Chapter Summaries

Sakon and Ukon infiltrated Yoshikawa Shin’s residence to search for hidden goods lists, but found its occupants slaughtered and Yoshikawa rendered an idiot. Realizing they had walked into a trap, they tried to flee and were surrounded by hundreds of pale, pupil-less eyes.

• Sakon and Ukon set out to control Yoshikawa Shin after hearing no news from Kidomaru and Tayuya.
• Sakon entered the eerily silent residence and discovered a guard killed with a precise cut to the throat.
• Sakon and Ukon found more than a dozen dead household members and Yoshikawa alive but mentally broken.
• Sakon recognized the scene as a trap and fled with Ukon, suspecting Kidomaru and Tayuya had been exposed or captured.
• As they reached the gate, Sakon and Ukon saw hundreds of pupil-less eyes appear around the courtyard and trap them.

The Hyuga Clan trapped Sakon and Ukon and overwhelmed them with coordinated formations, destroying their Chakra systems. As the Hyuga prepared to finish them, the brothers’ Cursed Seals spread and they began transforming.

• Sakon summoned Rashomon to break through the encirclement, but hundreds of Hyuga members shattered the gate with coordinated Vacuum Palms.
• The Hyuga sealed off escape routes with tagged kunai and blasted the courtyard, leaving Sakon and Ukon injured in the smoke.
• Hyuga squads attacked from multiple directions, disabling the brothers’ limbs and sealing many of their pressure points with Gentle Fist.
• Sixty-four Hyuga formed a Killing Formation and struck Sakon and Ukon simultaneously, wrecking their bodies and Chakra systems.
• As the Hyuga moved in to finish them, Sakon and Ukon’s Cursed Seals spread and their bodies began to swell and distort.

Baishi watched Sakon and Ukon transform under Orochimaru’s Cursed Seal and massacre the Hyuga force, judging the power to be crude and unstable. He ordered the Hyuga to abandon the extermination and open a southern escape route, which the demons seized as they fled.

• Sakon and Ukon transformed into powerful demons and tore through the Hyuga formation, killing and injuring the clansmen.
• Baishi analyzed the twins’ Cursed Seal through the Water Mirror and dismissed it as a flawed injection of natural energy.
• A Hyuga elite reported the formation’s collapse and asked Baishi for instructions.
• Baishi ordered the Hyuga clansmen to stop the extermination and open a gap on the southern side of the encirclement.
• The Hyuga commander obeyed, and Sakon and Ukon rushed through the gap to escape.

Sakon and Ukon escaped a devastating Hyuga ambush, while Kidomaru realized Konoha had deliberately lured the Sound Four into a trap. He summoned a messenger to alert Orochimaru, still believing Orochimaru could help them break free.

• Sakon and Ukon fled through the streets after the Hyuga let them escape, and Sakon wondered why they had been spared.
• Kidomaru followed a deliberately opened patrol gap toward the liaison officer's residence while a watcher tracked him for Baishi.
• Kidomaru found the ruined residence and encountered the severely injured Sakon and Ukon.
• Sakon described the Hyuga's execution-like assault and the deliberately opened escape route, leading Kidomaru to realize he had been lured there.
• Kidomaru rejected the idea of becoming Konoha's plaything and used the Summoning Technique to contact Lord Orochimaru.

Baishi watched Kidomaru summon a spider to carry news of the ambush to Orochimaru, revealing that he had deliberately let the enemy escape as bait. He ordered Konoha’s Barrier Team to let the spider pass, leaving its escape—and Orochimaru’s response—as the next step in his trap.

• Kidomaru realized the breach and Sakon and Ukon’s defeat had been arranged to frighten him, then summoned a tiny spider to carry a message to Orochimaru.
• A Hyuga ninja offered to stop the summoning, but Baishi refused and explained that he wanted Kidomaru to transmit his fear and despair as bait for Orochimaru.
• Baishi revealed that he had staged the encounter to exploit Orochimaru’s greed for unknown power and lure him out of hiding.
• Baishi ordered the Barrier Team to let the spider pass, and the Hyuga ninja bowed after understanding the plan.

Baishi secretly opened the Konoha Protective Barrier long enough for Kidomaru’s summoned spider to escape and carry its message to Orochimaru. Kidomaru realized his desperate attempt to send for help had been permitted as part of the enemy’s plan, leaving him utterly defeated as the spider raced toward Orochimaru’s hidden laboratory.

