Chapter Summaries

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• After the Battle of the Valley of the End, every major player benefits: Hashirama believes Madara is dead and preserves Konoha’s peace; Madara survives through deception and obtains Hashirama’s flesh; Black Zetsu’s plan continues; and Toji escapes with Madara’s heart and a piece of his flesh.
• Toji’s parasite returns to the Forest of Death, where an Earth Grudge Fear clone transfers Madara’s heart to the Zenin laboratory.
• Toji repairs the heart, replaces a damaged section with the heart of a Wind Release Chunin, and integrates it into his body through Earth Grudge Fear.
• Madara’s heart greatly enhances Toji’s Fire Release chakra, elevating him to the lower end of Kage Level. However, the heart contains no additional vitality because Madara had exhausted his life force during his battle with Hashirama.
• Toji discovers that he can maintain Madara’s peak Fire Release power for only about three minutes without releasing his Yin Seal. He realizes that he needs to learn advanced Fire Release techniques and continue strengthening his chakra reserves.
• Toji stores a piece of Madara’s flesh for future research, possibly to create artificial humans or serve as material for Impure World Reincarnation.
• Takayuki Senju arrives to report that Hashirama has returned to Konoha badly injured. Toji immediately pretends to be alarmed and rushes to the Senju compound to treat him.
• The chapter ends as Mito asks Toji to examine Hashirama, who lies unconscious and heavily bandaged while medical shinobi treat him.

Character Developments

• Toji becomes substantially stronger by acquiring Madara’s heart, gaining powerful Fire Release chakra and reaching Kage Level for brief periods.
• Despite his new strength, Toji recognizes his limitations: his chakra reserves are insufficient, his strongest state is short-lived, and he lacks Madara’s advanced techniques.
• Toji remains calculating and opportunistic. He hides his involvement in Madara’s death and heart theft while presenting himself as a loyal physician concerned for Hashirama.
• Madara is shown to have exhausted nearly all his vitality in the Valley of the End, though his deception and Izanagi allowed him to survive.
• Hashirama survives the battle but returns critically wounded, suggesting that his apparent victory came at a severe personal cost.
• Takayuki develops greater admiration and trust toward Toji, believing Toji’s urgent reaction reflects genuine concern for Hashirama.
• Mito and Tobirama are portrayed as deeply worried about Hashirama’s condition and reliant on Toji’s medical expertise.

Significant Themes

• Victory and loss are subjective: The chapter emphasizes that every participant believes they gained something, even though the battle caused devastating consequences.
• Power has limits and costs: Madara’s heart grants enormous strength but consumes chakra rapidly, forcing Toji to balance power against endurance.
• Deception and hidden agendas: Toji, Madara, and Black Zetsu all manipulate appearances and events while others remain unaware of their true motives.
• Life force and sacrifice: Both Hashirama and Madara pushed themselves beyond their natural limits, leaving their bodies and vitality severely depleted.
• Preparation for future power: Madara’s flesh and heart are not merely trophies; Toji views them as resources for future experiments, techniques, and long-term advancement.

Character Interactions

• Toji’s Earth Grudge Fear clone and parasite work together to preserve and transfer Madara’s heart.
• Toji internally analyzes Madara’s abilities and compares his own potential with Madara’s and Hashirama’s.
• Takayuki urgently summons Toji and follows him to the Senju compound, strengthening his faith in Toji’s loyalty.
• At Hashirama’s residence, Toji encounters Mito, Tobirama, and the medical shinobi treating Hashirama. Mito directly asks him to assess Hashirama’s severe injuries, setting up the chapter’s next development.

Chapter Summary

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• Hashirama is discovered to be critically injured, and Toji immediately examines him.
• Toji insists that Hashirama be transferred from the Senju facilities to the better-equipped Gospel Hospital. Tobirama initially hesitates because the transfer could expose Hashirama’s condition and destabilize Konoha.
• Mito forces Tobirama to reconsider, reminding him that saving Hashirama must take priority over political calculations.
• The Senju clan secretly transports Hashirama to Gospel Hospital under heavy protection, foreshadowing the eventual structure of Konoha’s Anbu.
• At the hospital, Toji takes charge of the operation. He claims Hashirama is still losing blood and that ordinary medical ninjutsu is insufficient.
• Toji uses Heavenly Mercy Thread to stitch Hashirama’s wounds and claims he will inject his own life force to stabilize Hashirama.
• While treating him, Toji secretly removes and stores a portion of Hashirama’s flesh. He intends to use it later as a medium for Impure World Reincarnation, since obtaining Hashirama’s cells after death would be difficult.
• After stabilizing Hashirama, Toji begins studying the unusual nature of his injuries, survival, and body, becoming interested in the mystery of Hashirama’s eventual death and the secrets of chakra and reincarnation.

2. Character Developments

• Tobirama Senju: His practical, political instincts briefly lead him to consider concealing Hashirama’s possible death. He feels ashamed when reminded that Hashirama is his brother and resolves to prioritize saving him, revealing the tension between his role as Hokage and his familial loyalty.
• Toji: He presents himself as a calm, self-sacrificing physician, but his actions are carefully calculated. He exaggerates the urgency of the situation to increase his influence, secretly harvests Hashirama’s tissue, and views the treatment as both a medical opportunity and scientific research.
• Mito Uzumaki: She acts decisively and sternly, helping Tobirama overcome his hesitation and ensuring that Hashirama receives the best possible treatment.
• Takayuki Senju: He becomes deeply impressed by Toji’s skill and supposed willingness to sacrifice his own life force. He develops intense gratitude and resolves to preserve the Senju clan’s debt to Toji for future generations.
• Hashirama: Though unconscious and severely wounded, he remains central to the chapter as both Konoha’s indispensable leader and a biological mystery whose cells possess extraordinary vitality.

3. Significant Themes

• Duty versus personal loyalty: Tobirama struggles between protecting Konoha through secrecy and doing everything possible to save his brother.
• The construction of authority: Toji deliberately creates an atmosphere of crisis so that his importance and competence will be recognized.
• Appearance versus reality: Toji appears heroic and self-sacrificing while secretly pursuing his own long-term objectives.
• Scientific curiosity and the nature of life: Hashirama’s unusual body leads Toji to investigate the relationship between vitality, death, chakra, and reincarnation.
• Inherited gratitude and historical memory: Takayuki’s determination to pass down Toji’s supposed kindness highlights how legends and loyalties are created through personal testimony.
• Exploitation beneath benevolence: The chapter contrasts Toji’s genuine medical skill with his covert theft of Hashirama’s flesh for future experimentation.

4. Character Interactions

• Toji and Tobirama: Toji commands Tobirama to transfer Hashirama, while Tobirama initially resists for political reasons before accepting the order.
• Toji and Mito: Both adopt an authoritative stance, jointly pressuring Tobirama to place Hashirama’s survival above secrecy.
• Toji and Takayuki: Toji uses Takayuki as both an assistant and witness. His apparent sacrifice profoundly influences Takayuki’s opinion of him.
• Toji and Hashirama: Toji treats Hashirama professionally while secretly extracting tissue from him, establishing a relationship defined by medical intervention, hidden exploitation, and scientific interest.
• Tobirama and Hashirama: Tobirama’s internal conflict emphasizes his love for his brother and the emotional cost of viewing him primarily as Konoha’s indispensable leader.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Toji determines that Hashirama’s physical energy remains extraordinarily strong after his battle with Madara. His impending death is instead caused by the gradual depletion of his spiritual energy, brought on by grief, guilt, and the emotional trauma of killing Madara.
• Toji concludes that Hashirama’s “spiritual illness” is essentially the result of love, longing, and remorse. Hashirama’s commitment to peace is genuine, but Toji wonders whether the chakra of Asura may have subtly influenced his ideals and choices.
• Toji treats Hashirama’s injuries and falsely presents his condition as one from which he can gradually recover, concealing the truth that Hashirama may have only four to eight years left to live.
• Hashirama awakens in the hospital surrounded by Mito, Tobirama, Touka, and Toji. He confirms that he killed Madara by piercing his heart and destroying the body with Wood Release.
• Hashirama recounts a strange dream in which he wandered through an endless wilderness searching for Madara, suggesting the deep spiritual bond and unresolved guilt between them. Toji speculates that the death of Madara’s Indra chakra may have triggered Asura’s reincarnation and contributed to Hashirama’s decline.
• Tobirama focuses on Hashirama’s revelation that Madara controlled the Nine-Tails. He warns that other villages are also seeking Tailed Beasts, raising the danger of a future arms race.
• Hashirama hints that he has a plan concerning the Tailed Beasts but does not reveal it. Toji realizes that Hashirama likely intends to distribute them among the major villages, creating a balance of power and discouraging war.
• Toji views the Tailed Beasts as equivalent to nuclear weapons: dangerous but useful as deterrents. He plans to capture one in the future, but understands that attempting to seize all nine would be reckless.
• Alone with Mito, Hashirama admits that he is dying. He asks her to keep this secret from Toji and Tobirama so they can remain focused on Konoha’s future.
• Hashirama reveals that he wants Mito to become the Nine-Tails’ jinchūriki after his death, believing her Uzumaki bloodline and sealing abilities make her the best person to protect Konoha.
• Though she understands that becoming a jinchūriki will bring pain and isolation, Mito accepts his request without hesitation.

Character Developments

• Hashirama: His heroic optimism is shown to conceal deep grief and despair. He accepts death calmly but remains devoted to Konoha, hoping to secure its future before he dies. His willingness to ask Mito to sacrifice her ordinary life reveals both his pragmatism and the burden of leadership.
• Toji: He becomes more perceptive about Hashirama’s true condition and emotional state. He maintains his outsider persona by hiding what he knows, while privately analyzing the political value of the Tailed Beasts and planning to obtain one for himself.
• Mito: She is shown as emotionally perceptive, immediately recognizing that Hashirama is hiding something. Despite her grief, she responds with strength and loyalty, accepting the role of Nine-Tails jinchūriki to preserve Konoha.
• Tobirama: His attention shifts toward the strategic threat posed by the Tailed Beasts. He remains politically focused and eager to understand Hashirama’s plans, though Hashirama deliberately withholds them.
• Madara: Though absent and presumed dead, Madara continues to shape Hashirama’s thoughts and emotional decline. Their friendship remains central to Hashirama’s identity.

