Chapter Summaries

Mizuki weighed the risks of trading with Orochimaru for the Eight Branches Technique and decided how to treat Isaribi. He chose a gradual, physical treatment for her and learned that the sealed Sea Monk could revive as long as water remained.

• Mizuki considered how to make a deal with Orochimaru for the Eight Branches Technique while limiting the risks of cooperation.
• Mizuki decided to treat Isaribi by gradually removing her mutated tissue and told her she would work as a servant for three years to repay the cost.
• Mizuki planned for Isaribi to help Yukimura by taking him on walks.
• Mizuki received a Sealing Scroll containing the Sea Monk and learned it could be contained but not killed while water remained.
• Mizuki opened the scroll and released the Sea Monk as a small sphere of water in his palm.

Mizuki examined a small water creature while Akatsuki discussed the recovered Six-Tails Jinchuriki, Utakata, and plans to pursue Orochimaru. Back in Konoha, Mizuki decided Hinata Hyuga and Kiba Inuzuka would skip the next Chunin Exams, leaving the chapter with Team 8 agreeing to give other genin a chance.

• Mizuki examined the water creature he had brought back and decided to study it as a possible toy for his soon-to-be-born daughter.
• Uchiha Obito told Pain that Utakata had returned safely to Kirigakure after being attacked by someone wearing a spiral mask and a black cloak with red clouds.
• Pain and Uchiha Obito discussed monitoring Mizuki, gathering intelligence on Jinchuriki, and having Obito and Deidara pursue Orochimaru and the Void Ring.
• Konan asked Pain whether he intended to act against Uchiha Obito, and Pain said Obito was still helping him realize his dream.
• Mizuki told Team 8 that Hinata Hyuga and Kiba Inuzuka would not take the upcoming Chunin Exams, and the three agreed to give other genin a chance.

Tsunade assigned Mizuki to lead Team 8 on a diplomatic mission to Sunagakure while secretly investigating Orochimaru in the Land of Wind. Mizuki accepted, but asked what Konoha ultimately wanted from Orochimaru.

• Tsunade ordered the Security Department to recruit more personnel and strengthen its first squad as Mizuki's combat strength was needed for dangerous missions.
• Tsunade gave Mizuki an S-rank mission to investigate Orochimaru in the Land of Wind, with a possible capture if the opportunity arose.
• Mizuki learned that Team 8 would travel to Sunagakure as exchange envoys, while Tenzō and Sasuke, codenamed Falcon, secretly supported the mission.
• Tsunade explained that Mizuki and Kakashi would be unwelcome in Sunagakure because of their past killings of Chiyo's family members.
• Mizuki asked Tsunade what Konoha wanted from Orochimaru, since killing or capturing him seemed unlikely and Sasuke showed no signs of defecting.

Mizuki accepted a mission to find and defeat Orochimaru in the Land of Wind, while preparing to leave Tsubaki as she neared childbirth. Before departing with Team 8, he postponed Hinata and Kiba’s Chunin Exam attempt and reunited with Iruka and Hayate; as the team set out, Tenzō and Sasuke secretly followed them.

• Tsunade explained that Konoha wanted Mizuki to defeat Orochimaru to restore the village’s prestige, and Mizuki accepted the mission.
• Mizuki told Tsubaki he would travel to the Land of Wind, and she warned him to stay alert while they discussed Karin and their impending child.
• Mizuki gathered Team 8, assigned them to prepare for the trip, and told Hinata Hyuga and Kiba Inuzuka they would skip the upcoming Chunin Exams.
• Mizuki visited the Academy, caught up with Umino Iruka, and learned that Hayate Gekko had become a trainee teacher.
• Mizuki said goodbye to Tsubaki and departed with Team 8, unaware that Tenzō and Sasuke were following at a distance.

Mizuki led Team 8 across the Land of Wind to Sunagakure, collecting desert creatures along the way, while Tenzō and Sasuke secretly followed. After arriving, Mizuki met with Sunagakure’s leaders and planned with Tenzō and Sasuke to search for Orochimaru, who might still be nearby.

• Mizuki led Shino Aburame, Kiba Inuzuka, and Hinata Hyuga across the desert, where he captured several giant creatures and made a sheltered room for them to rest.
• Mizuki met Baki and Temari, who escorted him and Team 8 to Sunagakure.
• Mizuki exchanged formal documents with Sunagakure’s officials, then declined their invitations and met with Tenzō and Sasuke to discuss the mission.
• Tenzō marked a likely area for Orochimaru on a map, and Mizuki decided to scout the surrounding terrain himself while using a clone for Sunagakure’s public activities.
• Mizuki told Tenzō and Sasuke to avoid starting conflicts until he had made arrangements and to signal him if they encountered an enemy they could not handle.