• The Barrier Team detected Kidomaru’s tiny summoned spider and prepared to erase it, but a Hyuga shinobi relayed Baishi’s order to let it pass.
• Baishi used precise Yang Release Chakra to open a minute gap in the Konoha Protective Barrier, allowing the spider to slip outside.
• Kidomaru felt his Chakra link to the spider break and briefly celebrated, then realized the Barrier had likely let it through deliberately.
• Kidomaru saw Sakon and Ukon wounded and understood that he and his comrades had been used as bait to lure Orochimaru.
• The spider raced through the border forests of the Land of Fire toward Orochimaru’s underground laboratory.

Orochimaru received Kidomaru’s blood message that Konoha had crushed the Sound Four and recognized Baishi’s strength as a power beyond his Cursed Seal. Rather than retreat, he became obsessed with claiming Baishi’s body and went to awaken old allies for an attack on Konoha.

• Orochimaru studied a failed Wood Release subject and wondered what secrets Baishi’s body held.
• Kidomaru’s dying summoned spider reached Orochimaru and delivered a blood message describing the Sound Four’s defeat and Baishi’s trap.
• Orochimaru fixated on the report that the Hyuga had destroyed Cursed Seal Level Two with Gentle Fist.
• Orochimaru concluded that Baishi’s body could bear and suppress Senjutsu Chakra, and vowed to obtain it.
• Orochimaru approached a sealed stone door to awaken old allies and take them to Konoha.

Orochimaru prepared three sacrifices to revive powerful figures and challenge Baishi, while Tayuya, carrying forged intelligence and an unknown mark, returned to his border base. The chapter ended with Kabuto finding the unconscious Tayuya and facing the question of whether he would detect the Crescent Mark.

• Orochimaru ordered Kabuto to prepare three sacrifices for a forbidden technique and chose coffins holding Mu and Hozuki Gengetsu, along with a third sealed figure.
• Tayuya crawled through the forest toward Orochimaru’s base, believing she had escaped Konoha with a classified Scroll and remained loyal to Orochimaru.
• Tayuya felt a faint mark on her forehead but dismissed it as a remnant of her injuries, unaware that touching the Crescent Mark caused a ripple in Baishi’s teacup.
• Tayuya reached the cave entrance, collapsed, and saw Kabuto emerge before she lost consciousness.

After confronting Hyuga Hiashi over the clan’s casualties and hesitation during the night’s operations, Baishi healed and empowered him with golden Yang Release Chakra, turning his grief into fervent loyalty. Baishi appointed the Hyuga Clan as his spear and eye, then sent Hiashi on a bloodier first mission.

• Hyuga Hiashi reported that the Hyuga Clan had lost three Jonin and seven elite branch-family members while purging Root strongholds and rounding up Otogakure infiltrators.
• Baishi accused Hiashi of allowing gaps in the clan’s formation to reduce casualties and let enemies escape with intelligence, and Hiashi admitted his fault.
• Baishi infused Hiashi with golden Yang Release Chakra, healing hidden injuries and improving his Byakugan’s insight.
• Hiashi declared that serving Baishi was the Hyuga Clan’s highest honor, and Baishi promised the clan glory as his sharpest spear and brightest eye.
• Baishi ordered Hiashi to carry out a bloodier mission.

Baishi ordered Hiashi to place Konoha under constant Hyuga surveillance and secretly sent the broken Yoshikawa Shin, carrying evidence of deals between Hojo Tokugawa and Orochimaru, to Kyoto. The carriage headed for the Daimyo Residence as Baishi prepared for the political upheaval it would trigger.

• Baishi commanded Hiashi to deploy the Hyuga Clan’s Byakugan around Konoha and instructed him to let Orochimaru’s trail lead to bait without alerting him.
• Hiashi pledged the clan’s full support and left to establish the surveillance net, believing the assignment showed Baishi’s trust.
• An ANBU brought Yoshikawa Shin, whose mind had been destroyed, to Baishi along with evidence of human experimentation deals involving Hojo Tokugawa and Orochimaru.
• Baishi ordered an unmarked carriage to carry Yoshikawa Shin to the gates of the Daimyo Residence in Kyoto without guards or a message.
• Two disguised ANBU drove the carriage out of Konoha while Baishi watched it depart and anticipated a crisis among the Land of Fire’s rulers.

Baishi sent the maddened Yoshikawa Shin to Hojo Tokugawa with evidence of their secret dealings, terrifying the chief elder into planning a covert counterattack. Hojo entered a hidden passage to summon his forces, unaware that Baishi was watching him through a Water Mirror.