Significant Themes

• The emotional cost of peace: Hashirama achieves peace by killing the person closest to him, suggesting that peace secured through sacrifice may destroy the person who creates it.
• Love, guilt, and spiritual death: The chapter presents emotional suffering as a force capable of exhausting the spirit even when the body remains powerful.
• Duty versus personal desire: Hashirama repeatedly sacrifices his own happiness and Mito’s future for Konoha’s survival.
• Power and deterrence: The Tailed Beasts are compared to nuclear weapons—dangerous forces whose distribution might prevent war but could also create catastrophic instability.
• The burden of leadership: Hashirama hides his death from those around him so they can continue working for the village, emphasizing the loneliness of being a leader.
• Fate and reincarnation: Toji considers whether the reincarnating chakras of Asura and Indra influence the choices and destinies of their hosts.

Character Interactions

• Toji and Hashirama: Toji medically treats Hashirama while concealing his true prognosis. Hashirama trusts his explanation, unaware that Toji understands the spiritual cause of his decline.
• Hashirama and Tobirama: Tobirama interrogates Hashirama about Madara and the Nine-Tails. Hashirama praises Tobirama’s political instincts but deliberately keeps his plan secret.
• Hashirama and Mito: Their private conversation is the emotional center of the chapter. Mito exposes Hashirama’s lie, learns that he is dying, and accepts the painful responsibility of becoming the Nine-Tails’ jinchūriki.
• Toji and Tobirama: They leave the hospital together, with Tobirama frustrated by Hashirama’s unfinished explanation while Toji silently understands the likely plan to distribute the Tailed Beasts.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• Mito Uzumaki willingly accepts the role of becoming the Nine-Tails’ first Jinchuriki, despite knowing the suffering caused by its violent chakra. Her decision is motivated by her commitment to Hashirama’s vision for Konoha.
• Hashirama explains his plan to capture all nine Tailed Beasts and sell them to the other major ninja villages. He believes this will:
  • Balance the military power between the villages.
  • Reduce the likelihood of future wars.
  • Demonstrate Konoha’s sincere commitment to peace.
  • Generate wealth for Konoha.
• Mito points out that the Uzumaki Clan’s superior Sealing Jutsu would give Konoha and Uzushiogakure influence over the process, since other villages would struggle to seal the Beasts safely.
• Mito proposes that Konoha and Uzushiogakure formally sign an alliance treaty. This would ensure continued Uzumaki support for Konoha’s Jinchuriki program and help protect Uzushio from external threats. Hashirama agrees to discuss the treaty with Tobirama and Toji.
• After returning to the Zenin Clan, Toji removes and seals a portion of Hashirama’s flesh from his body. The process is painful because untreated Hashirama Cells are extremely dangerous, even with Earth Grudge Fear acting as a protective barrier.
• Toji now possesses sealed samples of both Hashirama’s and Madara’s cells, storing them separately in his hidden laboratory.
• As Konoha approaches its tenth New Year, Hashirama’s return to public duties reassures the villagers and restores their confidence in the village’s stability.
• Hashirama, Tobirama, and Toji meet to discuss the Tailed Beast plan. Tobirama approves, recognizing that the other villages will seek the Beasts regardless, making controlled sales a practical way to profit and preserve balance.
• Hashirama assigns Tobirama to gather intelligence on the locations and habits of the eight Tailed Beasts other than the Nine-Tails.
• Toji is tasked with deciding which villages should receive each of the eight Beasts. He is surprised and momentarily freezes at being entrusted with such a significant responsibility.

Character developments

• Mito Uzumaki is shown as courageous, self-sacrificing, and politically perceptive. She accepts the burden of becoming a Jinchuriki and demonstrates strategic awareness by proposing the Konoha–Uzushio alliance.
• Hashirama Senju continues to pursue peace through pragmatic means rather than idealism alone. He also shows growing trust in Toji’s judgment and ability to handle complex political planning.
• Toji demonstrates his willingness to endure serious physical pain in order to secure Hashirama Cells. His growing position as an elder gives him authority over medical and educational affairs, while Hashirama increasingly relies on his intelligence and loyalty.
• Tobirama Senju effectively functions as the Second Hokage, assisting with government and intelligence matters. He supports Hashirama’s plan despite its unconventional nature.
• Mito and Hashirama’s relationship is reinforced as a partnership: she supports his ideals while also contributing practical political and strategic ideas.

Significant themes

• Peace through balance of power: Hashirama hopes distributing the Tailed Beasts will prevent any one village from becoming overwhelmingly dominant.
• Idealism supported by pragmatism: The plan combines Hashirama’s desire for peace with financial incentives and political leverage.
• Sacrifice for the village: Mito’s acceptance of the Nine-Tails and Toji’s painful containment of Hashirama Cells both show individuals enduring suffering for broader goals.
• Alliances and mutual dependence: The proposed Konoha–Uzushio treaty highlights the importance of formalizing long-standing bonds and protecting strategic partners.
• Power and danger: Hashirama and Madara’s cells represent immense potential but also severe biological risks, emphasizing that great power must be carefully contained.
• Trust and delegation: Hashirama entrusts major responsibilities to Tobirama and Toji, showing the formation of a structured leadership system around Konoha.

Character interactions

• Hashirama and Mito discuss the Tailed Beast plan as equal partners, with Mito approving the strategy and adding the alliance proposal.
• Toji and Hashirama exchange concerned, respectful dialogue about Hashirama’s recovery and the risks of fighting the Tailed Beasts. Hashirama responds warmly to Toji’s concern.
• Toji and Tobirama interact cautiously; Toji privately observes that Tobirama has not revealed the truth about Madara’s corpse, suggesting continued tension and hidden information.
• Hashirama, Tobirama, and Toji collaborate in the Hokage’s office, with Hashirama assigning each of them a role in implementing the Tailed Beast distribution plan.
• Hashirama’s arrangement of Toji’s duties also places him in a position to work closely with Uchiha Chiri, making Toji her superior and strengthening their ongoing connection.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Hashirama appoints Toji to design Konoha’s Tailed Beast sales and distribution plan, giving him complete authority. Tobirama will provide intelligence on the beasts’ locations.
• Toji realizes that, unlike Nagato’s future Akatsuki—which must hunt the Tailed Beasts individually—Hashirama could seize all nine quickly once their coordinates are known.
• He studies the Intelligence Division’s report and maps the beasts’ locations:
  • Shukaku in the Land of Wind
  • Chōmei near the Land of Waterfalls
  • Matatabi, Gyūki, and Kurama in the Land of Lightning
  • Isobu and Saiken in the Land of Water
  • Son Gokū and Kokuō in the Land of Earth
• Toji concludes that the future distribution of the beasts should not simply strengthen the major nations. Instead, he plans to place most of them in weaker countries, making them easier for him to reclaim later.
• His proposed allocation is:
  • Kirigakure: Shukaku
  • Kusagakure: Matatabi
  • Sunagakure: Isobu
  • An unnamed village: Son Gokū
  • Iwagakure: Kokuō
  • Yugakure: Saiken
  • Takigakure: Chōmei
  • Kumogakure: Gyūki
• Kurama is conspicuously absent from the public plan, implying that Toji intends to keep it as his personal “kickback.”
• Toji also deliberately assigns certain beasts to environments that weaken them—for example, placing the desert-based Shukaku in watery Kirigakure and the aquatic Isobu in desert-based Sunagakure.

Character Developments

• Toji gains major political and strategic influence through Hashirama’s appointment. He is thrilled by the power the assignment gives him but quickly shifts from excitement to careful manipulation.
• His greatest personal concern remains his limited chakra reserves. He views the Tailed Beasts as future chakra sources and plans to reclaim them over time.
• Toji’s cautious personality becomes especially clear. He rejects direct confrontation with the Five Great Nations and prefers assassination, diplomacy, manipulation, and indirect schemes.
• Hashirama appears trusting and idealistic, emphasizing that the plan should be thorough rather than rushed.
• Tobirama serves as the source of accurate intelligence, though he remains silent and observant during the appointment.

Significant Themes

• Power disguised as peace: Konoha presents the distribution as a peacekeeping measure, but Toji recognizes it as an opportunity to control the Shinobi World’s balance of power.
• Information as overwhelming power: Accurate coordinates make the Tailed Beasts nearly helpless against Hashirama’s strength.
• Strategic manipulation versus brute force: Toji believes schemes and diplomacy are superior to open war.
• Long-term control: The distribution is designed not merely for immediate political benefit but to make future Tailed Beast reclamation easier.
• Public policy and private motives: Toji’s official plan will appear fair, while secretly reserving one beast for himself.

Character Interactions

• Hashirama entrusts Toji with the dangerous assignment and tells him to prioritize accuracy and completeness.
• Tobirama’s intelligence network enables Toji’s planning, even though Tobirama offers little direct commentary.
• Toji mentally contrasts Hashirama’s overwhelming authority with Nagato’s future, much more difficult method of collecting the Tailed Beasts.
• Toji’s planned arrangement is designed to manipulate the major villages while concealing his own intended gain.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Toji evaluates the chaotic Land of Rice Fields, which has no officially recognized ninja village and is filled with rogue ninja and samurai. He sees it as an opportunity to establish a new power.
• Three years earlier, Toji allowed Uchiha Yan to operate independently. She founded the Akatsuki Ninja Corps, which has since gained an excellent reputation by protecting civilians and defeating criminal ninja bands.
• The Corps includes a drum-wielding Sound Release user whose battle performances have become known as the “Liberation Drum.” Villagers regard the drumbeat as a symbol that danger has ended and peace has returned.
• The organization has grown to around thirty members and is now one of the Land of Rice Fields’ strongest forces. Its only remaining step toward becoming the Akatsuki Ninja Village is securing official recognition from the daimyo.
• Toji plans to use the new village as a potential trading partner with Konoha and acquire the Four-Tails through Hashirama’s proposed installment-payment system. He secretly intends to take the beast back after Hashirama’s death.
• Toji reflects on the strategic value of the Tailed Beasts, recognizing that their strength depends not only on their number of tails but also on their abilities, environment, and tactical usefulness. He imagines eventually obtaining all nine.
• As a Konoha elder, Toji has already engaged in financial manipulation through a shell company, highlighting his willingness to exploit systems for personal gain.
• During dinner, Toji discusses Chiri’s bloodline curse and his stalled research into Primordial Chakra. He asks her to continue storing chakra with her Yin Seal in case a large supply is needed later.
• Toji considers using powerful Uchiha—including Uchiha Bing, Kagami, Kenji, and Sōsuke—as future subjects for his research into the Mangekyō Sharingan.
• He then transfers his senses to Type Zero, contacts Uchiha Yan, and orders her to move quickly to establish the Akatsuki Ninja Village before the New Year.
• Yan initially reacts with disbelief but becomes enthusiastic when Toji encourages her to claim the position of village leader. She agrees to select a trusted public representative and begin negotiations with the daimyo.

