Chapter Summaries

Uchiha Ying Yue recognized the rumors condemning Hatake Sakumo as a scheme by Shimura Danzō and decided to investigate and expose it. He used his authority as head of the Uchiha Clan and director of the Police Force to detain key rumor-spreaders, suppressing the public backlash against Sakumo.

• Uchiha Ying Yue concluded that someone had deliberately spread classified details of Hatake Sakumo's mission to ruin his reputation, and suspected Shimura Danzō.
• Ying Yue decided to secretly investigate Danzō's operations and find a way to expose the conspiracy and protect Sakumo.
• Ying Yue summoned trusted Police Force members and ordered them to detain people who maliciously slandered Sakumo or leaked classified information.
• The Police Force identified key instigators and detained them, causing the public discussion of Sakumo to swiftly subside.

Ying Yue executed the Root ninja who had spread rumors against Hatake Sakumo, despite their Tongue Eradicating Cursed Seals preventing them from testifying against Danzō. Danzō then prepared to attack Sakumo’s reputation by pressuring the teammates Sakumo had saved into publicly blaming him.

• Ying Yue had the Police Force arrest Root operatives suspected of stirring up public opinion against Hatake Sakumo.
• Ying Yue found that the captured Root ninja bore Danzō’s Tongue Eradicating Cursed Seals and ordered their execution for espionage and suspected subversion.
• The Police Force’s actions quieted public opinion, while Ying Yue resolved to keep monitoring Danzō.
• Danzō learned that Ying Yue had executed his operatives and decided that further rumor-spreading was too risky.
• Danzō ordered Root agents to exploit the guilt of Sakumo’s rescued teammates and persuade them to publicly condemn Sakumo.

Shimura Danzō turned Hatake Sakumo’s former teammates against him, intensifying the village’s accusations until Sakumo withdrew and began doubting his choice to save them. Uchiha Ying Yue visited Sakumo to keep him from breaking under the pressure, and Sakumo finally opened the door looking haggard.

• Shimura Danzō’s Root operatives persuaded the teammates Hatake Sakumo had saved to publicly condemn his decision and blame him for the mission’s failure.
• Konoha’s villagers and shinobi questioned Sakumo’s judgment, leaving him isolated and unsure whether he had done wrong.
• Sakumo stopped taking missions and avoided public places as the criticism and betrayal deepened his despair.
• Uchiha Ying Yue recognized that someone, likely Shimura Danzō, was driving the hostile public opinion and decided to visit Sakumo.
• Ying Yue knocked at Sakumo’s home, and Sakumo eventually opened the door, looking haggard and exhausted.

Ying Yue comforted Hatake Sakumo, who was disheartened by the villagers’ condemnation and Sarutobi Hiruzen’s silence after Danzō’s scheme ruined his reputation. Days later, Sakumo and his son Hatake Kakashi faced shinobi who insulted Sakumo, and Kakashi stood up for his father.

• Ying Yue told Sakumo that Root and Shimura Danzō were manipulating public opinion to suppress him.
• Sakumo explained that the villagers’ accusations and Sarutobi Hiruzen’s silence hurt him more than Danzō’s conspiracy and made him question the Will of Fire.
• Ying Yue reassured Sakumo that saving his comrades had been the right choice and promised to keep investigating.
• Sakumo began appearing in Konoha with Kakashi, who also faced rejection because of his father’s tarnished reputation.
• Several shinobi mocked Sakumo to Kakashi, and Kakashi defended his father before one of them shoved him.

After Hatake Sakumo faced village-wide condemnation for choosing his comrades over a mission, he took his own life, leaving Kakashi devastated. Uchiha Ying Yue sealed Sakumo’s soul and resolved to seek a way to revive him.

• Hatake Sakumo apologized to Kakashi for the pressure he faced, but Kakashi insisted his father had done the right thing and would not change his beliefs.
• Sakumo struggled with the village’s rejection and his samurai code, then placed the White Fang Blade on a table and decided he could endure the conflict no longer.
• Kakashi found Sakumo dead with the White Fang Blade across his chest and gripped his father’s hand in grief.
• News of Sakumo’s suicide spread through Konoha, and Uchiha Ying Yue visited the Hatake home, where Kakashi knelt beside his father’s body.
• Ying Yue used a Soul Sealing Technique to preserve Sakumo’s soul in a container and resolved to seek a way to give him a new body and revive him.

