Chapter Summaries

Baishi manipulated Kushina into believing Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura had attacked him, redirecting her fury into official retaliation. Their private moment was interrupted when Mikoto Uchiha arrived and found them embracing.

• Baishi feigned weakness and implied that Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura had attacked him after his return from the Land of Wind.
• Kushina erupted in rage and prepared to storm the hospital and attack the two elders.
• Baishi stopped Kushina and persuaded her to leave the matter to ANBU as a defense of the Hokage's dignity.
• Kushina calmed down and held Baishi as she worried over his injuries.
• Mikoto Uchiha arrived with a food container and saw Baishi and Kushina embracing.

Baishi managed the tension between Kushina and Mikoto while Mikoto secretly signaled that the purge of Root strongholds had begun. The chapter left the Hyuga purge underway, as a hidden explosive-tag trap detonated against an attacking Hyuga ninja.

• Mikoto arrived at the ruined Hokage Residence with breakfast, and Kushina challenged her presence while Baishi accepted her offer to care for him.
• Baishi ordered Mikoto to feed him, and she complied despite Kushina's anger.
• Mikoto secretly signaled Baishi that the Hyuga Clan and ANBU had begun purging Root's underground strongholds.
• Baishi soothed Kushina and invited her to eat, easing the confrontation between the two women.
• Hyuga Branch Family ninja swept through a Root base and found Root operatives hiding behind a cabinet.
• A Hyuga ninja struck at the hidden Root operatives, triggering an explosive-tag formation behind the cabinet.

Hyuga Hiashi ordered the Hyuga Clan to abandon caution and slaughter the Root remnants in order to prove their worth to the Fifth Hokage. After clearing Root’s base, he discovered a top-secret scroll whose contents left him horrified.

• A Root explosive trap killed a Hyuga clansman, prompting Hiashi to recognize the remnants’ willingness to die.
• Hiashi ordered every squad to maximize its Byakugan and carry out indiscriminate slaughter, declaring that the Hyuga needed no prisoners.
• The Hyuga clansmen used Gentle Fist techniques and Rotation to kill the Root defenders throughout the underground base.
• Hiashi led the force to Root’s Central Archives and broke through its sealed steel door with Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms.
• Hiashi opened a protected top-secret scroll and was shocked by a list of names, including one connected to the Daimyo Residence of the Land of Fire and a secret transaction involving a forbidden scientific madman.

Hyuga Hiashi completed the mission to eliminate Root and recovered a Scroll documenting Orochimaru’s secret dealings with Konoha figures and the Land of Fire Daimyo’s Residence. Baishi treated the evidence as leverage, then received word that Orochimaru was gathering forces near the border, setting up his next move.

• Hyuga Hiashi found a Top Secret Scroll in Root’s central archive detailing trades involving Orochimaru, Root, and powerful figures, including Hojo Tokugawa.
• Hyuga Hiashi returned to the Hokage Residence and presented the Scroll to Baishi after reporting that Root’s remaining members had been eliminated.
• Baishi examined the Scroll and considered using its evidence to take control of Konoha’s finances and pressure the Daimyo’s Residence.
• Baishi dismissed Hyuga Hiashi, saying the Hyuga Clan had proved its value and that a new mission would follow after daybreak.
• Baishi received an urgent report through Pakura that Orochimaru was secretly gathering forces near the Land of Wind and Land of Fire border.

Baishi connected Orochimaru’s appearance at the Wind-Fire Border to the secrets on the [Top Secret] List and set a trap to expose his ties to Hojo Tokugawa. He then turned his attention to luring Orochimaru back to Konoha, where he planned to make the snake fall into his own scheme.

• Baishi linked Pakura’s report about Orochimaru at the Wind-Fire Border to a secret deal involving Hojo Tokugawa and the Daimyo Residence.
• Baishi learned from Mikoto that the Daimyo Residence’s annual fiscal budget application was due at the beginning of next month.
• Baishi ordered Mikoto to leak information about experimental records involving vanished Uchiha prisoners to someone close to Hojo Tokugawa.
• Mikoto agreed to use the Uchiha intelligence network to spread the information, while Kushina reluctantly went to fetch Baishi’s breakfast.
• Baishi suspected Orochimaru had retrieved failed Wood Release test subjects to develop a countermeasure against him.
• Baishi marked the border and Konoha on a map and decided to draw Orochimaru back to Konoha.

Baishi forced Shikaku Nara and the three Ino-Shika-Cho clans to help him seize control of Konoha’s finances by exposing evidence of corruption. After ordering the Finance Department sealed and its officials detained, he anticipated a counterattack from Konoha’s old powers.