Character Developments

• Toji is shown as a long-term strategist and manipulator. He combines diplomacy, financial schemes, military expansion, and secret research to build power. His plans for the Four-Tails and the other Tailed Beasts reveal his ambition to dominate the Shinobi World.
• Uchiha Yan develops from an independent rogue ninja into a potential village founder and political leader. Toji’s praise reinforces her confidence and awakens her desire for freedom from both the Uchiha clan and Konoha’s hierarchy.
• Chiri remains calm and self-sacrificing despite her bloodline curse. She accepts her condition and continues supporting Toji’s research, while Toji shows concern for her and promises to find a cure.
• The Akatsuki Ninja Corps has evolved into a respected, organized force with genuine popular support, no longer merely a band of rogue ninja.

Significant Themes

• Power through institution-building: Toji understands that legal recognition can transform a militia into a legitimate military and political force.
• The contrast between ideals and manipulation: The Akatsuki Corps is publicly associated with justice and liberation, while Toji privately treats it as part of a larger plan for power and resource acquisition.
• Freedom versus hierarchy: Yan is drawn to the possibility of ruling her own village rather than remaining subordinate to the Uchiha clan or the Hokage.
• Long-term ambition and hidden exploitation: Toji presents peaceful, practical arrangements while secretly planning to reclaim the Four-Tails and eventually acquire the other Tailed Beasts.
• The value of reputation and symbolism: The Liberation Drum gives the Akatsuki Corps emotional legitimacy among civilians, making its military victories represent hope and peace.
• Scientific exploitation and moral ambiguity: Toji’s research into bloodlines and the Mangekyō Sharingan treats talented Uchiha as potential “materials,” revealing his willingness to sacrifice individuals for power.

Important Character Interactions

• Toji and Chiri: They share a quiet, intimate dinner in which Toji apologizes for failing to cure her curse. Chiri reassures him and agrees to continue accumulating Primordial Chakra.
• Toji and Uchiha Yan: Through Type Zero, Toji assigns Yan the task of establishing the new village. He challenges her confidence, praises her abilities, and persuades her to embrace leadership.
• Akatsuki Corps and local villagers: The Corps’ battles against criminals have created a bond with civilians, who interpret the Liberation Drum as a promise of safety and peace.
• Toji and Hashirama: Though Hashirama does not appear directly, Toji plans to exploit his idealism and love of peace by negotiating installment payments for the Four-Tails.

Chapter Summary: Konoha Elders’ Classic Betrayal of the Nation

Key Plot Points and Events

• Uchiha Yan rapidly reorganizes the Akatsuki Ninja Corps into the Akatsuki Ninja Village, establishing formal regulations within days.
• Because the village specializes in Sound Release techniques, its leader is titled the Sound Shadow rather than Rice Shadow.
• Yan appoints Sawaki, a loyal and capable Special Jōnin, as the First Sound Shadow. Sawaki travels to the Land of Rice Fields’ capital to negotiate with the daimyō.
• The daimyō readily approves the village’s founding, having already heard of the corps’ efforts to suppress bandits, rogue ninja, and local tyrants.
• Akatsuki Ninja Village is officially established with only thirty members, becoming the Land of Rice Fields’ first recognized ninja village. The daimyō celebrates with a banquet.
• Toji views the new village pragmatically, not idealistically. To him, it is a tool for locating the Libra Clan and collecting Tailed Beasts.
• His first intended use for the village is helping him acquire the Four-Tails.
• Toji leaves Shadow Clones behind to continue developing Impure World Reincarnation while he returns to his official duties in Konoha.
• Pretending not to know about the village’s establishment, Toji asks for intelligence on Akatsuki Ninja Village and nearby small-country villages.
• He frames this request as part of protecting peace and treating all officially recognized ninja villages equally, persuading his secretary, Nara Taro, that the investigation is important.
• Toji privately recognizes that this intelligence-gathering will likely uncover Akatsuki’s “good deeds,” especially the Liberation Drum, making the village attractive as a future trading partner and potential source for obtaining a Tailed Beast.
• The chapter closes as the New Year of Konoha Year 10 begins, with Toji confident that events are unfolding according to plan.

Character Developments

• Uchiha Yan demonstrates decisiveness, organization, and political ability by transforming the Akatsuki corps into a legitimate national institution.
• Sawaki is elevated from loyal Special Jōnin to the First Sound Shadow, showing the trust Yan places in his abilities and ideals.
• The Land of Rice Fields’ daimyō is portrayed as practical and perceptive. He recognizes the value of a disciplined ninja force and cooperates immediately.
• Toji reveals his calculating and manipulative nature. Although he publicly presents himself as a defender of equality and peace, he regards Akatsuki Ninja Village solely as an instrument for his personal objectives.
• Nara Taro begins with a narrow, traditional view that only major nations matter but is persuaded by Toji’s rhetoric about equality and peace.
• Toji also shows his ability to deceive others by pretending to learn about Akatsuki Village only after its establishment, despite having planned around it.

Significant Themes

• Legitimacy and political power: A ninja village becomes legitimate when it is founded first in an unclaimed country and recognized by that country’s daimyō. The chapter contrasts this with the future Akatsuki’s inability to replace the established village of Amegakure.
• Peace as a tool of power: Toji argues that peace has value only when controlled by those capable of enforcing it. His private motives expose the gap between noble ideals and political exploitation.
• Manipulation through ideology: Toji invokes the Hokage’s belief in equality and the Will of Fire to justify intelligence operations that actually advance his own plans.
• Institution-building: The creation of Akatsuki Ninja Village shows how military groups can become governments through organization, recognition, and cooperation with a nation’s ruler.
• Pragmatism versus idealism: Akatsuki’s public mission centers on protecting the Land of Rice Fields, while Toji sees the village as a disposable tool for locating clans and Tailed Beasts.

Character Interactions

• Yan and Sawaki: Yan entrusts Sawaki with leadership and the responsibility of securing official recognition, establishing a relationship based on loyalty and competence.
• Sawaki and the daimyō: Their negotiations proceed smoothly because the daimyō already respects the corps’ achievements and sees mutual benefit in formal cooperation.
• Toji and Nara Taro: Toji manipulates Taro into expanding Konoha’s intelligence-gathering beyond the Great Nations by presenting his personal strategy as an extension of the Will of Fire.
• Toji and Tobirama: Though Tobirama does not appear directly, Toji relies on his intelligence network and orders him to gather extensive information about Akatsuki Village and neighboring countries.
• Toji and Hashirama: Toji anticipates that Hashirama’s sympathy toward peaceful, humanitarian movements—particularly the Liberation Drum—will help make Akatsuki Ninja Village an accepted trade partner and bring Toji closer to acquiring a Tailed Beast.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• On New Year’s Day in Konoha Year 10, Toji clears snow from the Zenin grounds, reflecting on how the bamboo grove—nourished by buried ninja corpses—continues to grow.
• Uchiha Chiri and Ayano visit him, and Toji later accompanies them to Naka Shrine for the Uchiha Clan’s New Year celebrations.
• Toji observes that the Uchiha are enjoying a period of peace and prosperity, though he foresees the clan’s future decline after Hashirama’s death and the outbreak of the First Shinobi World War.
• Chiri introduces several talented young Uchiha:
  • Kagami, age thirteen, who has awakened the Three-Tomoe Sharingan and reached near-Special-Jōnin strength.
  • Kenji and Sōsuke, both twelve, who possess Two-Tomoe Sharingan and Chūnin-level ability.
• Chiri reveals that she intends to groom Kagami as the next Uchiha clan head, allowing her eventually to step down and gain greater personal freedom.
• Toji gives the younger Uchiha a New Year lesson centered on five practical “Will of Fire” principles: maintaining one’s health, caring for equipment and clothing, staying alert in the village, relying on oneself, and training safely.
• Chiri is impressed and decides to incorporate Toji’s teachings into future Will of Fire textbooks.
• Toji continues making New Year visits throughout Konoha, including a visit to his disciple Matsumoto Kazuka.
• At Kazuka’s home, he meets her friends Kotone Hyūga and Yamanaka Yuki, notices their connection to clans with Curse Marks, and infers that they may be involved in the development of the Prototype Curse Mark.
• Toji praises the girls’ friendship and urges them to support Kazuka, earning their admiration. Kazuka, however, feels uneasy because she originally intended to exploit her friends and teacher for her own ambitions.
• The holiday ends, and intelligence from neighboring minor countries begins arriving at the Hokage Building, signaling that larger political and military developments are approaching.

Character Developments

• Toji: Continues building influence through education, tradition, and personal relationships. He shows foresight regarding the Uchiha’s future and uses the New Year gathering to establish himself as a respected mentor.
• Uchiha Chiri: Demonstrates political maturity by preparing Kagami as her successor. Her desire to step down suggests she wants more independence and control over her personal life.
• Kagami Uchiha: Is established as an exceptionally gifted young ninja and a potential future clan leader. His altered fate may prevent later tragedies associated with the Uchiha.
• Kenji and Sōsuke: Are presented as promising young talents likely to become Chūnin soon.
• Matsumoto Kazuka: Appears increasingly frail but remains intellectually ambitious and morally questionable. Her hidden intentions toward her friends contrast with Toji’s emphasis on genuine bonds.
• Kotone and Yuki: Develop admiration for Toji after his kind and encouraging speech, deepening their connection to Kazuka.

Significant Themes

• The Will of Fire: Toji expands the ideal beyond grand speeches, presenting it as a set of everyday habits, responsibilities, and survival principles.
• Mentorship and succession: Chiri’s plan for Kagami and Toji’s instruction of the young Uchiha emphasize the importance of preparing future leaders.
• Fate and altered history: Toji reflects on how Kagami’s survival or different career path could change the later history of the Uchiha and Konoha.
• Friendship versus exploitation: Toji values friendship as a source of mutual support, while Kazuka views relationships partly as tools for achieving her goals.
• Prosperity before conflict: The cheerful New Year celebrations are contrasted with Toji’s awareness that war and political upheaval will eventually end Konoha’s peaceful period.
• Influence and reputation: Toji strengthens his standing by offering wisdom, showing generosity, and forming emotional bonds with influential families.

