Chapter Summaries

Yagami, disguised as the Copper Fox, fought Kumogakure’s ANBU while Orochimaru’s summoned Manda battled the Eight-Tails. After surviving the Third Raikage’s Four-Finger Nukite, Yagami escaped underground with Orochimaru as the Eight-Tails ravaged Kumogakure.

• Yagami stopped the Cloud Ninja ANBU from reaching Orochimaru and cut down their squads with Water Severing Wave.
• Manda fought the fully transformed Eight-Tails, which went berserk and launched a Tailed Beast Bomb at Kumogakure.
• Yagami defeated the ANBU commander, then survived the Third Raikage’s Four-Finger Nukite by combining his Ringed Serpent, Copper Light, and healing techniques.
• Orochimaru appeared beside the injured Yagami and urged him to escape as the Eight-Tails continued attacking.
• Yagami and Orochimaru burrowed underground and reappeared on another mountain, while the Third Raikage turned back to strike the Eight-Tails.

After Orochimaru’s operation caused the Eight-Tails to rampage in Kumogakure, the village suffered heavy losses and Blue B died. Back in Konoha, Danzo learned that Root’s ranks had been devastated and that Fox had survived a direct attack from the Third Raikage, prompting him to head to the Hokage’s Office.

• Yakushi Nonō reported that Kumogakure had lost eight Jonin, more than sixty ninja, and Blue B during the Eight-Tails rampage.
• Orochimaru told Bing to spread rumors crediting him with the rampage, then took Fox with him to the Hokage’s Office.
• Bing told Danzo that Ji, Kanoe, Xin, and Ren had likely been killed during the mission, leaving Root with only Bing and Gui.
• Danzo considered how to rebuild Root and suspected the Uchiha might be behind the brutal attacks on his organization.
• Bing reported that Fox had taken a Lightning Release attack from the Third Raikage and stood up unharmed, impressing Danzo.
• Danzo ordered Bing to accompany him to the Hokage’s Office.

After the Kumogakure mission, Danzo moved to expand Root while Yagami was assigned to guide new recruits. A report about Konoha’s postwar baby boom led him to wonder what bloodlines his and Purple Cat’s child might inherit, and he asked her to include the character “Ye” in the child’s name.

• Orochimaru told Danzo that Yakushi Nonō’s intelligence and the secret genjutsu drug had helped trigger the Eight-Tails’ rampage, killing Blue B and many Kumogakure ninja.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen said the mission had been intended to curb Hatake Sakumo’s rising reputation, and Danzo announced a plan to forcibly recruit ninja into Root and ANBU.
• Yellow Dog told Yagami that Root was short of personnel and asked him to become a Guiding Jonin for its new recruits.
• Yagami reviewed ANBU reports and learned that pregnancies at Konoha Hospital had surged after the war ended.
• Yagami held Purple Cat and asked her to name their child with the character “Ye,” while she blushed and agreed.

Rin Yamanaka learned that Danzo was visiting the clans to recruit fighters for Root, then watched as he pressured the Yamanaka Clan into supplying ninja and a four-year-old child. Danzo selected Rin Yamanaka and ordered the clan to send both her and a child to Root the next day.

• Rin Yamanaka told Inoen Yamanaka that Danzo might be recruiting fighters because six Root members had recently been killed.
• Danzo demanded that the Yamanaka Clan regularly provide Root with an experienced ninja and a talented child who had not yet entered the Ninja Academy.
• Inoen Yamanaka refused to send a four-year-old child, despite Danzo's intimidation and his claim that Nara Shikatsuno had agreed.
• Inoen Yamanaka relented, and Danzo chose Chunin Rin Yamanaka and ordered the clan to send her and one four-year-old child to Root the next day.

Rin Yamanaka learned that Danzo was forcing the Yamanaka Clan to send a gifted child and a ninja to Root, and that he had specifically selected her little sister. The chapter ended with Purple Cat asking Yagami to help keep her sister out of Root.