• Kushina confronted Baishi about Mikoto Uchiha and the Scroll, but left to prepare him hot water after he feigned exhaustion.
• Baishi summoned Shikaku Nara and showed him a Scroll fragment documenting years of financial fraud between Furuta and Mitokado Homura.
• Baishi ordered Shikaku to make the three Ino-Shika-Cho clans seize Konoha’s purse or be replaced, and Shikaku agreed to obey.
• Baishi instructed Shikaku to seal the Finance Department, detain everyone on the List, and audit their assets before sunset.
• Baishi watched Shikaku leave and anticipated resistance from Konoha’s old powers.

Mikoto Uchiha used a tea party to make Yoshikawa Keiko believe the Hokage had discovered evidence linking her husband’s superior, Hojo Tokugawa, to Orochimaru and missing Uchiha prisoners. Keiko left in panic, poised to report the alarming intelligence and unsettle the Daimyo Residence.

• Mikoto hosted Konoha noblewomen and redirected their discussion of the Hokage’s recent actions.
• Yoshikawa Keiko asked about the purge of Root, prompting Mikoto to hint at sealed records of human experimentation.
• Mikoto claimed the records named missing Uchiha prisoners who had been sold as vessel candidates to a powerful figure outside the village.
• Yoshikawa Keiko dropped and shattered her tea bowl when Mikoto’s hints matched the secret dealings between Hojo Tokugawa and Orochimaru.
• Keiko hurried away from the tea party, while Mikoto expected her to tell her husband what she had heard.

Yoshikawa Shin learned that the Fifth Hokage had exposed the Root human-experiment List and the sale of Uchiha “vessels” to Orochimaru, implicating Lord Hojo Tokugawa. Baishi intercepted Shin’s urgent message, copied it, and released the messenger eagle to carry the original to Kyoto as he waited to see how Hojo would react.

• Yoshikawa Keiko told Yoshikawa Shin that Mikoto Uchiha had revealed Root’s human experiments and the sale of Uchiha prisoners as “vessels” to a powerful figure outside the village.
• Yoshikawa Shin realized the scandal implicated Lord Hojo Tokugawa and Orochimaru, then wrote Hojo an urgent warning and sent it toward Kyoto by Ninja Eagle.
• Baishi’s white subordinate captured the Ninja Eagle and brought it, along with Shin’s letter, to the Hokage’s Office.
• Baishi copied the letter, returned the original to the tube, and ordered the Ninja Eagle released toward Kyoto.
• Baishi kept the copy and watched the eagle fly, anticipating the turmoil its message would stir in the Daimyo Residence.

Hojo Tokugawa learned that Danzo’s human experimentation records had reached Konoha’s Fifth Hokage, Baishi, exposing his role in trafficking Uchiha prisoners to Orochimaru. Terrified of being ruined, he sent Orochimaru an urgent plea for help and was left waiting for the dangerous man’s response.

• A guard delivered Hojo Tokugawa an urgent message warning that the human experimentation list had fallen into Baishi’s hands and the matter of the “vessels” might be exposed.
• Hojo Tokugawa recalled how he had sent captured Uchiha ninjas to Orochimaru in exchange for life-extending potions and ways to eliminate political enemies.
• Hojo Tokugawa rejected thoughts of attacking Yoshikawa Shin or bargaining with Baishi and decided Orochimaru was his only hope.
• Hojo Tokugawa opened a hidden passage, entered a secret chamber, and summoned Orochimaru’s black messenger snake with his blood.
• Hojo Tokugawa told the messenger that Danzo’s list had reached the Fifth Hokage and begged Orochimaru to save him, then collapsed as the snake vanished.

Orochimaru received Hojo Tokugawa’s warning that Baishi had exposed Danzo’s list and the vessel experiments, and became fascinated by the Fifth Hokage. He sent the Sound Four to infiltrate Konoha and gather information, unaware that Baishi’s surveillance network was already waiting for them.

• Orochimaru’s experiment with diluted Hashirama Cells failed, and he grew more eager to obtain Baishi’s body.
• A black snake delivered Hojo Tokugawa’s message that Danzo’s list had reached Baishi and the vessel experiments had been exposed.
• Orochimaru deduced that Baishi had used Hojo to lure him out and became intrigued rather than alarmed.
• Orochimaru ordered the Sound Four to infiltrate Konoha, investigate Root’s destruction and the list, and gather information and tissue from Baishi.
• The Sound Four left for Konoha while Baishi’s network of white eyes silently awaited them.