Character Interactions

• Toji and Chiri: Share a reflective conversation about the Uchiha’s promising youth and Chiri’s plans for succession. Their mutual respect is reinforced.
• Toji and the young Uchiha: Toji acts as a mentor, offering unconventional but practical guidance about living and training as ninja.
• Toji and Chiri regarding the Will of Fire: Chiri recognizes the value of his teachings and promises to formalize them in Konoha’s educational materials.
• Toji and Kazuka’s friends: He warmly welcomes Kotone and Yuki, asks them to support Kazuka, and inspires their admiration.
• Toji and Kazuka: Toji treats her with trust and affection as his disciple, while Kazuka privately feels conflicted because of her manipulative intentions.

Chapter Summary: “Can Super Intelligence Beat Super Strength?”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Set in Konoha during Year 10, Toji receives intelligence reports gathered before the New Year, including information about a newly formed village called Akatsuki Ninja Village in the Land of Rice Fields.
• Toji presents Hashirama and Tobirama with a plan for distributing the Tailed Beasts before they have even been captured.
• His proposal gives one Tailed Beast to each of the Five Great Ninja Villages and allocates the remaining beasts to smaller, neutral villages that support peace.
• Toji introduces the idea of a “Resistance Arc”: an alliance of smaller Tailed Beast–holding villages positioned around Konoha’s northern flank to counter possible aggression from Iwagakure and Kumogakure.
• He recommends selling the Tailed Beasts through a flexible payment system:
  • Full payment upfront if possible.
  • Installments for poorer villages.
  • Local goods or resources as collateral if they cannot afford a down payment.
• Hashirama initially suggests selling each Tailed Beast for 50 million ryō, but Tobirama argues that this severely undervalues them. The price is raised to 500 million ryō each, potentially earning Konoha four billion ryō.
• A complication arises because Shukaku is already under the protection of a temple in the Land of Wind. Hashirama jokingly—or perhaps seriously—suggests making Shukaku “disappear” so Konoha can later “find” and claim him.
• Tobirama is ordered to contact the selected villages and invite them to a Five Kage Summit, which will coincide with Hashirama’s return after capturing the Tailed Beasts.

Character Developments

• Toji is shown as a strategic planner who combines economic interests with long-term geopolitical thinking. He does not merely seek revenue; he wants to shape a protective alliance around Konoha.
• Hashirama remains idealistic, optimistic, and financially inexperienced. He is immediately enthusiastic about the Resistance Arc because it supports his dream of peace, but he also displays a mischievous willingness to manipulate events when money or village security is involved.
• Tobirama acts as the practical counterbalance to both men. He scrutinizes the intelligence, questions whether smaller villages can pay, and insists that the Tailed Beasts must be priced according to their military value.
• Hashirama’s trust in Toji’s proposal deepens, while Tobirama respects the plan but focuses on its feasibility and possible failure points.

Significant Themes

• Idealism versus pragmatism: Hashirama prioritizes peace and goodwill, while Tobirama emphasizes money, military balance, and realistic negotiations.
• Power as a commodity: The Tailed Beasts are treated not only as weapons but also as valuable assets that can finance Konoha’s development.
• Strategic diplomacy: Toji’s distribution plan uses the Tailed Beasts to create alliances and contain future aggression rather than simply strengthening the major villages.
• Peace maintained through balance: The Resistance Arc reflects the idea that peace may require distributing power among multiple factions so no single village becomes dominant.
• Political manipulation and moral ambiguity: Hashirama’s suggestion to “lose” Shukaku highlights the contrast between his public ideals and the questionable tactics he may accept to protect Konoha’s interests.

Character Interactions

• Toji presents his plan to both Senju brothers, with Hashirama reacting enthusiastically and Tobirama analyzing its practical weaknesses.
• Hashirama repeatedly praises Toji’s vision, especially the Resistance Arc, because it aligns with his dream of a peaceful Shinobi World.
• Tobirama challenges Toji over the affordability of the plan and forces the discussion toward payment terms and realistic pricing.
• Tobirama also corrects Hashirama’s overly generous valuation of the Tailed Beasts, persuading him to increase the price tenfold.
• The chapter ends with Hashirama confidently placing the diplomatic burden on himself, promising to win over the major villages through his personal sincerity if Toji’s plan alone proves insufficient.

Chapter Summary: “Nine-Tails, Offer Up Your Heart”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Konoha formally establishes an alliance with Uzushiogakure. The Uzumaki Clan sends its leader, Ashina Uzumaki, to sign the treaty with Hashirama.
• Hashirama proposes adding the Uzumaki crest to Konoha shinobi uniforms as a symbol of the villages’ friendship.
• Ashina privately warns Mito about Toji, sensing a disturbing quality in his chakra. Mito dismisses the concern because she has personally witnessed Toji’s kindness and healing abilities.
• Hashirama, Mito, and Toji prepare to capture the remaining Tailed Beasts. Hashirama entrusts Konoha’s safety to Tobirama and Toji.
• Hashirama and Mito find the recovering Nine-Tails. Hashirama subdues it with Wood Release, allowing Mito to seal it inside herself using Adamantine Sealing Chains and the Four Symbols Seal.
• The Nine-Tails furiously declares that it will never submit and identifies itself as Kurama. Its hatred and attempts to corrupt Mito force her to reinforce the seal.
• Hashirama and Mito then capture the other eight Tailed Beasts. Hashirama incapacitates them with Wood Release, while Mito seals and transports them to a hidden location in the Land of Fire.
• The disappearances of all nine Tailed Beasts alarm the shinobi world. Hashirama announces plans for a Five Kage Summit in the neutral Land of Iron.
• Although Toji expects to remain in Konoha, Hashirama selects him as a guard and advisor for the summit because of his role in creating the Tailed Beast distribution plan.

Character Developments

• Toji continues to display his calculating and morally pragmatic nature. He studies Ashina’s Sealing Jutsu and immediately considers exploiting his corpse through Impure World Reincarnation after death. He also recognizes that Konoha’s future betrayal of Uzushiogakure reflects the same self-interested logic he applies himself.
• Ashina Uzumaki appears as an aging but exceptionally powerful sealing master. His instincts allow him to detect the danger in Toji, demonstrating his experience and caution.
• Mito Uzumaki proves herself capable of containing the Nine-Tails despite its immense hatred. Her faith in judging people by their actions rather than their emotional aura reinforces her trust in Toji and Hashirama.
• Hashirama remains idealistic and compassionate. He treats the Tailed Beasts as beings that might eventually coexist peacefully with humans, even while forcibly capturing and sealing them. His concern for Mito and his confidence in future generations highlight his hopeful worldview.
• Kurama becomes more openly characterized as an intelligent, resentful being rather than merely a source of power. It refuses to accept defeat and vows revenge against humanity.
• Tobirama is positioned as the practical administrator and future Second Hokage. Hashirama deliberately keeps him away from the summit because his prior conflicts with other villages could damage negotiations.

Significant Themes

• Idealism versus pragmatism: Hashirama believes time and future wisdom can resolve the conflict between humans and Tailed Beasts, while Toji and Ashina understand that political alliances are driven by fear, advantage, and survival.
• The exploitation of power: Toji views powerful individuals as sources of techniques, bodies, or souls, while the villages treat Tailed Beasts as strategic assets to be captured and distributed.
• Trust and judgment: Mito trusts Toji because of his actions despite Ashina’s warning about his nature, raising questions about whether character should be judged by intentions or deeds.
• The cost of peace: The alliance, Tailed Beast distribution, and proposed summit are presented as steps toward peace, but they are built on coercion, containment, and political bargaining.
• The future tragedy of Uzushiogakure: The chapter foreshadows Konoha’s eventual abandonment of its closest ally, contrasting the sincere-looking alliance ceremony with the later betrayal of the Uzumaki Clan.
• Humanity and resentment: Kurama’s rage reflects the long history of humans controlling and weaponizing the Tailed Beasts, suggesting that peace cannot be achieved merely by sealing them away.

Character Interactions

• Hashirama and Mito work closely as partners, combining Wood Release and Sealing Jutsu to capture the Tailed Beasts.
• Ashina warns Mito about Toji, but she rejects his suspicion based on her personal experience with Toji’s benevolent actions.
• Toji shows concern for Hashirama’s health after the Valley of the End battle, strengthening their mutual trust.
• Kurama repeatedly clashes with Hashirama and Mito, resisting capture and psychologically attacking Mito from within the seal.
• Hashirama relies on Toji’s strategic abilities, inviting him to the Five Kage Summit to help explain and defend the Tailed Beast distribution plan.
• Hashirama and Tobirama’s contrasting roles are emphasized: Hashirama will negotiate publicly, while Tobirama remains in Konoha to manage affairs and avoid provoking rival villages.

Summary

• Plot/events: No story events occur in this passage. It is an author’s announcement about the novel’s publication schedule and premium-content transition.
• Publication update: The author thanks readers for continuing to follow the work and announces a 20,000-word update at 10:00 the following morning. After that, updates will be released daily at 6,000 words, with the possibility of longer installments depending on circumstances.
• Reader interaction: Readers are reminded to visit Taiwan Novel Network (ᴛᴡᴋᴀɴ.ᴄᴏᴍ) for the fastest updates. The author also asks readers to support the work through first-day subscriptions.
• Character development/themes: There are no characters, narrative developments, or significant themes beyond the author’s appreciation for readers and the practical matters of serialization and reader support.