After Hatake Sakumo's death, Ying Yue comforted Kakashi and vowed to preserve Sakumo's soul, expose Shimura Danzō's conspiracy, and bring Sakumo back. News of the suicide plunged Konoha into guilt and turmoil, while the village's leaders confronted the consequences of their political maneuvering and Danzō remained unrepentant.

• Ying Yue reassured Kakashi that Sakumo's sacrifice was right and promised to bring his father back.
• Ying Yue left the Hatake residence determined to preserve Sakumo's soul, expose Shimura Danzō, and keep Kakashi from falling into loneliness.
• News of Sakumo's suicide spread through Konoha, and villagers and ninjas who had mocked him began to feel guilt and remorse.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen, Utatane Koharu, and Mitokado Homura regretted allowing public criticism of Sakumo, recognizing that his death had damaged Konoha.
• Shimura Danzō dismissed Sakumo as too fragile to become Hokage, but worried that Konoha's loss of a powerful ninja would weaken the village.

Hatake Sakumo’s suicide spread through the shinobi world, and the other great villages viewed his death as a blow to Konoha’s strength. The chapter leaves the consequences widening as Konoha’s mission clients began to doubt the village.

• Ōnoki learned of Hatake Sakumo’s suicide and rejoiced that Konoha had lost a powerful shinobi through its own political struggle.
• A, the Third Raikage, judged Konoha foolish for driving Sakumo to suicide and recognized that his death weakened the village.
• The Third Kazekage concluded that Sakumo’s death was good news for Sunagakure and could encourage the great nations toward war.
• The Third Mizukage received news of Sakumo’s death and suspected it had resulted from Konoha’s internal politics.
• Merchants, nobles, and other mission employers began to doubt Konoha after Sakumo’s death.

Hatake Sakumo’s suicide damaged Konoha’s reputation, drove clients toward rival villages, and weakened the village’s economy. Uchiha Ying Yue, convinced that Shimura Danzō and Root helped cause Sakumo’s death, entered Sarutobi Hiruzen’s office with evidence and a determination to act.

• Clients transferred missions from Konoha to rival villages after Sakumo’s death, while the Daimyo of the Land of Fire regretted losing a trusted ninja and worried about Konoha’s decline.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen recognized that Sakumo’s death had damaged Konoha’s strength, income, and reputation, as rival villages watched for opportunities to weaken it.
• Uchiha Ying Yue resolved not to let Sakumo’s death go unpunished and secretly gathered evidence of Root’s role through the Police Force.
• Unable to get direct testimony from captured Root ninja because of Danzō’s Tongue Calamity Seal, Ying Yue collected other clues linking Root to the campaign against Sakumo.
• Ying Yue entered the Hokage Office to confront Sarutobi Hiruzen as Konoha’s morale and trust among its leaders continued to deteriorate.

Ying Yue presented evidence that Root had helped drive Hatake Sakumo to suicide and pressed Sarutobi Hiruzen to hold Danzō accountable. Hiruzen agreed to deal with Danzō, and he, Utatane Koharu, and Mitokado Homura concluded they could no longer shield him.

• Ying Yue gave Sarutobi Hiruzen documents linking Root to the campaign that drove Hatake Sakumo to suicide.
• Ying Yue argued that Danzō had to be punished to restore the village's trust and prevent further unrest.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen acknowledged that Danzō had gone too far and said he would deal with the matter.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen met with Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura to review Ying Yue's evidence.
• Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura agreed that they could no longer protect Danzō without risking Konoha's stability.

Sarutobi Hiruzen and Konoha’s other leaders stripped Shimura Danzō of his Root leadership and confined him for six months over his role in Hatake Sakumo’s death. The village honored Sakumo as a hero, easing some unrest while the clans watched the unresolved power struggle.

• Sarutobi Hiruzen, Utatane Koharu, and Mitokado Homura agreed to remove Shimura Danzō as Root’s leader, confine him for six months, and bar him from village affairs.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen announced the punishment to Danzō, who defended his actions but ultimately accepted the decision.
• Konoha’s major clans concluded that Danzō had orchestrated the events leading to Hatake Sakumo’s suicide and watched the leadership conflict closely.
• Konoha’s higher-ups posthumously honored Hatake Sakumo as a hero and carved his name into the Memorial Stone.
• The honor eased some village doubts, but Sarutobi Hiruzen remained concerned about Danzō’s resentment and the clans’ lost trust.

Uchiha Ying Yue reflected on the political damage dealt to Shimura Danzō after Hatake Sakumo’s death and resolved to keep undermining him. He then went to Orochimaru to find a way to revive Sakumo, and Orochimaru suggested Hiruko as a possible lead.

