Chapter Summaries

Shiraha obtained perfect-quality Eight-Tails cells after testing Orochimaru’s cultivated horn and agreed to provide Kurama’s Chakra when possible. In Sunagakure, Sasori trained under the Third Kazekage and served him tea, while concealing his hand behind his back.

• Orochimaru showed Shiraha a horn cultivated from Eight-Tails Chakra and asked him to obtain some of Kurama’s Chakra in return.
• Shiraha touched the horn, suffered a burn from its Chakra, and gained perfect-quality Eight-Tails cells that raised his advancement success rate by three percent.
• Shiraha asked about Orochimaru’s experiment, and Orochimaru assured him it was not aimed at Kushina or Kurama.
• The Third Kazekage trained Sasori in combat and promised to help him kill White Fang if the opportunity arose.
• Sasori brought the Third Kazekage tea and hid one hand behind his back as the Kazekage remarked that the tea tasted unusually bitter.

Shiraha and Kushina entered Ryūchi Cave to confront Garaga for Dragon Transformation Grass and experimental samples. Verta agreed to help, and Shiraha began explaining their plan before they set out.

• Shiraha told Verta he had come to obtain Dragon Transformation Grass, despite Garaga guarding it.
• Shiraha explained that he wanted Garaga's cells and blood to advance his experiments and help break through his own bottleneck.
• Verta offered to draw Garaga's attention, risking his petrification technique so Shiraha and Kushina could remove his Reverse Scale.
• Shiraha promised Verta Dragon Transformation Grass and beckoned her ashore to hear his plan.
• Verta swam to shore, and Shiraha started laying out the plan for their attack.

Shiraha and Kushina entered Garaga’s territory to take his Reverse Scale, but their ambush turned into a fierce fight when Garaga attacked them first. Kushina knocked Garaga unconscious, and Shiraha secured the scale before asking Verta to help find Dragon Transformation Grass.

• Shiraha and Kushina crept through the misty cave territory and spotted Garaga, who was coiled like a red mountain.
• Kurama warned Shiraha that Garaga was awake and hostile, and Garaga attacked them with his tail and jaws.
• Kushina used Shadow Clones to evade Garaga’s bite while Shiraha blinded him with Flash and struck beneath his jaw with a greatsword.
• Verta burst from underground and bit Garaga, interrupting his petrification attack as Kushina tore off his Reverse Scale and knocked him unconscious.
• Shiraha collected Garaga’s Reverse Scale and asked Verta to help him find Dragon Transformation Grass.

Shiraha collected Dragon Transformation Grass with Verta and learned that Ryūchi Cave snakes could absorb Natural Energy, then returned to find Kushina had knocked Garaga unconscious again. After waking Garaga, Shiraha tried to persuade him that not all humans were untrustworthy, while Kurama recognized Shiraha’s words as familiar.

• Verta took Shiraha to a cave filled with Dragon Transformation Grass, where he collected plants and Verta ate a small amount.
• Verta told Shiraha that Ryūchi Cave snakes could absorb Natural Energy and that the White Snake Sage and Three Great Princesses might know more; Shiraha rejected the dangerous idea of learning their Sage Chakra.
• Shiraha returned to Kushina and learned that Garaga had awakened with hostile intentions, so Kushina had punched him unconscious again.
• Shiraha healed Garaga, who woke angry and fearful, and explained that he had come to help rather than kill him.
• Shiraha reminded Garaga that Verta had trusted him despite the danger and argued that humans and snakes could both be good or bad; Kurama found Shiraha’s words familiar.

Shiraha persuaded Garaga to give Kushina a chance, and Kushina completed a targeted Summoning Contract with him. After returning home with Garaga’s petrifying saliva, Shiraha planned to use Garaga’s blood to advance his strength and study the materials from Ryūchi Cave.

• Shiraha challenged Garaga to overcome his fear of trusting humans, and Garaga agreed to give Kushina a chance to prove herself.
• Kushina signed a targeted Summoning Contract with Garaga after Kurama mistakenly warned that Garaga had hostile intent.
• Shiraha realized Kurama had falsely reported Garaga’s hostility because he feared losing Shiraha’s affection.
• Shiraha collected Garaga’s petrifying saliva, said goodbye to Verta, and returned home with Kushina.
• Shiraha planned to use Garaga’s blood to become a Great Knight and research Garaga’s petrification ability and Dragon Transformation Grass.

In early Year 42, Shiraha and Kushina joked and flirted during training before a nurse summoned Shiraha to help treat an injured Jōnin squad. Kushina stayed home to wait for him to return for dinner.