Chapter Summary: “Nine-Tails’ Scheme, Mito Being Bullied”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Toji decides to remain in Konoha despite his unease about the Zenin Clan’s secrets and his history of blood feuds with other villages. He plans to attend the upcoming Five Kage Summit and present himself as harmless while gathering information.
• He cleans up the Zenin Clan’s abandoned experiments, sealing and secretly relocating all materials to eliminate evidence.
• Hashirama invites Toji to a family dinner. Although Toji worries that Mito Uzumaki’s new ability to sense good and evil may expose his deeply sinister nature, he realizes that avoiding her indefinitely would itself arouse suspicion.
• Mito struggles with her status as the Nine-Tails’ jinchūriki. The Nine-Tails’ chakra allows her to sense the hidden malice in people’s hearts, revealing the cruelty behind the villagers’ outward friendliness. She is emotionally tormented but endures the humiliation to support Hashirama’s ideals.
• When Toji arrives for dinner, Mito briefly senses an overwhelming, almost absolute evil within him. However, Kurama deliberately suppresses Toji’s malice from her perception, recognizing that Toji could become a powerful weapon for destabilizing Mito and weakening the seal.
• During dinner, Toji uses Uchiha Fire Release to warm wine for Hashirama and Tobirama. The brothers become heavily intoxicated.
• Troubled by what she sensed, Mito confronts Toji privately. Toji anticipates her suspicion and invents a sympathetic explanation: his clan’s bloodline allegedly absorbs the dark emotions of people he heals, making his chakra appear evil even though he is fundamentally compassionate.
• Mito accepts this explanation, believing that Toji’s apparent malice is merely the burden he carries from saving others. She reveals that she suffers from a similar ability and considers them kindred spirits.
• Mito loosens the Four Symbols Seal slightly and allows Nine-Tails chakra to flow through a wound so Toji can sense it with his Heavenly Mercy Thread. She tells him that they are now “the same kind of ninja,” each burdened by the darkness within others.
• Toji realizes that Kurama has intentionally distorted Mito’s perception, allowing her to sense only his fabricated goodwill. He quietly welcomes the Nine-Tails’ interference because it protects his deception.
• The chapter ends when a drunken Hashirama senses the released Nine-Tails chakra and appears, leaving the situation exposed and unresolved.

Character Developments

• Toji: Demonstrates caution, strategic thinking, and social manipulation. He prepares carefully for the family dinner, constructs a convincing false backstory, and immediately recognizes Kurama’s interference. His willingness to exploit Mito’s sympathy highlights his ruthlessness beneath his polite exterior.
• Mito Uzumaki: Experiences the psychological burden of sensing hidden malice but chooses endurance over retaliation. She develops empathy for Toji because she believes he shares her suffering, becoming emotionally vulnerable to his deception.
• Kurama: Acts as an active schemer rather than merely a trapped beast. It deliberately hides Toji’s true malice from Mito, hoping Toji will eventually drive her into despair and force her to draw upon the Nine-Tails’ power, creating an opportunity for escape.
• Hashirama and Tobirama: Remain largely unaware of the tension. Their drunken friendliness contrasts with the hidden manipulation taking place around them.

Significant Themes

• Appearance versus reality: Toji’s gentle demeanor conceals profound evil, while Mito’s perception is distorted by both her powers and Kurama’s manipulation.
• The burden of perception: Mito and Toji are portrayed as people who suffer because they can perceive the darkness within others. However, Toji falsely claims that his burden comes from compassion.
• Manipulation and exploitation: Kurama manipulates Mito by controlling what she senses, while Toji manipulates her interpretation of his character.
• Endurance and sacrifice: Mito follows her belief that a ninja must endure suffering, silently tolerating the villagers’ cruelty for Hashirama and Konoha’s sake.
• The danger of unchecked suspicion: Mito tries to resolve her doubts rather than allow them to grow into hatred, but her desire for understanding makes her susceptible to Toji’s lie.
• Moral ambiguity: The chapter contrasts genuine compassion, hidden cruelty, and self-deception, emphasizing how difficult it is to judge someone’s true nature.

Character Interactions

• Toji and Hashirama: Their friendship allows Toji access to the Senju household, though Toji uses the relationship strategically.
• Toji and Mito: Mito suspects Toji after sensing his malice, but Toji turns the confrontation into an opportunity to gain her trust. Their supposed bond as people burdened by others’ darkness is based largely on Toji’s deception.
• Toji and Kurama: They never communicate directly, but Kurama’s manipulation benefits Toji. Toji quickly understands that the Nine-Tails has concealed his true nature.
• Mito and Kurama: Kurama exploits Mito’s sensory ability to expose her to constant human malice, hoping to psychologically weaken her and eventually use her despair to escape.
• Hashirama, Mito, and Toji: The family dinner appears warm and casual on the surface, but it conceals a dangerous conflict involving Toji’s identity, Mito’s doubts, and Kurama’s escape scheme.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Hashirama and Toji leave Konoha for the Land of Iron, transporting eight subdued Tailed Beasts. Hashirama’s Wood Clone and Wood Human keep the beasts unconscious.
• Along the journey, Hashirama casually defeats bandits, while Toji answers his questions about the countries they pass through using information he prepared beforehand.
• At the Land of Iron’s capital, they are greeted by the young samurai Mifune and wait for the arrival of the other village leaders.
• Toji explores the capital and observes its renowned swordsmithing industry, privately considering the possibility of acquiring the future Seven Ninja Swords.
• At the Five Kage Summit, the leaders of the major and minor ninja villages gather under heavy tension. Old hostility toward Konoha remains, especially from Iwagakure because Madara once humiliated Ishikawa’s son Ōnoki.
• Toji presents Konoha’s plan to sell and distribute the captured Tailed Beasts. Each is priced at five hundred million ryō, with installment payments and resources accepted as alternatives.
• Several leaders object, particularly because Konoha is selling beasts that originally belonged to their territories. Toji argues that Konoha’s capture of the beasts spared their villages enormous casualties and that distributing them will balance power and discourage war.
• The proposed assignments are justified according to each village’s needs: Isobu can help Sunagakure address its water shortage, while Shukaku’s sand can help Hidden Mist reclaim land from the sea.
• Raikage A accepts Kumogakure’s allocation, Mizukage Byakuren sees great value in Shukaku, and even the initially resistant Kazekage agrees after Hashirama offers a discount and cooperation in sealing and training.
• The smaller villages are especially pleased to receive Tailed Beasts, viewing the arrangement as recognition and protection from larger powers.
• The leaders sign a peace treaty and Tailed Beast contracts, creating the appearance of a historic, harmonious settlement.

Character Developments

• Toji Zenin displays careful preparation, political intelligence, and ruthless long-term planning. He has anticipated the negotiations, tailored the Tailed Beast distribution to each village’s needs, and manipulates the summit toward Konoha’s advantage.
• Toji also reveals his darker ambitions: he plans to preserve the corpses of powerful leaders for future use in Earth Grudge Fear or Impure World Reincarnation, envisioning an army of revived Kage.
• Hashirama Senju remains emotionally sincere, compassionate, and politically naïve. He wants genuine peace and feels guilty about profiting from the Tailed Beasts, even reducing Sunagakure’s price during negotiations.
• Hashirama’s humility—bowing his head to the assembled leaders and apologizing for Madara’s past behavior—contrasts with the formal dignity expected of a Kage.
• Mifune is introduced as a young, disciplined samurai who serves as the Land of Iron’s representative and guide.
• Sawaki, the First Sound Kage and Toji’s planted pawn, is deeply moved that a small village like Sound is being treated as an equal participant.
• Ishikawa, Reto, A, and Byakuren each approach the deal according to their villages’ strategic interests, while Ishikawa privately considers taking the Tailed Beasts assigned to weaker villages later.

Significant Themes

• Peace versus political reality: The summit presents itself as a foundation for peace, but Toji knows the treaty will likely collapse after Hashirama’s death and that future wars remain inevitable.
• Idealism versus pragmatism: Hashirama genuinely seeks cooperation and fairness, while Toji uses calculated economics, strategic distribution, and manipulation to achieve political dominance.
• Power balancing: Tailed Beasts are treated as military assets whose distribution can deter aggression—or provoke future conflicts.
• Recognition of smaller nations: Giving Tailed Beasts to minor villages symbolically elevates them and offers protection, but the arrangement also makes them targets for stronger villages.
• The commodification of living weapons: The Tailed Beasts are discussed as products to be bought, sold, and assigned according to economic and military utility, despite Hashirama’s lingering discomfort.
• Illusion of harmony: The summit ends in apparent universal agreement, yet underlying resentment, greed, and plans for betrayal remain intact.

Character Interactions

• Hashirama and Toji travel as companions, with Hashirama relying on Toji’s knowledge and Toji quietly managing the practical details of their mission.
• Hashirama introduces Toji as Konoha’s elder, drawing surprise because the delegates expected Tobirama.
• Ishikawa confronts Hashirama over Konoha’s lateness and carries resentment from Madara’s earlier mistreatment of Iwagakure.
• Toji directly debates Reto and A, defending the pricing and distribution of the Tailed Beasts.
• Hashirama interrupts Toji’s hardline negotiation by offering Sunagakure a discount, demonstrating his inability to treat the beasts purely as commercial assets.
• The smaller-village leaders respond with gratitude toward Hashirama and Toji, while the major villages evaluate the agreement in terms of military advantage.
• Although the leaders publicly cooperate and sign the treaty, Toji privately recognizes that their agreement is fragile and temporary.

Chapter Summary: “The Second Kage and the Tailed Beast Chaos”

Key Plot Points and Events

• After the Five Kage Summit negotiations, the younger generation of future Second Kages attends a banquet and exchanges gifts with Toji. Gengetsu gives him a sword, Mu an Earth Release-infused stone, Shamon gold, and Sawaki a special flute.
• Toji studies the most powerful figures present, especially Gengetsu, Mu, and Shamon. He becomes interested in their secret techniques, Dust Release, Puppet Technique, Sand Manipulation, and research into Jinchuriki.
• Toji presents himself as a harmless, idealistic medical ninja. He gives the Second Kages medical cards granting free treatment at Konoha’s Gospel Hospital, secretly hoping to implant Parasite Marks and later track or exploit their corpses.
• Shamon sees Toji as a dangerous medical specialist and decides that he should eventually be assassinated, unaware of Toji’s true strength and motives.
• After the summit, Hashirama meets the leaders of the smaller villages and encourages them to use their newly acquired Tailed Beasts to protect their people. He praises Sawaki and jokingly—or sincerely—calls him a “demigod” for pursuing peace.
• Hashirama and Toji return toward Konoha, but Hashirama detours to Tanzaku Town to gamble. Toji reports the summit’s results to Tobirama and delivers four billion ryō paid by the nations for the Tailed Beasts.
• Tobirama allocates funds to the Gospel Hospital and Ninja Academy, while Toji secretly diverts part of the hospital budget for his own research and personal use.
• Two years later, Konoha has flourished economically and technologically because of the new funds. Toji has replaced several hearts, including two belonging to Special Jōnin, greatly increasing his chakra quality, strength, and lifespan.
• Intelligence reports reveal that many villages have sealed Tailed Beasts into Jinchuriki and begun exploiting their powers for agriculture, water management, or territorial expansion.
• The dangers of Tailed Beasts quickly emerge. Kumogakure’s Eight-Tails Jinchuriki and Iwagakure’s Five-Tails Jinchuriki both lose control, forcing their Kages to intervene personally and suffer serious injuries.
• Toji realizes that the deaths of the First Raikage and First Tsuchikage may eventually be linked to injuries sustained while suppressing Tailed Beast rampages. He prepares to exploit the situation by offering medical treatment to weakened Kages.