• Uchiha Ying Yue noted that Sarutobi Hiruzen had stripped Shimura Danzō of Root’s leadership and placed him under house arrest for six months, while honoring Hatake Sakumo as a hero.
• Uchiha Ying Yue concluded that Danzō had lost the major clans’ trust and decided to wait for another opportunity to weaken him further.
• Uchiha Ying Yue went to Orochimaru’s laboratory and asked him to help create a body for Hatake Sakumo, whose soul he had preserved with the Soul Sealing Technique.
• Orochimaru explained that cloning a fully functional body for a Kage-level shinobi would be difficult and take time, then asked Uchiha Ying Yue whether he knew Hiruko.
• Uchiha Ying Yue questioned Orochimaru’s suggestion, recalling Hiruko as a Konoha jōnin with ordinary talent.

Ying Yue and Orochimaru recruited Hiruko to help clone a body for Hatake Sakumo, whose soul they had already sealed. Hiruko agreed to join their project and use the support to advance his own research.

• Orochimaru told Ying Yue that Hiruko's biological research talent could help revive Hatake Sakumo and offered to contact him.
• Ying Yue agreed to Orochimaru's plan and left the laboratory determined to revive Hatake Sakumo for Kakashi's sake.
• Orochimaru and Ying Yue visited Hiruko in his laboratory and asked him to help clone a body for Hatake Sakumo.
• Ying Yue offered funding, equipment, and materials, while Orochimaru praised Hiruko's expertise in biotechnology.
• Hiruko accepted their offer, agreeing to help revive Hatake Sakumo and advance his Chimera Technique research.

After resolving Danzo's conspiracy, Ying Yue won Zhang Jiao's inheritance and discovered Daoist techniques and a natural-energy cultivation system distinct from chakra. He decided to study and adapt it as a new path that could empower ordinary people and help reform the Ninja World.

• Ying Yue used his Destiny System prize draw and received Zhang Jiao's Five Thunder Righteous Method and Essential Arts of Peace.
• Ying Yue tested the Five Thunder Righteous Method, summoning lightning that shattered a distant boulder.
• Ying Yue studied the Way of Great Peace and connected Zhang Jiao's resistance to corrupt rule with his own plans for social reform.
• Ying Yue realized the inheritance offered a human-compatible way to cultivate natural energy without chakra talent, animalization, or petrification.
• Ying Yue decided to integrate the cultivation system with ninjutsu and technology and open a new path of power for the Ninja World.

Uchiha Ying Yue considered how the coming resource-driven war could reshape the shinobi world as Sunagakure prepared to seize resources in the Land of Rivers. He then resumed his duties as a jōnin instructor and arranged a combat test for Sarutobi Asuma, Yuhi Kurenai, and Shizune.

• Uchiha Ying Yue reflected that the great nations’ unresolved economic and resource conflicts made the Third Shinobi World War imminent.
• The Third Kazekage concluded that Sunagakure needed resources from the Land of Rivers to survive and ordered elite shinobi to infiltrate its borderlands and seize key sites in secret.
• Uchiha Ying Yue returned his attention to his appointed role as instructor to Sarutobi Asuma, Yuhi Kurenai, and Shizune.
• Uchiha Ying Yue ordered his subordinate to summon the three students to the Konoha training grounds the next morning for a test of their abilities.

Uchiha Ying Yue met his new students, Sarutobi Asuma, Yuhi Kurenai, and Shizune, and tested them with a bell challenge. He left them with a glimpse of their potential and the clear lesson that they had much to learn.

• Uchiha Ying Yue assessed Sarutobi Asuma, Yuhi Kurenai, and Shizune at the training ground and resolved to strengthen them against future dangers.
• Uchiha Ying Yue announced a bell test to evaluate the three newly graduated ninja's abilities and teamwork.
• Sarutobi Asuma attacked directly, Yuhi Kurenai used genjutsu, and Shizune maneuvered to support them, but Ying Yue easily countered their moves.
• Uchiha Ying Yue deliberately created an opening, allowing Yuhi Kurenai and Shizune to take a bell with Asuma's help.
• Uchiha Ying Yue ended the test, praised their potential and teamwork, and reminded them that they needed to train harder.

Uchiha Ying Yue reunited with Namikaze Minato and met his Team Seven, then urged Minato to support Hatake Kakashi through his grief. He resolved to guide Kakashi, Uchiha Obito, and Nohara Rin and prevent the tragedies he believed awaited them.

