Chapter Summaries

Kawaki Aoba refused Sarutobi Hiruzen’s demand for a mental probe but agreed to stay in Konoha for a month, then mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique and was appointed captain of the Special Operations Unit. As Naruto visited him to test the Rasengan, the Hyuga Second Elder erupted in anger after an investigation confirmed Aoba’s account.

• Kawaki Aoba agreed to remain in Konoha for a month instead of submitting to a mental probe, and later told Sarutobi Hiruzen he had mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen appointed Kawaki Aoba captain of Konoha’s Special Operations Unit after Aoba claimed he had previously served in the Anbu.
• Tsunade questioned Uzumaki Naruto about Kawaki Aoba, but Naruto said he did not know who Aoba really was.
• Kawaki Aoba reviewed the Special Operations Unit’s files, then dodged Naruto’s Rasengan and advised him to make the technique less predictable.
• The Hyuga Second Elder learned that the investigation confirmed Kawaki Aoba’s claims and angrily accused those present of conspiring against him.

Kawaki Aoba exposed and killed the Hyuga Second Elder and the other clan traitors, then declined Hyuga Hiashi’s request to stay with the clan. After learning his system had activated, Aoba accepted a mission to become a Genin, passed the exam, and returned home to tell his mother.

• Kawaki Aoba sealed the Hyuga Second Elder’s Chakra, exposed his treason, and killed him after he refused to back down.
• Hyuga Hiashi learned that the Second Elder had betrayed the clan and credited Kawaki Aoba with preventing a disaster.
• Over the next three days, Kawaki Aoba rooted out and killed the remaining traitors, stabilizing the Hyuga Clan before deciding to leave for Sunagakure.
• Kawaki Aoba learned that his system offered lottery rewards for completing missions and accepted its mission to become a Genin.
• Kawaki Aoba asked Sarutobi Hiruzen to take the Genin exam, passed its written and combat assessments, and became a Genin.
• Kawaki Aoba returned home and told Kawaki Keiko that he had become a Genin.

Kawaki Aoba completed a caravan escort mission to the Land of Waves with Hatake Kakashi, Uchiha Obito, and Nohara Rin, then trained with Nara Shikamaru and Yamanaka Ino using a ninjutsu scroll. A month later, Sarutobi Hiruzen learned from an investigation report that all three had mastered sensory ninjutsu, and he considered their rapid progress.

• Kawaki Aoba received a C-rank caravan escort mission and joined Hatake Kakashi, Uchiha Obito, and Nohara Rin on the journey to the Land of Waves.
• The caravan reached the Land of Waves safely, and Kawaki Aoba later reported the mission to Sarutobi Hiruzen, who praised his work but privately questioned Aoba’s identity.
• On the way back to Konoha, Kawaki Aoba showed Nara Shikamaru and Yamanaka Ino a scroll that contained a Shadow Clone Technique infused with sensory abilities.
• Kawaki Aoba, Nara Shikamaru, and Yamanaka Ino studied the scroll together, learned its sensory ninjutsu, and trained over the following month.
• A ninja gave Sarutobi Hiruzen an investigation report stating that the three had learned sensory ninjutsu and greatly improved their strength, surprising him.

Kawaki Aoba broke the Hyuga Clan’s Curse Mark and attacked Hyuga Xingcun and Hyuga Hiashi, but Tsunade stopped him and led him to admit he had been wrong. Meanwhile, Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzō discussed Kumogakure’s alliance proposal and the danger of a possible hidden attack, leaving the envoy mission undecided.

• Shimura Danzō urged Sarutobi Hiruzen to secretly monitor Kawaki Aoba and his companions, and Hiruzen agreed.
• Kawaki Aoba accused Hyuga Xingcun of looking down on branch-family members, revealed he had broken his Curse Mark, and challenged him.
• Hyuga Hiashi joined the fight and used Eight Trigrams Palms Rotation, but Aoba unleashed the Byakugan’s ultimate form and overwhelmed him and Xingcun.
• Tsunade arrived, defeated Aoba with a single punch, and persuaded him to recognize that he had taken the wrong path.
• Yuhi Shinku and Yamanaka Inoichi reported that Kumogakure wanted Konoha to send an envoy, and suggested Shimura Danzō for the mission.
• Shimura Danzō warned Sarutobi Hiruzen that Kumogakure might be preparing for war, but Hiruzen decided Konoha should send an envoy to assess the situation.