Character Developments

• Toji further reveals his calculating, parasitic nature. He uses medical generosity as bait, hides his combat ability, collects valuable techniques and corpses, and seeks to benefit from future wars and disasters.
• Hozuki Gengetsu and Mu temporarily lower their guard around Toji because of his medical-ninja persona, though they remain future enemies. Mu is particularly grateful because skilled treatment might have healed his old burns.
• Shamon demonstrates his strategic intelligence and ruthless military thinking by identifying medical ninja as priority targets. However, he badly underestimates Toji, believing him to be a weak idealist.
• Sawaki is portrayed as humble and nervous beneath Hashirama’s praise. His rise as Sound Kage is connected to the secret influence of “Zhu,” whose identity he is forbidden to reveal.
• Hashirama remains optimistic and sincerely believes the Tailed Beasts can help create peace. He is generous, trusting, and easily distracted by gambling.
• Tobirama becomes increasingly capable as Konoha’s administrator. He is practical and suspicious, recognizing that economic growth and expanded military capabilities may eventually encourage new wars.
• Toji and Tobirama continue to cooperate effectively, though Toji’s secret motives contrast sharply with Tobirama’s institutional concerns.

Significant Themes

• False peace and hidden hostility: The banquet and summit create a temporary appearance of goodwill, but all participants remain potential enemies.
• Weaponization of compassion: Toji uses healing and medical aid not out of altruism, but as a means of marking, tracking, and eventually exploiting powerful people.
• The double-edged nature of progress: The Tailed Beasts improve villages’ living conditions but also increase their military potential and invite conflict.
• Ignorance of power’s true cost: The villages assume sealing a Tailed Beast means controlling it, failing to understand the psychological, political, and physical dangers of Jinchuriki.
• Optimism versus realism: Hashirama believes prosperity will lead to peace, while Tobirama expects stronger villages to use prosperity to prepare for war.
• Exploitation of life and death: Toji’s research treats bodies, hearts, souls, puppets, and Impure World Reincarnation as resources that can be reused after death.
• Irony and future consequences: The smaller villages believe Tailed Beasts will protect them, but their possession makes them targets and may bring about their ruin.

Character Interactions

• The Second Kages flatter and befriend Toji during the banquet, accepting his medical cards without recognizing the trap behind them.
• Mu expresses genuine gratitude toward Toji because medical treatment could potentially restore his damaged skin.
• Shamon privately judges Toji and marks him for future assassination.
• Hashirama encourages the small-village leaders and praises Sawaki’s ideals, giving him the title “Demigod of the Shinobi World.”
• Hashirama and Tobirama embody opposing approaches to peace: Hashirama’s hopeful idealism contrasts with Tobirama’s strategic caution.
• Toji reports to Tobirama and helps direct Konoha’s new wealth toward medicine and education, while covertly advancing his own experiments.
• During the later intelligence briefing, Tobirama takes quiet satisfaction in rival villages’ Tailed Beast disasters, while Hashirama reprimands him for celebrating their misfortune.
• Toji interprets the injured Kages as future patients—and potential victims—waiting to enter the trap he has carefully prepared.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• After a tailed-beast intelligence seminar, Hashirama summons Toji to the Hokage’s Office with two pieces of news:
  • Tobirama’s wife, Touka, is three months pregnant.
  • Takayuki Senju is marrying the princess at the end of the month.
• The pregnancy surprises Toji because his earlier intervention may have altered the Senju family line. He realizes Tobirama’s child could become important to Konoha’s future—and possibly to Toji himself as a student or surrogate child.
• Takayuki’s marriage gives Toji a timeline marker: Tsunade is likely to be born soon. Since Hashirama will eventually teach Tsunade gambling and is expected to die when she is about three, Toji concludes that Hashirama’s death is roughly three years away.
• Toji returns to his laboratory, where he completes the final stage of his six-year development of a prototype Impure World Reincarnation.
• He kills Test Subject No. 107, uses No. 108 as the vessel, and successfully resurrects No. 107 in an artificial body. He names the result Impure Earth No. 1.
• The prototype has major limitations: the resurrected body has no heart, cannot naturally produce chakra, and lacks practical combat ability. Toji also identifies risks involving escaped souls and resurrected individuals breaking free through powerful emotional attachments.
• Toji stores the first successful product as a keepsake and plans to leave future improvements to Tobirama, Orochimaru, and Kabuto across successive generations.
• He then completes a large-scale summoning array connected to stored corpses and spare hearts. This allows him to summon replacement hearts during battle, provided his existing hearts are not destroyed instantly.

Character Developments

• Toji becomes increasingly calculating and far-sighted. He views family births, marriages, and deaths as timeline coordinates that help him predict future events.
• His relationship with the Senju family deepens, particularly through his interest in Tobirama’s unborn child and his anticipation of Hashirama’s eventual death.
• Toji’s scientific ambitions expand beyond experimentation into long-term manipulation of shinobi history. He intends to guide Tobirama into improving Impure World Reincarnation while making Tobirama believe the ideas are his own.
• Hashirama remains cheerful and family-oriented, enthusiastically celebrating both Touka’s pregnancy and Takayuki’s upcoming marriage. However, Toji now sees him primarily as someone approaching the end of his life.
• Tobirama is positioned as a future researcher and inheritor of Toji’s work, despite not appearing directly in the chapter.
• Toji’s test subjects are treated as experimental materials, emphasizing his emotional detachment and willingness to sacrifice others for technological progress.

Significant Themes

• Changing destiny and alternate history: Toji’s actions have altered the Senju bloodline, potentially changing the identity of future Hokage and major historical figures.
• Death and succession: Hashirama’s approaching death creates a countdown and suggests a chain of researchers—Toji, Tobirama, Orochimaru, and Kabuto—who will continue developing forbidden techniques.
• Science versus the supernatural: Toji struggles to reconcile the apparently impossible properties of Impure World Reincarnation, especially its later association with infinite chakra.
• Control versus free will: The resurrected dead may resist control if their obsessions or emotional bonds become strong enough, revealing a spiritual weakness in Toji’s otherwise methodical techniques.
• Preparation and survival: Toji’s backup hearts and summoning array reflect his extreme caution and determination to survive future wars and assassinations.
• Legacy and experimentation: The first successful resurrected body is preserved like a prototype artifact, symbolizing Toji’s pride in turning an impossible theory into reality.

Character Interactions

• Hashirama and Toji: Hashirama shares the family news enthusiastically and invites Toji to the upcoming wedding celebration. Toji responds politely while privately calculating the implications for the timeline and Hashirama’s remaining lifespan.
• Toji and the unborn child: Toji imagines becoming a teacher or father figure to Tobirama’s future child after Tobirama’s eventual death, turning an unexpected pregnancy into a potential future advantage.
• Toji and the test subjects: Toji kills No. 107, resurrects him through No. 108’s body, and then suppresses No. 107’s consciousness to take control of the resurrected vessel.
• Toji and future researchers: Toji plans to subtly influence Tobirama’s research and later pass the work down through Orochimaru and Kabuto, positioning himself as the hidden force behind the technique’s evolution.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Toji decides to establish Konoha’s Anbu, the Hokage-controlled Assassination and Tactical Special Forces, before attending Takayuki Senju’s wedding.
• He views the Anbu as a critical power center that must not fall entirely under Tobirama Senju’s control. By placing his own loyal agents inside, Toji can protect his covert operations and maintain access to Konoha’s intelligence, military information, Jinchūriki records, and mission networks.
• Toji plans to use Hashirama Senju’s remaining years and idealistic belief in clan equality to push through the inclusion of Uchiha and Hyuga ninja in the Anbu, despite Tobirama’s likely opposition.
• His larger strategy involves gradually infiltrating every major Konoha institution, including the Anbu, the Military Police Force, and patrol units. If exposed and forced to flee, he intends to retreat to Akatsuki Ninja Village while continuing to exploit Konoha’s resources through hidden networks.
• Toji still plans to eventually assassinate or seize the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki during a moment of vulnerability, such as the transfer from Mito Uzumaki to Kushina or from Kushina to Naruto.
• He visits the Uchiha compound with Uchiha Chiri and proposes recruiting Uchiha members into the Anbu.
• Toji observes Kagami Uchiha tutoring the young Shinku Yuhi in genjutsu. Kagami passes on Toji’s teachings about preparation, vigilance, self-reliance, and staying grounded.
• Chiri agrees that the Anbu would provide the Uchiha with greater influence and combat experience, particularly as she anticipates losing her own official position and worries about Tobirama’s future attitude toward the clan.
• She suggests Kenji Uchiha and Sōsuke Uchiha as likely Anbu candidates, while Kagami is excluded because he is being groomed as the next clan head.
• Toji leaves to prepare Jun Hyuga and seek additional Hyuga branch-family members who resent the main family’s oppression and might become loyal recruits.

Character Developments

• Toji is revealed as increasingly strategic and long-term-minded. He seeks not merely survival but institutional control, embedding loyal agents throughout Konoha so that his influence can endure for generations.
• Uchiha Chiri has grown more emotionally intimate with Toji and looks forward to eventually relinquishing her clan-head duties so she can pursue marriage and personal freedom with him. At the same time, she remains practical and politically responsible, prioritizing the Uchiha clan’s future security.
• Kagami Uchiha has matured into a fifteen-year-old Special Jōnin and is being prepared to lead the clan. His willingness to teach genjutsu to a non-Uchiha child demonstrates the era’s relatively harmonious relations between the Uchiha and Konoha.
• Shinku Yuhi is introduced as a gifted young genjutsu user. His training under Kagami establishes an important teacher-student lineage that may shape Konoha’s future genjutsu tradition.
• Kenji and Sōsuke Uchiha are positioned as potential covert agents within the Anbu, valued for their loyalty and connection to the clan.
• Hashirama Senju is characterized as an idealist whose belief in equality among clans may allow Toji to establish a precedent that later Hokages will struggle to overturn.
• Tobirama Senju is portrayed as the likely future obstacle to Toji’s plans, particularly because of his distrust of the Uchiha and concerns about the Byakugan exposing village secrets.