Temari worried about Gaara’s isolation and Sunagakure’s political schemes, while Mizuki brought his students to the Sand Ninja Academy and noticed an overlooked student with exceptional physical talent. The chapter ended as Temari approached Mizuki’s group and Shino prepared to train.

• Temari told Gaara that Mizuki and his students had arrived, but Gaara refused to meet them and advised her to maintain normal relations with Konoha.
• Temari resolved to seek help from Baki and Chiyo for her siblings.
• Mizuki brought his three students to Sunagakure’s Ninja Academy and explained the village’s combat-focused training system.
• Kiba Inuzuka mocked an older academy student, but Mizuki recognized the student’s potential in taijutsu and compared his circumstances to Rock Lee’s.
• Temari approached Mizuki and his students, and Mizuki sent Shino to train while encouraging Hinata and Kiba to work hard.

Mizuki searched the Land of Wind for Orochimaru and learned that the Eastern Great Dune was a misleading place name, not a landmark east of Sunagakure. As Mizuki hurried toward the real site, Deidara and Tobi arrived there first, with Orochimaru hidden below.

• Mizuki spent three days placing Flying Thunder God marks around the Land of Wind, then began searching for Orochimaru with Tenzō and Sasuke.
• Mizuki learned from Tenzō that Konoha had trusted infiltrators in Sunagakure, but their warnings about the village's betrayal had failed to reach the right people.
• At Sunagakure's Ninja Academy, Kiba sparred with Shira and narrowly gained the advantage, while Mizuki watched from a pavilion.
• A message revealed that the Eastern Great Dune was a named mound rather than a dune east of Sunagakure, and Mizuki set off for it immediately.
• Deidara and Tobi reached the Eastern Great Dune, identified Orochimaru's hideout below, and Deidara prepared to attack.

Deidara attacked Orochimaru at the Eastern Great Dune, but Orochimaru used Impure World Reincarnation and the Third Kazekage to withstand his explosives. Mizuki sensed the battle and rushed ahead, worried that Orochimaru might be killed or captured before he could obtain the Eight Branches Technique.

• Deidara kicked Tobi off his clay bird, then bombed the cave where Orochimaru was hiding.
• Orochimaru emerged with Kabuto Yakushi and summoned the Third Kazekage, whose Iron Sand forced Deidara to retreat higher into the sky.
• Deidara dropped his C3 Eighteen Giant Explosive Clay, which shattered the Third Kazekage and broke through Orochimaru's Triple Rashomon.
• Orochimaru and Kabuto survived by hiding in a summoned giant snake, and Orochimaru reformed the Third Kazekage with Impure World Reincarnation.
• Mizuki sensed the explosion and hurried ahead in Sage Mode and half-tailed-beast transformation, while Tenzō and Sasuke followed more cautiously.

Mizuki raced ahead while Tenzō and Sasuke hurried after him, and Deidara struggled against Orochimaru's counterattacks. Orochimaru brought Deidara crashing down and left him badly wounded, though the fight remained unresolved.

• Sasuke recognized Mizuki's speed as similar to Kaede's flight, and Tenzō urged him to keep up and protect himself.
• Deidara struggled to harm Orochimaru with his aerial explosives and called Tobi to help him.
• Deidara and Tobi attacked from the air and underground, but Orochimaru identified the trap and prepared to counter them.
• Orochimaru extended the Kusanagi Sword through his neck, pierced Deidara, and paralyzed him with Lightning Style.
• Orochimaru severed Deidara's wrist and damaged his shoulder and clay bird, sending Deidara and his C3 dragon crashing to the ground.

Deidara fought Orochimaru and Kabuto Yakushi with explosive clay, but his C4 Karura failed to kill them and his apparent self-destruction was revealed to be a Shadow Clone. Deidara escaped badly wounded, while Mizuki watched from above and prepared to intervene as Sasuke Uchiha and Tenzō approached.

• Deidara used explosive-clay puppets to stall Orochimaru and Kabuto Yakushi, then sent a giant clay doll after them while hiding underground.
• Mizuki flew above the battlefield and watched the giant doll explode, then saw Deidara emerge and unleash C4 Karura.
• Orochimaru and Kabuto Yakushi survived C4 Karura by recognizing its Earth Style hand sign, and Deidara detonated himself at close range.
• Orochimaru and Kabuto Yakushi escaped the blast using Shadow Clones, while Kabuto reported that Deidara's self-destruction had destroyed the clones and their controlled puppets.
• Mizuki realized Deidara had escaped as a Shadow Clone and prepared to act as Sasuke Uchiha and Tenzō neared the wounded Deidara.