• Shiraha rested while Kushina urged him to train, but he refused because she was a Great Knight and he was still a Formal Knight.
• Kushina prepared to practice with her Shadow Clones, so Shiraha challenged her to pull him up with one hand without using Chakra or her Breathing Technique.
• Shiraha tricked Kushina into falling onto him, and they kissed before she ran back toward his home.
• Shiraha and Kushina found Shizuko waiting at his door, and she asked him to help treat a seriously injured Jōnin from a mission.
• Kushina told Shiraha she would wait for him to return for dinner as he left with Shizuko.

Shiraha helped treat Sakamoto Kouta and learned that Sakumo had abandoned a top-secret mission to save his teammates. Three days later, villagers and ninjas condemned Sakumo for the failure, and Kushina drove the gossiping crowd away with a show of force.

• Shiraha and Minami maintained the Healing Resuscitation Technique until Sakamoto Kouta's external wounds had mostly healed.
• Shiraha treated Sakumo's injured arm and learned that Sakumo had chosen to abandon a top-secret mission after his teammates were hurt.
• Three days later, Shiraha and Kushina met Sakumo and Kakashi in the street and heard people condemning Sakumo for failing his mission.
• Kakashi tried to confront the gossipers, but Sakumo stopped him and then walked away as the insults continued.
• Shiraha called the crowd idiots, and Kushina stomped a crater into the ground, scattering the people criticizing Sakumo.

At Root headquarters, Danzo tried to persuade Sakamoto Kouta to publicly condemn Sakumo, claiming the scandal would protect Sakumo from political maneuvering over the Fourth Hokage position. Shiraha and Orochimaru visited Sakumo, who revealed that the mission he abandoned had been to ambush the Third Kazekage.

• Danzo admitted to Sakamoto Kouta that he had leaked the mission’s failure to damage Sakumo’s reputation and push him out of the Hokage succession struggle.
• Danzo asked Sakamoto Kouta to condemn Sakumo so the Third Hokage could punish him and quiet public opinion, but Sakamoto Kouta asked for time to think.
• Kakashi welcomed Shiraha and Orochimaru to Sakumo’s home, where Sakumo reassured Orochimaru that he did not blame him for the scandal.
• Shiraha suggested that someone had deliberately leaked the information to suppress Sakumo’s reputation, and Sakumo said he had never wanted to become Hokage.
• Sakumo revealed that his team had been ordered to ambush the Third Kazekage, shocking Shiraha and Orochimaru.

Shiraha and Sakumo discussed how the secret mission and public condemnation had trapped Sakumo in a choice that could be called either right or wrong, while Orochimaru went to confront the Third Hokage. As rumors spread through Konoha, Uchiha Soujin defended Sakumo and openly challenged Danzo, leaving the Uchiha Clan worried about the consequences.

• Orochimaru left to see the Third Hokage, but Shiraha told Sakumo that the village’s leaders would not clear his name because either choice could be used against him.
• Sakumo recognized Shiraha’s outward devotion as a disguise, and Shiraha said he intended to become as loved and respected as Sakumo.
• Sakumo asked Kakashi what he would choose between the mission and his comrades, then affirmed that he would abort the mission again to save them.
• Uchiha Soujin stopped a crowd from spreading rumors about Sakumo and arrested a man who claimed Sakumo’s decision had caused the village tremendous losses.
• Danzo confronted Uchiha Soujin over his remarks about the Third Hokage and the Will of Fire, and Soujin said the Third Hokage represented Konoha’s ninja and its Will of Fire.
• Danzo left after warning Soujin, while the other Uchiha worried about how his public challenge would affect their clan.

Uchiha Hayato punished Soujin for defending Sakumo, warning that his words had endangered the clan’s political plans. After his father urged him to follow Konoha’s rules, Soujin rejected the village’s political order and questioned whether the Will of Fire truly existed.

• Uchiha Hayato whipped Soujin for defending Sakumo and ruining the clan’s carefully prepared plan.
• Soujin insisted that he and Captain Sakumo had done nothing wrong, and Hayato sent him away.
• Uchiha Chizuru found Soujin injured and took him home while Chiho was summoned to meet Hayato.
• Uchiha Shin told Soujin that the village’s leaders were using Sakumo’s case to protect their political interests and warned him not to publicly challenge the Will of Fire.
• Soujin argued that Konoha’s ideals were built on the First Hokage’s overwhelming strength, then dismissed the village’s rules as ridiculous.

Uchiha Hayato reflected on the political attack against White Fang and his failed hopes of securing a fair path to the Hokage position for the Uchiha. He resolved to nurture Chiho and pursue his secret plan to create a new God of Shinobi through the Mangekyō Sharingan.