Significant Themes

• Institutional power and infiltration: Toji understands that lasting influence comes from controlling organizations rather than relying only on personal strength.
• Legacy and the Will of Fire: Hashirama’s ideals are turned into political tools. Toji intends to make Uchiha and Hyuga participation in the Anbu part of the “ancestral laws,” making future opposition appear contrary to Hashirama’s will.
• Loyalty and divided allegiances: Potential Anbu recruits must be loyal to their clans above all else, creating the possibility of conflict between clan interests and village orders.
• Freedom versus duty: Chiri’s desire for romantic freedom conflicts with her obligations as Uchiha clan head, while her eventual succession may allow her to choose a personal life.
• Knowledge and influence across generations: Toji’s teachings are passed from himself to Kagami, then to Shinku and potentially to future students, showing how ideas and favors can survive through bloodlines and mentorship.
• Peace as preparation: Although the village is currently at peace, Toji uses the calm period to build covert structures and prepare for future crises.
• Illusion and reality: Kagami’s discussion of genjutsu parallels Toji’s broader behavior—he constructs layers of influence and deception while ensuring that his agents remain grounded and alert.

Character Interactions

• Toji and Chiri travel together and discuss the political benefits of placing Uchiha ninja in the Anbu. Their relationship combines romantic intimacy with strategic partnership.
• Toji and Kagami are connected through mentorship: Kagami teaches Shinku lessons originally given to him by Toji, demonstrating Toji’s indirect influence.
• Kagami and Shinku develop a teacher-student relationship centered on genjutsu and disciplined preparation.
• Chiri and Toji cooperate in evaluating possible Uchiha recruits, with Chiri emphasizing clan loyalty and Toji considering their value as informants.
• Toji plans to extend the same strategy to Jun Hyuga and other branch-family Hyuga members, expanding his network beyond the Uchiha.

Chapter Summary

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• Toji presents Hashirama with a detailed plan for creating Konoha’s elite covert force, initially titled the Shadow Security Division, though the organization will eventually be known as the Anbu.
• Toji deliberately frames the Anbu as a defensive and protective institution rather than an assassination unit, emphasizing the protection of the Hokage, homeland defense, intelligence gathering, criminal containment, and security.
• Hashirama approves the proposal despite its estimated annual cost of fifty million ryō, believing the expense justified by the unit’s importance and dangerous duties.
• Toji recommends recruiting initially from major clans, with the intention of eventually including talented civilian shinobi as the Ninja Academy develops.
• Hashirama decides that he and Toji will jointly train the Anbu: Hashirama will teach combat and specialized skills, while Toji will provide ideological education based on the Will of Fire.
• Tobirama objects to recruiting members of the Uchiha clan and the Hyuga branch family, viewing them as security risks. Hashirama rejects this discriminatory approach, insisting that all villagers who meet the standards must be treated equally.
• The Anbu’s structure is finalized:
  • One commander and one deputy commander
  • Four squads of seventeen members each
  • Teams of four within each squad
  • White animal masks to conceal identities
• Toji establishes Root, an independent Anbu mobile force responsible for specialized training, oversight, and discipline. He becomes its first and only member.
• Recruitment proceeds through private invitations rather than public selection. Toji strategically recruits several shinobi who previously received his help or favor, including Kenji Uchiha, Sōsuke Uchiha, Jun Hyuga, Kotone Hyuga, and Yamanaka Yuki.
• Kenji is made captain of the First Squad, while the others become team leaders across the different squads, allowing Toji’s chosen network to control much of the organization without making his intentions obvious.
• After more than half a month, only two squads have been filled—one recruited by Toji and one by Hashirama. Hashirama becomes anxious because he wants to see the Anbu fully established before his declining life ends.
• Toji begins ideological training for the first two squads and discovers that Danzō, now a seventeen-year-old Special Jōnin, serves as captain of the Second Squad.
• The chapter ends with Toji declaring that the Will of Fire is the Anbu’s highest guiding principle.

2. Character Developments

• Toji demonstrates strategic intelligence and political subtlety. He disguises the Anbu’s darker functions beneath idealistic language, secures Hashirama’s approval, and creates Root as a mechanism for future control over the organization.
• Hashirama is shown as optimistic but not naïve. He understands the military value of the Anbu but refuses to sacrifice equality and trust for purely practical security. His insistence on including the Uchiha and Hyuga branch family reflects his commitment to the Will of Fire.
• Tobirama remains highly analytical and distrustful of groups he considers potential threats, especially the Uchiha and Hyuga branch family. His objections foreshadow the harsher policies and institutional suspicion associated with him and later Konoha leadership.
• Danzō is introduced as young, ambitious, and positioned within the Anbu hierarchy. His presence under Toji’s authority hints at his future development into the leader of Root, though he is currently subordinate and inexperienced.
• Hashirama and Tobirama’s relationship is reinforced: Tobirama performs much of the practical work of government, but Hashirama retains final authority and repeatedly overrides him when their ideals conflict.

3. Significant Themes

• Idealism versus pragmatism: Tobirama prioritizes security and risk prevention, while Hashirama argues that a peaceful village cannot be built by excluding or distrusting entire groups.
• Equality and belonging: Hashirama’s decision to admit Uchiha and Hyuga branch members reflects the belief that everyone in Konoha is part of one family. The chapter warns that unequal treatment can cause people’s loyalty and affection toward the village to grow cold.
• Institutional power and hidden violence: Although publicly presented as a defensive force, the Anbu possesses the structure and authority to become a covert weapon for assassinations and politically sensitive missions.
• Control through ideology: Toji’s plan shows that organizations are shaped not only by hierarchy and weapons but also by education, loyalty, and the principles members are taught to obey.
• Political manipulation: Toji carefully guides Hashirama’s decisions, appearing reluctant while gaining authority as the Anbu’s architect and Root leader.
• Legacy and succession: Hashirama’s declining lifespan gives urgency to the Anbu’s creation, while the chapter suggests that its future depends on who inherits control after him.

4. Character Interactions

• Toji and Hashirama: Toji presents the proposal in terms that appeal to Hashirama’s ideals. Hashirama trusts him enough to make him a joint trainer and later allows him to design the organization’s structure.
• Hashirama and Tobirama: Their debate over Uchiha and Hyuga recruitment highlights their opposing philosophies. Tobirama warns of concrete security dangers, but Hashirama invokes the Will of Fire and his authority as Hokage to overrule him.
• Toji and Tobirama: Toji initially suggests Tobirama as a trainer, likely knowing Hashirama would reject the idea because of Tobirama’s harsher views. Their indirect conflict centers on who will shape the Anbu’s ideology.
• Toji and the recruited shinobi: Toji uses his existing relationships and past favors to place trusted individuals in key Anbu roles, quietly building influence inside the new institution.
• Toji and Danzō: Their first major interaction in this setting is hierarchical and ideological. Danzō stands below Toji as a young squad captain while Toji begins teaching the principles that may shape, or eventually conflict with, Danzō’s future worldview.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Toji advances his plan to control the Anbu by equating the First Hokage’s will, the Will of Fire, and the will of the Anbu. Since he intends to remain immortal or effectively ageless, he aims to retain ultimate authority over the organization even under future Hokage.
• He individually subjects senior Anbu officers to psychological conditioning. Through dim lighting, repeated accusations of impurity, isolation, restricted communication, and constant ideological pressure, he trains them to doubt themselves and accept that Toji’s judgment cannot be wrong.
• The conditioning program establishes a hierarchy of loyalty: first to the Hokage, and in the Hokage’s absence, to Toji as Root Minister. Toji also teaches the Anbu to value survival, careful decision-making, mission review, and the long-term development of Konoha rather than reckless self-sacrifice.
• On the day of Takayuki Senju’s wedding to the Land of Fire daimyo’s daughter, Hashirama entrusts Toji with command of the Anbu while he attends the ceremony.
• Toji orders the Anbu to protect the wedding and tighten security throughout Konoha. The organization conducts a village-wide purge, removes troublemakers, exposes four foreign spies, and creates an intimidating public presence.
• Although the Anbu had previously been secret, its appearance causes widespread rumors and speculation. Toji deliberately cultivates its mystery, believing that secrecy and uncertainty will function as a form of deterrence.
• Toji attends the lavish wedding with Uchiha Chiri. During the celebration, an unidentified one-eyed, broad-shouldered man watches from outside the compound, leaves ten million ryo under the name “Maha,” and disappears before anyone can question him.
• The watcher is strongly implied to be Madara Uchiha, who privately mocks Hashirama for being immersed in what he calls an illusion.
• After the wedding, Hashirama praises Toji’s handling of the Anbu. Toji refuses personal credit and warns that future Root leaders might abuse unchecked authority. Later, Hashirama and Mito discuss the mysterious donation, but Hashirama assumes the donor was merely a wealthy admirer, noting that Madara—the wealthiest of his friends—is dead.

Character Developments

• Toji becomes increasingly authoritarian and manipulative. He is not merely organizing the Anbu; he is reshaping its members’ beliefs so that his interpretation of the Will of Fire becomes inseparable from loyalty to Konoha.
• Anbu officers are psychologically weakened and conditioned into obedience. Most eventually accept Toji’s ideological framework, though Danzo remains mentally resistant, showing that not every officer has been fully broken.
• Hashirama is portrayed as a loving, emotional father rather than only the legendary First Hokage. His joy at Takayuki’s wedding and his trust in Toji reveal both his warmth and his dangerous willingness to delegate power.
• Uchiha Chiri is moved by the wedding and reflects on the complicated bond between Hashirama and Madara, recognizing that they were both enemies and intimate friends.
• Madara appears to be alive and observing Hashirama from the shadows. His comment suggests resentment toward Hashirama’s peaceful life and a belief that Konoha’s happiness is deceptive or illusory.
• Mito acts as a practical family presence, managing the wedding gifts and questioning the mysterious donor.

Significant Themes

• Ideological control and propaganda: Toji transforms political doctrine into a psychological seal, demonstrating how repeated rhetoric, isolation, and authority can replace independent thought.
• Power beyond formal office: Though Hashirama is Hokage, Toji seeks to make himself the permanent true authority behind the Anbu, raising concerns about institutions being captured by unelected figures.
• Security versus freedom: The Anbu’s purge makes Konoha safer and more orderly, but it also introduces surveillance, fear, secrecy, and unexplained disappearances.
• Legacy and interpretation: Toji tries to define the Will of Fire for future generations, ensuring that its meaning supports his own authority.
• Friendship, loss, and illusion: The wedding highlights Hashirama and Madara’s former bond, while Madara’s return suggests that Hashirama’s peace may be built on unresolved conflict.
• Public image and deterrence: The Anbu’s mysterious first appearance shows how fear, rumor, and incomplete information can be used as political weapons.