Mizuki trapped Uchiha Obito with the Inorganic Reincarnation Technique and forced him to rely on Kamui’s intangibility as its time limit approached. Meanwhile, Tenzō and Sasuke Uchiha cornered the badly wounded Deidara, who began preparing a desperate final attack.

• Mizuki used the Inorganic Reincarnation Technique to drive Uchiha Obito from the ground and confine him in a thorny stone cage.
• Mizuki kept attacking Uchiha Obito, forcing him to maintain Kamui’s intangibility as the five-minute limit drew near.
• Tenzō exposed Deidara’s hiding place and joined Sasuke Uchiha in confronting the wounded Akatsuki member.
• Tenzō and Sasuke countered Deidara’s explosive clay and destroyed his attempt to escape on a clay bird, though Deidara’s grasshopper bombs nearly struck Sasuke.
• Deidara recognized Sasuke’s Sharingan, taunted him about Itachi Uchiha, and stuffed his remaining detonation clay into the mouth hidden in his chest.

Deidara unleashed a life-consuming self-destruction attack that threatened to kill Sasuke and Tenzō. Mizuki arrived and transported them beyond the blast, leaving them to witness the devastation and understand the danger posed by Akatsuki’s core members.

• Deidara ignored his wounds and gathered his life force into a black sphere, preparing to destroy everything within ten kilometers.
• Sasuke and Tenzō tried to stop Deidara, but his energy-state body made him impossible to kill before the sphere detonated.
• As Sasuke despaired at the prospect of dying, Mizuki appeared beside him and Tenzō.
• Mizuki used a space-time ninjutsu to move Sasuke and Tenzō away as Deidara’s self-destruction erupted.
• Sasuke and Tenzō watched the distant blast and recognized how dangerous Akatsuki’s core members were.

After the explosion, Tenzō and Sasuke waited in the dust while Mizuki arranged for them to report Deidara’s death and went to confront Orochimaru. Mizuki returned to recruit Tenzō’s Wood Release for his unfinished battle with Uchiha Obito.

• Sasuke reflected on his poor performance against a powerful opponent, and Tenzō comforted him.
• Mizuki told Tenzō and Sasuke to complete their mission and report that they had killed Deidara while he handled Orochimaru.
• Mizuki escaped the explosion with Flying Raijin Jutsu and saw the blast destroy his thorny cage and engulf Uchiha Obito.
• Mizuki and his clone discussed using the confrontation to deter Obito from targeting him and his family, then planned to fight him with Tenzō’s help.
• Mizuki returned to Tenzō and Sasuke and asked Tenzō to use Wood Release in his ongoing battle with another Akatsuki member.

Mizuki prepared Tenzō and Sasuke for a dangerous battle against an enemy with the Sharingan, space-time ninjutsu, and Wood Release, while challenging Sasuke to think beyond revenge. As the storm weakened, Mizuki and Tenzō prepared to move out, and Mizuki told Sasuke there was another place where he could help.

• Mizuki explained that their enemy used space-time ninjutsu, Wood Release, and the Sharingan, and Tenzō agreed to help restrict the enemy's abilities.
• Sasuke wondered whether the Sharingan user was Itachi, and Mizuki told him the enemy was someone else and that he would learn the truth when he was ready.
• Mizuki argued that revenge was not wrong but should not be valued above life, and urged Sasuke to treat death and taking another person's life with caution.
• Mizuki created a Shadow Clone and prepared to leave with Tenzō once the sandstorm weakened.
• Sasuke asked to join the battle, but Mizuki said it was not his battlefield and that he might be useful somewhere else.

Mizuki and Tenzō searched the storm-battered blast zone for Uchiha Obito, while Mizuki reasoned that Obito could have survived with Izanagi. Mizuki unleashed a senjutsu fire technique to catch Obito when he reappeared, as the storm began to subside.

• Mizuki carried Tenzō through the dangerous blast zone while they searched for Obito's trail.
• Mizuki explained that Obito might survive Deidara's explosion by using Izanagi, and reasoned that the technique's delay and limits could reveal an opportunity to kill him.
• Mizuki spread golden flames through his sensory range with Senjutsu Fire Style—Thousand Conquest Decree.
• Mizuki's flame clones joined together and grew into blazing giants as the storm weakened, threatening Obito with another wave of heat.