• Rin Yamanaka brought her older sister rice balls, and Yamanaka Inoen later explained that the Hokage-backed Danzo was demanding a Yamanaka ninja and a gifted child for Root.
• Rin Yamanaka protested that her little sister should not be sent to Root, but Yamanaka Inoen said the clan could not refuse and promised to try to place her in ANBU instead.
• Danzo, Bing, and Gui entered Yakushi Nonō's orphanage, subdued the vice director, and Bing selected six children for Root.
• Yagami sensed that the village was strange that night but chose not to investigate until the next day.
• At ANBU, Purple Cat told Yagami that Danzo had named her little sister for Root training and asked him to help protect her.

Yagami investigated Root and found Rin Yamanaka among its new recruits, while Tsunade stormed the base to rescue Shizune Katō. Danzo stopped Tsunade and offered to let her take Shizune in exchange for one jutsu.

• Yagami entered Root as Fox and learned that Rin Yamanaka was among the recruits, with five months of training ahead of her.
• Yagami divided the adult recruits into training groups and watched Gui begin training twenty four-year-old children.
• Yagami reassured Purple Cat that Rin Yamanaka was safe for now.
• Tsunade charged into Root and demanded that Danzo hand over Shizune Katō.
• Tsunade struck Bing, but Danzo's hurricane deflected her blow and left Bing badly injured.
• Gui picked up Shizune as Tsunade moved to find her, and Danzo stopped Tsunade with an offer to trade one jutsu for Shizune.

Tsunade rescued Shizune from Danzo by surrendering the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal, while Orochimaru brokered the deal. After Yagami questioned Tsunade as Fox, she suspected he had Uzumaki ties, and his information prompted Uzumaki Yuka to investigate the Shimura Clan's Guardian Ninja.

• Danzo demanded either Shizune or the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal, but Tsunade refused to leave Shizune behind.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen, Mitokado Homura, and Utatane Koharu arrived and defended Root, while Orochimaru mediated a deal for the seal in exchange for Shizune.
• Tsunade copied the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal for Orochimaru, who made Danzo promise not to recruit Senju Clan ninja into ANBU.
• Yagami, disguised as Fox, attacked Tsunade with sealing techniques to learn what she had traded, and Tsunade recognized Uzumaki Chakra in his Five Elements Seal.
• Tsunade asked Senju Hanaki about secret arrangements in ANBU, but Hanaki knew of none.
• Yagami sent information to Uzumaki Yuka, who gathered Uzumaki Kaichō and Uzumaki Genchō to investigate the Shimura Clan's Guardian Ninja in the Capital of the Land of Grass.

Yagami watched Danzo turn Root’s children into sealed mission tools while planning to have Yuka crack the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal. After ignoring Yakushi Nonō’s signals for days, he met her in a park, where she asked if he knew what had happened to seven children from the orphanage.

• Yagami learned that Danzo had branded Root’s twenty children with the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal and resolved to find a way to crack it.
• Yagami watched Bing make four-year-old recruits dissect corpses, then left rather than continue watching their training.
• Yagami asked Yuka about undoing Danzo’s seal, and she said she would need a specimen to study; he considered capturing Bing or Gui.
• Yagami decided to strengthen the White Demon by learning genjutsu, while keeping his Sharingan secret from Yuka.
• Yagami ignored Yakushi Nonō’s blackboard signals for several days before meeting her at a park and confronting her over the false intelligence about the Land of Iron.
• Yakushi Nonō asked Yagami whether he knew where seven children from the orphanage had gone.

Yagami learned that Root’s training would likely kill most of Yakushi Nonō’s seven orphanage children and persuaded her to gather intelligence on the Shimura Clan. After studying her report, he joined Yuka and the others to plan an ambush on the Land of Grass Daimyo’s temporary camp.