• Uchiha Ying Yue brought Sarutobi Asuma, Yuhi Kurenai, and Shizune to the Hokage Building to receive a mission.
• Uchiha Ying Yue greeted Namikaze Minato and praised his rapid progress with the Flying Thunder God Technique.
• Uchiha Ying Yue met Hatake Kakashi, Uchiha Obito, and Nohara Rin, whom Minato led as Team Seven.
• Uchiha Ying Yue asked Minato to look after Kakashi, who was depressed over Hatake Sakumo's death.
• Uchiha Ying Yue reflected on Obito and Rin's importance to one another and resolved to help Team Seven avoid future tragedies.

Uchiha Ying Yue taught Sarutobi Asuma, Yuhi Kurenai, and Shizune advanced ninjutsu suited to their abilities, while urging them to share knowledge rather than let clans monopolize it. The three began training in their new techniques, though Shizune would need time to master hers.

• Uchiha Ying Yue told Sarutobi Asuma, Yuhi Kurenai, and Shizune that their basic training was complete and argued that ninjutsu should be shared to prepare for future threats.
• Ying Yue taught Sarutobi Asuma chakra weapon enchantment, demonstrating how wind and lightning chakra could enhance a kunai.
• Ying Yue taught Yuhi Kurenai Mind Snipe, a long-range mental attack powered by Yin attribute chakra, and she began practicing it.
• Ying Yue taught Shizune Strength of a Hundred, demonstrating its power and guiding her in concentrating and releasing chakra.

After rewarding his students with a meal, Uchiha Ying Yue took Sarutobi Asuma, Yuhi Kurenai, and Shizune on their first C-rank mission outside Konoha: clearing a bandit stronghold. The students began fighting while Ying Yue watched, and the chapter ended as a bandit crept up behind Asuma with a raised blade.

• Uchiha Ying Yue treated Sarutobi Asuma, Yuhi Kurenai, and Shizune to barbecue and told them they would begin missions outside Konoha the next day.
• Uchiha Ying Yue led the three students to a bandit stronghold in the eastern Land of Fire and explained the mission.
• Uchiha Ying Yue scouted the stronghold, found no chakra signatures among the several dozen bandits, and let his students plan their attack.
• Sarutobi Asuma, Yuhi Kurenai, and Shizune agreed that Asuma would lead the assault, Kurenai would disrupt enemies with genjutsu, and Shizune would guard the flank.
• Sarutobi Asuma, Yuhi Kurenai, and Shizune fought the bandits as Ying Yue observed, but Asuma struggled against their numbers.
• A bandit sneaked behind Sarutobi Asuma and raised his blade to attack while Asuma remained focused on the battle ahead.

Uchiha Ying Yue’s students helped defeat a bandit stronghold and rescue its captives, then set sail with him for the Land of Whirlpools. On the voyage, Ying Yue explained how technology and ninjutsu could reshape future warfare, as the Land of Whirlpools came into view.

• Uchiha Ying Yue demonstrated Mind Snipe by killing a bandit, while Yuhi Kurenai watched.
• Sarutobi Asuma, Yuhi Kurenai, and Shizune fought the bandits and rescued the imprisoned civilians.
• Uchiha Ying Yue praised his students’ work but warned them to improve, then let them rest.
• Uchiha Ying Yue took Sarutobi Asuma, Yuhi Kurenai, and Shizune by ship to inspect the Land of Whirlpools and show them its progress.
• Uchiha Ying Yue told his students that technology would broaden combat beyond traditional ninjutsu, and the Land of Whirlpools appeared on the horizon.

Uchiha Ying Yue brought Asuma, Kurenai, and Shizune to the modernized Land of Whirlpools and explained how technology would shape future wars. Dawn Organization leaders then reported the country’s progress and plans to improve firearms.

• Uchiha Ying Yue showed Asuma, Kurenai, and Shizune the Land of Whirlpools’ modern infrastructure, powered by hydroelectric and tidal energy.
• Uchiha Ying Yue told his students that they would need to adapt to a future shaped by technology as well as ninjutsu and chakra.
• Dawn Organization leaders welcomed Uchiha Ying Yue and reported advances in electrical infrastructure and agricultural technology, including a forty percent rise in food output.
• The Dawn Organization representative reported that firearms had spread throughout the Land of Whirlpools, though other countries remained cautious about adopting them.
• Firearm technicians proposed an assisted aiming system to improve accuracy against agile ninjas, and Uchiha Ying Yue supported continued development.