• A driver dumped the deranged Yoshikawa Shin outside Hojo Tokugawa's estate in Kyoto.
• Hojo Tokugawa found a record of his crimes with Danzo and Orochimaru carved across Yoshikawa Shin's chest.
• Hojo ordered the witnesses silenced and Yoshikawa Shin taken to a secret room, then panicked alone in his study.
• Hojo Tokugawa decided to use underground bounties, the remnants of the Twelve Guardian Ninja, and pressure from other ninja villages against Baishi.
• Hojo entered a concealed passage while Baishi watched his actions through a Water Mirror in the Hokage's Office.

Hojo Tokugawa issued a three-billion-ryo bounty on Baishi and summoned remnants of the Twelve Guardian Ninja, while Baishi watched and turned the plot into a trap for threats across the Land of Fire. The chapter ended with urgent news that Canary had reached Orochimaru’s rendezvous point and the handover was about to begin.

• Hojo Tokugawa opened his secret treasury, contacted the Underground Black Market, and placed a three-billion-ryo S-Rank bounty on Baishi.
• Hojo Tokugawa took out tokens belonging to the Twelve Guardian Ninja and ordered their remnants to gather in Kyoto.
• Baishi watched Hojo Tokugawa’s actions through a Water Mirror and ordered the bounty details leaked to other villages and its reward raised to five billion ryo.
• Baishi ordered the Hyuga Clan to monitor the Twelve Guardian Ninja remnants and mark them for the Memorial Stone’s preliminary List when they entered the Land of Fire.
• An ANBU messenger reported that Canary had reached Orochimaru’s rendezvous point and the handover was about to begin.

Tayuya reached Orochimaru’s hideout carrying a Scroll after the Sound Four were defeated, and Orochimaru recognized the Scroll as a forged lure from Baishi. Convinced Tayuya held clues to Baishi’s power, Orochimaru began probing her memories, unaware that a silver mark awaited him beneath the fabricated memories.

• Tayuya collapsed outside Orochimaru’s stone door after crawling back from the battle with the bloodstained Scroll.
• Kabuto told Orochimaru that the Hyuga Clan had wiped out Kidomaru, Sakon, and Ukon, and handed him the Scroll.
• Orochimaru examined the Scroll and identified it as a convincing forgery designed to invite him to Konoha.
• Orochimaru concluded that Baishi had deliberately allowed Tayuya to escape and decided she might reveal the secret of Baishi’s power.
• Orochimaru began probing Tayuya’s consciousness, not knowing that her memories were fabricated and a silver mark lay hidden within them.

Orochimaru probed Tayuya’s memories and found the Crescent Mark Baishi had left behind. When Orochimaru touched it, Baishi’s Yang Release struck him across space, leaving him badly injured but more obsessed than ever with obtaining Baishi’s power.

• Orochimaru searched Tayuya’s consciousness, recognized her memories of the Hyuga clan as fabricated, and found a tiny silver Crescent Mark.
• Orochimaru touched the mark with his Chakra, triggering Baishi’s distant counterattack.
• Baishi’s Yang Release surged through Orochimaru’s Chakra connection, burning his hand and blasting him backward.
• Kabuto Yakushi caught Orochimaru, who shoved him away and examined his charred, trembling hand.
• Orochimaru recovered enough to declare Baishi’s power perfect and vowed to pursue it even more recklessly.

After Baishi’s mark began purifying his body, Orochimaru severed his right arm to survive and became obsessed with acquiring the Fifth Hokage’s power. He ordered Kabuto Yakushi to accelerate Impure World Reincarnation and prepare the dangerous figure sealed in a third coffin.

• Baishi’s Yang Release mark spread through Orochimaru’s right arm, destroying its flesh and resisting regeneration.
• Orochimaru cut off his right arm before the silver patterns could reach his torso, and the severed limb turned to ash.
• Orochimaru called the mark a gift and abandoned his pursuit of Hashirama’s power in favor of claiming the Fifth Hokage’s body.
• Orochimaru ordered Kabuto Yakushi to speed up Impure World Reincarnation, even if he had to use daimyo as sacrifices.
• Orochimaru told Kabuto Yakushi to prepare a third, heavily sealed coffin, and a dull sound came from inside it.

Baishi manipulated Kushina into believing his bloodied weakness came from secretly repairing the Nine-Tails seal, turning her fury into guilt and affection. Kurama recognized the truth: Baishi carried the scent of the Shukaku he had swallowed, and he tried to warn Kushina.