Mizuki explained Itachi Uchiha’s strength and advised Sasuke to gain experience before pursuing new techniques. He moved Sasuke to a safer location to prepare for Orochimaru’s approach, while Tenzō struggled to endure the heat from Mizuki’s technique.

• Mizuki told Sasuke that Itachi Uchiha’s power had limits and named Might Guy as the person most likely to defeat him.
• Mizuki told Sasuke to build experience in the Anbu rather than train in the Eight Inner Gates.
• Mizuki moved Sasuke nearly twenty kilometers away from the battlefield, where another Mizuki clone was waiting.
• Mizuki planned for Sasuke to test Kabuto Yakushi and summoned Bota-kun to assist him.
• Tenzō watched the Thousand Conquest Decree’s flames intensify and struggled to withstand the heat.

Mizuki used the Thousand Conquest Decree to trap Uchiha Obito and tried to finish him with Tenzō’s Wood Release. As Mizuki anticipated outside interference, Zetsu arrived in a Wood Golem, leaving the fight poised to escalate.

• Mizuki waited for Obito to emerge after the Thousand Conquest Decree, then attacked when Obito appeared and destroyed the Fire Clones with Kamui.
• Tenzō used Wood Release—World of Trees Emergence to trap Obito among blazing trees and vines.
• Mizuki warned Tenzō to conserve chakra because Zetsu might intervene, and explained that he had lured Obito into the trap by exploiting Kamui’s limits.
• Zetsu arrived using a Wood Golem Jutsu, whose massive body began burning but endured the Thousand Conquest Decree’s heat.

Mizuki and Tenzō tried to defeat Obito’s wood golem, but Zetsu rescued him from inside it and Tobi fused with him to restore his strength. Obito revived and strengthened the golem, forcing Mizuki to prepare for a proper fight.

• Tenzō restrained the wood golem with Wood Release while Mizuki’s Sage Art wrapped it in stone pillars and golden flames.
• Obito survived inside a hollow in the golem, and Zetsu emerged to rescue him while criticizing his carelessness.
• Obito summoned Tobi and asked him to enhance his power so he could investigate the tailed beast chakra Mizuki used.
• Tobi attached himself to Obito, greatly increasing his strength and recovery, and Obito infused chakra into the wood golem.
• The wood golem broke free from Mizuki and Tenzō’s techniques, grew larger, and tore through the trees and stone pillars.
• Mizuki accepted that the instant victory had failed, while Tenzō admitted he could not control a wood golem himself.

Mizuki transformed into a giant flying insect by combining Chōmei’s chakra with natural energy, then launched a senjutsu-enhanced Tailed Beast Ball at Uchiha Obito’s wooden giant. The attack overwhelmed its defenses and exploded against its right chest.

• Mizuki told Tenzō to hinder the wooden giant with Wood Release while he launched a frontal assault.
• Mizuki used natural energy to enter complete Tailed Beast transformation, shocking Tenzō, who questioned whether he had become a Jinchuriki.
• Mizuki said senjutsu let him transform without a Tailed Beast’s acknowledgment and warned Tenzō to keep pace while watching for other enemies.
• Mizuki fired a golden Sage Art—Tailed Beast Ball at the wooden giant.
• The attack dissolved the wooden giant’s spiked club and arms, struck its right chest, and exploded.

Mizuki’s Seven-Tails form destroyed Uchiha Obito’s Wood Golem, but Obito trapped him with powerful Wood Release and a Kamui-enhanced Fire Style. As Mizuki’s allies struggled to free him, they sent a distress signal that Sasuke Uchiha and Orochimaru’s group saw.

• Mizuki’s Seven-Tails form tore apart the damaged Wood Golem after Tenzō pinned it down with Wood Release.
• Uchiha Obito sprang a trap, using World of Trees Emergence to seize Mizuki and absorb chakra from the Fire Clones.
• Obito combined Bomb Blast Dance with Kamui to surround Mizuki, while Tenzō and Mizuki’s Shadow Clone tried to contain him.
• Mizuki’s Shadow Clone asked Tenzō to send a distress signal, and Tenzō launched a flaming arrow into the sky.
• Sasuke Uchiha saw the signal and asked Mizuki’s clone whether they should help, but the clone said contingency plans were in place.
• Kabuto Yakushi and Orochimaru saw the signal and speculated that Konoha might have been targeting them.