• Yagami told Yakushi Nonō that Root’s twenty child recruits would be forced to kill one another until only four remained, and she vowed to save the orphanage children.
• Yagami urged Nonō to weaken Root by providing intelligence, and she agreed to gather information on the Shimura Clan’s ninja.
• Five days later, Nonō brought Yagami a report identifying fifteen Shimura Jonin, including the weak Jonin Shimura Ryō, who guarded the Land of Grass Daimyo.
• Yuka reported that the Daimyo’s temporary camp had weaker defenses and provided a map and roster showing four Shimura ninja among the twelve Guardian Ninja.
• Yagami identified the Hyuga ninja’s Byakugan blind spot as a way to divert them, then asked Uzumaki Kaichō and the others to help carry out the ambush.

Yagami infiltrated the Land of Grass Daimyo’s camp, killed several Guardian Ninja, and learned where the captured Uzumaki Kanon was being held. Shimura Kōhi attacked him from behind, triggering Yagami’s death and a return to the night before the full moon in Konoha.

• Yagami and Yuka planned an attack on the Daimyo’s camp, with Yagami assigned to assassinate the Daimyo.
• Yagami approached through the ground, knocked out Hyuga Shin, and killed Shimura Ryō and other Guardian Ninja during the attack.
• Yagami entered the Daimyo’s tent, used his Sharingan illusion to immobilize Shimura Kōhi, and questioned the Daimyo about Uzumaki Kanon.
• The Daimyo revealed that Uzumaki Kanon was held in a secret base beneath Evergreen God Mountain.
• Shimura Kōhi attacked Yagami from behind, and the system detected Yagami’s death before he awoke in Konoha on the previous night of the full moon.

Yagami mastered the Silent Body Flicker Technique and used it to kill Shimura Kōhi and the other Shimura Guardian Ninja protecting the Land of Grass Daimyo. Afterward, he told Uzumaki Yuka that Uzumaki Kanon had been captured by the Daimyo and offered to help rescue her.

• Yagami chose the Silent Body Flicker Technique as his reward, mastered it, and practiced using it to move faster and without sound.
• Yagami infiltrated the Daimyo's camp, killed Shimura Ryō and the two Special Jonin, then fatally wounded Shimura Kōhi and burned him with a Fire Release technique.
• The Land of Grass Daimyo learned that Shimura Kōhi had died, while his Guardian Ninja advised leaving the scene for Konoha to investigate.
• Yagami met Uzumaki Yuka and told her that all four Shimura Guardian Ninja were dead.
• Yagami told Uzumaki Yuka that the Daimyo had captured Uzumaki Kanon and offered to help rescue her before returning to Konoha.

Yagami waited for news of Shimura Kōhi while listening to Konoha's leaders discuss Kumogakure's growing threat near the Land of Hot Water. A report that the Land of Grass Daimyo had been attacked and Shimura Kōhi killed left the village facing two urgent crises.

• Yagami reflected on Danzo's abuses and watched Root operatives Bing and Gui for signs that Danzo had discovered the truth.
• At a high-level meeting, the Third Hokage and the other leaders discussed Kumogakure's attacks on Ryuujin and Blue B, while Hatake Sakumo offered to lead Konoha's response at the Land of Hot Water border.
• Danzo reported that Kumogakure had sent at least three hundred ninja under Elite Jonin Storm Release Garui toward the border.
• Bing interrupted the meeting with news that the Land of Grass Daimyo had been attacked and four Guardian Ninja, including Shimura Kōhi, had died protecting him.

After the attack on the Land of Grass Daimyo’s Guardian Ninja, Konoha formed an investigation force under Orochimaru while Hatake Sakumo prepared to face Kumogakure at the Land of Hot Water border. Yagami rescued Uzumaki Kanon from a secret laboratory, then hid with his allies as Orochimaru’s investigation began.