• Baishi watched Orochimaru issue orders to accelerate the Impure World Reincarnation, then dismissed the Water Mirror and reflected on his growing power.
• Kushina stormed into the Hokage’s Office, accused Baishi of smelling like another woman, and raised a Nine-Tails Chakra claw against him.
• Baishi coughed blood and acted weak, making Kushina stop her attack and fear that she had hurt him.
• Baishi lied that he had used an Uzumaki forbidden technique to repair a weakness in Kushina’s seal, and she broke down in guilt.
• Baishi comforted Kushina and drew her into his arms while Kurama recognized the scent of Shukaku on him and desperately warned her to get away.

Kurama tried to warn Kushina that Baishi had devoured Shukaku, but Kushina dismissed his fear and remained close to Baishi. Mikoto reported a five-billion-ryo assassination bounty on Baishi, and he ordered the bounty spread while weakening Konoha’s outer sensory barrier.

• Kurama sensed Shukaku’s death in Baishi’s aura and frantically warned Kushina that Baishi was a monster who devoured Tailed Beasts.
• Kushina misread Kurama’s warning as jealousy and soothed him while staying in Baishi’s embrace.
• Mikoto arrived with urgent intelligence, and Baishi ordered her to report in front of Kushina.
• Mikoto reported that Hojo Tokugawa had placed an S-Rank bounty on Baishi, which mysterious funds had raised from three billion to five billion ryo.
• Kushina threatened to attack Hojo and the Daimyo Residence, but Baishi stopped her and ordered Mikoto to spread the bounty information to border stations.
• Baishi also ordered the Barrier Team to remove half of Konoha’s outer sensory barrier.

Baishi ordered Mikoto to leak misleading information and create apparent gaps in Konoha’s defenses to lure bounty hunters into traps. He sent Hyuga Hiashi orders to deploy the Byakugan Sky Net and ambush the intruders, as the first hunters entered the Forest of Death.

• Baishi ordered Mikoto to make it appear that a Konoha official had leaked information and to prepare three trapped breaches in the Barrier.
• Baishi sent a secret Scroll to Hyuga Hiashi, ordering the Hyuga Clan to monitor the area around Konoha and ambush bounty hunters with zero casualties.
• Hiashi ordered the Hyuga Clan’s elite forces to assemble and activate their war protocol.
• A mysterious seller spread the five-billion-ryo bounty information through an underground exchange house, provoking a rush of bounty hunters toward Konoha.
• The first group of S-Rank Missing-nin followed the leaked breach coordinates into the Forest of Death.

Hyuga Hiashi led more than a hundred Hyuga shinobi in an ambush against the Blood Wolf mercenary group, using Byakugan intelligence and a ruthless new tactic. The Hyuga surrounded the intruders in the Forest of Death, and Hiashi ordered them to attack.

• Kisame, Shattered Bone, and Thousand Faces entered Konoha's Forest of Death through a supposed Barrier gap to claim the bounty on the Fifth Hokage.
• Hiashi and the Hyuga shinobi tracked the mercenaries with their Byakugan and identified the weaknesses of each target.
• Hiashi ordered teams to block escape routes, surround the intruders, and prevent them from forming hand seals.
• Kisame realized the group was surrounded, and the mercenaries saw Hyuga shinobi closing in from every direction.
• As Kisame began forming hand seals, Hiashi raised his hand and ordered the Hyuga to attack.

Hyuga Hiashi led the Hyuga shinobi in a coordinated assault that quickly crippled Kisame and the other two S-Rank Missing-nin without casualties. While searching the prisoners’ gear, the clan discovered a strange Chakra-bearing slime on an Explosive Tag.

• The Hyuga forces trapped Kisame, Shattered Bone, and Thousand Faces with Explosive Tags, then overwhelmed them with a barrage of Eight Trigrams: Air Palm.
• Hyuga close-combat troops crippled Shattered Bone’s joints and destroyed Thousand Faces’ Chakra Meridians with Gentle Fist techniques.
• Hyuga Hiashi disarmed Kisame with Pressure Point Technique and shattered his Chakra reserves with Eight Trigrams: Mountain Crusher Strike.
• Hiashi ordered the Hyuga shinobi to search the defeated Missing-nin and their belongings.
• A branch-family shinobi found a strange serpentine slime with a Chakra fluctuation coating one of Thousand Faces’ Explosive Tags.