Character Interactions

• Toji and the Anbu: Toji commands them through strict hierarchy and conditioning, while Danzo silently resists his influence.
• Toji and Hashirama: Hashirama praises Toji and trusts him with the Anbu, but Toji responds cautiously, emphasizing institutional rules and the danger of future leaders abusing power.
• Toji and Chiri: They attend the wedding together, and Chiri’s comments about Madara prompt Toji to reduce the relationship between Hashirama and Madara to that of former enemies.
• Hashirama and Mito: They discuss their son’s wedding, the money received, and the mysterious “Maha” donation. Hashirama remains unaware that Madara may have been present.
• Madara and Hashirama: Madara watches Hashirama’s happiness from outside, leaves an enormous anonymous gift, and frames the celebration as an illusion, suggesting unresolved bitterness beneath the apparent peace.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Six months after Takayuki Senju’s wedding, Konoha’s four Anbu squads are fully staffed.
• The First Raikage, A, becomes critically ill after suffering severe injuries while subduing the Eight-Tails. Kumogakure asks Toji to treat him, offering the Gospel Hospital treatment card Toji previously gave them.
• Hashirama and Tobirama debate the request. Tobirama fears that helping Kumogakure could create future problems, while Toji argues that he should honor his promise.
• Toji agrees to treat the Raikage but refuses to travel to Kumogakure, insisting that A be brought to Gospel Hospital in Konoha. Hashirama supports this condition.
• Kumogakure worries that Konoha might attack or imprison their leader, but the First Raikage chooses to go anyway, believing he has little to lose because he will die within a month without treatment.
• Rather than travel with an escort, A uses Kumogakure’s secret Heavenly Transfer Technique to teleport directly to the Land of Fire. The technique can rapidly transport objects or exceptionally durable people, but normally destroys the human body through extreme friction and acceleration.
• At Gospel Hospital, Toji examines A and determines that Eight-Tails chakra has deeply contaminated his untreated wounds. He cannot cure the Raikage, but he can extend his life by up to three months if A avoids using chakra.
• Toji treats A with Earth Grudge Fear, absorbing the invasive Tailed Beast chakra and stabilizing his condition.
• During treatment, Toji secretly places a mark on the Raikage because A is too physically strong for Earth Grudge Parasite. Toji intends to locate A’s corpse after his death and use it for corpse theft, puppet creation, and Impure World Reincarnation.
• Toji also begins planning to steal the Heavenly Transfer Technique during the future Kinkaku and Ginkaku Rebellion, when Kumogakure and the Land of Lightning will be thrown into chaos.

Character Developments

• Toji presents himself as principled by honoring his medical promise, but his true motives remain strategic and opportunistic. He uses the treatment to improve Gospel Hospital’s reputation and secretly prepares to obtain the Raikage’s corpse.
• Hashirama demonstrates both compassion and political caution. He wants to help the Raikage to establish Konoha’s reputation for sincerity, but refuses to endanger Toji or send him into Kumogakure.
• Tobirama remains suspicious and pragmatic, warning that Kumogakure may exploit Konoha’s kindness.
• First Raikage A is shown as proud, aggressive, and fearless. Despite distrusting Konoha, he accepts the risk because survival is more important than caution. His confidence in his own strength allows him to enter enemy territory without an escort.
• Second Raikage A is frustrated by Konoha’s refusal to send Toji but ultimately respects the First Raikage’s decision.
• Toji recognizes that A’s physical strength surpasses Hashirama’s in a pure taijutsu confrontation, though Hashirama’s regeneration would allow him to fight for an extended period.

Significant Themes

• Trust versus political self-interest: Konoha offers genuine aid, but every side remains wary of the others’ motives.
• Power and deterrence: The Heavenly Transfer Technique gives Kumogakure the ability to strike anywhere, making it strategically comparable to the threat of a Tailed Beast.
• Honor masking ambition: Toji honors his promise publicly while exploiting the situation to gain medical prestige, intelligence, a biological sample, and eventually a Kage-level reanimated body.
• Mortality and survival: A’s willingness to enter Konoha despite the danger reflects the desperation created by incurable wounds.
• Long-term planning: Toji constantly looks beyond the immediate crisis, preparing for future conflicts and identifying opportunities to acquire powerful techniques and corpses.

Character Interactions

• Hashirama consults Toji and Tobirama, with Tobirama opposing the rescue and Toji supporting it under strict conditions.
• Hashirama communicates Konoha’s terms to Kumogakure: the Raikage must come to Gospel Hospital himself.
• The Second Raikage seeks the First Raikage’s decision, while A confidently insists on going to Konoha.
• At the hospital, Toji and A clash verbally over the diagnosis, but A agrees to treatment once Toji offers an additional three months of life.
• Toji treats A while privately viewing him as a future resource, creating a sharp contrast between their apparent patient-doctor relationship and Toji’s hidden intentions.

Chapter Summary: The Raikage’s Death, a New Senju Life

Key Plot Points and Events

• After receiving treatment from Toji at Konoha Gospel Hospital, First Raikage A’s lifespan is extended from roughly one month to about three months. He refuses Hashirama’s invitation to remain in Konoha, determined to use his remaining time to strengthen Kumogakure, particularly by helping the Eight-Tails’ Jinchūriki.
• A recognizes Toji as a greater long-term threat than Konoha’s most powerful shinobi because Toji’s Medical Ninjutsu can preserve elite fighters and greatly improve Konoha’s endurance in future wars.
• While leaving through the Forest of Death, A studies the location of the Zenin territory and realizes that, during a future war when Konoha’s defenses are stretched thin, Kumogakure could infiltrate the forest and attempt to assassinate or kidnap Toji.
• Upon returning to Kumogakure, A orders the village leadership to prioritize capturing Toji in any future conflict. If capture is impossible, they are instructed to kill him and potentially frame Iwagakure to avoid direct retaliation from Konoha.
• News of A’s treatment spreads throughout the Shinobi World. Konoha promotes Gospel Hospital’s success, while A intentionally exposes Toji’s importance to other nations, ensuring that rival villages will eventually identify him as a major decapitation target.
• Gospel Hospital’s reputation grows dramatically. Wealthy nobles and patients from across the great nations travel to Konoha for treatment, making the hospital one of Konoha’s largest sources of income and increasing Toji’s political and strategic importance.
• Two months later, the First Raikage dies from illness at age forty-four. Kumogakure becomes the first major village to enter the era of a Second Kage.
• Hashirama reacts with sadness and respect, sending a formal condolence letter to Kumogakure. He reflects on the deaths of Madara and A and realizes that his own life may last only another three or four years.
• While Tobirama takes leave to remain with his pregnant wife, Senju Touka, Hashirama resumes his neglected Hokage duties. He is overwhelmed by the paperwork and recognizes how much more capable and energetic he once was.
• Touka gives birth to a son. Hashirama is delighted and eagerly goes to see the newborn. Toji also takes leave, claiming he must develop a demanding Medical Ninjutsu, though his real goal is to locate and retrieve the First Raikage’s corpse.
• Hashirama asks Toji to accompany him to meet the new Senju child, and Toji accepts, acknowledging his connection to the baby as its uncle.

Character Developments

• Raikage A: His improved health gives him a final period of purpose, but he remains focused on Kumogakure’s future rather than personal survival. His strategic thinking becomes increasingly hostile toward Toji and Konoha’s medical infrastructure.
• Toji Zenin: His healing ability elevates him from a powerful medical shinobi to a decisive military and economic asset. However, by publicizing his abilities to obtain the Raikage’s corpse coordinates, he knowingly makes himself a target for future assassination attempts.
• Hashirama Senju: He continues to show compassion and idealism, honoring A after death despite their political rivalry. At the same time, his declining vitality and growing fatigue reveal his mortality and his reduced enthusiasm for governing.
• Tobirama Senju: His usually ruthless, work-centered image is softened by his decision to take leave and remain beside Touka during childbirth, showing a private, family-oriented side.
• Senju Touka: Her childbirth marks the continuation of the Senju family and introduces a new generation during a period when the founding-era leaders are beginning to die.
• Kumogakure’s leadership: The village shifts from immediate concern over A’s illness to long-term planning, preparing intelligence operations and possible assassination campaigns against Toji.

Significant Themes

• The end of an era: The deaths of Madara and the First Raikage signal the fading of the founding generation and the approach of a more conventional, less overwhelmingly powerful age.
• The strategic value of medicine: Toji’s Medical Ninjutsu is portrayed as a weapon capable of changing the balance of entire wars by preserving Kage-level fighters and reducing battlefield losses.
• Peace as an unstable pause: Although Hashirama has created peace among the villages, A and Kumogakure assume that conflict will eventually return. The chapter emphasizes that peace is temporary when nations continue preparing for war.
• Power and unintended consequences: Toji’s plan succeeds in attracting patients and financial benefits to Konoha, but it also exposes his abilities and makes him a likely target for every major village.
• Mortality and succession: The older leaders confront their limited lifespans while a new Senju child is born, contrasting death and decline with family continuity and renewal.
• Duty versus personal life: Hashirama continues governing despite exhaustion, A uses his final months for his village, and Tobirama temporarily sets aside work to support his family.

Important Character Interactions

• A and Hashirama: Hashirama offers A hospitality, but A declines and later leaves under Anbu escort. Their relationship reflects mutual respect mixed with political suspicion.
• A and Toji: A credits Toji with extending his life but views him as a dangerous strategic threat whose medical abilities must eventually be neutralized.
• A and Kumogakure’s leaders: A gives Second A, Kinkaku, Ginkaku, and the village’s intelligence officials explicit orders to investigate Konoha and target Toji in a future war.
• Hashirama and A after A’s death: Hashirama responds to A’s death with grief and dignity, emphasizing his belief that even former enemies deserve respect once dead.
• Hashirama and Toji: Hashirama readily approves Toji’s leave and invites him to meet Tobirama’s newborn son, reinforcing their friendly personal relationship despite Toji’s secret agenda.
• Hashirama and Tobirama’s family: Hashirama eagerly goes to celebrate the birth, treating the child’s arrival as a joyful sign of the Senju clan’s continued future.