• Bing reported that four Shimura Clan Guardian Ninja had been killed near the Land of Grass Daimyo’s tent, and the Daimyo planned to reduce Konoha’s stationed force from eight to six.
• Danzo urged Konoha to capture the Fire Style assassin and assigned Orochimaru to lead an investigation force with Root and ANBU’s Lynx Squad.
• Hatake Sakumo requested command at the Land of Hot Water border, and the Third Hokage assigned him four battalions while ordering him to keep the conflict limited.
• Yellow Dog told Yagami that Fox’s squad would go to the Land of Hot Water to gather intelligence on Sakumo’s mission.
• Yagami was Reverse Summoned to Evergreen God Mountain, where he found Yuka and the others and rescued Uzumaki Kanon from a secret laboratory.
• Yagami warned Yuka’s group to hide in the Land of Rain, then returned to the basement beneath the Izakaya and decided to avoid it until Orochimaru’s investigation ended.

Yagami helped move Rin Yamanaka from Root into ANBU, then discovered that Danzo had secretly marked her and four other newcomers with the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal. He chose not to alert Yellow Dog and prepared to leave for the Land of Hot Water, where he would help Hatake Sakumo.

• Yagami joined Fox and Purple Cat in asking Yellow Dog to bring Rin Yamanaka from Root into ANBU, and Yellow Dog selected five newcomers for the squads.
• After Rin Yamanaka joined Fox's squad, Yagami used genjutsu to inspect her and found the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal on her tongue.
• Yagami infiltrated the Golden Eagle Squad's changing room and found the seal on a newcomer there.
• Yagami checked three newcomers in the Black Ant Squad's changing room and found that all three bore the seal as well.
• Yagami realized Danzo had marked all five newcomers, kept the discovery from Yellow Dog, and prepared to head to the Land of Hot Water.

Orochimaru investigated Shimura Kōhi’s murder and traced the case to a hidden Land of Grass laboratory where Uzumaki Kanon had disappeared. He concluded that Uzumaki Remnants and a powerful Fire Style user were behind the recent attacks and ordered Lynx to report to Danzo.

• Yagami kept White Crane at the ANBU base and warned her to obey his orders as the Fox Squad departed for the Land of Hot Water.
• Bing told Danzo that Hatake Sakumo and the Fox Squad had left, while Mitokado Homura and Orochimaru were investigating in the Land of Grass.
• Orochimaru examined Shimura Kōhi’s murder scene and inferred that the killer had used an exceptionally fast, simplified Fire Style technique.
• After questioning witnesses, Orochimaru suspected that demon-masked Uzumaki Remnants had assisted the killer.
• Orochimaru found records of an Uzumaki captive in the Daimyo’s archives and discovered the laboratory where researchers had been killed and Uzumaki Kanon had vanished.
• Orochimaru confirmed that the culprits were Uzumaki Remnants and a Fire Style expert, then told Lynx to report his findings to Danzo.

Yagami learned that the Hokage had ordered the ANBU to hunt the Uzumaki Remnants and protect Kushina, then warned Yuka and asked her to study Danzo’s Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal. Back at camp, he studied the Uzumaki Sealing Manual and mastered the Two-Aspect Sealing, but struggled to perform the Four Symbols Seal.

• Yagami ordered White Ram to make tracking the Uzumaki Remnants a long-term mission for Fox Squad.
• Yagami secretly met Yuka, told her Danzo had discovered the Uzumaki Remnants, and advised her how to respond if ANBU found their hideout.
• Yagami asked Yuka to study Danzo’s Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal and accepted her newly compiled Uzumaki Sealing Manual.
• Yagami returned to camp with the manual and found that it contained the Four Symbols Seal, which could conceal his Uzumaki connection better than Adamantine Sealing Chains.
• Yagami mastered the Two-Aspect Sealing but struggled to stabilize the Yin and Yang Chakra needed for the Four Symbols Seal.