Kawaki Aoba joined Root after completing a mission to find missing villagers, then trained and took on increasingly dangerous assignments. He infiltrated Sunagakure to assassinate Ebizo, but Ebizo dodged his first attack and confronted him.

• Sarutobi Hiruzen approved Shimura Danzō's plan to send Root members to infiltrate Kumogakure, with Anbu secretly monitoring them.
• Kawaki Aoba checked his status, decided to take a mission, and accepted a C-rank assignment to find missing villagers in the Land of Fields.
• After Kawaki Aoba completed the mission, Sarutobi Hiruzen suggested that he join Root, and Kawaki Aoba agreed.
• Kawaki Aoba trained and served Root for a period, earning Shimura Danzō's trust and receiving a mission to assassinate Sunagakure elder Ebizo.
• Kawaki Aoba disguised himself as a Sunagakure ninja, infiltrated the administrative building, and attacked Ebizo in his room.
• Ebizo evaded Kawaki Aoba's shuriken and demanded to know who he was.

Kawaki Aoba joined Root after Sarutobi Hiruzen persuaded Danzo to give him a chance, then trained until he became one of Root’s strongest and was sent to investigate Akatsuki in the Land of Grass. After confronting an Akatsuki member, the story shifted to Hyuga Xingcun warning Hyuga Hiashi that unknown people with Byakugan abilities had appeared in Konoha and might steal the clan’s bloodline.

• Kawaki Aoba fought Ebizo, while Sarutobi Hiruzen persuaded Danzo to let Aoba join Root despite his lost Byakugan.
• Kawaki Aoba trained his sensory abilities in Root for six months and became one of its finest members.
• Danzo assigned Kawaki Aoba to investigate Akatsuki in the Land of Grass, and Aoba set out the next day.
• Kawaki Aoba found an Akatsuki member, revealed that he was a Konoha ninja, and defeated the member in a fight.
• Hyuga Xingcun told Hyuga Hiashi that unknown people with Byakugan abilities had appeared in the village and warned that they might steal the Hyuga clan’s bloodline.

Hyuga Hiashi ordered the clan to find Byakugan awakeners and brand them with the Caged Bird Curse Seal, then discovered that Hyuga Neji had awakened the eye. After Uzumaki Naruto arrived to meet Neji, the story shifted to Hyuga Hiashi and his relatives seeking the Hokage's help against Root over Kawaki Aoba's Byakugan.

• Hyuga Xingcun ordered Hyuga Hiashi to locate Byakugan awakeners and brand them with the Caged Bird Curse Seal, and Hyuga Hiashi passed the order to the branch family ninja.
• Hyuga Neji awakened the Byakugan, and Hyuga Hiashi warned him to stay home while he arranged protection.
• Uzumaki Naruto arrived at the Hyuga residence to see Neji's Byakugan, and Neji allowed him into the courtyard to talk.
• Hyuga Hiashi, Hyuga Huoshu, and Hyuga Xingcun traveled to Konoha, discussing how to retrieve the Byakugan from Kawaki Aoba, whom Root had trained.
• The Hyuga group went to the Hokage Building to seek Sarutobi Hiruzen's support, and he frowned as he heard Hyuga Hiashi's report.

Hyuga Hiashi tracked Kawaki Aoba from Root’s training base and tried to seize his Byakugan, but Sarutobi Hiruzen intervened and investigated claims that Kawaki had awakened it during a mission. After questioning Hyuga witnesses, Hiruzen summoned Miyamura Ayano and her team to verify the accusation.

• Sarutobi Hiruzen told Hyuga Hiashi to investigate Kawaki Aoba while he discussed the matter with Danzo, so Hiashi and his companions watched Root’s training base.
• Hyuga Hiashi’s group spotted a man resembling Kawaki Aoba leaving the base, followed him, and surrounded him in an alley.
• Hyuga Hiashi demanded Kawaki’s Byakugan and attacked him until Sarutobi Hiruzen arrived and ordered Hiashi to stop.
• Hyuga Musashi and Hyuga Neji, along with two Genin, told Sarutobi Hiruzen that Kawaki had activated the Byakugan during a C-rank mission and attacked them.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen summoned Miyamura Ayano and her team, then asked whether they had seen Kawaki activate the Byakugan during their mission with him.