Shikaku Nara led the Ino-Shika-Cho clans in a bloody assault on Konoha’s Finance Department under Fifth Hokage Baishi’s orders. After killing the department’s director and seizing its seal and records, Shikaku sent Baishi proof of the clans’ allegiance and wondered how Baishi would reward them.

• Shikaku, Inoichi, and Choza led the Ino-Shika-Cho clans in a direct attack on the Finance Department building.
• Shikaku immobilized the defenders with Shadow Imitation Technique, and ANBU and the clan members slaughtered them.
• Choza and the Akimichi blocked explosive attacks and crushed the remaining defenders while the Yamanaka turned enemies against their own allies.
• Shikaku killed the Finance Department director in the central vault after declaring that he acted under Baishi’s orders.
• Shikaku signed Baishi’s list of corrupt officials, sealed it with the department’s highest-authority seal, and sent it to Baishi through an ANBU ninja.

Baishi received the Finance Department’s seal after the Ino-Shika-Cho clans purged its resisters, then rewarded Mikoto for integrating the intelligence network with Yang Release Chakra. Kushina burst into the Hokage’s study, furious at finding Baishi and Mikoto together.

• An ANBU reported that the Ino-Shika-Cho clans had completed the Finance Department purge, and Baishi received its highest-authority seal and a death list bearing Shikaku Nara’s name.
• Mikoto told Baishi that she had connected Uchiha intelligence nodes to the ANBU network and placed former leaders and major clans under surveillance.
• Baishi infused Mikoto with Yang Release Chakra, restoring and strengthening her after her Mangekyō use.
• Kushina’s Nine-Tails Chakra overwhelmed the study’s barrier, and she smashed through the door.
• Kushina saw Baishi and Mikoto together and roared at Baishi, demanding to know what he was doing.

Baishi manipulated Kushina’s jealousy into guilt by pretending her Nine-Tails Chakra had aggravated his injuries, leaving her devastated and Mikoto tending to him. As Konoha’s internal trouble settled, Baishi sensed Orochimaru’s forces approaching the Land of Fire’s border.

• Kushina erupted into the Hokage’s office with Nine-Tails Chakra after seeing Baishi near Mikoto.
• Baishi secretly injured himself, then blamed Kushina’s rampage for worsening his supposed injuries.
• Kushina believed Baishi’s account, dismissed her Chakra, and tearfully apologized as he ordered her to stay away.
• Kurama watched Baishi’s performance through Kushina’s eyes and seethed at her gullibility and his inability to intervene.
• Baishi let Mikoto and Kushina tend to him while sensing sinister Chakras approaching the border of the Land of Fire.

Kidomaru and the Sound Four infiltrated Konoha, but the Hyuga Byakugan surveillance network detected and tracked them immediately. Baishi ordered the Hyuga and ANBU to let them move freely so he could use their contacts to uncover Orochimaru’s deeper network in the village.

• Kidomaru led fourteen disguised Sound Ninja through Konoha’s gate, confident that their suppressed Chakra and disguises would evade detection.
• A Hyuga ninja spotted the group with the Byakugan and relayed their identities and location through the clan’s surveillance network.
• Hyuga Hiashi reported to Baishi that the infiltrators had reached Wind Chime Pavilion and that one was heading toward Yoshikawa Shin’s residence.
• Baishi rejected an immediate arrest and ordered the Hyuga to keep watching while ANBU cleared a path for the infiltrators to meet their contacts.
• At Wind Chime Pavilion, Kidomaru sensed that something was wrong but dismissed his unease as the group remained under constant surveillance.

Baishi used Tayuya’s mission to lure her to the Moon Viewing Shrine and secretly prepared the Waning Moon Barrier. After she obtained a scroll from Yoshikawa Shin, Baishi sealed them both inside the barrier, leaving Tayuya trapped and unable to use her Chakra effectively.

• Kidomaru sent Sakon and Jirobo to contact the official’s residence and ordered Tayuya to investigate Danzo’s downfall through the Underground Black Market.
• Tayuya left the Wind Chime Pavilion, unaware that the Hyuga Clan was tracking her movements.
• Baishi ordered Hyuga Hiashi to keep ANBU patrols away from the Moon Viewing Shrine while the Hyuga continued watching it.
• Baishi wove the Waning Moon Barrier around the shrine using silver Chakra Threads.
• Tayuya met Yoshikawa Shin at the shrine and took the scroll he had brought for Orochimaru.
• Baishi triggered the barrier, trapping Tayuya and Yoshikawa Shin inside and cutting them off from the outside.