• Uchiha Hayato watched Chiho leave and brooded over the higher-ups turning the village against White Fang.
• Uchiha Hayato recalled how he had backed White Fang and placed Soujin on his team, hoping Soujin could one day compete for the Hokage position.
• Uchiha Hayato revealed his Mangekyō Sharingan and remembered how he had awakened it during the First Shinobi World War.
• Uchiha Hayato reconsidered his focus on Soujin and decided to care for Chiho, believing her talent and reserved nature gave her potential.
• Uchiha Hayato resolved to use his Mangekyō and his descendants to create a pair of Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan and restore the Uchiha Clan's former glory.

Sakumo refused to apologize for abandoning the mission and continued to stand by his decision, even as Konoha condemned him. After giving Kakashi his White Fang sword and practicing with him, Sakumo died by seppuku, and Shiraha honored him as a man who upheld his convictions.

• Sakamoto Kouta visited Sakumo, apologized for condemning him, and urged him to admit fault, but Sakumo insisted he had done nothing wrong.
• Sakumo cooked with Kakashi, gave him the White Fang sword, and practiced swordsmanship with him.
• Kakashi found Sakumo dead at home after a night of thunder and snow, with the room covered in blood.
• Kushina told Shiraha of Sakumo's death, and Shiraha rejected the claim that Sakumo had died because he could not endure criticism.
• Shiraha said Sakumo had made his convictions clear through his death and bowed toward Sakumo's residence.

After Sakumo’s funeral, Shiraha condemned Sakamoto Kouta for his role in the tragedy, while the Hyuga and Uchiha clans considered how the political fallout might benefit them. Kouta later died by suicide, and Shiraha left the Third Hokage’s questioning reflecting on how little support Konoha’s leaders could count on.

• Shiraha and Kushina attended Sakumo’s funeral, where Sakamoto Kouta collapsed before the tombstone and Shiraha rebuked him.
• Kushina promised to protect Shiraha from fools and bad people, and Shiraha promised to protect her in return.
• Hyuga Hiashi commended Hyuga Hideto, while privately recognizing the resentment and damage caused by the Main Family’s control over the Branch Family.
• Uchiha Hayato asked Chiho about Shiraha and urged her to get closer to him, then discussed her potential with a talking black cat.
• Sakamoto Kouta died by suicide before Sakumo’s tombstone, and the Third Hokage summoned Shiraha to question him about the death.
• After giving the Third Hokage a perfunctory answer, Shiraha left the Hokage Office and reflected on Konoha’s leaders receiving little support.

Sunagakure's leaders celebrated White Fang's reported suicide and began planning a coalition war against Konoha. Three days later, Sasori poisoned and killed the Third Kazekage, blaming him for preventing Sasori from killing White Fang himself.

• The Third Kazekage learned White Fang had died by suicide, celebrated the news with Chiyo, and ordered that Sasori be informed.
• Chiyo proposed attacking Konoha, but the Third Kazekage insisted on building a coalition with Kirigakure and persuading Iwagakure and Kumogakure to join.
• The Third Kazekage planned to survey an advance route through the Land of Rivers and took Sasori with him.
• At a forested mountaintop, Sasori revealed he had poisoned the Third Kazekage's tea with five hundred times the usual dose because the Kazekage had stopped him from pursuing White Fang.
• Sasori released his puppet and killed the paralyzed Third Kazekage with six blades.

After White Fang's suicide, Konoha's leaders argued over the village's unrest and the next Hokage, while Kazumi urged Hiruzen to support Tsunade. Tsunade denounced the elders for Sakumo's treatment and left, disillusioned with Konoha's leadership.

• Utatane Koharu warned that White Fang's suicide had damaged village unity, while Danzo blamed troublemaking clans and Hiruzen ordered an investigation into the leaked mission secret.
• Danzo claimed a Root member had leaked the secret and then committed suicide, and Hiruzen ended the matter to stabilize the village.
• Kazumi pressed Hiruzen to choose a successor and promised that Tsunade would not continue Tobirama's clan policies, but Hiruzen said he needed time to consider it.
• Tsunade stormed into the Hokage Office and condemned the elders for Sakumo's death and for betraying the Will of Fire, then grabbed Kazumi by the collar before leaving.
• Jiraiya warned Tsunade that her outburst could damage her standing, but she said Hiruzen had changed and vanished, calling Konoha disappointing.

Ten months after Sakumo's death, Sarutobi Hiruzen authorized Minato Namikaze to study sealing techniques so he could improve the Flying Thunder God Jutsu and assigned him to lead Kakashi's new team. Danzo tried to recruit Kakashi into Root, but Hiruzen refused and trusted Minato to help Kakashi overcome his grief.