Miyamura Ayano denied seeing Kawaki Aoba activate the Byakugan after Hyuga Neji intimidated her, while Hyuga Munemasa secretly prepared a violent operation against Konoha ninja. As Hyuga attackers ambushed Kakashi and Might Guy, Sarutobi Hiruzen summoned Yamanaka Inoichi to examine a brain and began discussing the Ino-Shika-Cho clans.

• Hyuga Neji's threatening stare made Miyamura Ayano deny seeing Kawaki Aoba activate the Byakugan, leaving Sarutobi Hiruzen uncertain whom to believe.
• Hyuga Munemasa told Sarutobi Hiruzen that unidentified ninja had killed Hyuga branch-family members and presented a bloodstained Konoha forehead protector as evidence.
• After leaving the Hokage Building, Hyuga Munemasa distributed semi-finished Tenseigan potions and stationed Hyuga squads around Konoha while leading others toward the village center.
• Hyuga ninja ambushed Kakashi and Might Guy, who struggled against their coordinated attacks as Guy opened the Sixth Gate.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen asked Yamanaka Inoichi to examine a brain and began telling him about the importance of the Ino-Shika-Cho clans.

Sarutobi Hiruzen revealed to Yamanaka Inoichi that he had won the Ino-Shika-Cho clans' support to help eliminate the Uchiha Clan, while the Hyuga Clan confirmed Kawaki Aoba had not killed the three Iwagakure shinobi. Aoba explained what he knew at a Hyuga gathering, but the mystery of who killed the shinobi remained unresolved as a panicked messenger arrived at the Branch Family residence.

• Sarutobi Hiruzen told Yamanaka Inoichi that the Ino-Shika-Cho clans supported him and proposed joining forces against the Uchiha Clan.
• An Anbu shinobi confirmed to the Hyuga Second Elder that the three dead men were Iwagakure shinobi, and the Hyuga Clan Head explained how Kawaki Aoba had identified them and shown their memories.
• The Hyuga Clan Head urged the Hyuga Second Elder to investigate fairly, and the Second Elder reluctantly agreed to wait for the inquiry's conclusion.
• Kawaki Aoba trained with Hinata, Hanabi, and Hizashi Hyuga, then joined the Hyuga Clan's senior members for dinner and answered questions about the dead shinobi.
• Aoba said he had only knocked the three Iwagakure shinobi unconscious and had seen no one after leaving, leaving the Hyuga Clan Head unable to explain their deaths.
• A panicked Hyuga Branch Family ninja and several frightened companions rushed into the residence of Lord Xingcun.

Hyuga Xingcun learned that Kawaki Aoba had defected after gouging out his own eyes, prompting Konoha’s leaders to assign the Anbu to find him. After the chapter shifted to Aoba’s later return from a battle against Sunagakure, he went home with Hyuga Hinata and Inuzuka Kiba and began absorbing what he had learned.

• A Hyuga Branch Family ninja reported Aoba’s escape and self-inflicted blindness to Hyuga Xingcun, who ordered the Hokage informed and threatened Aoba.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen convened Konoha’s senior officials and assigned Uchiha Shisui and the Anbu to search for Aoba, while asking Tsunade to prepare for possible danger.
• Hyuga Xingcun learned that the Anbu had taken charge, then sent a secret letter to his father, Hyuga Hiashi, seeking help.
• Outside Konoha, Aoba hid in a forest after escaping the Hyuga Branch Family, while Sarutobi Hiruzen and the elders discussed his power and whether he could be guided to serve the village.
• Aoba told Hyuga Hinata and Inuzuka Kiba that Sunagakure had withdrawn its troops, then returned home with them and began assimilating the gains from battle.
• Aoba concluded that his battle against Sunagakure had deepened his understanding of the Sharingan and made him strong enough to fight an Elite Jonin.

Kawaki Aoba mastered a sensory ninjutsu and trained hard under Kakashi as Konoha’s leaders debated the threat posed by his Byakugan. The chapter ended with Kawaki steadily growing stronger through daily training.