Tayuya and Yoshikawa Shin were trapped in Baishi’s silver Barrier, where Tayuya’s attacks only fed the prison and drained her Chakra. As Baishi revealed that their infiltration had been a trap, Tayuya prepared to unleash her Cursed Seal as a last resort.

• Tayuya attacked the silver Barrier with sound waves and flute techniques, but it absorbed each attack and siphoned away her Chakra.
• Yoshikawa Shin realized Baishi had anticipated their infiltration and collapsed, begging for his life and offering to reveal the names of conspirators.
• Baishi mocked Tayuya and Shin from outside the Barrier, calling Tayuya bait that Orochimaru had discarded.
• Tayuya’s Chakra dwindled as the Barrier continued draining her, and Baishi rejected her demand for a one-on-one fight.
• Tayuya tore open her top and exposed the three-Tomoe Cursed Seal, preparing to use its power.

Baishi reflected Tayuya’s mind-targeting flute attack back at her, leaving her gravely injured, while Yoshikawa Shin revealed the Daimyo Residence officials involved in buying Konoha shinobi and Uchiha corpses for experiments. Baishi planned to use Yoshikawa as living evidence in Kyoto, but Tayuya’s Cursed Seal began spreading across her body.

• Tayuya activated her Cursed Seal and used the Demon Flute’s Dream Sound Lock to attack the Waning Moon Barrier with an illusion.
• Baishi reversed the Barrier’s runes, reflecting and amplifying Tayuya’s attack until it shattered her mental world and left her unconscious.
• After witnessing Tayuya’s defeat, Yoshikawa Shin confessed that Hojo Tokugawa, the Daimyo Residence’s Minister of Finance, and the Senior Councillor were involved in trafficking missing Konoha shinobi and Uchiha corpses for experiments.
• Yoshikawa revealed that a more complete List and other evidence were hidden in a secret room in his house.
• Baishi said he would send Yoshikawa to Kyoto as living evidence for the Daimyo Residence officials, while Tayuya’s Cursed Seal began spreading over her body.

Tayuya activated Cursed Seal Level Two inside Baishi’s Waning Moon Barrier and tried to destroy the cage by self-detonating. Baishi stopped her with a silver thread that drained away the cursed power, leaving her unconscious as he decided to use her in an experiment.

• Driven by despair, Tayuya activated her Cursed Seal and transformed into its second state.
• Tayuya began compressing her power to self-detonate inside the Waning Moon Barrier.
• Baishi watched through a water mirror as Hyuga Hiashi reported what was happening inside the Barrier.
• Baishi crooked his finger, and a silver thread descended through the Barrier and punctured Tayuya’s chest.
• The thread absorbed Tayuya’s Cursed Seal power and returned her to her ordinary form, leaving her unconscious.
• Baishi said he would use Tayuya as the first material for a purification experiment based on Orochimaru’s Sage Transformation research.

Baishi implanted the Crescent Mark in Tayuya, turning her into an obedient spy and a weapon against Orochimaru, while he sent Yoshikawa Shin back to the Daimyo Residence with his memories erased. Tayuya left with a forged Scroll, and Kidomaru grew alarmed when she failed to return to the inn.

• Baishi used Yang Release and Wood Release to heal Tayuya and implant the Crescent Mark, making her completely obedient.
• Baishi ordered an ANBU to erase Yoshikawa Shin's memories and return him to the Daimyo Residence as an idiot.
• Baishi created a forged Scroll containing misleading intelligence intended to lure Orochimaru into his scheme.
• Baishi ordered Tayuya to return to Orochimaru and claim that the mission had failed because Konoha's defenses were too strong.
• Kidomaru waited for Tayuya at the Wind Chime Pavilion Inn, then decided to investigate the liaison officer's residence himself.

Baishi used the Byakugan Sky Net to monitor Kidomaru and ordered Hiashi to leave a deliberate gap in Konoha’s defenses. Mistaking the opening for a real chance to investigate Tayuya’s disappearance, Kidomaru slipped toward Yoshikawa Shin’s residence, where Baishi’s trap awaited.

• Kidomaru grew anxious when Tayuya failed to return after an hour and watched Konoha’s ANBU and Hyuga patrols through his enhanced vision.
• Baishi watched Kidomaru through a Water Mirror and learned from an ANBU that Tayuya had been sent back to Otogakure according to his plan.
• Baishi ordered Hiashi to open a gap in the southern surveillance net so Kidomaru would believe he had found a way through.
• Kidomaru noticed the brief blind spot and concluded that Konoha’s new leadership had made a mistake during its transition.
• Kidomaru slipped through the gap, avoided the patrols, and approached Yoshikawa Shin’s residence while Baishi watched his move.