’s first Hell Stab charge moved faster than Shiro expected, but Shiro dodged with the help of Mind’s Eye.
• A charged again with three fingers extended, and Shiro prepared to meet the attack.