• Kawaki Aoba studied the Mind-to-Mind Technique and mastered it, gaining the ability to sense nearby emotions and chakra fluctuations.
• Sarutobi Asuma told Kurenai that Kawaki Aoba had defeated him, and he vowed to train until he surpassed him.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen and Danzō learned that Kawaki Aoba possessed an unusually pure Byakugan alongside the Sharingan, but decided against moving against him because he was Kakashi’s disciple.
• Kakashi warned Kawaki Aoba to keep his Byakugan secret to avoid trouble.
• Kakashi trained Kawaki Aoba in taijutsu, and Kawaki continued grueling daily training as his strength improved.

Sarutobi Hiruzen refused Danzo’s proposal to eliminate Kawaki Aoba, but Danzo ordered Root to seize him anyway. After the Hyuga Clan turned Root away, Yamanaka Inoichi confirmed that Aoba had told the truth about a guard being an Akatsuki spy, and revealed that the guard’s deepest memories still held secrets.

• Sarutobi Hiruzen rejected Danzo’s demand to kill Kawaki Aoba, but Danzo later ordered Yamato to bring Aoba to Root.
• Yamato and Root members arrived at Hyuga Hiashi’s residence, where Hiashi refused to hand Aoba over and sent them away.
• Yamanaka Inoichi confirmed to Tsunade, Kakashi, Shizune, and the Anbu officers that the guard was an Akatsuki spy planted in Konoha.
• Tsunade ordered the guard arrested and interrogated, while Yamanaka Inoichi warned that extracting the secrets buried in his memories could severely damage his brain.

Kawaki Aoba began a simulated life as Naruto while Tsunade’s team discovered that the prisoner’s memories had been erased and prepared to interrogate him by force. The simulation shifted to the Hyuga clan, where Neji awakened the Byakugan, received the Caged Bird Curse Seal, and confronted his father about the responsibilities imposed on him.

• Kawaki Aoba started a simulated life as Uzumaki Naruto on the eve of the Fourth Shinobi World War.
• Yamanaka Inoichi found Kawaki Aoba’s memories blank, reported that they had been tampered with, and Tsunade led the others to the prison to interrogate him.
• Hyuga Xingcun persuaded Hyuga Hiashi to target people who might awaken the Byakugan and have them branded with the Caged Bird Curse Seal.
• Hyuga Neji awakened the Byakugan in a vision, but Hyuga Hiashi branded him with the Caged Bird Curse Seal.
• Hyuga Neji awoke angry about the seal and went to meet Hyuga Hiashi, who told him that awakening the Byakugan brought responsibilities.

Hyuga Hiashi tried to force Hyuga Neji into serving the clan, but Neji’s resistance ended with Hiashi using the Caged Bird Curse Seal to overpower him. Meanwhile, Hiashi sent Hyuga Hinata to Konoha to investigate the Byakugan incident, and she arrived determined to uncover the truth with Uzumaki Naruto’s help.

• Hyuga Neji rejected Hyuga Hiashi’s demand that he serve the Hyuga clan, and the two fought until Hiashi activated Neji’s Caged Bird Curse Seal and struck him down.
• Hyuga Xingcun and Hyuga Huoshu discussed suspicions about Kawaki Aoba as the clan’s convoy traveled toward Konoha.
• Hyuga Hiashi warned that the Byakugan incident might be a conspiracy and decided to send Hyuga Hinata to investigate while the rest remained near the Land of Fire border.
• Hyuga Hinata arrived in Konoha and told Uzumaki Naruto she intended to investigate the Byakugan incident.
• Uzumaki Naruto agreed to help Hyuga Hinata and took her to seek clues from Second Pillar.

Danzō stopped the Hyuga Second Elder’s revolt against the Main Family but recognized that the underlying conflict remained unresolved. Later, Hyuga Xingcun discussed expanding the Caged Bird mark with Hyuga Hiashi and Hyuga Huoshu, insisting they pursue the proposal regardless of Sarutobi Hiruzen’s response.

• Danzō rushed to the Hyuga compound, healed Hyuga Neji, and halted the clash between Hyuga Hiashi and the Hyuga Second Elder’s branch-family supporters.
• Danzō rejected the demand to abolish the Main Family and branch-family system, then defeated the attackers and ordered them to disperse.
• The Hyuga Second Elder left after Danzō subdued him, while Danzō worried that the family’s conflict would flare up again.
• An Anbu ninja reported to Sarutobi Hiruzen that Danzō had resolved the disturbance and subdued the Hyuga Second Elder.
• Hyuga Xingcun questioned Hyuga Hiashi about a proposal to place the Caged Bird mark on affiliated Hyuga, and Hiashi said it required Sarutobi Hiruzen’s approval.
• Hyuga Xingcun told Hiashi to press forward with the proposal whether Sarutobi agreed or not.