• The Fire Country Daimyo sent envoys to investigate White Fang's suicide and regretted Sakumo's death after learning the circumstances.
• Minato Namikaze told Sarutobi Hiruzen that the Flying Thunder God Jutsu felt incomplete, and Hiruzen authorized him to consult sealing scrolls in the Forbidden Jutsu Archive.
• Hiruzen asked Minato to lead a new team that included Kakashi, explaining that Sakumo's death had left Kakashi troubled and unable to get along with teammates.
• Danzo asked Hiruzen to send Kakashi to Root, but Hiruzen refused and said Minato could help him.
• Danzo warned that Kakashi would repeat Sakumo's mistakes, and Hiruzen vowed that Sakumo's fate would not happen again.

Shiraha finished teaching his Medical Ninjutsu class and spent time with Kushina before returning to his laboratory to work on an Evolution Potion. His experiments had raised the quality of his bloodlines, bringing his chance of advancing to First-Level Spirit Summoning Warlock to 70%, though he hoped to improve it further before attempting the advancement.

• Shiraha gave his students a final lesson, dismissed the class, and thanked Nohara Rin for her gift while teasing Uchiha Obito about his failed Medical Ninjutsu exams.
• Kushina arrived with lunch, joked with Shiraha about his popularity, and ate with him in the empty classroom.
• Shiraha set aside his experiments to go shopping with Kushina after she asked him to join her.
• Shiraha worked through the night preparing an Evolution Potion from Dragon Transformation Grass and reviewed the results of his bloodline experiments.
• Shiraha saw that his White Phosphorus Serpent and Divine Tree bloodlines offered a 70% chance of advancement, and resolved to raise the odds before his Mental Power reached 12.

On New Year’s Day, Kushina tried again to control Kurama’s Chakra with Shiraha and Uzumaki Mito’s help. The attempt sent a towering crimson pillar into the sky, and Sarutobi Hiruzen rushed to respond as Konoha mistook it for a Nine-Tails crisis.

• Shiraha and Kushina entered the Sealing Space, where Kurama explained that Kushina could succeed if she resisted the negative emotions in his Chakra.
• Kushina asked Uzumaki Mito to help with another attempt, and Mito warned that this was her last chance to appear and assist.
• Uzumaki Mito released Kurama’s restraints, and Kurama covered Kushina with his Chakra as she began the attempt.
• A crimson pillar of light erupted above Konoha, terrifying the villagers and prompting them to flee.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen ordered an evacuation and called for the Jōnin, Anbu, and Sealing Squad before rushing toward Kushina.

Kushina gained control of Kurama’s Chakra while Shiraha protected her from Root and the Hokage’s forces. After awakening Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, she threatened the gathered ninjas by firing a Tailed Beast Ball at Danzo, leaving them stunned and warning them not to harm Shiraha.

• As Kushina’s tails increased and Kurama’s Chakra erupted, Shiraha kept watch and blocked four Root Anbu who approached, knocking their leader away with one punch.
• Shiraha threatened the remaining Anbu and refused to let Hiruzen Sarutobi or the Sealing Squad approach Kushina.
• Kushina’s seventh tail emerged, then her scarlet Chakra turned gold as she entered Nine-Tails Chakra Mode and appeared beside Shiraha.
• Kushina formed a black sphere and fired it northwest, causing a massive explosion after sensing Danzo’s Chakra underground.
• Kushina told Hiruzen Sarutobi that Kurama believed the Tailed Beast Ball would not kill Danzo, and warned that she would make the next one larger if anyone attacked Shiraha.

Kushina confronted Sarutobi Hiruzen after using Nine-Tails Chakra Mode to protect Shiraha, and Hiruzen apologized, returned the Death God Mask, and agreed to give back the Uzumaki properties. After the others left, Kushina revealed that using Kurama’s Chakra had exhausted and injured her, so Shiraha carried her home.

• Sarutobi Hiruzen insisted that Root's ninja had acted without authorization and assured Kushina that Shiraha would not be targeted.
• Kushina mocked Hiruzen's concern and pointed out that he had brought the Death God Mask, and he returned it to her.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen ordered the Jōnin to keep the incident secret and agreed to return the Uzumaki properties in the Fire Capital.
• Kushina asked to stay at Shiraha's house, climbed onto his back, and left with him as Minato Namikaze and the others dispersed.
• Kushina told Shiraha that Kurama's Chakra and her forced Tailed Beast Ball had left her exhausted, and Shiraha carried her home while sending Yang Release Chakra into her body.