Yagami and the Fox Squad tracked Cloud ninja after a noble and his heirs were assassinated, then defeated a Cloud squad in the Land of Moon. Yagami used the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal on a survivor and ordered him to place a signal in the Cloud camp so Yagami could meet Yakushi Nonō and get intelligence.

• Yagami investigated the noble's estate and sent White Ram and Flower Deer to follow the assassins' trail into the Land of Moon.
• Flower Deer spotted a Cloud Ninja squad, and the Fox Squad ambushed it with Combined Ninjutsu and defeated it.
• Yagami captured a surviving Cloud ninja and used the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal to bind him.
• Yagami ordered the prisoner to return to the Cloud camp and set up a signal, threatening him with repeated pain if he refused.

Yagami tried to keep Hatake Sakumo from ending the conflict with Kumogakure too soon, while Sakumo remained determined to protect Konoha’s ninja and bring the fighting to a swift close. The chapter left Yagami resolved to let the dangerous conflict continue, believing an early end or a failed raid could harm Sakumo’s standing in the village.

• Yagami marked the latest clash on Sakumo’s map and heard Sakumo explain that he wanted to locate and raid the moving Cloud Ninja main camp.
• A Konoha squad claimed its reward for completing three B-rank missions, and Yamashiro Tera helped its genin test their Chakra natures and choose jutsu.
• Yagami advised Sakumo to focus a raid on weakening the Cloud Ninja rather than ending the conflict quickly, while Sakumo hesitated to ask him about the Land of Grass.
• Gekko Sō told Sakumo that Danzo’s troubles had eased pressure on their front and argued that prolonging the conflict could help recruit companions, but Sakumo insisted that saving Konoha ninja mattered more.
• Pakkun reported Sakumo’s resolve to Yagami, who accepted the message but privately decided to let the conflict continue and anticipated that a failed raid could damage Sakumo.

Yagami asked Yakushi Nonō to investigate Root’s remaining veterans and new recruits while keeping Konoha from learning the Cloud Ninja main camp’s location. After saving Kurozaru during a battle, Yagami considered ways to help him surpass his limits and began exploring whether he could develop a sealing technique resembling Tsunade’s Yin Seal.

• Yagami met Yakushi Nonō and asked her to investigate Bing, Gui, and the abilities of Root’s new recruits.
• Yagami told Yakushi Nonō to keep Konoha from obtaining the Cloud Ninja main camp’s location so Hatake Sakumo would not gain too much prestige.
• Yagami completed his Lightning attribute and used his squads for training during the fighting, while Hatake Sakumo relied on rapid patrols instead of a surprise attack.
• A Cloud Ninja collapsed a cliff during battle, and Yagami used Water Severing Wave to cut through a boulder and save Kurozaru.
• Yagami concluded that Kurozaru had reached the limits of his natural growth and considered creating a sealing technique inspired by the Yin Seal to help him and others improve.

Yagami developed the Ten Seals, a Chakra-storage technique capable of holding enough Chakra for five full-power Ninjutsu, and used it to address Kurozaru’s growth ceiling. Kurozaru learned to release and use the stored Chakra, and the chapter ended with Yagami proposing a cautious experiment to test whether it could stimulate further growth.

• Yagami spent fifteen days developing the Ten Seals, which steadily stored enough Chakra for five full-power Ninjutsu.
• Yagami examined Kurozaru and found he had Yang Release affinity but could not sense Yin Release Chakra, so he placed a cross-shaped curse mark on Kurozaru’s hand.
• Kurozaru learned to open the seal and use its stored Chakra to perform Earth Style: Earth Spear without extracting Chakra from himself.
• After three days of training, Kurozaru could use five Ninjutsu from the seal and concentrate its Chakra to unleash a Jonin-scale Ninjutsu.
• Yagami proposed a gradual stimulation test to see whether releasing Chakra beyond Kurozaru’s normal limit could help him grow stronger.