Hyuga Xingcun secured Sarutobi Hiruzen’s conditional support for adjusting the Hyuga Clan’s main and branch family system. Later, Hiashi confronted Hiruzen and Danzo over Kumogakure’s demand for Hinata, learning that the village believed Kumogakure’s real target was the Byakugan.

• Hyuga Xingcun and Hyuga Huoshu agreed to seek Hokage support for changes to the Caged Bird system, with pressure through the Council of Elders as a fallback.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen agreed to support Xingcun’s plan on the condition that it did not threaten Konoha’s stability.
• Huoshu questioned whether Hiruzen would fully support the clan, and Xingcun said the Hokage would neither trust them completely nor stop them.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen summoned Hiashi and told him Kumogakure’s envoy had demanded Hyuga Hinata as a condition for peace.
• Hiashi angrily rejected the idea of sacrificing Hinata, while Danzo warned that refusing could risk war.
• Hiruzen told Hiashi that Kumogakure’s true target was the Hyuga Clan’s Byakugan, and Hiashi questioned whether Konoha had grown so weak that it had to consider compromise.

Hiashi resisted Danzo’s pressure over the Hyuga Clan and returned home determined to protect his clan, while two Hyuga ninjas entered Anbu and Root under different terms. At a barbecue restaurant, Kawaki Aoba and Yuhi Kurenai heard rumors that Ryoko had accepted the Caged Bird seal, leaving the reasons for her choice uncertain.

• Hiashi warned Sarutobi Hiruzen and Danzo that the Hyuga Clan would not tolerate humiliation, then reassured Hinata as he took her home.
• Hyuga Cang joined Anbu after being told that his loyalty would belong to the village rather than the Hyuga family.
• Danzo questioned Hyuga Xin’s obedience, accepted him into Root, and ordered him to undergo trials beginning the next day.
• Kawaki Aoba and Yuhi Kurenai overheard girls debating whether Ryoko had willingly accepted the Caged Bird seal for protection before a mission involving Kumogakure.
• Aoba and Kurenai suspected that the Hyuga Clan was presenting the seal as an honor, while Aoba noted that only Ryoko knew why she had accepted it.

Kawaki Aoba and Yuhi Kurenai secretly spoke with a Hyuga branch family member and learned about the suffering imposed by the Caged Bird. Later, Aoba investigated rumors of a Hyuga partnership with the Kawaki Clan, and his father revealed that the Hyuga Clan had set its sights on him.

• Kawaki Aoba and Yuhi Kurenai followed a Hyuga branch family member and asked him about the Caged Bird and the branch family's circumstances.
• The branch family member said he resented being controlled but feared that resistance would bring greater suffering, and explained that former resistors were gone.
• Kawaki Aoba overheard villagers discussing the Hyuga Clan's gifts and cooperation with the Kawaki Clan, then questioned Ino Yamanaka, Naruto, and Sasuke about the arrangement.
• A Genin from the Kawaki Clan summoned Aoba home, where Kawaki Tadashi told him the cooperation was a test and that the Hyuga Clan had set its sights on him.

Miyamura Ayano became a Chunin but learned that revealing Kawaki Aoba’s Byakugan had made him a target of the Hyuga Clan. Yuhi Shinku refused the clan’s demand to abandon Aoba, and the chapter ended with Shinku watching Aoba train Sarutobi Asuma.

• Yuhi Shinku warned Miyamura Ayano that the Hyuga Clan viewed Aoba’s Byakugan as a threat, and Ayano vowed to protect him.
• Kawaki Aoba confronted Ayano for telling the Hyuga Clan, then declared that he would protect himself and those he cherished.
• Hyuga Hiro delivered the Hyuga Main Family’s demand that Shinku abandon Aoba or accept the cost of keeping him in Konoha, but Shinku refused.
• Yuhi Kurenai heard Shinku defend Aoba and accepted her father’s decision to stand by him.
• Yuhi Shinku visited Aoba while he supervised Sarutobi Asuma’s training, and Asuma asked whether his last move was still too slow.